PCM

With 6:10 minutes left, USA leads the Czech Republic 4-3. The Czechs scored on a costly giveaway right at the side of the goal. US now on the power play. The Czechs are really pouring it on heading down the stretch.

Um, that's according to Virg Foss and PCM. The Herald story said Spiewak, McMahon and Hale would be the checking line. I assume that Notermann, Lundbohm and Bochesnki will remain together after the numbers they put up during the tournment. Why would you put Fylling on the bench after the nice power play goal he scored against Bemidji? I put him as center on the line with Massen and Prpich because Blais was playing him as a center last weekend. Although I agree that Connelly played well last weekend, I wouldn't put him ahead of Fylling, who I thought played better than he has in recent weeks. I'd like to see him get back in tyhe scoring column. What better time to do it than against CC? I'm thinking the fourth line will be centered by Genoway with Connelly on one wing and either Canady or Palmiscno on the other.

Just get your butts back here and make some noise Friday and Saturday nights.

I like having the R. Hale-McMahon-Spiewak line together for the CC series. Not only is it solid defensively, but having Spiewak on a wing provides an offensive spark that the Tigers will have to respect. The Notermann-Lundbohm-Bochenski line plays very well together, which goes to show you how important Lundbohm is to this team. I assume that Blais will try to put D. Hale and Schneider on the ice whenever the Sejna line is out. My guess is that he'll rotate the other three D-men until the third period. At that point, whatever pair is playing best together will switch off will Hale and Schneider. The big question in my mind is who will center the line Massen plays on? He really seemed to miss Lundbohm against Brown and Bemidji. Genoway doesn't appear be ready to make the step up yet. I'm thinking a line centered by Fylling with Massen and Prpich on the wings might work.

Virg Foss says in today's Grand Forks Herald that Ryan Hale will be playing forward against Colorado College. He'll play on a checking line with McMahon and Spiewak against CC's Sejna line.

It's not on tonight. Holiday and all that.

Give me a break, elmduf. I'm sure anyone who has grown up in either North Dakota or South Dakota has "learned several nasty native words." Knowing them and using them are two different things. The fact that some racist people use the words doesn't mean that Rapid City is any more racist than the existence of offensive Sioux-Bison T-shirts means that all Grand Forks is racist. I spent some time in Rapid City over the summer because my sister has lived there most of her adult life. Your description of the town is nowhere near accurate. Deadwood, on the other hand... While I agree that conditions on South Dakota's reservations are generally worse than on North Dakota's, since when did the reservations in South Dakota become the responsibility of state government? They aren

Fine. Hire another respected, independent polling firm to conduct another poll. The results might be a little different, but I

RE: The HOAGIE Baker I love it!

I have to admit that I was disappointed to see the Herald go down that road again, especially after the Myron Allen incident. By the way, nice hat trick! At least one non-UND fan knows how to use the term in proper context.

Okay, have it your way. You have to be one of the most classless, clueless, shameless, hypocritical person ever to graduate from SDSU. Yeah, that's so much better. Sorry that being one of many people threw you for a loop.

Congratulations, Sherlock. Those who are active on this board know who I am. I've never made any effort to hide it. I'm guessing that anyone who's spent 20 minutes or so around here could figure it out. What did it take you? Two, three months? I'm really flattered that you took the time to look me up in your SDSU alumni directory. The only reason I know who you are is because of the venom-filled e-mail you sent me. The truth is, I didn't care enough about who you were to waste my time looking it up. You mean the stork didn't bring me!? Look, Clair, given the fact that I spent Christmas and Thanksgiving in Brookings with members of my immediate family, it's a bit difficult for me to forget where I came from. My brother and sister are both SDSU grads, so they often remind me that I am, too. They and my parents live in South Dakota. That tends to help me remember where I came from. I can tell you that where I come from, people are allowed to have honest differences of opinion without restorting to childish insults, name calling and race baiting. Where I come from, you don't stereotype and slap disrespectul labels on people you don't even know. Where I come from, you learn to educate yourself about a topic before lecturing others about it. Where I come from, it's considered rude and crass to crash someone else's party, engage in boorish behavior and overstay your welcome. Obviously, where you come from, the exact opposite applies. If Saigo doesn't have the courage to publicly state and defend his opinion on the Sports Illustrated poll, then whatever his private opinion might be is absolutely meaningless. All his statement tells me is that he either knows he's wrong or is too big a coward to publicly debate the poll's results. It's probably a combination of both. Un-friggin'-believable. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a bleeding heart liberal like you assumes that the Peter Harris Research Group conducts polls in the same manner that Democrat Tim Johnson used to win his election in South Dakota. No, Clair, it's the lying thing. You see, Clair, you know nothing about me. You know nothing about how I grew up or who my friends were. You know nothing about how I conduct my personal and professional lives. You know nothing about how I treat people. Other than this one silly little issue, you know almost nothing about me. And yet, you call me and everyone else who disagrees with you on this issue a racist -- repeatedly. Then, being the pathetic person that you are, you whine about being wounded by "personal attacks" while claiming that everyone you label a racist has thin skin. You have to be one of the most classless, clueless, shameless, hypocritical people ever to graduate from SDSU.

Riverman, just be glad that you weren't picking your nose or scratching yourself. If I can digitally catch Speedwak I can certainly catch Notermann.

No, I was so shocked that anyone would photograph me on purpose that I temporarily lost my senses. The only reason I knew I was on the big screen is because as I was trying to take a picture of the players and coaches on the Brown bench, I noticed a player looking at me and pointing up. At first, I thought he was having a religious experience because of Brown's miracle finish.

I'm sure it's probably a repressed memory thing.

The Massen photo is there now. Our glorious administrator deleted it and I have now replaced it with a more Web-friendly version.

I've posted some photos from the Subway Holiday Classic championship game between North Dakota and Bemidji State here: http://siouxsports.com/hockey/showgallery.php?id=7 I apologize for the huge photo of James Massen. I forgot to scale it down before submitting it. With any luck, the administrator will help me correct the problem. Did anyone see me up on the Ralph's big screen near the end of the Brown-Manitoba game? I don't know about anyone else, but that big giant head hovering over center ice almost scared the crap out of me.

I hate to give Mr. Clair D. Husby (also known as SDSUFAN) of Columbus, Neb., any attention whatsoever, but because he continually drags my name into his asinine posts and deliberately misrepresents my words, I feel compelled to respond. No. Marc Ranfranz will tell you straight up that he speaks only for himself on the issue. He doesn't pretend to represent anyone else, although he will tell you that he has American Indian friends and relatives who regularly attend Sioux games at the Engelstad Arena. In stark contrast to Marc's unassuming approach, Mr. Husby quotes UND English Department professor Jim McKenzie, who does pretend to represent all Native American students at UND when he says, ""But on a campus where there are Indian students, it's offensive to them." Again, I point out to Mr. Husby that when ESPN was in Grand Forks with its TV cameras and Russell Means was here at the same time to lead a protest march to Engelstad Arena, fewer than 50 Native Americans participated in the event. You'd think that with 400 offended Native American students on campus, many would want to be actively involved in such protests if they were truly dedicated to the cause. So raise your questions. In the profession of polling, there's something known as a statistically valid sample. It's probably safe to assume that the respected Peter Harris Research Group, which conducted the SI poll and many, many polls like it, is familiar with the concept. Interestingly enough, Dr. Roy Saigo, president of St. Cloud State University and staunch ally of the anti-Indian nickname activists, says, "I am not going to question publicly the methodology or credibility of the Sports Illustrated survey." At least Dr. Saigo is smart enough to recognize an accurate poll when he sees one. Mr. Husby clearly is not. Thank you for so eloquently making my point. You prove that to the Clair D. Husby's of the world, a symbolic gesture that achieves absolutely nothing is far more important than university programs that actually improve the lives of Native Americans. I mean, how could UND graduating 20-25 percent of the American Indian medical doctors in the nation possibly compare to SDSU's inoffensive bunny rabbit logo? As long as SDSU says it welcomes Native Americans and doesn't do anything to anger the minority of the minority who oppose sports teams using Indian nicknames, Mr. Husby thinks it's perfectly acceptable for his beloved alma mater to avoid implementing any programs that would actually have an impact on the quality of life of American Indians. And because SDSU has a bunny rabbit logo, Mr. Husby believes it gives him the right to come here with his holier-than-thou attitude and accuse anyone who disagrees with him of being a racist. In his mind, it's better to keep the Indians on the reservation living in poverty and despair than it is to lift a finger to provide programs that make a difference in the real world. I ask you, Mr. Husby: Who is the real racist on this issue? As much as you love to use the term "red herring," it's a shame that don't understand what it means, Mr. Husby. This statement clearly illustrates that you don't. But I'm not surprised. From the time you first posted here, you have demonstrated your ignorance time and time again. I might actually believe that you had some compassion and concern for Native Americans if you didn't continually engage in insulting and denigrating everyone who dares to disagree with you. You certainly have no respect for anyone and have never displayed a desire to understand any side of an issue other than your own. With every post, you degrade and demean the very university you claim to respect and support. You're an embarrassment to SDSU. If not for the fact that I know many fine people who are SDSU alumni, I'd be ashamed to admit that I graduated from the same institution as you. So please, Mr. Husby, take your race baiting, your bitterness, your stupidity, your jealousy and your envy somewhere else. It doesn't get any better the more that you repeat it. You only look like a bigger fool -- if such a thing is possible.

I do have to wonder a bit about any article that begins by listing Parise as 6-1, 185.

I'm glad you shot some pictures, Jim, because I didn't shoot any. I'm planning to take some tonight.

Since when did anything that Happy says have to be true?

My advice is for Sioux fans to stop biting while the Gopher fans and the Minnesota media are trolling. They want us to get upset and defensive about UND's easy schedule the first half of the season. I never listen to the Minneapolis sports talk radio shows and I've put Happy on my USCHO ignore list. I'm hoping the series against the Gophers will shut them up about UND's easy schedule. Of course, then we'll have to endure Sid Hartman's rants about how DII schools with DI hockey have an unfair advantage and Happy's rants about 25-year-old Canadians. Let's just let the guys who play the games settle it on the ice.

I remember reading a letter to the editor in either the Herald or the Forum a while back in which Barnes and Noble was mentioned. The writer made it sound as if the UND bookstore had already agreed to stop selling items with the Sioux name on it. But having visited the bookstore a few days ago, I know for a fact this isn't true. I think Barnes and Noble needs to hear how most people really feel on this issue.

Here's some comments from Scott's Hennen's Hot Talk show interview with Mark Yost about his WSJ column: Yost writes freelance for the leisure and arts section of WSJ, although he's an automotive writer for the Gannett newspaper chain. He's a lifelong college hockey fan. He knew about the Sioux name issue because of his interest in college hockey, but got more interested in it after Engelstad died. He said UND is the leading university for Native Americans in the country and "they're really doing a lot to address the problems of Native Americans." Yost mentioned NDSU's effort to stop using the Fighting Sioux nickname. He said that UND used to be the Flickertails, UND changed the name to be more menacing to its arch rivals, the NDSU Bison. Hennen asked why don't more reporters provide the facts that Yost included in his column? Yost said a hallmark of WSJs editorial page is that they do their own reporting and often report things that aren't often on the news pages. Yost said the attention the national media gives the acitivists is a direct result of the "squeaky wheel getting the oil" and the media knowing that "dog bites man isn't news." Meanwhile, he said, UND "quietly plods along doing yeoman's work to deal with problems facing Native Americans." Yost mentioned Tim O'Keefe of the UND Alumni Association saying that since Engelstad died, there's been a flood of letters from alumni in support of the nickname. Yost said Engelstad was a wonderfully generous person. He kept the Norwegian studies program alive at UND. He gave away wheelchairs to disabled North Dakotans. 25 percent of his employees at the Imperial Palace are disabled. He is now is building a $10 million hockey arena at Thief River Falls. Yost said the issue has moved beyond the arena. The activists at UND have had a conference call with Barnes and Noble corporate HQ and are petitioning the bookstore to stop selling items with the Sioux name on it. Activists have taken it beyond the arena issue, he said. Just to show that Yost really does know college hockey, he and Hennen got into the issue about whether the Sioux should be rated No. 1 in the country because of UND's easy schedule.