Rick

Not only is Bysin D1aa football more popular than D1 hockey, it's also more popular than Big Ten basketball. Why do I say this? Well, I read here that Bysin D1aa football attracts 14,160/game. The Big Ten average for basketball is 12,603. Bysin D1aa football is more popular than University of Michigan basketall (11,023), UConn basketball (13,543), Gopher basketball (11K+).....AND YES, BYSIN D1AA FOOTBALL IS MORE POPULAR THAN DUKE BASKETBALL (9,314/game). So take that you Blue Devils. You can't argue with the facts. It's only a matter of time before Sioux fans realize this. I've heard that ESPN is nogotiating a huge contract with the Bysin similar to the one that Notre Dame gets.

That's not the case at all. I'm quite sure they feel Marto has all the skills necessary to be a very good college player. Some players just develop faster than others.

It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure. Blaiser told me the story a few times, and I also asked Wooger about it one time on the Alexandria golf course.

The Sioux came in second with Cheverie and Kangas, but not Thiessen. If the Sioux were shot down by Thiessen, somebody should notify the coaches.

The Sioux weren't shot down by all three of those goalies. Also, I think we should remember that Belfour was a walk-on. Goehring was a goalie that wasn't heavily recruited, and Parise didn't have a lot of options. On the other hand, Siembida was heavily recruited, had full-ride offers from all the top programs in the country, and UND won that battle but it didn't work out too good. Even if we lose Parise this year, we'll still have Lammy for two more years.

Which three are you referring to?

I doubt that the kid just came out during the interview and made the statement "I'd love to play for the Gophers". My guess is that the writer asked the kid if "he'd like to play for the Gophers", and then the kid gave that response. What else would he say....."no, I don't think I'd like to play for them". If it had been a Wisconsin reporter asking him if he'd like to play for the Badgers, or a North Dakota reporter asking him if he'd like to play for the Sioux, his response would have most likely been, "I'd love to play for the Badgers", or, "I'd love to play for the Sioux". No kid is going to burn his bridges before he's even taken any official visits.

Yes, that's it....Professional. I'm at our downtown Mpls office this week, and as I was driving back to the office from lunch today I think I saw a couple of "pro's" on the corner. They didn't look like either you or Virg though.

I think there's a word for that.

Are you a free agent also and does that mean you go with whoever gives you the most money? Or do you go with everyone who gives you money?

Well, I can appreciate that, but now I've stayed up later than I intended to. Because of that, I'm worried I might oversleep in the morning. If that happens, I won't get my dog outside in time to take care of his business. This has thrown off the whole rest of my week. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on schedule so I can make it up to GF in time to see the puck drop on Friday night. PCM, there could be literally thousands of people out here whose lives have been turned upside down just because your kids needed the computer for a school project and you decided to yap on the phone.

I don't think the Sioux steered away from him at all. Jordy is a player they wanted. I think he just wanted to get the decision over with and didn't want to wait. It's too bad, I would have really liked to see him with the Sioux. He's probably a lot like a Jeff Panzer type of player, but Jeff played two years of USHL hockey before he felt he was ready to play for the Sioux. Maybe Jordy's high school coach had some influence on the decision. http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../101240030/1002

I think The Betty is a great basketball facility for UND. I can't imagine that either the mens or womens teams will ever need much more than 4000 seats for basketball. If they did, I doubt it would take much to add extra seating, concessions and bathrooms to make it a first class facility that any D1 school would love to have. All you have to do is look at the Bison to realize that basketball isn't going to draw huge crowds. They just came off what Chaps described as the biggest athletic event/game in the schools history. Even with all the hysteria surrounding this monumental victory on Saturday, the Bison only drew a little over 3,000 fans to tonights home game against the University of Idaho. The Sioux hockey team could draw that many to an afternoon inter-squad practice. So if the Bison can only draw 3000 to their first home game just 4 days after it's biggest athletic victory in 100+ years, how will the Sioux ever need more than 4000 seats for it's teams. And if they do, they could easily switch the game over to the REA.

I think he's done very well. Considering he's suppose to be a senior in high school this year, I think the coaches are very please with his development. Typically it takes big defensemen at least one year of juniors after high school to get ready to play in the WCHA. I'd say he's about a year ahead of where most people thought he'd be. I think Mike Commodore was 17 when he first arrived at UND, and I'd say that Finley is farther along than Mike was in his first season.

http://www.theralph.com/new2/Calendar_Sect...get_Classic.htm

I believe the schedule goes something like this: 8 a.m. -- Bus Departs REA with Fran at the wheel. 10:30 a.m. -- Bus stops in Alexandria for lunch. 11:15 a.m. -- Bus departs Alex 1:20 p.m. -- Bus arrives at the Radisson 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. -- Check in hotel/short time to relax/unload gear at The John 4 p.m. -- Get ready for practice 4:45 -5:45 p.m. -- Practice 7 p.m. -- Team Dinner

Actually, Gryba did want to go to school at UND but the Sioux couldn't take him till '07.

Has your definition of "doing just fine" loosened in the last couple years?

I disagree, Oshie most likely did everything, and more, the coaches were expecting from him. So, while he's disappointed in the team outcome, he should feel good about his contribution. If everyone would have exceeded expectations like Oshie did, it would have been a cakewalk. If some would have just met expectations, we would have won. Back in the 2004 WJC when the Americans won the Championship, the US "Star" wasn't a disappointment. He was name the top forward, 1st tournament team, and the Tournament MVP. That's the type of performance that's needed out of the "star" player.

Exactly, so why did you bring his name into it?

I believe Ryan and David Hale are a good example of this. If I remember right, one of them went home with a bloody nose.

First, I don't think you should believe every quote you read in a newspaper. Is this what Jon really said, or is this the way some reporter wanted it to sound? Since Jon is fluent in French, maybe he answered the question in French and this is the way the translation came out. If Toews was at this tournament representing the US, then you'd have a story if he was ignoring his Sioux teammates. But he was representing the Canadian team. Were you expecting him to hang around the American hotel in his spare time? If I was the coach of the Canadian team and one of my players seemed to be chummy with his American buddies during this tournament, I think I'd question his commitment. The Canadian team did a terrific job of preparing, and then executing the game plan. We did a terrific job of preparing for the Norwegians, and our top players showed that they could pile up the points against the Norske's, but other than that, it was pretty disappointing. I wish we would have had a few "Toews" on the American team who were willing to accept a role and play a team game. I didn't see Toews, or any of the Canadians, padding their stats against Norway. They were just concerned about playing their game. If we could have traded our "star" player for a "Toews", we probably would have been in the championship. Other than Oshie, there weren't many positives for the US team. You have to hand it to TJ because for the first few games of the tournament he was asked to play a role on the third line, and provide a spark. And he did it very well. Then as the tournament went on, the coaches realized they needed him on the first line to create more offense, because other than against the cupcakes, the first line didn't have the grit to play against teams like the Russians and Canadians. If the other players on his line would have been willing to get their noses dirty, we could have beat the Russians. But evertime TJ ran over a Russian to create a play, there was nobody even close to the net to tip in his centering pass.

That's a picture that could have been taken in every game Oshie has played in since he was a sophomore at Warroad. I've never seen a kid who can, at the same time, carry the puck and deliver a hit like Oshie does. Notice that Oshies stick is still firmly in his hands....also notice where the Russians stick is.

The coaching philosophy at the University of North Dakota since

It will be interesting to see if Trupp will wait another year to start college or if he takes the Badger offer this coming year. Judging by his size, he'll most likely be a four year player no matter which year he starts, so if he waits another year it probably won't matter as far as him getting a shot at the NHL. This is somewhat similar [take away the difference in size] to the Eric Gryba situation. He had to decide between taking a scholarship offer for next year vs. waiting until '07 to play for the Sioux. Since he isn't expected to be a four year player before leaving for the NHL, waiting an extra year to play for UND would have meant getting to the NHL a year later. The Sioux don't have scholarships available for next year, so they will lose some recruits that want to play for them but don't want to wait an extra year.