82SiouxGuy

I agree with you. UND fans will continue to buy stuff no matter what logo and name are used. I know that I keep buying stuff even though I really don't need any more. I also expect to see a spike in sales of Fighting Sioux merchandise during the next year. A lot of people will want to stock up while they can.

I disagree that "Hockey drives UND". It has a huge presence, especially in the Athletic Department. It is the most well known entity in the Athletic Department. But if you talked to a variety of people around the country that know about UND I would say that there are other parts of the school, like the Aerospace School, that would get a lot of attention. Now as far as Hockey being the big dog in the Athletic Department, that doesn't mean it should damage the other programs. Conference membership in an auto-bid conference is huge for all of the other sports on campus. A move to the Summit would be great for all sports other than hockey and football. There are 17 other sports on campus, with hundreds of student-athletes, that would be able to take advantage of this opportunity. It will suck if UND has to actually give up the nickname, especially for the hockey program since they have done the most to build it up. But that sacrifice will probably have to be made for the rest of the Athletic Department and the rest of the school to prosper.

Nothing is a slam dunk right now in Division I and the game of conference membership. But there have been some major indications over the past few months that the Summit Conference really likes the idea of adding UND. At the Summit basketball tournament in Sioux Falls, one of the assistant commissioners was interviewed by the Argus Leader. They had just toured USD. She indicated at the time that USD was going to get in and then said that the only thing holding UND back from getting in was the nickname controversy (not the exact quote). Douple seems to be interested in going to 12 teams and setting up division play to reduce travel. Adding UND to the other Dakota schools helps that. Also, as a state university UND has the perception of being more stable than many of the schools that have been through the Summit over the years. UND has good academics, which appeal to the University Presidents that vote on conference membership. UND has a better attendance track record than many of the current and former Summit members. The built in rivalries with the other Dakota schools, and the attendance that they will bring to conference tournaments, are very appealing. These reasons all appeal to UND as reasons for conference membership. And there aren't a lot of other options on the horizon. The only other conference that makes sense geographically and would accept a transitioning school is the Big Sky. It would involve more travel. The only schools that we would have much of a rivalry with would be Northern Colorado and the Montana schools, and we haven't played either Montana school much in the last 3 decades. And the Big Sky has shown no interest in expanding at this time, or expanding this far east. There are supposedly 5 other schools that are actively interested in joining the Summit. We know 4 of them and UND seems to be a better fit than those schools. We don't know who the 5th is, although there has been some speculation. What we don't know is the timeline that they want to fill that last spot. The school won't actually join for a couple of years, but I have a feeling that they would like to have it in place a year or 2 early so they can start working on things like schedules and marketing and placing tournaments. My guess is that when Grant and the other reps from North Dakota met with Douple they were given an unofficial timeline that the Summit wants to follow to fill their opening. And that timeline did not fit with the process the SBoHE was using in the nickname situation. I believe that the Summit wants to name the 12th member before the October 2010 deadline for resolving the name. So the message to UND was, We really like you and you make a lot of sense, but you won't even get considered if this situation is hanging over your head at the time we make the decision.

I agree. We all need to act like Denny Green and take the high road. Most of us are adults and we should act like it.

I don't think that anything said on this board or any other internet forum is going to make a difference to Douple or the Summit. First, I'm sure that they understand the reaction of many to losing the very popular nickname and logo. Second, it is the quality of the institution and how it fits with the league that matters, not what some anonymous people have to say. I seem to remember a lot of NDSU fans putting the Summit (Midcontinent at the time) League down when those fans were sure that NDSU was going to get into the Big Sky. It didn't seem to make much of a difference at that time.

Keep using it. The only real effect on REA is for NC$$ tournament hosting. The agreement with the NC$$ stated that symbols, logos and such that are permanent like the flooring can stay. Others that are long lasting but will eventually need to be replaced during a remodeling, like on the ends of rows of seats, can be replaced at that time. The only thing that the NC$$ would require to be replaced before allowing the REA to host an event would be things like signing, rugs and other more easily changed items. So the Fighting Sioux logo will live for many years at REA. The only real questions are how quickly REA will make the more minor changes and who will pay for those changes.

The vote was 8-0. Has to begin Oct 1, 2009 and must be done by Oct 1, 2010. The only way it can be kept is if the 2 reservations agree to a 30 contract to allow UND to use the name.

Tu-Uyen has another blog entry on the subject. He is in Dickinson for the SBoHE meeting. It now sounds like they are going to discuss the issue and then make a recommendation to have a vote on the subject at their June meeting.

The latest news report on KNOX radio included a sound bite from Grant Shaft. He made it sound like the reason the nickname was on the agenda was to give a report on status, including talking about the vote at Spirit Lake. He expects the committee to continue its work although the timeline may be adjusted. He will be on KNOX at 11:37 this morning and Rich Becker will be on at 10:37 discussing the issue.

Tu-Uyen Tran writes about the meeting in his blog also. This statement at the end stands out:

A letter to the editor from Rich Becker suggests something will happen at the meeting on Thursday.

We may find out a next step yet this week. The State Board of Higher Education has the topic on its agenda for Thursday. So far the committee asked to look at the situation has done very little publicly.

Bonin finished at UMTC the Spring of 1996. He played 5 games for Pittsburgh in 98-99 and 7 games for Minnesota in 00-01. He didn't exactly go straight to the NHL. So it might be a little early to say that Duncan will never play a game in the NHL. As far as whether one of his teammates deserved the award more or not, every year people disagree about who should win awards. Duncan got the majority of the votes from the people that choose the award. So he was given the Hobey Baker. That's the way it goes. Get over it, I'm pretty sure that Oshie and Toews have.

I think I read at some time that the ballrooms could hold approximately 2,500. If you add in the suites you are probably around 16,000 capacity without bleeding over into Canad.

How would signing this contract make an award for outstanding play from 2 years ago less significant?

Ryan Duncan has signed a contract to play in Austria next season.

But you are going to quit being a fan of UND if they change the nickname and they aren't called the Fighting Sioux any longer. The players wouldn't even be changing teams, just nicknames. Doesn't that sound a little hypocritical?

And I'm pretty sure that Blaiser left on his own for another opportunity. He wasn't exactly forced out.

I didn't see anything like that when I was there, but I may stop back and I will keep my eyes open.

Most of the stuff was gone by the time I stopped which was between 11:30 and 11:45 AM. Mainly just stocks and some equipment. The Sioux Shop also had some great deals. There was a selection of different sweatshirts for $15 and a selection of caps for $5. They had prices ranging from $0.50 for a #23 pin on up. I think the most expensive items I saw in the sale section were some Swift jerseys and some jackets for $75. They were still bringing out boxes of merchandise when I left.

From earlier in the same piece (I bolded a part of it for emphasis):

Grand Forks is known for buying tickets late, right before a show. Unless it is a major act, most tickets are sold in the last week to 10 days. Sometimes the day of show or walk-up traffic are the difference between making money and losing money. A marketing study was done approximately 5 years ago in Grand Forks that proves that. It drives most promoters nuts because they don't know if they are going to make money or lose money until the last minute. Several concerts have been canceled because promoters don't want to take the risk. This show was canceled at the beginning of that window. Grand Forks also doesn't like to support shows by groups that they have never heard of, or don't know the music. Some really great bands have played in town with very small audiences because of that. Sometimes promoters have lost money on shows hoping that they can build an audience and make it up by bringing the band back again in the future. It also happens with theater. People like to go to what they know they like, and not risk their money on something they might not like. It is a tough town to book entertainment. Were you actually insulted at Target? Or did you just feel "slighted" because she didn't treat you the same as the previous customers? Is it possible that she knew them? Or were they cute guys that she wanted to flirt with? Or were they friendly people that started the conversations? A lot of times people react based on the attitude that you project. But claiming that you were mistreated because the girl working at the checkout counter just did her job is really pushing it.

I don't know about the 1962 referendum. There was a ceremony in the 60's where the Standing Rock Reservation gave their blessing. However, that is not relevant any more. GeauxSioux posted the relevant page from the settlement agreement here. According to that agreement it looks like UND needs different types of tribal consent from the 2 tribes. The NCAA will recognize the 2000 Spirit Lake consent and just wants something in writing from the tribal council saying that they still uphold that consent. The referendum this week was non-binding. The tribal council still needs to put something in writing that says they will approve use of the nickname by UND. The NCAA and the settlement recognize the Standing Rock tribal council vote against the nickname as the official position of the tribe. So they need written proof that the tribe has decided to change their stance and is now supporting the nickname. In this case the approval can be decided by any way that is allowed in the tribal constitution. A referendum at Standing Rock may or may not be binding, depending on what is allowed in the constitution.

Get Over It