Godsmack

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....

Wow, a tragedy like this really puts in perspective winning or losing a hockey game. It is very scary to think that acts like this can happen virtually anywhere. Prayers go out to the victims, families, friends, and the entire Virginia Tech community.

Hopefully Cujo2 didn't take my post out of context. I was merely pointing out the fallacy in my belief as to how easy it is to win and that I take nothing for granted anymore-regardless of who UND plays. Yesterday was truly a barn burner of a game. The Minnesota fans are no different than Sioux fans and to categorically lump all Minnesota fans into some sort of box is as ridiculous as doing that to CC, Sioux, or any other team's fans.

The one thing I learned back in April of 2001, was that you win some and you lose some. It took UND's championship loss to BC for me to recognize just how hard it is to win EVERY SINGLE GAME. I was spoiled-I expected the Sioux to win championships every single year. I was cocky-I thought our dominance over teams like Denver would go on forever....I suffered the same fate in the West Regionals of 2004. Living in Denver, I think some DU fans experienced this air of invincability after winning two straight NCAA championships. When the bar has been raised so high, a fan expects their team to maintain that level or, in some cases, raise it even further. I can't say a negative thing about the Gopher fans at the Pepsi Center-they were as energetic and supportive of their team as any of the other three teams' fans. I knew that I could just as easily be taking that dreaded walk out of that arena, having to listen to the celebration of Minnesota fans. That being said, I told myself I would not be a jerk about it if the Sioux should prevail when leaving that arena. I also credit the Gopher fans who came over to Brooklyn's after the game to have some drinks and food. This game was truly a coin flip. I wouldn't touch this one in Vegas if my life depended on it. One thing I do know, Minnesota will come back next season as loaded as ever.

Oh yah, one more thing-LET'S GO SIOUX!!!!

I live in Denver and will be at the regionals! There is a bar right next to "The Can" (the Pepsi Center) called Brooklyn's. You can get your drink on and walk a few feet and be at the arena. Hopefully I won't regret doing this (please Gopher fans, don't pass my number out to any Amway Salesmen!) but here's my cell if you wanna give me a holler, my girlfriend and I will be partying it up and going to the games (and hopefully, celebrating a west regional tournament championship!): (303)981-7846. -Dan

Sad to lose on a fluke goal. Wheeler's hustle (and lackthereof from Lee) was the reason Minn. won the game. I thought Minnesota really elevated their game. The Sioux spent 8 of 20 minutes in the first period killing penalties, this tired out the Sioux's top lines and it prevented Hak from rolling his 4 lines. Officiating was marginal at best. Minn. brought their A game and I think the Sioux didn't-they looked to be taken off. Frazee was never seriously challenged, which is a shame because he really is a goalie who can be exploited. Congrats to Minn. we'll see what happens in the NCAA's.

Any thoughts on how this weekend is playing out in terms of Denver's chances? (Someone please tell me that DU is not going to sneak into the NC$$ tournament).

My fear is DU resting during next week's Final 5, getting into the NCAA tourney out west, and then going all the way again as they did in '04 (a dreadful experience for me at the World Arena). Of all teams I DISLIKE, DU has surpassed the Gophers.

Anyone have an opinion on whether or not DU gets an invitation into the NCAA tourney? My inclination is that they will "squeak" in simply because of revenue considerations (west regional is at the Pepsi Center in Denver). But I'm also inclined to think that the WCHA will only get 4 teams into the tourney (Minn, St.Cloud, the SIOUX, and CC/Tech). Thoughts?

I went to the game last night and here were my impressions: 1)Continued "puck luck" on DU's side against us (we hit a post w/ 3 mins to play, Watkins had a shot trickle through Fisher's legs, etc.) 2)Lammy made some incredible saves to keep us in it; only mistake was going down to early on DU's first goal 3)They badly outshot us, something like 38-25 4)Need production from 2, 3, and 4th lines 5)Defensemen inexplicably kept falling down, leading to DU's 2nd goal on an odd man rush 6)Lack of hustle on D-men's parts led to 3 of DU's goals Not trying to be negative just pointing out that DU didn't beat the Sioux last night, the Sioux beat the Sioux.