fightingsioux4life

No problem. Like you stated, no one is perfect.

I said college hockey powers (plural), not just UND. And you can't just focus on the NCAA title teams, look at some of the early departures for teams that made it to the Frozen Four. Last year's Boston College team lost a ton of players and didn't make the tournament this year. This year's Boston University team lost most (if not all) their "diaper dandies" after Duluth beat them in OT in the regional final in Fargo. I wish early signings would not be so prevalent in college hockey, but it is what it is.

Friday, April 18th, 1997. The dikes in the Riverside and Lincoln Park neighborhoods began to fail. Mandatory evacuations began in those areas before the sun came up. The streets began to fill with filthy Red River floodwater, either from the breeched dikes or through the storm sewer system. The mass exodus from town began and would accelerate on Saturday, as the water treatment plant was compromised, which eliminated the city's source of potable water. About 4pm Saturday, a fire broke out downtown. The water system had no pressure, so firefighters could not put out the fire. It would consume 11 buildings downtown. Me, my mother and our cat fled to Minot, ND to stay with relatives. My father, then an employee of the Grand Forks Health Department, stayed behind to help fight the flood. When I returned about two weeks later, there was one or two restaurants open and they were using paper plates and plastic silverware because the water still wasn't safe to drink or cook with. During the next several months, I consumed a lot of Salvation Army and Red Cross meals (pretty good, btw), used a lot of waterless hand sanitizer and port-a-potties, helped assemble cleaning kits for people to clean up their homes, gave away big bags of ice to people who needed it and tried to put my life and routines back together. My family's home only sustained damage to the basement. Of course, that was where the electrical box, washer, dryer and furnace were located, which means they were all ruined and needed to be replaced. So the three of us and our cat were crammed into a hotel room for several weeks until we could get the electrical box and furnace replaced (it was a cold and sometimes rainy spring). I don't know who was happier to go home, me or my cat! :-) Gradually, life returned to normal. But for those who lost everything they owned, it would take 10 to 15 years to get their lives back to what they were on April 18th, 1997. I cannot believe it has been 20 years. Time flies I guess. God bless those who took in flood victims. God bless our Congressional team (Sens. Conrad and Dorgan & Rep. Pomeroy) for fighting hard for this community when the future was on the line. God bless President Clinton for visiting our community and using your influence to get us the help we needed. And God bless those Americans who generously gave their time, money and effort to help us pick up the pieces. All of you made a difference. And we thank you.

Based on what has happened recently to perennial college hockey powers, it is not unreasonable to expect underclassmen to sign early. Especially after winning an NCAA title. These NHL teams are always sniffing around come playoff time in March and April, trying to convince their underclassmen draftees to sign as soon as their team is eliminated from contention. It is becoming harder than ever for these kids to say no to that kind of pressure.

I don't know, the fact that the current CBA makes it more attractive for players to sign early. The fact that dangling that money in their faces makes it hard to say no to signing early. But I suppose individual situations are all different and there are always exceptions to the rule.

The idea (expressed by some on here) that Denver will lose very few, if any, underclassmen is far-fetched. It is only a matter of time before several underclassmen start signing contracts.

The defense is always ahead of the offense in spring ball. Don't read too much into that.

Regular season Major League Baseball.....the world's best insomnia cure!

I think the simmering hatred of Duluth on this forum is the main reason why people are giddy. If it happened to St. Cloud, you wouldn't have the same reaction.

Right there with you. Building from scratch isn't cheap either, but some people talk like it is. Anyone privy to hard numbers on this?

Baseball does not work in our climate. Neither does softball, which I would have eliminated along with the others a couple of weeks ago.

Yes Ozzie82, please explain your cute little comment. Are you one of the posters on here constantly complaining about Bubba's sub-.500 head coaching record? Because that little talking point is on the way out the door.

That was SiouxVolley and most of us disagreed with his predictions.

Look for multiple "NDSU to the Big 12" threads to start popping up at BV.

Or Goon? "Blowing a two goal lead in the third period in a game that would have given you a 2-0 series lead heading back home is unacceptable!"

The bolded part will never happen. The Little 6 (soon to be 7) will tell us that we will get ZERO dollars from television contracts and merchandise because we are not a "full" member of their precious little frat club and that we should still join them because of the "prestige" of their brand name. And that is when we tell them to pound sand. In short, it isn't going to happen.

Speaking of Cups, I wonder if Zajac will want a trade from the Devils to a Cup contender at some point. He isn't a kid anymore either.

You forgot Aaron __________ Boone.

Last season soothed a lot of wounds inflicted over the period between 2001 and 2015.

Did you have to bring that crap up again?

They went after little UND, so I don't think the overall profile of the team will dictate whether or not a team is targeted. Particularly in the social media world we now live in. And a slight correction, baseball is America's "past-its-time".

I am sure they are. But they don't get even a fraction of the hate that Chief Wahoo does. And I think the reason is obvious.

They'll probably change the logo, but keep the name. You don't hear the Chicago Blackhawks getting too much grief over their logo because it is more tasteful than that hideously grinning logo the Indians use.