dakota fairways

Now that this topic has reappeared on the board (like we could have any impact on the Big Sky scheduling )... What if the conference split into two divisions - east/west, north/south, founders/newbies, whatever... schedule a full intra-division rotation, play two of the teams from the other division and leave the last week of the conference schedule open for cross division play, not a specific opponent, but an opponent that finishes in the same position of the other division. This is an 8/9 game conference schedule - with opportunity for OOC games. For example if Montana wins the east division and UC Davis wins the west division, they would face each other the last week of the regular season. Not a playoff, per se, but an opportunity to establish a conference champion. I realize that it would give one team with a 4-3 record a chance to beat out a team with a 8-0 conference record for the championship, but that could happen if there is a planned conference championship game too. Going down the line, East #2 vs West #2; East #3 vs West #3, etc so that there are 6 conference games on the schedule for the last week of the season, but the teams are not set. Best record hosts. Teams might not know who their opponent is until the games are done the week before and in a 13 team conference, one team would always be left out, but would it be a way to have a conference title game without violating the NCAA prohobition against FCS conference title games? Would the biggest objection be big long-standing rivalries like Montana-Montana State would no longer be the last game of the season?

There would be an uproar over taking the Big Sky away from UND, like there is over the Fighting Sioux nickname. UND fans are ecstatic over being invited to the Big Sky, and being the lone Dakota school in the premier conference in FCS is icing on the cake.

almost worth a +1. at least it brought a smile.

All other things aside (like Kelly referring to UND's "apparent breach of the settlement agreement"), you can't blame the NCAA for not wanting this to turn in to a circus. Maybe they thought they would come and have a nice showdown on the side of the SBoHE, UND administrators and the AG in a game of chicken to put the legislators in their place. They don't deal in public, they make public pronouncements. They still have bigger fish to fry, as in Ohio State, and all the media hoopla has probably made them think twice, so they have now decided that its just not worth it to put up with all this stuff in little ol' North Dakota.

Don't you think that the result of the meeting will be largely a result of how Kelly, Faison & the SBoHE present their (our) case? If Kelly actually went to Douple and had him say that UND would not be accepted into the Summit until the Sioux name has been dropped, maybe he asked the NCAA to come to stare down Al Carlson & Bob Stenhejem. If, on the other hand, all the UND & North Dakota parties stand united, the outcome could actually be very positive; as in one tribe is enough with the prior pipe ceremony until Standing Rock votes - or - we'll give you more time to get the other tribe's approval. The NCAA is coming to North Dakota to find a solution to the issue, but if the North Dakota delegation doesn't present a solid "now that this is a state law, we are going to keep our nickname" position, the NCAA will exploit that division. I just don't have a lot of faith that Kelly, Faison & the board are going to side with the legislature on this.

And that's why everyone cheers against the Sioux when its tournament time.

Congratulations, 'dogs. Quite a nice array of national championships your teams have built over the past decade - 5 women's hockey, 2 DII football and now a men's hockey championship. Two of them in the same year! Nice!

Hunwick was too hot

snake bit!

kinda looking like Butler on Monday night - saran wrap over the net

It is not clear from how you worded your post if you were one of the 1400. If you were one of those who signed the petition to keep the name, Thank you.

I do not claim that this list is exhaustive, but it seems to have been a good question, Sica Cheyenne River, Eagle Butte, SD Braves Standing Rock, Ft Yates-Selfridge Warriors Crow Creek (Stephan, SD) Chieftans Turtle Mountain (Belcourt) Braves Lower Brule Sioux Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandaree Warriors Yankton, Marty Braves Spirit Lake, Four Winds Indians Oglala, Pine Ridge Thorpes Rosebud, Todd County Rebels Santee, Niobrara Lions Sisseton Redmen Winnebago, NE Indians Flandreau Santee, Flandreau Indians Omaha Nation, Macy Chiefs Ponca, NE Indians Actually 16 tribes are part of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmans Association. 5 were not present due to the weather, including Myra Pearson from Spirit Lake.

From Tuesday's Bismarck Tribune: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Exactly!

These posters make a lot of sense. If the NCAA was going to say they are not willing to change their stance, they could do that from Indianapolis. I still think the strongest, most passionate testimony would come from Myra Pearson (SL Chairwoman) and Eunice Davidson from Spirit Lake and Archie Fool Bear from Standing Rock. Then get Charles Murphy (SR Chairman) to tell the NCAA why they disregarded 1000+ signatures on a petition to allow the members of Standing Rock to vote on the nickname, especially when one of his main campaign promises was that he would champion bringing the vote to the people. Meantime, Archie could explain the significance of the pipe ceremony. I think I remember reading somewhere that he was there.

SWEET SIOUX-CIA!!

And they should be invited. Don't be afraid of them, include them, especially those whose voice was not heard by the tribal council, like Archie Fool Bear. Yes, the NCAA is showing that they want to reach a conclusion on this matter by being accomodative to the legislators' needs. Their actions are very encouraging. The discouraging actions are those being taken by UND's administration and the SBoHE. This is why the voices of the tribal members should be heard. Their support should be heard. Why should the NCAA hear only from the white people? Invite Eunice Davidson, Myra Pearson, Archie Fool Bear, Charles Murphy. Ask Mr Murphy why the voice of the tribal members has been suppressed. Let the NCAA hear the depth of the support the name has among the Sioux. Mr Shaft is afraid to let the voice of the tribal members be heard out of fear that the SBoHE's discriminatory position will be exposed. I have visited with a member of Standing Rock at length about this nickname issue, and she can not understand what the NCAA is doing meddling with the nickname in the first place. She was thoroughly convinced that if the tribal members (especially those who live on the ND side of the reservation), and not the South Dakota controlled tribal council, voted on the nickname, it would pass overwhelmingly.

Well said & a great link. I'd give you today's + rep, but already gave it to you for the posters this morning!

I claim no rights. The design is public domain, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe siouxsports.com wants the rights... The goalie picture is perfect.

Those are Beautiful! Your family should definitely get some TV time with those. I'll be watching for you.

The title of this thread really says it all: "Hokey player" not "Hockey player". So it reveals itself as a hoax not fact right off the bat. (it is April Fools Day, after all) Time for the mods to shut this farce down.

Dave, you actually had me going there, for a moment. Then I remembered what day it is...

As someone whose mother died before she had a chance to meet my wife or any of her grandchildren, may I respectfully suggest that you go troll somewhere else