nodakvindy

It will be interest to see if UND takes the opportunity to announce an immediate move of two sports (I'd guess mens and womens swimming) under the current play up rule. That would give a measure of credibility to this "internal move" and make the two likeliest non-revenue sports that could be competitive eligible for postseason competition sooner.

Just saw this story. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2494149 While it's a long-running joke on USCHO, these network could be viewed as an outlet for games for a Big 10 hockey conference. The Big 10 should pocket a fair amount of money on this venture. This could be a catalyst for Penn State to move up. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this.

I agree. Also, UND and NDSU would likely be the kingpins of a D1 NCC and would have frequent shots at a tourney bid, which likely wouldn't be the case in any other league. Also costs would be much lower travel-wise and existing rivalries maintained. It would also be a much better situation for the hockey schools if the dreaded Big 10 hockey conference came to pass, as the remaining WCHA could take on the NCC name and then be recognized as an all-sports conference, which has a stronger standing within the NCAA.

Did you actually look at how those courses are delivered? Virtually all are online courses. Only two are IVN classes actually in Fargo. Are you proposing that the UND.edu extension be blocked from computers in the FM metro area too?

Interesting, although I have to wonder about the location. Somewhere in McLean or Mercer would seem to make a lot more sense. That would put you near Falkirk Mine, Coal Creek Station, Great Plains Synfuels and the hydroelectric power of Garrison Dam. It's also on a major four lane highway closer to major cities, so construction costs would likely be less. There are also many more viable communities in that region that could take on the population increase construction and ultimately operation of the plant would bring.

This would be ideal. Just not any I can recall of the top of my head.

Kupchella will be the cornerstone no doubt, but I think it is also critical to get people like Ben Brien, Greg Holy Bull, and any of the countless Native American doctors and other alums who are supportive of the name. They would add a great deal of credibility to the arguments being made by the University. It is likely that the NCAA will trot out the Russell Means and Vernon Bellecourts of the world and UND must be prepared for that. It might be also be a good idea to find others who the NCAA has bullied, like Jerry Tarkanian and Jeremy Bloom, to serve as reminders of the history of overreaching by the NCAA.

Hopefully in addition to securing the funding for the lawsuit, the university has secured some savvy media consultants, because that is really where this whole thing will be won or lost. The media attention that this will receive is beyond anything seen in Grand Forks before. President Kupchella's letter was a solid start, but it is now vital to have the right person out front and on camera for the interviews with Anderson Cooper, Larry King, Sean Hannity, etc. Now is the time to go on the offensive before the NCAA can push their spin that UND is racist and exploiting Native Americans. Strike while the iron is hot!

The problem is that you aren't comparing apples to apples. You'd need to compare a search for NDSU to one for UND, which is skewed by the fact the UND is a German word. Likewise the problems Bison and Sioux. The only full comparison is University of North Dakota and North Dakota State Univerisity. I stated this in the original post, which apparently no one read fully. I included Fighting Sioux because I believe that to be a distinct enough combination that it clearly refers to UND and was interested how that would compare. I originally posted becuase I was quite surprised that there was such a pronounced advantage in favor of UND. And google stats matter because they are a tangible sign of buzz and interest. Sure, this isn't a scientific sample, but if I'm a University I'd be pretty excited to know that there are nearly twice as many people searching for information on my school than my closest rival.

I understand UNO is a big school student wise, but it is comparable to IUPUI, UM-KC, Oakland and others that are derided as "commuter" schools. That's why I mentioned them that way. And while the second largest school in the state, the dropoff from Lincoln in even more pronounced than the Minnesota schools.

Nope, the current NCC isn't much better. USD is a flagship, but certainly smaller than UND. UNO is still essentially a commuter school, Augie is sort of the Vanderbilt or Northwestern of the the NCC, and the three Minnesota schools are all clearly second fiddles to UMTC and unfortunately are funded that way. I'd rather look at the big picture peers of the whole of DI and the whole of DII and then it's pretty obvious.

Saw this discussed on USCHO. Google has a new utility that will let you provide a search topic and then generate the locations that most search for it. I tried University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University and Fighting Sioux. Other variants were too skewed - Bison had all searches for the animal, UND had any German searches for that word. Fighting Sioux not surprisingly peaks in late March and April. It nearly tops North Dakota State University for a brief period. A solo search for the term NDSU shows a similar peak following the win over the Badgers. http://www.google.com/trends?q=North+Dakot...eo=all&date=all

I'd be shocked if there are people who want to be diamond members, but aren't due to ticket availability. I don't think this will mint any new diamond members, simply further bleed cash from those that already are. One really has to wonder about the deal with REA if we can be bringing in probably 10x the revenue for hockey tickets that we were at the old arena and still be in the red. Concessions and pro shop sales also have to be up considerably. Where is the money going? There's no way that women's hockey drains that much.

While the loyalties of alums are more set in stone, I think there is a good possiblity that those with only a passing interest in either school can easily be influenced, especially if hometown stars tend to go to NDSU for that chance to compete in Division I.

Some bad news for our neighbors up north. This could have also bolstered located an American facility in Grand Forks. http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/14545001.htm

Here's the Herald Story http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/14537212.htm

I don't know how they've failed since their is no news yet. The report hasn't been issued. Kupchella hasn't made a decision. There was no consultant's report to ignore. The Herald can't just fabricate stuff. They could talk to coaches and staff, but they would merely be speculation, not news reporting.

Steve and Barry's is a cool store. I sent them an email a while back suggesting Grand Forks as a good location for them. They would be a nice fill in for the old Target slot at the mall (at least some of that space).

I'm against needless legislation that attempts to solve problems that don't exist or that are already subject to existing law. We are already loaded down with countless laws enacted in response to events that occurred because existing laws weren't enforced or legislators are simply pandering to their constituents. I think this legislation has virtually no chance of passing and even if it does, will only result in a lawsuit by the NCAA that they will likely win. Therefore it is pointless to waste time on it. The conflict is between the NCAA and UND (and some other schools) and the courts are the venue to resolve this conflict. The arbitrary nature of rulings on this policy along with the failure to bring it to a vote of the entire membership make this appear to be a winnable case. Look, I think this is a foolish, misguided policyof the NCAA's. But passage of a law like this could have all sorts of unintended consequences on associations of all types, not just the NCAA. As for your "We the people" comment regarding the NCAA that may be true, but it matters little. They are elected by their own membership. Myles Brand didn't just proclaim himself head of the NCAA, he was voted on by college presidents. And colleges are the very breeding ground of most social engineering, so it shouldn't come as a shock that they would try to use their most prominent association to push that agenda.

The key difference (other than being a state action rather than a federal one) in the Maryland case is the law was crafted as you stated, to regulate companies that meet certain criteria, which currently only Wal-Mart does. If another company later met the criteria, the law would apply to them. Again, since I can't read the bill online, I can only go by Rep. Johnson's press release, which has language specifically mentioning the NCAA. The bill would not apply to the NAIA, NJCAA or other smaller bodies that also regulate college athletics. I think that would almost certainly bring about a legal challenge by the NCAA.

This is a stretch. The NCAA is a private organization and has the ability to choose where it will conduct it's business (read: championships). What then prevents a bill to keep Wal-Mart to build in communities of certain size? That is a highly contentious issue that would likely receive far more suppot than this issue. Unfortunately, Thomas does not yet have the text of this bill yet, but Rep. Johnson's press release indicates it is solely aimed at the NCAA and is not a broader regulation of interstate commerce. I will continue to maintain that letting this follow the proper course in the courts is better that a quixotic attempt to "step up and do something".

Wow! I can't imagine this is a swing vote issue for someone. We're in a war, gas is $3 a gallon and a wishy-washy statement on a bill that hasn't even gone through committee yet is deciding your vote. You obviously don't get how DC works. The only way North Dakota has any say is by keeping members in for a long time. We have that right now. As for having to cater to the tribal base, all three members work to get federal contracts for companies like Uniband. That and helping with legimate tribal issues like health care weigh far more than this issue. Even if Pomeroy supported this, do you really believe the tribes would vote Republican? Perhaps Earl really believes this isn't a place for federal interference. I think most North Dakotans would agree they don't like the feds jumping in on petty issues. The courts are the proper venue for this issue and that is I believe it will ultimately be settled. * I doubt the economic issue will gain much traction, as the NCAA has had a hosting ban against locations in Mississippi and South Carolina because of their state flags.

The best bet is to call one of his offices. Earl has several staffers who are UND alums, including his press secretary.

Just read in USA Today this morning that Illinois's tennis team is the first to lose hosting privileges due to the NCAA "hostile and abusive" policy. The team was the #7 seed in the 64 team tournament, and all of the remaining top 16 seeds are hosting.

I know who Canuck is and wouldn't question his allegiance to the Sioux. And I thought you would bring up when an NCAA player signs a contract. The key difference is that while they lose the scholarship, while playing college hockey, school is at least as important as hockey (or at least it should be). That is in no way the case in the CHL. So a guy that played NCAA for three years then signed a contract has three years of college/university completed, while a guy who plays three years in the CHL and then signs a contract has nothing. This whole "argument" was based on development toward the NHL, and the only guys that can benefit from the CHL scholarship program are ones that do not go on to the pros.