The Sicatoka

Here' are three Tweets Chaves put out over the weekend. Any idea what he's setting up to lobby for?

Now that's some epic trolling. I bet that got "Five Bridges" on JohnBoy's troll-o-meter.

I assure you there's no way to insure against improper use of the term ensure. It's impossible to prevent its misuse.

What's an FBS with DI hockey budget look like? Well, simple reality says throw out the schools from the P5 conferences for comparisons; it's not even the same realm. So, good bye Arizona State, BC, the B1Gs. And for that matter, throw out the service academies (Army, Air Force). So what's left? UConn, UMass, and three MACs (Miami, WMU, Bowling Green). Given the stature of the UConn and UMass BB programs and how they spend on those ... The best comparisons are the three MACs. Today UND trails WMU and Miami but leads Bowling Green as far as expenditures. (I'm not drawing conclusions, just pointing out the data.) The south has its G5 FBS in the Sun Belt. The midwest has its in the MAC.

You can't fall off the floor.

Somehow some "contaminant" ... that's not approved for human use or consumption ... somehow got into Clemson players? So who brought the "contaminant" around in the first place.

Because of the elimination of flatulent bovines there'll be less need for feed grains. And less need for grasslands for grazing. That's good because elimination of fossil fuels means we'll need the space for solar panels. My rough calcs say we'll need 18 sq miles of panels just to replace Coal Creek Station at Underwood (assumes 200W per meter panels, 50% density to allow for infrastructure, and 4x the number of panels due to just 6 productive hours per day, and on site storage capacity for 18 hours of electricity*). But remember, all the cars and transportation will now be non-fossil fuel. That too will have to be electric. So you're going to need another "Coal Creek" just for transportation conversion to electric. At least. *Such storage tech doesn't exist today at this 1.2 gigawatt scale.

Wrong. Old Milwaukee: there's a pork chop in every can!

Here's an interesting list from 2016-17. Sort by Conference. Then look at the MAC and the Sun Belt, and then look at the Big Sky* and Summit and Missouri Valley (as proxies for MVFC). Right there is the missing tier of football. *UND was still in the Sky at this point.

Now those are revenues, not expenses, but they server as a pretty good proxy for expenses (outlays) as we've seen in most reports. Now remember, the $23M for UND is for ... 15 sports. (Hockey is not in there.) UND, not counting hockey, spends more on athletics than all but 3 of the MVFC. And it spends more than SDSU which Milo has hinted as able to play FBS.

Well, the first spin was "paperwork" was involved. The first speculation (from an NDSU fan) was "Oops, um, paperwork!" It's since become caffeine. How about "more light less heat". How about a step up and own it press conference by someone.

Every contracted game between the schools UND has played. We've been over that. I've already contacted the NCAA's enforcement people asking why Ben Newman's name is swirling near loss of eligibility issues on at least two campuses. Call it my good deed for the day. You can thank me later. Who could clear up the smoke immediately? Robbins' by naming (names or substances); NDSU by naming the 'giver' (staff, grad student, S/A) that Larson admits to. Heck if Larson know that he knows the substance too I bet. A fifty word press brief and all the supposition goes away.

How in the world does Clemson staff give this to their players when it is not approved in any substance for human consumption? From the link:

Dabo Sweeney and Ben Newman. Chris Klieman and Ben Newman. (Love the photo: Newman on the sidelines in NDSU gear. Almost looks like a "trusted staff member".) Sweeney says his staff at Clemson may have given a banned substance. Robbins' say "trusted staff member" of Klieman's NDSU staff gave banned substance. Condemning? No. Convicting? No. Circumstantial? At best. Coincidental. For now. Basis for an inquiry? I'd have to say ... yes. I'll say it again: Who is the Ben Newman fellow and why do suspensions seem to show up where he is.

Deflecting would be claiming the stimulant in question is caffeine without a definitive statement from Robbins, NDSU, or the NCAA. Only they would know. Other claims are speculation.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him end up with the ugly broken truss.

As the trade deadline nears there are buyers and seller. Honestly, last night Minnesota went to the seller ranks. I'm wondering when Chicago holds the fire sale: Toews to WPG; Kane to BUF.

Surely there are, but those are the two options publicly presented by media thus far. As you say, I won't speculate on what is the truth, I'll stick with what's out there as statements, the options, in the media by the Robbins' and Larson. Otherwise, I'd be speculating on other options and by default speculating on truth. You see, that's critical thinking.

And that description is from a fellow Bison fan.

Given what's in the media we have a "she said / he (Larson) said" dichotomy. Beyond that would be speculation with no basis. So, please don't say "Newman" with no basis; and please don't pass him off as a "consultant" and not a "staff member". As I've said, how about a look into this by a disinterested third party (the MVFC?) to figure out how this happened so all of us can learn and make sure we don't lose senior seasons of starting fullbacks.

A lot of folks are really good at building and starting a place but terrible at long-term operations and management. A lot of other folks are really good at running an existing place but have no idea how to start something from a greenfield up. If this is a transition from the first type to the second type it's a good thing.

Don't break any rules; let it be a Clean Victory for someone.

Cancel? When has there been a 'cancel'? Date please. When NDSU left the NCC there was no longer a contractual obligation to play. There's been no signed contractual obligation to play since, save for the present deal where one game has been already played and the next is in a few months. Don't expect that to be cancelled short of a mutual cancellation due to an act-of-God.

This is where I would have expected NDSU to push back. A player and his mother (a former NDSU WBB star and NDSU Athletics Hall of Famer) have claimed that the substances came from a "trusted staff member". That's quite the indictment and besmirching of NDSU's name. Yes, bad kids will get into program and do unwise things; however, the staff is held to a far higher standard. Either the Robbins' are off base (and nearly slanderous) or NDSU has some untrustworthy "trusted staff members". I'd think NDSU would want that cleared up if they've done no wrong.