Jayson Hajdu

That would be correct, at least nationally. Did you miss my post where I said it's safe to assume UND will be a part of some, but not all, doubleheaders?

I realize I'm now beating a dead horse with certain posters, but let me see if I get this straight: Your response/solution to having fewer UND games on national TV is to boycott the one network that will be showing UND games on national TV?

Not true. As stated before, the NCHC deal with CBSSN prohibits UND from broadcasting any game on a national basis unless it is on CBSSSN.

This is certainly fair and understandable. As I've stated numerous times, we as a department would obviously still like to have that national footprint as well. We'll keep working to get it back in some form or fashion. In the meantime, at least we have another option to view our favorite college hockey team.

We do indeed work with NeuLion. I'd be lying if I even attempted to answer this, so I'll try to find out

Yes, that will be the answer. And what exactly does Dave Starman, a freelance color analyst, have to do with the discussion of television vs. webcasts?

No one is being thrown under the bus, not by UND Athletics. Unfortunately, it's merely a fact of life that in 2013 there are now platforms other than television broadcasting games. I'm sorry if that comes off cold -- it certainly isn't meant to -- but it is reality. Heck, my 73-year old mother in Saskatchewan watches our games via webcast. As an athletics department -- as a University -- we must evolve with the times to keep up. This means our fan base will be asked to do the same.

So the Athletic Department can make money.

Yes.

Once again, with Midco converting to HD next season, our webcasts will also be shown in HD.

I was referring to the collective "you" in response to your question about the collective "us."

Midco subscribers. I would assume they can also continue to redistribute to local affiliates, but I should probably at that to the list of Things I Need To Find Out For Sure.

Ha, never. Our fans are the absolute best and it's because of their passion. Without your passion, we cannot succeed as a department. As long as the questions are civil and rational, we'll keeping answering them.

Webcasts of our home games would continue to be available with a UND Insider subscription at UNDSports.com.

I don't know the answer to this but will try to find out.

Am I asking you to refrain from calling for someone's firing over broadcasts that are at least eight months away from even taking place? Yeah, I guess am. You're parsing the facts here. I just told you that I would suspect at least 1-2 of those doubleheaders will include UND. That means 1-2 will not, which means watching 1-2 additional games via webcast. Maybe it will help the cause (I doubt it) if I try speaking to you as a fan, not as an administrator, for a moment. It's known by many that I am a die-hard CFL fan. Before moving to the U.S., I had the luxury of watching nearly every CFL game of my choice on television. Now that I live in the U.S., television is no longer an option for me when it comes to watching the CFL. I either run my laptop to my TV and watch via webcast or, more recently, via ESPN3 on the ol' Xbox. And in all honesty, it has not lessened my enjoyment of the product one bit. I've certainly never demanded someone be fired because of it. I'm not trying to speak for all of you. Or any of you. And I'm not trying to blow smoke up your you-know-whats. I'm only speaking from my own experience. I can still watch every Saskatchewan Roughriders game my heart so desires. Except now, it involves an extra cord. If NBC Sports against broadcasts a handful of CFL games next year, then my first choice will be to watch it on the television. And if it doesn't, I know I can at least still watch via other means.

Folks, Beyond what I've just outlined above, I don't really have anything new to tell you that I haven't already previously posted, ad nauseum. Southpaw has tried to provide a very well-informed voice of reason throughout this discussion as far as how television works, and I suggest you give careful consideration to his posts. He knows of what he speaks in the field. UND is but one voice in a league of eight. You are greatly overestimating the UND hockey market if you believe we could have strong-armed any legitimate conference -- including the NCHC -- on this matter. That is not how it works in college athletics when it comes to conference affiliation and broadcast rights. Not in 2013. Would we prefer to have kept our national broadcast footprint? Of course, but it simply wasn't an option. It's naive for anyone to suggest we didn't do all we could to maintain that footprint. However, at the end of the day, every single UND home game WILL be available to our fans, either in high definition television or high definition webcast. Repeat: every single home game. We intend to make the best of the situation, and that includes upgrading to HD webcasts. Can we make every home game available to our fans on television? Unfortunately, no, not at this time. But can we make every home game available to our fans in some form or fashion? Yes. And with today's technology, running a HD webcast from your laptop to your flat screen television will still be a significant upgrade over the standard definition games you are seeing on your TV screens this year. I would also like to again echo what a small handful of fans have posted in this same discussion: what the TV situation looks like on Feb. 13, 2013, could end up looking drastically different six months from now. Or a year from now. Is that a cryptic promise? No, but we will continue to explore all possibilities going forward. I've said that all along. Remember when so many bemoaned the Great West Conference as our home? That eventually turned into Big Sky Conference membership, and while I think we can all agree that turned out alright, it also took time and patience. So what we are again asking for is a little patience and a little bit of foresight to let the situation play out.

1. We are prohibited from broadcasting regionally no matter who is featured as part of the doubleheader. 2-6. I have no idea.

It is my understanding that there are only 3-4 doubleheaders planned for the entire year. I would assume -- based on nothing but my own speculation -- that UND will be a part of at least 1-2 of those doubleheaders anyway.

Midco Sports Network will still be able to broadcast all home games on a regional basis EXCEPT: 1) Home games that are broadcast by CBSSN 2) CBSSN doubleheader Fridays (even if UND is not involved in the doubleheader) Again, MidcoSN can show all other home games regionally, but national carriers like FCS will no longer be allowed to pick up the games. Webcasts (in HD) of all home games will be available, except those broadcast by CBSSN. It is my understanding that we can still webcast home games on CBSSN doubleheader nights if the doubleheader does not include the UND game.

All-- Still trying to confirm the television plan with Midco. Stay tuned. Thanks for your patience. It sounds like the UND game will stay on the original channels, and the SDSU WBB game will be moved. Hang tight.

Your observations are all duly noted and you are certainly entitled to them. I like to think we've been pretty transparent in recent years -- and will continue to be -- when it comes to addressing the concerns of our fans. I wasn't trying to insinuate you owe anyone an apology. I was merely extending credit where credit is due: to Midco for the positive things they have brought to the table in Year 1. As far as your second-to-last paragraph, which I can only assume was aimed at me...well, I'm afraid you don't know much about me or what I do. And that's quite fine. I can assure you that we do have something in common, and that is the best interest of UND hockey and UND athletics.

Well said. I'm guessing if we all went back and watched the broadcast of the first exhibition game, the improvements in both quality and announcing would be very noticeable. And then next year...I'm as excited for HD as anyone around here.

Haha, I appreciate that. We still greatly enjoy doing the chats. We'll always push comments through that are negative in a constructive sense. The ones that don't make it through are the over-the-top comments that we know will quickly throw the game chat completely off the rails. On Friday, the negativity was justifiable. What was interesting was that on Saturday, with a 2-1 lead in the first period of an entertaining hockey game, 90 percent of the comments in our queue were still negative, and not necessarily of the 'constructive' variety. We'll continue to do our best to strike a balance with which comments we accept, while still trying to keep the discussions on track.

As of right now, I'm not aware of it happening. That would be between Cox Communications (which is producing the broadcast) and FOX. Could it happen? Sure, but I wouldn't necessarily be privy to those conversations. If I hear of anything either way, we'll be sure to get the word out.