82SiouxGuy

Ten to fifteen years ago the entire state was scrambling. North Dakota was cutting budgets because the state didn't have much money. Now the entire state is doing well. Fetch making a prediction about the economic conditions in the future is about as reliable as... Fetch making predictions about the effect of sanctions on UND athletics. There are no guarantees for any of the industries in North Dakota, on either end of the state. There are too many variables and outside influences. North Dakota needs to work together for everyone's best interest and take advantage of the opportunities while they are here. The state doesn't need the petty in-fighting that Fetch seems to specialize in.

East versus West has always been an issue in North Dakota. But UND and NDSU belong to all of the state. They are ASSETS for the entire state. It would be stupid for people in the West to try and destroy either school. That would be about as smart as the people in the East trying to destroy Medora or the oil fields. Only petty little people would think like that. Fortunately, I believe that the people of North Dakota see that. But this is another piece of garbage that you want to throw against the wall because you don't have any facts on your side, only your feelings about the issue. The nickname issue is totally separate from the East versus West issue. It is a matter of how much people know about the issue. My experience has been that if people learn the facts about the issue, most of them realize that changing the nickname is best for the entire state. The deciding factor will be whether enough people take the time to understand the entire issue or whether they will make an emotional decision based on the old "outside interests versus North Dakota" theory.

I didn't get that at all from your post. He was the one suggesting that UND should have stayed in D2, and if they had they would have been competing against those schools. You're right, UND should be competing against schools more their own size and mission. But even if they had stayed in D2 UND would have had to deal with the NCAA and its Native American nickname policy.

I don't have a clue what you're talking about with the "slam against ND" statement. I've been a resident for most of my life and my family was here before there was a North Dakota. I do everything I can to protect the state. Helping UND retire the nickname is another way to protect a major North Dakota asset. Of course it's hard to understand what point you're trying to make most of the time. You do realize that if anything happens to UND athletics your beloved nickname is a casualty, don't you? The nickname would go away forever in that case also.

I know the exact path that got us here. You only know the part you saw while you were awake, and missed the rest of the facts. Try doing a little research instead of slinging your garbage.

Crookston is part of the University of Minnesota system, and that entire system has announced that they will follow the lead of the Twin Cities campus. So Crookston will not play UND in sports in the future.

Please educate yourself on the actual facts before trying to put together an effective arguement. You just throw garbage at the wall and never include relevant facts in the discussion.

As I said in the other thread, Division I has nothing to do with the issue. It is across the NCAA. The NCAA has Division I, Division II, and Division III. The same rule applies to all 3 divisions. Schools at all 3 levels were forced to change their names, and schools at all levels were able to get approval from local tribes to keep their name. The move to Division I had no effect on the nickname issue.

The same thing happened in Division I, Division II and Division III. It is across all divisions of the NCAA. The change in division had absolutely nothing to do with the name change.

Is there something on campus besides hockey?

You forgot to highlight the "in my opinion" part of the statement.

And again you are willing to throw the other 400 student athletes from UND under the bus, just so you can see the men's hockey team wear your beloved nickname and logo. Yet you still can't understand that even hockey will be affected in upcoming years. Like when Minnesota and Wisconsin will no longer play UND. And if other schools follow their lead. Or possibly if they change the hockey playoffs and have the first round played on campus again (something they have started considering) and UND wouldn't be able to host.

No, the truth is that the sanctions WILL BE a major issue for the UND athletic department. Try actually thinking about it for a change. If the NCAA didn't think that the sanctions would have a significant effect on the athletic program, why would they put those sanctions in place to force schools to follow their wishes? Even the NCAA believes that the sanctions will be significant on programs.

Lennon talked to recruits that stopped considering UND because of the sanctions, and UND wasn't on sanctions yet. That is just the beginning. And that is proof that it will happen more in the future. The winning percentage for home teams in the playoffs is much higher than for visiting teams in every sport. That is proof that the chances of success will decrease because of the sanctions. And high school/college athletes aren't going to make some political stand, they are going to go where they have the best chance of being successful. Besides, none of them are going to take the time to understand the situation. They will hear the word "sanctions" from other recruiters and they will look at other options. UND will be left with the people that don't have other options.

Nothing he ever says will convince you that he has changed his mind. You are so focused on the possibility of losing the "magic" name that you can't believe that others have finally realized the truth that the name needs to be retired. And since you have already proven that you won't honor your word, I'm not surprised by your lack of vision.

YOU don't have to live with the sanctions. They don't affect your life in any way. They do affect the athletic program. They make it harder to recruit, and will cause UND to lose some top recruits in all sports. The sanctions will make it harder to win, because you can't bring in the best recruits. Even if you find a way to win enough to make the playoffs, winning in the playoffs will be much harder because you don't get to play at home. Notice the FCS playoffs this year, the 2 teams that went to National Title game won all of their games at home. The sanctions don't affect your personal life in any way, but they do affect the lives of the players, coaches and staff. It is selfish to put your personal feelings over what is best for the total organization. The NCAA had all of the cards in this battle. UND needed a miracle to win starting from the policy announcement in 2005. It is time to get over your hurt feelings and move on like adults.

I do know for sure. Anyone that really understands sports, especially college sports, would understand that the sanctions are a serious issue. Just having the word "sanctions" associated with the program will chase away recruits. It's already happened according to Dale Lennon. On one side of the argument you have people that probably couldn't tell you how many minutes are in a period for college hockey, or what offensive holding is in football. They say that the sanctions aren't serious. The other side is made up of people that are actually working in sports or in the University. They believe that the sanctions are going to harm the school. Which side should be the most believable? It's not over because a lot of people with absolutely no clue about what is happening got involved.

But remember, Hakstol was "forced by the administration" to change his opinion. Some people can't comprehend that the sanctions are actually going to be a major issue for every sport, and the athletic department in total.

The sanctions are a much bigger deal than you realize. They will even start affecting men's hockey in the coming years, and we all know that is the only thing you really care about. Athletes will stay away from UND because the word "sanctions" is associated with the school without even knowing what the sanctions are about. It will affect other sports like women's hockey and football much more. The sanctions may not seem serious to people at this point because they have really not applied to UND so far. They are going to get much worse as time goes on. And as usual, you are wrong about the NCAA's ability to increase sanctions. The sanctions ARE NOT spelled out in the settlement agreement. The agreement continually states that UND would be subject to the POLICY. The NCAA can change that policy at any time by a vote of the Executive Committee. They can change the sanctions, they can eliminate the policy or they can add to it. UND would not be able to sue over any changes made to the policy because the policy would be in effect for all NCAA member schools that meet the criteria. So the NCAA has the ability to completely eliminate UND from postseason play in all sports, or make the sanctions apply to all North Dakota schools, or anything else they want. This isn't going away and it is going to get worse.

It depends on what it says on the pants.

No date given, but it sounded like it could possibly be before the end of May. Whenever it happens will be good news.

Was it everything that you'd hoped for? Why didn't anyone else think of giving the NCAA an "ultimatum"? Especially an "ultimatum" that "embarrasses" them by forcing them to either "lose" a school that keeps bothering them, or make them look "petty". Why, the plan is

I hesitate to bring up the Indoor Practice Facility again since it has been a topic of conversation for so long. But a little birdie told me that there may be good news on the topic within a few weeks. No details, and it wasn't guaranteed because of the past stops and starts. It sounds like someone is planning to step up and fill in the financing gap. It would be great if this actually happens.

I agree. But when the last vote was 7-6 it would only take 1 person changing their mind to screw it up. I won't totally believe it until all of the i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

They still have to get another approval from the Minneapolis City Council. The last vote was 7-6 in favor. I don't think it should be a problem, but you never know. That is supposed to come within the next 30 days.