[ESPN]

ESPN has always hated all of our athletic programs. When our Women's Basketball team was winning National Titles in the 1990's, the 4th string announcers they put on the air always rooted against us. Same with the 2001 FB National Title game; they were getting all excited about a Grand Valley State victory right before "The Play" put us on the one yard line, setting up the game winning TD. And who could forget the Doug Flutie love fest back in 2000 during the Frozen Four championship game. At least we got the last laugh on THAT one!

Screw ESPN and their cheesy, hype-filled style of sports reporting!

We know what the team should be called and that's all that matters!

GO SIOUX!!!

[UND vs Northeastern]

I hate to say this, but I think we're going to be out of the title picture for a few years at least. The senior and junior classes of forwards are nothing special. Some of the freshmen and sophomores are special, but we can't lean on them to carry the load up-front on a night-to-night basis. Next year, we lose a big chunk of our defensive core and will have a very young team again (just like in 2001-2002). I think that after next season, we'll be able to shoot for another championship (both WCHA and NCAA). But until then, get used to being average to slightly above average.

[Pick this weekend's series out come.]

Tonight the arean was as dead as I have ever seen it. I bet there are funeral homes that are noiser than the Ralph was tonight.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Goon,

What did you expect?

There wasn't anything to cheer about tonight, so the fact that the building was a morgue shouldn't surprise anyone. We never got close to mounting a comeback. If we had scored on that 2 on 1 rush in the first period instead of hitting the crossbar, it might have woken us up. Or maybe I'm just grasping for straws at 12:15am on a Sunday morning!

Let's hope for better next weekend on the road.

[Sioux vs. Duluth]

I think Bowenkamp has already used his redshirt year (I heard that on the radio someplace), so he is out of options.

As for which young quarterback should start, I like both of them and if Lennon wanted to make a change I wouldn't object. But I'd like to point out that Bowenkamp was a junior last season and a lot of fans (including myself) were not pleased with his performance early on. I think we are all a little spoiled from watching Kelby Klosterman for three years. I don't know if any of our current quarterbacks will be as good as Klosterman was, but I think we are in good shape for the present and future. This year, I think the equation is simple:

Great Defense + Great Special Teams + Solid Offense = National Title

I think the addition of Weston Dressler to special teams will raise the performance of that unit several notches. Add to that the best defense in D-2 and all the offense has to do is be solid, opportunistic and not turn the ball over. I think that if the offense develops some consistency (like they did last year), this team will be tough to stop come playoff time.

I'm not worried about the Duluth game, the one game I am concerned about is at Omaha in a couple of weeks. The Mavs aren't as good as they usually are, but we haven't won down there since 1995. And I don't think we've ever played all that well down there, either. If we can get past that game, I think we'll be in good position for the playoffs.

[UND vs UM-Duluth]

This weekend is Homecoming for both UND and former Defensive Coordinator Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert, who will bring his UMD Bulldogs into the Alerus Center to face his old team. Before the season, I was a little concerned about this game just because Bubba knows our defense inside and out and probably knows our offense as well. But after having watched the Bulldogs get beat by MSU-Mankato and have trouble with MSU-Moorhead, I don't think Bubba's inside information will have an impact on the outcome. Sioux 35, Bulldogs 7.

[Bison lose to SDSU in Brookings]

[Bison lose to SDSU in Brookings]

SDSU beats NDSU 24-21 in Brookings to win the "prestigious" Mile Marker Trophy (or whatever it's called). The Jacks drive 80 yards in about 2 minutes to take the lead and then seal it with an interception. There was a lot of whining by the TV color analyst about a pass interference call on the Bison during that drive, which I thought was a good call. The Bison drop to 0-2 in the Great West Conference. Any thoughts?

[Fighting Sioux Club - Bar Access]

As a pre game gathering spot for fans, I don't think the Penalty Box is a bad idea.

[Students of SS]

I swear some of you guys are over whinning about UND on http://www.UND-fraud.com. talking about how evil and repressive UND is and how the Administration does care about anything but money and it doesn't give people due process. I mean really UND isn't that bad and it doesn't owe you anything. Welcome to the real world. Also you guys are not the losers Vivian Nelson or Glenda Miskin are.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have a couple of things to say to both of these posters:

dakotaboy: I went to UND for 7 years and got 2 degrees (one Bachelor's and one Master's) and now I work at UND. I don't know what your situation is and I won't speculate because I don't think it's my place. But I can tell you that my experiences at UND have been nothing but positive. Sure, there are a few bad apples here and there (every place is like that), but for the most part the professors and staff are top-notch. Financial aid, like any other government-coordinated program, is bureaucratic and slow-moving sometimes. I'm sure the staff at UND are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Which brings me to......

Goon: You are one of the best posters on this forum and I think you know a lot about hockey and sports in general. But I am getting a little sick and tired of your preaching to people about "the real world" (this is not the first time I've seen you do this). Your version of the "real world" doesn't jive with common sense. You said UND doesn't owe it's students anything? Baloney. Students pay big tuition bills to go to school and a lot of them work part or even full-time to pay the bills. UND collects tuition, fees, room and board from over 13,000 students every year. The suits at UND darn well owe the students something......respect, consideration, and a committment to provide the best college experience they can. If they don't, students will go elsewhere (maybe even NDSU! ) and UND will struggle to pay it's bills. If UND is a big business, that makes the students the customers. But based on your very short-sighted view of the "real world", I guess Wal-Mart doesn't owe IT'S customers anything, even though without customers, it would cease to exist. So if dakotaboy has a problem with the financial aid office, he has every right to complain about it. Comparing him to the trouble-makers on UND-fraud.com is completely out of line and shows a lack of perspective on your part.

Now to comment on the actual topic at hand, I think the student seating issue needs to be solved as soon as possible. Have a summit meeting with REA, the Student Senate, Kupchella, and Roger Thomas and work out a sensible, fair and common-sense solution so we can get back to what's important, cheering on our team and making the Ralph the most intimidating building in College Hockey.

I now yield back the balance of my time!

[UND vs ST Cloud State]

This is the best team our Sioux have faced so far this season. It's also the toughest game we've played in so far this season. Despite all the fans who think we can't win without Bowenkamp, I think we can win this game if we execute in the following areas.

DEFENSE

1. Stop Matt Birkel cold. Don't just slow him down or contain him. Stop him cold. Make him a non-factor. If we can do that, we'll make St. Cloud unbalanced and less effective. Just like Josh Ranek and Lamar Gordon in previous years, shutting down the other team's top running back makes it easier for our defense to attack and disrupt the other team's offense. Remember NDSU in 2001? Once Gordon was neutralized, the Bison didn't have a chance.

2. Once we've neutralized the run, we can throw in a few linebacker blitzes to make their quarterback uncomfortable in the pocket. We have some of the most athletic and speedy linebackers we've ever had. Using them at the right time to harrass the quarterback could disrupt the timing of the passing game and make their quarterback less confident and more frustrated. Once he starts forcing passes, our secondary can probably get a few picks.

3. The last piece of the puzzle is our secondary, which must not give up any big passing plays. If our corners and safeties can do their jobs, we can slow down their passing game enough for our defense to get some three and outs. One big play could ruin everything, especially on the road in a hostile environment.

OFFENSE

1. Give the Huskies a steady diet of Roland and Strouth. Establish a punishing, physical running game and you'll win the time of possession battle and keep their offense off the field. This will also take some of the pressure off of Belmore so he doesn't try to win the game himself. The O-Line needs to take care of business in the trenches and win the physical battle up-front. I don't think we did that enough against Augustana. We'll need to do it here.

2. Stretch the field vertically. If we can establish the run, St. Cloud will start to bring their corners and safeties up for run support. This is where Belmore must take advantage of the situation and make some big plays. He missed some receivers in the Augustana game and he must make some plays in St. Cloud if we are going to win.

3. Score touchdowns, not field goals. Our first two possessions in Sioux Falls started in Augie territory and ended with field goals. If we get field position like that in St. Cloud, we must punch it in the end zone for 6 points. The Augustana game would have been more lopsided on the scoreboard if we had punched it in those two times instead of settling for three points. 14-0 is a lot harder to overcome than 6-0.

PREDICTION

My pronostications are usually dubious, but here goes nothing: UND defense and SCSU offense are evenly matched, although I think our D is a little bit better than their offense. That being said, the game will be decided by whether our offense can score on their defense. If we can establish the run and hit a few big passing plays, we'll be able to establish a lead and be able to play the game at a strategic advantage. Then our defense will have to stop the run and force SCSU to pass more than they want to. If we can do those things, I think we'll have a couple of long touchdown drives, one big offensive play and maybe even one defensive touchdown. That should give us enough points for our defense to work with.

Final Score: UND 28, SCSU 17

[Augustana Game Thread]

yeah i don't think anyone is ripping on Belmore....just think he is young and inexperienced...obviously he is a good player.........just yeah we need someone making plays now...not 2 years down the road....we need Bowenkamp back to make any kind of playoff run

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So basically what everyone is saying on this topic is that if John Bowenkamp is not our starting quarterback, the season will not be a success. I think people are pushing the panic button a little too soon. Dale Lennon was on 1440 AM tonight saying that he is pleased with Belmore's progress and thinks the criticism is unwarranted. Lennon said that he is not at the point where he is alarmed about Belmore's mistakes and how they will affect the success of the team. If Bowenkamp can come back 100% healthy, then that's a good thing. If Lennon decides to go with Manke instead of Belmore at some point, that's also fine. But I don't think we should start panicking over one sluggish offensive game. If Belmore continues to struggle, then I am all for making a change. But right now, playing musical chair quarterbacks won't solve anything.

[Augustana Game Thread]

I was at the game on Saturday and Belmore did not play well at all. But when Belmore was ripping apart Mesa State and Central Washington a few weeks ago, I didn't hear all of this talk about how bad of a quarterback he is. I remember Kelby Klosterman as a sophmore starter and he struggled at times. But it was also very obvious that he was a great athlete and was going to develop into a great quarterback, which he did when he led us to a National Title as a junior. I personally think Belmore has played better as a sophmore filling in for a senior starter than Bowenkamp did when he filled in for an injured Klosterman in 2002.

I think some people are overreacting to what happened in Sioux Falls on Saturday. We still have the #1 defense in the nation (probably the best this program has ever had), two solid running backs, a good O-Line, and two sophmore quarterbacks who will get better with time. We made a lot of mistakes on Saturday (penalties, turnovers) that are correctable. Also, we were playing a better-than-usual Augustana team on their home field (where we have always struggled).

St. Cloud is a good team, but so far they haven't beaten anybody good (except for maybe Western Washington). I don't think they'll hang 40+ points on our defense and I think our offense can score on their "D". I think it will be a great game on Saturday and I think the coaching staff will have this team ready to perform.

[Digger Anderson]

I think if Digger Anderson doesn't get First-Team All-American Honors this year, something is wrong. He was one of the few bright spots last year and is already the best linebacker on the team as a sophmore. He'll go down as one of the best linebackers to ever play for the Sioux, and that's saying a lot considering how many great ones have played here. Every week, Digger makes a play that makes a difference in the game (i.e. stopping Rob Malone on 4th and inches in overtime). I remember Mark Callahan, one of our best D-Linemen ever, getting 2nd and 3rd teamed to death when it came to All-American honors. I hope that doesn't happen to Digger. He's as good as they come.

[Only 7,000 at the Al for a home playoff game?]

They'll televize it...they make too much money with advertisements to not.

If people don't come to the game, you lose money on ticket sales and concessions. After all, how can people spend their hard-earned money on $2.00 cups of coffee and $4.00 hot dogs if they watch it on TV?

Seriously though, we need a much better showing by the fans next Saturday. Granted, it's Thanksgiving weekend, but there have to be some people who would love to top off their Thanksgiving celebrations with another Sioux win. I maintain that it shouldn't be televised unless ticket sales reach or exceed 10,000. Or only televise it outside the Greater Grand Forks area so that local fans have no choice but to get their butts off the couch and go. It's the playoffs, we need everyone we can get.

[Only 7,000 at the Al for a home playoff game?]

I was at the game yesterday and couldn't believe all the empty seats at the Alerus Center. This is a first-round playoff game, not another laugher against UM-Crookston. There is absolutely no excuse for a 13,500 seat arena to have that many empty seats in it. And I don't want to hear a word about the freaking hunting season, either!

At least the people that were there were into it, but when you are one of only 16 teams in D-II still playing, you deserve more than a half-full house. I think we shouldn't televise ANY playoff games unless ticket sales reach 10,000+. That might solve some of our attendance problems.

Any other thoughts?

[Question for students]

Ever since the revival of the Sioux program in the mid to late 1990's, certain members of the general public have tried to take away student seats so they can have them for themselves. I was a freshman during Gino's final, pathetic year as head coach. We won 11 games that year (7 at home). The crowd was only about half-full most nights, but I also remember that the general public section of the Old Ralph was a lot emptier than the student section.

After Blais took over and the program took off, tickets became hard to come by and season tickets were soon gone. Suddenly, people in the Grand Forks area who wouldn't give the team the time of day before suddenly wanted tickets, but couldn't get them because they waited too long to commit to the program.

Instead of getting on the waiting list and waiting their turn, certain individuals around here decided to take out their frustrations on the student body, who for the most part had stuck with their team through both thick and thin. They would criticize students for not filling up the student section during a long holiday weekend or one of those infernal Saturday-Sunday afternoon weekends that Wanless loved so much. These were times where a lot of students either wanted to go home and spend some time with their families or had jobs they had to work. But the anti-student crowd insisted that the students didn't "appreciate" their seats and that they should lose them.

Now we have a brand-new arena, but the same tired old bullcrap. REA, Inc. had better realize that the student section is still the heart and soul of the crowd at home games. The crazy and creative signs and cheers, the distractions that they give our opponents (especially the Gophers!!! ) and the overall energy and dedication that they commit to our team all make Sioux home games well worth the money.

I am now a season-ticket holder and a Fighting Sioux Club member and I am 110% behind our student body on this. If we have to rearrange the seating to solve this problem, that's fine. Just make sure that the students can still have the effect that they are supposed to have on the game. Ralph Engelstad built this arena to benefit the program and keep it on top. If we start ruining our home ice advantage by minimizing the students, REA will become what Gopher fans said it was before our sweep this weekend, "Marriucci West". It will become another boring, tame corporate playpen that will not intimidate anyone. I for one do not want to be a part of something like that. I encourage all season-ticket holders and Fighting Sioux Club members to let REA, Inc. and the Athletic Department know that you want the students to continue to have a strong impact during our home games and that you appreciate their energy, enthusiasm, creativity and devotion to our team. I plan on doing so myself. GO SIOUX!!! WE'RE ON OUR WAY BACK!!!