krangodance

Until UND can qualify for the NCAA tourney all games mean more to NDSU. To say otherwise is to suggest that winning a non-auto bid conference is a greater goal than winning an auto bid conference. Is that what you believe?

uh-oh, an angry face!

Obviously you're right. The NCAA doesn't care what the Native Americans have say (therin lies the biggest problem) and they're not going to give anybody an opportunity to discuss this issue with them any further. I think the percentage of people who believe this situation is going to change anything is very small but that doesn't mean this development is moot. If this story gets enough exposure it could be significant. Certainly those of us who watch this forum regulary are well aware that the majority of people who this NCAA policy is supposed to protect are actuallly against dropping the name. The general public, on the other hand, do not realize that Native Americans themselves are opposed to dropping the name. If a larger percentage of the population become privvy to the fact that the pleas from the Native Americans on the name and logo issue have been ignored in favor of the loud voices of those who are not Native Americans then that could open the door for some serious accusations against the NCAA that would influence how they move forward on issues like this in the future. I know that there's a widely held belief that the NCAA doesn't care what others think and will just do whatever they want regardless of public opinion. While I agree with that to a point I'm confident that even an organization as unwavering as the NCAA will not enjoy a reputation for trampling on the opinions of minorities simply to push a policy that has no basis in fact and they'll make a stronger effort to include the opinions of those most affected by their decisions. Let's face it. It's a bunch of rich guys in suits saying the the Sioux logo is "hostile and abusive" while Native Americans on tribal lands are saying "excuse me? why is our likeness hostile and abusive?". If that angle, which tells the true story, were to become more widely recognized over the angle that UND is somehow oppressing or ridiculing Native Americans then the NCAA would be hearing complaints from a lot more people than just the relative few who pay attention to UND.

Well it was the quarter-finals actually but the better team did not win that game. The Bison outplayed EWU but just had some missteps and poor calls at the end. EWU went on to win the NC.

They should have won that game too. I'm not a Bison fan but they got screwed. They screwed themselves plenty at the end of that game but the refs ultimately gave the game away in the final minutes.

Amen

Not to mention the NDSU - UND would be likely as profitable as any other game these schools could hope to schedule.

I just saw this on yahoo news. This is horrible.

Looks like you may not have to only imagine it: http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/2011/07/university-of-alaska-fairbanks-to-wcha.html?m=1

Damn circular logic. I spent three hours today trying to figure this out.

Imagine making 9+ trips from Alaska to the mainland every year...The Alaskan schools do it.

You're saying that if somebody chooses to attend University at UND they will automatically lose touch with reality, regardless of any other aspect of his/her life. Well in that case: All people who bowl on Tuesdays hate cilantro. Sure, why not? As long as we're making illogical generalizations here. The irony is you used a completely unrealistic comment to argue against a claim that you're out of touch with reality. Classic!

Of course not. The Gopher argument on this matter is ridiculous. Oh, and by the way, I'm fine with the BTHC now that it appears things are shaking out alright. I mean, if the formation of the BTHC ends up being a catalyst to UAH finding a home and other teams starting up hockey then GO BTHC! (well - I mean go and exist, I won't be rooting for those teams very often).

If both of these conferences stay at six members then I'm confident that the Gopher-Sioux rivalry can survive. 16 non-conference games (eight series) is a lot. If either conference grows it will be tougher to keep that rivalry going but I'd be surprised if they didn't meet up in the regular season at least every other year and certainly often in the post season.

Ha! Welcome to reality. It's well documented that UW was leading the drive in the creation of the BTHC and UM certainly is allowed to think for themselves. Nobody's buying the "they had not choice" argument. I don't care anymore though. I think the future is bright for college hockey <knock on wood>.

Sounds like there's a lot of opportunity for growth in the sport. Hopefully some of these things come to be because I think we can all agree that more college hockey teams is a great thing. If college hockey grows as a result of this shake up I'll gladly eat crow for being one of those stating that the BTHC would negatively impact the future of college hockey.

My perfect world: BTHC: UMN UM UW PSU MSU OSU NCHC: UND DU CC UMD UNO Miami ND W.Mich WCHA: SCSU MSU-Mankato MSU-Moorhead BSU UA-Anchorage UA-Fairbanks CCHA: MTU LSSU N.Mich Ferris St BGSU UAH I know some people don't like the idea of both Alaska schools in the same conference but, geographically speaking, this makes the most sense. Plus it would be nice for those two schools to have two conference series within their own state every year, one series at home and one on the road. Even if one of the Alaska schools were swapped with one of the CCHA schools in my break-out, that would be cool too. The thing I'd most like to see is keeping the WCHA and CCHA at six teams each. That way they'd each have a 20-game conference schedule, giving them 16 games to schedule outside of the conference. That many non-conference games will allow them to play at least a couple teams that they'll need to play in order to boost their PWR.

http://gawker.com/5820646/north-dakota-may-not-actually-be-a-state

Actually he did compare peer to peer. He compared D1 schools who compete at the FCS level in football. To compare D1/FCS to D1/FBS would not be peer to peer. Does anybody (besides forumcrew) actually think that comparing schools that compete at the FCS level with the likes of Alabama, Texas and Florida State is a fair comparison? Those schools have stadiums that seat, what, 80,000, 100,000, or more? I don't know the exact numbers but it's a lot and they sell them out every weekend. What you're suggesting would be equivalent to comparing a minor league baseball team's attendance to the average MLB team attendance. What star did was equivalent to comparing all minor league baseball team's attendance to each other, which is an apples to apples comparison. You, skippy, are trying to compare apples to watermelons.

I hope to see his surprised face the first time Miller suits up for UND.

This line is too perfect considering the article I've been referring to all along is still linked off the very same post to which I'm replying. I'm not going to question the intelliegence of a complete stranger and I certainly don't think the structure of either of our posts would indicate that you or I lack intelligence so there's no need to go down that path. My original observation is accurate and the proof is in every one of your posts since. I'm done with this nonsense.

i don't know what article you think i'm talking about but the one that you've linked off of several of your posts does not contain any of the text you listed. the only thing in the story at all inline with your claims is a reference to a line in a paper several weeks ago, before this conversation started. i'm not saying eaves hasn't denied being contacted by the devils or the nhl. in fact, i'm inclined to believe he did say that because that's the status quo in situations like this. i'm just saying it's strange you're using this article as proof when the article provides no proof of your claim. here's the entire article for those who don't know what i'm referring to. i've highlighted the one paragraph that eludes to a possible statement by eaves several weeks ago: University of Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Eaves has done a lot of winning since returning to Madison to lead his alma mater. In nine seasons behind the Badger bench, Eaves has amassed a .573 winning percentage, one national championship in 2006, and a runner up finish in 2010. Unfortunately for the Badgers, the program may fall victim to it's own success. According too Tom Gulitti of the NorthJersey.com Fire & Ice blog, "There are whispers that Mike Eaves is possibly getting ready to leave the University of Wisconsin." Gulitti said two messages left for Eaves this week were not returned. The job that Eaves would be leaving for is the head coaching opening for the NHL's New Jersey Devils. That job opened up when Jacques Lemaire retired in April for the 47th time. Eaves name has come up in the past when the Devils have been looking for a coach because of similar coaching philosophies between himself and Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. Wisconsin has been an NHL factory since Mike Eaves took over the program in 2002. Eaves and the Badgers have placed an amazing 15 players in the NHL over that span. That number is expected to grow once again next season when Brendan Smith (DET), Jake Gardiner (TOR), and Cody Goloubef (CBJ) all could make their NHL debuts. Current players Justin Schultz and Craig Smith are also all but locks to end up in the NHL some day. More on Eaves potentially leaving for the NHL after the jump. It's not the first time Eaves has been talked about in conversations about potential NHL head coaches. No stranger to the league, Eaves played in parts of 8 NHL seasons before hanging up the skates for good. Additionally, and more importantly Eaves has NHL coaching experience as an assistant with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh where he spent three seasons each. Eaves name gained traction when this surfaced in Sports Illustrated earlier this year in a feature written by NHL on NBC commentator Pierre McGuire. "Wisconsin's Mike Eaves is a top NHL coaching prospect. An excellent communicator and a shrewd tactician, Eaves, 54, became the first U.S.-trained coach to win gold at the World Juniors, in Helsinki in 2004." Another big reason why Eaves name has been floated for the position is because of the known affinity Devils superstar forward and looming free agent Zach Parise has for Eaves. Here are two quotes from Parise that should give you an idea on his thoughts towards the Badgers bench boss. "Another coach that has coached in the NHL before and I had him for a few international tournaments is Mike Eaves. He is now at Wisconsin and I’ve never been so prepared to face an opponent as when I was playing for him. It may be a little different in an 82-game schedule, but he did a great job of having players understand their role on the team and got them to do that to the best of their ability." "Great coach, great systems and gets his players to play. Very demanding." Wisconsin State Journal beat writer Andy Baggot spoke to Mike Eaves about potentially leaving for the NHL a mere two and a half weeks ago. At that time Eaves confirmed to Baggot that he had not received any interest from NHL teams about current coaching openings meaning any talks that might be going on with the Devils have came very recently. One important note to remember is that Mike Eaves signed a contract extension in late April that is not set to expire until after the 2015-2016 season. That means most likely that the Devils would have to pay a buyout fee to gain his services. If Eaves were to leave for New Jersey, and I'm not insinuating that he's going to, there would be no shortage of candidates for an opening in Madison. Mark Osiecki (Ohio State head coach), Don Granato (former AHL head coach), Mark Johnson (Badger women's coach), Tony Granato (Penguins assistant), and George Gwozdecky (Denver head coach) are all alumni of the University of Wisconsin. John Hynes (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, AHL head coach and former UW assistant), Bill Butters (Badger assistant), Ron Rolston (NTDP U18 head coach), Rico Blasi (Miami head coach), Kevin Patrick (Muskegon, USHL head coach, former UW assistant), and Jeff Blashil (Western Michigan head coach) are some other names that could be considered for the job. It remains to be seen if Eaves has the intentions of ever making the jump to the NHL but if he were to go, he's certainly in the time frame to make the move. At 55 Eaves still has plenty left in the tank but told Baggot two weeks ago that he doesn't see himself coaching into his 70's like Red Berenson at Michigan. I would be remiss if I didn't point out how flattering it is for the Wisconsin program that Eaves name is held in such high regard that he would be considered for a position like this. It's clear that NHL franchises see what Eaves has done developing players at Wisconsin. The Badgers have been lucky to have Eaves behind the bench for the past nine seasons. Hopefully they have him around for nine more. late edit: i just realized that you wrote this article. now i'm really confused.

It's strange that you're arguing against any possibility that Eaves might be leaving for the NHL while at the same time posting a link to an article in a UW paper that talks about Eaves possibly leaving for the Devils. It is especially strange considering that article does not quote Eaves anywhere denying this possibility.

wait a minute. aren't you posting here too?