fightingsioux4life

Only one I got right so far is Union; I actually have them winning it all. They are a team nobody knows much about, but I think they are legit and I think they will surprise some of the more established programs.

Iowa (Big 10) - Iowa State (Big 12)

Okay, fair enough. You have a good point. I think some of us just get tired of the same tired old misinformation and wishful thinking being presented as "fact" and promoted by people like Rob Port and it gets the best of us (including myself).

I agree with you on insults, but I don't think the possible destruction of UND athletics as we know them is "trivial" at all. This is serious business to those of us that care about UND as an institution.

I don't have to go on "Spin Cycle" to answer that. The two athletes you mentioned are the exception to the rule. Alcorn State had brief success with McNair at QB in the early 1990's (Sports Illustrated even put him on their cover with the headline "Hand Him the Heisman"). Alcorn St. has done nothing since and will likely do nothing ever again. Even the most backwater schools will occasionally produce NFL players. Jerry Rice played for Mississippi Valley St. and Walter Peyton played for Jackson St. Both of those guys are NFL Hall of Famers. And both of those colleges remain backwater institutions in the world of college athletics. If that is the type of institution you think UND should emulate, then you have bigger problems than losing the name and logo.

The next thing the NCAA will do is ban soda because it promotes childhood obesity and is not consistent with "the values of our organization". After what has transpired over the past six years, I wouldn't put it past them.

I am so sick and tired of people like you using Alcorn State as a prime example of how NCAA sanctions will do us no harm. Alcorn State is BAD in everything! Being under sanctions has NO IMPACT WHATSOEVER on Alcorn State. But a large majority of our teams are frequent visitors to NCAA postseason play and the sanctions will negatively impact our recruiting, scheduling and athletic department budgets. If we keep the name and logo at all costs, the Big Sky will likely give us the boot and that will plunge us into a sea of financial red ink. It is entirely possible that Kelley and Faison would soon determine that maintaining a football program under those circumstances is not feasible (financially and otherwise) and would then move to have the program dropped. Not such a "small price to pay" anymore, is it?

Section 113, Row 25, Seats 16 & 17

Me and my wife will be there this weekend. I won't have the tickets in hand until I pick them up from the REA ticket office tomorrow, but I have secured them and I also have made the hotel reservations. Can't wait!

The real impact of sanctions won't come until the Big Sky boots our collective butts out, we lose a home playoff football game that the team worked hard to earn and we are no longer playing Minnesota and Wisconsin in any sport (including hockey once the Big Ten Hockey Conference starts up). That is when the athletic department budget will drown in red ink, recruits will avoid us like the lepers we have become and the prestige and image of the institution will be tarnished forever. But according to Rob Port and his ilk, all of these things are "a small price to pay". Maybe Alcorn State can get us into their conference and we can exist as a backwater, bush league athletic program? After all, we would still have our name and logo. And isn't that all that really matters?

I think it will be solid for both semifinal games. If both BU and WMU win on Saturday, championship attendance will suffer. If either UND or UM are in the championship game, the crowd will be good. If it's a rematch of Friday's Final Five Semifinal, it will be insane in there.

That is absolutely pathetic. Just when you think they have finished coming up with pathetic excuses for losses to us, they top themselves. Gopher fans come into this tournament every year with the attitude that this is really the Gopher Invitational Tournament (GIT) and the Gophers are the real stars of the show and the rest of the teams really don't matter. When that narrative doesn't play out, they resort to this type of garbage. I guess it shouldn't surprise me. Their fans also should stop picking fights they cannot win. The Gopher fan "interviewed" before the game said we are spending all our money on lawyers while they are spending theirs on making their facilities better. Well son, I got news for you, you can dump as much money as you want into The John, but you'll never, ever match the overwhelming advantage of Ralph Engelstad Arena. REA has been there for 11 years now. Seriously, get over it!

VCU made the Final Four last year as one of those "play-in" teams. That and all the upsets that happened on Friday shows you how competitive college basketball is becoming.

But remember, it's "a small price to pay". Hopefully we'll win enough games to make it an issue.

We must play better tonight if we want to win. That being said, win or lose, this team has likely locked up an NCAA tournament berth and will live to play again next weekend. GO SIOUX!!!

This is what I see happening: -The North Dakota Supreme Court will rule that this law is unconstitutional. The June referral vote will not happen. -The Spirit Lake committee will then push to get the constitutional amendment on the November ballot. This is where the UND Alumni Association has to ramp up its education campaign to tell North Dakotans exactly what is at stake and why UND athletics cannot survive under NCAA sanctions. -If the amendment still passes, I predict that the Legislature will vote with a 2/3rds majority to overturn the amendment during the 2013 session: North Dakota Constitution, Article III, Section 8: A measure approved by the electors may not be repealed or amended by the legislative assembly for seven years from its effective date, except by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house. http://ballotpedia.o...ution#Section_8. I believe the repeal vote of the nickname law was 2/3rds in the Senate and close to 2/3rds in the House. But I honestly hope that it never gets to that point. If it does, the damage to UND athletics will take years to repair.

You are thinking of the regional final vs. Denver, we really thumped them! As for where I am sitting, me and my wife will be sitting in Section 125 near the top of the lower bowl. I am in one of the corners, so I have a great view of the ice. And most of the Gopher fans I sit near are actually nice and decent to deal with.

Wow, you got everything right except for the Tech @ CC series! Your next vacation should be Vegas (and don't forget the quarters)!

You are right, he was wrong about that one. But the rest of his post was spot-on.

And the BCS-ites think the Bull Crap Series in football is better! I am with you 100%. Once we get this nickname issue settled, we can focus on things like this as a member of the Big Sky Conference.

If you want truthful, accurate info on this issue, just keep reading this forum. A lot of us have followed the issue for years. If you want delusional, unsubstantiated propaganda about how keeping the name and logo won't do UND harm at all, go to www.sayanythingblog.com. Hope I helped you out!

Can't believe I am agreeing with you on something, but I am on this. Once you reach the Frozen Four, everybody is good (especially in goal) and it's about who executes and who is ready to play. This team has not been ready to play in the Frozen Four since 2005. It's time to bring home the bacon and stop with the alibis and the excuses. Who knows, it could happen this year. Sometimes, it happens when you least expect it.

While I am not in the "Fire Hak" camp (that would be rash and stupid), it is totally fair to be critical of this team's performance in the Frozen Four under Hakstol's leadership. The 2008 debacle against Boston College when we were down 4-0 midway thru the 1st period is inexcusable. It is part of the job of the coaching staff to get the team ready to play during those situations. Is it easy? No, but that's why these coaches get paid big money to run this program. It is not unreasonable at all to expect our teams to come out firing on all cylinders when it counts the most. And I think Hakstol would tell you the same thing if you asked him. I have no patience with the whole "one and done format" excuse. Based on that, the Minnesota Vikings should be the team of the 1970's because of their regular season success. But they were 0-3 in Super Bowls during that decade, so they cannot be considered the best team of the 70's. That title would have to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And this is a very die-hard, passionate Vikings fan saying that! As for the "hot goalie" excuse, I will give Hakstol credit for not using that when we lose. That whole thing has been invented by the Grand Forks media (check out my signature for who I think is the main culprit) and promoted by certain fans in our fan base. UMD didn't have trouble scoring enough goals last year to beat Michigan for the national title; they just got it done when it counted. I was in St. Paul for that whole debacle and the team was just not ready to play. Many, many shots from the outside and not enough traffic in front to set up screens or tip-ins. They looked nothing like the team that thumped Denver in the regional final. Frattin had a breakaway and shot the puck high and wide off the glass for Pete's Sake! I suppose that was the hot goalie again, right? I hate to say this because I hate Denver with a passion, but in retrospect I think they would have represented our league better against Michigan last year. I have said this before and I will say it again: Since 2001, UND has become "Runner-Up U" in every single sport. We have been playing second and third fiddle to someone else in every sport during the past 11 years. And that is not the standard that was set around here in the 1980's and 90's. If it was, we wouldn't even get the caliber of student-athlete that we get. Bottom line is, no one remembers (or cares) who finishes second. At some point, it will start to affect our recruiting. And I really don't want that to happen. I think once Hakstol brings home a national title (and I do think it will happen), all this talk will go away.

I think you can blame the Attorney General's office for the 2007 Terms of Surrender agreement with the NCAA. That is the piece of paper that guarranteed the retirement of the name and logo. Without that, we might still have a chance to pull this out of the fire. Alas, it is not to be.