DamStrait

...and you have no credibility to lose.

Ummm, no. As I recall, at that time UMN cheerleaders usually traveled with the team up to GF without much incident. You're right though, UND officials should have known they couldn't trust UMN cheerleaders to act with class. And they didn't unfurl the banner before coming out onto the ice (not even UMN cheerleaders are that stupid ). Instead, I seem to remember that one of them skated out with it still folded up , and then when out on the ice they pulled it end-to-end. Ummm, no, I clearly state that it was premeditated. I don't think that they could have created the banner quickly enough if Woog had come up with the idea mid game. Ummm, why do I find that not hard to believe? I never claimed that UMN had a monopoly on classlessness. I'm not very keen on 'USA' being chanted when U Manitoba visits. This is being done by the fans, not official representatives of the school, however.

This is why I'll never root for UMN in anything. When they came up to GF to play the Hrkac Circus, they pulled the most classless act I have ever witnessed. I can't remember whether it was the first or second game of the series (I think it was the second) or whether it was the first or second intermission (again, I think it was the second). As I recall, the Sioux had the game well in hand. Anyway, at one of the intermissions of the series, the UMN cheerleaders took to the ice with a huge banner (it seemed to stretch from blueline to blueline, although that might be a bit of an exaggeration) and said, "University of Minnesota Golden Gophers --- America's Team". A near riot in the stands ensued almost immediately. This would have been a classless act had they done it in their own rink, but to do it in the opposition's rink was just pure crap. To my knowledge, no one was hurt. Despite that, I think this is the most classless act I've ever seen because it was obviously premeditated, it was done in the opposition's home rink, and was carried out by official representatives of the school. I've got to believe Woog knew about in advance. He may have even came up with the idea himself. He just couldn't stand that his team, which was very good that year by the way, was clearly being dominated. Yes, the UMN fans are disproportionally arrogant, but the arrogance of the program is what I find to be the most distasteful. I also found quite amusing last year's comment by Lucia on UND and Zach. It went something like, "We don't need a freshman to carry the mail for us". I'm curious where he thinks his team would have ended up last year without leading scorer Vanek, who just happened to be a freshman (and a non-American). I mean, all he did was score the game winners in both of their games in the frozen four. Maybe his definition of "carrying the mail" for the team differs from most people. Or maybe he just has a double standard.

Matt Henderson's shortie in the '97 NCAA final.

The Hrkac Circus in their home whites.

A Curtis Murphy hip check.

Haven't received mine yet either. Maybe it's because I've already subscribed, sight unseen, so they think I'm easy to please (or hard to piss off).

Wow, how do you get that out of what I wrote? I think maybe you need to reread my post.

Sorry, I guess I should have been more clear. I realize that it was attempted before, but I think that with the recent developments further watering down DII and the less than satisfying results of NDSU's conference search that it needs to be reinitiated (in earnest) now that perhaps both sides are (or should be) more desperate. The time for temper tantrums has passed and now cooler heads must prevail. As far as SDSU is concerned, if I were running the show down there, I would be reluctant to jump into the proposed conference just to be able to go DI. I have to believe that this is not what they had envisioned when they announced they wanted to reclassify. In fact, I have to believe that if they had been presented with this proposed conference as their new home back when they were studying the issue, they would have said something like, "If that's the best we can do, well then, no thanks, we'll stay put until we can arrange something more to our liking (like a DI NCC)". My impression of UNO when I lived in Omaha in the early 80s whas that it was a fairly prominent institution locally, and that with the size of the local community, it could easily move to DI (especially DIAA in football) and not necessarily threaten the supremacy of UNL. It's been a long time since then, and politics can always run counter to common sense, so I may be all wet on UNO joining a DI NCC. But if five former NCC schools can be brought into the new conference, then one of the existing non-tournament eligible independents could make the sixth. Maybe one of the the Utah schools. I fully realize that there are some high hurdles to clear, but I think that the idea merits a full effort. If it fails to come to pass, then it is as it is now. If it succeeds, then it will be a much improved model for the future for all involved, especially NCC schools needing to reclassify.

Perhaps this isn't the right thread for this post, but I've been thinking about posting something like this for quite some time, and have finally decided to go ahead with it. UND and NDSU need to start putting aside all the childish behavior and start working in their mutual best interests instead of each cutting off their nose just to spite the other. Specifically, UND needs to admit that DII is going down the toilet and that they need to get out. NDSU needs to admit that going DI is much more of a challenge than they expected. They need to work together to convince at least SDSU, USD, UNO and UNC to form a DI NCC. Others from the NCC would be also invited, but if they don't want to go, don't waste too much time trying to change their minds. Perhaps a DI independent here or there would also be interested in joining the new DI NCC. This will allow everyone who wants (needs) to move up to have something to play for (conference titles) until they are eligible for NCAA tournaments. It will also solve SDSU's problem of finding a DI conference before they reclassify. If a DI NCC is formed, I can see that it would be an attractive target for the Big Sky to absorb, forming a Big Sky East (DI NCC) and Big Sky West (core of current Big Sky). The only way to mitigate the unpleasant road ahead for those NCC schools that need to reclassify is to stick together. If they insist on standing alone, it's going to get ugly.

Chris, I think what you guys are planning to do is great. I look forward to trying the webcast service out for the Tater Bowl and HOF game. If the quality is similar to that of the sample news conference, I can see myself using the service quite a bit, even though I'm a (non-local) season ticket holder. The addition of the men's hockey road games is a fantastic idea. If you guys can get Tim Hennessey to do the webcast play-by-play, your offering would be irresistible for nearly every Sioux fan.

jk, I agree that the Sioux pp under Coach Blais has never seemed to be as effective as under Gino. Don't know really why that would be, as I'm sure they spend a lot of time working on it in practice, but it sure seems to be the case. The two things I would like to see them work on, things that seem to be devastatingly effective against the Sioux pk, are getting a quick shot/pass off from the point and better movement to get open by the forwards near the weak side post. SCSU and MSU-M seemed to do both really well and our boys paid for it.

Slap, If by JP you mean Zach, then yes, he is a legitimate 5'11" in his street clothes, based on the one time I've ever been close enough to him to judge. I also noticed that he was the tallest of all those on stage when his name was called at the draft. If you mean Jordan, then I have no idea.

Spammy, Go away. Don't feel the need to come back. You add nothing to a Sioux board. If one wishes to hear the UMN company line, one can always go to Parise On Ice.

How about this? Take your condescending attitude and don't come back.

And ths differs with your position pertaining to UND in what way?

I don't think it's the case, but I hope you're not putting Prpich in the 'don't want to go to college/not good students/attitude problems' category. I was impressed, especially at the end of the year, with his skill and hockey smarts. I was impressed all last year by his effort and toughness. And the guy is a mechanical engineering major! Give me two full forward lines of Prpich clones any day. I agree, the boys up front have got to put the biscuit in the basket. Even earlier in the year when they were winning, I seem to remember that they were rarely blowing anyone out. They were winning a lot of 1 goal games, which usually means good team defense. I normally refrain from singling any of the guys out, because these guys aren't pros, but the two guys I think that need to step up their efforts are Lundbohm and Massen. If these guys put forth the continuous effort say a Canady or a Connelly does, they'd be first team All-Americans. When the do go all out, it's amazing what they accomplish. This will also be David's senior year. I'd really like to see him have the kind of year that will stick in the minds of Sioux fans for many years to come.

I can't begin to describe my distaste for the quoted phrases. Another two of my least favorites are 'the U' (as if the University of Minnesota is the only university in the history of the universe... rrriiiiiiight...),and 'Minnesota's Pride on Ice' (gag). There are some nice things in MN, but the self love that some of the natives indulge in is a bit much. If it's such a great place, why do they feel the need to continually remind everyone of it? Let it stand on its own merits.

Apparently at practice today Massen was on a line w/ Bo & Zach. If that is the way it'll be tomorrow, then Dean might be putting Speedwhack and Notes back together to shut down the Kunitz line. Who would then be the third forward on that line? McMahon maybe? If that's the case, then you could have Lundbohm, Prpich, and Quinn on together on another pretty good scoring line. It'll be interesting to see what skates out together.

NorthDakotaHockey, I've just sent you an e-mail about those two SRO tix we were talking about. I've found a couple of Sioux fans that want them, if they're still available.

YaneA, Thanks for the info. That's a real shame about Al, hope he's able to find something for himself. Gotta say I'm not very impressed about how the vermin are running this regional. Doesn't sound like fans from the other participating schools are going to be given much of a chance to attend in person. This should prevent them from hosting future regionals, but I'm sure it won't. As Sicatoka (I think) says, "it's all about the Benjamins".

I'm also looking for two this weekend. I've contacted Al Pearson, but he hasn't gotten back to me. Does anybody know whether he's been successful in locating some tickets (have any of you gotten any from him)? If you have tickets you'd like to sell, please contact me at wkmcd@attbi.com Thanks

I'm just glad he seems to have his health issues under control. He's way too young to be suffering through these kind of problems. If he's able to play this weekend it's just icing on the cake.