fightingsioux4life

That will be bittersweet for me. Bitter because of the loss of such an iconic building.....sweet because of what it means for all our programs.

Really? Are you one of those duckie and bunny "fans" that thinks just having a team and calling it Division I is good enough? If that is the case, then YOU are the one that is up for that award. Sicatoka is saying what I have been saying for months and months on this forum: Run this athletic department like a Division I program. Stop making excuses and the whining and crying about how much money it costs to get quality home games for football. Stop bringing in "powers" like SD Mines so we can keep more of the gate and balance the budget easier. I do not want to become a glorified junior college program in ND while the Ag College wins title after title and is considered "the school" in North Dakota. Our transition is over July 1st, 2012. It's put up or shut up time!

I think this is the REAL reason why Notre Dame is not in the NCHC (some people thought it was over the name and logo). They wanted the whole conference to revolve around their fat, bloated, egotistical heads. It figures that NBC would cater hand and foot to the "Whimpy Irish". We are better off with them in Hockey Least, where they can take some of the media hype away from the Beantown Bullies (Boston College and Boston U).

That game was awesome. It was one year following the end of the 12 year losing streak to the Bison and the Fargodome was full of fans lusting for some revenge. Everyone thought we would lose big, but it was so much fun to watch people leaving late in the 3rd quarter.

I suppose you can just bring with you an original copy of your birth certificate. I have two of them, so I probably would use one of those if I did not have a passport (which I have).

I agree with your feelings on this, but I don't think this team will qualify for the playoffs next year with or without SD Mines on the schedule. The team is still a work in progress, especially at the QB position. But in future years, this type of scheduling will hurt us sooner or later.

It's an out-of-this-world sandwich that The Red Pepper has built their entire name on. It's definitely worth having.

Be careful darell; if you complain about football scheduling too much, you'll be reminded that it's just too darn hard to get Division I teams to come to Grand Forks and that it's just too hard on the budget to pull it off. All sarcasm aside, I agree with you 100% I think early on we should have cut some 2 for 1 deals (two road games for one home game) with schools to get them to come to Grand Forks. That would make it less tempting to skip out on us and it would establish us as a program that is willing to go anywhere, anytime, against anyone. That might have prevented the SD Mines game from ever being considered, let alone scheduled.

This sounds like Tom Douple making another last-ditch effort to get us to join his merry band of sub-par institutions. Maybe Douple is the one ghostwriting the blog?!?! No student-athlete in their right mind would claim that they don't care about the health and well-being of the very program that they are a part of! This is a big, fat, steaming load of crap!!! Believe it if you wish, but that is what it is!

Okay, so that means that the UND Sports Network will go bye-bye once HD is the only game in town? I sure hope we don't get into a situation where we absolutely need the new HD equipment to broadcast our games and we don't have the resources to do it. Let's hope that UND and REA can work together to get the equipment in place before that happens. Don't just assume it will happen because it should happen or because we want it to happen.

The day is coming when all television will be in HD and it won't be possible to broadcast in anything else. My question is this: When that day comes, will WDAZ spring for the equipment or will the UND Sports Network simply cease broadcasting? My point is this: Either get HD equipment now or get it later, but you will eventually have to do it. That day is sooner than you think.

I will be there with a friend of mine from college days. I wonder if we'll get any smart remarks from Major Junior devotees about our brand of hockey. I guess after last night's WJC result, all I have to say is "Team Russia".

Getting back on topic....... Does anyone else find it interesting that the Petitioners went as far as to take REA, Inc. to court to be allowed to collect signatures there? This tells me that they are having trouble getting the signatures they will need to get this on the ballot; otherwise I don't think they would be spending the time and money (both of which they don't have much of) to get a judge to order REA to let them on area grounds. I could be wrong about this, but that is my hunch.

First of all, it isn't their theory, its our theory. The anti-nickname crowd doesn't care about our athletic program at all, they just want to use the name and logo to look important and to achieve political power and influence. Second of all, it isn't a "theory", it is a cold hard fact that the athletic department cannot survive without a conference home. And the Big Sky Conference has made it clear over and over and over again that if the name stays and sanctions are imposed, they are not interested in having us in their league. They made their offer to us when we had declared our intentions of settling the nickname issue by retiring the name and logo. But thanks to "Clueless Al" Carlson, that resolution is in doubt. If anything DaveK, YOU are the one that is gullible in thinking that the nickname-at-all-costs crowd has all the answers when in fact they are basing their positions on pure wishful-thinking and moral indignation. I am not happy about the name and logo being retired, but I also realize that we live in the real world and we must learn to function in it if we want to accomplish anything of significance for the present and the future. The choices couldn't be more clear on this matter; I am sorry that you and some others can't see that.

The truth hurts, doesn't it "Star". Or, based on your posts, you could be Rob Port for all we know.

Screw Rob Port and his piece of crap political dirt sheet blog! I am sick and tired of that demagogue running around talking like he has microphones planted in all these meetings so he can give "the folks" in North Dakota "the rest of the story". Everyone should take the garbage he prints with a big, fat grain of salt. I hope Port crosses the wrong people and gets sued over it. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. And shame on YOU, Star, for getting your "news" from this Matt Drudge wanna-be.

Mac Schneider is fighting to retire the nickname because he knows that keeping it at all costs will forever ruin the athletic department at UND. In case you have forgotten; Schneider was the starting Center on the 2001 D-II National Championship Football team. I suppose the hockey-only crowd couldn't care less about that championship, but I and most of us on here will never forget it and are grateful to Mac for his contributions to that team. I think Mac knows what it meant to play three playoff games at home and what it meant to be in a strong conference like the NCC. Without those crucial elements, that trophy would not reside in Grand Forks, ND. To reduce Schneider, a proud member of UND's athletic alumni family, to the role of a "Democratic PCer" who just wants to run for Federal office is shameful and misleading. Shame on you, Mr. The-Big-Sky-is-only-bluffing. Thank God you are not in charge of UND's athletic department.

I find it very interesting that they are suing REA, Inc. for the right to collect signatures on arena grounds. That tells me they are having some trouble gathering signatures. Why go through all the expense of legal action if the signature collection campaign was going good? It is tough to gather signatures in a state as spread out and expansive as North Dakota is. I really hope that it never gets on the ballot.

This is the excuse Rich Glas would use; there just aren't any big men we can get. Then Augustana would come to town with a big man in the middle. This definitely needs to be addressed.

I am not sure if we would have a choice. Moving to D-II or D-III is still within the NCAA's dictatorial reach. We cannot maintain an athletic department as a Division I independent; the costs would be enormous. Other schools won't play us because of the name and logo. The anti-logo crowd doesn't care what home the athletic department has; they just hate the name and logo and want it gone. I don't want it gone, but if it means our athletic department is crippled forever, then it has to go.

The hockey-only people are so tone deaf it's unreal. Let me lay it out for you, like I have many, many, many times before: -The Big Sky will revoke their offer of membership in their league (remember, our membership isn't official until July 1st, 2012). -Minnesota and Wisconsin will announce they will no longer schedule us in any sport in which we don't share conference affiliation(including hockey). Other schools, pressured by the autocrats at the NCAA, will follow suit. -Recruiting will become increasingly difficult for football and basketball because of the lack of conference affiliation. Coaches like Chris Mussman and Brian Jones will leave for better jobs elsewhere. Gene Roebuck will retire and get out while the getting is good. -The athletic department will bleed red ink from the travel costs of being a Division I independent and the scheduling difficulties until it is determined that a move to NAIA will be required (both to escape the sanctions and to cut costs). -The hockey teams will then be forced to leave the NCAA and petition the CCAA for membership. With our fan base, facilities, tradition and media exposure, they will welcome us with open arms. But it will represent a clear downgrade from what we enjoy today. -While all this is happening, the Ag College will become a national power in FCS football, winning national title after national title and their basetball programs will become well-known in March in the NCAA tournament. They will gladly (and gleefully) fill the vaccum created by our implosion and destruction created by "Clueless Al" Carlson and the myopic viewpoint of the nickname-at-all-costs crowd. Simply put, you must sponsor at least 7 sports for both men and women to be a part of the NCAA. Without a conference home, we will drown in a sea of red ink. And I don't care how much money REA generates, it won't be enough to cover all those unpaid bills. Every school has one big revenue sport to help fund the other sports and hockey is ours. But do you REALLY want hockey to drive a bus without any passengers on it? Is the name and logo REALLY worth the total and complete destruction of UND athletics? Bottom line, whether you and the rest of the nickname-only, hockey-only crowd like it or not, either all our sports rise up together or we all crash and burn. I know which path I am choosing.

Is that UND's SID you are talking about? I haven't read his stuff too much, but I will take your word for it. You are right, Schlossman doesn't do it all the time, but he has done it enough to get my attention. The rest of the Grand Forks media is also to blame for it. But in the end, it's a team game and it's teams that win or lose games, not individuals.

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I will give him credit this morning, though. He didn't blame last night's tie on a hot goaltender. Personally, I think the team is just so beat up and shorthanded they can't sustain 60 minutes of effort.

Read my signature.

Karma has already bitten them in the backside; remember Russia's comeback in the gold medal game last year? And our gold medal in Saskatoon that shut up the crowd. As the U.S. gets better and better in hockey and as other nations work to build up their programs, there'll be more opportunities to stick it to Team O' Canada.