The Sicatoka

Back to UND and Grand Forks, eh? (Intentional Canadian/hockey ending, eh? ) You are making the classic reverse psychology argument. Paraphrased: "GF just can't do it." But NDSU hopes to have SDSU as a travel partner in a new league? GF can't but Brookings can? Pardon me if I scoff at that. It proves that deep inside you know that NDSU needs the 20k FB gate that UND and very few others could provide (Was the unfortunately cancelled Maine game sold out? I don't believe it was quite there.) and it needs the benefits of a D-I(AA) new NCC. Getting IAAs from 1000 miles away to come to Fargo to play won't be cheap, and remember, most (non-conference game) teams want a payday on a trip like that. Logistically and fiscally, going D-I(AA) doesn't make sense unless a group would go together. It solves the travel costs issues to a significant extent. That's why NDSU hopes SDSU goes. If SDSU goes, expect USD to follow and then comes UND. Check out the link to Article 3 at http://www3.sdstate.edu/Athletics/Division...Study/Index.cfm SDSU as much as admits that they need a IAA NCC to make it really work. (And they hinted that they may prefer a conference FB scholarship limit under 63 at the start. Bet you love to hear that.) Honestly, how's NDSU any different? How's any NCC team, save for UNC, with more D-I(AA)s, near by, any different? PS - If FargoDome is so 'prestigious', why is the lighting so terrible? The endzones are dark and the lights are at angles such that they shine in your eyes if you are sitting in box seating. Is Fargo going to 'progressively' fix that any time soon? I'm not trying to be malicious here. I do believe lighting there is a problem.

I hope a Gopher, Badger, Wolverine, Spartan, or BC Eagles fan didn't hear that. "Shredded" would be the best you could hope for.

I believe they'll look the same from the front and back. The questions is if Nike (and their contract manufacturer) would put in "side panels" of mesh. On Nike jerseys that do that they don't carry the bottom striping all the way around. It looks goofy to me that way. (I think they do it trying to look like the Denver Broncos jerseys, but not carrying the bottom stripes on a hockey jersey all the way around just breaks up the continuity and flow.) If it's true that Gemini is the contract manufacturer, I'd hope they'd keep them the same as last season.

A big part of the conversation that is missed here is logistics. There are a ton of IAAs in the northeast. There are a lot of IAAs down in Northern Colorado's neck of the woods. Out east, schools that should be DIIs are IAAs because it's easier to schedule games because everyone else around you is IAA. (If you're a DI, you have to schedule DIs.) Travel isn't an issue because they're all packed in a close space. In the midwest, there are significantly fewer IAAs as most schools are DII. Being DII in this area makes logistic and scheduling sense. That leads me back to what I've said all along. I believe NDSU took the "two year" approach to this in the hope that some of the large public schools in the NCC would make the jump with them to help with the logistics and schedule issues.

Your statement is accurate. The 2000 Frozen Four was very profitable for Michigan and BC. St. Lawrence and UND were the other two there that year. Because St. Lawrence is DIII and UND is DII, Michigan and BC split the participant's pot two ways instead of four. They forced UND to take home a trophy and banner instead of dollars. We won't talk about 2001.

JBB: We'll have to agree to disagree. I know a lot of Bison supporters. I've seen the anti-D-I sentiment in that group hold steady at about 8 or 9 to 1. The Herald editorial board thinks it's a bad idea. So? Dr. Kupchella thinks the same way. So? If this is so wonderful, why are you so concerned about them? Go your own way. Be happy. Start raising all of that additional capital to bring in all those students (to teams that are on probation until fall of 2008). Forget what the Herald says. Look at what UNI's AD says. Look at what Sacramento State's (Big Sky) AD said. Message: Those conferences aren't looking to add right now. I'm guessing those conferences are waiting to see what the NCAA 2004 "relook at divisions" fallout is. However, you've heard it here. There is a lot of UND sentiment that says if the league went UND'd go along. I'm guessing if SDSU goes, so go USD and UND. Logistically it'd help them all especially in terms of travel and schedule. Heck, maybe UNI'd dump that two conferences/long travel mess they're in now and re-join the NCC. That'd help them in those terms as well. (UND is closer and logistically better to UNI than is Indiana State.) You're painting UND as holding NDSU from doing this. I ask how? NDSU did what it wanted. I know if UND does change its stance you'll howl about UND trying to steal the spotlight. Either way it's all UND's fault. I guess UND must just be the source of all evil for NDSU. It must be The Vast Fighting Sioux Conspiracy* hard at work again. * Remember, we're the guys that caused a 63% no vote to Fargo Arena even though NDSU's own voting district voted more 'no' than that rate!

I told somebody yesterday that "even Rich Glas could out-kick Doug Brien." They told me, "You mean Jeff Glas." I told them, "I meant EXACTLY what I said."

Fargo's always been larger than Grand Forks. Why is it suddenly an issue? UND has survived just fine in a smaller Grand Forks. Sorry, but I don't see this as an issue. And if it really is about athletics, those coming losing seasons during the transition aren't going to be good community PR. And how is UND "blocking" NDSU from doing this? UND is merely stating it's position. They've allowed themselves an 'out' from that position as well. What would you have UND do, announce they too are going D-I? Then you'd be ranting that UND is doing it to overshadow NDSU's move. By saying UND is "blocking" the move you are nearly admitting that NDSU can't do this unless UND comes along for the ride. GF will lose the Fargo hockey market? Now I know you are diluted. The hockey fans in Fargo are primarily UND alums. They wouldn't support a Bison program anyway. And in general, hockey support in Fargo is a non-issue at best. Evidence: Concordia's nationally outstanding D-III program draws about 600 per game; the USHL has had TWO franchises in Fargo fold. (Bears, IceSharks) Now, more than 60 teams play D-I hockey. That list is those that I am sure are D-I schools. I believe Brown, Vermont, Army, Denver U, and Western Michigan are D-I also. That's more than half that are D-I. UND is "playing up" in that group. Other schools? UMass-Lowell, Merrimack, Clarkson, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Union, American Int'l, Bentley, Fairfield, Iona, Mercyhurst, Sacred Heart, Alaska-Fairbanks, Ferris State, Lake Superior State, UN-Omaha, Northern Michigan, Colorado College, Michigan Tech, UM-Duluth, Mankato, St. Cloud, Alabama-Huntsville, Bemidji State, Findlay, Niagara, Wayne State. (I'm pretty sure AIU, Iona, Wayne State, and Mercyhurst play in some watered down D-I conference, but I'll count them as not D-I also.) And is it because UND wants a low-budget approach, or is it because UND knows what it costs to run a big-time, national championship contending Division I program? Go back and read some of the quotes from the UNI AD. NDSU's trying to model after them. They're cutting programs after a D-IAA FB playoff appearance. Personally, I'm interested in seeing what the NCAA comes out with in 2004. It wouldn't surprise me to see the biggest of the bigs "move up" (create a new level for themselves) for the same reasons that NDSU wants to move up: small, low-budget no-names are coming in and diluting where they're currently at.

Yup, UND'll be going down to D-III right after some of the other D-I hockey schools like Michigan, Michigan State, Miami of Ohio, Bowling Green, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Western Michigan, Air Force, Brown, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Boston College, Boston U, Maine, New Hampshire, UMass, Northeastern, Providence, Canisius, UConn, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, Alaska-Anchorage, Minnesota, and Wisconsin finish their transitions down to D-III.

Now let's parse what Dr. K said there. UND would look at D-I, but there's no interest at this time. He specifically mentioned staff and coaches. How many Bison coaches were at the D-I announcement? Exactly one: Bob Babich. NDSU made a football driven decision. Even NDSU's most senior coaches (Maughn and Ruley) weren't there. What's that say? Not in the best interest of students and the State? Well, NDSU has already said they're raising student fees. And the State recently had to both cut spending and take funds from the Bank of ND to cover budget shortfalls. Adding expense to satisfy ego doesn't seem fiscally wise at this time. (Yes, you can say 'no State funds were harmed in NDSU going D-I' but that money has to come from somewhere. The economy's down. You're going to get more bucks from Team Makers? Seriously?) The probationary periods are silly. Sure, don't give them a cut of the money to try to slow gready teams down from moving up, but let the kids play in post season. You think you have Cinderellas now? And what does no post season really teach the student-athletes, the kids? Cost is cost is cost. Period. Ohio State spent more on sports than UND got, to run the whole school, from the State of ND. (See above link.) How do you compete with that? And the closing is UND and Dr. K's way out: If the league goes, how does UND not? I'll leave you with the quote of the weekend: I sat at a HS FB game with a Team Maker over the weekend. I said, "Well, moving Bison FB to D-IAA probably makes some sense, but I feel sorry for the rest of the coaches." He said, "You don't move a program up when it's sliding down where it's at already."

That is from Dr. Kupchella's statement six months ago. http://www.fightingsioux.com/other.asp?RELEASE_ID=1179

dagies: Gemini is doing the FB jerseys this season. Suppose that is an olive branch to them?

They've gone from the Gemini to the Nike? I've seen some jerseys in stores with the swoosh on them. I'm not sure if they are "replica" or actual jerseys. I hope they were the replicas. Either way, I'm not a fan of Nike's mesh side panels where they don't continue the bottom striping all the way around. (I'm sure the players like the mesh on the sides because it allows better air flow so they stay cooler.)

Sockeye: You somehow have knowledge of the IronMan. Are there any walk-ons going through that?

Ryan Hale is captain as a junior, but with an asterisk. If not for the shoulder injury and medical redshirt year, he'd be a senior with Spie and Notes.

So this is where Koberinski landed after being let go in Waterloo. Not bad. Kober was there for The Circus in '87, but I remember Kober best as the center of the "Uke Line" a year (or was it two) later. All three guys were of Ukrainian heritage and from the same area of western Canada. Grant Paranica Scott Koberinski Russ Romaniuk I think Tim Hennessy deserved combat pay for trying to broadcast when those three names were on the ice.

Based on Sockeye's statement, my horse came in. There's nothing wrong with being a proud parent, especially of kids who are successful in their endeavors or who know when to follow and when to lead. They must have learned that from someone who's pretty smart as well, yes? And you mean someone has a shot at knocking off the two-time defending IronMan champion Ryan Sofie?

PHE: If we were betting, we'd have money on the same horse.

PHE: Sockeye Sioux made the statement here: http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?s=...f=1&t=257&st=55 I'd guess the assessment was based on skating with Parise over the summer. (And I'd guess the son played a few games somewhere in the USHL. I'm pretty sure I know who Sockeye Sioux is but it isn't mine to say.)

As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing." Or would she say, "Psssst! Should I sell?" OK, back to point: Who's going to practice to count forwards and see if there is anyone else in camp?

bisonguy: That has "troll" written all over it. Don't tell me you bite at hooks with bait like that on them.

I seem to recall Blais saying once that he figured there were two guys on his 2000 team that he, in his prime, wouldn't have scrapped with: Commodore and Goren. He went on to say that he wasn't sure who'd win a Commy / Goren heavyweight bout.

The above statement was reported by "SockeyeSioux," parent to a current player. (The "he" in that statement is Sockeye's son.) I believe I'm pretty safe in saying that "son" has seen some guys play in the USHL and the WCHA. That's a pretty solid stand-alone statement. I was told the following: He's wherever the puck is, or is it the puck wherever he is.

dagies: I seem to recall some large lads (O'Connell, Commy, freshman Ryan Hale) playing, and outplaying, people in the third in the spring of 2000. jk: It's all about spin. When you are trying to make it not sound not so bad: sixth. When you're trying to make it sting: EIGHTH!

I'm trusting my memory here, but this sounds similar to what Mario Lemieux faced. Let's hope that Mr. Boeser was taking notes! Go get 'em Dan.