82SiouxGuy

Of course most fans aren't going to sell their tickets. 10,000 tickets aren't going to be resold for the game. People want to see the game too much. But there are going to be plenty of tickets sold when people see the prices. And both UND and NDSU fans will be trying to buy those tickets. If NDSU were really as indifferent about this game as you are trying so hard to sell, then there would be thousands of tickets sold because people would look to pay for their season tickets by selling a game they don't care about. Sorry, you can't have it both ways.

School might be one thing that gets in the way of your schedule. The teams have to have a consistent practice schedule so that the players can go to school. I'm pretty sure that most athletes are in class some time between 9 and noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That's the most popular times for classes. These are student-athletes and I don't think the school or the NCAA would appreciate them missing a bunch of classes for practice when they are at home. They already have to miss a lot while they are on the road. The women need to practice on the regular rink the weeks they are going to play on regular rinks, which means most weeks they are on the road even if they play home games on the Olympic. Those hours need to be fit in your little schedule, along with their class schedules since they are also students. Now you want 3 different leagues coordinating their schedules just for UND. You want the Big Sky, for both men and women, plus the NCHC and the Women's WCHA setting up their schedules so that UND can pull off your little dream. That isn't happening. For instance, the men's hockey team played at home 4 straight weekends in January this year. Under your plan the men's basketball team would have to play on the road those 4 weeks during conference play, the women's basketball team would play at home the same 4 weeks. I don't see the Big Sky agreeing to anything close to that, and I don't see UND giving up home hockey games selling 11,000 tickets to put basketball in the REA and sell 3-4,000 tickets at a lower price per ticket. Your plan isn't feasible.

Lots of round in that number, too.

Playing UND is a bore... that NDSU fans will be willing to pay several hundred dollars a seat to watch. But they really have very little interest in watching the game. NDSU fans just have a lot of extra money that they are willing to spend for something that they don't find interesting. Got it.

The agreement doesn't say that they have to stop using the ND logo (and certainly doesn't say that they have to stop using the letters N and D). tSic didn't say that no logos or nicknames used in the past are allowed. The agreement says that they have to stop using the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, and that they have to replace the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo with a new nickname and new logo. It is spelled out pretty simply in the settlement agreement section printed above. The ND logo has been a secondary logo for many years. It can continue to be a secondary logo. But UND has to choose a new nickname and a new logo to replace Fighting Sioux as the primary nickname.

One reading of the settlement agreement would say yes, may not have been used.. ever.... BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA. You missed that part. UND could use Warriors or Tigers, 2 of the most popular nicknames around, because UND has not used them before.

Basically you are comparing this game with a national title game or a game with a team from the Big 10. But it isn't an important game to NDSU fans. Got it.

UND has been using the interlocking ND since at least the 1930s. It was modified a few years ago to try and make it a little different from Notre Dame, but it is still an interlocking ND. It isn't a new logo in any way, shape or form.

MSG isn't also used as a practice facility. It is only used for events, like games or concerts. The Rangers and Knicks practice in other facilities. Just like the Wild don't practice at the X, they practice in another facility. The Ralph is not only a game venue, it is a practice facility for both men's and women's hockey. The Olympic rink is a good place to practice when they are going to play a game on an Olympic size rink. But the teams need a place to practice for games on regular size rinks, which means most weeks. How do all of those hours and days of practice time fit into your scheduling model at the Ralph?

REA isn't some magic pill that is going to attract an all-star team. Tradition is big in attracting basketball players. The actual game day experience is big. You can create a much better game day experience for basketball in the Betty than you could in the Ralph. Coaches are the biggest factor in attracting kids. There are reasons that kids go to places like Duke and Kentucky, and the facilities aren't at the top of the list. Glitz can be created almost anywhere. The Ralph is a great arena, but I don't see it as the right answer for basketball.

I wasn't at the NDSU game, but I've been to games there before. It is a pleasant game experience for the fans because it is comfortable. But I don't think it makes for a really great basketball experience. There is too much open space. It is too high with nothing up above. It would be somewhat better if the upper deck were full, but even then those seats are quite a ways from the basketball court. A full house is always going to be good, but I don't see a great home advantage when the place isn't full. You keep saying that they do it in other places. That's true, but it didn't address the issue of bad ice in those venues. I've heard a lot of people say that the ice is bad at Scheels this year. I've heard about problems with the ice at most places where they do both basketball and hockey on a regular basis. Quality of ice is important to hockey for both quality of the games and to prevent injuries. I agree that there is room for a lot of growth in the basketball program. I just don't think that the Ralph is the answer. Take the money you want to spend on the Olympic rink and spend it somewhere else, maybe on the Betty, and create a great basketball experience there. "Thinking big" isn't always the answer when those "big thoughts" aren't the best answers. We are just going to have to agree to disagree.

In my opinion, I don't think that many people are going to show up just because the games are in the Ralph. At least not on a regular basis. I've been told that it is a poor shooting background, which the teams don't like. That is especially true when the upper deck is empty. It's similar to the problem they have holding games in domes only on a smaller scale. Because it was designed especially for hockey, the permanent seats are too far from the court to give an intimate environment, and you can't put in bleachers because they would block the view for the permanent seats. You don't get that feeling of the crowd being right on top of the court that you get at top arenas. I think that winning games will attract more people no matter where the games are. I think the Betty can be a very good home without huge costs. Even the Alerus could be a better option. The Ralph is a good option for big crowd games, but I don't see it as a great option for every day games. One other consideration in the matter. Putting the basketball court on top of ice usually results in lower grade ice, and can result in condensation problems on the floor. Most arenas that are used for both have plenty of complaints about the ice. I know that it used to cause problems with the ice at the Ralph. That was before the system was replaced. I don't know if it would still cause problems.

They tried it in 02-03, as you already pointed out. They decided then that it wasn't worth it. We don't know how much NDSU is supplementing Scheels Arena to have their basketball games there. They can't play at home because of the renovations so they may very well be paying what ever it costs to have the games at Scheels. Extra costs could even be figured into the renovation costs as a cost of doing business. I helped with the conversion 1 time, so I know how much work it is.

There is very little to draw those schools to play at places like UND or NDSU or any other Summit, Big Sky level school. They make more money going to play at places like Minnesota, Kansas or any Big 5 level schools than UND could afford to pay. Most also make more money playing low level teams at home where they don't have to pay nearly as much for a guarantee. Plus they don't want to give lower level teams a home field advantage. It is a lose-lose proposition for most of them. They are ranked much higher so they are expected to win. If they win, they were supposed to. If they lose, they embarrass themselves. If you look at schedules around the country, those games are very rare.

One thing that you haven't figured in is the cost to convert, and the time needed. It takes at least 4-6 hours with a good size crew of people. And then about the same to convert back. It isn't cheap to make that conversion. They have 2 layers that go down on the ice, then put together the basketball floor, add the baskets, etc. If you're putting 10,000 in the seats it is probably worth it. I don't know if it is financially for 4,000.

Big time schools don't travel to mid major or lower mid majors except in very special cases like when Kansas came to Grand Forks. Even a 3 for 1 isn't going to get one of those schools to Grand Forks. They either go to top level conference schools, tournaments, or host lower level schools and make big money on the home games. It's a nice dream, but very, very unlikely.

A lot of ways for the police to break up private parties. They will be very busy that weekend. Not having a public event will probably stop some of the out-of-towners from coming to party. And I think the city already has some public consumption laws in place that will be enforced that weekend.

And the city has been more and more reluctant to issue the permits each year. That event has been on borrowed time for close to a decade. It almost got cancelled after the couches got burned.

Always hard to be sure without the emoji (sometimes even with one).

More likely an email address.

Undrafted, yes. I believe if they are drafted the deadline to be signed is Aug 1 of what would be their 4th year of college, but that might be off a little bit. I also believe that if their drafting team decides not to offer them a contract they can become a free agent, or if they are released after being signed. If is beneficial to be a free agent if the player is playing well. Playing well usually means more than 1 team will be interested. If they aren't playing well it might be better to be drafted. Most teams will sign their draft picks and at least give them a chance. They don't want to give up on a draft pick until they are pretty sure it isn't going to work out. The higher the draft pick, the longer they will hold on to that player.

They still use Fighting Illini. They made a claim that the term Fighting Ilini referred to Illinois residents that fought in World War I, and had some evidence that the term was used in that context. The tribe has not existed for a while. They had to drop their NA mascot and all references to Native Americans. Getting rid of all NA references was enough to get off the NCAA list.

That number will fluctuate over time. But the total number of NHL players that played in the NCAA continues to grow almost every year.

First, I am a long time season ticket holder for both football and hockey so don't try to put me in a hockey fan only slot. As far as an answer to your question, I think it would depend on several other factors that you haven't addressed. First is history. Part of the advantage that UND has right now is a history of being a hockey power. Most of the strong hockey programs have been strong hockey programs for many years. Some combination of Michigan, Minnesota, Denver, Wisconsin, Boston College, Boston University, UND and a few other schools are on the top teams list most years. If UND had a similar history and had been a strong program for decades then they probably still would. If they were just moving up to Division I like they are in football, than they wouldn't be nearly as strong a program. Location is an advantage in hockey for UND versus many other NCAA schools and would be in your scenario. Hockey is important in this region of the country and the close proximity to Canada would always be advantages for UND over schools in Florida, Alabama, Texas and other southern schools. Hockey would probably always be stronger overall for northern schools than southern schools. Places like Florida, Texas and California have more football athletes growing up, and very well might under your scenario, so they have an advantage in attracting football players to southern schools. There are also outlier programs in all sports. Boise State in football. BYU has had a pretty strong history in football. Gonzaga in basketball. Several other smaller DI programs have had good runs in basketball. So there is no reason to believe that it wouldn't happen in hockey. Bottom line is that there is no way to know what would happen in some made up scenario. UND might still be a top program in your scenario, or they might be a bottom feeder. No one knows for sure and will never know because your scenario isn't going to happen. The fact is that UND has a strong hockey program and is one of the best in the NCAA every year. Enjoy it while it lasts, and hope it lasts for a long time. The other fact is that UND plays at the FCS level in football, and has only played at that level for 3 years. The future will tell whether they succeed or not at the FCS level, whether UND becomes part of a higher level if football is realigned, or how they might do at that higher level if they move up. Hopefully UND can continue to build the football program and it will have success at whatever level it plays.

I didn't say anything about either one being JV, and never have. You questioned whether NCAA hockey was the 2nd largest supplier of players for the NHL, or whether a Swedish league was bigger. I gave you specifics on where both NFL and NHL players come from. More than 31% of NHL players come from NCAA hockey, and that is the 2nd largest behind Canadian Juniors. Less than 9% of NFL players come from FCS schools. That is a much smaller percentage than 31%. FCS is either the 2nd or 3rd largest supplier, depending on whether you want to separate FBS into Big 5 and the rest or not. A lot of people would separate FBS since 67% come from the Big 5 conferences and about 20% from the rest of the FBS conferences. Those are called facts. Using a term like JV associated with either FCS football or NCAA hockey is not a fact.