82SiouxGuy

I would like to second everything that you said. Coach Hakstol and his staff have proven that they are an asset to the University of North Dakota and it's athletic department.

I happen to be one of those people that bought a Holy Cross jersey. So far, the only time I have worn it was for the Gopher-Wisconsin game at the Final 5 last weekend. I wore it so that we could get a group picture for the Holy Cross folks and to irritate Gopher fans. You may be surprised at the reaction that I received. Fans from UND, St. Cloud, Wisconsin, Duluth and Mankato all stopped to talk to me and loved the jersey. That would have to be expected. But I had a lot of UMTC fans stop and talk to me also. The majority of them also appreciated the joke. Some said that it hurt a little, but they understood. Others just thought it was hilarious. They understood that it was just a good-natured jab at a rival. Some even said that they would have done the same thing if the Sioux would have been the team to lose. Only a few said anything bad. I have actually gotten worse reactions from Gopher fans when wearing a Sioux jersey than the Holy Cross. You may be right, a big part of the draw is the fact that it was Minnesota losing to Holy Cross. A big part of the draw for me was witnessing that historical event from my normal seats at the REA. It was a great night of hockey with that game alone, but especially combined with the UND win over Michigan. I consider it one of the best nights of hockey at the REA so far. I feel confident in saying that because I have seen almost all of the Fighting Sioux men's games, a couple of women's games, most of the World Juniors games and one of the Wild preseason games. And I have been attending UND hockey games since the late 70's (and listening to them on the radio since the late 60's or early 70's). The HC game was not one of the top moments in Sioux history because they didn't play. But you are very narrow minded if you can't recognize that it was a very important event for college hockey. And some of us want to remember the event. Rubbing it in to our friends to the east is just an added bonus.

Just thought I would let everyone know that we set a new record for users online with 336 at 9:23 tonight.

Thanks. I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

One more year competing in D-2 and eligible for a national title. But I wouldn't be surprised to see at least a couple of D-1 games.

ESPN owns the rights to the broadcast. They can do anything they want with those rights. Fox Sports North bought rights to specific games, including the UND game(s) from ESPN. They had to state exactly what they were going to do with those games and can't do anything more than is in the contract. Midco negotiated with FSN to show the UND game live on Saturday in selected areas. That does not include the right to include the broadcast on FTA or for any webcasts. FSSN games are normally available on FTA systems because that is how Midco and WDAZ distribute the broadcast to the various outlets. FSSN owns those rights so they can distribute them any way they want. They have also included webcasts in that distribution plan for some of the games that they control. ESPN and the NC$$ control the rights for tournament games and they will not allow them to be distributed on FTA systems or on webcasts where they can't get the money for those broadcasts. Bottom line is, unless someone announces another deal the game will only be available on tape delay in the Twin Cities.

I'm not as worried about Duncan. He could leave this year, but I had a short conversation with a scout at the Final 5 and he said that teams seem to have some serious concerns about Duncan's size. He said that Ryan would probably play pro hockey, and may have a chance at the NHL at some time, but he didn't seem to think it would be any time soon. Of course, it only takes 1 team to give him a big offer.

It will be more than a year because the case itself isn't scheduled to start until December. I am sure that the case will take several weeks, at least. And then it will depend on whether the losing side appeals and whether the injunction will be renewed for that appeal. I have not heard any estimates for when a decision will be final.

FSSN wasn't set up to be a regular TV channel. It was set up to show home hockey games, and occasional football games or away games. The rest of the time it is set up as a billboard for REA.

I guess that you didn't listen to the whole story. They shut down the fund that was handling the money because the anonymous person that was handling it has some health problems. They are just going to handle the money through a separate fund within the Alumni Association instead. The lawsuit is still on and the only thing that has changed is which checks will pay the bills. Besides, I don't think that Oshie, Langen, Bunning or any of the others playing games or handling the Athletic Department are taking much of their time doing legal research.

Relax dude. We haven't heard that Midco can't get the game. They are working on it and those deals can take some time. I am sure that is part of the "Jumping through Hoops" that the mentioned. The Gophers have a little more fire power when dealing with ESPN. FSN is part of another large company and FSN has a much larger viewership, which means more advertising dollars to work with. But that doesn't mean that we won't get good news from Midco. Don't get sick until the answer is no.

I don't think that they have a problem finding people interested in advertising. It just depends on what the cost is going to be. If ESPN decides that they want $50,000,000 for the rights it won't happen because you can't sell enough advertising at a high enough price in the state of North Dakota to cover those expenses. If ESPN wanted $1,000 for the rights you could probably find a bunch of companies and individuals that would cover that. The actual price will probably come in some where between those numbers.

As has been mentioned in past years, ESPN owns all broadcast rights for NC$$ tournament coverage because of a contract between ESPN and the NC$$. It's not like WDAZ or FSSN could walk into a rink with cameras and just start taping the game. Currently, ESPN uses some of these games on one of their networks, usually ESPNU. They sell some of the rights to other networks, but they don't have to sell those rights. If they ask for an outrageous amount of money, the local companies may not be able to afford the rights. Midcontinent is negotiating for the rights. They know what they can afford to pay based on what they can sell in advertising. I am sure that they will show the games if they can get the rights for a reasonable amount of money. If Midcontinent doesn't get the rights it will not be for a lack of effort.

The injunction will allow UND to use the name and logo until the case is decided or a compromise is reached between UND and the NC$$.

Midcontinent is negotiating to show the games live. They hope to find out some time today. I don't have any idea whether it would just be in Grand Forks or on the whole FSSN network. Be a little patient and we should find out either today or tomorrow.

Jupiter is the one that stopped and took the picture. He runs GPL.

That one did work. Everyone in the picture posts here.

Sent you a PM.

The winners of the 5 series this weekend will be seeded and play at the Final 5 with the 2 lowest seeded teams playing on Thursday.

These tickets are still available. They are in Grand Forks so they will be available right up to game time.

I have a pair of tickets available for the WCHA playoff series against MSUM. The seats are at the top of section 306. Will sell by the game or for the series, $20 per seat per game or $40 per seat for the series.

Or maybe some offices of the Federal Government?

That is very true, or would be if everyone in those cities associated with those schools. But I would guess that neither Oakland nor Oral Roberts are the dominating school in their markets and definitely not big names in the rest of the country. So the real potential viewership is much smaller. I agree with tSic that Montana v. Weber State may have more attraction to the general population.

Come on, it's definitely a road game for UMTC. It would be like UND having to travel to an arena more than a mile west of the Grand Forks International Airport to play a game. That has to be hard on the team to make that trip every year.

This was mentioned on the last page, about here.