Hammersmith

I'd rather Montana get the nod on this one; they're the only state to have never had a major warship named after them. There was a light cruiser named Montana in the early 1900's, but both battleships that were to be named Montana were either scrapped during construction or cancelled before the keel was even laid. I think it's their turn, now. North Dakota can go into the mix for one of the eight Block III Virginias that will be ordered in the next few years. I realize redwing77 was mostly joking, but aircraft carriers are generally named for former presidents these days(though we're starting to run out of appropriate choices; Gerald R. Ford as the lead ship of a new class??? You've got to be kidding me?), and the replenishment vessels currently being built are being named for explorers. On the positive side, the first two ships of the class are USNS Lewis and Clark and USNS Sacagawea. That's gotta count for something, right? Both Fargo and Grand Forks each had a ship named after them in the waning years of WWII. USS Fargo was a light cruiser commissioned in 1945 and decommissioned in 1950. She was also the lead ship in her class. USS Grand Forks was a Tacoma-class frigate commissioned in 1944 and decommissioned in 1946. This endeth today's history lesson.

Don't disagree with anything BrickTamland wrote, except... The DI rules for conference autobids changed a few years back. With the exception of men's basketball(which takes five years), it currently takes two years for a conference to become eligible for an autobid. Because baseball is sponsored by more than 50% of DI members, a baseball-only conference would need to follow the more stringent multi-sport conference requirements rather than the less stringent single-sport requirements. The multi-sport requirements include having six core members(full DI for eight years). Given the names on that list, I don't think there are enough to qualify even after the two years are up. I think only UTPA, Chicago State and Savannah State have reached core member status.

According to quotes from Blais in the Forum, he's gone. Hockey: Clarke spurns UND, Fargo Force

UND is probably getting rid of the graduate assistant position currently filled by Josh Johnson and replacing it with a regular assistant coach position. The NCAA limits DI basketball to 4 head or assistant coaches and there are no provisions for GA's(GA's are only figured in for FBS football and women's rowing). Regular student assistants are also regulated to a greater degree in DI.

Playing LEGO Indiana Jones instead of keeping up with the message boards. You all have hashed most of it out correctly. The only thing I would add is to mention the "five-year rule" that DI has. The difference between Williams and Chappell is when their respective five year clocks started. Since Williams didn't sit out his first year, he still has an extra year to burn. Chappell's five-year clock, on the other hand, will expire after his third playing season. Also remember that redshirt is not an official NCAA term(it only appears once in the 453 pages of the DI manual, and then only in passing). "Redshirting"(in the context of the five-year rule) is only a way to describe that the school and the student-athlete have chosen to use the extra year of eligibility for player development. Doing so can improve the player's abilities, but it puts at risk the player's full four seasons of compitition if something unexpected happens like bad grades or injury(the NCAA generally does't allow a medical hardship waiver for the five-year rule if the student-athlete chose to redshirt or spent a year academically ineligible). That answer seemed a little over-complicated. Let's try this: In DI, you have five years to complete four seasons of competition. What you do with the extra year is up to the student and the coach. You can use it for development(redshirting - any year) or hold it in reserve for unexpected situations(injury or grades). Waivers may be granted for circumstances beyond the student's and school's control, but deliberately sitting out a year counts against you. Examples: Standard #1 Year 1: redshirt Year 2: plays Year 3: plays Year 4: plays Year 5: plays Standard #2 Year 1: plays Year 2: plays Year 3: plays Year 4: plays Year 5: eligiblity exhausted Six Year Attempt #1 Year 1: plays Year 2: plays Year 3: injured in preseason Year 4: plays Year 5: injured in preseason Year 6: applies for waiver - probably granted - plays Six Year Attempt #2 Year 1: redshirts Year 2: plays Year 3: injured in preseason Year 4: plays Year 5: plays Year 6: applies for waiver - probably denied Six Year Attempt #3 Year 1: plays Year 2: injured in preseason Year 3: plays Year 4: academically ineligibe Year 5: plays Year 6: applies for waiver - probably denied Six Year Attempt #4 Year 1: plays Year 2: parent dies, no money for college Year 3: still no money Year 4: plays Year 5: plays Year 6: applies for waiver - probably granted - plays

[bad british accent] What is your name? [/bad british accent]

Who is John Galt? (Don't make me read that book again, please?)

Wow, complimented and insulted in back-to-back posts. A very polite "thank you" to supersioux and a big fat raspberry to SiouxMeNow.

Not quite. The two year grace period would almost surely be enough to keep the autobid until IPFW started counting. I think the window has passed for any changes to the Summit for next year, and it's also very unlikely that both schools would leave in 2009-10. I suppose it's theoretically possible for the Summit to lose its autobid, but I think the MVC accepting DU has a better chance of happening. I also doubt the Big Sky will make any decisions until after word comes out on what changes will be made to the FBS requirements. If Montana and Montana State are locked into the BSC for many years due to those changes, the conference will likely grow in a different direction than if there's a good chance of them bolting to the FBS at the first opportunity. For now, I'm going to stand by assertion than DU is not Big Sky bound. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I think DU is headed for several years as an independent. In the west, I think the MWC's decision whether or not to accept Boise State will be the lynch pin for everything else.

I could almost see the Big Sky working if DU had CC & T&F, but without those DU only sponsors 7 of the 14 BSC sports. On top of that, it would leave DU with 10 non-BSC sports. The WAC would be 11 of 20, and the MWC would be 12 of 21. Regardless, DU has such a wierd collection of sports that they'll always be members of a variety of conferences. The reason I think the chance of the BSC is so low is because I seem to remember the conference forcing one of the western schools to add a sport a couple years back(tennis at Sac or PSU, I think). I doubt those schools would feel charitable towards a newcomer not sponsoring half the conference's sports. Assuming New Orleans is also kicked out of the Sun Belt, LA Tech does seem like it would be a good fit for everyone involved. I suppose there might be other factors I'm not aware of, but I would think LA Tech would jump at the chance to greatly reduce its travel costs. On a side note, how is New Orleans even a DI school? By my count, they only have 8 out of a required 14 sports(adding a 9th next year). Did Katrina force them to drop sports or something?

WCC: <5% chance; If the WCC isn't interested in Seattle(a fellow Jesuit school), I doubt they'd accept the travel to Colorado for a secular college. BSC: <1% chance; It's a Big Sky mandate that all schools participate in all sports. Denver doesn't have any running teams in addition to no football. MVC: <0%; No way the Valley will look at a school as far away as Denver with a sub-250 MBB RPI. WAC: 25%; Matchup in sports is pretty poor, but possible. MWC: 35%; Decent, though not perfect, matchup in sports. DU is in the ballpark of what they like academically(strong grad programs; though DU is a bit small). Independent: 35%; It's not who you want to join that matters, it's who's willing to have you(we're all familiar with that).

Again, it's 6 credits a semester AND 18 credits in a regular year(fall + spring; no summer). Fall: 9 credits + Spring: 9 credits = eligible Fall: 6 credits + Spring: 12 credits = eligible Fall: 5 credits + Spring: 15 credits = not eligible Fall: 8 credits + Spring: 9 credits = not eligible Plus 24 credits prior to the second academic year(summer counts) Plus the 40/60/80 rule(completed 40% of your major prior to 3rd academic year, 60% prior to 4th, and 80% prior to 5th; summer school counts) Plus the GPA requirement(90% of minimum GPA for graduation prior to 2nd year, 95% prior to 3rd year, 100% thereafter; at UND, that's 1.80/1.90/2.00)

After their first year, student-athletes must complete 18 credits per year and at least 6 per semester. During their first year, they must complete 24 credits. I think the comment was that Chappell only competed 10 of the required 18, but I could easily be wrong. BTW, stupid question: Is his name pronounced like the church or the comedian?

I have no specific knowledge of the situation, but it's possible he's ineligible because of some of the new DI academic requirements that go into effect for UND student-athletes next year. The one I'm thinking of is the 40/60/80 rule. A DI student-athlete must declare a major by the beginning of his/her third year and must have successfully completed 40% of the required credits for that major by that time, 60% before the beginning of his/her fourth year, and 80% before the fifth. It's possible Chappell has a 2.0 or better GPA(required for third year and beyond) but didn't take enough of the right classes. Of course, it's just as likely that bad grades really were the problem. Regardless, a director of compliance is needed, and needed fast. These types of situations can often be avoided if someone on staff has knowledge of the NCAA rules and is kept aware of the student-athletes' grades and progress toward degrees. edit: Oops, I may have made a slight mistake. If Chappell played as a true freshman, he would only need a 1.9 GPA to start the 2008 season. If he redshirted, he would need the 2.0.

Well, the mystery is (mostly) solved. Quick version: The remains are most likely that of an African or African-American female cadaver that was used by a UND medical student between 1930-1960 for his/her own anatomical studies. Report: Human bones found near UND president's home were anatomy specimen

I just like to use this: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp edit: this one is even closer http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/saudigas.asp

In NDSU's case, the issue is mainly money. The priority list goes something like: FB, MBB, WBB, VB, Soc, WR, SB, T&F, BB, Golf. While the NCAA allows 11.7 scholarships for baseball, NDSU has only been funding about 4. Recruiting, equipment and traveling budgets have also been extremely low during the transition. There is some light at the end of the tunnel, however. Now that NDSU is approching its nominal DI budget of around $11-13 million, baseball is starting to see some increases. Next season, they will get around 7 scholarships with hopefully more to come. As that number closes in on the 11.7 max, and as other budget items improve, NDSU should start fielding some very competitive teams. The planned additions to the BSA which include indoor pitching and batting areas should also help greatly. I write this because UND faces the identical situation. Baseball will also be a very low priority during your transition and will most likely struggle. Beyond that, baseball and softball elements will probably also be added to your proposed indoor practice facility. I guess I'm trying to say you shouldn't give up on your baseball team. It won't consume many resources during your transition and, depending on how your conference search goes, it may be better to keep the program for now rather than stopping it and being faced with the decision to restart it later.

Next year, UND could play an all DIII schedule if they wanted to as long as they play 25 games. Other than the minimum number of contests, the rest of the scheduling requirements don't kick in until the second year of the reclassification(explor. year + 4 reclass. years).* Starting in the 2009-10 season, UND will be allowed 4 non-DI games per year.** Since non-DI exhibition games may be used as an exemption to the maximum number of contests, many schools schedule one or two non-DI's as their exhibition games.*** *20.5 CHANGE OF DIVISION MEMBERSHIP 20.5.2.2.2 First Year. During the first year of reclassification, an institution must satisfy the following requirements: (a) Compliance with all minimum contests and participation requirements for sports sponsorship as set forth in Bylaw 20.9.4.3; (c ) Apply all Division I legislation except scheduling requirements and continuing eligibility requirements (e.g., progress-toward-degree, five-year rule) for student-athletes who are completing their final season of competition and were enrolled at the institution at least one year prior to the institution's petition for exploratory membership; **20.9.6 Basketball Scheduling 20.9.6.1 Men's Basketball Four-Game Limit. A member institution may schedule and play not more than four men's basketball games in an academic year against institutions that are not members of Division I. (Women's basketball has the same requirement under 20.9.6.3) ***17.5.5 Number of Contests 17.5.5.1 Maximum Limitations - Institutional. A member institution shall limit its total regular-season playing schedule with outside competition in basketball during the playing season to one of the following (except for those contests excluded under Bylaw 17.5.5.3): (a) 27 contests (games or scrimmages) and one qualifying regular-season multiple-team event per Bylaw 17.5.5.1.1; or (b) 29 contests (games or scrimmages) during a playing season in which the institution does not participate in a qualifying regular-season multiple-team event. 17.5.5.3 Annual Exemptions. The following basketball contests each year may be exempted from a member institution's maximum number of contests: (i) Exhibition against a Non-NCAA Division I Four-Year Collegiate Institution. An exhibition contest against a four-year collegiate institution (other than an NCAA Division I institution) played in the arena in which the member institution regularly plays its home contests. In women's basketball, an institution may play two exhibition contests against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution during any year in which it does not utilize the exemptions set forth in Bylaw 17.5.5.3-(g), 17.5.5.3-(h) and 17.5.5.3-(j), or may play one exhibition contest against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution and either one exhibition contest against a "club" member of USA Basketball, one exhibition contest against a foreign team in the United States or one practice scrimmage as defined in Bylaw 17.5.5.3-(j). In men's basketball, an institution may play two exhibition contests against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution during any year in which it does not use the exemption set forth in Bylaw 17.5.5.3-(j), or may play one exhibition contest against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution and one practice scrimmage as defined in Bylaw 17.5.5.3-(j); and (j) Practice Scrimmage. An informal practice scrimmage with outside competition, provided it is conducted in privacy without official scoring. Individuals other than athletics department staff members and those necessary to conduct a basketball practice scrimmage against outside competition may not be present during such a scrimmage. The institution shall ensure that the scrimmage is free from public view. In women's basketball, an institution may play two practice scrimmages during any year it does not use either of the exemptions set forth in Bylaw 17.5.5.3-(g) or 17.5.5.3-(h) or may play one practice scrimmage and either one exhibition contest against a foreign team in the United States or one exhibition contest against a "club" member of USA Basketball. In men's basketball, an institution may play two practice scrimmages during any year it does not use the exemption set forth in Bylaw 17.5.5.3-(i), or may play one practice scrimmage and one exhibition contest against a non-NCAA Division I four-year collegiate institution. Aren't NCAA regulations fun?

No, you can give less than a full scholarship. In DI, you can give out a maximum of 13 scholarships to a maximum of 13 different players. If you choose, or can afford, to only give out 10 scholarships, you can still split those 10 scholarships across 13 players. Only when you are fully funded to 13 scholarships does it become all or nothing. The same holds true for FBS football - a max of 85 scholies to a max of 85 players.

Commonly held myth. US Code, Title 4 (parentheses are mine) Sec. 8. Respect for flag (b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise. (If it's on the ground, pick it up; nothing more neds to be done.) (k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning. (It only needs to be destroyed if it's in bad shape; like many flags flying over American Legions. ) While the Flag Code is federal law, there are no penalties spelled out and it is rarely enforced. Think of it as a set of official suggestions. Carry on.

The judges for all the cases appear to preside in Grand Forks, so I'd assume the offenses occurred in or around the GF area. All the info comes from the link provided on the first page of this thread.

I absolutely love how NDSU has restructured its media contracts and I think UND would be foolish not to follow suit as soon as possible. During the old days, NDSU gave up all rights to the broadcasts in return for a check. Sure there was no risk to the school(if anyone lost money, it would be ForumComm), but we were completely at ForumComm's mercy when it came to coverge area, webcasting, and other side issues. With the new contract, NDSU assumes quite a bit of risk, but the rewards are worth it. Need improved coverage in SW North Dakota? Go ahead and buy airtime. Want to break into an area where your main carrier doesn't have a station? No contract's stopping you, only money. Want to webcast for free so Bison outside the area don't feel screwed by high prices? No problem. Next year, the Bison Radio Network will include at least 11 different stations from several media networks. That could have never happened under the old-style contracts. I even expect a Twin Cities station to be added in the next two years. I don't think Faison has enough time to restructure your contract this go around, but if at all possible he should do it. Probably the major factor at the moment is lack of money and staff in UND's athletic department. To bring media in-house, you need enough seed money to hire your broadcasting staff and pay for the first wave of airtime. You also need dedicated staff positions to push hard when selling the ad space. Maybe in two years UND will have filled the more serious openings(director of compliance, etc) and will have enough discretionary money to change its media contracts.

I don't know if anyone knows whether we're in the same tournament yet. The Drake Regency Classic has been going on for several years but Drake started a new tourney just last year, the Iowa Realty Invitational. I've heard both the Bison and Sioux will be playing in Drake tournaments, but I haven't heard anyone say exactly which one in either case. Anyone else have info?

Geographically, San Diego makes a ton of sense for both the GWFC and USD. It's money that's an issue. USD is one of the most expensive schools in FCS, including the Ivies(Ivys?). A full ride at USD approaches $50,000 per year, including room and board. Also, since they are a private school, they don't have resident/non-resident tuition rates. A full scholarship football program(not saying they'd have to go to 63) would cost over $3 million in scholarships alone. And then there's Title IX. It's no wonder they're still in the PFL. I hope there is some way to make it work so the GWFC can get the 2014 autobid, but I'm not holding my breath.

Crap. Browser ate my reply. Take two... The running gags I was referring to weren't the Nazi thing; I don't like those comparisons either, and I don't think I've ever made one myself. As a fellow WWII buff, I can kind of see where Ralph was coming from with his parties. I probably would have gone with a Japanese-themed party on Adm. Yamamoto's birthday or something, but the thought is similar. I was referring to the "out of town and unavailable for comment" and the "but we (still) have hockey" gags that have been catchphrases at Bisonville for over a year. I'm quite surprised that Tatanka didn't find some way of working "firetrucks" into the subtitles as well. Personally, I think many are reading a bit too much into the Nazi=UND side of the video, but I can understand why you might. You guys have been taking a lot of hits from all sides for the last several years, and that makes one hypersensitive to any possible attack. It's the way many of us Bison felt from 2002-2006. But that's getting off track. The reason I think Tatanka wasn't going for UND=Nazi as a primary theme is because he first learned about the clip from a version mocking the Vancouver Canucks. Mocking hockey to mocking UND is a shorter trip than the other, IMO. I also lean that way because I almost made a version of the clip mocking UND/Kupchella after seeing the stormchaser version a couple months back. I didn't think I had the technical skills to pull it off quickly(or the humor skills), so I forgot about it until Tat's version. While Ralph's parties would've added a layer of dark humor to the piece, that would never have been my primary(or secondary, or even tertiary) reason for making a clip. I might be projecting my own motivations onto Tatanka, but I've never got the feeling that his stuff is mean-spirited in the same way that a version by JBB or Bison Dan would be. It's also why I think the dorm story is a major reason why he pulled it, though I'm sure the response from the NDSU official played a significant part as well. Just my $0.02.