Godsmack

Oshie (not Chuck Norris) doesn't do pushups, he pushes the earth away!!!

On one hand, I'm nervous for this weekend's series w/ Minny based on how poorly the Sioux played at home against them back in December. On the other, I'm encouraged based on seeing the Sioux on the road in 3 tough environments-DU Magness Arena, BC's Conti Forum, and Northeastern's Matthew's Arena. Despite losing 1-0 to DU on Friday night, they played well. Perhaps a road trip into a hostile environment brings out the best in the Sioux.

I'm biased here but I got so pumped up when they played "Keep Away" by Godsmack. They played it when the houselights went down, just before announcing the Sioux starting lineup. They'd show highlights of NCAA hockey championship games.

I just called and left the athletic department office a voicemail, asking them to call me back on Monday. I remember when I was 13, I had open heart surgery down at the Mayo Clinic. I also recall how thrilled I was to receive an autographed stick from the team as well as the opportunity to go down to the team's locker room before a game and meet the players. I think Nicholas would appreciate the chance to meet the guys.

I'm going to see if we can get this story passed along to the UND athletic department, and specifically Coach Hakstol. It would be cool of the hockey team could do something for this little boy, next weekend is short notice but wouldn't it be great if some of the players could meet with him by phone or in person? At a minimum, I bet the team could give him an autographed stick and/or jersey.

In a sense, Schmidt's bad calls actually did hurt the Sioux........indirectly. DU got 4 points due to the screw ups where, had Schmidt got the calls right, potentially DU would've gotten 0, 2, or 3 points depending on how those two games played out. Regardless, DU got 4 points unjustly and we are in a race with them. CC was also negatively impacted as they battle with DU for the McNaughton Cup.

I know its off topic but the Herald said that Oshie was stripped of his "A" on his jersey. Is this permanent? If so, who replaced him as an alternate captain?

That's a great suggestion. Hakstol needs to try a variety of unusual things to get a spark. Maybe putting them up in a hotel (not the same one as the visiting team) might be a great idea. Maybe they could re-open the Westward Ho?!?!

I hear you Irish. I've seen the Sioux on the road enough times to say that they seem to have more of an "edge" to them than when I see them within the comfortable confines of REA. It's hard to put into words but they came out with a sense of intimidation to the home team and crowd out in Boston and Denver, despite losing the Friday night game to DU. It's like they're a different team on the road...perhaps playing on the road isn't always a bad thing; perhaps it can unify a team more.

I hear you and that's why I posed it as an open-ended question. When I was a student at CC, I recall going to several Saturday night parties at "the hockey house" (every year a group of players had an off campus house) but I don't recall any parties there on Friday nights. I hope you're right and their inability to sweep is due to on-ice issues. Also, let's give New Hampshire credit; they are a good program.

I have heard that some of the players have apartments off campus, downtown. I wonder if they are partying it up Friday night after big victories (getting drunk, etc.) and if so, if that's affecting their play on Saturday. Interestingly, I've seen them in 4 games on the road (the two games out in Boston and the series out here in Denver). It seems like they play more consistently on the road. Could that be because on the road, they have a curfew and are under the more watchful eye of the coaching staff?

Unfortunately someone already has....see the article at the bottom; someone more or less said, "c'mon Oshie is only 1/4 Native American and he's not even Sioux!" something along those lines. By this logic, anyone who is not Sioux should not have a say in the matter. If that's the case, then those white elitists at NC$$ headquarters shouldn't have any jurisdiction either.

I also enjoy how the very same anti-Sioux nickname people are trying to ridicule the proposed nicknames. i.e., someone wrote in the Herald mailbag criticizing the Roughrider nickname, basically saying that Teddy Roosevelt was a fraud, etc. I pray that if we do have to get a new nickname, the decision on what it will be will not be left to anti-American, liberals like the dufus who wrote this crap in the Herald.

Someone ought to send Guillermo Lopez to sensitivity training himself because of his use of the word "fit." For someone who appears to be so sensitive to words as he is, he should know that this word can be deemed offensive by people suffering from epilepsy. I am not trying to be cute here as I know people with epilepsy and they do not like it when this word is used in a slang manner. My point is, the finger can be pointed right back at Mr. Lopez as someone being offensive and insensitive just as he has accused the baseball organization of doing the same.

I too would like something original, unique, and ties in to North Dakota's heritage but if we can't come up with anything that the majority likes, what about going with some sort of animal mascot? I realize names like Tigers, Huskies, etc. are used a lot but what about Terriers? (I know Boston U. are the Terriers but we could have a different Terrier dog as our mascot). I personally like this particular Terrier mascot that the Portage Terriers use: http://www.portageterriers.com/_mgxroot/page_10819.html I'm just throwing out possible alternatives here so please, don't bash me too much if you don't like Terriers. I'm simply trying to brainstorm various ideas for discussion.

And hey, you never know.....this kid may be put in a position to actually play. I went to school with a guy at CC who was the 3rd string goalie-his name was Paul Frank. Not only did he get a WCHA ring his junior year (1994), he was also called upon to play on occasion and he stepped up. Kudos to Landon and best of luck to him and the team!

Ditto. I love the Fighting Sioux name, logo and winning tradition but I am at the point where I don't want the University held hostage by the threat of one or both tribes changing their minds down the road. I hope I don't get ripped on too bad but I like the name Rough Riders and its reference to something unique to North Dakota and Teddy Roosevelt.

Well put!!! I wonder if policy makers in Washington have ever considered doing away with reservations as assimilation would clearly be a better alternative to what there has been since the reservations were first created. I also want to reitterate the point made about how through this settlement, the white elitists at NCAA headquarters have no transferred the responsibility of dropping the name onto the NA tribes, which is clearly not fair to the NA's. Should the name be dropped, I don't think retribution is a reasonable way to go although I fully understand how some here would be upset. Again, I just don't think we should try to "buy" anyone's support as then we're not really getting their true support for the name in the first place.

If it comes to changing the nickname and logo, I just pray we do not go with some stupid WNBA-type name (i.e., The Storm, The Rage, The Sky, etc.). Ideally, I too would like something that is somewhat unique and represents North Dakota, whatever that may be. However, I would like something that is aggressive (not Flickertails!) too. Again, I think we should retire the current nickname on our terms-I do not support cutting some financial deal where we have to bribe the tribes with money in order to keep it. Who's to say the won't re-neg and blackmail us for a larger cut in the future?

Not to mention the tons of money UND receives from the federal gov't. for offering these programs. UND would be crazy to get rid of these programs from both an economic as well as P.R. standpoint.

Creating reservations was one of the biggest mistakes our government made. Part of the reason for the "us vs. them" mentality and all of the drugs/poverty/crime/poor education that exists on the reservations is due to the nature of the reservations themselves. Its similar to the welfare state created in the 1960's that basically has kept generations of people relying on others to take care of them. They've created a culture of under-achievement and avictim-status attitude. Again, I think we should retire the name and move on. I do not want to be held hostage to a few people who will hold the threat of taking away their support if we don't give them more $. If we arrange a deal to give them a share of the royalties, we are simply buying them off. I say change the name and let the University keep all of the royalties for the betterment of the school and its students (whether those students are American or Native American).

I am a supporter of the Sioux nickname, always will be but I came to the realization a few weeks ago that perhaps now is the time that we give up the name. First off, we would be letting it go on OUR terms. Second, even if we reached some sort of agreement with the tribes, who's to say they won't change their minds in the future-we will always have the threat of them changing their minds in the future creating an environment of instability. Ask anyone who knows and they will tell you that the tribes have a poor reputation for stability when it comes to tribal governance; the leadership changes frequently, they oftentimes are crooked, and they don't necessarily look out for the interests of their member constituents. I think the settlement unfairly put this decision in the hands of the tribes-to their defense, if we pursue an agreement with them and it gets shot down, this will make the tribes look bad. I think the school should simply not pursue an agreement with them and move on with finding a new nick name (not Flickertails). I also do not support "buying them off" by giving them a portion of the school's royalties for things such as coffee cups, jerseys, pucks, etc. This is just bribary and, over time, who's to say they don't reneg on the agreemement and come back asking for "more" and eventually turning it into blackmail? I think the University, alums, and community can come up with a new name and mascot and the fans will still be there supporting them full heartedly. My loyalty to the school will not diminsh one bit if the school changes names.

Can anyone give me some guidance as to how or where I can get tickets for the BC/Northeastern series?

If the people of Fargo only realized how non-relevant they really are! I live in Denver and whenever the subject of North Dakota comes up, people snicker about Fargo. They particularly laugh when I tell them about some Fargo residents' attitudes of being "superior" to the rest of the state, particularly GF. They laugh even harder. Growing up in GF, I wouldn't say one is necessarily better than the other but c'mon Fargo, get over yourself and your arrogance! Minneapolis wanna-be's!!!

Now if the AD would only do something about getting rid of that blonde chick with the annoyingly high pitched voice that does the talking during the silly games played during the intermissions! Oh wait, they can't get rid of her because she's got political connections to the powers-that-be at UND....