MafiaMan
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Posts posted by MafiaMan
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Saw those already...a good yes or no answer in any of them would have been great. I guess I'll find out when I stop in there this weekend.
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I'm tellin' ya, the jumbo-tron is the key. Having seen more Wild games at Xcel Energy Center than Sioux games at REA (at least in the past three years), I can honestly say they put up some pretty funny stuff to get the crowd riled up at the X. Usually, it's movie highlights but sometimes it's simple stuff like flashing "Let's Go Wild". Here are some of the better examples of movie clips shown to inspire the crowd to stand up and cheer:
#1: "Happy Gilmore" (Adam Sandler) just about to tee off when he turns to the crowd and says "C'mon, let's make some noise!"
#2: The scene from "Braveheart" where the Scottish clans are all lined up to face the English in battle. Mel Gibson and his horse run through the group firing them up until they are all screaming loudly.
#3: Scene from early 1980's movie "War Games" where the kid (can't remember his name) is typing into the computer the objective and computer responds back "TO WIN THE GAME."
There are plenty of others that they show, but these are the only three I can think of at the moment. #1 and #2 spearhead the crowd into a frenzy every time they are shown. I can't imagine something similar would be tough to do at REA.
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I'm sorry, did someone actually just say that they had trouble HEARING Katie O'Keefe? I guess I'm too busy cleaning up my drool to actually notice she's talking into a microphone.
While we're re-hashing the good old days of old REA, can we please bring back turkey bowling?
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Does anyone know? Joe Senser's? It would be nice to watch the games on TV somewhere this weekend. Thanks for any info.
MafiaMan
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Makes no difference to me what color his jersey was, whether it was white, green, or black. The fact that he was a total jerkweed to those in most of the section was bad enough, but by wearing ANY Sioux jersey, he portrayed himself to be a Sioux fan (obviously). For those ready to beat to death 21 year old college students tipping a few, the guy was 35-40 years old.
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Make it four.
And what were those guys gonna do with 'em? Hang them in their den?
Correct on the geometric logo. I'm guessing 1959 and 1963 were just to make them all look nice and uniform...oh wait...kinda like the new arena! LOL. I don't know. They could be worse...like the plastic "banners" at Mariucci. Old logo, new logo, I guess all that would be nice is an EIGHTH one being hung at REA next fall.
Big hug, Sicatoka!
MafiaMan
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Just a thought on Travis Roche...he's been a career minor-leaguer to this point. What a shame to see him sign a pro contract after the 2001 Frozen Four loss to BC. It would have been nice to see Roche (and Bayda, for that matter) stick around their four years.
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Sicatoka,
Three waffle cones, please.
I have walked around the entire arena and there are large areas reminiscent of the old arena. My biggest beef is with the banners...and I have friends in the alumni department who did let me know that when they took down the "old" banners, the assumption was they would be raised in the new arena, not completely tossed in place of new-logo banners. I'm not the only one who noticed.
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I most likely won't be up there again this season. I normally sell the late-season home games since I always to go the final five and drop more than a few $$$$ there. Starting with the Red Baron Final Five, it's gonna be a fun year of hockey...March 2004 Final Five, September 2004 World Cup of Hockey, December 2004/Jan 2005 World Juniors. Ka-ching! I might have to get back into the porn business to fund my hockey addiction.
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Pretty funny stuff...let me address a few issues.
1) No, that is not Ron Jeremy in my avatar. That is me. Oh to be confused with him all the time...bring on the hot porno girls, starting with Traci Lords. Yee haw!
B) PCM - you're right, you still do owe me. You comin' down this year? Buy me a waffle cone and we'll call it even.
I see some of your points, PCM, but I still think you need to honor the past as well as point towards the future. Like I said, don't get me wrong because I almost cried when I saw my logo-less Sioux in 1994-1995, thought the geometric head jerseys were ok from about 1996 thru a couple of seasons ago, and practically jumped for joy when the new Indian-head logo jerseys came out. Change can be good.
Despite being a season ticket holder, I am obviously limited in the number of 7+ hour round-trip drives I want to make a season. Perhaps I've just been unlucky with quality opponents (Findlay, for example) playing on the weekends when I've been able to make the trip. Or maybe there's just something fun about being one of several hundred fans on the road watching the Sioux beat the home team. Who knows.
See you all at the final five. I'll be there with my guest, Jenna Jameson.
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PCM,
I stand corrected on the legislature issue. I've been researching to back up my point, but I think you win that round.
Onto Ralph Engelstad himself, I think you should realize that I'm on the same team as you. I think his gift to the school and to the state was extraordinary in its intent and purpose and I'm proud to be a Sioux hockey fan. Funny you should mention the World Junior Tournament next season as I will be driving from Minneapolis/St Paul to see it. It's also very exciting to host a future NCAA hockey regional where hopefully UND can benefit from home crowds the way Michigan and Minnesota have in recent years. Am I griping for a move back to the old building? No. I understand the recruiting advantage that the arena gives kids who would otherwise look elsewhere. Look around you...the great Dane is gone, so is old Mariucci (which I even liked due to its imposing atmosphere), CC, Denver, etc. all have new arenas. It's called progress and it happens. However, I long for a return to the "atmosphere" created in the old building. There were many games I recall where the Sioux fans willed their team to a goal. I've brought this up before and I'll do it again...sometime in my four years at UND (88-92), they played Northern Michigan and were down 5-0 in the third period. Some guy stands up and starts chanting "Let's Go Sioux." Half the arena had left already but the 3000 or so fans left weren't going to give up. Five goals later, the game went into OT and it ended a 5-5 tie. The NMU players left the ice like they had lost the game and the UND players gave a stick salute to the fans in appreciation for what they had done to rally the troops. The only time in my life I can say that I went home happy with a tie. THAT'S what I want to see in the new arena.
Plenty of Gopher fans here in Minneapolis chide me about the Nazi story with Ralph Engelstad and I am quick to point out some of the things he did in life other than his $100 million gift...the meals and haircuts for the homeless around holidays in Las Vegas, the wheelchair donation, etc...all things that people who despised the man never cared to take the time to look at and those who didn't know him at all except for the "Nazi story". My main gripe is that so much is made of "the gift," though, that the focus is taken off of the Sioux team and put onto Ralph himself. Take for example other things...what did the new Sioux logo (which I very much like) have to do with past NCAA Sioux champions? Answer? Nothing. So why change every single logo in the new building? To have snazzy matching banners? Big deal. Leave the geometric Indian or Blackhawk logo alone. Those logos were part of the history of UND. Let's not re-write the books. REA might be the arena that the Sioux play in, but as far as I'm concerned, the University of North Dakota is the home of the Sioux.
Now, let me point out some positives over the past 15 years or so. When I was in high school (Belfield, ND, about 40 minutes from the Montana border on I-94), NO ONE and I mean NO ONE west of Fargo knew anything about Sioux hockey. When Dean Blais named Mitch Vig of Bismarck the captain of the team (1998 season, if memory serves me right), I drove back to Belfield for Christmas and 90 year old grannies at the nursing homes were talking Sioux hockey. Last year, I wondered if I would see scores on the local news out of Dickinson...turned out that the Sioux were the #1 sports story of the evening, which included highlights of the game. High schools like Williston, Dickinson, and Hazen-Beulah now have hockey programs. I wish like hell those had existed when I was a kid, but those are the breaks. Dean Blais' state-wide promotion of the Sioux, getting some in-state kids on the team, and Ralph Engelstad's donation have played a major factor in getting the Sioux recognized around a greater portion of the state of North Dakota and the US. And next winter, the stage gets even bigger.
As far as the size of Engelstad, no one's touched that topic yet. Is it too big? Anybody now think serving alcohol is a BAD idea? Yost Ice Arena seats just over 8,000 fans. And since I've been there personally several times (1998 western regional and 2001 Michigan/Ferris State), I can honestly say it's second-to-none in terms of being a hostile atmosphere. It's all about the HOCKEY, folks, not the beer, sight-seeing, hey-everyone-look-at-me-I'm-at-a-hockey-game-and-I'm-a-corporate-big-shot attitude like you see at Mariucci Arena and Xcel Energy Center. People have griped about the home fans in Mankato where coincidentally, they serve alcohol. Two seats in front of me stood one of the few Sioux fans in the section. The drunken idiot made a complete a$$ out of himself and the school he was representing by wearing a white Sioux jersey. He taunted Maverick fans around him the whole night. If the issue was hosting regionals, UND could have done that easily with 9,000 seats. Like I said before, if UND couldn't draw 3,000 fans into the old building with a sub .500 team, how will 3,000 fans sound in the new building with a similar team? Just my thought that alcohol either makes fans sit down and fall asleep or turns them into drunken swearing idiots and that REA might be a bit too big for its britches.
That all being said, GO SIOUX!
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The state law regarding self-sufficient gifts was on the record LONG before the building of the new Engelstad Arena. It prevents people and corporations in the state from dumping non-profitable "gifts" upon the state. Don't think for a minute that Mr Engelstad wasn't aware of that during the construction of the facility. Do you think his intent was to hand over the keys to the building to the university right away?
As far as my comments about being Ralph's personal hockey team, I obviously meant that for when he was alive. I'm not completely opposed to the new building, my point is that it's still the "Sioux" and the "University of North Dakota." Instead, we're bombarded with Ralph this, Ralph that, #23's everywhere...like I said, a monument to his legacy when the real focus should be on the university and the team. Now if you want something positive regarding the jumbo-tron instead of my ripping on #23 being displayed during light shows, let me just say that I love the instant replays and I really like the "Sioux tradition" and honoring the name and spirit bit that is played before the games or during periods.
Back to the comment about empty seats in OLD Engelstad...doesn't that validate my point about new Engelstad being too big? You think 10,000 people will watch hockey when UND is having some abyssmal times like 94 and 95? No way!
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I believe it's already been noted that it may have been a Sioux fan gloating about the 10-1 victory who may have made that comment. Some investigating or an eye-witness account may need to verify that. It's definitely not a one-way comment and could have been made by a fan from either school.
However, on the subject of classless fans, I did hear the "you suck Parise" right at the beginning of the national anthem. Took me back to the days of hearing "Michigan sucks" yelled right before the anthem at the Xcel Energy Center just before the Minnesota/Michigan game in 2002.
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Be careful what you wish for...you just might get it. Isn't that the truth? I am a Sioux season ticket holder and the new "corporate" REA has me longing for the days of the old arena. It's too big, there's too much boozing going on instead of watching hockey, and now the environment is as sterile as a doctor's office. It's a shame.
I was up there last for the Findlay/Sioux game and must say it was booooooooooring. What really got me was the 2000-3000 people standing around the bar area while the game was going on and never making it back to their seats. The hockey game itself has become the side show to the carnival act. And every week I am bombarded with e-mails from theralph.com telling me that "plenty of good seats still remain." Great. The #1 team in the country can't even sell out. Should make for good times when the Sioux are below .500 and have a down year or two, which will happen eventually.
I remember the old REA with 6000 fans being louder than the current library that the new REA is. Hell, I can think of several under-capacity crowds at the old building louder than the 10K plus that inhabit the new building.
Can you even find a t-shirt in the pro shop that says "University of North Dakota" in addition to Fighting Sioux? Very few. Most I've seen are stamped with "Ralph Engelstad Arena...Home of the Fighting Sioux." I never ever thought I'd agree with the anti-Sioux name protesters, but I do now. Ralph's gift, while incredible in its value, came with a lot of strings attached, not the least of which apparently makes the Sioux his de facto personal hockey club.
I was in Mankato this past weekend and have come to the conclusion that I like going to the road games more than the home games these days. Good luck to the students and those trying to rile things up in Grand Forks. One thing I will say....I met President Kupchella a few year ago before his first ever game at Mariucci. He and his wife stopped over at Grandma's at an alumni function. He seemed very personable and asked some questions about the team, the nickname, etc. and was VERY interested in how proud the alumni were of the Sioux tradition and the hockey team. Don't completely screw the pooch by blasting him totally...talk to him and make him see your viewpoint. Go in with guns a-blazin', and he'll smack the door in your face. Just my two cents.
And for the poster who talked about throwing 10,000 people out of Michigan Stadium for swearing. I've been to several UM games over the past five years and have yet to see an incident of total stupidity on the part of fans. Now imagine CBS' reaction if the audio was to pick up fans chanting "who's he, he sucks s***" and other assorted swear cheers on live TV? Think the execs there wouldn't want to dump UM football in a heartbeat? You bet they would. If Michigan can control 107,510 fans week in and week out, how come UND can't contain the 5-10 morons swearing loudly enough for the entire arena to hear? And don't get me started on parking around arenas. You'd be stunned to hear that it's easier to leave Michigan Stadium after a football game than it is Target Center after a T-Wolves game.
Go Sioux!
MafiaMan
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This whole tournament set-up is pure b.s. Does Minnesota care where they end up, whether it be a #4 seed in a region or #1? Doesn't matter, they're going to be playing in front of 9,000 of their own fans and everyone will scream "what a monumental upset!" when they knock of Colorado College. Puhlease. The reward for being a #1 seed shouldn't be going to a huge rival's own building. I don't care when the region sites were selected, this is a set-up just like last year to make sure Michigan, Minnesota, and a couple of HE schools make the big dance.
Look at Denver last season. The reward for being the #1 seed in the WCHA is to play the Gophers at Xcel Energy Center. They win the game, then get to go on the road to play Michigan at Yost Arena. And people were still stunned that this team didn't get to the Frozen Four?
Minnesota will be back in the Frozen Four again this year, not so much because of their talent, but moreso because people underestimate home ice advantage.
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Interesting that the MAAC seems to think it's shoes are pretty big while at the same time, one of its member schools (Fairfield University in Connecticut) is scrapping its D-1 hockey program. Let's hope some of their other scrubby schools follow suit.
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I saw a picture of the team captains on the "Ralphie" web site and noticed the familiar "swoosh" of Nike on the uniforms. I'm assuming Gemini Sportswear has lost the contract to do the Sioux jerseys. Where can a person pick up a close-to-authentic jersey now?
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Dagies,
Speaking from experience as an attendee at the 1997 Frozen Four in Milwaukee, I can tell you there is nothing like the experience of seeing your team win it all.
One of the funnier moments of that weekend was after the first period, I went into the men's restroom and a Maine fan was doing his duty in the urinal next to mine. At the time, it was 2-0 Boston U and UND was clearly getting outplayed. He looked over at me in my Sioux jersey and says, "Better pick it up, Sioux...I don't wanna see Boston win." I replied, "No problem, I guarantee a win." Of course, I was a little down, but I had faith. UND went on a tear in the 2nd period and held on in the third period to win 6-4 and after the empty net goal sealed the deal, twelve of my college buddies and I went nuts in the stands. A few moments later, I ran into the same Maine fan outside the arena, walked over to him and said, "I TOLD YOU WE HAD NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!". He smiled and extended his congrats and we went our separate ways.
That was five years ago...several of those twelve friends I have not seen since that day Easter weekend of 1997, but I will never forget the hugs and high fives we exchanged after the Sioux title.
MafiaMan
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YaneA,
If you were paying attention at all this past season, you would realize that the WCHA has decided on "natural rivals" for the regular season, meaning that there will be only one school that each team plays four times a year.
Minnesota vs Wisconsin
Colorado College vs Denver
Michigan Tech vs Minnesota-Duluth
North Dakota vs St Cloud State
and by default, Minnesota State (Mankato) vs Alaska-Anchorage
Outside of the "natural rival," the other schools rotate around where schools will play them in a single series for that season. I know, I know, people will whine about UND being Minnesota's natural rival, but let's be honest, everyone in the WCHA thinks Minnesota is their biggest rival. It's obvious from Big 10 action in football and basketball, that Wisconsin and Minnesota are a great fit. That applies to hockey as well.
MafiaMan
Sioux/UMD Series on TV in Minneapolis Area?
in Men's Hockey
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Thanks, iceberg. I'm in Richfield, myself. Senser's in Bloomington is right down the 494 strip for me.