Siouxperfan7

The title of this thread is "UND and the Big Sky could go FBS." The question should maybe be Does UND and the Big Sky want to go FBS? I really have seen no indication that either have recently shown and signs that they are looking into the possibility. So the scenarios that SiouxVolley are laying out could possibly come to fruition, but the biggest question of the desire of the the Big Sky and UND has really not been proved to show they have interest of making the move. Unless I am missing something.

With Stecher signing this year, and Boeser set to sign next year, Vancouver has to look pretty appealing to Cags.

Also one of the best photos of former players that played in the NHL in the concourse of the Ralph ever!!

Canucks!!

Per Tom Miller: "The Ralph Engelstad Arena’s Twitter account posted a photo Wednesday of UND’s Betty Engelstad Sioux Center and the current scoreboards coming down. The scoreboards will be replaced with video boards, made by LED Daktronics. The estimated $600,000 project, shared by the REA and UND, is expected to be ready by fall. The video boards are expected to be 20 feet wide and 10 feet tall.

Can someone please answer the big elephant in the room question? With all these budget cuts UND is making, how the heck can UND afford to move up to FBS?

The biggest mistake UND can do in ragards to a rollout of the new logo is to do it slow and half assed. They need to absulutely flood the market with the name and logo. Much like what happened in 2001 when the Brien logo came out. After a week, there shouldn't be anyone wondering what the new logo looks like. You can either to a slow rollout and sorta kinda release a logo around campus and to the athletic teams and hope not to offend those pesky Sioux forever folks, or you can fully embrace it and own and and get it out there for everyone to see. The later is going to be the most beneficial long term for UND. Get the merchandise out on everything. Get the logo up all over campus, in the Alerus, HPC, and yes...even the Ralph!! I only hope UND has the same idea.

Hey, maybe we could finally sell out the Alerus with teams like Michigan and Ohio St. coming to town?!!

All I am saying is that I guarantee that there will be fans who will show resentment towards those that embrace the new name. Especially those in the "Hockey only" crowd. Walk into the Ralph next season wearing a Fighting Hawks shirt and hat and yell "Go Hawks" during the game. I guarantee that you will get looks from self proclaimed "Sioux Forever" fans and may even get heckled or booed. That is reality. If you think it won't happen, you are delusional. The fact that a UND fan sitting in our home arena would be treated like an outsider for cheering for the schools current nickname is beyond unacceptable. But it will happen. You want to yell Sioux and pretend that it is still the nickname of UND, you have every right to do so. But you are not helping the situation.

I fear the same thing will happen at UND. And having thousands of references to the old logo at the Ralph definitely isn't going to help with transitioning to a new name.

And I think you missed my point. I am not going to sit here and tell people what to wear and not to wear and what to say and what not to say at UND sporting events. My point is that we are going to have a divided fan base. Some fans will cheer "Sioux", some ill cheer "Hawks", and some will cheer neither. Same goes for merchandise people wear as well. The debate is whether that is going to be just fine or if that is going to cause division in our fan base. I believe it will cause division. And to be honest, makes UND fans look really dumb.

Couldn't disagree more. So having some fans cheer "Go Sioux", some fans cheer "Go Hawks" and some fans cheering "Go North Dakota" or nothing at all is a good thing? A divided fan base? Fans yelling Hawks and having people get mad at them "giving into the PC crowd" or fans yelling Sioux and having other fans telling them to move on is going to be good for this fanbase? The next few years are going to be completely miserable for UND fans. I really believe that. This will be the hardest part of this whole nickname debacle. There will be a new nickname and logo. It will be everywhere. Yet there will be fans cheering for 2 different nicknames at sporting events. We will have a divided fanbase. It's going to happen. Only question is how long it will last. No matter what, it is definitely NOT "what it should be about"

So the real argument is what is best for our athletic teams, student athletes and the University. 1. Accept change by embracing the new nickname at the same time respecting the past nickname. 2. Reject change by boycotting the new nickname by holding on to the past nickname. Obviously there are many levels in between those that fans are currently at. But I have yet to hear an argument that justifies option #2.

It is unfortunate that people who wear Fighting Hawks merchandise with the new logo are going to be labeled as traitors and "not true fans." H ow A bout W e K eep cheering for The University of North Dakota athletic teams and student athletes and and unite under the new name S o we can move forward and focus this athletic department on on the field/court/ice success and winning as opposed to debating nickname issues.

We have one of the absolute best beat writers not only in college hockey, but in all of college sports. We really are lucky to have a guy like Schloss covering this team. Only hope that he will turn down the offers from bigger markets he is bound to get(or has already gotten, who knows) and stick around and cover the hockey team that we all love. Brad is a young guy and would be great to see him cover this team for the next 20-30 years!! Great article, great team!!

http://www.startribune.com/big-ten-will-not-pursue-arizona-state-for-hockey/377175691/ "In March, Big Ten hockey Commissioner Brad Traviolia said the conference would give consideration to various opportunities to expand. The Big Ten declined to comment Tuesday, citing its policy not to discuss specific details about future membership. The source, however, said the conference is developing guidelines for affiliate membership built around three key factors: history of success, academic standards and geographic location." So how does UND fit the Big 10's affiliate membership key factors: 1. History of Success - Check 2. Academic Standards - Debatable 3. Geographic Location - Check Not sure how other schools stack up against the Big 10's key factors, But UND makes a strong case. We can debate academic standards, but no school comes even close in regards to history of success and geographic location.

Just received my first official Fighting Hawks merchandise of any kind in the mail yesterday. Not a bad way to start!!

I think that the WCHA is the best fit for Arizona St. (for now). Sure NCHC fans are all excited to have the Sun Devils in the conference so they can take trips to AZ in the summer. But from a purely hockey standpoint, they are not a good fit for the NCHC. I get the big school name aspect, but I always like that the NCHC schools put hockey as a #1 priority in their athletic program. At Arizona St., that is not the case. Having them in the WCHA would help out that league tremendously which would be great for college hockey as a whole. And I am all for that. But for now, I believe the Sun Devils are a better fit in the WCHA.

Someone needs to convince these boys on the fence that if they come back they can be apart of something very special. No UND team has ever won back to back National Championships. Also, one more title and we are tied for the most Championships in NCAA history. Both can be accomplished next year!!

Jack is back!!!

Best line of the article!! "Yes, North Dakota is not really a Big Ten university. That's fine. The Big Ten isn't really a hockey conference."

16 years in the waiting, the "insert" may be more like a 10 page section!!!

Yes, some people accepted the new nickname the day it was announced, and others will never ever refer to UND as the Fighting Hawks. And everyone else fits somewhere in between. Of course it will take awhile for most to adjust to the new nickname. But really he does bring up a good point. Yelling "Go Sioux" when our nickname is the Fighting Hawks, from an outsider, does seem strange. I get it during the so called" cooling off" period when we had no nickname to continue to refer to the teams as the Sioux. But now that we have a new nickname, we have to all at least try to adjust to the new name. I am not saying you have to burn all your Sioux apparel and buy hundreds of dollars of new Fighting Hawks apparel. Everyone can move at their own pace. But when you are ready to make that transition, the first step might be just to refer to the team by their actual nickname. It's really not as bad as you think.

http://teamusa.usahockey.com/news_article/show/636536?referrer_id=701370

I would hope that if he was really serious about his fundraising efforts, he wrote more than just one email. Did he send an email once a week till he got a response? Did he request a meeting with Faison?