NorthDakotaHockey

Send it in NOW. I sent my form in some time back. Does not hurt to have it in the hopper. Maybe a short note telling the folks at the UMD ticket office that they are fine folks would not hurt either.

The Sioux are staying at the Marriott Dayton on Patterson Blvd. I assume, but am not certain, that that is close to the arena. The Marriott will be able to tell you. If not, we can cart you. Call 1-800-450-8625 and ask for the "Lefty McFadden Fan Block" The rate is $89/night. You can also book online at www.marriott.com/DAYOH by entering the dates needed and LDBLDBA in the group code field. I have been told on good authority that the team is arriving in Dayton on the 7th and will depart right after the Sunday afternoon game.

A little birdie told me that it is HOCKEY, or something like that. Let's flood the Magness with green, white, and black.

Ticketmaster is up and running with sales on St. Cloud State series Nov. 18-19 and Denver series on February 24-25. St. Cloud presently packages the Sioux games with Robert Morris in December. Thirty bones for the pair, single game seats on sale soon down the road. Becuase single games are $25 in any event, buying now might get you chairbacks near center ice a few rows up behind the benches. No kidding. Denver has a "pre-sale" now, with regular sale starting Saturday.

Man, is this new roster a breath of fresh air. Time to soon drop the puck, focus on the men and boys on the team, and start looking at the season ahead. Let the Admin and the suits take over things on the other side of this board. The Fighting Sioux name and logo are in solid hands with them. Lefty McFadden. Dayton, Ohio. Miami. Michigan State. Five weeks and a day.

Damned straight. The crack members, staff, and representatives of the Administration are going to take the NCAA hard to the net on this one, maybe even all the way to the Supreme Court. It is going to be a sad day coming alright. Sad for the rabblerousers after the courts rightly start drawing lines in the sand, and they are on the side of logic, history, decency, and respect. Not to mention the business of sport, a subject on which the NCAA has long had its head in the sand. Time to feed the NCAA some of its own bird.

Here is a classic example of a columnist setting his mind to something, and really only chasing the facts, or so-called facts, in support of his hypothesis. Sure, Boob Sansavere is a columnist, not a journalist. That is why he need not look into, or write on, the University's side of the issue. It is about as weak-kneed a position that I have seen opined on this topic since Nick Coleman's effort in the Star & Sickle a few weeks back. Savsavere Drivel in Pioneer Press I am not sure if the link will go direct. You may need to do the free register to get at the Pioneer Press content. Of course, it is a sister paper to the Heard It. It is probably there as well.

In the event, however unlikely that it may hopefully be, that the Fighting Sioux goes the way of the buffalo, me thinks that there really should be no other name put in place. The activists are attempting to force a name change. Why give them that pleasure? If the Sioux name is dropped, then me things that we should simply and forever be known as NORTH DAKOTA. No nickname. No logos. No bs. Just plain NORTH DAKOTA. Simple. Proud. True. Forever mindful that we were once the Fighting Sioux.

Hey GK . . . . To make sure that you are not soon without cause, and in need of a new needle for your voodoo dolls, what say you and your friends gear it up to go after the Boy Scouts and the Cub Scouts for all of their imagery and ceremonial recognitions of the influence of the native ways of life on their scouting programs. Nice big target. Soft underbelly. Perfect. Gotta keep active with your activism as an activist.

Nice post IraMurphy. Someone had to call GK out and you did so with force, logic, and respect. Three things that we have not much seen from him or her.

Wow. Great news for St. Clown fans. Dahl was rather this generation's Rube Bjorkman, no slams intended. Both great guys. This said, neither could much recruit, motivate, or coach their ways out of a wet paper bag. Motzko will give Da Don a big run for some talent in Minnesota. Truth be told, Motzko probably has the better eye for it. A little birdie told me that he was the guy that The Don always turned to on who he should recruit. Don't know much offhand about the Huskies this year, or who they bring back. They will be a much better team, and the difference should show almost immediately, ala that relatively new coach in Duluth.

There is always the Lefty. Plenty of good seats available there, with competition that will likely be just as stiff.

Dang. An insurance guy . . . .

Skarperud arrived late to Columbus because of the birth of his child. I was standing around the hotel when he showed up. The team members who were there lit up immediately. It was clear to me that he was much liked by that team. He lifted their spirits, and they went on to hand the Gophers their heads that evening, or the next day, I do not recall the timing. He was a pleasure to watch on the ice. He is a pleasure to watch as a coach.

Great kid from a great family. His Pa was a legendary athlete for the University of North Dakota who was taken much too early in life by cancer several years back. Hits a golf ball a ton. Had his first born child right around the Frozen Four last year. Played with heart and soul for the Sioux. His stats can be found elsewhere. Was the victim of some NCAA rule that prevented his playing a final year of eligibility because he had maxed out in age. Chased the dream for a year or so with a pro team in Michigan as I recall. Has since settled down, is working toward an advanced degree at North Dakota, and has been a volunteer coach for the team. Maybe this year too, I am not sure. His story is really what collegiate sport, and college hockey, is most about. The game is not about the superstars. It is about the lunch pail guys having fun, working hard, chasing a dream, and then having the foresight and the sense to hang 'em up and move on with life. This is Tim Skarperud. A great kid from a great family.

Nothing happened. I never said that sickness is a bad thing. In fact, sometimes a fever is a really good thing. We have the Sioux Fever. Puck drops in Dayton in little more than a month. Well, I guess something did happen. NC2A shut us out of our Frozen Four application.

Nice to see that the early veiled mockery of OETKB for his late arriving post on the Frozen Four has finally drawn some reasonably intelligent comment and attention. Many posters on this board, unlike many of us, including me, have lives well beyond Sioux hockey. Thank God for them as the world would be a mighty pathetic place if it were only filled with the sad sacks checking this board daily. You know who you are. I am one of them. My daughter, a huge and knowledgeable fan, my brother, a huge fan, and me, a fan, all had the pleasure of going to Columbus. A better time has been rarely had. Great city. Great event. Great campus. Great fans. Great team. Great weather. Great stretch of three, or in our case, four days. Great games. Great people. Priceless. Sure, another result would have been preferable. Just more proof that is is the experiences of the mind, body, and heart, and not the hardware on the shelf, that makes for the really great memories. I know that we will never forget it. While many here were crying for Greene's, Hak's, and others heads in early '05, some of us were steadfast in our support of this team, and calling the trip to Columbus early on. Any knowledgeable hockey fan, and devoted follower of the Sioux,had a pretty good clue that that was going to happen. It was really a no-brainer. Assuming that we had the heart and the soul to believe . . . . The new season is near upon us. It will be a memorable season, as they always are. It will be a long long stretch for the upcoming season and team to become as memorable as is the Sioux season and team of '04-'05. After the unexpected departure of The Dean and the hiring of The Hak, and all else that followed, many were fooled, many lost heart, and many a crybaby was here on this board. Shame, shame, shame on you. You know who you are. The Seniors will especially be recalled. I will not bore you with names and accomplishments of them now. We know who they are and what they did while in a Sioux uniform. Rats. Got shut out by the NCAA on the Frozen Four App. No problem there. In Columbus, we bought our seats in the nosebleed sections from some sorry Gopher fans in the upper reaches, never went upstairs, and sat on the glass the whole tournament long. Maybe that is why those games will always be really special to us . . . . Thanks a million OETKB for bringing up the Frozen Four on this thread. It was long overdue. I am really happy that you have a life beyond the sickness that is SiouxSports.com.

Perhaps. But not nearly as foolish as those "playoff permanents" from two seasons back looked. It is on solid word that they were the brainchild, and I do mean child, of Barry. Never has a kid at this level done so little, with so much, for so long. That's ok. Most college hockey players eventually end up hanging it up. Here is saying that Barry will be doing that sooner than most.

The legendary Johnny Aasand. Skip of the World. Ice stories are mostly of the curling variety, but they are special. Man of many talents. A line of b.s. that can stretch from Grafton to China. A heart the size of North Dakota.

Grafton could sure use better press than this. Talackson is a putz and will never amount to anything at the next level. Does not have the heart. Or the skill. You want some good ice stories? Go see Johnny A. at the Extra End. He is Grafton's near favorite son.

Nuts!