mksioux

In 1948, I believe there were only three Big 10 universities playing hockey and there were very few other teams in the west, so it's not an accurate comparison. But nevertheless, I see the merit in saving a college hockey program. I hate to see any school drop hockey, particuarly one with history like Bemidji State. I just want everyone to be clear about the costs involved. Some of the people that are enthusiastically behind Bemidji will probably be complaining when the Gophers come to town only 3 of 5 years, or maybe even 1 of 2 years, depending on how the league handles scheduling. Of course there are message board arguments about what the NCAA should do or what should happen with "college hockey" in general. But none of that matters. The reality is that the NCAA is not going to allow more games, the WCHA is not going to increase the number of league games, no other team is going to leave the WCHA to make room for Bemidji, and the WCHA isn't going to concoct some complicated schedule so that UND can play Minnesota and Wisconsin four times per year. Adding Bemidji will result in fewer games against UND's biggest rivals. I think that is the backdrop in which people should formulate their position on Bemidji.

Your plan makes sense as a Sioux fan, but there is no way any other team in the WCHA would go for it. The unavoidable consequence of Bemidji joining the WCHA is less games against Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Denver. Anyone who is in favor of adding Bemidji should acknowledge that fact and come to the conclusion that saving Bemidji's hockey program is worth it.

BSU's on-ice talent was never the reason for being against their admittance into the WCHA. BSU has been "good enough" to play in the WCHA for a number of years. It was other factors that were the primary obstacles to their admission. It appears that BSU cleared those obstacles a couple months ago and were likely going to be admitted even before of this Frozen 4 run. The obvious and unavoidable result of BSU in the WCHA will be less games against rivals. But the real concern to me is whether it will put the wheels in motion to a real shake-up in the WCHA. Long-term, I can not believe Minnesota will be content in a conference with four in-state Division II schools.

I agree. I do not like Thursday night games whatsoever. UND needs to expand its football fans beyond the Grand Forks area. Thursday night games are not the way to do that.

I like the "North Dakota" on the front.

Good schedule. They were at least able to bring in one non-conference FCS team, something UND was unable to do. And I really like their road non-conference schedule too (regional schools with historic ties).

I strongly agree with the no-nickname approach. But make no mistake, there is going to be a strong push by those who pushed to see the nickname dropped to replace the nickname as soon as possible. They will deem all of us pushing for no nickname to be clinging to the Sioux name. Personally for me, the biggest reason I would support having no nickname is that I have no faith in administrators and "constituent committees" to pick replacement nicknames that wouldn't make me throw up.

This was a hope held by many that certainly has not materialized. One possible reason could be the fact that the WCHA commissioner has essentially told teams to put non-conference scheduling on hold until they get this Bemidji State/expansion thing figured out.

Thos are valid points, but one thing that is more important than anything you just mentioned is money. If UND offers substantially more than more attractive destinations, money will, in the end, win out. It would be interesting to know what that dollar amount is. It seems at this point that UND is unable or unwilling to spend the kind of money it would take to bring in an FCS team.

Yep, they will display the cup in the main lobby at the Ralph all of next season.

Wisconsin also clinched home ice tonight.

Wiki's already been updated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacNaughton_Cup

That is correct. Most of the years the Sioux blackhawk logo was slightly different than Chicago's. However, in the mid-80s (don't recall the exact year, but it was after 82 and before 87), the Sioux blackhawk logo became identical to the Chicago Blackhawk logo.

Already been said, but scheduling FBA teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin are more important than most Big 12 teams because UND recruits heavily in Minnesota and Wisconsin and because they are within driving distance of a very large number of UND fans. Minnesota will be a given once the nickname is dropped, but I thought UND could schedule Wisconsin sooner. Oh well.... As for the Big 12, I'd like to see an Iowa State game. It's a close driving distance for all the Sioux fans in the Twin Cities and it might be a little more competitive than playing some of the Big 12 South teams.

IIRC, Wisconsin dropped the scheduling ban once UND reached a settlement with the NCAA. I don't think the nickname was the reason we lost out on this game. I agree though, terrible blow. I was very much looking forward to a game against Wisconsin.

Lots of combinations is the trend in college football. UND could have: Top/pants: Green/white Green/black Green/green Black/white Black/black Black/green White/white White/black White/green

It does not look good. If I had to guess, next season might be last season for the Fighting Sioux. If UND does not gain tribal approval and does not begin the transition to a new nickname by November 2010, then UND will be placed back on the NCAA's sanctions list, which would prohibit UND from wearing Sioux uniforms in NCAA tournament events, and from hosting any NCAA-sanctioned post-season events. That may be a small price to pay for hockey, but it would be an enormous price to pay for many of the other programs. It simply is not a realistic option. UND reached a settlement with the NCAA in October 2007 that gives UND until November 2010 to gain tribal approval, change the nickname, or go back on the sanctions list. The responsibility to start negotiating with the tribes fell to the State Board of Higher Education. In my humble opinion, the chancellor has shown a lack of leadership on this issue and has basically done nothing until very recently when he formed a committee to seek a "consensus" on the nickname issue. I view this committee as light-weight and without authority to do anything meaningful. Many believe its nothing more than political cover and a mere preamble to dropping the nickname. In any event, the committee is not doing what the settlement was designed to do; namely, negotiate with the tribes.

If that were to happen, then I think baseball makes sense at UND. But how likely is that to happen?

It seems inevitable that UND will eventually come to the same decision. I can't imagine a scenario where UND will become competitive in baseball at the Division I level. Even if the baseball team were to find a conference, it doesn't change the fact that you can't realistically have any reliable home games until mid-April. And after looking at the schedule, I can't even imagine how much money the baseball team is costing the athletic department this year.

Obviously there are schools that would expand college hockey better than NDSU. But none of them are going to be applying to the WCHA. (NDSU isn't either, but we're arguing about a hypothetical situation where NDSU was interested). I've only heard of one school in the entire country that is considering adding college hockey (Penn State) and they will never apply to the WCHA. In my opinion, the only schools that might apply to the WCHA (other than BSU) are Alabama-Huntsville and maybe Nebraska-Omaha. All I'm saying is that a fully-committed NDSU would easily be a better choice than Alabama-Huntsville and would be just as good as (IMO better than) UNO. You're making an assumption that the WCHA would "do its part" and make sure every college hockey program has a home before considering an expansion team. I think the WCHA would look out for its own interest first and pick the best available school. If there was a school out there that was committed to expansion and was a better fit than UAH or UNO, the WCHA should go with the expansion team. I agree there won't be room a year from now after the WCHA has added BSU and UAH/UNO as the 11th and 12th teams. But if NDSU acted immediately and applied before the deadline, I think there would be room. And I don't see any reason NDSU couldn't share a rink with the Force. I've never argued NDSU is anywhere close to adding hockey. To the contrary, I don't think they will ever add hockey. I was simply arguing about a hypothetical situation where NDSU was ready, willing, and able to start a hockey program and applied to the WCHA before the March 31 deadline. IF that were the case, they would get serious consideration by the WCHA and, IMO, they would get the 12th spot.

Is the webcast black and white for everyone else or just me?

Your point against expansion is valid. But once you let Bemidji State in the door, you pretty much have to add a 12th team as well. NDSU, if fully committed to DI hockey, would be as good or better than any other possible school that might apply for that 12th spot. NDSU would certainly need to make the commitment now, but it probably wouldn't need to actually field a team until the 10-11 season. BSU probably won't be in the WCHA until the 12-13 season. If NDSU started a team in 10-11, it could play a couple independent seasons and then join the WCHA with Bemidji. But it's all a moot point because NDSU isn't going to add hockey.

Gregoire (Duncan)

This just raises more questions than answers. The Spirit Lake tribal council is presumably the body that would have the authority to negotiate an agreement with UND regarding scholarship and/or profit charing arrangements. That's not the type of agreement achievable through a simple referendum.

Why would the Big Ten Network have any interest in televising a hockey tournament where many of the games, even the finals, could easily end up being two non-Big Ten teams? I can't imagine the BTN execs wanting to televise any of the games unless at least one Big Ten team is involved.