Godsmack

Last fall, I went to the DU/UND hockey series in Denver. While there, one of the most obnoxious fans in the DU arena wasn't a Pioneers OR a Sioux fan-it was a Bison fan. This kid was wearing a yellow and green UND Sioux Suxs t-shirt and he was talking trash about the Sioux the entire 2 game series. He embarrassed himself as well as the visiting fans from North Dakota with his behavior. My question is this-why would a Bison fan go out of his way to go to a sporting event between two teams of which neither one was an NDSU team? And, why would he go out of his way to trash talk the Sioux? Even the DU fans sitting next to me were scratching their heads over that one. I guess that means Sioux fans living in Colorado should drive up to Greeley next Saturday and cheer on the UNC Bears in their football game against NDSU......again, this would be just as strange.

In talking to my friends here in Denver about North Dakota State going D1 in sports and Fargo's desire to be the "Minneapolis" of the state, they all laugh and say, "who?"

Let's call a spade a spade-Bison fans (specifically Fargo) wants so desperately to be like Minneapolis that they'll resort to bumping up their sports to D-1 (and the minor leagues in football). I bet the Fargo people were ready to faint when they saw the "ND State 52 Valpo 0" on the ticker on ESPN during the Virginia Tech/USC game-that certainly will draw talented recruits to Fargo! I look forward to seeing NDSU being successful in One Double A....that's such a HUGE jump from Division Two. Perhaps one day, they'll make the jump to the real Divison 1 in football and we'll be seeing them play in the Orange Bowl against the likes of Oklahoma or Miami. Good luck fellas.

Oh yah, I forgot to mention the arenas-Magness is a HUGE improvement to their old barn with the rainbow on the end wall. Did you know that the players actually had to step up from the bench to get out onto the ice?!?! The new arena lacks character however-very little identifying signs that it's home to the Pioneers. Heck, their NCAA and WCHA championship banners are printed so small you can't read them! Once DU won the championship, all of these people came out of the woodwork claiming to be loyal DU fans? Where were these people all the years when I would go to DU games against such teams as BC, Maine, UNH, MINN, UND, etc. and the 6k seat arena would barely be half full? CC/DU is the ONLY series that they can sell out. World Arena-Nice but again, sterile. They play on Olympic size ice, which I hate. Fans are nice; almost annoyingly nice. As a CC alum, I hate to say this but the students are stupid (they're a bunch of rich Californians who know nothing about hockey). Their only cheer is to say the name of the goalie 3x and then say, "You suck D*$K!" Not very "PC" for such a liberal school now is it?!?! CC made a HUGE mistake by not taking the opportunity to own it. Instead, they let the city finance it. What this means is, CC is a tenant and they pay rent. They recover nothing from the beer and concessions. The former CC president, Katheryn Morhman really messed up that one. They play concerts, WWF wrestling, rodeos, etc there. CC really missed a great revenue opportunity.

I've gone to several CC/UND games as well as DU/UND game at both the World Arena and Magness Arena. While generally speaking the crowds are friendly, they aren't too bright on the rules of hockey. The fans that sit around me talk about getting their nails done, what's on sale at Nordstrom, or about the Broncos quarterback situation. I'd recommend a trip out to Colorado Springs or Denver for any Sioux fan wishing to see good hockey (CC and DU typically play the Sioux well in their buildings; minor exception being DU last fall) as well as getting in some skiing up at Vail or Winter Park.

As a Colorado College alum and former GF resident, I'd be thrilled to see Lucia go to UND. This however is very unlikely as he's been very successful with one of college hockey's premier teams, Minnesota. The only reason why I think there is even the slightest chance of Lucia being interested in the UND job is that apparently he is very family oriented and he hasn't been thrilled with all of the committments that have come with the U of M job....an aspect he didn't have when coaching at CC.

Don't know if I'm the lone Sioux fan in Denver who listened to the game tonight but that was awesome! I look forward to seeing them come out here and get some revenge for last year's series between the two teams at the DU arena. As a Colorado College alum it's always nice to see DU lose. As a die-hard Sioux fan, it's even better if its the Gophers!