fightingsioux4life

I am not declaring academics and television money a non-factor, it just wasn't part of the point I was trying to make to Mr. Marriucci. He seems to think that schools that aren't "big time" in every sport are not worthy of being on the mighty U of M's schedule and I took exception to that. Please don't jump to conclusions. Is the Big Ten second-rate to the Big Sky or the Slummit? Heck no. Is it a notch or two lower than conferences like the SEC and ACC? You say no. I say yes.

Oh really? What happens when one of their football schools plays an SEC school in a bowl game? That's right, they get destroyed. The overall Big Ten record in bowl games is very average most years. They can only wish they were as good as the ACC in basketball and the SEC in football. And I was only talking about the success of their teams on a national level, not their academics or how much money BTN makes. The truth is, the Big Ten has fallen behind other big-time conferences in the south and on the east coast. If you think they are a big deal, that is your opinion. It's not a fact.

You just keep proving my point. No wonder you guys don't want to play us anymore. The hockey snobs down there have been waiting for years to tell us to take a hike. Why do you keep pretending that the Big Ten is a big deal? It's a second-rate, wanna-be conference. And hockey will get the short end of the stick from the Big Ten itself. Be careful what you wish for........

Next time, put a or a at the end of it. Otherwise, it comes off wrong.

This comment perfectly illustrates the arrogant and condecending attitude of the Big 10 schools (particularly Minnesota) towards schools that are not "big time" in anything besides hockey. And it also tells you how low on the food chain hockey is for the Big 10. Enjoy having hockey as a red-headed step-child in your own conference.

When you know your conference is going to suck, you have to try and compensate with a shiny, oversized trophy.

Okay, I am not tracking the games at work.

Yeah, they might take home their eighth runner-up trophy.

The reason people don't like private schools winning tournaments is that private schools can pick and choose their students (athletes and otherwise), while public schools have to accept everybody. Sure, open enrollment helps even this out to a certain extent, but it's definitely not the same as being able to include and exclude students using your own hand-picked criteria. Having private schools in AA is one possible solution. So is having an all-private school division with it's own tournament (if there are enough schools for that). Either one would be better than what we have now. If you can pick out the eventual winner of the tournament, how much fun is that for the kids?

I think the players pick out the warm-up music and that is how it should remain. I honestly hope REA doesn't ever dictate to the players what music they can warm up to.

Didn't take long for that award to become as big of a joke as the Hobey.

The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament started today with four Class A quarterfinal games. Class AA quarterfinals are on Thursday. EGF is representing Section 8A and Moorhead is representing Section 8AA. Any thoughts? Predictions?

Yeah, until they moved from the Happy Harry's strip mall to the Town and Country Mall. That killed it off, I think people weren't willing to travel halfway across town to go there. I used to live right behind the Town and Country Mall, however, so I used to walk over there and get one of their subs. They were fantastic.

Nice comback.

Good luck Brett.

fat alberts > subway

Watch out, you'll be lectured on the importance of being satisfied with what we have now.

I honestly don't know if I want someone else picking my seats. I could get stuck in seats I don't like. I think I will wait.

We always have tons of fans there! I was there in 2004, 2008 and 2010 and it was almost as loud when UND scored as it was when Mankato scored (without that stupid "ole, ole, ole!!!" crap, of course).

Blame it on whomever gave Penn State all that money to start a program. That is why this is happening at all.

Okay, that is a fair point. I just think that the attendance for the Big Ten Tournament will pale in comparison to the current version of the Final Five. As will the NCHC attendance. As will the new WCHA attendance. We have had the perfect storm of schools, travel distance, location and facility over the past 15 years with the current WCHA. It will never be duplicated. The X can try all they want, but most of us won't give the Big Ten tournament the time of day.

Why would the WCHA think that anyone that is not a fan of Minnesota or Wisconsin care ONE IOTA about the Big 10 Hockey Conference? My theory is described in one word: A-R-R-O-G-A-N-C-E We'll have to wait and see what happens to their attendance figures and revenue streams before we'll know if this attitude is justified.

When my Final Five tickets came in the mail, there was a flyer telling all of us how to purchase Big Ten Hockey Conference Tournament tickets! And as Final Five ticket holders, we would get priority over everyone else! How considerate of them! Honestly, unless you are a Gopher or Badger fan, why would you even CARE about the Big Ten Tournament? I was a little irritated by that; it felt like a cheap shot at the NCHC.

My point is that we had both going on at the same time and it worked out okay.

I never said that, you are just choosing to believe it. All I did in my original post was point out that having a core of players that stick around 3-4 years makes it easier to build a cohesive unit of players that know each other and work well together. And I provided a concrete example of that (the mid to late 1990's). And it's a fair conversation to have because it goes back to our recruiting philosophy as a program. Unless, of course, you think that should be off-limits on SS.com. I don't think it should be.