fightingsioux4life

Again, you keep focusing myopically on won-loss records, just as Bison fans focus myopically on MBB RPI when telling us how great the Slummit League is. Yes, programs like Minnesota and Wisconsin will be back at some point in the future (will probably require coaching changes, but it will happen). But that doesn't change the fact that 5 out of 6 schools in the conference treat hockey like a red-headed bastard stepchild. And that is not something I want UND to get stuck in. The Big Ten Tournament will likely never reach the heights of the old WCHA Final Five. The NCHC tournament has much more upside in the future and I look forward to seeing the Target Center full for the NCHC tournament championship game in the future. That is why we should stay put.

Well, insert your own adjective if you want, but my point still stands.

No, but hockey is a mere afterthought at 5 of the 6 Big Ten schools (Minnesota being the exception). All they really care about is football and/or basketball. Everything else could fade away and nobody would notice. The NCHC, on the other hand, is made up of schools where hockey is a priority. Hockey is a much different beast and it needs to be treated that way. That is why the Big Ten Hockey Conference has been such a disappointment both on and off the ice.

A) Someone from Fargo wrote into Sports Illustrated complaining that Alabama was on the front cover after winning the FBS title, suggesting that the Bison should have been on there instead. That is why I think it's true. B) You stuck your head into this discussion, nobody forced you to comment.

Considering that half of NDSU's rube base thinks they should be considered for full Big 12 membership, I wouldn't go there.

Like I figured, nobody on the pro-Big Ten bandwagon can make any case without mentioning BTN. A TV network is only as good as the product it offers and Big Ten hockey is a joke.

Maybe Spielman and Zimmer will do this with Megatron:

Yes, the next several years look good.

I know everybody wants another Tom Clifford, but those people are few and far between. And, by the way, I think you meant "You cannot be serious!" by John McEnroe:

And all we would have to accept in return is a weak conference schedule that does us no favors come NCAA tournament time. Thanks.....but no thanks.

If anyone on the pro-Big Ten side wants to explain themselves, please do not answer with BTN.

The Big Ten is a Big Deal in football and basketball. Hockey.....not so much.

I have made many of your points on this forum many times and I agree with you 1000%. I just like to use NDSU as a point of reference when discussing what we are capable of as an institution if we pull it all together. But like you said, the "snail's pace" we are moving is frustrating. And all that success 80 miles down I-29 just makes it even more obvious than it already is. You are right though, it's more about what we do than what they do. I just get frustrated and I have to vent somewhere; this is as good a place as any.

I think this is what sunk Lennon at SIU. They were usually weak at the QB position and you won't be a playoff team or contender doing that.

The Golden Rodents started to pretend to care about the other four Division I programs in their State after the 6-team Big Ten Hockey Conference formed and they needed more non-conference games to fill out their schedule. Previous to that, they treated those other programs like JV.

I have also seen Bison fans at home hockey games wearing championship gear and flaunting it in front of everyone. Never mind they don't even have a hockey program.

You think Guentzel will get a shot at the top job when Lucia finally retires or is pushed out?

The final three years of Gino's tenure got progressively worse until he was asked to resign or else. The arena (and I'm talking about the 6,067 seat OLD REA) was half-full at best by the time Gino was shown the door. Having Ward and Johnson light up scoreboards doesn't make up for losing.

He also saved a program that was on the edge of an abyss when he took it over in 1994.

I don't see "Spectacular" in there, do you? Solid and Spectacular are two entirely different things. I do think the 2011 NCAA title has given Sandy some breathing space, but that obviously won't last forever.

You are right about all of this....except I don't think the Gino "tailspin" started in 1988....more like 1991-92 when their record dipped below .500 and never got back above that until Blais in 1995-96.

This is how I feel as well. That is why it hurts to see so much Bison gear being worn around Grand Forks; we are losing the battle for fans in our own freaking city! The tide must be stemmed before it drowns us all.

Oh, I can't disagree with you there. I just get tired of being told that what happens at NDSU has zero impact on UND, because it just isn't true.

Did I say anything about "spectacular" in my post? I don't think I did.

I will second this. I know the student section in the old REA was all over the visiting team from warm-ups to the final buzzer. But some people on here think every home game should be like church, so don't expect to change any minds.