MafiaMan

Thanks for posting the sad news, NorthDakotaHockey. Rest in peace, Coach.

I'm waiting for GK to start quoting some of the great segregationists of our time like George Wallace. It's amazing how someone who thinks of himself as being so "diverse" is actually quite the opposite.

Never have experienced the racism caused by the logo because they have spent most of their lives on the reservation? Does that make them hang-around-the-fort Indians as our good friend GrahamCracker likes to call them? Nice comment. How about the racism experienced ON the reservation? That racism involves having a differing opinion about the nickname/logo than what people like GK THINK your opinion should be. Heaven forbid we'd want those voices heard.

On a side note: I don't live in Grand Forks, yet I've never called it "The Forks." Similarly, when asked where I am from originally, I usually reply Dickinson, North Dakota as opposed to "Roughrider Country."

On a side note: Only people who don't live in Minneapolis/St Paul refer to it as "the cities."

The stupid-cia comment was meant facetiously in regards to KnowTheFacts and his/her rants on the Sioux nickname thread. I'm sorry if you took offense. I hardly know it all.

Easy, stupid-cia. Whoops, sorry, I went 'KNOWTHEFACTS" on ya there for a second. My apology. Seriously, I'm just kidding. Everyone here needs to lighten up a bit. No hard feelings towards anyone, including Mory00.

Nothing. I just went on a long-winded rant. My whole point is the NHL is fumbling around trying to get back on the map of sports. Unfortunately, no one cares. My suggestion was that instead of just going thru the motions and hoping people catch on again to the sport, the NHL needs to shake up its image. I didn't mean to incite a riot here. I love the NHL as much as most fans here and desperately want it to succeed. The question is...how can it? I don't believe playing meaningless exhibition games in Grand Forks in September/October is the answer. It might mean some lost revenue for a night, but wouldn't a mid-winter game between the Wild and Blackhawks or Wild and Red Wings generate some interest in Grand Forks that might make for some long-term fan support for a team 300 miles away in the same way that people in Dickinson or Watford City follow the Minnesota Vikings since they're the "home" team? Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it would.

I was just pointing out that teams left areas that love hockey for those that had really never known the game, not specifically pointing out a Florida "move" from Winnipeg. I do know what teams moved where and which ones were expansion teams. By the way, redwing77, the Wings just aren't the same without Paul Coffey back on the blueline. 1995, baby...we were robbed!

Moving teams from established hockey hotbeds like Hartford, Quebec City, and Winnipeg and putting them in sinkholes like Miami, Tampa Bay, and Carolina hasn't had any effect on the NHL? As commissioner, Bettman represents ownership. Was he not smart enough to see years ago that rising salaries were going to wipe out the game? That's his job. As commissioner, he enacted some rule changes designed to help the game. Instead, we got a 2004 season full of ice slugs and neutral zone traps like the Wild and Devils play. In one of the more thuggish incidents I've ever seen, Todd Bertuzzi serves a fairly minor regular season suspension, is suspended for the playoffs, then gets banned for a year. Oh...but since we didn't play last year, we'll life the ban this year? Meanwhile, the guy he almost beat into a coma will never play hockey again. Way to throw the hammer down, Gary, and stop permitting violence like that to ruin a great game. Go get a clue yourself, BinaIsGod.

Regular season non-conference vs pre-season = no brainer. Give me regular season anything over pre-season. What a gigantic rip-off and people buy right into it. People whine all the time about the $100 million gift by Ralph Engelstad to Grand Forks, yet I don't hear a mouse fart from anyone in Minneapolis/St Paul about a proposed $790 million stadium that will be used for 8-15 Sundays PER FREAKIN' YEAR! The NHL had a great thing going (see Sports Illustrated circa 1994 for a cover page article on why the NHL is hot and the NBA is not) and you'll see what I mean. Thanks for screwin' it all up, Gary & co. Nice to see guys like Mark Messier, Ron Francis, and others ride off into retirement after taking a year off. Nice to see them get the farewell and good-bye send-off that they deserve. You've ruined a great game. Now you're going to gain it back by changing a logo or two, telling the officials to enforce the rules they were supposed to enforce two years ago, and bring back fans by plotting a marketing plan that is more secretive than nuclear weapons in North Korea? I'll get off my soapbox now. Sorry for the rant.

I've skipped St Cloud the past few years to avoid mouthy protesters and a student body full of neanderthals. Mankato has been much more fun, but with the Mavericks off the schedule this year, I guess I'll have to pass on the Midwest Wireless Civic Center and a trip to Mettler's next door in favor of a one-hour drive west. I believe there is some trademark infringement with your use of "National Concrete Center." I am pretty sure that I invented that term about 15 years ago. Feel free to use it, though, it's always been one of my favorites.

One hyphenated word: PRE-SEASON! Sorry, but it's hard to get fired up for a game that doesn't count. It's like talking about the Vikings during the pre-season...hey...they're 5-0. Nice work. Now how many Super Bowl trophies does that get you? ZERO. Have some balls, NHL, and play a regular season game in Grand Forks. Sure, it's not 18,000 at the Xcel, but it's also not 9,000 in North Carolina either. Expose some fans to the NHL that otherwise might not see it. Heaven knows since ESPN doesn't want your product, you've got to market it somehow. How about a Boston game in Hartford? Maybe a Kings game in Las Vegas? Chicago Blackhawks playing in Indianapolis? Shake it up, Bettman!

What would be even crazier is 5,000 Sioux fans in the stands cheering for Robert Morris to beat up on the Huskies.

I'm assuming you mean the word 'loser'?

Priceless.

That issue could be resolved fairly easily by asking other schools (I've only heard this at NDSU to be honest with you) to make an effort to stop the "Sioux suck" chants at sporting events. Seriously, though, I'm more offended by UND's student section chanting "f*** Mankato" at games that I've been too but that's another story. The really interesting part I thought was the "examples" of discrimination and humiliation in the form of t-shirts and parade floats. The samples I saw were t-shirts from the 1980's and one person opposed to the name was recalling racist floats in parades in the 1970's. Welcome to 2005! For crying out loud, tell me those images still exist on campus. Tell me the last time you saw a guy wearing a Bison t-shirt with an Indian image between the bull's legs? Yea, that t-shirt made me sick when I saw it...I remember seeing it when I was in college 15 years ago. I'm telling you...if someone wore that to a sporting event on campus, they would get the snot beat out of them today...and justifiably so.

LOL...were you a part of freshman "Fab Five" at Ellendale High or what?

And therein lies the true heart of the problem. Even if we win (the pro-keep the name forces), the NCAA may just chuckle and say "good for you guys...now enjoy not being picked for the NCAA tournament or playing any playoff games on the road." I don't know if I like that thought any better.