siouxjoy

I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it made me giggle.

I did, too, and on Saturday I saw the K1 replicas at Scheels. Decisions, decisions.

Oh, I know... But, what about the next time? What about the other schools on the reservations? What other programs can UND create that would be beneficial to the residents of the two reservations? I am convinced that there are creative folks working on this campus that can think of events that would be beneficial to all of the parties (holding camps definitely help skills for those athletes looking to become coaches some day). Off the top of my head: Nursing students take courses in Public Health nursing...what kind of programs could be done on the reservation? What about the student organization that gives financial advice? Why not have a session in Warwick? When I was in grade school, we could "adopt" a UND basketball player, why not have the grade schools on reservations "adopt" an athlete... APO (Alpha Phi Omega), a student service organization, could have a special trip to either Standing Rock or Spirit Lake. The possibilities are endless! I think that if the university can partner with the people of Spirit Lake and Standing Rock, everyone will come out a winner. Told you I was an optimist.

I am, by nature, an optimist. I believe that good can come from everything. Personally, I think a great start would be more activities like this. Of course, in light of the settlement, some activities are going to seem contrived, but if a group is doing something because it is the right thing to do, who can argue?

Jean-Phillippe now has 8 career shutouts. Nice.

Native Americans can receive National Merit Program awards, but the reality is, the number that actually do is very low. The truth is, very few academic aid programs are awarded to minorities, due to the fact that the majority of high-scorers in ACT and SAT are white. Does that make scholarships that use ACT and SAT as criteria discriminatory? Some folks think so. I may have an advantage here, because of my former job and the fact that I did my grad school work studying various aid programs... But, there are alot of other awards designated for specific groups that not every person can apply for, including left-handed students, children of certain descent (not just Native American), grandchildren of WWII veterans, etc. I guess, in my opinion, the scholarship program is what it is. If you think about the amount of scholarships that are designated for certain groups (awards for certain majors, residents of certain counties, certain sports positions), it is hard for me to be upset that some are awarded to Native Americans. Where I think the real problem lies with paying for college is that tuition rates have gone up astronomically while the government's idea of "unable to pay" hasn't changed at all. Of course those that make $10,000 a year can't afford college, but now it's to the point where families with incomes of $40,000 can't afford it either. When will that be acknowledged? All that being said, I know what you are saying. I am still paying off my loans and I did have some scholarship money, too (I'm white, so I didn't get the tuition waiver or any other "diversity" aid). Wow, I went WAY on a tangent there. Sorry. Back to discussing the settlement.

I have stated this before, but I firmly believe that cowbells should be banned from all hockey games sporting events with the only exception being cross-country skiing events being held in Scandinavia. Ugh.

Okay. I know only a couple people have posted on this, but I feel it is VERY IMPORTANT to clarify a misconception before it grows out of control. The University of North Dakota DOES NOT automatically grant free tuition to all Native American students. There are aid programs, such as the Sioux scholarship and Cultural Diversity Tuition Waiver, but students must apply and qualify for these awards. It is not automatic, and neither of these programs cover all of the costs to attend UND. Some tribes do have funding earmarked to provide aid to its members, but those programs are regulated through the tribe and have nothing to do with UND. To me, it is no different than any other aid programs, like the National Merit Program which rewards students with high academic achievement or scholarships from the local cooperative given to students that live in that community. These just happen to be awarded to Native American students. Sorry, the assumption that all Native Americans attend UND for free is a pet peeve of mine.

I shouldn't even post yet, since I am reserving judgement until I have had a chance to let everything sink in and also see more details, but oh, well... I guess the biggest disappointment I see (so far) is that the University is willing to retire the Sioux name based on this settlement. In my head, I always saw the lawsuit and name fight as two separate issues: -The lawsuit was addressing how the NCAA acted in "mandating their beliefs" on the use of Native American mascots, logos, etc. And how the NCAA acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in its treatement of UND compared to other schools with NCAA membership -The question of whether the Fighting Sioux moniker at the University of North Dakota should be used I believe a decision on whether the University of North Dakota should be known as the Fighting Sioux should be decided by respectful dialogue and discourse and not because some group--NCAA--decided that they were going to punish schools that use a moniker they didn't like. I really felt that the NCAA acted way out of their bounds in their enforcement of this policy/"social statement", and I guess I wanted to see them "punished" more. I guess we shall see what the future brings...

Adam, I was never given the opportunity to meet you, but I know your last moments were spent doing something you love. Annette, it was great seeing your huge smile while you were helping out at Vacation Bible School; it will be missed. Now both of you can spend all of your moments soaring above the clouds. May God grant your friends and family comfort during this difficult time.

You may have already seen this, but here you go:

Okay, I'm not understanding what you are saying. How does "I feel honored to be a part of this team/school/group" equal "look at me"? I take it as being humble; if a person was trying to pat themselves on the back, wouldn't they say something like: "______ is blessed to have me on the team" or "look what I did to make this place better" the closest I see that happening is "being here forces me to make myself better" I am not trying to flame, I really am not following you with your post.

I guess all of the hockey-related comments already posted pretty much cover what I would say, so I will give you a post with random worthless thoughts: I just got high speed Internet, so this was my first purchased webcast. I think I got to see about $3 of it, with the terrible pixelated second period, but oh, well. I just kept hoping that enough people would give up and log out so it would improve. Heh. I actually liked the announcers on the webcast. They weren't gigantic homers at all. Some of their comments, like "well, the refs can't see everything" were refreshing. I also got a kick out of how certain names got an extra "h" sound to them, like Jake Mart-ho, and Matt Frat-hin. I also am pretty sure I saw the guy Jean-Philippe was talking about. He had a funny hat on and was always yelling at the goal when they showed a crowd shot. Oh! Here's a hockey comment: I CANNOT believe that Colorado College didn't score shorthanded at the end of the period. They had a couple really great chances.

Has there been anything said on the radio about Malone's injury?

So last night, driving home from work, I figured "why not?" and called Midcontinent to add the digital tier packages to my cable subscription so I could get CSTV tonight. The gal was very nice, and she asked..."is there some kind of big game coming up? I have been getting all kinds of calls from North Dakota asking to add CSTV for Friday..." Nice work, Sioux fans!!!!

I am wishing nothing but success for you, too, but I think that you will have to make sure your publicity goes beyond campus. There are always posts about how many people drive up from Fargo...do you have a plan to notify the fans outside of GF (aside from this board, of course)? This is an extremely high profile game, so I am thinking there will be a lot of out-of-towners coming to the Ralph... Plus the fact that it is Reading and Review day (Dec 7) so there will be no classes on Friday. The latest Dakota Student reminder will be on Tuesday, giving a couple days for students to forget. If you get enough sponsors, you could easily have some cheap shirts made up, especially white ones for Saturday night. Just trying to think of potential obstacles, that's all...

I have to respectfully disagree with you. I thought the officiating was pretty bad. I don't know if it really would have changed the outcome of the game, and I don't want to take anything away from UNO, but the refs allowed/missed at least three really blatant holds by UNO. Both late hit calls were extremely weak, and I saw at least one time when the Sioux jumped offsides. I admit I was pretty wound up during the game, but I only remember them calling holding twice, once on the controversial touchdown call-back on the Sioux, and once on UNO. I find it hard to believe that either team only held once. Okay, got that off my chest. Now, time to move on, and also go get ready for the hockey game.

COPY CATS!

Stroup was on the sidelines in front of my seats for most of the Mankato game. He had a pretty visible limp, and it made me think he would be out for the UNO game. When they brought Bauer off the field, he was putting zero pressure on his ankle. I don't know if it is still true, but after the game the trainers were thinking high ankle sprain (I didn't get a chance to hear or see either Coaches Show, so apologies if this was already reported). On a funny note, while they were helping him off the field, Bauer put all of his weight on a female trainer and I thought he was going to squish her.

I am sorry I can't help you. I have season tickets, and honestly have never tried to buy FB tickets from ticketmaster. Maybe you could try calling the ticket office at: (701) 777-4689 Good luck!

I will be there! I went two years ago, as well. Highlights: Fabulous weather, a Sioux victory, lots of fans, pretty good sightlines, gigantic cookies at the concession stand, a MSUM football player singing the national anthem... Lowlights: Having to use a porta-potty behind the bleachers, a game that seemed closer than it should have been, some Mankato player (no idea what number) motioning that he was going to "cut the Sioux team's throat" during the signing of the national anthem... Part of our agenda will be checking out the "Taste of Mankato" event before the game. Here is the info I found on it: 12:00pm-2:30pm outside Blakeslee Stadium Taste food from your favorite local restaurants, or branch out to discover new flavors from around Mankato! Head over to the Taste of Mankato after the parade for great food, live music, and a variety of entertainment. Brought to you by MSU Athletics. and Taste of Mankato: From 12-2:30 p.m. roughly 20 food vendors from the greater Mankato area will set up shop on Practice Field No. 1 for the annual Taste of Mankato. Tickets to the event are $10 for adults and $5 for students (K-12). The event will feature live music and interactive games courtesy of the Army National Guard. After the game, may be attending this comedian: B.J. Novak

In my case, I am just used to seeing our defense dominate the competition. This is obviously a new look for the Sioux, and even the NCC with the amount of phenomenal quarterbacks in this league. I am just taking a little extra time getting used to seeing teams have more success against the Sioux D.

I saw your first post, and the first thing that popped into my head was my grad class in Personnel, Supervision, and Staff Development. Some organizations implement a 360 evaluation program, where employees get an opportunity to evaluate their supervisor. It is all done anonymously, so employees don't feel that their answers will be detrimental to their future employment. I, personally, would love to see it. In a lot of orgs, the supervisor answers to someone who isn't with that person day in/day out. It is hard to see what is going wrong (or right) until something hits the fan. Plus, as a supervisor, I would think that getting feedback from my employees can only make me better. I realize this isn't exactly the same thing that happened in the athletics office, but it is similar to a common practice seen in a lot of organizations.

And also during the semester break.

If the post in the comments part of Bakken's blog is true and Buning is actually ill and on medical leave, I wish him and his family well. Either way, I can't wait for Monday.