Northcountry

There was no elevator available?

I read the article and apparently the judge in the case did not see any sign of contrition or remorse from Mitchell other than that he was "feeling sorry for himself". I agree that this is going to be a burden for him, but how about the kid who was bullied? From experience I know that even 50 years later the sense of humiliation and emotional pain do not go away - you can learn to live with it, but it will always be there and the memories will come back any time you let your guard down. This is not the way we treat people in a civilized society, nothing entitles this bully to commit the acts he did, and nothing erases the experience from the memory of the true victim.

Talk about jumping to a conclusion. You now know everything about me and what I believe based on one comment. The only Don Lemon I know used to teach in the Ed Ad graduate program and I never saie "If you grew up white .... you mist be racist". That would be stereotyping in a way just like asking if the use of "x" instead of "the traditional 'ck'" is a black thing that implies ... what? Flame on me all you like, but take just a second to ask yourself if the "x" makes a difference in the name of a white kid as much as it does in the name of a black kid.

What inference are you making about the "x" instead of a "ck"? I live way up north and know two young men of Norwegian ancestry whose first name is Jaxon. If you asked Jaxon Turner "Why "x" instead of "ck", would it be for a different reason than if you asked either of these two the same question? This is just a small example of that "institutionalized" or "inherent" racism that has been so much a part of recent discussion. Such a question seems benign but asking one person to justify the spelling of his name, but not others who have the same name, because of his physical appearance does say something about the questioner.

To quote Tim Hennessy, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You feel threatened every day by .......... what?

My memory may be faulty after all these years, but the name that sticks in my mind is Bill Rendell doing play-by-play on KNOX. I remember an interview with Jim Cahoon after the last game in the old Winter Sports Center (barn) in which he asked if Cahoon (a Montreal draft pick) was going to sign or come back and Cahoon answered that after 3 years in the old building, there was no way he was going to pass on the opportunity to play in the new arena. Those with better memories - feel free to correct; I know how memory dysfunctions.

Are you implying that their "fan experience" is involvement in the game, rather than checking to see if they are on the video board, are supposed to shake their baby, sing along with Mitch, spontaneously kiss the person next to them, or wait for the encouragement to "get loud"?

It is a pity that UND was not able to fine that bridge between honoring its own traditions (Sioux - related) and those of the people whose name we were using (Sioux - actually). I really miss all things Sioux that came with football, basketball, and hockey, but perfect hindsight shows us that we missed an opportunity when Native American groups brought up the name issue and instead of asking how we could incorporate and make it an actual honor we reacted defensively and either ignored them, dismissed them, or derided them for being so easily offended. When it became apparent that the nickname was in jeopardy efforts were made (the Shawn Walsh tribute, the Kibble tribute, and other gestures that Coach Glas tried at basketball games), but it was too late. I still refer to UND as the Sioux, but have accepted that it is part of the past and it is the UNIVERSITY that I support, by whatever name.

"Tackle made by Dean Witkowski"

I think the quote is along the line of "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

But back then it stopped with "Who's he? He sucks!" The scatological reference was added on a Minnesota weekend by a small group of students and the group expanded. I am not in favor of vulgarity and demeaning opponents as a substitute for cheering (y)our team to perform. But I guess that now it is an element of "fan experience".

It never ceases to amaze me how important discussions of a serious topic get hijacked and deflected - maybe I am too old and this is just a sign of the times we live in, but this discussion has gone from the state of UND football to I don't know what point anyone is trying to make. I care about the state of UND football, I could care less about whether or not an offer is "commitable" or "Noncommitable". What adjustments need to made in the philosophy, systems, and culture of UND football and how do we get there? Or are we on the right track and need to allow time for all the pieces to be in place? Please try to keep the discussion linear, I really like some of the early insights, but this digression is a real buzz kill.

I hate myself for saying this because I have been a UND football fanatic since the mid 60's and have travelled far and wide to support this program, but the direction I have seen of late has been to either get blown away in big time, must win games or to find a way to lose in big time, must win games. The optimist in me hangs on to hope, but it is getting more difficult to rekindle that hope. I fear we are becoming a culture of heart broken losers and that is truly sad, but again IF ................

Be discrete about it - we don't want them to know we are on to their secrets. Others have paid the price and we may be next.

Are we sure that Soylent is made from soy beans? Has anyone checked to see if the oceans are running out of plankton? Who is in charge of manufacturing Soylent? And finally is it Green as opposed to Red or Yellow? Just wondering.