nodakvindy

I would guess this will mean the closure of Columbia 4. Although it would be great if they could operate that as a second run theatre, something missing in this market since the closure of the Plaza Twin. Another option would be a cinema grille route with arthouse type films, something every college town should really have.

I bet the NCAA would love that "bend the rules" part.

Maybe it's a concession that the Betty was foolishly underbuilt with a seating capacity of only 4000. If they could have gone 5500-6000 it would have been perfect. Unless it's a game of Kansas-like magnitude, hoops in the Ralph just doesn't make sense. With complaints about atmosphere for hockey, it seems like the Ralph will be morgue-like for games against what will be left of the NCC.

With all NCC hoops at the Ralph, what exactly is the point of the Betty? This also makes it look like another road heavy late schedule for the hockey team and with all those basketball games I would expect poor ice conditions. I wish I understood the thought processes going into these new facilities.

Mankato's bad record hurt your RPI and Bemidji's good one helped Minnesota. Also, should Bemidji's RPI get above .500 so they become a TUC, or if they win the CHA tourney and they become one automatically, that will hurt you since you lost to them. Here's my prediction of the tourney pairings if the season ended today. West North Dakota vs. Bemidji State Minnesota-Duluth vs. Ohio State Midwest Minnesota vs. Massachusetts Michigan vs. St. Cloud State Northeast Boston College vs. Holy Cross New Hampshire vs. Denver East Maine vs. Brown Wisconsin vs. Miami

I'm pulling for a split. The Sioux still control their own destiny with the Bulldogs, so no reason to pull for a Gopher sweep. Also, Minnesota is up to #4 in the PWR, notching a top seed and keeping them out of North Dakota's bracket. Don't want to see them on the Olympic ice come tourney time. A split gives us a chance to retake sole lead over the Bulldogs and is probably enough to keep the Gophers in the top 4 of the Pair Wise. This is a huge series for Minnesota, if they are swept it will be very tough to make the top 3, which is vital this year.

The wonder of the web cam. I think we'd all like to do this sometimes. http://www.e-places.net/samples/stfu.html?fix

Minnesota should be made to forfeit due to unplayable conditions. This is a joke!

The Hyatt gatherings are usually quite good. One note though, there is no $10 cover charge. That was a mistake in an alumni association mailing. I wish it was for both nights, rather than just Saturday. I'd be interested if anyone knows about anything for Friday night.

Yeah, maybe we should go to IAA where that problem doesn't exist.

Dogz makes a great point UND vs top half of WCHA 7-1-1 UND vs bottom half of WCHA 5-0-1 Minn vs top half of WCHA 0-5-1 Minn vs bottom half of WCHA 8-2-0 We'll see this weekend. Both teams have a lot of tough games left, but the next two weeks will tell a lot about the Gophers, with UND and Wisconsin coming to town.

Didn't mean the westerner thing as a slight, I am one myself, but that area is not nearly as in to hockey and it would make more sense for two NFL athletes to be rated higher than a hockey player. There have been many years where there was little or no media coverage of the Sioux hockey team in the western part of the state. Radio affiliates often pre-empt games for local high school sports or are of a low power unavailable outside of Bismarck or Minot.

How quickly we forget Virgil Hill. Won a silver medal, has the most ever Lt. Heavyweight title defenses, and helped the state by bringing many of his title bouts to venues around North Dakota. I would rank him second to Maris as an athlete alone. In terms of total sporting impact, I would rank Jackson higher. Also I find the ranking of Phil Hansen and Jimmy K. above Ed Belfour stunning. Must have gotten a lot of westerners in the poll.

When the DIII proposal goes through (and it appears it will), I would like to see CC move up to DII and join the NCC. This would position the whole conference well for a possible move to DI later on. Nearly all the schools are similar philosophically. At that point, Denver could likely be coaxed to join, getting out out of the Sun Belt black hole. This would also be a great fallback position in case a Big 10 hockey league ever came to pass. A DI NCC hockey league would have the same voice in NCAA terms as the Big Ten. The league would probably be able to get a deal with CSTV, something Minnesota's Fox Sports North deal effectively prevents now. Under this scenario, the NCC could gradually up football scholarships to the IAA max of 63. I think this was a sticking point in the NCC not moving up when NDSU and SDSU left. NDSU wanted to ramp up immediately, as football is their cash cow. I could see SDSU dropping to non-scholarship football (Pioneer League) and devoting all that money to hoops, hoping to become a heartland version of Gonzaga, likely in the Missouri Valley Conference. That would leave an NCC of Hockey schools - North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State-Mankato, St. Cloud State, Nebraska-Omaha, Colorado College and Denver Non Hockey - South Dakota, Augustana Hockey only NCC members - Alaska Anchorage and Michigan Tech (if they wanted to) Keep UAA becuase you get the extra games for playing up there and keep Michigan Tech for the MacNaughton Cup. Probably never happen, but it's interesting to think about.

Perhaps it will include an IMAX theatre. That would fall more in the destination realm. Also, I think a mini golf course would be a great feature, as I don't believe there has been one in town for a few years.

It should be an interesting series and I don't think the Sioux will take UAA lightly. That said, I hope the guys don't give a rats a$$ about Fournier. He's the college hockey equivalent of Jeff Weaver. He's gone now and we are 14-2-1 against a brutal schedule with a great shot at the MacNaughton Cup and bigger glory. They need to keep their eyes on the prize and not worry about settling some perceived old score with an annoying little brother.

UND has won 27 or 28 straight against ECAC teams. Included in that streak are wins over every team in the conference except Union, Harvard and Colgate. The last loss came in the 84-85 season when the Sioux split a series with RPI. That RPI team was one of the best clubs in ECAC history, going 35-2-1 and eventually winning the NCAA title. Oh, and it featured one Adam Oates.

This "bowls make money" thing is a crock. I was in Nashville last year and the Music City Bowl was crushed when they learned Minnesota would be in. The Gophs don't travel well and that bowl lost a ton of money. If the bowls were swimming in cash they would pick teams that deserve to be there, not ones who travel well and get the tickets sold. Most of these places have bowls to attract tourist dollars. Well, neutral site NCAA playoff games would do that, just like the hoops regionals do. If you want, you can still have the minor bowls (Humanitarian, Independence, Ft. Worth, etc.) for non-playoff teams, serving a purpose similar to that of the NIT.

The rule applies in every sport except football and basketball. So a total of three (BB mens and womens) of the more than 50 NCAA sponsored activities. Who is the exception? The point of IAAA schools was brought up. At least they conduct all their sports at the DI level. Maybe NDSU should just drop football and then they would be a legitimate DI school across the board.

My dad is watching in Garrison.

Can you say Lee Goren?

Ashamed to say UNAGRAD is right on the money here. Even the original posts quoted by Goon were at least limited to football. The responding stereotypical attacks were pretty lame and for the most part off the mark. Let's leave the personal cheap shots to God's Gift to IAA. I have to admit that prior to 2001 I wasn't too fond of UNA. The 1994 semifinal was an ugly game and that team ran so much smack it was unbelievable. But UND's trip down for the 2001 championship proved a chance to rehab that image. The folks down there love DII football and the hospitality was great. I would like to think we can return the favor for their trip up here. Perhaps we can all fly on one flight back to Florence after Saturday's game. North Dakota Fighting Sioux - The only ndsu opponent still playing football in 2003

It's Grand Valley all over again. Long play in late going. GO SIOUX!!!