Millionaire

I love these three: Wow, that white team is good! On a Clear Day, You Can See Boston from Here DU=strong in the past UND=still strong I like the second one because it's optimistic without being too conceited (as opposed to "We'll send a postcard from Boston") On the third one, I changed the nicknames to school names to remove the possibility of mistaking it as ethnic references. My intent is to refer to WCHA history. My contributions: That was DUmb. (a welcome to the box) Enter Here -> (for seatholder next to penalty door) YOU RULE in nonconference play These could be stand-alone, or held side-by-side: I... love... Denver in the box Fighting Sioux that rock cleaning out your clock (or: and the twins!) <Sioux logo> Rock on.

Other schools do have "diversity" exceptions for students who don't make the ACT/SAT requirements. (A well-rounded student of arts or athletics can help diversify the student body.) Dean Blais noted that UND is planning to not allow this. This is probably why he brought it up at Fargo Boosters, and why he said UND is, arguably, making requirements more stringent (for athletes) than at Ivy schools. Whether an exception will be created remains to be seen, but DB's opinion is that it's not on track to happen right now.

I like how quoting DB gives my words credibility when I would be chortled off had I come up with it last week. I agree that it's a stretch to say that ZP would make the difference for the Devils to win a close playoff series, but that's a question NJ may at least consider. The fact that it is even plausible makes it interesting to hockey fans like you and me. ...ZP did outplay the Devils' fourth line center in the WJC.

I'll chip in because Dean Blais recently added something new (new to me) to the discussion. (This paragraph is paraphrased from DB) You're the NJ Devils on April 11. If you believe that having ZP makes the difference in making it just one round further in the NHL playoffs, you can sign him for $1M and make it back right away. Never mind going for the Cup, it can justify it with a purely financial decision. You're ZP on April 11, and let's say the outlook is that the CBA will cancel the 2004-05 NHL season. $1M to play the playoffs and sit 2004-05, or stay in school for $0. Either way, he's making the same amount in 2005-06, so don't think that he'll make up that $1M later. There's more to be made, but that $1M is gone. I like to say there's more to life than money, but I'll admit that it could be hard to stay at UND. (Hell, he could take the $1M and work on a degree during the lockout.)

It doesn't take ESP to sense some PR backpedaling. I do believe that he didn't quite mean the way it came out in print, although I expect it isn't too far off. It's only an anecdote, not necessarily representative of all former college athletes: Dave Christian, after a solid 16 year NHL career, said that he wishes he had finished his degree. He still can, of course, if he deems it worthwhile at this point. I'm always glad to hear about student athletes that see value in getting a degree and finish up over summers. Dagies, you make some very interesting points about hockey being their "major," and that we shouldn't push them for a fallback degree. You convinced me a little. The comeback is that a partial degree is still no degree. How many college grads work in their exact field? Correct, probably fewer than they expected. However, having a degree, albeit unrelated, still enabled many (most?) of them to get and excel at the varied jobs they have. At the end, you shot down your own argument ala Eminem's finale in 8 Mile, so I can't add anything worthwhile.