fightingsioux4life

Amen.

I believe he is trolling. Don't feed the beast.

But didn't you hear? High school sports is all about the $$$$$ now! It's no different from college or professional sports! That's why Fargo needs to have all the high school tournaments! Next step is to pay the players and have free agency so the "market" can work it's magic! (extreme sarcasm) All sarcasm aside, I agree with you. Bismarck having an all-star team when there are enough kids to field three teams is absolutely ridiculous.

Because...because...because...east coast bias?

Okay, you are totally missing the point. But it's 1:00am Sunday morning and I have to get some sleep. Peace out.

It was embarrassing for the kids of those teams. Basically, the west was playing for the 5th place trophy every year. And Minot has only one high school (not counting Bishop Ryan) which means all their best players are on one team, so I wouldn't classify them as a "small town" team. But fortunately, this has changed and you are seeing Bismarck and Minot competing for championships on a somewhat regular basis. That is good for hockey in North Dakota.

Four schools represented by one team is still ridiculous. Maybe Grand Forks should merge their boy's teams too. Imagine the b!tching and moaning from Bismarck fans if that happened.

Do you realize how many years the west went without winning a single first round game at this tournament following Minot's breakthrough title in 1992? And the #1 west seed would frequently lose to the #4 east seed by multiple goals. It was embarrassing. But it is nice to see western teams having success at the state tournament.

You should go to Vegas!

Based on this little pearl of wisdom, every coach should have an iron clad lifetime contract to coach as long as they want. But this isn't high school, this is Division I collegiate athletics and it's women's ice hockey. And at the University of North Dakota, that means the expectations will be high. This is one of three sports (MH and FB being the other two) that we have a realistic shot at winning national titles in. And I think the overall body of work suggests that Idalski has plateaued. A third to fourth place finish in the regular season, followed by a first round home playoff series and a trip to the Final Faceoff where we will get shut out by either Wisconsin or Minnesota. Rinse. Repeat. If you are happy with that every single year, then that is fine. But some of us want women's hockey to achieve greatness and Idalski doesn't look like the man to do it. Brewster raised the bar for WBB a couple of years ago, Bubba is raising the bar for FB right now and now it is time to raise the bar for Women's Hockey. If Title IX requires us to keep this program and fund it, then we might as well strive to be the best in the nation at it.

The following editorial in the Grand Forks Heraldo today is 1000% SPOT ON! And it echoes what I have been saying about this issue: http://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/our-opinion/3957561-our-opinion-grand-forks-mustnt-give-state-hockey-other-tournaments The bolded section above is essential to making this happen. To be honest, I think the new REA has been more of a negative to state hockey than a positive. With all the empty seats, everyone else gets swallowed up and the atmosphere is poor. I think moving it to Purpur would solve a lot of the problems and restore some excitement to the tournament. Otherwise, we might as well put up a billboard next to the eastbound lanes of U.S. 2 in Grand Forks proclaiming Grand Forks as the "Proud home of the ND State Tennis Tournament". Because that is what we will get stuck with from now on.

As should our Men's Hockey Team. Or are we an exception to that rule? And based on your logic, dynasties should never, ever end. And you and I both know that is not true. Look at the Gopher Men's Hockey program for instance.

Wonder if West Fargo can pull the upset against GFRR? West Fargo has really come a long ways since they lost to GFC 20-0 back in the 1980's.

That sounds like one of the many excuses that Shantel "I don't have any Olympians" Rivard used to use all the time. That attitude will result in mediocrity almost every time.

I am saying that RPI is not important if you are only getting one team in no matter what. It means much more if you are in the MVC.

What do partisan politics have to do with this? This is a lack of leadership, sure, but it isn't political.

Number of bids to NCAA tournament: Slummit: 1 Big Sky: 1 Care to revise your statement sir?

Here's another solution: Move the tournament to Purpur Arena. The lower attendance we have been getting for this tournament should fit nicely. The atmosphere and energy would be amazing. The consolation games on Friday afternoon wouldn't feel so empty in there vs. REA. And the rent should be much, much lower. You also have Gambucci Arena right next door and the Eagles Arena across town if you still want to have both girls and boys tournaments in the same city. The GFC and GFRR regular-season games are a Purpur now and the atmosphere has been amazing for those games. Imagine what a State title game would be like! I hope somebody is at least thinking about this. The idea that Grand Forks will be stuck with nothing but state tennis in the future is nauseating. We aren't Mapes for Pete's Sake.

And the Falcons got destroyed in the Super Bowl by Denver. And they have done ZILCH in the playoffs ever since. I call it "The Curse of the Dirty Bird".

6-3 GFC Final after a short-handed empty-netter.

Aren't a lot of collegiate sports programs privately funded, at least a good chunk of them?

Yes he was. He did UND football back in the early 1990's, when Roger Thomas was just starting to get us into playoff contention. I believe he called our first two ever playoff victories in 1993. Then he was unceremoniously dumped by KNOX right before the 1994 season, which prompted an on-air op-ed from Pat Sweeney criticizing the move. RIP, Scott, you don't have to struggle anymore.

The Grand Forks Heraldo weighed in on this topic this morning: http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/local-sports/3955721-state-hockey-future-state-hockey-gf-looking-bleak So let me get this straight. The only sport that Grand Forks is a "preferred site" for now is tennis?!?! Are you *bleeping* kidding me?!?! Is this someone's idea of a bad joke?!?! Grand Forks isn't Fargo or Bismarck, but it isn't Mapes either. The idea that Grand Forks will be stuck with tennis, while everybody else gets something is outrageous and is not acceptable. If any tournament belongs in Grand Forks, it is hockey. Football probably belongs in Fargo. Class B boys and girls basketball probably belongs in Bismarck or Minot. You could make the argument that everything else can be rotated around the four major cities every few years. But apparently that isn't going to happen. And Bismarck better be careful, or else the "State B" will be headed east to Imperial Cass County too. And the worst part is, nobody in Grand Forks seems to care. Or at least I haven't heard it.

Well, based on that logic, every single tournament should be in Fargo. And that is simply unacceptable.

This is more about the future of the tournament, not this year.