PCM

Diggler should receive a Golden Globe for "Best Use of an Emoticon."

You can bet that rogue helicopter pilots are mixed up in the conspiracy, too. It's so diabolical that there's no ice in the rink.

I'm sending Diggler a bill for the time I spent looking it up.

Me too. I was awake all night thinking about that conundrum.

You seem to be making the same argument I did before anyone knew whether a lawsuit was going to be filed. The State Board of Higher Education madated that UND continue to use the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. Until the board relinquishes that control, UND has no choice in the matter. Therefore, because the mandate came from the official governing body, the state of North Dakota should bear the cost of the lawsuit. However, UND alumni and others are very generously covering the cost of the lawsuit themselves. And you think you have a right to know how much it's NOT costing you? If you want to know the cost of your free lunch, pick up the check and pay the bill yourself. Then you'll know.

Technically, probably not. Officially, it sounds like it will stay on the books as a win for the Jacks.

Can't argue with logic.

Who died and made you Chief Justice of Dumb Posts? We need to form a committee.

What false premise did I make?

Whoa! Dude! I think my mind was just bent!

A pledge was made not to use any tax dollars to pay for the lawsuit. Provide some proof -- any proof -- that this pledge is being violated and you'll be on to something. Until then, you have no valid reason to complain. The tribes can say whatever they want. They have no right to dictate how a word in the public domain is used. That's nice. Maybe you should contact this guy and arrange to get together to do some pattern comparisons.

Then what was the point of comparing DI championships in riflery to DI championships in hockey? I wasn't the one who made the comparison. Of course it's a factor. It would be stupid to argue otherwise. What you don't seem to understand is that seven national championships in DI hockey are worth a hell of a lot more than zero national championships in DI-AA football and zero national championships in DI basketall. The mere fact that a school competes within those levels does not confer greatness, status, excellence or nationwide recognition. You have to win something at those levels to be something. Would I prefer that UND be a DI football or basketball powerhouse? Certainly. Are those realistic objectives for the near future? I sincerely doubt it. However, because UND successfully competes with elite DI schools in hockey and is known nationally and internationally for producing world-class hockey players, it translates into significant benefits in terms of nationwide publicity for Fighting Sioux athletics and contacts with DI schools.

It's certainly not Brian Elliott.

Robbie Bina is the WCHA's defensive player of the week and Ryan Duncan is the offensive player of the week. Congratulations to both of them!

You do understand that there are different degrees of popularity, right? I don't know of any DI athletes who compete in riflery who go on to sign million-dollar pro contracts, unless perhaps it's as a hit man for the mob. Obviously, professional sports franchises wouldn't be paying college hockey players millions of dollars a year to leave school early if there wasn't an immediate market for their services. The New York media wouldn't waste a minute covering the Devils, the Rangers and the Islanders if nobody cared about professional hockey. Nor would ESPN and other major media outlets continue to cover hockey if there was no money to be made at it. When the NHL was idle during the lockout, it wasn't mere coincidence that the Times sent a reporter to Grand Forks to cover the UND-Minnesota series. Perhaps you're unaware of the stories recently published throughout the U.S. and Canada on the University of North Dakota connection between Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, two New Jersey Devils players. How many times was it mentioned with in the past few weeks that Jonathan Toews, who became a national hero in Canada for his performance at the World Junior Championships in Sweden, was a UND product? Nobody can put a value on that type of publicity and what it does for UND. While hockey is not played by at nearly as many DI schools as more popular sports and it doesn't attract as many fans or as much attention as those sports, it is vastly more popular than riflery and dozens of other minor sports played at the DI level. Just because college football in general is more popular than college hockey in general doesn't mean than any school with a DI or DI-AA football program can expect just as much attention as Florida or Ohio State. However, in the world of college hockey, UND is viewed on the same level or higher as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, etc. The fact is, although hockey is certainly not the most popular sport in college athletics, there are many sports fans who, even if they don't follow or like hockey, recognize or are aware of UND's reputation as an elite hockey school. I'm quite certain that the same cannot be said of Alaska's reputation in riflery.

Hurt you? I think it would kill you.

So you're still going to continue missing the point while digging the hole deeper by defending your false premise with an invalid analogy?

I hope you guys don't skip lunch while waiting for Goon to reply.

Another jealous Sioux fan, I see.

I never said that, and I'll thank you not to put words in my mouth or thoughts in my head that are completely and totally false.

There was criticism when some thought that state money was used to remodel Chapman's residence. Once it was learned that private donations were used for the project, the controversy went away. That's what I remember. I'm not sure who your post is aimed at, but I believe at the time, I said I had no problem with Chapman asking for more money and other perks as incentive for staying on at NDSU. If I would have been in his position, I would have done exactly the same thing. I did, however, have a problem with Chapman undermining the chancellor, working behind the scenes to get him fired and then lying about his role in the ouster of Potts. I also had a problem with him being rewarded for that behavior, but that's an entirely different issue. Where is your proof that the lawsuit is costing taxpayers a dime? Just because you want to believe it is doesn't make it so. The point of the Forum's story wasn't that Stenehjem or anyone else was lying about the cost to taxpayers. It was that nobody was willing to reveal who was paying the bills. If the money was coming out of the taxpayers' pockets, everyone would know about it because there would be a clear paper trail.

That will make no difference as long as Bruce "Parity is Everything" McLeod remains the commisioner.

Pilots Beware: UAVs Coming To US/Canada Border Region

Don't laugh. If more people knew how to throw air punches properly, there would be many fewer lawsuits in this country.

I wonder how many members of the Alaska rifle teams get written about in the New York Times? I wonder how often they're mentioned on ESPN? I wonder how many have had their pictures in Sports Illustrated? I wonder how many of their championship matches have been broadcast on national television? Yeah, that's a real valid comparison you made.