MafiaMan

Yawn. Yet another person thinking "freedom of speech" gives you the license to do anything and say anything you want. I'd sit next to PCM at a hockey game anytime, Diggler.

You're correct, JoJordan. Guess I wasn't paying total attention. I'm very much aware of the differences...been to several WCHA games and a couple of NCAA title games. BIG difference.

Whoa...don't go out on a limb or anything. The Gophers in the championship game of a tournament in an arena where 15,000 of 18,000 fans in attendance will be cheering for them? Wow! Is it really possible? Do you think they could win not one but TWO games in front of the home folks and get to the title game?

WPoS, Hey, if Catholic schoolgirls all looked like Britney Spears in her video a few years ago...wait...sorry...where was I going with that? Nevermind...I got off-track with my thoughts there for a second. I'm not advocating students sitting down or stopping cheering altogether. However, I took a date a number of years ago along with my best friend and his girlfriend for their first-ever trip to UND. They were absolutely mortified at the student chants and all three agreed it was the worst behavior they'd seen at any sporting event. Instead of showing them how cool UND hockey was, they all left with a bad impression. That being said, it's definitely not just a UND issue. Look at the rest of the country, especially college football (players punching and elbowing fans rushing the field) and college basketball (teams with 1-15 records knocking off a conference leader and thousands of fans storming the court) where there are bigger issues to tackle. I just think the issue of fans is being blown out of proportion by both sides. No one wants REA to become the new library on campus but at the same time, no one wants to see an arena where three year olds yell out swear words with the saltiest of fans either.

I agree, UltimateSiouxFan...if the original writer is upset because she can't swear at a Sioux hockey game, then she's missing the point. Contrary to popular belief, it IS possible to cheer and get fans riled up without using vulgar language.

You hit the nail on the head, WPoS. I attended several games at old Mariucci Arena including the last game EVER there and I must say, if that place was as intimidating for opposing players as it was for opposing FANS, then those guys must have all peed in their breezers before taking the ice. Love 'em or hate 'em, what a great, great atmosphere in the old barn. The only place I know of now (and I speak from experience) where you can experience that is Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Can't help you out with the cards, Yooper, but are you really a Yooper from Houghton? I've been to games in Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, but not yet to Houghton, although it's ear-marked almost every year. One of these days...

WPoS - Rivalry is always in good fun. What fun would life be without it (cue the ESPN commercial of the guy in the Ohio State t-shirt kissing the girl in the Michigan t-shirt)?

You thought that? I didn't think so. I've always had a pretty good time down there, even after last year's games. On the plus side, at least they had some decent-looking "talent" this year. Last year, we got to witness a six months pregnant stripper. Some things are just meant to be covered up.

With all due respect, LetsGoSioux, if you were sitting in that section of Sioux fans, you may have thought the whole MWCC was rocking. I was on the other end of the arena and trust me, the loudest noise I heard all night was Mankato's fans cheering after their first goal which made it 4-1. I think I've pointed out already on other posts that I like the road games more than the home games. I was that way when old Engelstad still existed. It's just fun to be a part of the minority of fans celebrating. The only thing missing Saturday was a stick-salute to the Sioux fans in attendance at the MWCC.

Wreckincrew, You were at Mettler's TOO? A 10-1 hockey victory followed by pizza and girls dancing. Cue the "It doesn't get any better than this" commercial.

WPoS, Who does that 1997 MacNaughton Cup "co-championship" taint more, the Sioux or your beloved Gophers? UND and Minnesota tied in the regular season and then the Sioux defeated the Gophers 4-3 in OT at the old St Paul Civic Center in front of a full-house of Gopher fans and about 250 Sioux fans. I'd say the Sioux title isn't marked with an asterisk for a reason. For the same reasons, perhaps your recent success should be ear-marked with "Gopher Hockey - it's not just for Minnesota kids anymore."

PCM, Get your sorry butt down here for the Final Five. And you call yourself a fan. I'll even guarantee you a free parking space to help cut costs. I'm debating a trip to GF just to see the Saturday Michigan Tech game if UND does well this weekend. Not that I won't get into huge trouble for it...

I agree with the comments for the most-part according to reports of what happened last weekend, but in defense of the hockey team, there are going to be nights (yes, at home, folks, it happens) where the team looks like they spent the night before out on the town with the University of Colorado football players. And there's not going to be much for the home fans to cheer about. It happens. For every five or six games where the place is rockin', there's bound to be a night where the team just doesn't have it. Is she more upset with the place being a church service or because she can't swear like a sailor's parrot in the building? Back in 1996, UND hosted a first-round WCHA playoff game for the first time since (if memory serves me right here) 1990. My roommate at the time and I drove from Minneapolis to Grand Forks to see a 2/3 full old Engelstad Arena. Seems students still didn't get the notion that the WCHA makes money off of the playoffs (and it still only cost them $5 or $10 to see them play), but hardly any students turned out that weekend. UND lost a heartbreaker series to Wisconsin, losing in OT on Friday night and losing on Saturday on a last-second (and I mean last second...it was scored with .01 left) goal. My roommate and I were so ticked off, rather than stay in Grand Forks as planned, we left at midnight and drove all the way back to Minneapolis. What a shame to see the Sioux host a playoff series for the first time in six years and see the place not packed to the hilt. I don't think the writer in the DS would have found that enjoyable either. I truly hope the writer didn't mean she was a "puck bunny" at four years old. I'm not sure what kind of meaning that moniker carries around Grand Forks, but it's not exactly a compliment to a college-aged female hockey fan if you catch my drift. Also, I beg to differ with the "estimate" of 1000 of the 4500 fans in Mankato in attendance being Sioux fans. Yes, there were plenty of Sioux jerseys at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center (presented to you by Arby's, Holiday Inn, and Mettler's...sheesh...speaking of corporate), but I wouldn't say every 1 in 4.5 fans was pulling for the Sioux. One section contained about 90% of the Sioux fans in attendance...it was probably more like 300-500 fans TOPS. If (and it's a big IF) UND pulls off a sweep at Duluth this weekend, I bet next weekend's series against Michigan Tech will make her forget all about the 4-1 game against CC.

I was just gonna say...I was there in person watching the Sioux skate around with the MacNaughton Cup, saw them win the Final Five and get the Broadmoor Cup, and then win the NCAA title in 1997. Of course it CAN be done...the only question is, WILL it? MafiaMan

Oh, hell, I'm with Sicatoka. Who am I kidding? If someone offered me one million dollars to quit my job, never play co-rec softball again, and move to Vancouver and start my life under the Canadian witness protection program, I'd pack up everything I owned and be on the road by 4:00 pm today.

Trust me, Marty, I was definitely disappointed he left and I thought he was a fool for doing so. Now that I'm older and wiser, I can honestly say I don't know which way I would choose had the same offer been made to me as a 20 year old kid. It's a tough decision, that's for sure. I'm with you in hoping Zach Parise and any other underclassmen (why weren't you listending Landon Wilson, Ryan Bayda, Travis Roche, etc...?) stick around for all four years, but I'm afraid NCAA hockey is becoming more and more like NCAA basketball....enjoy the 1-3 years the players are around because then they're gone.

Marty, I'll tell you how it could happen. Back in the fall of 1989, UND had the pre-season #1 team in the country. Granted, that was pre-season, but it says a lot about the talent that UND had on that team. Brent Bobyck, Dave Hakstol, Russ Romaniuk, Jason Herter, Justin Duberman, just to name a few of the players. The day before the poll was released, Herter signed a contract with Vancouver and Romaniuk signed a deal with his home-town Winnipeg Jets. I had a business class with Jason Herter on the day of the poll release and the entire class was devastated that he would be leaving shortly. He fielded many questions about how he could give up a possible NCAA title run but his answer made a lot of sense. He had a guaranteed lump sum of money just for signing. If he did NOTHING else in his hockey career, he still had a million dollars in the bank and paid tuition to finish out college once his playing career was finished. Break a leg in the season opener for UND and all that potential and cash goes right out the window. He asked that question to people in the class...what would YOU do? You must know the rest of the story already because if you didn't follow UND hockey until 1990, you probably don't even know who Jason Herter is since he didn't become the next Gretzy or Lemieux. Smart guy, even though I didn't think so at the time since I was one of the thousands of fans disappointed by a UND early exit from the WCHA playoffs that year, no post-season selection, and a lot of "oh what could have been" thoughts about the team that wasn't.

Cratter, "Corporate atmosphere" like Xcel? As opposed to the college-style marble floors and leather seats like the classic barns of old? Puhlease! Like it or not, REA is about as "corporate" as it gets. It's far closer to being a replica of the Xcel Energy Center than it is Mariucci Arena. "Welcome to the Jungle" isn't just a new fad at REA. As soon as that song came out in about 1988 or 1989, it was being played constantly at the old arena as well. These things can be effective in getting the fans stirred up. How about St Louis and the "bell" after each goal the Blues score? "One...two...three." That's one of the best NHL traditions going. Or what about Trevor Hoffman taking the mound for the San Diego Padres with "Hell's Bells" playing over the loudspeakers? It can help set the tone and start deflating opponents once the crowd gets behind it. I like some of the ideas just presented and I don't think the casual fan will mind the occasional "suck" in a chant. When f-bombs come out, though, it's a different story. Back in 1998 at the UND/Michigan regional in Yost, a phone high up in the press box could be heard across the entire arena when it rang during quiet times on the ice and TV time-outs. I don't know what the heck the phone was for, but it rang about every 3-4 minutes that night. And every time it rang, the entire arena would go thru this schpeel: "Phhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooooone!" "Hey Schweitzer (UND's goalie) it's for you...it's your mom and she says..." "YOU SUCK!" The first eight times I heard it, I laughed. The next twenty, I wanted to strangle everyone in the student section. But it worked. Trust me, they were in Aaron Schweitzer's head the entire third period. I bet he still has nightmares about those fans. Another funny story...during last year's University of Cincinnati visit to cross-town rival Xavier (college basketball), things got so out-of-hand that Bob Huggins, the Cincy coach, said if it wasn't such a big thing for the city, he'd cancel the series with Xavier permanently because of the harsh treatment of Cincy players by Xavier fans. Before the Cincy visit this season, the Xavier President and Coach had pleaded with fans to restrain themselves this time around. The first sign that greeted the Cincy players when they walked onto the Xavier court was held up by a fan in the student section. It said: WELCOME FELLOW SCHOLARS! Considering Cincy's 0% graduation rate of basketball players over the past four-five years, I found this hilarious. Pretty witty kid.

Coteau, A clip I haven't seen played but one I like is from Gladiator where Maximux slays about fifty bad guys, then mocks the crowd with his "are you not entertained?" bit.

Thanks, iceberg. I'm in Richfield, myself. Senser's in Bloomington is right down the 494 strip for me.

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.

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.

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?

Does anyone know? Joe Senser's? It would be nice to watch the games on TV somewhere this weekend. Thanks for any info. MafiaMan