The Sicatoka

You don't have to tell me that. However, you need to convince one of your fellow Bison fans.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that the voice of Sioux football in 2004 will be .... Dan Hammer. I have no proof. It just looks to be setting up that way.

tony, aren't Sioux fans always being told "no one cares" about hockey by Bison fans? Well, if the BCS schools bail, their issue will be hoops and football. Does the SEC or Pac-10 care about whether or not the Big 10ers play hockey at all, much less who they'd play? They'll play anyone in the so-called minor sports as long as it makes them a buck. Because, this is what all this (March Madness, the BCS) is about, right? A buck? And the big schools are out to keep the lion's share of the biggest money. (They almost act like college athletics is a business.) Not trying to speak for Goldie, but having observed them, Minnesota hockey will play whomever they need to to keep that "Golden" cash-cow mooing. (Minnesota is "in the black" in three programs: football, mens BB, mens hockey. Without those the accounting knives come out to cut programs.) Will the BCS-schools bolt? Will they ask for an NDSU-like solution (move to a new higher NCAA level)? I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out. bisonfan1234: There are about 70 BCS schools. That'd leave about 170 Division I (A or AA) football playing schools.

I said "larger and larger." Didn't you read the Congressional Record this week? And if paying for post season matters, only two post seasons are pulling their weight in terms of revenues. Only "March Madness" and the "Frozen Four" show black ink for the NCAA (the last time I checked).

But what happens when the "10%-ers" want a larger and larger cut of the big pies (March Madness and the BCS)? What'd NDSU do to DII is a hint of the answer.

All this and yet the Mike Prpich's of the world (not saying he'll never play for pay, but just the same) still pick UND to get their ENGINEERING degree at.

NDSU and SDSU both had private consultants "road map" how to do this for them. They addressed the same things jimdahl and I do when we discuss it here. From NDSU's Carr Report:

So, does Zajac rhyme with "Kojak" or "Hrkac"?

Would that be Ian Kallay and Lee Davidson? :)

The problem of "watering down" that prompted NDSU to move from DII to DI is now happening in DI. What was the problem? Schools like MSU-Moorhead, with 10% of the athletic budget of NDSU and UND moving into the division and trying to lower existing division rules. What's happening in DI? Schools with budgets 10% of the athletic budget of 'The' Ohio State University are moving into the division and trying to lower existing division rules. So what would their logical recourse be? Hint: 'Up' for them just might be out of the NCAA. Remember what the Duke Asst. AD said (paraphrased): The NCAA is voluntary. We choose to be members. We choose to pay its fees. (I've provided links to stories in the past.) Which means they could choose a decision to "move up (out)" also.

I thought being a DIAA, like Yale, was the road to great publicity and fiscal prosperity. :)

So the old story here remains the same: Control what you can control. Put another way: Beat Omaha.

No WYO, you've got the right guy in mind. It's amazing to me how Ed went from conservative to liberal right around the same time that (conservative) Scott Hennen took over as the Program Director at WDAY-AM, the head-to-head competitor of KFGO, and is in the same time slot as Ed. Yes, that is the Scott Hennen who is the PA announcer for Fighting Sioux hockey at REA.

I'm only interested in this for one reason: To see the mindset of owners and players as the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) comes to an end at the end of this NHL season. The owners of the Wild are sticking to a lower cost solution. The players want the money. What did Dupuis want? What did he get? What did Gaborik want? What was the offer? Seeing the Wild let their best skater leave the country tells me that the sides are not anywhere close and that the NHL may not start up again in 12 months because of the lack of a new CBA. The status of CBA negotiations will definitely affect NHL team thoughts about signing collegians between now and the a new CBA.

Omaha knows what's at stake and they won't roll over. One by one.

The forecast has me thinking "ground game."

How about a simple sign that says: What the 'ELIS' that? That word is pronounced "ee-lees." If you don't understand, check out both nicknames they run under here. Say it out loud a couple times fast and it'll make a lot more sense.

Let's see .... a metro area of 3 million, a campus of almost 40,000, has no-shows in a 10,000 seat rink and that is more acceptable than a campus of 13,000 in a metro of 75,000 (?) that has the same number of no-shows in a 11,406 seat rink? Unless the T-Wolves, Vikes, Twins, and Wild have each put in 500,000 seat arenas that math just doesn't add up.

Hey! I thought BC players were angels.

Idaho is in a very tough spot considering the new DIA football minimum average attendance per home game requirements coming on line. The following is the list of DIAs that do not make (or made by less than 500 people per game) the new average per game minimum for DIA football (based on 2002 average home game attendance): North Texas Louisiana-Lafayette Houston Wyoming Troy State Arkansas State Ball State Akron Buffalo Middle Tennessee State Idaho Eastern Michigan San Jose State Kent State Louisiana-Monroe Schools that don't meet the minimum DIA home attendance will be pushed back down to DIAA by the NCAA under the new rules. See any names in that list the Big Sky would find interesting before looking outside of their current geography?

MNS: They were all 'swags' from a guy who's done some traveling. Going major airport to major airport (Denver to Newark) with a couple months advanced booking was part of the assumption/guess. The more I ponder it, however, the more I think the ground transport and hotel numbers (east coast costs) are low. And yes, to go out of anywhere but Denver (meaning having to fly into a hub like MSP, Denver, or Chicago O'Hare) would add a minimum of $100 per ticket. Run numbers like that and look at real profits then look at playing a home game before even a smallish home crowd at the larger NCC schools. The net revenues comes out at about the same. The bigger difference is that you keep the home fan base engaged. Nine home games in a 27 game schedule doesn't engage your base.

What amazes me on this front is that true classical liberals should be lining up next to UND's right to the moniker. This is a classic case of "I don't have to like what you say but I have to defend your right to say it." There are lots of things out there I don't like but my personal feelings do not give me the right to shut down someone else's free speech. I'm sure no one is surprised by the NCA evaluation out today: UND is a great school. Reaccredited for (max allowed) 10 years! But, of course, they had to mention the moniker because the small factions in question brought it to them. Of course, the NCA did the same at the University of Illinois (regarding the Illini moniker and the Chief Illiniwek mascot). UI's position was (paraphrased): thanks for the comments but even you admit this is not an accreditation based issue. elmduf: The ACLU and the NRA? I bet you have to sit in the back corner in both meetings. Are you sure you're not more Libertarian-bent than liberal per se?

They say about $10k in expenses? Meals: $45 per day, two days Hotel: $50 per night*, one night Airfare: $300 (Denver to Newark) Ground Transport: $30 per day, two days That works out to be $500 per person for a two-day trip to New Jersey. Assuming 20 travelers is about normal for basketball, there's $10k. Personally, I'd guess my hotel and ground transportation numbers are low. * Assumes two persons per room for a $100 room. What you get for $100 a night in New Jersey is a whole other thread.

Just as NDSU et al, the "haves" if you will, are frustrated with smaller, relatively underfunded schools flooding "their house" (division), apparently, so are the "haves" of the Division I ranks. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/sports/5989715.htm This quote (from a Charlotte Observer article) should serve as a wake-up call to the rest of the NCAA: They choose to hang around. I guess that means they could choose something else too. That's the thoughts at Duke, and assumably by association, the ACC.

To respond to Northern Colorado showing up on the Rutgers schedule, let's look back at Forum columnist Mike McFeely's recent words: