MafiaMan

Sioux-cia, Having personally met you on our trip to Columbus, I can say I believe you to be a good person and a good mother. It was a real pleasure meeting you and chatting with you and your son the night of the DU/UND game. You shouldn't have had to come here and justify anything about your life. GK is who he is and he certainly seems to relish the role that he plays. I'm glad the central focus of his life is changing a school nickname. People like you and me realize we have far bigger missions.

I don't think you represent the entire Indian population any more than I represent the entire Italian-American population, GK. On one hand, you claim to speak for every person of Sioux descent in North Dakota and that they rally behind your cause. Then on the other, you express anger at feeling that you have to represent the entire Indian population. Which one is it, GK?

Once again, GK rears his ugly "separate is equal" theory when it comes to society today. Like it or not, you're part of the United States of America, GK. However, I'm hoping you can lobby to defect from the union since you appear to support your own independent government. I think it's a great idea. Then the United States can hammer out some trade agreements with your new country. And since you're no longer part of the union, the University of North Dakota could keep its nickname and you could protest diplomatically thru your country's embassy in Washington DC. It's a win-win situation for all of us. It sure seems like you wish to separate your culture from the rest of the United States and leave evil whitey behind forever. What a novel idea. Purify the race! Now that I think about it, all people of brown color can unite like you wish and you could kick all the Jews, Catholics, and homosexuals to the curb. Wait a second...kinda sounds a little like Hitler, doesn't it? Reverse racism is still racism, GK.

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'?