TheEagle

So, we should have never started this farce of a process and just let Hajdu pick the name--since he's "most affected" by it. I say he puts on his big boy pants and deals with whatever circumstances come his way. The student-athletes most affected by having no nickname (the hockey players; the only ones really in the national spotlight) seem to want no nickname, so obviously it hasn't been too big of a burden on them.

Hogwash on his argument against no nickname. They'll spend time re-hashing this issue for awhile either way. People won't be used to the new nickname, so they'll have to explain themselves. After awhile it will be no big deal, either way. And how does this really affect the student-athletes? In what way have the student-athletes been burdened?

Agreed. Another scare tactic.

There are plenty of us who realize signing a petition isn't going to do any good. I support what they are fighting for, but it's a losing battle. Yes, I have given up.

It isn't that big of an issue. Some just raise it as an excuse to have a nickname. I have UND memorabilia that doesn't read "Fighting Sioux".

Same here. I've lived in Minnesota longer than I lived in ND.

I wonder how many people on here went to UND but are from another state. It's easy to say things like this about "fans of the hockey team" who didn't go to the school, but I could say something similar about somebody who went to UND but is not from North Dakota. They didn't grow up in North Dakota. They don't get how much all this means to people that did grow up in North Dakota. I grew up in Mandan. I didn't go to UND or NDSU, but I grew up loving both schools. I went to the University of Minnesota--mainly because I had family living in the Twin Cities that I could stay with, but not in Grand Forks. (I would have chosen UND over both NDSU and Minnesota, if all things were equal. I loved UND when I went on my campus visit.) In my day we were taught North Dakota history extensively. A lot of that was about the natives that lived in what became North Dakota. We took pride in it. It was our history. We were taught that the natives had honor, pride, were family-oriented, etc. We'd like to think we were cut from the same cloth. This isn't an easy transition, and it burns our ass that the Fighting Sioux name was lost because outside forces got overly P.C. It's easy to say "get over it," but this means something to us. It's why there is such emotion that boils over when the people are given five lousy names to vote on. (I'd argue four lousy names and one solid one that will likely get cut before a final vote.)

I liked Nokota originally. If I had my pick, the final three would have been: no nickname, Nokota, and Roughriders. I understand some people from Grand Forks don't like that it's the same nickname as a local high school, but I don't think it's a reason to be eliminated. There are high schools in Minnesota that use Vikings. One (South St. Paul) has Packers as their nickname. North Dakota is the Roughrider State. That's the only option left that I'd be comfortable with. North Stars is stolen from a neighboring state. Nodaks and Sundogs are terrible. Fighting Hawks is not original. After Roughriders gets eliminated (and I fully expect it will after following this process), I will be at wit's end.

Except that I've met very people from the state who actually like the term. I've never heard a North Dakotan describe themselves as Nodaks. I've heard people from Minnesota use the term. I normally correct them when they use it.

No nickname, Roughriders, or Nokotas. Everything else would be disappointing to me. I initially leaned towards Roughriders but Nokotas has grown up. Please, no Nodaks. I don't know anybody who grew up in the state who actually uses that term. I'm actually insulted and think the person knows little about the state when I hear NoDak being used. I'd be perfectly fine with no nickname. Do we really need one?

Thanks!

Score and Time in the UNO v RIT game? Can't watch. On the road.

Most of the draft picks are mid to late round picks. Typically, in other years we've had several 1st and 2nd round picks. I think we had 5 first round picks on one team. There is talent and depth--just not the top end talent of years past. Our two high end picks haven't really played up to that lofty status yet.

I grew up in North Dakota. I could probably end it there. I was 10 years old when the Miracle On Ice happened, and that solidified my love for hockey. I remember the 1982 championship team, but the first team that I followed religiously was the 1987 Hrkac Circus team.

Minnesota is the clear favorite in their region, but I'd root for SCSU over ND. Minnesota had their hands full with ND earlier in the year. Union is playing the best, but their region is pretty balanced. The BC region is brutal. Every other team is playing well, and Minnesota State thoroughly impressed me this weekend. Lowell is probably one of the four best teams in the country, but they better not sleep on Mankato.

Indeed. Wisconsin is a good team, but I can think of other teams I'd rather face. I watched Ferris State this weekend, and they look overrated. I don't know much about Colgate, but UND got a pretty favorable region this year.

Speculation is that they would move Vermont to Bridgeport for travel purposes and not attendance purposes. Vermont to Cincinnati would be a plane trip. Vermont to Bridgeport would be a bus trip. UND would have to fly to either regional. Somebody on USCHO estimated that it would save the NCAA around $21,000. Expect UND to play in Cincinnati. I think I might take a matchup vs. Wisconsin over a matchup vs. Union anyways. We seem to do better against our old WCHA foes than East Coast teams.

I'd take a NCAA tournament berth for the Sioux over the Gophers losing a meaningless game (to them, since they have clinched the #1 overall seed).

I thought it should stand. I didn't see anything conclusive to overturn it. Yes, the WM player probably pushed the Denver player into the goalie, but the goalie may have been out of the crease. Plus, whether there was interference or not, I don't think the goalie had any chance at stopping the puck.

One of the strangest goals you'll ever see. WM dumped it in, it went off the boards hard, Brittain tried to play it, but it went off his skate and in the goal. Even off his skate, the puck had to take a near impossible angle to get into the goal.

If the scores hold up, it would be big. It would seem we would only need two of the three scenarios to get in with one win. 1. Colgate losing to Providence (~50% probability) 2. Ohio State not winning the Big Ten (~75% probability; more considering who they'd play, Minnesota and Wisconsin) 3. New Hampshire not winning Hockey East (~75% probability)

Good for you. I grew up in North Dakota, and I didn't attend either UND or NDSU. Most of the people that I've met who fit that criteria are UND hockey and NDSU football fans. I went to the University of Minnesota. (If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably go to UND.) I feel no guilt rooting for both schools. It's folks from Grand Forks and Fargo who seem to have a dislike for the "other" university. Not so much North Dakotans even--as I've met many people from Fargo who root for UND hockey. It seems to be mostly out of state students or alum who attended one or the other. Those people generally don't realize know how much having championship-level programs like UND hockey and NDSU football means to most North Dakotans.

Same here. This group includes most people from North Dakota who either aren't from Fargo or Grand Forks and/or didn't go to UND or NDSU.

I agree with this. Of the Minnesota teams, the Twins have a broader range of support. There's a large segment of the population that dislikes the Vikings. I've rarely met anybody who dislikes the Twins. Fargo (perhaps Grand Forks also, but I don't get up there much) supports the Vikings as if they were in North Dakota, but the rest of the state is different.

Having grown up in the western part of the state, I can tell you there are tons of non-Viking fans in that area of the state. There are a lot of Packer fans, a surprising amount of Steeler fans, and some Bronco fans (or fans of any team but a Minnesota team).