johndahl

Channel 9's reporting is generally sensationalized crap. Their big, heavily promoted story the next day was about how some people steal others' lunches from shared fridges at work. They were going to change the channel in the bar, but we were in stitches watching the news report... John

Yeah, it's definitely A Prairie Home Companion. Doesn't really fit the hockey - no songs about putting the powdered milk biscuit in the basket yet... John

I like this idea, should it come to that. Red River High already uses the Roughriders, in reference to our state's most famous resident and his band of cavalry, so I say adopt "Cavalry" as the nickname. Logos can still include Teddy Roosevelt if we want (with no royatly fees), and there's nobody to get pissed and claim that a particluar logo looks too cartoon-like, or doesn't show as much respect on Thursday as it did on Tuesday. John

I like this idea -as an attorney cheering on the Litigating Lawyers, we could still all yell "Let's go sue! Let's go sue!"

For those looking for a little more on last weekend's games, see: http://siouxsports.com/hockey/galleries/81.htm http://siouxsports.com/hockey/galleries/82.htm As always, click on a thumbnail for the full-size image. John

Why not sell alcohol, bottle by bottle, at the event? You can check IDs and issue wristbands, and refuse to sell to those obviously intoxicated. It would be easy to spot those drinking from something other than those event-safe plastic beer bottles. John

How about the Fighting Cavalry? It's a now-defunct group that won't protest, is easy to build logos, mascots, and themes around, and ties in well to our state's history. Much like Red River High's Roughriders logo and mascot. John

Great teams need great opponents. North Dakota hockey is what it is in large part because of Minnesota and Wisconsin pushing them - I doubt the Sioux would be who they are today if not in the WCHA (see Notre Dame, Northern Michigan, etc. for examples of ex-ECHA tams that were once successful). John

None of those logos or mascots were retired for civil rights reasons. Any individual or company is free to use a racial stereotype such as those mentioned even today, and many do (the Cleveland Indians come to mind). Whether it's a good business decision or consistent with society's standards for good taste is a different issue. The "hostile and abusive" standard used in hate speech case law can't be trivially applied to anything someone simply doesn't like - it's a very tough standard to meet. The use of "Sioux" as a nickname isn't likely even to be found offensive in a court, much less hostile and abusive, but at least I unserstand the point he was trying to make. John

I'm still a bit lost, and I took constitutional law at a good school. Is he saying use of the Sioux name amounts to hate speech, and so using the Sioux name under free speech amounts to a violation of another's civil rights such that the speaker should be held accountable despite first amendment protections? Not trying to be funny, just trying to read the post and make sense of it... John

It's as much an Irishman as the Cleveland Indian is an indian.

So we're in agreement about this then - since the Fighting Cavalry aren't a people and you don't remember the last time you "seen" one, it should do just fine. Problem solved!

OK, I'll bite. What is the argument that traditional exercise of the right to free speech violates the ninth amendment by being construed to deny other rights? And what are "just don't act on it" and "misconstruction of other rights" supposed to mean?

Note the NCAA intentionally excluded caricatures of white people from its ruling, such as the "Fighting Irish". Because the calvary are also white people, they presumably aren't considered hostile and offensive like indians. Then there's the added benefit that they no longer exist, so they aren't likely to whine about our use of the name. I suggest, though, that we keep some portion of our present name if possible, and be the "Fighting Cavalry" instead of just the "Cavalry". John

That, and most Norwegian-Americans don't have persecution complexes, and appreciate that sports teams such as the Minnesota Vikings and others are proud to identify themselves with some part of Norwegian-American heritage. If the dakota indians are really so dead-set against our using the Sioux name as a source of school pride, why not ditch it and adopt a new name such as the Fighting Cavalry that reflects the history and culture of North Dakota's past by using a name that's no longer used by today's people, much like Vikings? Red River HS has a similar name in Roughriders, and uses a caricature of Teddy Roosevelt as a logo/mascot. Exclusion of the Fighting Irish from the NCAA ruling suggests caricatures of white people aren't as offensive as indians, and the cavalry's long disbanded so won't likely complain. John

I've heard enough from players and coaches to strongly suspect that the WCHA teams would rather have eastern officials than WCHA officials for the tournament - the vast majority of players and fans want a clean, fair contest.

It's a bit of a surprise that almost everyone picks Michigan to beat CC - they must not have seen the same games I saw this past weekend.

Recent events reminded me of this photo I took at last year's championship game: http://siouxsports.com/galleries/40/619.jpg No penalty was called. John

Nope - she's definitely a cutie. I was simply commenting that despite having far fewer people, the Sioux fans were well-heard . I've edited the comment to make the meaning less ambiguous, John

Photos are up; see http://siouxsports.com/hockey/galleries/57.htm

I don't disagree with anything you've posted, but was thinking of the NCAA tournament, where I believe the Sioux can beat anybody if they are healthier instead of more beaten up than they are presently. I also think something needs to be done to fix a long history of poor officating, and don't know how to get the WCHA to take the problem seriously. The third place game is always a tough game to watch, because the fans aren't in it and energy seems to be up-and-down, bit I'm on my way out the door right now to cheer for the Sioux. John

I sort of like the idea of walking out and forfieting, or at least playing under protest - we don't really need a third game in 48 hours, or to lose more players. If done under the explanation that the WCHA has wholly and consistently failed to enforce the rules and protect its student athletes, perhaps it would garner some media attention and result in some good. I think what we all want is a game where hooking is called hooking, holding is called holding, and checking from behind into the boards after a play is dead is a more severe penalty than either. John

FSN North shows nearly every gopher game, and has interviewed players between periods, before the game, and after the game in just about every game.

A few people have asked today what I shoot the pictures with, so I thought I'd post it- A Canon 10D, which is basically a more durable version of Canon's digital rebel and has now been replaced by the 20D, a Canon 70-200 2.8 L IS lens, and a canon 35-350 L lens, sometimes with a 1.4x L teleconverter on the 70-200 (the 2.0x teleconverter is too much - it makes the IS version of this lens softer). The camera's cheaper than either of the lenses, but even with a cheap lens takes great pictures for most purposes. John

After the gopher loss on Friday, everyone else has left the ice and the nets are being removed for resurfacing, and Hirsch goes out and stands at center ice for a minute or two all alone. As the official walks across the ice with a bucket of unused pucks, he asks the official for one. He then motions to the people at the Zamboni door to close it, and they eventually do. He skates at full speed toward the net, shoots the puck from about ten feet, and crashes into the net at full speed, knocking it into the boards. The few thousand people left in the arena all stopped to watch the odd spectacle. In the press conference afterward, Lucia was asked if Hirsch is OK. He responds that physically he believes Hirsch is fine. Anyone hear anything else about what he was doing/thinking? John