PCM

According to what I once heard Woog say in an interview, he wanted Goehring, but didn't have a spot on the roster for a goalie at the time Karl was available. Ryan was a more highly regarded recruit than Grant. As much as I love to see local players do well for UND, this is Division I hockey and the Sioux need to go after the best players available to fit Blais' system. We should be flattered that locally produced players are sought after by other top college teams. And for that reason, the Sioux aren't going to get them all.

Stating the obvious is arrogant? Of course, Irmen hasn't played a minute of college hockey yet, so it's rather presumptious at this point to class him against known quantities.

My definition of "The Ultimate" has nothing to do with hockey.

I agree with this part.

How about no goalies over 5 feet tall? It'd make Blais look like a genius who was ahead of this time.

Is there an echo in here?

I'm sure that you're right, Goon. However, if I remember correctly, the plan to have a special room dedicated to the World War II cars was scrapped after the controversy about the Nazi-themed parties. It became the source for the urban legend about Engelstad's "secrect war room." I read an article in which Engelstad explained that the reason the room and the cars in it were kept secrect was because while in the process of buying cars for the display, he didn't want potential sellers to know who was bidding on their cars. If they knew it was Engelstad, the asking price would suddenly go up significantly. That's why he dealt with third parties who bought the cars for him. That brings us to another urban legend. The painting of Engelstad in the SS uniform with the inscription "To Ralphie from Adolph" was given to him by one of his car buyers as a joke.

This article in Tuesday's Las Vegas Review-Journal says that four years of FBI investigations failed to turn up any evidence that the late Ralph Engelstad was a Nazi or had any links to the Nazi party. The article was barely mentioned on the back page of today's Grand Forks Herald. I don't imagine this means there's any hope that the BRIDGES Web site will take down any of its offensive material regarding Engelstad, such as the image below.

I totally agree with this. Lundbohm often had the same problem when he played the point on the power play. That's where Travis Roche is missed the most. He didn't score a lot of goals from the point, but his shots on goal were often tipped in or the rebounds were put in. He kept defenders from blocking his shots either by faking them out or by getting his shots off very fast.

Oh, come now. I thought she did an excellent job.

I'm still tired from watching you!

Congratulations!

Tony, You already admitted to one factual error, so I won't repeat it. In your original post, you wrote: This statement is factually incorrect. Why? Because "Strinden et al" had something to do with hiring the current UND president and his candidate of choice wasn't hired. Therefore, you are wrong in saying that Strinden's influence or participation in the hiring process would automatically rule out any candidate who didn't support keeping the Sioux name. After I pointed that out, you changed your position to saying the Strinden could influence the selection of a new president. I don't disagree. What bothers me is your apparent infatuation with the idea that Strinden and some others at UND are so small-minded that keeping the Sioux name is the issue of greatest concern when it comes selecting a new president. I can guarantee you that it's not. I also don't disagree with you that the manner in which the State Board of Higher Education handled the issue was far from ideal. Was it illegal? I'll leave it up to the lawyers to decide because I honestly don't know. But that was a major part of the issue. Nobody knew how long it would take Kupchella to make a decision, which is what frustrated Ralph Engelstad and prompted him to write the letter. Just imagine Ralph's predicament. On one hand, the North Dakota legislature said that new arena must be self-supporting before UND could accept ownership. On the other, Kupchella's indecision and dragging out the process was preventing Engelstad from making business decisions that would assure that the arena was profitable enough to support itself. The arena also had to be completed before the start of the next hockey season in fall 2001. I believe that you're making another factual error when you say "the commission was going to recommend that UND get a new mascot." Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as I recall, the commission was only an advisory body set up to gather information on both sides of the name issue. Ultimately, it was up to Kupchella to make a decision based on the commission

The Grand Forks Herald hit back on Sunday with its own editorial on the controversy over whether NDSU should offer programs similar to UND's. In North Dakota, having the "duplication of services" label hung around your neck generally doesn't sit well with most state legislators and taxpayers. Competition in business is good for consumers, but competition in state government only leads to unnecessary duplication and waste. Chapman's digging himself a pretty deep hole.

You made some factually incorrect statements about UND and events in which it was involved. I corrected you. You have continued to argue the points. Obviously. But he didn't get his way last time and, unless UND adopts are far different method of selecting presidents, there's no reason to believe that he'll get his way the next time. Maybe. Maybe not. For now, the State Board of Higher Education has taken the decision out of the UND president's hands. However, the composition of the board has changed and will continue change. That's a given. Board members can change their minds or have a change of heart. Public opinion can change. There are many factors that could cause the issue to be revisited by the board. For all I know, even if Kupchella stays on as president, the power to make a decision about the Sioux name could eventually come back to him. My crystal ball doesn't see far enough into the future to state categorically that no UND president will ever have a say in the mascot issue. UND and Kupchella are not entities unto themselves. He works for the people of North Dakota and answers to the State Board of Higher Education. The board has every right to make decisions that it thinks are in the best interest of UND and higher education in North Dakota. Therefore, regardless of what Kupchella might have decided, the board has the authority and the responsibility to overrule him as it sees fit. It can be argued that the board did Kupchella an enormous favor by taking the decision away from him. No matter what decision he made, somebody wasn't going to be happy. The fallout certainly would have disrupted his ability to deal with far more pressing matters. The board, in effect, said, "We'll take that lightning rod out of your hand and hold on to it for now." Whether or not Kupchella sees it this way, I have no idea.

North or south? I may have to adjust my dining schedule.

Why shouldn't Strinden favor a particular candidate? At the time, he was head of the UND Alumni Association. Are you going to tell me that NDSU's alumni organization has no influence on such decisions? I don't recall the person's name. I know that unlike the three finalists, he was a UND alumnus. If Kupchella leaves UND and another president is hired, of course Strinden will attempt to influence the decision. Why shouldn't he? Many other people will attempt to do the same thing for their own reasons. The point is, the last time UND hired a new president, Strinden's favorite candidate wasn't hired. I know that probably shocks you, but it's true. Life is funnly like that. I've never had a boss that approved every decision I made or each change I desired. Believe it or not, here at UND, we sometimes go months at a time or longer without hearing a word about the Sioux name issue. While it is a constant, burning issue for a few people, contrary to popular belief, the campus is hardly consumed by the controversy.

Probably. But Jim didn't say a new president might change the name. He said name-change proponents might decide to raise the issue again if a new president is hired. Strinden's favored choice for the UND president's job didn't even make the top three the last time a new president was hired. Until the State Board of Higher Education changes its position on UND's use of the Sioux name, it doesn't much matter what any incoming president thinks about the issue. It wasn't a "special meeting." The item was added to the agenda of a previously scheduled meeting.

I'm not saying that you're wrong about the possiblity of Kupchella's departure triggering a new round of name change controversy. I could see it happening. But in the past, it has taken other incidents to "jump start" the issue.

That's not quite accurate. The Sioux name controversy came up during Baker's administration because of a racial harassment incident at a homecoming parade. Baker had the issue fairly well contained when Kupchella took over. The controversy flared again when Kupchella publicly introduced the new Sioux logo. In other words, the issue wasn't triggered by the fact that UND had new presidents. There were specific incidents that brought the issue to the fore early in each president's tenure.

When do I get to borrow the disguise?

I don't know what compromise is? Let me put it to you another way. We're both at the same movie in a theater that's completely full. I'm sitting in front of you wearing my 10-gallon cowboy hat, which is so large that it obstructs your view of the movie you paid to see. There's nowhere else for you to sit. You politely ask me to remove my hat so that you can see the movie. I tell you that I'll take off the hat only if you give me fifty bucks. There's a word for that and it's not "compromise."

Why should the people who aren't able to see the game have to give up anything? That makes no sense.