YaneA

Have any season ticket holders received their tickets for the women's games yet? I'm still waiting for mine.

Wow! The Forecheck Report warms my heart. I'm glad to hear that the process went so smoothly and, for once, the students were respected and, in turn, respectful. Hope that's an omen for the new year. Hockey at the Ralph would not be the kick that it is without the student fan base.

After watching way too much "What Not to Wear," I gotta go with the black jersey at home, keeping the diagonal stripes. Much more slimming than white with horizontal stripes.

I sent an e-mail to the Ralph's head of marketing the other day, suggesting that they get some footage of and interviews with the hardy students who will be camping out three days in advance for hockey tickets. I said they could show the tape during Meet the Sioux and remind us all how supportive the student fan base is. She replied that if students did camp out they would definitely get some video of the event. And, she agreed with me that the students are an important part of the fan base and need to know that they are appreciated. Edited to add her exact response: "Thank you for the suggestion Elaine - I believe we are planning to tape some footage in the event the students decide to camp-out. And I agree, they are an important part of the Fighting Sioux fan base and we truly value their dedication. Thank you for your email. Julie Arel Director of Marketing Ralph Engelstad Arena" There may be hitches and glitches with the seat selection process but if everyone keeps their head, there should be no need to call out either the paramedics or the riot police. By the way, forecheck, are you a certified first responder?

Thanks, Jim. I guess I don't have Alzheimer's-- yet-- after all.

I thought that Ian ran out of eligibility, something to do with having taken junior-college level classes when playing hockey in Canada. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

JBSU=Jan Brady State University. References the supposed envy St. Cloud has for Minnesota, equivalent of Jan's for Marcia on "The Brady Bunch."

Nope, not gonna cheer for the Gophers. I will root for UNH (the University of No Hardware [Yet]) instead for two reasons, the most important being they aren't the Gophers and the second being that their top goalie and I have the same last name. The enemy of MY enemy is MY friend. Let's not delude ourselves, Sioux fans: our lives will be a living hell if Minnesota is the first team in 30+years to repeat as Frozen Four champ. As their fans remind us constantly, the Sioux are no longer the lead sled dog and if you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes. In my world there is this one constant: I will always despise the Gophers, no matter how many North Dakota boys they recruit.

Heaven help Sioux fans if Minnesota repeats! Imagine the arrogance we would be hearing for another year from the fans of the Moronic and Gold. I could tolerate any outcome of the Frozen Four but that one.

Go to www.theralph.com and answer the Sioux fan Survey. Interesting questions being asked; perhaps not just an academic exercise?

Well, that renders another brilliant idea moot. Bouncey ball. Did I say, "ugh"?

Bouncey ball. Ugh! Baggy shorts and squeaky shoes. I checked the March 2005 calendar on the Ralph site but there wasn't anything penciled in.

Just got an e-mail indicating FoxSportsNet will join the game in progress at 5 p.m. on Friday. If true, how does that saying about "half a loaf" go?

Jeez, private enterprise turning into the kind of bureaucracy government is known for! How can we get a straight answer on this? Who can lead us out of this confusion with some facts? And, if the decision is to not televise the game, who do we turn to to get that decision re-thunk?

I called Midcontinent at your suggestion and was told, as of now, no plans to carry the game(s). I got the feeling, nice as customer service rep Angel was to talk to, that she was nowhere near a decisionmaker on the issue. Shouldn't UND take the lead on the armtwisting here? The Fighting Sioux Sports Network will really be dropping the puck--the "dropped ball" metaphor doesn't exactly adapt to hockey--if they don't provide coverage of the Sioux in the regional. Thanks schmidtdoggydog for the update. If true, I am in heaven, even though I'd still rather be there in person.

The more I think about my original idea, the better I like it. If the Engelstad wants to be taken seriously as a "destination venue," then it needs to be able to handle back to back spectacles like the World Juniors and the 2005 regional, West, Midwest, whatever you want to call it. I have no idea how much time it takes to "ramp up" for a regional but the Engelstad should be able to handle both events and, if they pull off such a stunt, that's certainly got to add to their salabilty/marketability for even bigger, better and more events in the future. I think they should go for it.

I have an idea. Since the 2005 Midwest regional site is yet to be determined, why doesn't Engelstad Arena bid for it? I know the "West" regional that year has been awarded to Mariucci, but why not just switch the geographic designations, with the Grand Forks Engelstad site becoming the West regional and Mariucci the Midwest? Aren't the geographic designations pretty arbitrary, anyway? Showing my ignorance here, but aren't this year's East and Northeast sites (Providence, R.I., and Worcester, Mass.) as close or closer to each other than Minneapolis and Grand Forks? PCM, as our "elder" spokesman who sailed with Columbus in 1492, perhaps you can answer the geography question? Engelstad is set to host the West in 2006 so we know we are an acceptable venue. But, maybe we would have too much on our plate to host in March 2005 what with the World Juniors here 3 months earlier? Discuss.

The Gophers will host again in 2005. In 2006, however, it will be UND's turn. I would have thought that the NCAA would require that a set number of tickets (a couple hundred, maybe) be set aside for each team playing in the regionals. Could be that did happen but neither you or I are on the receiving end of the set aside. Good luck finding a ticket. Another Sioux fan I know found tickets through gophersports.com. Did you try there?

DamStrait: Al could not put together a bus for Mariucci because all the Triangle Fleet was otherwise engaged. According to his wife, who I spoke with two hours ago, he has also had no luck with tickets, not even for himself, which is a dirty shame considering all he has done for Sioux hockey over the last 20 plus years. Since I can't get down there, I will be staying at home cheering by the TV or radio as loudly as if I were in Mariucci. Let's go Sioux. Time for some Shock and Awe, Sioux Hockey-style!

To Sioux fans going to the Final Five: I have made Sioux-venirs to commemorate our trip to the FF and, while they last, I will give them away to the fans who find me at the Xcel Thursday night. The Sioux-venir consists of the specialty menu from "The Final Five Grill," featuring that ever popular dish, Vengeance sur la glace or "Revenge on Ice." This priceless dish is described as "best serve cold. A triumph of superior goaltending and shooting, proudly prepared for you by our Sioux Chefs." Until security takes it away from me, I will be wearing a flashing red light, symbolic of how the Sioux hockey team will light up the opposition during the tournament. I'll be sitting with the people from Al Pearson's fan bus but I haven't heard yet where those seats are located. If you would to see a "menu," be one of the first 25 people to find me.

PCM: Our current quarrel over Siouxrock notwithstanding, I also look forward to meeting you on Al's bus. You are one of my favorite posters. I laughed so hard people wondered where I'd gotten the nitrous oxide when I read your comment, one-upping others who claimed to have known of Zach Parise's merit way back when, that you wrote his birth announcement. If you haven't gone with Pearson on the road before, you are in for a treat. If you have frequented Al's bus, you probably know how to find a good bailbondsman in any town in America.

Sic--I understand you challenged Siouxrock because of his now-deleted boast that he knew more about hockey than the rest of the board. But why did you feel the need to show up some teenager? I'm pretty sure his point was that because he actually *plays* the game, he knows more about it than armchair fans like us. Seems to me that would be a pretty valid supposition. To quote Mark Twain, "We're all ignorant, only on different subjects." I'm not mad at you but I just expected the board veterans to take the higher road, especially with a fellow Sioux fan of tender years. P.S. I'm sure Siouxrock is mortified to see someone old enough to be older than his mother defending him but I think you guys have been way too hard on the kid. I think we should have welcomed him to the fold instead of critiquing his posting like uptight English teachers. When he feels part of the board and is ready to be taken seriously, he'll drop the gibberish and converse with us on an appropriate level. We already know he's capable of doing so.

People, people! It's now time for you guys to cut Siouxrock some slack. If this is your idea of hazing a newbie, I don't like it very much. Assuming that Siouxrock is who he says he is, that means he's a high school hockey player from Red River, who's grown up watching the Sioux and hopes one day to play for them. Where's the bad? Maybe he doesn't live up to your standards for anal-retentive netiquette. So what? Every time someone criticizes another poster for a web faux pas like using the capslock button, I immediately lose respect for the critic. The internet and the message boards are meant for all of us. I don't remember a post from Siouxrock that I thought was profane or abusive. He's just a kid, for pity's sake; kids are going to ignore the dictates of adults, especially when the decrees are about something as trivial as spelling and punctuation. True, a poster who doesn't bother to proofread his posts or who intentional flouts the rules of spelling and grammar will have less credibility--the lack of credibility is punishment enough, we don't have to jump on the guy with both feet. This isn't the kind of behavior I've come to expect from the posters who frequent this board. Sioux fans do not eat their young. Leave that to the lower orders of fandom. By the way, I don't have a clue to the answers from Sic's pop quiz. One of the reasons I come to this board is to be enlightened about the game by people who know more than I do. Am I going to be attacked next because I don't know the difference between a neutral zone trap and third base?

Before I saw Zach Parise mugged game in and game out, I, too, said to myself that when the officiating is going against us, the boys have to skate through that crap. But, I'm starting to change my tune. Sometimes, the officiating just plain sucks. The referees got their marching orders at the beginning of the season to call obstruction--obstruction hooking, obstruction holding, etc. You'd think that would be mean the death of the clutch and grab game in the WCHA. But, no. I know the referees have a very tough, thankless job to do and, when they are in position, have a much better angle on play than I do from my seat in the corner. But some of the non-calls are enough to make me lose my religion.

PCM: I'm going down to St. Paul on Al's bus. When I talked to him at the beginning of the week, he was lining up in the neighborhood of 75 tickets. Not all ticketholders will be on the bus for sure but the more Sioux fans at the X, the better. I'll be bringing my road-luck frog which should also work for supposedly neutral sites. Will you be bringing the shoes?