Yote 53

Today in Vermillion it is 44* with rain and wind. This spring has sucked for nice weather so far which is normal for this time of year. Over the weekend Oklahoma and Texas were playing a college baseball game on ESPN I watched. They've each already played between 25-30 games this season. The Twins have already announced they are postponing Opening Day due to rain/snow. Why would any of us northern schools field a baseball program? I realize they do in Fargo and Brooking but I have to seriously ask why. Soccer can be played in the dead of winter if needed, we saw that in St. Paul with the USMNT this winter. Soccer makes sense. Hockey definitely makes sense for northern schools. Baseball just doesn't make sense, unless they move the season to start April 1 and play the CWS in the beginning of August.

I think you may be referring to the Big Sky. Maybe the Dakotas and Montanas can find some common ground that allies us.

McFeely was correct in his article, the balance of power in the MVFC has shifted to the weakest football schools in the conference. Now it will permanently be that way with the MVC schools outnumbering the Summit schools, and WIU being so financially strapped and weakened as a program that they will vote for a downgrading in the strength of the conference.

Hey now. I think I see a bit of a hill over on the right.

Watching the MN tournament and now watching the SD tournament the difference in level of play is striking.

SD tournament is a Midco production. Watching it right now. Of course the MN tournament isn't a Midco production but at least they are picking up the feed.

Midco 3 ch. 323 is an SD feed so I am using the Silk browser on my Firestick to stream in HD. KARE 11 app on Roku would be much easier. I'll check it out but I don't think KARE 11 has the coverage.

Well, pretty sure I watched the outdoor games from West Fargo on Midco. I am watching the MN HS tournament on Midco 3 today and this week and the SD HS tournament is on Midco 2 this weekend. So I wouldn't say that Midco doesn't care about hockey. They have 3 stations and an app to fill with content. You can only show so many reruns of the Crystal Springs Rodeo or USD beating SDSU in football. Well, wait, they can't show those games enough. Would just be nice to see more regional HS events on Midco but I understand the state HS associations wanting to have free statewide access.

Thanks for the reply. Maybe the NDHSAA should farm that contract our to Midco to provide more visibility to the HS sports in the state. Events broadcast on Midco also have a way to live on in reruns throughout the entire year for even more exposure. I suppose I could make the same case for the SDHSAA as they put all their state championships on SDPTV. Midco Sports is a great regional provider for sports. We're lucky to have them and they should be used by the HS Associations more than they are.

Observation: The SD High School State Championships will air on Midco 2 this weekend. The MN High School State Championships will air on Midco 3 this weekend (channel 323 here). Also on Prep 45TV online. Why is the ND High School State Championships not on Midco 2 or 3? There are regular season HS football and basketball (boys & girls) on Midco Sports. Would be nice to see ND and SD hockey as well. Maybe even some MN hockey as Midco is in Minnesota too. More content for Midco 1, 2, & 3.

If there are any Section Final games on tonight I'd appreciate some links. I'll actually be home tonight (as opposed to kids activities) and able to watch. Thanks in advance.

Well, USA Hockey means business. They will not tolerate subpart Olympic performances so we're throwing more money at it. Anybody else get the email today? USAH fees going up. $15 for U6, $50 for U8. Graduating scale from Squirts to Midgets/Juniors topping out at $70. They site rising costs but they don't pay our volunteers or ice bills. Hell, we don't even get free equipment or sticks and jerseys for the 2 & 2 Challenge anymore. Seriously? Way to grow the game by charging U6/U8 players. That used to be free. I'm on recruiting committee at my association. You know how much b!tching I get about USA Hockey fees? Plenty, from players and coaches. The jacked up Junior fees are just there to grab money from USHL/NAHL camps and tryouts. Have to register USAH just to tryout, not to play in the league. Personally, I've thrown so much money at this game I don't even count anymore, I'm afraid to see the total number. But when it comes to recruiting kids into the game that $50 matters. Our association only charges $50 for first year U8 and we've had our foundation reimburse that the last several years. That's right, free hockey. USA Hockey. Money. Grab. But bet your arse on March 5 I'll still be there volunteering at Try Hockey for Free Day.

After the USA women lost the first thought in my mind is too many players from everywhere else and not enough players from up north (Grand Forks, Northern MN, Iron Range). The team could generate a ton of shots but just didn't have the pure goal scorers to finish. That showed up all tournament and was especially obvious on our dismal power plays. Canada was the opposite, they had girls that could bury the puck. Second thought in my mind is that UND's women's hockey program used to be a driving force in supplying players to Team USA. For the good of the country you guys might need to bring it back. I'd be all in favor of my USA Hockey dues throwing some subsidies your way to do so. Finally, after watching these Olympics and watching her younger brother play in his first hockey tournament recently, my 7 year old daughter has announced she is playing hockey next season. She should. She's a better skater than many of the Mite boys in our program just from rink ratting and open skates. She also states that she is better than her brother and that he is lazy out on the ice. She is a gymnast and the best athlete in our family. Fact. 2034 Games here we come.

Not sure who all read this article but this excerpt is incredible. Zhou Jiaying, who more often goes by the name Kimberly Newell, is the team's Canadian-born goalie, and she found herself in the middle of an awkward situation recently. Although her Olympic profile lists English as her first language spoken, she was recently told that she was not allowed to speak English to members of the press. Instead, she had to speak Mandarin and allow a translator to convey her words to the media. So not only does the Canadian born player have to change her name but the CCP is requiring she give interviews in Chinese and then interpreted back into her native English. That right there sums up China and their contempt for the West and the absolute iron control they have to have on the athletes and the message. I hope the (Winter) Olympics are never held in China again. These Games have been nothing but, I don't know, weird because they are in China. Fake snow, brown mountains, melting half pipes, ski jumps in an industrial zone with massive cooling towers as a backdrop, athletes locked up in quarantine like they are in prison. Just surreal.

Just move that franchise already. Vegas is the desert success story. The Coyotes need to go to Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Portland, Quebec City, Hartford, Cleveland or anywhere else other than Arizona.

I stand by my take for reasons that have nothing to do with the players in Omaha. I am sure they are fine, upstanding young men and they thought what they were doing was the right way to handle it. In fact, most junior hockey players I have met across all levels are some pretty good kids that try to do things the right way. It's a hockey culture thing. I just disagree with boycotts as there are other avenues they could have taken. They all have connections with advisors/agents and college coaches they have committed to that are respected hockey people that could have taken the issues straight to the top of the USHL and USA Hockey. I just don't agree with refusing to play, that's all. Agree with everything you said about Omaha ownership and management.

I'm not blaming the players for the situation. They didn't create the situation, but they are contributing to making it worse. I am saying their reaction of boycotting games was stupid and there are thousands of players that would take their spots in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. I realize there are minimum standards for Tier 1 & Tier 2. But I also know that many teams in the USHL and NAHL are cutting corners in an effort to survive after last season's shutdowns. Do you want these teams and leagues to survive? Because that is what we're kind of talking about. Maybe it's time to have a discussion about the standards set in Junior hockey and the costs of providing those standards. Canadian Jr A is mostly pay to play leagues now. The NAHL has billet and equipment costs. The USHL fancies itself as competing with Major Junior, and the league is very good, but in the end the USHL is a feeder league to the NCAA just like the NAHL and all the other Tier 2 & 3 leagues. Now, Omaha, they are idiots. Put a guy in charge that has no business running a hockey organization. I wasn't shocked when Coach Wilkie left this past summer, I knew something was rotten there when that happened.

The word you are looking for is STUPID. There are thousands and thousands of players that are paying to play in junior hockey leagues all over North America. There are thousands of players in the NAHL, NCDC, Canadian Jr A that would kill for a USHL call-up. Players are replaceable so they better watch their step. The difference between players from Tier 1 to Tier 2 to even Tier 3 is not as great as people think. There are a TON of good players out there these days. The difference between them is the opportunities they are given.

I think one needs to dig deeper into the accounting of these budgets. USD has built a brand new arena as well as facilities upgrades for strength & conditioning and sports performance and Lee is in the top half in pay for coaches in the conference. I'd really want to see what all goes into the basketball budgets of these schools. Are schools including facilities? Because my guess is USD's facilities costs are covered outside the basketball budget yet we play in a brand new arena, one of the best in the conference. Point is the numbers can be deceiving as USD puts plenty of resources towards basketball.

And how many times is that going to repeat itself? Loyola actually had some history, they had just been down for a while. UMKC has no history and has never been good.

UMKC is a dog. The MVC is literally taking the Summit leftovers. First they sniffed around Omaha, now Kansas City. This isn't your parent's MVC anymore. That conference has fallen pretty hard. Summit should strike first and invite UNI to the conference. Heck, we should just approach all the Valley Football schools and start a new conference of state schools and move it en masse to FBS.

Pretty much everybody involved in that scandal has been fired or resigned at any executive level. Are they now looking to purge players that were there?

Another reason I hate all Seattle teams, they're just weird out there. 12, 32, just hokey, stupid gimmicks. They should hang the number 76 up there for Shawn Kemp, 7 children with 6 different women. That's quite an accomplishment.

Bemidji State, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, UM-Duluth, now Augustana. NSIC hockey in the future? Somebody check the by-laws. If Moorhead, SMSU, or Winona jump on the D1 train is that the magical 6th needed to force NSIC hockey? My guess is Augie is CCHA bound.

Looks like Air Force and Colorado State came to their senses and told the AAC "thanks, but no thanks".