PCM

The silence is deafening.

Correction: NDSU troll.

Over the past few days, the Fargo Forum has been using UND documents obtained through state open records laws to whip up an emotional frenzy aimed at forcing the Sioux to join the Bison in DI-AA. The one common theme that resonates throughout the UND documents is that the move to DI-AA must make sense financially before UND can seriously consider it. This is not news. Charles Kupchella, Phil Harmeson and Roger Thomas have been saying this publicly for months. The documents serve only to reaffirm their message. If the Forum and other Fargo media are so interested in this subject and want to shed light on UND's legitimate concern, a logical place to start would be an open records request of NDSU's athletic budget. As I recall, NDSU was projecting a $1 million athletic budget deficit at the start of the year. Has NDSU made any progress toward dealing with its budget shortfall? If so, how? If NDSU has solved its athletic budget problem, wouldn't it be useful for UND to know how? If NDSU hasn't fixed its athletic budget problem, doesn't the public have a right to know how the university intends to solve it? And shouldn't the public have a voice in deciding whether it wants two public universities facing athletic budget problems instead of one? Journalists truly interested shedding light on the DI-AA issue would explore it from all angles. In Fargo, reporters have an example of a DI-AA school with budget problems sitting in their own back yard. The best way to allay UND's concerns would be to prove that NDSU is successfully coping with similar problems.

The USCHO recap of tonight's game has been posted.

Be careful about what you wish for.

Exactly how was UND's advertising negative, unfair and inaccurate?

It depends entirely upon the type of offer Lennon gets, the school that makes the offer and his ambition. Even if UND was to join BSC, coaching here during the next five year will be no picnic.

There's no hiding the fact that Lennon is an excellent coach. If he has the opportunity to move on to bigger and better things, nobody would hold it against him if he did. He's more than earned it. However, I doubt that whether or not UND goes DI-AA will play a factor in Lennon's decision to stay or go. Nor should keeping Lennon at UND be a factor in whether or not the university decides to move up a level.

As a compromise, perhaps something like this would soothe President Champan's bruised ego: UND-At An Undisclosed Location In Cass County

I imagine that this will be next on Chapman's chopping block.

There's an article in today Anchorage Daily News by Doyle Woody about Nathan Lawson, UAA's freshman goalie.

Why are you here?

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the REA operate as a commercial venture because it has to cover its operating costs before UND can accept ownership of the building?

Jason Blake's last season at UND was 1998-1999.

This is a great photo of an amazing catch. If the photo showed Sioux fans up a few more rows, you'd see my mouth formed to say "Oh sh...."

If the UND media guide is correct and Lamoureux was born on Aug. 20, 1984, he can't be 19. And I thought I was bad at math.

Whatever happened to Dr. Chapman's fondness for competition?

Philippe Lamoureux was born Aug. 20, 1984. Therefore, he's too old to play in the World Junior Championships.

Karl had eight shutouts in the 1999-2000 season.

Karl Goehring holds the UND record with 15 career shutouts.

So why doesn't the BSC just take NDSU?

This is the quote that caught my eye: It's simply not true. There is no "new development." I've interviewed Roger Thomas and Phil Harmeson on the radio about this issue and they've both openly discussed the steps that UND is taking to study a potential move to DI-AA, as well as BSC developments. But the Forum chooses to portray it as if UND is secretly studying the move and that nobody would know about it without their open records request.

How does it feel to be the lone rider on my bandwagon?

From Joe DeMaggio's in beautiful downtown Grand Forks, Tim Hennessy and Scott Swygman are the hosts with Sioux hockey coach Dave Hakstol. TH: Did the organ music at Michigan Tech drive you as nuts as it drove me? DH: It