lawkota

I see NDSU and SDSU parting ways here and frankly, I think that's good news for NDSU. SDSU's lack of a firm commitment to D-I has been an anchor to the Bison efforts. Chapman's comments may get him labeled as a Pollyanna, but to me it shows that the man has a firm idea of where NDSU belongs in the world and he's willing to hold out for it. How long will depend on the Bison boosters. Could this still backfire bigtime on NDSU? Absolutely. But I for one will take no joy in seeing them fail.

From a fan's perspective, not much. I actually like the atmosphere and sightlines at the X better. REA is more luxurious. Both arenas are great. What makes REA stand out over any other arena, college or pro, is at ice level. No NHL arena has close to the training facilities of the Ralph - weight room, physical therapy, two sheets of ice, etc. The men's locker room has to be seen to be believed. These are the things important to the players, things the general public doesn't see. It doesn't surprise me at all that Wild players would prefer REA - that was the intent of Ralph Engelstad, the arena was built for the players first, then the fans.

WYO, despite the auto-bid issue being resolved - I suspect that UND is seriously studying this issue. There is a push for D-IAA at UND, but it has been primarily from the football people. It would be interesting to know what Lennon was promised on this issue. Its no secret he wants the program to move up. Given his abrupt withdrawal from the Sac St. job (I thought he was gone) and the comments he made to the Winnipeg recruit (albeit hearsay), something was discussed. Even if UND were to move up though, that would only make three schools. UNC didn't like its postition in the old NCC, it's doubtful they would rejoin their old conference partners. 3 schools is not enough and even if you could pull USD in, I don't see any of the other NCC schools making the jump. I don't see a conference with less that 6 members as viable and there is no way you could get an established D-1AA school to join, they would just screw themselves out of ever getting a basketball autobid during the probationary period. I would be surprised if the Big Sky admitted new members this year. Nevertheless, I still like NDSU's approach better than SDSU's - they've made a commitment to D-1. Yes, a conference affiliation is needed and the Bison will struggle with scheduling and the like each year they don't have one but OTOH, each year they're out there, they become more attractive as a potential conference member. Its a risk, but I've never heard Taylor or Chapman say it isn't. NDSU looked at the Division II landscape, stood up and told it's fellow NCC members "We're better than this". Then they went and did something about it. We can argue about whether they did the right thing or not but the fact is they did something that took balls. I applaud them.

My brother brought this to my attention: North Dakota Found to be Harboring Nuclear Missiles I love the Onion. My favorite part: If you can't laugh at yourself...... And of course, I love the subtle dig at the Germans and French.

dagies, you posted exactly what I was thinking. You know what that means - we're both brilliant. Seriously though, its really hard to point to a single MVP of this team. David Hale, Bochenski, Parise, Notermann, Spiewak, etc., you can make a case for all of them. Although there is alot of season left to go, I think we can all agree that this team has undergone a remarkable turnaround from last year. What did that take? It took leadership from upperclassmen embarrassed by the 2001-02 season, guys who wanted to be leaders. It took a number of last year's freshman to significantly elevate their game. And while I don't think this team required a person of Parise's talent level to come in - since it got one anyway, it became necessary that that person have the character of Parise (I think a prima donna would have done more harm than good).

The motel operators are correct that the GF market is overbuilt and I have no problem with them lobbying against Canad. They're just trying to protect their turf, even though I think they're being shortsighted. However the city's apparent waffling on this issue really ticks me off. All along, the city and Alerus have been emphatic that an attached hotel will spur tremendous convention and trade show activity at the Alerus. They've said it's those events, not concerts or football games, that generate real economic benefit to the host city. I agree. In fact I think it was a mistake to build the Alerus without a hotel deal. So - if the city believes what it's said - then they know a hotel deal is necessary. Why waffle? Just say "sorry guys, we're going ahead". By agreeing to delay to further study the issue, what the city is saying is either: a) we've never really been sure an attached hotel was needed, we just said that; b) we're still going ahead, we just are hoping to placate you by pretending we will study the issue again; or c) we have no idea what we're doing. Yuck. Also, again yesterday, Alerus Red Again, the Herald and city place blame on the REA for budget shortfalls. For anyone that missed it, go back in this thread to star2city's link to Todd Bernings letter. I've talked with a top staffer at REA about their treatment from the Herald, and to a certain extent, the city. It's unbelievable the crap they put up with. Yet, in less than two years, Grand Forks will be given an unbelievable opportunity to showcase itself to Europe and Canada. I don't think the impact of the WJ can be overstated. Who provided that opportunity?

While I think that saying UND cheated is going overboard, I fail to see how the Sioux can get by without forfeiting games just because they self reported. They used an ineligible player. Has there been an official announcement from the NCAA on forfeiture of games? On Allen - while it's unfortunate, I don't see how the NCAA could have ruled any other way. JMHO.

Well said DMB. Wanless, to his immense credit, does not seem to harbor any ill will towards UND (at least publicly). I would like to believe that he is comfortable with his legacy - he had a large part in creating one of the finest athletic departments in all of D2.

My top 5 1. Wisconsin 2. Minnesota 3. Minnesota-Duluth 4. St. Cloud 5. Mankato For me, Wisconsin is an easy choice. Nothing gets my blood flowing more than the Badgers coming to town. I think is has to do with the fact that I became a big hockey fan in the early Gino years and we all know what the Sioux-Badger rivalry was like then. Minnesota is a close second and Duluth a more distant third. #4 and #5 are toss ups but I went with St. Cloud because we've had some great matchups recently and Mankato because there seems to be a little bad blood between the teams.

I hate to point out the obvious but "UND alums" do not equal UND. I'm sure you would not want the opinions and actions of all NDSU alumni to be considered official NDSU positions. Edit - BTW, I know 2 NDSU alums that are against the move and have expressed approval of this bill. By your logic, I guess NDSU is trying to derail itself.

Yawn. This "UND is always trying to bring us down" attitude from some of our neighbors to the south is really getting tiresome. Tell us please, how has UND attempted to derail the Bison efforts? Hard evidence, not hyperbole and conjecture. Simply deciding to take a separate path is not sabotage. But hey, if a dependence on conspiracy is what gets you through the day, by all means, continue to bask in your paranoia. BTW, good luck to NDSU - I really hope the Sioux will be joining them in D-I.

Yeah DG, there's a tenative deal with Canad Inns of Canada to develop a hotel there. That's what causing the uproar from the other lodging operators that mksioux was referring to. I agree that a hotel is needed and I hope the city doesn't waffle - in fact, they goofed when they didn't get a hotel deal before they started building the convention center.

Since it involves Sioux hockey's "home" I guess this is hockey related. In the Herald today, there is an article regarding red ink at the Alerus and competition with REA is cited. Red-Ink for Alerus It seems that the Herald, the City and Alerus officials are always quick to blame REA for the inability of the Alerus to meet projections or operate in the black. I'm not a resident of Grand Forks but live close enough and here's my take - every $$ REA takes away from the Alerus puts a smile on my face. The arena part should never have been built - Grand Forks needed a large convention center with an adjacent hotel, not an adjacent arena (and the absence of a hotel makes it impossible to market the convention center). It's ugly and the upper seating is too far away from the field (FargoDome much better, IMHO). Besides, the city screwed itself when it refused to consider Dean Blais' request that they make the arena "ice-ready" so UND could bid for regionals or for big draw games like the gophers and badgers. I don't think its any coincidence that Ralph announced his gift a month after the city's decision. On the plus side, the arena has been great for UND football. What do others think? Is the Alerus unfairly hurt by the Ralph? Should REA officials stop booking non-ice events? Should UND move its basketball games to the Alerus? Should the FargoDome be razed? What needs to be done for the whining to stop?

This is getting way more attention than it deserves. And the blame for that goes to Dean Blais. Blais should have kept quiet about the matter. After all, what does he care? Does anyone honestly think that Ed Schultz is going to sway anyone's opinion about Blais and the Sioux hockey program? Like Sicatoka and others have said, I'm sure Ed did this for ratings and as a way to suck up to the Twin Cities audience - he probably thought this would be his ticket to a metro radio time slot. Locally though, I think that Ed shot himself in the foot with his tirade and he knows it. If anything, Dean's complaining about it has let him off the hook. At the very least, its allowed Ed to milk the "they're trying to muzzle me" angle - every talk show host's dream. But, in Blais' defense, he has always been one to say what he thinks, especially when he feels he or his team has been wronged. It's gotten him some negative press in the past and will probably do so again. I appreciate the candor most of the time and have accepted that you have to take the bad (which is minimal) with the good (which is considerable). I agree that UND should ask Clear Channel to reconsider who does the Sioux football play by play. Not only because its very embarrassing to the University if one of its game announcers is apt to trash another Sioux program publicly but also because Ed's announcing skills have deteriorated considerably ever since he started thinking he was one of Rocky's assistant coaches. The subject should be addressed in private though.

I guess I agree with the previous poster. I question UND's decision to appeal primarily because they do not seem to dispute that Myron Allen received compensation from the Beez. The appeal will only serve to drag this out longer and be a further distraction for the team. What other penalty can there be. He received compensation from a professional team. There is a strong possibility he had an agent. (Seriously, how many times is the "he's not my agent, just a family friend" rationale excuse trotted out and how many times do you believe it? For me, its a) alot and b) never.) There can be no middle ground here, he was either a professional or he wasn't. The NCAA has ruled he was and therefore, his amateur status is revoked. I don't think that it is in the best interest of college athletics to have a sliding scale of professional status in handing out punishment. I feel bad for Myron Allen because from all indications, he seems like a good young man who may have made an innocent mistake. Maybe the rules need to be changed but that discussion is moot in this case. Also, I agree that the forfeit question has not been decided yet. To me this is a no brainer - you won games using an ineligible player, you forfeit those games....or at least treat them as if they'd never been played. If the Sioux truly are a championship-caliber team, they will play their way through this and make the tournament.

I think it would send mixed signals Jim, but not necessarily dangerous ones. A situation like that, where the public (alumni) preceive that the administration is phasing out the name and logo, could be a catalyst for a more aggressive pro-name movement. PCM, good call. It has never occurred to me that having the logo on a "shot glass" typified alcoholism among Indians. Of course, I am unenlightened.

Here's the link: Bookstore Makes Call on Shot Glasses I think that's fine. It accomplishes nothing. In fact, I think B&N should cease sales of all Sioux merchandise. Then fans would have to buy their stuff at the Ralph. UND would still get the licensing $$$ and would also benefit indirectly from increased profits at the arena.

I was told they were looking into the cost but had not finalized anything yet. I suspect that they will have to have the netting in place before they can host any additional preseason NHL games.