Rick

Just think where UND could be if they upgrade their image by going D1AA.

Also listed at #19 in the Most Connected category. http://www.forbes.com/home/lists/2004/10/2...nncampland.html

What kind of crazy thinking is that? Sounds like he needs to enroll in the SmokeyJoe Chapman Accounting and Management School (SCAMS-101).

I know what you're saying jk, but I would rather be ranked #1 all season, and then be eliminated, than to be mediocre all season and be eliminated. There's always going to be a Denver (Berkhoel) that can come in and ruin the party at the end of the season. Berkhoel got hot and he most likely would have won that game even if we had been ranked #10 all season. He did it to a very good Duluth and Maine team also. I'll take my chances on that, but I really like having the Sioux the top team week after week. UND is used to it and can handle the pressure. Now you're coming around....I like it.

Thanks Sprig, you just made me fall out of my chair.

I've never understood why we wouldn't want the number 1 ranking. I've seen on other message boards in past years where people say they don't want the #1 target on their back....give it to someone else. Our friends to the East never want the #1 label, they're afraid their players can't handle the pressure of being #1. The alternative to being number 1 is being number 2 or worse. I'll take number one any day. Most Sioux teams are used to carrying the #1 target on their backs. It comes with playing for North Dakota. Guys like Parise, Bochenski, Stafford, Spirko, Murray, Zajac, Panzer, Hakstol, Sandelin, Belfour, Hrkac, Goehring, Johnson, Patrick, Eades, Berry, etc, etc, etc, didn't come to play for the Sioux so they could be #2 or #3......or#10. They came to the top program in the country to be number 1. They want to be #1 from October through April. I say, if other programs want to be #2, #3......#10, let them have it. I know Gino always wanted to #1....Blaiser always wanted to be #1.....and Hakstol wants to be #1. I also know that Sandelin wants to be #1, but I'm hoping Hak, Berry and Eades can keep him at #2.

bf1234....could you please provide your contact info so Blaiser and the UND Hockey Coaches can get in touch with you. Blaiser has been under the false assumption that the smaller ice surface is more conducive to higher skilled players. When Ralph Engelstad, Dean Blais, Scott Hennen, and others were flying around the country on Ralph

We're still wondering what profession you're in?

UND didn't recruit Grant Potulny. They had other recruits they felt were better. Minnesota took him just to open the "outside of Minnesota" recruiting borders. It turned out to be a great move, because Potulny became a much better player than anyone thought he would. UND recruited Ryan very hard but he decided to follow his brother to Minnesota. That's the way it goes. Trouble is, if UND would have been successful at getting Ryan, they might not have had room for someone else from last years class. I don't think we'd want to give up Brady Murray or Drew Stafford for Potulny. Irmen??? I think I'll leave that one alone.

If you think the game is better on a large ice sheet, then you don't understand the game. If the rules are enforced, the game is much more exciting on a small surface. Quick, skilled teams make everything happen so much faster on the small surface. UND's teams of the past are perfect examples of that. But, then a few years ago other teams found out the only way to stop teams like UND was to grab them and slow the game down. The league let them get away with it, so UND had to go to bigger players to fight through the clutch & grab. Now, the league says it is going to call the game as it was meant to be called, so teams like the Sioux and Duluth, who play the up-tempo style, will be very exciting to watch. The skills of Murray, Spirko, Zajac and Sioux recruit Ryan Duncan (just to name a few) will be fun to watch on the small surface.

Actually, Zach Jones was Haks first recruit.

Miller will be a tremendous addition to the team. Many will tell you that he had the best hands of anyone on the SSM team last year. He has all the skills...great hands, good skating, good vision, great attitude. I was told that he only needs time to put all the pieces into a total package. Once he gets it all together, he'll be a great college player. I don't think anyone really knows if that will happen by next year or the year after, but judging by his first week in the ushl, it looks like it's coming along quickly. He's probably also the best roller-hockey player in the country. I think Oshie and VandeVelde are similar situations. Oshie has tremendous hands also and could probably be compared to Bochenski in that regard. He'll pick a corner of the net like Bo did and you'll ask yourself "how'd he do that". Some have knocked Oshie's skating, but his skating is pretty good....much better than Bochenski's was and Bo's wasn't that bad. He seemed to do fine when he took the puck away from Ballard and skated down to the other end and put the puck past the goalie. Oshie is almost impossible to knock off the puck, and when someone does try hit him, they are usually the one sent flying. VandeVelde is someone the coaches wanted to get signed before other programs recognized his talent. He is very skilled and I think we'll all be surprised at the amount of talent he has. It will be fun watching him this year. With these three coming in and some other "high-profile" recruits looking at UND, I doubt the program will miss a beat with Hak, Berry and Eades.

It seems strange that students who are enrolled full time at MSU & Concordia are also counted as full-time students at NDSU, when they are only taking one class on the SU campus. I'm wondering if it's really legit to count those 228 students. If that's the case, UND should count the 300 Aviation students at satellite campuses.

Or you could ask major publications like Newsweek, US News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, etc.....or, yet another way, would be to go around to the U of Michigan, Harvard, U of MN, Boston College, U of Wisc, Florida, Cornell, Yale, etc and do a survey and see what kind of response you get. Or, I suppose you could go do survey's at Greeley, Brookings, San Luis Obispo, Davis, Cedar City, etc and see what response you get.

I think in some states (examples-Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, North Dakota, etc) it's clear which university is considered the flagship. There are maybe 6 states that have a couple of schools that might be considered the flagship. Flagship means "the chief one of a related group". So in North Dakota, if you lined up the school flags, the University of North Dakota would be the highest flag in the center. And then you would go down on either side with Minot State, Dickinson State, Mayville State, Jamestown, UMary, Bottineau and so on down the line.

It's interesting to see how North Dakota's Flagship University stacks up with the other 66 flagships around the country: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/200...ition-table.htm http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/200...e-tuition_x.htm

Study: Athletic success doesn't pay off in donations By Jack Carey, USA TODAY Success in big-time sports has little, if any, effect on a college's alumni donations or the academic quality of its applicants, according to a study made under the direction of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. The study — conducted by Robert H. Frank, a professor of management and economics at Cornell University — released Tuesday, concludes schools that invest heavily in their sports programs and facilities hoping to markedly improve fundraising are likely making a mistake. "Alumni donations and applications for admission sometimes rise in the wake of conspicuously successful seasons at a small number of institutions (such as after a national title or Final Four berth)," Frank says. But, he continues, such increases are "likely to be small and transitory ... (and) there is not a shred of evidence to suggest that cuts in spending on athletics would reduce either donations by alumni or applications." Frank concludes that, notwithstanding what he calls "vivid episodes," such as Doug Flutie's last-second touchdown pass for Boston College against Miami (Fla.) in 1984, "the existing empirical literature suggests success in big-time athletics has little, if any, systematic effect on the quality of incoming freshmen an institution attracts (as measured by SAT scores)." Knight Commission chairman William Friday says Frank's study points up the need to "stand down" in the athletic spending spree and says conferences should take the lead in encouraging member schools to curb expenditures. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/200...ommission_x.htm I believe one of Chapmans selling points on the D1aa move was that it would result in more/larger alumni donations. If this study is accurate regarding big-time programs, what does it say about unsuccessful small-time D1aa programs?

Agreed, Bill's family is the main driver of the company, but Tut was also. I only mentioned Tut's family because he had boys who played for the Sioux and Bill didn't. I see I had a couple mistakes in my post.....(disclaimer) I've been staying at a hotel in Mpls this week and I wrote that after we'd had a few glasses of Merlot last night. Where I said Tut's family (Susan and Conway), I meant it to be Scott and Conway. And then I was going to go on and point out that Susan is now the President. Scott (Crunch) played for the Sioux back in my day and gave Bill Baker the "welcome wagon" treatment to the UND Winter Sports Arena in Baker's first college hockey game. Baker was a Gopher freshman and they were playing the Sioux in a pre-season game (not sure if it was called the Hall of Fame Game then). But Scott and Baker got into a fight and Crunch did quite a number on him. One of the most one-sided fights I've ever seen. It was like Commodore cleaning up on Alex Brooks (?) a few years ago. Anyway, after Crunch re-arranged Bakers face and teeth, Baker went into Dentistry.

Not to be too picky but the Forum article makes it sound like Cal's family, which includes David & Mike, owns and operates Marvin Windows. Cal and his family have never been involved in the window company. Cal's brother, Tut and his family, have always been involved or operating the company. A few of Tut's kids (Susan, Conway) have been very involved. Susan has been the President for close to 10 years now. Conway (former Sioux hockey player) was with the company for quite a few years, but when Susan took over as President, Conway opened up Streif Sports outside of Warroad. Streif Sports is similar to a Cabelas store. Whenever Cal spoke to groups, he always made it clear that he wasn't the Marvin associated with the window company. Cal and his family owned and operated hotels and resorts. David still operates the Can/Am and I believe they still operate The Patch also. One of the things I'll miss most about Cal is when he would MC at Sioux boosters prior the the Gopher series. The MC job was always his during that week. There was nobody better at ripping into the Wooger than Cal. I wish they had a highlite reel of those luncheons. He will be missed. He didn't make it to many Sioux games since they moved into the new REA. But it was always easy to find him at the top row (North end) in the old REA. He always had his un-lit cigar that he would chew on throughout the game.

I agree, Ammerman is an excellent player. But he isn't at the level of Brian Lee, Zach Jones or Taylor Chorney yet. If given the chance, many players would like to play for (and lean towards) teams like North Dakota, Michigan, BC, etc. But, those schools might have other players they feel are farther along in their development and tell the recruit that they will stay in contact and watch them over the next year. Players like Brian Lee, Zach Jones & Taylor Chorney are premier recruits that everybody wants and you need to pull the trigger early if you want to sign them. They have all the skills and have demonstrated that they know how to put the total package together. This type of player gets early full-ride offers from all the top programs. Brad Miller and Vandevelde are examples of players that also have all the skills, but they haven't figured out how to put the pieces together into a total package. I think the coaches feel they need to get commitments from this type of player early because if they wait till other schools see them play at the next level (ushl, bchl) there will be a lot of competition.

I don't think it's a question of "where is Jon Ammerman leaning?" I think it's more a question of "which schools are leaning toward JA?"

PCM had a direct quote that said it was very likely that Bochenski would sign. He listed his source and it's probably still very likely that it will happen, it's just taking longer than anyone thought it would. Who knows, maybe we'll have to put him back into our "potential line combinations."