Yote 53

I live in Vermillion. The wrestlers here start young, about 8. Many of them train out of Legends of Gold wrestling in nearby Beresford. They attend tournaments all over the state and region starting at a young age, Rapid City, Iowa City, Omaha, Des Moines, etc. My buddy's kid (my son's classmate) is an 8th grader that wrestled varsity and just placed 2nd at State. He was, at one point a couple years ago, the #1 ranked wrestler in the western states. Yeah, it's probably a little more than just throwing on a singlet as a freshman or doing a little youth wrestling. But I will add these kids are serious wrestlers, winning state titles, and getting D1 rides (one of them is one scholarship at SDSU now, I know another that was at Nebraska years ago). Maybe it's because we're closer to the wrestling hotbed of Iowa. Wrestling is just serious here, like hockey is in Minnesota or North Dakota. Check out Legends of Gold on Facebook and you'll know what I am talking about.

My friends used to laugh at me and think I was crazy for my kid playing hockey. I had one friend in the Cities who wouldn't let his kid play hockey due to the "high cost". His son and daughter both play lacrosse now. I have a good time ribbing him now because he pays out the nose for his kids to travel to tournaments in Chicago, Colorado, and even Virginia. I pointed out that he should have had his kids play hockey because he never would have had to drive more than 1/2 hour from home (living in the Cities) and the school picks up the cost once they get to high school. I also have friends who are doing AAU basketball. Just as expensive as hockey, even more in some cases. Don't even get me started about one of my friends whose kid is a wrestler. Monthly dues to the place he trains at, travel all over the country for tournaments, that is expensive. I am on the recruiting committee for my local association and I hate articles like this and the mantra that "hockey is so expensive". It's tough to recruit against and break down the stereotype. Guess what? If your kid is going to play any sport at a level above "rec" than there are going to be costs involved. Like I tell my basketball playing friends, when your kid gets to high school there are 5 players on the floor and about 3 off the bench, that's 8 players who get varsity action out of 3 grades. You think your kid is going to be one of them? You are a 5-11 white guy and you're banking on basketball for your kid. There are 20 players on a varsity hockey roster and about the same on a varsity baseball roster. Get him a hockey stick for the winter and a baseball bat for the summer. Your kid will thank you when he actually sees the ice or field when he's in high school. The writer of the article would rather we just pocket our money and save it for college while our kids sit at home and do nothing. I know kids like that, who do nothing, and they are in nothing but trouble.

LOL. A few years back when my kid played in the International we rented ice for practice before the tournament too. You need to understand a couple of things about your statements. First, for the team that traveled by bus it was probably far cheaper for them to do it that way than it was for the families to drive separately. There were a few teams that chartered buses when we were there. Second, ice time rental in Fargo was $90/hour, that is really cheap. We pay about $150/hour where we live and that is considered very cheap relative to other areas. In some cities ice rental is running $250-$350 or more/hour. So when you get the opportunity to rent ice that cheap you take it. We had a scheduled practice on Thursday night that we had to miss due to travel to Fargo for the Squirt OIympics that night. We in essence "traded' our $150/hour practice for a $90/hour practice at Teamsters. As to the cost of youth hockey these days, I personally feel it is cheaper than when I played in the 80's/early 90's and is still well worth every penny I pay. I love it. My last pair of skates where CCM Tacks that cost about $400, that's in 1989 dollars which is $785 in today's dollars. Now you can buy far better skates than what I wore for about $300. Sure, wood sticks were about $20 a pop back then but I would go through at least a dozen a season. Today you can spend $200 on a stick, if you want to, but you don't have to. Very good sticks can be purchased for about $100 and will last about a half a season or more (I picked up two CCM RBZ 150 Intermediates for $70 each about a month ago, that's a good deal). Protective equipment today is better and relatively cheaper. Again, you don't need top of the line, a step above mid-grade is a very good equipment value. Registration costs aren't that bad where we live. You'll easily pay a $100 fee for your 8 yr old daughter to play rec soccer for a month and a half, yet people balk at paying $1,000 at Bantams for a 5 month season where your kid gets 3 practices a week and a schedule of about 45-50 games? I call that value. The one cost that is painful is travel costs, it's about $250 every time we go out of town for hotel/gas/food. We manage to keep it that low because we share room and travel expenses with another player on the team.

St Paul Academy and St Cloud Cathedral was a good game. The Channel 45 feed is being picked up and all these games are available on Midco Sports 3, channel 323 where I live, for anyone who wants to watch. Stillwater just took care of business with Farmington. Burnsville and Wayzata intros on now. Love the flow, never disappoints.

Don't let this be you this weekend in Omaha. Be good boys. Just looking for a place to crash

So a couple of weeks back I was in Fargo for my kid's hockey tournament. We usually come up to Fargo/Moorhead once or twice a season, great town you got there. We had games at Southwest and at Teamsters. The interesting thing about Teamsters is that it is literally on the NDSU campus yet the Zamboni proudly has the Fighting Sioux logo displayed on the front of it and there is also Fighting Sioux logos and such in the locker rooms. I know the locker rooms have been somewhat recently remodeled or repainted since we play in that building at least once a year and I don't remember any of these Fighting Sioux logos being displayed anytime before, or maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Just thought it was interesting given the debate here about the "nickname" crowd being the "hockey only" crowd and how many of them are perceived to be NDSU/UND hockey only fans.

There are Title 9 investigations going on at scores of athletic departments all across the country. It doesn't mean any of this is true, or even if there is something found that it is even true either. USD got hit with a Title 9 lawsuit because a grossly underachieving women's sports director was failing miserably at her job. When she got the axe she filed a complaint because her and her partner, who I believe was a coach underneath her supervision, got fired. Nothing about how you shouldn't be sleeping with your subordinates or continually producing losing programs, no, that wouldn't be why you were fired. It was all because of your gender and sexual orientation. Biggest sham I've ever seen.

Couple of thoughts from down south here. I get around to all of the hockey venues in Iowa and Nebraska and have friends in the youth hockey associations across both states. - The people in Omaha and Lincoln tell me it is just a matter of time before Husker hockey is a reality. Forget that gentlemen's agreement between Lincoln and Omaha. UNO feels it can stand on its own in the Omaha market given the success they have enjoyed and they now have a permanent on-campus home. Husker hockey will work in Lincoln. Husker fans flock to every team that wears the Big Red N, volleyball, baseball, any sport that has any sort of moderate success. - The only thing stopping Iowa hockey is the lack of a facility. That is about to change with the facility in Coralville. Forget the USHL, Cedar Rapids is too close to Coralville and a USHL team there will infringe upon the Roughriders territory. The Iowa franchises in the USHL have made up the backbone of the league for years and with the Iowa Wild seeing some commercial success in Des Moines the sport is alive in this State. Iowa is like Nebraska too, any team that sports the Tigerhawk is going to gather a following. Iowa hockey would be at the very least a revenue neutral sport. Iowa is also one of the richest athletic departments in the country having revenues that place them in the top 12-15 every year. You think Coralville is going to drop all that money for an arena for a USHL team? Or Iowa Club hockey? The unspoken word is the target is NCAA Hockey at Iowa. - The BTN needs programming and the BTHC needs teams. I'm guessing there will be some incentives for member schools to start programs. - Iowa State has a good Club following but Club is a long ways from Varsity. ISU does not have the money or resources to start a program. The school has had a highly successful wrestling program for years yet let their own Cael Sanderson get away to Penn State because they didn't want to pay him. The instability of the Big 12 is their primary concern. ISU is more likely to end up in the MAC or MWC than they are to start hockey. No way ISU will ever in 100 billion years get an invite to the Big Ten and they know it. The school brings nothing to the conference. Add in the fact that they just spent a ton of money overbuilding Jack Trice for a crappy football program. Can you say misallocation of resources? - The Big Ten brought in Johns Hopkins as an affiliate because they passed the academic test as a highly valuable research institution, they also happen to have a great lacrosse program, a sport that is growing by leaps and bounds nationwide. - UND should never consider affiliate membership in the Big Ten. It would be a very bad move for your hockey program. You are already in a premier hockey conference with similar minded schools. The Big Ten schools are not thinking hockey first though the conference does house some historically powerful hockey schools. - Big ten Hockey will be fine. There is too much money and prestige there to stay down for long. If new programs at Iowa, Nebraska, or another school start up they will become power schools as well. Money, resources, television exposure, Big Ten academics gives these schools so many built in advantages.

There is a big difference in some of the players that are on campus now as opposed to when Ed was coach. Joe didn't tolerate any bs and there were players who were sent packing or faced discipline when they had issues on campus. Joe has also put together a good foundation of players to win in this conference, he just isn't going to see the fruits of his labor. I can tell you this team now is built much much more like a MVFC team than when Joe first got here. Much bigger and more physical. No way any of Ed's teams would have been able to go into the FargoDaome and go toe to toe with NDSU. USD was able to do that last year. Still, the physical changes you often see in teams don't always translate into wins and that has kinda been the case here. We just started to see glimpses of it last year. There are some very good young players on this team. This program is much healthier on several fronts now than when Joe took over. I would not doubt that is one of the things that attracted Nielson. He doesn't have a rebuild job on his hands here because the cupboard is pretty full right now. He's got some things to work with right out of the gate.

From what I have heard he called the meeting and told them a decision was not made, left the subject pretty open. The place I am hearing the reports you guys are referencing all come out of WIU. What do you really expect from that source? Of course they are upset and angry. I wouldn't expect them to send out tweets of congratulations. With the way Joe Glenn cleaned up the football program after Ed Meierkort was let go, I would be shocked if USD would go out and hire somebody of low moral character. In fact, I doubt Joe would allow that, and yes, he does have that kind of pull here.

That's why I am confused. I don't know why you guys think he is shady. Look around and you can see coaching change after coaching change across the country where coaches had to deny they were looking before they ultimately left for another position. There was a great conversation about this on the radio last week (I believe it was Mike & Mike). The consensus was that these coaches not only have to lie about if they are leaving but should lie. Admitting you are looking around is foolish. It will be used against you in recruiting for years on after. The spectre of you admitting you were looking around will be brought up in every living room you walk into. I suppose he told his staff what he did because he wanted them to keep recruiting because he wasn't sure he was leaving. We'll see how many of them will follow him to USD I guess, that should tell us something. As for the MVFC merry go round of beatdowns. Yep that happens. USD got thumped by WIU, but beats NDSU, who thumps WIU and SDSU. USD loses a nailbiter to SDSU. WIU wins a tough one with SDSU. Go figure.

Wow, the hate from many of you guys for this coach is palpable. I'm trying to figure out what he did to you. I know he was at UMD but his success there was pretty much after we were both gone from D2. Must be because you felt you should have made the playoffs over WIU. The committee didn't think you deserved it, I happen to agree with them. The one time you guys were on the big stage this season you let the Bison slap you around. WIU earned their way in by winning games in the best FCS conference, beating a good SDSU team the last week of the season, and backed up the committee's decision by winning their first round game.

Sounds to me like the jilted school has sour grapes over losing their coach. I heard that things went down differently than what is being posted here. Either way, in this day and age of instant communication these coaching deals are never pretty. Rumors are flying rampant, what do you expect the guy to say? "Yep, I'm trying to get a job somewhere else, if it doesn't work out and I stay here it doesn't change anything, right?" Anybody in this situation has to carefully navigate these waters but it has come to the point that every coach looking to make a move has to deny, deny, deny. Instead of WIU getting upset about this they should be asking themselves why the reigning MVFC Coach of the Year who took there school to the playoffs this season felt the need to leave Western for greener pastures. Something is definitely not right at WIU and they should evaluate what they need to do to make their athletic department more attractive. For USD, obviously we are doing something right as far as our commitment level in order for a head coach to leave a conference school to come here.

Seriously though, I think it will take at least 25 years, if ever, for people to accept your new nickname. You might as well go right back to the drawing board and come up with something else in a few years because Hawks sucks as a nickname. Consider this process you went through a trial run. The next time everybody knows the stakes and not to mess around.

If you wanted a nickname that is genuine you should have gone without a nickname for longer. Eventually the sportswriters would have glossed you something and the name would have coem about organically. Many examples of this as many colleges owe their nicknames to sportswriters and how the teams became to be known. One I poitne dout already, Hawkeyes, another is Fighting Irish. Interestingly enough I think you may have ended up being known as the Nodaks with that strategy as I heard more and more color and play by play guys using it.

Actually Hawkeyes isn't a hawk based name, it is historical. When asked how Iowans should be described a newspaper writer described them as a bunch of Hawkeyes, like the character from the book Last of the Mohicans which was popular at the time. The name stuck, Iowa became the Hawkeye State, and the school has used the nickname ever since. The logo may be that of a hawk, but how do you describe a Hawkeye otherwise? The logo is actually recognizable worldwide, so there is that. In North Dakota terms, you are the Roughrider State, UND should be the Roughriders.

Good luck with that. Alot has changed in the last few years. You won't be tangling with some pushover USD squad.

Coming from a Coyote who attended UND Hockey School back in the days of the Old Ralph and who still has some Fighting SIoux swag that is almost 30 years old from that camp, I actually am sorry for you guys. I would be completely pissed off right now if it was USD who pulled this crap. Fighting Hawks is so freaking lame, it really is undescribable how pathetic it is. I would be flooding some email boxes, hanging some banners, marching, and some good old civil unrest over this.

Seriously though, you guys going to riot today. At least one couch has to burn in the streets of Grand Forks over this. Or have you all just given up?

My condolences.

And Nodaks, like the Wild, gives you something abstract that you can use as a blank slate for an image. There is no preconceived notion about Nodaks like there is the other two names and it allows you to define your story and tell it. I also have been drawn into the nickname threads, an outsider looking in. I don't have a stake in any of this, in fact, kind of the opposite since USD is an old rival of yours. It is just kind of fascinating to watch the debates rage on, gives an insight into the human psyche. In another thread I posted my thoughts (anything but Fighting Hawks, that's lame). Ultimately the UND community will have to decide on something.

Even better. Iowa City High School, Iowa City, IA Nickname: Little Hawks Address: 1900 Morningside Drive, Iowa City, IA -Morningside, you mean the Maroon Chiefs? -Nah, they're the Maroon Mustangs now. Used to go by just Maroons but that's West Des Moines Dowling, they're the Maroons. -Dowling is a high school, right? -Yes. But hey, let's go Hawks. -Yeah, I like Iowa too. The Hawkeyes are having a good year. -I wasn't talking about Iowa. -City High then? -No, silly, North Dakota, you know the Nodaks. -Oh, I see. Yeah, go Nodaks, err, Hawks, err. I give up. Any way you slice it Hawks is about as unoriginal and generic nickname as you are going to find. Nodaks and Roughriders are at least original to college athletics, even if it is not original to Grand Forks or Sioux Falls (Roosevelt HS). You're not competing against high schools, though, you're competing against other universities. You are the Roughrider State, after all, and many of us out of staters refer to you as Nodaks already (meaning people from North Dakota). Maybe RRHS will do you all a solid and give you the nickname Roughriders and they will adopt another. Would that end the debate? All I know is Fighting Hawks is about the lamest thing I've ever heard. That's fine if you all like it. Just know the rest of us are laughing at it and secretly hoping that's what you choose (maybe not so secretly now).

Let's just say that as a Coyote who battled the Sioux on the gridiron for many years and witnessed the battles for many more years after my playing days were done, Fighting Hawks is a less than underwhelming nickname. Just an outsiders perspective.

As an outsider looking in this process has been totally jacked up. In the end I would think you all want a nickname you can accept and rally behind. IMO, either Nodaks or Roughriders work best for UND. In time the majority of people will come to accept either one because they are both unique and the people of North Dakota can come to identify with them and proudly call themselves a Rider or a Nodak. Fighting Hawks? What a complete joke. Go through all of this to come up with the most non-descript, generic bird. This is a nickname for a major university, not a U8 girls soccer team. You might as well just saved yourself some grief and called yourself the color Green. How is anybody going to identify with Fighting Hawks?

University of Iowa is inching closer. I don't think this Coralville Arena project has the traction it does unless there is an unpublicized understanding with the Iowa AD on adding varsity hockey at Iowa. http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-ten/2015/8/15/9159669/iowa-hockey-coralville-arena