fightingsioux4life

+1000

For the record, I voted Roughriders. That was rather funny though!

I think we are talking about the chicken and the egg here. Which comes first? You cannot win without the resources for coaching salaries, recruiting budgets, etc. So the sure-fire way to ignore a program and justify that approach is to not give them enough resources and then complain they don't win enough so you can justify continuing to ignore them. It is hard to believe, but our FB program was once consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally (about 10 years ago). And they got very little in return. Poor marketing. Poor attendance. I believe this was one of the reasons Dale Lennon up and left for SIU when he did. They made a real commitment to their FB program and we wouldn't. That stuck us with Chris Mussman and we both know where that took us. Again, if we wanted to continue ignoring all sports except Men's Hockey, we should have stayed in Division II. Sometimes, I wonder if we moved up because NDSU and SDSU moved up. That is never a good reason to make a huge jump like the jump from Division II to Division I.

One VB victory does not prove my point wrong. Anyone who thinks NDSU hasn't owned us over the past 10 years in terms of winning, media coverage, marketing and whatever else is important to intercollegiate athletics is living in fantasy land.

So all of this is a zero sum game? Trying to lift all of our programs to a certain level of excellence is an attack on Men's Hockey? What a crock of crap that is! You are proving my point for me. Thank you.

What I am sick of is the attitude of some (and I emphasis the word some here) Men's Hockey rubes that as long as Men's Hockey is happy, nothing else matters and if everything else goes down the sewer, that is just fine with them. The divide is real, it is not a myth. And it doesn't do our campus any good. Ultimately, all of us should be on the same side and on the same team, whatever the sport is. Don't think for one second that NDSU and other rivals don't use the whole "Hockey is all that matters" mentality when trying to beat us in the recruiting game ("Don't go to UND, all they care about is hockey and no one will care about your team. We'll treat you like royalty here"). The move to Division I in all sports was a waste of time, energy and resources if we continue this "Hockey is all that matters" approach.

You mean the Men's Hockey Team, right? Because we all know that is where this Nodak movement is coming from.

It's been a tough 10 years for everyone. And yes, the nickname issue has been around for decades, but it really didn't become critical until August 5th, 2005.

Most of the people voting Nodaks are either part of the Fighting Sioux Hardliner Club or don't like any of the other choices and thus want to protest somehow. Of course, some of the Fighting Sioux Hardliners will vote Fighting Hawks because of the "Fighting" and some will boycott the vote entirely. I still think Roughriders and Fighting Hawks will finish 1 and 2 and will advance to the run-off.

I just voted Roughriders.

It starts at 8am CT on Monday. So another 12 hours until the polls open.

Btw, how would you know my views on Bernie Sanders? I don't think I have brought him up on this forum. Just curious.

I have heard that tired old line so many times I don't even flinch anymore.

The fact that you are trying to make this about me proves I struck a nerve. Therefore, I did my job.

Which is another reason not to vote for it.

....and the fact those two names are just not all that good. Marketing wasn't as sophisticated back in the 1930's and 40's as it is today.

The Fighting Sioux Hardliners can't have "UND/North Dakota". So they are latching onto the next best thing....Nodaks. It is so bland, so unimaginative, that maybe (just maybe) the Fighting Sioux name will live on as an "unofficial" nickname. After all, the NCAA would be powerless to do anything about it, right? Their double-secret wet dream, of course, is to reinstate the Fighting Sioux name and logo and live with the sanctions that would accompany them. After all, hockey doesn't have to host regionals to be successful in the playoffs and none of the other sports ever have or ever will matter. But they know that isn't going to happen, so they have settled on their third choice and that seems to be Nodaks. That is the real motive for voting Nodaks. Any questions?

But the editorial board endorsed Sundogs, so there is dissention even within the walls of the Heraldo. I think it is safe to say that no name will receive 50%+1 in the initial round of voting and that this will go to a run-off.

On the eve of this historic and critical election, here are my final critiques of each name on the ballot, in my order of preference: 1) Roughriders: Connected to North Dakota. Unique within the realm of the NCAA. Marketable. Many good logo ideas. Rolls off the tongue (Riders, Ridas, etc.). Should stand the test of time. Those are my reasons for making this my first choice on the initial ballot. And I couldn't care less if a high school in Grand Forks uses it or not. 2) North Stars (or Stars): Would mesh nicely with our school colors. Unique within the realm of the NCAA. Marketable. Has a nice "northern" theme that meshes nicely with our state and our geography. Should stand the test of time. And I couldn't care less if it's Minnesota's official state motto; how many people are even aware of that? And so what if it pi$$es off Minnesotans who don't like us? That's actually a fringe benefit with this choice. It could also be shortened to "Stars" to make it roll off the tongue better. 3) Fighting Hawks: "Fighting" adjective at the front suggests fierceness and competitiveness. Marketable. Should stand the test of time. Many good logo ideas. Not unique within the NCAA at all, but I think we could differentiate it enough to make it ours. 4) Nodaks: Where do I begin? Plain, dull, bland, was used before and then discarded. Very few logo ideas, not very marketable. Does not roll off the tongue at all. Will likely not stand the test of time anymore than "Maroon and Grey" did for Grand Forks Central. Is probably a clandestine attempt to remain "UND/North Dakota" after that option was not included on the ballot. Which, in the minds of the Fighting Sioux hardliners is the next best thing to reinstating the Fighting Sioux name and logo and living with the sanctions that would accompany them. Many, many reasons to dislike this choice. But it still isn't as bad as..... 5) Sundogs: And now we have reached the bottom of the barrel. Where do I begin? Was the choice of the radical, on-campus PC group B.R.I.D.G.E.S. (we could stop there, but this is way too easy). Is also the choice of the larger PC community (just open up the editorial pages of the Heraldo if you doubt this). Is lame, milk toast and cartoonish. Is based on a weather phenomenon, which usually doesn't work very well. Will probably leave us with the friendly family dog as the logo/mascot (no offense meant to animal lovers and pet owners, I am both). Will not likely stand the test of time as it will have way too many detractors. So there is my critique of the ballot options. Whatever you support, get out and vote.

Nodaks is not going to win. I will say it right now....it will not finish in the top two. The top two will be Roughriders (which is a popular choice despite all the brazen attempts to slander it) and Fighting Hawks (because of the "Fighting", not because of the "Hawks"). And I could live with either of those. I am voting Roughriders....the Climax-Fisher Rule notwithstanding.

What? I didn't know William Marcil was a communist?

Wait...I thought NDSU was supposed to run the table from now on and do it quite easily.....oops, I guess not. I guess that Rose Bowl match-up with (insert any big-time FBS team) will have to wait a few (hundred) more years, huh?

I wouldn't even call the first class a real recruiting class; the coaches had only a couple of months to put it together. Let's call it one and one-half recruiting classes.

I think Dennis is just kissing up to the Republican-sucking Forum Communications. I guess a guy has to be able to feed his family, right?