The Sicatoka

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.

I'm sure they've forgotten how hard Lee Goren and Peter Armbrust worked them in the fall of 1999. ;) As a fan, I'll tell you right now that last season was the first time I'd ever seen a Dean Blais team look out of gas in a third period. Blais' teams have always been the best conditioned. Without that, his high-energy go-go-go speed game can't work. So "sixth place" is the response to complaints? Maybe I need to contact Captain Hale and remind him that they played the team that finished THIRD in the league in the playoffs. That'd be .... EIGHTH PLACE!

Is there going to be any type of open to the public scrimmage before they go out east?

First non-conference loss in what, eight, ten, years, and the critics are out in full force. Yeah, I'm sure Kelby's regretting having ever met Luke Schleussner .... and that ring.

That eight (or is it 13) years of probation, yeah, that'll help basketball recruiting and attendance. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying an average of 5k for Bison hoops won't happen for a decade.

JBB: The Fabulously (Flooded) FargoDome could put up its own "Fargo Arena," but there'd be some noise from the people in Fargo. That'd be fun to watch. Why renovate BSA if there is going to be an 8000 seat arena across the barren parking lot? The donor who was going to put up the womens hockey arena? He's gone. He pulled out. Not gonna happen. Sorry. Even I'm more up on that than you. And about D-IAA? You hold the paint brush that put UND and USD into the corner. That's OK. When the budgets go sour, we'll remind the State who did it.

Nice photo! I'll reserve comment about a redhead and an Irishman involved in a brawl. Pat O'Leary would be good. He shut down Heatley (one point) for a weekend. I think his abilities there alone would make this team better. We can also see by the Heatley weekend that Dean Blais must have some level of confidence in him. Pat O'Leary started those games to shadow a guy who is now becoming a name in the NHL. Works for me. Patrick? Where are you? And did I mention that Heatley's point came when Pat couldn't get out there on a change (transition play didn't allow for it) to get "the blanket" over him? If it was good enough for Heatley, why shouldn't it be good enough for say .... Thomas Vanek?

With the departure of Fournier, UND only has 14 forwards on the roster. Coach Blais has said he likes to have five full lines in practice. There are only seven defensemen on the roster (plus that transfer who can't play this season, Dahlen). Most of the defenseman drills they run require seven or eight defensemen. You can't easily cheat a guy up from that group. Has anyone been watching the team? Are there any walk-ons? Is there anyone else that could grab a spot on the team? There appears to be a slot open for a guy willing to step up and into it.

Hrkac got 54 points his first year. I guess I could live with that from Mr. Parise.

Jim: Three Goopher sports are in the black: FB, MBB, M hockey. The others are red ink.

Yo bison-dude: I saw the following posted over at that response-to-the-article board at In-Fool'em. How'd you respond to this person's concerns? They seem more than legitimate.

Could have a lot of NDSU fans seen the other conflict and decided to go to SDSU instead of UNO knowing opportunities were running out? Reverse the attendance numbers for those two games and the numbers look more normal for each. And no, Evil Goldie finished behind last year's #2 in D-I hockey attendance. You need a hint: The team has seven D-I hockey titles.

NDSU was #2 in D-II attendance last year. UND was #3. (Well, you beat us at something football last year at least. ) There is a huge drop in that D-II list from 5 to 6 (from over 10300 to around 7800). Last year at least, UND looked like one of five D-II FB attendance "haves." (Those stats show 1998 on and UND isn't below #8 in any season.) By the way, where does NDSU's "desired" I-AA travel partner (SDSU) show up on that 2001 list? #14, about 6700. One more quick note: UND's 2000 average (8500) would have been top third in I-AA last season. The 10000+ 2001 average would have been top quarter in I-AA in 2001. And since butts in seats appears to be an issue, do you know who was second only to Wisconsin in D-I hockey attendance last season?

bisonguy: Getting a two-for-one deal would be smart. We're dealing with administrators from both sides here. Have you ever known a smart administrator?

What do some D-IAA football stadiums have for seating capacity? http://www.eteamz.com/I-AAfootball/locations/ It looks to me like Alerus Center is comparably sized to a lot of those stadiums. It's not in the top half for size in that list, but it's not in a major population center like Harvard or Penn either.

As one of you knows a major Sioux contributor, I know a high-ranker from within the TeamMakers organization. A direct quote from him: "Fargo is a front-runner's town. When you win, you don't have enough seats. When you lose, you can't give them away." I'm amazed by the NDSU "scholarships" argument. -> "D-II is cutting scholarships. NDSU can't win like that." And NDSU isn't winning under the reduced scholarships tally. When the number in D-II was higher (and few D-IIs could fund them all) NDSU was winning. Now the number's lower, almost everyone funds them all, and NDSU isn't winning. OK, so now NDSU is moving to where there are more scholarships. But all the competition can fund all the scholarships. How is that going to be any better? What's it take to move up? Money and facilities. Money: Maybe an edge to NDSU. Fargo is larger than Grand Forks. (But Grand Forks has an ace in the hole that won't let one particular program face budgetary issues.) Facilities: FB: FargoDome vs Alerus. Seating edge to FargoDome. BB: BSA vs old REA (forget Hyslop, it's becoming the wellness center). Old REA holds over 6K now and that's before adding floor seating where the ice used to be. I'd say the condition of the two put them at par, with the slight edge (seating) to old REA. Training facilities: Last time I looked, the three largest weight rooms in the NCAA were the FB room at Nebraska, the FB room at Notre Dame, and the training area in some hockey arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. UND plans to put a sports bubble over the old Memorial Stadium field. Sounds like the ability to train for track and baseball and soccer and football all year. Oh yeah, I guess you can seat about 13000 for BB in some shed called the new Ralph Engelstad Arena, too. (I believe the Kansas coach said he'd never seen a better arena.) In my opinion, both are about in the same position for a move up. UND may have more cash flow/fund raising issues, but they don't have to worry about putting up a D-I caliber basketball (real, not FargoDome or Alerus) arena. They have their funding lined up for facilities renovation (wellness, bubble, redoing REA). So what's worse? Trying to raise that extra million per year (assuming a D-IAA NCC) or paying down the debt on a $30,000,000.00 arena? Sounds the same to me. Hey, if Brookings (SDSU) thinks they can go D-I, don't insult GF and say they couldn't possibly. Ever been to Brookings? It wouldn't be the fifth largest city in ND. Both schools need to make the choice that's best for them. But please don't fool yourself and think that NDSU's two year approach isn't done with the quiet hope that some other traditional rivals come along. That would solve some of the need for an additional million plus in travel dollars for Stream Yellow.

JBB: Your statement makes the tacit assumption of a full FargoDome. We all know that only happens when UND comes into town. In terms of average attendance, the difference is around (probably under) 1000 tickets.

What 'mksioux' has just described is the "domino" theory put in motion by NDSU. It's working.