PCM

Blais was quite clear in his post-game comments about why he didn't dress or play four complete lines. He said:

This is my final reply to you, SDSUFAN. I have tried to be reasonable with you and to share with you the benefit of my experience. I'd hoped that I could help you understand the realities of the situation because you clearly do not know what you're talking about. But what do I get from you in return? Insults and personal attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with the topic being discussed. So, please, make good on your threat to leave this board. You are a disgrace to your alma mater and my native state. Stop embarrassing yourself and me.

Anyone can say anything.

I use a Nikon CoolPix 995. It isn't really designed for sports or action photography.

Sorry, guys, but I was up in the press box during the fight, too far away to shoot with my digital camera. That's the down side of trying to be a writer and photographer at the same time. I can only spend about half a period each game taking pictures.

Here are a few photos from North Dakota's first game against Mankato that are used with the permission of US College Hockey Online. http://siouxsports.com/hockey/showgallery.php?id=2 In the first photo of the second row, perhaps someone can tell me if that really is Bochenski. I can't see a number. The face looks like it could also be Spiewak or Massen.

Am I the only person who remembers how widely despised Wanless was at UND? And that was before Gasparini was fired and he really got on Ralph's bad side. As I recall, the Herald even did a big story about Wanless and his management style. It was none too flattering. It's true that UND enjoyed a good deal of athletic success under his tenure, but my view that it was in spite of him, not because of him. I find it difficult to believe that any UND coach who served under Wanless would want to work for him again. But who knows? Stranger things have happened.

A minority of a minority believes that it should be able to dictate to the majority. Sorry, but that's not the American way.

Actually, I'm not that good at spelling, which is why I keep a dictionary handy and use the spell checker frequently.

Doyle Woody of the Anchorage Daily News wrote: If memory serves, this is the same sports reporter who criticized UND for getting UAA players' names wrong on the stat sheets. Maybe he should consult his atlas before attempting to spell the name of North Dakota's capital city.

SDSUFAN, I am not a researcher or a scientist. Let me make this simple for you. I have sat through hours and hours of meetings with CEOs of companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars and listened to them discuss where and how they would invest their research dollars. Never once in all of these discussions did anyone ever mention a university's athletic teams or its NCAA division level as a reason for steering research dollars to a particular institution. On the university side, I have sat through countless hours of meetings at which the discussion focused on attracting government and industry research dollars. Never once have I heard anyone suggest that UND would do better in this area if it moved to the DIAA level. I suspect that anyone who suggested such a thing would be laughed out of the room. I've worked closely with UND researchers who are big Fighting Sioux hockey fans. I've been here for two DI hockey championships and a DII football championship. Although I interact with researchers nearly every working day, never once have I heard even one of them suggest that UND's success in athletics translates to more research money for the university. This is all anecdotal evidence, of course. However, I do believe that if there was anything to what you and JBB claim, there's a good chance that at least once in my 18-year association with industry and university research, someone, somewhere, at some point would have at least mentioned the connection between athletics and research dollars. I will put my practical experience up against your wishful thinking any day.

Thanks, folks. Check out grandforker.com, my Web site. Click on the University of North Daktota Fighting Sioux Hockey link. The photos from the 2000 Frozen Four in Providence are back online, along with links to my favorite college hockey Web sites. Goon, I mostly go into the corners and shoot through the glass. It's not ideal, but it works.

I'm basing my "myopia" on 18 years of being associated with research in both university and industry settings. As far as I can tell, your claims are based entirely on wishful thinking. Perhaps you're not aware that a major initiative of President Kupchella is to substatially boost UND's research funding over the next five years. Thus far, the university has met with considerable success in achieving the goals Kupchella set for increased funding. Curiously, a move to DIAA is not part of the plan to increase research funding. And you'd think that if success in DI athletics created a corresponding rise in research funding, it would be fairly easy to prove at UND where seven DI national titles have been won. Yet I have never heard anyone at UND suggest that any such correlation exists. Why is that?

SDSUFAN, I also have 7 years of industry related experience in research. I know a little bit about the subject and something about how decisions are made to fund research programs and projects. As I said, athletic status isn't a non-factor in attracting reseach dollars, but I think anyone who uses it to promote a switch from DII to DIAA is selling a bit of snake oil.

Apples and oranges. Although I know that Engelstad made contributions to UND unrelated to athletics, I'm not aware that he provided any money related to research. The big bucks for research from from the federal government and industry. They tend to be more interested in the bottom-line results you produce than your BB team's won-loss record and which conference you play in.

$25,000 over 15 years? To quote my favorite SDSUFAN, BFD. That doesn't exactly make you the NIH, EPA, DoE or DoD, does it?

No need to get defensive, SDSUFAN. I was just asking. Having been involved in university research for the past 11 years, I believe that solid academics and a reputation for producing quality research results are the foremost factors in attracting research dollars. After all, there are universities with world-class research programs that do little or nothing in the athletic arena. I won't go so far as to say that athletic status is a non-factor, but in my experience, it's a minimal factor at best.

It happened in the game against Jamestown last night. http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/4613901.htm

Is that it? I thought mabye there was a box to check on the grant application form or something.

If most people support SDSU's move to DIAA, then I don't know what you have to fear from a faculty member circulating petitions for selfish reasons. I'm also curious about your statement above. How, exactly, does being a DIAA school help SDSU attract more research dollars?

Ah, yes, the liberal guilt trip gambit. Because of sports teams with Native American names and logos, it's society's fault that Native American students have low self-esteem. Perhaps liberals should heed the advice of one of their icons. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

Blais said over the weekend that Parise and Jones would miss the holiday tournament and the CC series. On the radio a week or two ago, he said that Greene would be an alternate on the US WJC team.

JBB wrote: If the esteemed associate professor of English doesn

GO KARL!

Go Scorin' Goren!