nodakvindy

Let's just get rid of bids completely and let the four #1 seeds host, doesn't matter if it's a big arena like the Ralph or the Kohl Center or a smaller eastern rink like Merrimack or St. Lawrence. If you earn a top seed you should be rewarded. Just imagine how hot a ticket it would be if you had one of those smaller rinks and threw in a couple of western big guns like UND and Michigan. Atmosphere would be incredible.

MSU actually has 15 sports. Both the Montana schools could add men's golf and they would be at 16 sports. With Idaho rejoining the Sky, Men's Golf will be a sponsored sport again, so it wouldn't be a shock to see them add the sport.

UND drops a heartbreaker to Minnesota 3-1. Took an early lead, then Gophs get two PPGs and an empty netter with a minute left. UND had some good chances late. Minnesota should be happy, since the only team that can likely hand with them won't even make the tourney. Too bad Karvinen's career ends this way, barring an NCAA eligibility miracle.

The Twins will be somewhat improved and should be able to ride the bloom of the All-Star Game. One more terrible year wouldn't hurt to help out the farm system. Buxton and Sano are legit future franchise cornerstones. It's easy to forget that the Twins actually made the playoffs the first year at Target Field, but again lost out to the Yankees. The big falloff occurred because Bill Smith was a mediocre GM and Justin Morneau couldn't stay healthy. The other problem was a philosophy of drafting soft-tossing pitch-to-contact types and that has not worked. Now the Twins are drafting big arms and have made some savvy trades to re-establish the farm system. I think 2014 will likely be a 4th or 5th place finish, but by next season the Twins will be back on the upswing. I think Buxton and Sano both see some time in September (Sano probably earlier), but that both will also start 2015 in Triple A at least long enough to ensure an extra season of team control (Unless either is so impressive that they can't be kept down). Also, being a Yankee fan too, I think Phil Hughes was a great signing, he will perform well at Target Field, was signed pretty cheaply and comes in with something to prove. The Twins rotation is light years ahead of last year and the bullpen is respectable. The Tigers will miss Prince Fielder. It will be interesting to see how Cabrera fares without him in the lineup. If the Royals can get the pitching they could be the Indians of 2014, although I think AL playoff teams will be Detroit, Oakland, Texas, New York and Boston.

That USA-Finland game might as well have been a commercial for UND and the Grand Cities. Doc and Pierre clearly have an affinity for us. That publicity is priceless. It's why having women's hockey is smart. Would love to see a rematch for the gold. Hopefully REA bids for a women's worlds soon, as that would be huge for international recruiting and only bid the UND women's program more. It's also great to get any World class event into our community.

USA women beat Finland 3-1, with Tapani picking up the goal for Finland. Hopefully USA can beat Canada and ensure that they avoid both Canada and the Finns until the gold medal game.

There's some truth to this, but both the WCHA as a whole and UND specifically need to look at a lot smarter scheduling. UND should not be playing Lindenwood in the NCAA tourney is a goal. Non-conference games are too precious and to waste them against a CHA cellar dwellar is just foolish. Also, two game series are not ideal either. UND should be working with Bemidji to pair two eastern schools and play single games on Friday and Saturday. Ideally this would be two teams from the same conference. Ideal non-conference schedule (under current format with Bemidji playing same teams and sites would reverse the next season) at Clarkson at St. Lawrence vs Mercyhurst vs Robert Morris The even better option would be for the WCHA to drop to a 21 game schedule (playing each opponent three times) and set up an interlocking schedule with the CHA. That would take you to 27 games and leave 5 non-conference games against Eastern teams (28 games and 4 non-con for the CHA clubs). I would still try to avoid two game series for these matchups if at all possible. This would create much more diversity and give more legitimacy to the Women's Pairwise. I think it is totally up to the WCHA to make changes, as the eastern teams have no motivation to upset the status quo, other than for the integrity and quality of the sport, and that hasn't seemed to mean much to this point.

I guess I wasn't the only one. Good luck to Coach Pryor and the team for the upcoming season!

Have you been to a game at Northeastern? It's an iconic arena, the college hockey equivalent of Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. The sightlines are outstanding and the seats in the front rows of the upper deck are probably the closest you will ever get to a game, it's like being right on top of the action. For a perennially average team the atmosphere was very good - active student section and good band, Concessions were solid and cheap, as were souvenirs. The arena is right off the orange line on the T and not far off the green line so very easy to get to. It checks virtually every box for a college hockey experience, definitely worthy of a high rating.

Did you actually look at how they came up with the rankings? REA got marked down for food, neighborhood and access. While the food is pretty varied it is very overpriced, which the rater seemed to base her rating on. There is really nothing nearby, so I can understand the neighborhood markdown and access got hit becuase of high parking fees. While you could certainly argue on a couple of the points, it's not like the Ralph was dead last. It's score was the same as about the last ten on the top 100, so it was right there. PNC park was only 55th and I would say that is a top 5 venue on the planet. Also, there are a number of different raters, so there isn't necessarily a ton of consistency it appears in the survey as a whole. Take it with a grain of salt, it's just one magazine opinion, with a snapshot of one single visit. That said, while the Ralph is great, it has it's flaws too and there are also other awesome places to watch an event - so if one of them gets an acknowledge, no need to take it as a slight against UND or the Ralph.

Probably a little misleading, as I'm sure schools like Weber and Montana will draw better for upcoming conference games. That will pull up there averages. I'd guess the Montana-Montana St. game will also be a big number. UND has arguably had most of its big draws, with NDSU, SDSU and Weber.

I am intrigued by Mark Pryor from Baylor. Baylor has seemed to have great luck with coaching hires throughout their sports program so he comes from a winning atmosphere athletic department wide. He appears to have moved a fair bit, but almost always to better jobs and seems to have spurred improvement everywhere he went. Also like that he spent some time with USA Volleyball, so there are probably some useful connections there.

WDAZ just had a story on the Volleyball coach applicants. One is the recently dismissed coach from Ole Miss. Amazing that the position is viewed well enough that a former SEC head coach is among the applicants. Should mean that the program continues to move in a positive direction.

I heard that on Christmas morning, starting at 9 am all Sioux faithful should keep an eye out over Hyslop. On the hour there will be a cloud of smoke, if it's black still no coach, but if it's green then the wait is over and we have a new coach!

He only played two years after transferring from Montana, but I'd say Jeff McElroy is right up at the top. Put up amazing numbers on a team where the run game was probably first second and third option. Great route runner and exceptional hands.

It was an entertaining game, back and forth like many of the classic games in this rivalry. Madi Buck was outstanding, hit several huge shots and the young point guard is tough as nails. UND womens basketball seems to be back on the upswing.

Texas "Right now we're making a run at Nick Saban, but if that doesn't pan out our second choice is Craig Bohl." Yep.

With the current system, the WCHA really needs to cut back to a 24 or 21 game schedule. This would allow more games against eastern teams and make the PWR for the women's game more legit.

I like the pressure and the continued effort. Still got a ways to go though.

back to back 3s and now its getting interesting.

gotta start hitting some shots.

Nice early start as UND jumps out to an early 5-2 lead. Good defense to get things going.

huge comeback there to stay alive! a lot of heart shown there.

ISU with a huge comeback and takes set 2 26-24. UND really struggling with receiving serves.

ISU comes back and takes set 1 25-20