fightingsioux4life

I will believe the Wild are "talented" when I see them produce on the ice instead of talking about all the "potential" their prospects have. Once these guys get sucked into the 60 minute backchecking system of Mike "Lemaire" Yeo, they will regress like almost all Wild prospects do. I am willing to bet that the Winnipeg Jets reach the Stanley Cup finals before the Wild do. Please Zach, sign with Pittsburgh or Chicago. Don't sign with the Wild.

Wow, I remember when 2,000 was considered big for summer sessions! Congrats to everyone that helped make this possible.

If Zach signs with the Wild, I hope he enjoys backchecking for 60 minutes each and every game and finishing 9th or 10th in the Western Conference every year. Honestly, listening to Mike Yeo talk you'd think they had hired Lemaire back. If he signs with Pittsburgh, I could see the Pens winning two or three Cups during the next five years.

Go away, son. You lost, get over it.

Why are you still here?

Which is why they won't be televising UND sports anymore. I will second you on that. It was a backhanded, back-stabbing move and I am still ticked off about it. I wonder how many UND alums that live in Imperial Cass have stopped listening to KFGO since that happened? People seem to forget how many of our fans live down there. Of course, Bison fans will have you believe that hockey "just doesn't matter" outside the Grand Forks city limits and NDSU is ALL that matters in the state.

I have a feeling that if it was NDSU sports, then Forum Communications would have invested more into it. Just my 2 cents.

This is the message that College Hockey, Inc. needs to drive home to kids. And please don't give me all that "There's nothing we can do about it" crap. If the CHL wants to smear and distort College Hockey, then College Hockey, Inc. has to hit back. Point out all the "dirty little secrets" of Major Junior hockey. Point out that as soon as a kid is not useful to the bottom line of a CHL team, they are dumped like a bad habit. Point out that kids are promised the moon to get them to sign and, once they get there, they realize "it just doesn't work that way here". The media is a two-way street and this type of unrestricted submarine warfare is a two-edged sword. The problem is that College Hockey, Inc. chooses not to fight back like they need to. This is like fighting tanks with spears, which is what Ethiopia did against Italy during the early days of WWII. Except College Hockey has more resources at their disposal and is not using them. Get tough and smart or watch college hockey become more and more irrelevant. The choice is yours.

Don't forget, 108498 was one of those people that wanted to keep using the name and logo at any cost and, based on his posts, doesn't care about much except hockey.

Oh really?!?! So if I am a "mere consumer" and not the owner of the company, I have absolutely no right to comment on the product and/or the quality of the product being offered? Sorry son, but YOU are not that bright in this area. In this country, the consumer decides whether a product is worth his or her time and money. Since I am a subscriber to Midcontinent Communications and a viewer of WDAZ (I live in Grand Forks), I can and will comment on the quality of the product being offered. And, IMO, the extensive investments being offered by Midco to improve the broadcast of UND sports is one of the reasons they won the broadcast rights from Forum Communications. Midco obviously is adding the penalty clock and HD in part because that is what WE THE FANS have been demanding for some time. But in your monopolistic-loving world of "basic economics", the average consumer is "expendable" and "replaceable". Please don't start your own business as I would hate to watch you fail.

Funny how Midcontinent can afford HD and having a Penalty Clock and Forum Communications kept telling us that it was "too expensive" and it wasn't "feasible". Well, I wonder how "feasible" it will be to not have UND sports as a product starting this year. This is a clear-cut example of the difference between the "penny-wise and pound foolish" management philosophy and the "build for the present and future" management philosophy. Thank you Midco for the investment in UND athletics!

Are you one of those "I just want to play the Bison again" fans? Because that is NOT how decisions like this should be made. Marching lock-step with the Stream Yellow crowd is not a good idea.

Minnesota's program might be FBS, but they should almost think about dropping down to FCS; they are so pathetic year after year after year.

As long as the Summit League has a good Men's Basketball RPI Rating (which, according to the NDSU-ites, is all that really matters), why shouldn't they be happy?!?!

I agree with this.

Shouldn't you be more worried about your own program right now?

I agree with your thinking, but you just can't assume anything in our world.

We still have that potential ballot measure that would enshrine the name and logo into the ND Constitution. If it gets on the ballot, we will have to take it seriously and not assume it will be defeated.

I am surprised you didn't use the boilerplate NDSU talking point in favor of the Summit League: we have a great Men's Basketball RPI Rating! The Summit League is a hodge-podge, ticky-tack conference for schools that don't have any better place to go. I have held this position right from the start and I was so happy that the Big Sky came calling. NDSU had better hope that the Missouri Valley Conference (Northern Iowa, Creighton, Southern Illinois) has openings in the future because I don't think the Summit League will be around in 5 years or so. And I suppose Kolpack and company will blame UND for that too.

Thank God.

Boy oh boy, once this rivalry starts up again, it's going to get meaner and nastier than it ever was in the old days!

I wasn't targeting you with my comment as much as I was targeting UND administration with their constant clinging to the tired old "penny wise and pound foolish" strategies when it comes to the management of our athletic department resources. Especially since our move up to Division I, I have always believed that it is very important to challenge boilerplate answers to questions like this. Just saying "it's not feasible" and then moving on to the next issue is simply kicking the can down the road. At some point, Hyslop will deteriorate to the point where it isn't safe to use it for anything and a decision will have to be made to either demolish it or renovate it. And it will cost a lot more money the longer we kick the can down the road. Once we secure the funding for the IPF, we should turn our attention to developing a long-term plan for Hyslop Sports Center and an aggressive fund-raising campaign to fund it. If we decide to keep basketball and volleyball in The Betty, then I think it would make sense to bring the pool up to modern 21st century standards so we can have first-class Division I Swimming and Diving Programs. Then the rest of the complex could be updated to include first class office space for our administrators, recreational facilities for the student body and classroom space for Physical Education classes. These are the tools that successful Division I programs have and that backwater Division I In Name Only programs do not have. I know which category I want to be in.

So it would be "feasible" to just tear it down? Don't be so sure. Demolishing buildings is not cheap, either (why do you think the old REA is still there). Either we tear it down and build something else there or we renovate it. As it stands right now, everything except the pool and the athletic department administrative offices are under-utilized and/or un-utilized spaces. We should push for maximum utilization of all of our assets, both old and new. That will help us be more successful in Division I across the board.

At least Rocky was entertaining (remember the 364 days in hell comment?). Amy was classless, tasteless and the biggest sore loser in the North Central Conference.

No, I am calling YOU an extremist, along with DaveK, Fetch, Chewy and a couple of others on here. All that nonsense that the sanctions were "a small price to pay" to keep the name and logo is what I am calling extremist. 68% of North Dakotans disagreed with that suicidal viewpoint. The Native Americans of this region have been used as pawns by both sides of the nickname debate for years and that is something we all should be ashamed of. If UND had done more engagement with the tribes over the past 30-40 years, this day wouldn't have had to come. But in order to save UND athletics, the name and logo had to be retired. There is no joy in my heart on this issue, just relief that UND athletics will have a fighting chance to succeed in Division I.