sioux fan in phoenix

And to imagine that billboards aren't falling on their players' feet at center ice this year, either. I couldn't imagine them going through another pitiful year & they were bound to win at least a couple & show some "improvement".

You'd think that having a strong youth tournament for the last 20 years would translate to more successful high school teams in Fargo. It sounds like Fargo has strong grassroots support/good #s/decent success at the peewee, squirt & bantam levels but maybe not so at the h.s. level. Maybe I'm off-base & someone who lives there can set me straight.

Good point. Do we wanna go undefeated in January & February & early March & expect to roll through the playoffs towards #8? Or do we wanna take a loss here & there but finish strong overall? My point being that pressure & expectations would probably be unbearable if they were riding a 10-15 game win streak into the playoffs--would much rather they experience a few losses to buffer the pressure. Not exactly Vince Lombardi-type thinking, but I don't wanna see the guys catch a similar case of CC-itis & have a meltdown from fatigue/stress in late March. Regarding why they lost last Saturday & why they were getting beat to the puck in periods 2 & 3 : Keep in mind they got back from a grueling road trip to Houghton. This team is one of the best conditioned around, but long trips like that can sometimes take away the zip & zap the oomph.

Agreed, & they can probably entice them with some Happy Meals or gift certificates to Toys-R-Us. Thx roper & skates--this helps me understand the tourney a little better.

Good for Fargo--perhaps Blais will do some advanced scouting from the shadows for the 2014-15 class If you know some of the past winners, pls. share.

How about goalie Brian Boucher going 5+ games without allowing a goal?

Who gives a flying f*** what that nimrod thinks? Bo's got the mo so he got my vo.

God bless him & his remaining family & friends.

Merry Christmas to my beloved Sioux hockey team; fellow Sioux posters; the MAN with the mojo, Jim Dahl; fans of other teams and everyone in my beautiful home state of ND. Season's Greetings & God bless.

Let me guess, you work for the government, right?

They'd vote for a ham sandwich if it had a (D) after it.

Never mind, I guess it was tonight.

Would amazingly lucky satisfy you? Was that goal tonight? I missed the 2nd period.

I think he promised to squash the exorbitant driver's license taxes; not sure if he's undoing/recalling all the free drivers licenses Gray Davis handed out.

Funny stuff. I'm with ya, bro... That Hispanic protest was indeed a laugh. Surprising thing, though, my daily commute to work was so much easier as a result. It seemed that Phoenix had shrunk drastically in population as I didn't have to steer around a ton of illegals in their '75 Fords & a ton of illegal Mexican mamas bringing their litters of illegal children to school. I think the reason this thread hasn't gotten a lot of posts so far is because people in ND, MN aren't effected nearly as much & aren't witness to the lunacy on a daily basis: "outta sight, outta mind" they say. Well, this FTAA law will affect them at some point & in some drastic way-if not now, in the not-too-distant future (5-15 years??). Mark my words. I urge people to fight this FTAA joke & the ensuing illegal immigration disaster (yes, it will get worse if no changes are made) any way they can. Our democracy & future depend on an active citizenry.

And it's just the beginning. I don't think any true conservative would want "globalization of the American Hemisphere", which Bush is actually endorsing. Eliminate the border; facilitate migration of 3rd-world peoples into our homeland so they can set up permanent residences here; simplification of voter registration (here in AZ. there's approx. 70,000 fraudulent cases of illegals, dead people & pet dogs being on the voter rolls but our Secretary of State hasn't taken a single one off since she's been in office?!?!); "strive to ensure migrants have access to basic social services"--yeah, uh huh--the county hospital here where all the illegal senioritas drop their babies is taxpayer funded & none of these people have to pay a single dime for their stay; whereas a citizen has to furnish proof that he has med. insurance before he's admitted. Our state is run by a liberal & it's sinking fast--just like CA. I just don't get the apathy shown by American citizens on this issue. The FTAA is about much more than just healthy economic competition--it's about turning this once great country into a 2nd or 3rd-world nation--for the sake of minority votes & $$$. If people got off their butts, turned off their t.v.s & protested this outrage en masse, we might have a chance at saving it. Once conservative Republicans are turning into Democrats so they don't lose the entitlement/welfare voters that FDR created 60+ years ago.

Nice job as always, Pat. Glad to have you back in action...

Shame on anyone who supports this "free trade" crap. Bush, at best a Republicrat, is endorsing the end of America's sovereignty with this proposal. If anyone here has a short-attention span & can't struggle through the first 3 long paragraphs, I put asterisks by the goals & objectives of the FTAA at the bottom. These are by no means all the goals & objectives. ___________________________________________________________________ "The effort to unite the economies of the Americas into a single free-trade area began at the Summit of the Americas, which was held in December 1994 in Miami. The heads of state and government of the 34 democracies in the region agreed to construct the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), in which barriers to trade and investment will be progressively eliminated. They agreed to complete negotiations towards this agreement by the year 2005 and to achieve substantial progress toward building the FTAA by 2000." So begins the history of what President George W. Bush called "The Century of the Americas" (Summit of the Americas, 1994). Last month, the representatives of these nations met in Miami to continue their construction of the globalization of the American Hemisphere. Oddly enough, few citizens of the United States knew anything about this meeting, as national media attention centered on Michael Jackson. Beginning in Brownsville, Texas and extending 2,000 miles to San Ysidro, California on the Pacific Ocean (a direct distance equal to that from Washington, D.C., to Phoenix), the U.S./Mexican border is a political creation which divides two cultures, languages and vastly different economies. Perhaps the best way to think of this 124,000 square-mile region is to think of a weather front where an area of economic high pressure collides with an area of extreme economic low pressure -- a storm front generating economic, political and cultural thunderstorms and tornados. This previously stationary storm front is now extending its influence deep into the United States while politicians are seemingly impotent to prevent the resulting chaos and disorder. Perhaps this is intentional? Let's consider some of the following goals and objectives of the FTAA: * "Share best practices and technologies with respect to increasing citizen participation in electoral processes, including voter education, the modernization and simplification of voter registration ..." * "Support initiatives designed to strengthen linkages among migrant communities abroad and their places of origin and promote cooperative mechanisms that simplify and speed up the transfer of migrant remittances [to their country of origin] ..." * "Support programs of cooperation in immigration procedures for cross-border labor markets and the migration of workers, both in countries of origin and destination, as a means to enhance economic growth in full cognizance of the role that cooperation in education and training can play in mitigating any adverse consequences of the movement of human capital from smaller and less developed states ..." * "Strive to ensure that migrants have access to basic social services, consistent with each country's internal legal framework ..." * "Create and harmonize statistical information systems and foster the sharing of information and best practices through the use of new information and communications technologies, with the aim of promoting the modernization of migration management ..." ____________________________________________________________________ So whatchya all think of this now? For those of you with an IQ above 80, it's a trojan horse for eliminating the U.S.-Mexican border & flooding our country with 3rd world people who want to reclaim vast stretches of land that they feel was wrongly taken from them by "gringos" in the 1800s. Once Mexican president Vicente Fox has enough Mexicans sitting on our side of the fence, we (American citizens) will be in a position where it'll be virtually impossible to deport all of them due to sheer numbers. If you're not concerned about this, you should be: You think all these swarming Mexicans are going to just sit & be content with reclaiming AZ, CA, NM, CO..etc? Sure, if it helps you sleep better at night; but a borderless South will lead to mass migrations of these peoples with no restrictions on their destinations. If anyone doubts this, I invite you to spend a weekend with me in south Phoenix & I'll show you effects of this FTAA firsthand. And, oh yeah, bring a Spanish dictionary with you...

Great news on all fronts--Hale's making a name for himself, Blake's shining & Belfour's getting better with age.

My favorite penalty is the "Abuse of Officials Misconduct" which gets a player 10 minutes in the sinbin; beating the crap out of somebody ("Fisticuffs Major") only gets 5 minutes

Keep in mind there's more than 1 siouxrock--I think there are some weird mutations going on in cyberland.

I've never met this "legendary" group of fans. I suppose they would disband if alcohol wasn't a part of their core beliefs: just can't imagine anyone would want to be sober while following the Bulldogs year after year

So what's the projected goal total for this line come the end of the season if this trend continues? 50-60 some goals? I thought originally they'd be a lot more explosive; perhaps they'll gel even more in the 2nd half & make a good run at 60-70 goals.

Very funny I would have expected rude behavior after a Sioux loss but not after they win. What's up with that? Oh well, glad you had a good time anyway despite a few hooligans.

No, you're kidding..it can't be..say it ain't so..a lesser-skilled WCHA team would actually resort to clutching, holding, grabbing & mugging to be competitive with the mighty Sioux?!?!