jodcon

I didn't realize it was a big deal to do that, the way that basketball teams attend tournaments for a week at a time I thought it was more common, so maybe that's not an option after all. Sounded good though.

UNLV soccer team receives donation from Engelstad Family Foundation Men’s soccer will get $850,000 donation over next five years After nearly two years of financial instability, the UNLV men’s soccer team is setting money worries aside, and winning first. The Engelstad Family Foundation is donating $850,000 to the men’s soccer team to be dispersed over the next five years, and head coach Rich Ryerson is elated about the donation. “It was amazing when we heard the news,” Ryerson said. “It’s over two-thirds of our budget and it will help us succeed as a program.” After former head coach Mario Sanchez left UNLV in Jan. 2010 for a position at Louisville, Ryerson was left with the uncertainty about what the future held for his new team. As a former player for the UNLV soccer team in the 1980s, Ryerson did not want to see the Rebels soccer team fall victim to the epidemic that has struck many Division-I soccer teams. “We’ve lost an average of one Division I school a year over the last 20 years,” Ryerson said. “One of Jim Livengood’s goals was to not cut any programs. Once you lose an athletic program, very rarely does it ever come back.” All of those worries have been pushed out of the minds of the UNLV soccer team, however, as they know that money problems are no longer crucial. The soccer program received an initial donation of $250,000 up front, and each year over the next five years the donation will decreases by $40,000. With an abundance of local talent looking into future collegiate careers in soccer, Ryerson is hoping the stability of the program will help make Las Vegas high school graduates interested in attending UNLV. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sounds like the Engelstads son-in-law played mens soccer at UNLV in the late 70's, this donation may have helped save the program.

True but when you consider that UAA makes 8 or 9 trips down here every year it doesn't sound so bad. If you could play one team on a Sat and Sun and then stay in Alaska and play the other one the next Fri and Sat it would make sense, but then you'd have expenses for food and lodging plus schoolwork issues, so budget wise it would probably not be much better, but at least you could avoid that long trip twice. It wouldn't totally surprise me if they ended up in the same conference with this shakeup, but either way it won't concern us joining the NCHC.

Apparently he's shaken off his late season injury pretty well.

This whole shakeup could very well end up being a good thing in the long run, if the CCHA can keep going (I'm assuming the WCHA is on solid ground) and new teams are created by the openings the BTHC and the NCHC have created by their departures, it could be a plus down the road. If there would be enough new teams joining to put all the conferences at 8-10 teams, that would be great. Of course the Big Ten would have to get schools like Iowa, Illinois, or Indiana to jump in, but who knows...yesterday it was Penn State...tomorrow? Some people scoff at schools like Moorhead testing the waters but now that we're at this point schools like that have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to jump into D1 hockey, and if we want college hockey to continue to flourish we need them to make the jump. On the contrary side, if the CCHA goes belly-up and we end up losing a few teams over the next few years, these moves won't look as rosy.

So if the Big Sky picks up hockey in a few years, UND will be obligated to drop out of the new conference and play hockey in the Big Sky or get kicked out in all sports? I don't think they can force a team to move from an established conference to a new conference of their creation by force, but again, if you can provide that from the Big Ten bylaws it would be helpful.

That's not the point of the argument, it's not that they joined the BTHC that bothers people, it was probably the right move, it's that they act like they had no part or idea or choice about its development. Do you really believe that the 2 best teams with the most prestigious college hockey background of the 6 weren't instrumental in its forming? They had a big part and everybody knows it, so for people to play the 'poor Minnesota' card grinds on people.

So you're saying they were forced to drop out of their current hockey conferences and join the new BTHC...OR get kicked out of the Big Ten for all sports? Really? You would have to provide a source for that statement to have any credibility at all.

Would there have been a Big Ten Hockey Conference if Minnesota and Wisconsin said they weren't interested? Would the other 4 teams have formed the league without them? Minnesota and Wisconsin are not as innocent in this as you guys like to portray, they knew what was going on and they went along with it, they didn't go kicking and screaming. What was the Big Ten going to do if they said no...kick them out of the Big Ten Conference for all sports? Not hardly. They made a decision based on their circumstances, and it was probably the right decision for them. Because of that decision, UND and the 5 (so far) others made a decision based on their circumstances, and it was probably the right decision for them. Because of those decisions, the WCHA and CCHA will now be forced to make decisions of their own, and hopefully they will make correct decisions too. I'm not blaming anybody for how this has transpired, in the end every school has to do what is in its best interests, but I'm sick of hearing the "poor Minnesota and Wisconsin got kidnapped but North Dakota ruined college hockey" line, it's a bunch of bullsh^t.

I wonder if anyone's been knocking on Huntsvilles door yet? Haven't heard anything but...

Damn. Losing guys like this really hurts now that Hextall and Gregoire are gone, that 4th and 5th line keeps getting greener and greener.

I hope not for 2 reasons. 1) 7 is a crap number for a league, it's a crap number for the post-season tournament, and it's dangerously close to being a 5 or 6 team league if someone bolts. I think having anything under 8 teams is risky and shortsighted, and actually a little boring too. 2) I get tired of Notre Dame thinking they always need to have things skewed their way or they take their ball and go home. They're not even in this conference and they want to dictate how many teams should be in it? They have spurned the Big Ten on numerous occasions but make it sound like if the NCHC takes more than 7 teams they may lean towards the BTHC with 6 teams? Maybe if they're so worried about having more nonconference games they should go independent and play Huntsville 14 times a year. They're not the gods they think they are when it comes to college hockey. End of Rant

Now that the WCHA knows where it sits, it's the CCHA's turn to play the waiting game with ND and W. Michigan, they could also be down to 5 teams soon. Tough duty for the league offices.

Let the speculation begin...

I can't really take seriously anything said by any WCHA blogger right now because they are going to try to pick apart anything they can from here on out. This conference is in its infant...no actually its prenatal stage and there are a million and one details to work through, so as of now it will appear to be thrown together until details get worked out. They could have waited another month or two and put on a grander entrance and had more of the details ironed out, but instead they did the right thing and announced who they are and what they know at this time to keep people informed. It was an introduction, it wasn't a bylaws session.

That's what I assume too. But it's such backwards thinking...I want to play with the big boys but I can't because I'm not good enough, so rather than playing with teams my own caliber until I get better I just won't play at all...what a defeatist attitude.

They would probably draw OK, besides the Force there are what...4 high school boys teams and 3 high school girls teams in Fargo, plus Moorhead boys and girls? Add in the surrounding area and that's a lot of hockey fans, I think they would show up to watch college hockey, especially if they could stagger their home schedule with UND's as much as possible. Which brings me to my next question, wouldn't this be the perfect time for NDSU to take another look at hockey? They could join whatever becomes of the WCHA or CCHA and avoid the Denvers and Wisconsins and Minnesotas (yeah and UNDs) of the world until they got their program up to speed, if they have any thought of EVER playing D1 hockey the situation will never get better than this. And the old 'Fargo isn't a hockey town' excuse doesn't hold water, there's a hockey team around every corner in the F-M area now.

I would think that Denver/CC probably lobbied to have the tournament in their area every few years considering that they are 1/3 of the conference as of now, so it's possible there might be 2 or 3 rotating venues for tournament play.

I'm glad I checked the link because the thread is full of the rantings of the lunatic lakesbison. By page 2 he had worn out his welcome and was getting hammered by Bobcat and Bison fans alike, didn't take anyone too long to figure out what a nutcase he is. Didn't like having his little incident with the law brought up either, sent him into another rant. I had heard he was posting crap on all the Big Sky boards but didn't feel like it was worth my time to look for it, if it's all like this he should be banned from another dozen fansites soon. How can you hate something this much that you spend all your time trying to run it down? He must be the most miserable son of a bitch on the planet, I almost pity him. Almost.

Be interesting to see how and where the post-season tournament is run, I would guess that Denver/CC would like to see it in Denver about every 3 years, unless they actually reward the regular season champ with hosting the tournament...just one more thing for them to work out.

And I'm sure that of the non-BTHC defectors we will draw the most ire because...well...we're us. It won't be that big of a deal for Minnesota, Wisconsin, UND, and Denver facing hostile crowds because those teams are used to being hated wherever they go, will be a little tougher for Duluth, CC, and Omaha getting used to the hate and discontent. Is anybody else a little nervous about how we are going to be treated as far as reffing goes the next couple years? McLeod and the Shepherders have never been in love with us anyway, and now that we have helped orchestrate this mass exodus they might really feel the need to stick it to us, or let others stick it to us. Payback could be a bitch as they say.

We expected to be in conversations about being in a new league, Potter said today But as we looked at it ... we intended to say no. Potter said St. Cloud State officials reviewed balance sheets, attendance projections, the strength of rivalries, postseason opportunities and several other factors in deciding it didnt want to be in the rumored new conference. He said that no invitation ever was extended to St. Cloud State to join the conference. We intend to stay in the WCHA and a take a leadership role to continue the legacy of the WCHA, Potter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually one factor stands out...they couldn't compete in the WCHA, they wouldn't be able to compete in the new 'Superconference', but they can compete with whoever is left in the WCHA and CCHA...so to me it boils down to 'Hey, we can win this thing and get an autobid!' It might not be a bad strategy for them now that I think about it.

Which idiom should we use... ...Pot calling the kettle black? ...People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? ...What's good for the goose is good for the gander? I laugh at the Gophers holier than thou attitude, if the roles were reversed they would be looking at the very same options. What also makes me laugh is their delusion that UND needs them on the schedule every year...they don't. Teams would be falling over themselves trying to get UND on their schedule if Minnesota gave up their series. Honestly with their level of play the last 3 or 4 years you could make the argument that we could find better OOC opponents from the East than Minnesota...although I for one would really miss kicking their ass in the Ralph on a regular basis.

Although you won't see many Sioux fans shedding tears about St. Cloud being left out, I think it was more that they were #9 or 10 on the list than it was them being snubbed because of their anti-nickname actions. Any new conference talk the last month or 2 has always included UND, Denver, CC, and UNO from the WCHA, and has speculated that it would be Miami, Notre Dame, and Western Michigan from the CCHA. Assuming Notre Dame and WM are going to be on board eventually, that leaves one spot...and apparently they felt that UMD with their committment of a new facility, coaching staff, and fresh off a national title...was the choice. Bemidji and St. Cloud would have probably been in the mix for the last spot also, and maybe a dark horse from further east.