82SiouxGuy

Ralph Engelstad stated that he was a successful businessman because of his experience at UND, because of the education he got at UND, because of the BUSINESS DEGREE he got at UND. He appreciated the hockey team because playing hockey is what gave him the chance to go to college. He wanted to support the hockey team AND THE REST OF THE UNIVERSITY. And he appreciated the entire Grand Forks area because that is where he had his first success in business. When he announced the building he said that he wanted to build the building to support the hockey program, the University and the entire Grand Forks region. The hockey team isn't going any where. They will continue to play at REA. Because that is what Ralph wanted. Only the very simple minded would really believe that UND shouldn't be playing at REA in the future.

tSic said that he did. I asked for a vote and he told me I couldn't have one.

Ralph wanted to build a facility to help the University of North Dakota and the entire Grand Forks area. He wanted to give back to the University for helping him become successful. The hockey program was a large part of that because it got him to UND. But he wanted to help the entire school, not just the Fighting Sioux. I know that's a concept you can't grasp.

As was noted by others, during the settlement period the only people that needed to approve the nickname were the tribes. Spirit Lake took care of themselves. The Standing Rock Tribal Council had control in Standing Rock. They refused to talk with anyone about the issue. They wouldn't talk to Archie Fool Bear, a former Tribal Council member, about the issue. A public campaign wouldn't have done anything in that case. All negotiations would have been done away from the cameras. Just because we didn't see it, doesn't mean that efforts weren't made. But the Tribal Council was very solid in supporting the removal of the name, so there was very little that could actually have been done to change their position.

Since it is a state law, UND is going to follow the law. The plan for transition always included a period without a nickname. The law probably extends the period by about a year. As far as the NCAA goes, they have indicated that they are fine with UND not choosing a new nickname or logo immediately. Using UND and the revised intersecting ND will satisfy the NCAA as long as UND doesn't make any use of Native American names or imagery. Remember, the NCAA didn't consider UND under sanctions during that brief period this winter when they retired the name.

If you get one, I demand a vote too.

One potential problem if just current students are involved is that they can sometimes pick things that don't translate well over time. A possible scenario would be to have a group or committee made up of students, faculty and alumni take suggestions or nominations and narrow the list down to a manageable number. That gives everyone input in the process. Take that short list to the students and let them vote on which they like best. The students would get a chance to be heard. Then turn those results over to the administration to make the final decision based on popularity and whatever other criteria they believe is important. This protects the school in case something objectionable gets through the process. The administration is ultimately responsible for the school, so they have the final word.

I want a coach that fights to get every advantage possible for my team. Not someone that is willing to handicap the team just to keep a sports nickname. Very few recruits were going to come to UND because they liked the nickname, and they weren't going to come to UND because UND was standing up to the NCAA. Just the word sanctions being associated with UND athletics would have kept athletes away from the school. It is hard enough to win playoff games, giving away any potential advantages is just stupid. The nickname wasn't always meant to honor the Native American culture. It was adopted in large part because the Sioux had a history of hunting bison, and it was easy to use in chants. No effort to honor the NA's. Through the 1960's, with UND using the Sammy Sioux logo, efforts were not made to honor Native Americans. In fact, it was only in the last decade or 2 that efforts were made to connect honor to the name. That was because people didn't want to lose the name. UND fans were proud of the name before that, but there really wasn't a great connection to honoring the tribes. You act like the effort to remove the Sioux name, or efforts to remove Native American names, is something new. The efforts started back in the 1960's. Almost every national Native American group has supported the removal of Native American sports nicknames. Colleges and high schools started dropping the names in the 1970's. The NCAA started looking at the topic in 1998 or before. The 2005 policy had the support of all national Native American groups. All regional tribes except Spirit Lake still support eliminating Native American sports nicknames. UND was caught in that movement. The only that UND had was to develop long term relationships with the local tribes. That didn't happen. So it was time to move on. Time to stop the constant fighting about the issue. Time for UND to move forward.

Let's hope so.

I'm sure those calls will be made in the coming days as the plan for retiring the name goes into effect. Unfortunately, some schedules are filled up for the next couple of years so just being on sanctions for the last 4-5 months may have cost games in at least 1 or 2 years. A lot of football schedules are made out 3-5 years in advance. But there may be openings in sports like basketball, volleyball or track for 2013-2014.

An interesting number from Fort Totten on Measure 4, Yes 67-No 66.

Soderstrom still has the pipe ceremony as his ace in the hole.

Some of those results may not be totals. But it is hard to imagine a lot of the precincts that are left being that far off from the precincts that have already reported.

I agree about Port. But Soderstrom loses his "media" support by losing Port. Port and Carlson will find different ways to attack higher ed.

Soderstrom, Sean Johnson and the Committee haven't shown that kind of sense yet. We can hope that they will let it die, but I wouldn't be surprised if they kept the petitions going. But it would be hard to imagine a constitutional amendment passing if this law gets defeated by such a large margin.

The SBoHE will probably have to give the final okay. I don't know if they have the process worked out yet or not. But since UND has been through the process already they can probably just use those procedures.

With 80% of the precincts reporting, the Yes vote is leading 2 to 1. That is approximately the same vote as the repeal in the legislature. Thank you to the voters of North Dakota for recognizing the realities of the situation and doing the right thing for the University of North Dakota. Even Rob Port has recognized that it is time to move on. Hopefully Soderstrom and the Committee will decide to let the issue go and allow UND to move on without another attempt to force the nickname issue. Thank you to everyone that was able to vote Yes. The future of UND athletics looks a little brighter tonight.

You asked.

Really hard to say. It depends on who goes out to vote. Sometimes an election can turn because one side does a better job of getting their voters out than the other side does. That is one reason that polls aren't always accurate.

Just some local stuff, nothing of real interest.

Quick Travelocity search for an upcoming weekend this summer gives me hotel prices ranging from about $70 to $150 per night in downtown Minneapolis, with many of them in the $110-125 per night range. Nothing even approaching $200 per night unless taxes are now more than 50%. These prices are not out of line with downtown areas of large cities. And you can still stay in the burbs for under $100 with plenty of parking room downtown, or take the light rail.

Were you paying attention when UND was announced as a new member of the Big Sky? And they were waiting for the official acceptance from USD? Even though USD had gone off on their own to get entry into the Summit, UND and the Big Sky had convinced them to join the Big Sky so they had a spot for football. All USD had to do was work out the exit from the Summit and get approval from the South Dakota Board of Regents. Doesn't that sound like they were working together. Instead, USD got pulled back into the Summit, Douple did some arm twisting, and USD got a spot in the MVFC. And the Summit/MVFC didn't make a move on UND. Yeah, that sounds like UND's fault for not working together and waiting for the MVFC to create a spot for them some time in the next decade.

Those situations don't prove any kind of cause and effect relationship. And they were all different situations. There was no guarantee of a MVFC invite even if UND accepted a Summit invite. There is a very good chance that UND would have been left as an independent in football. But thanks for your revisionist version of history.

Everything I've read tends to make me believe that the Missouri Valley Conference members of the MVFC would be very hesitant to add any more Summit members. The MVFC liked having 9 members. They were talked into 10. Adding UND would have given the Summit members control of the conference and an even more awkward number.. That is not what the MVC members want. So it is very doubtful that the MVFC would have accepted UND. And UNO would have considered keeping football if they had a good home for the team. The limited travel available in the MVFC would have been a great fit for UNO. It wasn't available, and UNO was going to have a tight fit financially in Division I, so they gave up football. I haven't taken any shots at the MVFC. They didn't want to add numbers and UND was left on the outside. Luckily UND found a good home in the Big Sky.

My guess is that hockey is on the radar now, even if it wasn't before. They are still in the planning stages so they have time to make adjustments to the plans before they actually start construction. It's a multi-purpose building so it probably won't match the X or the Ralph for hockey comfort. But it could still end up being a decent building by the time they're done.