UND92,96

The interesting thing is that I believe "emerging sports" were recognized by the NCAA largely for the purpose of assisting schools like Minnesota, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc. who already offered all or nearly all traditional women's sports, but due to the huge number of football scholarships at the I-A level, and having men's sports like hockey and wrestling, Title IX compliance was essentially impossible without adding new women's sports to the list of those recognized by the NCAA. I highly doubt that the legislative intent was ever to allow these "emerging sports" to actually REPLACE more traditionally popular women's sports. Of course, this isn't necessarily provable or frankly even relevant to NDSU's situation, but I can't help thinking that action may be eventually taken by the NCAA if schools start utilizing some of these relatively inexpensive "emerging sports" in lieu of more traditional and popular sports. Time will tell, but it just seems doubtful that the intent was to essentially replace swimming or tennis with equestrian or badminton just so the school can save money without regard for what women actually are interested in.

I stand corrected to an extent, as I was unaware that the NCAA recognized the existence of so-called "emerging sports," although I can only imagine the problems UND would have if it were to attempt to drop very expensive women's hockey in favor of cheaper alternatives like bowling, badminton and archery. I still think that it's questionable ethically, although apparently not legally, for a school to forego adding sports which have a longstanding tradition of participation in that particular geographical area at the youth and high school level, i.e. gymnastics, swimming (which I would classify as a relatively inexpensive high-participation sport) and tennis, in favor of a sport like equestrian in which you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody in the state who has competed in an actual competition. There are obviously all kinds of people in ND and MN who have ridden horses extensively, but that's far different from the actual sport of equestrian. On the one hand, I suppose you can't fault schools for taking advantage of an NCAA-approved loophole making it easier and cheaper to comply with Title IX. But I assume you also see the potential for abuse if schools are allowed to drop (or not add) sports deemed too expensive, even if popular in a particular region, in favor of cheap, high-participation sports like several of the "emerging sports" apparently are.

Since equestrian isn't sponsored by the NCAA, does it even have a scholarship limit? I understand the concept of adding a "sport" like this in an attempt to address the Title IX issue, but my problem with it is that it's a blatant attempt to follow the letter of the law but clearly not its spirit. There are sports NDSU doesn't currently have for women that are sponsored by the NCAA, and for which there probably is at least somewhat of a local demand, particularly when compared to the probable complete lack of demand for equestrian. Examples would be tennis, swimming and gymnastics, sports which are offered at the high school level in ND and MN. Hockey may not be practical due to the lack of facilities, but that presumably wouldn't be the case with tennis, swimming (at least I assume NDSU has a pool) and gymnastics. I suspect it will only be a matter of time before people like Martha Burke and Chris Voelz make it a crusade to challenge schools' attempting to be Title IX compliant by adding sports not recognized/sanctioned by the NCAA and for which there is little or no demand by former or current students at that particular school. BTW, I checked out Ohio St.'s athletic site and I didn't see any mention of equestrian. Are you sure they offer it as a sport? Perhaps it's just a phy-ed class.

Which dI teams are definitely playing at NDSU next year?

Yikes, UND falls a spot in the new regional poll despite a nice road win: North Central 1 Regis (Colorado) 17-0 18-3 2 Minnesota Duluth 11-4 17-5 3 Metropolitan State 14-4 17-4 4 Minnesota State Moorhead 11-4 17-4 5 Augustana (South Dakota) 11-4 20-5 6 North Dakota 11-4 17-5 7 Concordia-St. Paul 10-4 15-6 8 Fort Hays State 10-3 17-4 9 St. Cloud State 10-6 16-7 10 Minnesota-Crookston 9-5 14-7 It seems odd that UND is 4-1 against teams ranked in the region (plus wins over regional number one Seattle Pacific and regional number two Grand Valley St.), and yet despite an overall record at least comparable to everybody in front of them, they're only ranked 6th. For example, take Moorhead. The one and only thing they have over UND is one fewer loss (also one less game played). But they also played four non-dII teams compared to one for UND; they lost by 35 to UND; and they're 2-3 against regionally ranked teams compared to UND's 4-1 (6-1 counting other regions). What's going on here? I'm not interested enough to calculate SSI's, but considering UND's quality wins and Moorhead's four games against non-dII's, it certainly doesn't appear that SSI would support them being ranked ahead of UND. While much can change between now and the end of the regular season, it does appear that the NCC is in danger of getting as many post-season bids (three) as the woeful RMAC.

Personally, I appreciate any thread or post about basketball on this site. It has unfortunately been all too quiet on here this season despite pretty decent years so far by both the women and men. As more and more people become aware of this board's existence, you would think basketball discussion would increase instead of decrease, but sadly that hasn't been the case this year.

I was actually on the same flight with that kid from Minneapolis to GF on Monday. I figured he was a hockey player and I thought he looked strangely familiar even though I don't follow the USHL at all. The next day there was an article in Herald about him and of course I then knew why he looked so familiar! Unfortunately, I couldn't tell whether he had any of his freakin' toys with him.

These are really huge games this weekend against Augie and Duluth. A sweep is imperative to keep UND in a good position to win the league. The thing I'm a little worried about is that this is a Friday-Saturday series, and on Saturday UND will be playing a rested UMD team coming off a week to prepare for the Sioux as they don't play another game this weekend. Another poor job of scheduling by the NCC as it could easily have been a Thursday-Saturday series, particularly with no hockey this weekend, but obviously there's nothing that can be done about it at this point other than just go out and win. If the Sioux can sweep this weekend, and then win two of the last three on the road--and the games at Vermillion and Mankato appear very winnable--UND will finish no worse than in a tie for first. That would be quite an accomplishment in basically a rebuilding year.

Another 40-plus point game for Kimbrough last night as she scored 43. I believe her season average is now over 35 ppg. According to the Herald, the B-G-MR team has lost some regulars to injury which has resulted in them relying on Kierah even more than previously.

That's really an incredible performance. Her 55 points were apparently just 3 points away from the state single-game record: link (click on Girls Indiv Game link).

I have the utmost respect for Professor Lee both as a professor and as a person. He is a brilliant man, but is also completely down-to-earth and just a fun guy to talk to. I don't think anybody in my class would have a bad word to say about him. He and his family are definitely in my thoughts and prayers.

Both UND and NDSU have lost in Crookston in recent years, but not this year. None of the UND-UMC games in Grand Forks have been very competitive.

This really doesn't have much to do with Koenig, but for anyone who wants to simply judge him solely by his stats, I happened to look at what Jamel Staten's stats were at Northern Illinois his sophomore year, which was his last year there prior to transferring to Mankato. They were nearly identical to what Koenig is doing now. Anybody who has seen Staten play can attest that he's a big-time talent. My point is not that Koenig would put up Staten-like numbers at UND or NDSU, because that would be tough for anyone to do. But for anyone to believe that he wouldn't be a big contributor to either program if he were to transfer is simply foolish. He's listed at 6'8", 250, he can shoot the ball, and he's quite athletic for his size judging by his football accomplishments as a receiver/defensive back. I'd take him on my team in a heartbeat. The fact that he'd have to sit out a year if he were to transfer to NDSU may be important from his own perspective since some players wouldn't want to have to do that, but from Miles' perspective it would probably be irrelevant. It's not like there's any pressure for NDSU to win big immediately, anyway. Particularly with a team comprised primarily of freshmen like next year's team will be.

LaPier has been in business for a long time in Fosston, so I think he knows what he's doing. By the way, I just filled up today at University Station for $1.83/gallon. It looks like nearly everybody else in town is at $1.90.

The new regional poll is out: North Central 1. Regis (Colorado) 13-0 14-3 2. North Dakota 10-3 16-4 3. Minnesota State Moorhead 10-3 15-3 4. Augustana (South Dakota) 9-3 18-4 5. Concordia-St. Paul 8-4 11-6 6. St. Cloud State 8-4 14-5 7. Minnesota Duluth 7-4 13-5 8. Metropolitan State 11-3 14-3 9. South Dakota 8-5 12-5 10. Fort Hays State 8-1 13-2 It seems bizarre to see Moorhead up that high! They looked horrible the night the Sioux played them, but obviously they do have a good record. I just hope there's somebody in the RMAC who can hang at least a couple of losses on Regis.

I agree. In a way, it's too bad he didn't get a red-shirt year which would have made this his freshman year. But apparently the coaching staff felt they needed him immediately last season.

Has anybody seen the 6'10" sophomore from Williston play, I believe his name is Brian Qvale? I would think he would be a pretty good prospect in a couple of years.

I'm not sure if people noticed or not, but about a month ago when gas prices in GF dropped by 10 cents, it was because University Station opened and they had gas at that price first. In the past, gas was always priced 5-10 cents per gallon lower than GF in places like Mentor and Fosston. That shouldn't be the case anymore, thankfully.

NDSU's biggest crowd last year was about 5000--against UND. While I think a game against a "name" opponent would draw as well or better than that, games against teams like Denver or Missouri-Kansas City likely will not because these schools are simply not recognizable to the average fan. Perhaps the first game or two against a dI opponent will draw better than the caliber of opponent would suggest they should, a la the Valpo football game. But I certainly wouldn't expect attendance to typically be better than what NCC opponents drew in Fargo unless the opponent is a fairly big-name school, or perhaps a team like Montana, Northern Iowa or Creighton. I just don't see people who aren't loyal enough fans to go to games this year showing up for a game against a Mid-Continent or Sun Belt team. Time will tell.

If Mahlum really has lost her confidence--and judging by her play this year I'd agree with that assessment--I would hope Gene wouldn't start her anymore regardless of matchups. If a player doesn't have confidence in herself, she shouldn't be out there. With Hensley injured perhaps Augie is a little smaller at the guard position, but last year they were one of the teams that really tried to exploit Mahlum's lack of size on defense.

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