The Sicatoka

Dang near the perfect anti-bracket.

Fixed that for you ... and lately, they have played like ladies on the gridiron. C'mon ... you set yourself up for that one.

That is a legitimate retort; however, I contend the deeper issue is the NCAA. Why must a school sponsor so many pure red ink sports just to play the sport or two or three that their fan-base is really interested in? For NCAA DI (FBS) that number is 16. To me that is nuts. The vast majority of those 16 are pure loss. Nothing more. And why. If the product can't be fiscally self-sustaining (gate, media, licensing, donations) I question why it is there. Harsh? You bet.

I didn't like the little high tug by the left hand on the left shoulder to throw the man off balance as he went into the boards.

Tell me if you've heard this one before: Tournament championship game. Duluth in attack zone. Hard, questionable contact in corner. Opponent defenseman left in agony. Defenseman clearly in distress with orthopedic issue. Defenseman does not return to game.

The rules: - pick six (6) forwards - pick four (4) defensemen - straight POINTS, not goals, POINTS (G + A) scored by your ten players in the four rounds to the Cup determines winner - no more than five (5) players from a single NHL team on your team Teams must be in before first playoff puck drop Wednesday night.

I thought JohnBoy had won this already.

See. Told ya so.

If the B1G makes a move it'll be to restore fan interest and historic rivals.

If today starts a round of domino tumbling who knows what all comes of it.

Didn't you hear? It'll be all of them at the Four because they're so good none could be left behind.

Not the women. They still just wear eye protection because contact, checking, is verboten.

Think of it like lacrosse in the NCAA. Men's and women's are effectively two different games with two different sets of gear and different rules. http://www.dummies.com/sports/lacrosse/how-womens-field-lacrosse-differs-from-mens-field-lacrosse/

My guess: NDSU allocates targeted donations and student fees under specific sport revenues. That would make each sport deficit look smaller but non allocated revenues look smaller as well. That's what the article shows. Individual sports deficits at NDSU appear small but they show a much smaller non allocated revenue number as well. Bottom line? UND had a budget problem that needed to be addressed and strongly and they did.

I'm saying now is not the time to relax. Now is the time to thrive. It's good advice.

Ah, Grasshopper, you do not see the wisdom of that line item. It is what we call "a three-fer", for that which appears to be one line item is six teams toward the minimum number to be DI. Men's Indoor Track Women's Indoor Track Men's Outdoor Track Women's Outdoor Track Men's Cross Country Women's Cross Country Now you see the bargain that line is.

Harvard looks like they are slow-playing everything to control pace.

Be nice to German guy. English is a second language.

Dear Germany For a mere $60 million we'll keep training Northern European girls to have no one realize there is Olympic women's hockey.

I was in CHI a few days ago. Jokingly asked hotel concierge if they had a line on tickets. "How many you want?" Guy said upper deck was wide open.

Our Lady of South Bend

See: Community Bowl, Bismarck

Mens: 7

Using the FY16 report, let's look at what's been eliminated by equivalencies: Baseball 5.17 MSD 4.9 WSD 14.91 WIH 20.37* Or, 10.07 male and 35.28 female equivalencies. However, we know UND already plans to re-assign WIH and WSD equivalencies to other women's sports. *Yes, that's bigger than the NCAA limit of 18; it includes "exhausted eligibility or medical equivalency".

Using the FY16 report, let's look at what's been eliminated by participants: Baseball 29 MSD 22 WSD 35 WIH 25 Or, 51 male and 60 female participation slots. Knowing UND had too few spots for males before, this actually brings things toward balance.