Matt

fair point.

NDSU won't keep good coaches. That's life as a mid-major. There are mid-majors that make frequent trips to the tourney that can't keep coaches from moving up. How is NDSU different?

I heard Ed Schultz say on the radio this week the donors don't want their names public, "because they know they are wrong."

I know next to nothing about the TV market, so I ask this question. Wouldn't the guaranteed viewer share of this hockey game be well worth an expensive ad buy to a sponsor?

I always love that one.

It would seem to me that advertisers all over the state would be calling for the OPPORTUNITY to pay for the benefit of sponsoring this game!

You mean they'd need more seats. The template discussed was Boise. I guess Boise was a first round site in the recent past. The rallying cry in Fargo seems to be, "If Boise can do it, so can we!"

Wrong about what? I made no statement about the roster of UND specifically, yet why are you defending it? It's not necessary. In as much as you apparently thought I was using UND as an example, I should have been more clear. My reference was that, in general, given there are more players with junior experience, it is difficult to determine the age of a player by their eligibility year.

How old is an "older" college hockey player? 25? 27? Even if a team is heavy on Frosh and Sophs, rarely are they 18 and 19 year olds anymore.

please go away.

I always love that one.

Let's get over this "your fans/program are classless". Whether it's booing the all tournament team by gophers, or Sioux fans swearing at little kids in gopher jerseys (which I unfortunately witnessed in the West Regional at the Ralph) it's a heated rivalry and s**t happens.

I heard radio interviews last fall with Mayor Walaker, Dome manager Sobolik, and Tim Miles (separate occasions) addressing what the Dome, or Dome addition, would need to be a bidder to host first round NCAA Tournament games. I should think if hosting NCAA tournament games is on their radar, bidding to host a Mid Con tournament would be on their to do list at some point as well.

Sweeney needs to polish his corruption of ND prep talent.

I'd say Minnesota. You have to get through them every year. What about national programs? It would be awfully difficult to dissuade my kid from committing to Michigan if Red Berensen were in my living room.

How much have we dated ourselves when describing "Alerus commission minutes" as "cool" seems reasonable? I feel like kicking my own a$$.

C'mon now. In the course of discussing an open meeting violation, you felt the need to defend the positions of a city commissioner from a town you don't live in? What do his views on those issues have to do with the open meeting violation anyway? He and Coates are allies on those initiatives. She'd have no reason to exclude him based on that (of course I am speculating that he was purposefully excluded to begin with). Further, I know the positions of those people you mentioned, but their positions on those issues have had a direct effect on me over the years. Even so, I'd be hard pressed to interview ten people on the street that could list those issues from a commissioner like Williams which hasn't even been in office a full term, as you did so easily from simply hearing it on the radio or reading the paper from time to time. In order to keep up with you, I should be boning up the the sewer and water improvement thoughts of the GF or Bismarck city council for some interesting reading.

Risking the label of "moron", while I wouldn't predict a Sioux upset of the Bison in men's BB, the sports cliche of throwing out the records fully applies to UND/NDSU games. I pick winners in these matchups with little confidence, and that includes a Sioux women's victory over NDSU.

The people there elected him? Such detachment from someone who compiles Williams' resume with the skill of a campaign manager. I understand your beef with the open meeting violation, I share it. But as far as Williams goes...I don't have a dog in this fight. Are you sure you don't?

Your lobbying efforts are better directed at the three commissioners who left your boy out in the cold. Judging by your reaction, I'd say my suspicions about the motives of the commissioners may be on the mark. I suspect Williams is viewed as a gadfly that is difficult to get along with. Coates, Wimmer, and Walaker know it will take team work to make their pet projects a reality. Walaker and Wimmer need help from Coates on the arena project. Walaker and Wimmer can help tremendously with fundraising to make the library project what Coates wants it to be. How does Williams fit? Or, my suspicians could be totally wrong. Maybe it's something as simple as Walaker called Williams to go to the meeting and he wasn't home. Either way, when someone comes up with an idea in this town, be it in the sunshine or dark, you can count on Williams having something to say.

update: current midcon teams which have yet to make ncaa tourney: Centenary, UMKC, Western Illinois

If Williams knew who attended the meeting, he knew of the quorum. For him to know of the meeting, but not of the quorum, would mean that he really didn't know who was at the meeting in the first place. How could he then leak the info to the press if he didn't know the parties involved? The story is significant to the public because it is an apparent open meeting violation, not simply because a meeting to place at all. There have been plenty of meetings with NDSU officials. However, the mere fact that there was a meeting without Mike Williams, may be significant to him. I suspect the other principals in this deal (including the attending commissioners by not telling Williams) didn't want any more of his flies for their ointment. Maybe that routine is rubbing too many people raw.

Take the article for what it is...one person's opinion. Pretend the byline is Bakken, Fee, or Mcfeeley, then give it a fold, wipe, and flush.

Dubay is a self confessed gopher rube, but I find his general college hockey knowledge pretty good.