ScottM

Agreed. -Notre Dame Fighting Irish

A nice little article about Warroad, MN. With some insights from TJ Oshie, and the Marvin and Christian families. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/sports/olympics/minnesotas-olympic-hockey-cradle-pop-1781.html?hp&_r=0

PETA.

It seems some Northwestern football players are trying to form a union. And they have some pretty strong legal guns backing them up. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-28/northwestern-university-football-players-seeking-to-form-union.html

Too aggressive. It'll be something like "Gentle Breeze" ...

Ahem. Minneapolis will only allow bird friendly, organic windmills and locally sourced solar panels to be placed in its city limits.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303819704579320971969135440?mod=WSJ_hpsMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

Considering most of the cities listed in this "survey" tend to have large college populations relative to their overall populations these results shouldn't be a surprise for anyone. That said, i'm surprised Grand Forks isn't listed.

I think the underlying issue, aside from safety, is that if Bakken oil is more "risky" it could make it more costly to process and ship, especially if the insurers start to weigh in and the current shortage of post-2011 tanker cars persists. And that presumes the feds don't start writing rules in that regard, then all bets are off. Edit: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303640604579296803233499632?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Things may get a bit more "interesting" .... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-02/bakken-crude-more-dangerous-to-ship-than-other-oil-u-s-.html

http://news.yahoo.com/railcars-north-dakota-crude-train-crash-older-less-012822688--sector.html What's the over/under before there's another rail accident like this?

Not to mention the bedwetting boosters of "amateurism" at the NC$$ might have a problem with a college team playing "pros".

That's not entirely true, especially for North Dakota. http://online.wsj.co...J_WSJ_US_News_5 I suspect we'll see more of these incidents as more oil is transported by rail on deficient infrastructure.

Hell no.

Not really related to any of our recruits, but this article shows some of the motivations of those who choose the college route or go MJ. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/sports/hockey/youth-and-the-ice-siren.html?pagewanted=all

We've had our first snows and sub-zero wind chills recently. Gotta say the hats are a great add to the winter survival wardrobe.

And now some of the real-life downsides of the Boom have taken root ... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/us/as-oil-floods-plains-towns-crime-pours-in.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all

The winds are a changin' it seems ... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/sports/under-pressure-ncaa-weighs-momentous-changes.html?src=recg&pagewanted=all N.C.A.A. officials and their critics say that with the three issues coming to a head at once — along with a substantial behind-the-scenes debate about how the organization should be restructured — a new era in college athletics could be imminent. In January, two days have been set aside at the N.C.A.A.’s annual convention to discuss changes. Among the matters up for discussion will be whether universities with large and small budgets can coexist in the same division, a complex question at the heart of the future of college athletics. Short of moving the so-called power conferences to a new division, one proposal would simply create different standards for them, in terms of how they are permitted to use their budgets and how they are policed.

http://online.wsj.co...LE_Video_second In fact, every top-division football player you saw on Saturday—and even those you didn't see—is suing college sports' governing body. They're part of a newly certified class-action lawsuit that seeks certain slices of college-sports revenues, the biggest of which is broadcast-rights contracts. Before long, the players who stop viewers' hearts with their play soon might receive a portion of the millions those broadcasts generate.

This is why they can't have nice things ... http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/10/244319611/oops-minnesota-wins-rivalry-trophy-then-breaks-it?ft=1&f=1001

I think the big conferences already have incentive to go their own way. If this case and another proceed, it may force the NC$$ to actually share money with current players. And the hypocrisy of "amateurism" will go away.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/09/244203086/judge-oks-lawsuit-that-could-change-ncaa-amateurism-concept?ft=1&f=1001 Tick, tock ...

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Right now Denny needs a good appellate lawyer, or prison husband.

Your "loophole" is often predicated on the fact that the evidence doesn't exist, is flawed and/or the cops screwed up, like the OJ case and arguably a recent one in GF. (Goddamn that Constitution!) Again, are you willing to pay more for the justice you think is missing? That's not to say some convicts don't get awfully light sentences, like the pedophile teacher in Montana who was sentenced to 30 days for the forcible rape of a 14 year old. As for mandatory sentences, California is currently under a number of tederal court orders because its prisons are overflowing with nonviolent offenders who stepped over a "three strikes" provision. All of that prison build costs money.