star2city

Newspaper coverage is just a small part of 'media'. Every school listed would have extensive coverage in their city's paper, except maybe Provo-Orem, Utah. NDSU coverage in the Fargo Forum, however extensive, will not put more conference reimbursement money into the hands of the Valparaiso or IUPUI athletic departments. What is really wanted is enough households so that a Mid-Con game-of-the-week will be broadcast on ESPN, the College Sports Network, or a regional sports network. A television contract that pays $'s and helps recruiting is a bottom-line. UNC, UVSC, and TAMUCC would add the most households to the conference 'footprint', making a media contract more likely. In addition, conferences want attention in major national or regional newspapers, even if it is just a one-time article. Was it any coincidence that Zach Parise was written up in the New York Times shortly after UND played at Princeton and Yale? No. This quote from the Oral Roberts board sums up this issue: It takes consistent excellence (i.e. Gonzaga basketball) or a Div I tradition (i.e. UND Hockey) to break through this mindset.

Apparently, our reading comprehension skills are different. The actual quote is: So a Mid-Con committee is definitely visiting UVSC sometime after July 14th. That is a fact according to this article.

So if you insist, bisonguy, award NDSU one more point. Most people that go to conference tournaments would prefer to drive (unless Southwest Airlines is available), and Fargo and GF are not easily drives from most MidCon locations. The extra point brings NDSU up to fifth place, well behind IPFW and TAMUCC.

When are NDSU and SDSU getting site visits by Mid-Con brass? Utah Valley State College in Orem (27,000 students) is apparently getting an inspection visit later this month by the Mid-Con: UVSC moves up to Div. I I'm sure Southern Utah is doing everything possible to help UVSC out so travel costs get spread over two games rather than one.

Centenary was also rejected before they were accepted. The following major change in IPFW athletics was posted on their website: Coliseum, Globetrotters & Vitale

Seven schools are actively pursuing membership in the Mid-Continent conference. To objectively identify who would be the frontrunners for bids, a matrix of different criteria was developed. The two most important criteria to the MCC would be the strength of the men

From this morning's GF Herald: UND ATHLETICS: Staying put Did Blais turn down an NHL offer?

Not exactly Sioux hockey-related, but from today

If Beasley gets drafted in the first round this Thursday (the latest NBAdraft.net projection shows him selected at the last 1st round position, 29th), UND would join a select group in which its athletes were selected as 1st round picks in both the NBA and NHL drafts in the same year. This is the current 'unofficial ' club (correction/additions welcome!): Schools with 1st Round Draft Choices in both the NBA and NHL Drafts in the same year: 1985 Michigan State, Sam Vincent, Craig Simpson 1986 Michigan State, Scott Skiles, Joe Murphy 1994 Michigan, Juwan Howard/Jalen Rose, Jason Botterill 1998 Michigan, Robert Traylor, Mike Van Ryn 2000 Minnesota, Joel Przybilla, Jeff Taffe and here are two possible additions: 2003 North Dakota (?), Jerome Beasley, Zach Parise 2003 Minnesota (?), Rick Richert, Thomas Vanek

I will admit I like to pound those extra nails in certain coffins. Speaking of which, there was a nice underhanded compliment on Bisonville the other day: Truth triumphs at last !!!

Bad Eagle: I would be interested in your opinion on the following article about the Three Affiliated Tribes and their displacement from their ancestral homelands as a result of the construction of the Garrison Dam: A flood of tears: Five decades later, tribes still recovering from dam losses In some ways, I can not help but feel that the losses the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara felt in the 1950's has been revisted upon the general North Dakota population in the 1980's and 1990's through flooding, rural economic malaise, and population loss. To me, the average non-Indian North Dakotan can more easily understand and appreciate the agrarian culture of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara than the hunter-warrior culture of the Sioux. It is a shame all are not better understood. It seems if the best of both cultures can be taken, combined with Judeo-Christian values, and applied to the modern world, we would really have something extraordinary. One issue I would challenge you on, Bad Eagle, is on your statement that white people should not be teaching Indian Studies. Why I certainly agree that Indians should be part of a staff teaching Indian Studies (and be the majority of the staff), your own teachings on European and Judeo-Christian values from an Indian perspective on your site have been thought provoking. I would think a white person can provide a similar perspective to an Indian Studies student. Thanks in advance!

President Kupchella personally responded to the Forum's earlier editorials in this letter. Two quotes that demand citing here are on (1) UND scuttling NDSU's Div I plans:

From a letter to the GFH from former Sioux goaltender Mike Curran: This may explain much of the earlier story. Which NHL team would Blais be a finalist for? The Pittsburgh Penquins?

The thought my postings may be in synchrony with Forum articles is certainly disconcerting. I believe everyone agrees that the MidCon is the best (and probably only) hope for NDSU or SDSU for getting a conference membership. What we disagree on is the timing. What is surprising is that no one at NDSU seems to have contacted the MidCon yet. Didn't they have a plan B if plan A (Big Sky) failed? Maybe they should have hired Star2City as a consultant? Really, I would have expected some sort of contact with MidCon officials would have been done well over a year ago.

It is the only 'Midwestern' conference that will typically even consider adding a school moving up from Div II. Many of the schools in the Horizon and some in the MoValley 'graduated' from the MidCon, so the MidCon offers very little continuity. If NDSU and SDSU were fully eligible Div I schools today, almost certainly the Mid-Con would snatch you up. But since one of the most important reasons for expansion is to protect the automatic bid should membership drop below six Div I eligible schools (in the event the Mid-Con gets raided again by other conferences), NDSU, SDSU, and UNC don't provide any protection as they wouldn't be counted. They may consider one ineligible member (if it brings in or keeps an eligible member), but probably not two , and certainly not three ineligible members. For now, the pecking order is probably: IP-Fort Wayne TxA&M- Corpus and UT-PanAm (as a travel pair) UNC and Denver (if Denver really is serious) Utah Valley State (as a travel partner with SUU) NDSU and SDSU In several years when full NCAA eligibility is closer, you'd probably be at the top of the list. If you can partner with an existing Div I school or find a sponsor within the conference that will go all out for you, the odds of acceptance increase.

Threads from the Oral Roberts U board provide some decent information on future Mid-Continent Conference expansion (it's been a slow day ). On that board, there is speculation that Northern Colorado will team up with Denver for travel purposes and join the Mid-Con. Denver supposedly is looking at options outside the SunBelt. If there is any truth to this speculation, UNC's chances of getting a conference bid would be greatly improved. It may also explain UNC's seemingly low key approach for conference admittance, as they have to protect Denver U's current affiliation with the Sun Belt. Here's a poll of ORU fans, and two threads: Mid-Con still growing? Who should be the next Mid-Con member?

This editorial must be the Forum

This morning

Surprise, surprise!! The one Board of Higher Education member who had the morals and conviction to refute the Forum's editorial, Ralph Kingsbury, was roasted in this morning's Forum editorial.

It is absolutely fascinating how events and fate interfere with those in power attempting to manipulate events for their own ends. There is an invisible hand at work that can be seen by reflection. Example #1 On November 26, 2002, the Forum published Ralph Engelstad's letter to UND Prof. Sharon Carson, and Prof. Carson's response. I believe the Forum had an unstated agenda in publishing this information. Within twenty-four hours, sadly, Ralph passed away. The Forum's immediately backtracked on the earlier agenda, and Ralph's legacy was only enhanced when many of his anonymous deeds were revealed and his courage in fighting cancer was understood. Example #2 The case in point is the the thread subject, the Fargo Forum editorial scuriously attacking Kupchella. Within a week of the editorial, Kupchella announces he might leave. If Kupchella held so much power as the Editorial implies, only a person of strong moral character would voluntarily consider giving it up for family or other reasons. Again, the Forum and their agenda is hung out to dry. At least one Board of Higher Education member shared this view:

Former Fargo North standout Leikas headed to UND

First, it is kind of strange that you find my postings on NDSU or Chapman so unsettling, when they are read by a few hundred people at best on a message board. Yet you show no concern for the even the potential misrepresentation of Kupchella

Maybe there is hope for Tony, as at least he's got me on the "right" side now with Rumsfeld and Condoleeza.

Charger: If your school, SDSU, was considering playing hockey in Sioux Falls, what would your response be? As far as hockey not being part of alumni history, sure, this is true. But people and cultures change over time. For many SDSU alumni, women's basketball was not at all part of their college life (and was scoffed at by some when first introduced), but now it is deeply imbedded. For the largest and fastest-growing city in the Dakotas, it would seem that Sioux Falls would be a logical spot for some type of Div I entertainment. I would certainly admit that basketball is more generally followed there, but why does the Stampede have a larger following than the SkyForce? The Stampede and USD hockey probably couldn't co-exist long-term, but there is something about hockey that creates addicts among a certain percent of the population, even if they have never seen the game before. To me, 5000 attending a USD hockey game is (only 1 out of 30 Sioux Falls people) not beyond reach. I am aware of medium-sized Southern cities in the ECHL where 1 in 20 go to hockey games.