nodakvindy

What a great stretch of play. Three straight breakaways alternating to no avail. Gutty effort from team USA.

The little leaguer with the Big goal. Drury puts USA up 3-2 late 2nd.

And Rafalski puts USA back up 2-1 Only took 22 seconds. Early on, this has the makings of a classic. Lots of pressure and up and down the ice action.

USA up 1-0, Rafalski scored 41 secs in.

That's how you start out, BABY!

Russia wins to grab a bye and the #3 seed If U.S. can beat Canada in regulation, that would put Canada and Russia in the same quarterfinal bracket. If USA can grab that top seed, they would get the Swiss or Belarus in the quarters and in the opposite half of the bracket of the Canadians and Russians. Bottom 7 now set 7 Slovakia 8 Switzerland 9 Belarus 10 Norway 11 Germany 12 Latvia

Today's Norway-Switzerland game has been a barn-burner. The new top Norwegian line has actually looked very strong. Would be quite an upset if the "little brother" of Scandinavian hockey could pull off the win. Today and tomorrow's games should be great as teams battle for a good seeding position. Swiss just won it in OT and kept themselves from finishing bottom of the group. That could have made for a harrowing pre-quarterfinal game for one of the big powers.

USA just dropped a tough one to Germany to fall to 0-2. Will be a difficult hole to climb out of. On a positive note, USA looking very good in women's downhill. And NBC might even show it in about 7 hours.

Watching Russia-Latvia and Ovechkin just had an absolute snipe on gorgeous pass from Semin to put the Russians up 3-0 after 1. They are very fun to watch.

If this were to come to fruition I think the Pac 10 would likely prefer Utah over K State - travel partners Utah-Colorado and Kansas-Nebraska. It would also make more sense for the ACC to take Cincy over South Florida. Cincy gives an opening into fertile Ohio football recruiting and a basketball program with a ton of tradition. Those additions would also make the ACC the best basketball league by a mile.

I think it's interesting that all these leagues are so willing to gamble on what is ultimately short term TV money. TV as we know it is dying, just like newspapers. The networks are going to start dialing back on overbidding sports because they can't keep hemorrhaging money. And at some point, cable will move to a la carte pricing because the total saturation will require it. Internet content is the future, with on-demand being huge. This is why baseball is so well poised for the future. You'll never hear it from the NFL-loving media, but MLB has done an outstanding job with it's online ventures and has a virtually limitless amount of content to provide. As for a top level of schools bolting from the NCAA and the "mid-major" schools, well that ignores the perhaps most driving principle of developing a sports fan base and making money - Al Davis's "Just Win Baby". In a top heavy division you will quickly turn a lot of "haves" into "have nots". That will not fly with those schools, their fans and alumni. The system as it exists now works because you have many schools willing to be cannon fodder because it allows them to be associated with the "power schools". The mid majors are the Washington Generals to the BCS schools' Harlem Globetrotters. The Generals' know their role, but without them you ultimately don't have the show.

And to add insult to injury, Minot now gets United Service to Denver.

The Cowboys didn't dub themselves America's Team, NFL Films and CBS did. You may not like it, but it's pretty tough to dispute.

Looks like Delta is added westbound service to Salt Lake City from all major cities except Grand Forks. This is really a bad break and will likely drive more traffic to FAR. Hopefully GFK is working hard behind the scenes. Having westbound service would be extremely beneficial for UND if it ends up in a western-based conference as opposed to the Summit.

There was actually a documentary at the Sundance Film Festival called GASLAND, talking about some of these issues. I didn't see the film, but it had a fair amount of buzz. I don't think there is any magical formula to solve our energy problems. There are never easy answers and if something is too good to be true, it usually is. Natural gas can certainly take on a greater role, but the acquisition of it will have to be balanced against risks fracking poses to our water supplies. Other alternatives, like renewable sources and nuclear will have to be part of our energy future. And hopefully we will continue to develop more efficient techologies that will require less energy to begin with.

I agree that the area is very underrated. I have been fortunate to see almost all of this country and was actually stunned at the natural beauty. Had I known, I probably would have tried to schedule a couple of extra days into my trip. I will definitely go back some time, and wouldn't mind catching a Big Red game. I would guess Harvard tickets are almost impossible. Any other good rivalries that might have similar atmosphere, perhaps RPI or the North Country teams?

I also give my thumbs up to the Lynah experience. It is definitely an old school rink. What I liked ... Cornell pep band was very strong - gotta love a repertoire that includes the theme from Rockford Files and What Would Brian Boitano do Playing both US and Canadian national anthems - with that UND would do this The fans in general - had a great conversation both nights with the usher for Section O The Ithaca area - WOW! Very scenic and tons of stuff to do. Made it up to Taughannock Falls Saturday which was very impressive. The Olymbia driver - genie on Friday night and Minuteman on Saturday night - good stuff The alma mater (I think that's what it was) during the 2nd Intermission with all the students singing and swaying. Not so much ... From my seats deep at the end of the rink, it could be difficult to see the single scoreboard on the end - also shots are not updated except between periods Way too many banners - A team of Cornell's statue doesn't need a banner for every single NCAA appearance - also the NCAA title banners should be more prominant (obviously just a personal preference, but it's my opinion) I may have expected too much, but the "intimidation" factor wasn't what I was expecting, other than the band it was never deafening (admittedly Cornell only led 18 minutes all weekend) and the purported "clever" cheers of the student section still consisted primarilly of variations of "you suck" chants.

Friday - Zajac Saturday - Trupp

On the other hand, we really have to make hay with the easier league schedule. UM-D could have a huge advantage with a cluster of Tech, UAA and Mankato.

I remember hearing about that facility in Alaska when I was up there for the series against the Seapups. I think it could make a big difference for high school football up there. That weekend they were hosting the high school senior football all-star game, the first ever indoor game as a trial. It seemed to have gone pretty well and could extend their quite short season. I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing a few more kids coming out of there even to the FCS level. Might be something good to store away.

You'd think we'd figure it out that you need to skate the puck in on the PP on the big sheet. It's idiotic to just dump it in.

Embarassing.

The passing on the power play has been atrocious all weekend. Not good on the big ice, where if you can move the puck crisply, you can really feast on the power play.

54-51 UND FINAL

Well that would certainly fit the Favre profile for a playoff game versus Dallas. I'm figuring at least 3 picks to go with a couple of fumbles caused by Ware. 'Boys by at least 17 and then a return home to meet the Cards at Jerryland for NFC title.