PCM

This USCHO story about UND's 2003-04 schedule sort of got buried. Some of you (especially Gopher fans) might be interested in the T-shirt Ralph gave Blais early last season.

30 minutes with a non-stop clock.

Here's an enlarged version.

Well, most of my photos of the scrimmage didn't turn out too hot. I was sitting too far away to get anything decent. For that reason, I'm in no hurry to post them. Sorry. I should probably mention here that I don't expect to be taking many photos this season.

So you've already seen him then? Actually, he was introduced as the Engelstad Arena mascot, not the Sioux mascot.

Ask and you shall receive. I attended the annual green and white intra-squad men

CANISIUS!

But you have to be sitting down before you stand up. Otherwise, the song makes no sense.

To some degree, I think McKenzie has a valid point. Why is it okay for us to make fun of other teams' nicknames, but nobody can make fun of UND's or use it in a derogatory manner? This idea is hypocritical and endorses a double standard. But that's as far as I'll go in agreeing with McKenzie. He thinks the answer is to ban all words and images that could be used in a manner that somebody, somewhere finds offensive. That's like hunting rabbits with cruise missiles. The problem isn't with the words and images, but with our hypersensitivity to them. We have come to believe that certain elements of society have a right to be protected from "hurtful words," that their feelings trump others' rights. Unfortunately, many people -- both on the left and right -- buy into the basic premise of this idea. For example, I noticed that some UND fans who are rabid defenders of the Sioux name jumped on the Mesa State newspaper for using the words "Sioux" and "scalp" in a headline. Why? Was the headline tacky? Possibly. Was it in bad taste? Maybe. But is it national news? It shouldn't be. Must we subject the newspaper's editor to today's equivalent of a public flogging by demanding that he apologize for his "mistake?" I think not. Why should we assume that people are incapable of understanding the difference between the literal and figurative use of words? Why should we coddle those who believe any reference to Sioux sports teams is a personal attack on the Sioux race itself? Why must we protect people from how they choose to interpret and feel about certain words? The answer is not to ban the use of words that the minority of a minority chooses to believe are offensive, but to demonstrate that their position is unreasonable, impractical and a threat to free speech.

I can't forget the time my daughter and I were standing in line at the old Ralph waiting to buy rush seating tickets just before the game started. A Sioux fan came up to me and asked me how many tickets I needed. I said two, thinking that he'd offer to sell me some. He handed me two tickets and walked away as I was reaching for my wallet. Not all Sioux fans are into price gouging.

Nobody will be able to demand high prices for tickets during a losing season. The reason the tickets are going for such high prices now is because some people are willing to pay that much. Sad, but true.

The team just started practice on Monday and moved into the locker room on Wednesay. I'm sure captains will be picked soon.

Farce, I understand your frustration with the way tickets are being scalped and the prices being charged, but I can't in good conscience hope that the team has a bad season because of it. As I understand it, ticket scalping is not illegal in North Dakota, which is why Sioux hockey tickets can lawfully be sold to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, the high prices people can charge for their tickets reflects the demand for them. If the team fell on hard times, you can bet that ticket prices would be much lower because the demand would be greatly reduced.

Here's the link to McKenzie's letter in the Thursday GF Herald. Thanks for pointing it out. I didn't have time to look at the editorial page today. Gee, a letter to the editor about the Sioux name just in time for the start of hockey season. Who could've predicted that?

Whatever you say, Clair. If you care so little about UND, why do you spend so much time here? Thanks for noticing. I am not disgusted by the move. I am disgusted with the manner in which the idea is being sold and the way in which the plan (if you can call it that) is being executed. Perhaps if SDSU's administration had shown any inclination to follow the recommendations of the Carr Report, we wouldn't be having this discussion. What SDSU's administration did to sell the idea and what it has done to implement it are two separate matters. Really? So why did the Board of Regents issue this news release titled "Regents Adopt Division I Athletics Policy" which says: I see nothing about this policy being self-imposed by SDSU or being made optional by the BoR. The language is quite clear. So go hang out on the Pride On Ice Web site. I'm sure Gopher fans will be thrilled to hear about SDSU's big plans and major accomplishments.

You seem to be under the illusion that UND is somehow responsible for sabatoging a proposed Divsion I NCC. Let's put that theory to the test. Assuming that you are correct, SDSU, NDSU, USD and UNC voted for a switch to DI. UND, Mankato, St. Cloud, Augustana and UNO voted against the move. This vote, which I'm guessing was unofficial and non-binding, went 5-4 against the conference going NCAA DI. But what are the facts? The fact is, UNC was gone no matter what the NCC did. Their vote doesn't matter and shouldn't even be counted. And last September, USD announced that it would not switch to D-IAA for a variety of reasons. USD's earlier vote in favor has been rendered irrelevant. Therefore, in reality, it's only NDSU and SDSU that favor a D-IAA NCC. UND, USD, Mankato, St. Cloud, Augustana and UNO are against it. That makes today's vote 6-2, not 5-4.

Did the U of Manitoba join the WCHA when we weren't looking? That'd make Andy Schneider happy.

Refresh my memory, Tony. When was this DI NCC concept seriously discussed and what did UND do to torpedo it? I'm an alumnus of SDSU. I give money to SDSU. Maybe SDSU should care what I think, regardless of where I live or what college teams I cheer for. Maybe it should care about what my relatives in South Dakota think. Many of them are also SDSU grads. Maybe it should care about what editors of South Dakota newspapers think. Many of them are SDSU journalism school grads. SDSU has already sent the message that it doesn't care what members of the State Board of Regents think. But what the heck. The Board of Regents is only the constitutional governing board for South Dakota's state universities. When the Board says SDSU must find a conference before moving to D-IAA, why should SDSU care? I can guarantee one thing. If state legislators begin to believe that they've been lied to and that SDSU need not concern itself with what elected officials think or what the voters and taxpayers of the state think, then the legislature will take action to remind SDSU that it is not an entity unto itself. And if you don't think they have the power, try them. I've seen it happen before. It ain't pretty.

You completely missed my point. Oh well, climb into bed with CRH. You two deserve each other.

I've been a North Dakota resident for 26 years. I'm a UND fan, a South Dakota native, an SDSU alumnus and a Jackrabbit fan with quite a few years of experience in dealing with the public perception of political issues. In my opinion, SDSU's administration has dug itself a hole on the D-IAA issue and the hole is only getting deeper. The self-deluding attitude and acerbic comments of CRH and others like him are not helpful to SDSU's image or its cause. I hope someone at NDSU is taking notes.

You're welcome, everyone. Hey, it's time to break out the spinning puck avatar again!

Exactly. At least some of those critical editorials have been written by graduates of SDSU's accredited journalism school. I have a close relative who's an SDSU alumnus, lives in Brookings and works for a company that stands to profit from SDSU's move to D-IAA. Yet he is against the move and he tells me that many other SDSU alumni and fans are, too. I have relatives in central and western South Dakota who tell me the same thing. In South Dakota, it's become a political issue that has moved outside the SDSU administration's ability to control. And once it becomes politicized statewide, anything can happen. I'm not saying this will kill SDSU's plans because I honestly don't know.

I was at media day representing USCHO. The green and white game hasn't been played yet. Here's a quick summary of what I learned: The new HIPA policy that prohibits coaches from talking about player injuries is a royal pain in the posterior. Blais said it even prevents him from talking to parents about injuries to their sons. The NCAA's big focus for the upcoming season will be on enforcing the chin strap rule for goalies, no doubt because of the Eaves-Exter collision last season. Blais also said there's more talk of enforcing obstruction, but he hears that every year. He said the obstruction rules need to be consistently enforced. When they're not, it makes it very difficult for the Sioux to cycle the puck and operate their offense, especially on the small ice sheet. The Iron Man competiton has shown that the team is in great shape. In past years, the number of players scoring 1,000 points has been 10 or less. This year, more than 15 players scored over 1,000 points. He said the competition wasn't quite finished and therefore didn't say who had won it. (I will add that I saw James Massen before and after he put on his practice gear. He looks like the Incredible Hulk!) Blais said that after just two days of practice, no line combinations or defensive pairings had been made. It's too early yet. Captains also have not been named. However, he talked about the line of Murray, Parise and Bochenski being capable of scoring 100 or more goals. He said Murray's style is quite similar to Parise's in that he can work the corners, make plays and score. Parise seemed quite happy about the idea of playing with Murray again. Blais discussed the need to get more production out of the third and fourth lines, saying, "That's what's won it in the past." Last season, they didn't have the depth and they were still a young team. He said they need guys like McMahon and Prpich to step it up this year. Right now, the freshman are a talented crop, but "they don't know where to line up and they don't know the intensity of the league." But they're starting to learn the intensity of the coaches on the ice. Basically, it's work hard or get off. That's the way it has to be. Blais said he is happy with the Sioux defensive corps, but mentioned the "injury bug" in that area. Because of the previously mentioned HIPA regulations, he couldn't go into any detail. Blais likes this year's non-conference schedule better than last year's. He said they strive for a balance in scheduling. They don't like their non-conference opponents to be too easy, but they also don't want difficult opponents for all games. Losing non-conference games hurts in the NCAA PWR rankings. Blais said that Jake Brandt has been the best goalie so far. He is looking for more consistency in that area. He didn't think goaltending cost that Sioux many games last season, but the Sioux also never stole any games because of their goaltending. I talked to Brandt for a few minutes. He seemed more confident and assured than he did last season. He expects the two freshman and Ranfranz to push him for the top job, but he also expects to be the No. 1 goalie. He said goaltending shouldn't be an issue this season. Someone asked Parise if he'd put on some weight. He said no, he'd actually lost 5 or 6 pounds on purpose. I thought he looked taller and he said he might have grown a half inch. He didn't think that he was in the best shape last season and admitted that he got worn down near the end of the season. He doesn't expect that to be a problem this season. He said he'd try to help Murray avoid the same problem he had. Blais called this year's Sioux "a skilled team with a lot of potential." Because of age, experience and a good class of freshmen, he expects it to be a better team. He thinks the top five teams in the WCHA will be Minnesota, UND, CC, Denver and Duluth.

Pssst! Don't tell anyone, but CRH and SDSUFan are the same person.

I never quit being a Jacks fan. It's just that SDSU doesn't play hockey, my favorite sport, and livng in Grand Forks makes it a bit difficult to keep up with the Rabbits. But I do try to keep tabs on them and I cheer them on when the opportunity arises. Unfortunately, Miller and Oien have given the disgruntled legislators more to work with this time around. Don't be surprised if their effort has more support next session, especially given the bad press SDSU's D-IAA plans have been generating. I am confident that the UND faithful will make the correct decision when the time is right.