fightingsioux4life

Touchdown Idaho State. That was WAY too easy. Offense has to respond to this.

Too many missed and broken tackles on that last play. Idaho State receiver is down and being helped off.

Fumble...mad scramble for the ball. Crap...Idaho State got it back.

Freund to Brady.......TOUCHDOWN NORTH DAKOTA!!!!! PAT good. 8:45 left in 2nd quarter UND 21 ISU 0

TOUCHDOWN JOSH MURRAY!!! PAT Good. UND 14 ISU 0 Early 2nd Quarter

Webcast is running, but WAY behind the action.

Fumble...Sioux football!

It's back....for now.

Correct. The time listed on the web site is Mountain Time.

It isn't frozen. Look in the background, there are people walking and throwing footballs around. The volume is non-existent, but I'm listening to 96.1 FM anyway.

Well, I have the webcast up and running and it works really great! Link to the web site: http://www.bigskytv.org/index.php?option=c...ge&Itemid=1 Prediction: UND 31, ISU 21 GO SIOUX!!!

The schedule will get better in the ensuing years, we just have stay patient. This is the problem with our athletic department: If it isn't men's hockey, it doesn't matter. We can't have this attitude anymore if we are going to have success at the D-I level.

Please tell me you didn't just say that. As for the topic at hand, I think the biggest problem with this program right now is that we are playing like the Minnesota Wild instead of the great Sioux teams of old. This dump and chase, trapping style does not match up well against teams like Boston College. Michigan State had teams like this in the 1990's and they never lived up to the hype of the regular season. As long as we build our teams like this, I think we will have trouble winning the big one.

For Pete's Sake, I can't believe we are still bickering over whether to call it I-AA or DI FCS. People will get used to the change and this will go away. Until then, can we please focus on the upcoming season? End (very short) Rant.

I will miss Tony's expert analysis delivered through obvious green colored glasses! As for Clear Channel retaining the broadcast rights, I wonder if this means we'll be "treated" to more technical problems in almost every broadcast? What happened during the Mankato road football game last year was really bad. People listening on the radio didn't get to hear Hammer's call on Chappell's game-winning 81-yard catch and run TD. Thankfully I was there or I would have missed it too. Besides expanding the Fighting Sioux Sports TV Network, getting a better radio deal (even if it means doing it in-house) should be a top priority of Brian Faison as we move up to Division I across the board.

Have to disagree with you on this one. Kellen "Five Hole" Briggs was one of the big reasons why the Gophers didn't three-peat in 2004, lost to UND in the 2005 National Semifinals and got beat by the #15 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament in Grand Forks in 2006. His performance in the 2006 Final Five Semifinal game against St. Cloud State was one of the worst I have ever seen by a goaltender at any level; it looked like he was in warm-ups. As a senior, he sat on the bench during the West Regional Final in 2007. He might have put up some decent numbers during the regular season, but once the playoffs started he was unreliable. I just don't see him making it at the next level.

And when we did have something to play for (D-II titles), we still didn't market football. We have an exciting transition to DI FCS football that we can market to our fans. Once we are off probation, we will have a solid and loyal fan base to fill up the Alerus Center and travel with our team on the road. We also have to start marketing our DI basketball teams better. This hockey-only attitude that has dominated our athletic department for years has to stop. Now. Hockey has reached a level where all that is necessary is to send out the season ticket renewal notices on time, release the schedule in July so people can start booking their road trips in advance and organize Alumni gatherings at the WCHA Final Five and NCAA tournaments. The program is self-perpetuating; it sells itself. That is not the case for our other programs. If we don't start giving our other programs more marketing exposure and better overall support, this DI move will be a disaster. Building FSSN into a comprehensive, multi-sport network is a good place to start. I say we do it starting next year.

If you can sell tickets to Montana Tech (how bout them Orediggers!), then we should be able to sell tickets to UW-La Crosse. Your athletic department hyped your football team as the greatest thing since sliced bread in your first couple of years even if the schedule strength didn't match the rhetoric. That is what our athletic department should be doing right now. I am sick of our athletic department focusing on hockey and nothing else. Now that we are moving up to D-I, we can't do that anymore. We will have to promote the health of all of our athletic programs or else this move won't work.

Priceless, absolutely priceless! Thanks for the laugh!

This is the problem that I have with the pro-smoking rights lobby. They think that smokers should have more rights than non-smokers. And that is not what this country was founded on. A person's rights and liberties are guaranteed so long as they don't infringe on other's rights and liberties and/or the activity in question does not cause harm to other people. Smoking in an enclosed area exposes non-smokers to toxins that are worse than what the smoker is inhaling. That is why it is being regulated. Asbestos was discovered to be a cause of cancer, so we don't use it in building construction anymore. And if someone wants to renovate a building that has Asbestos in it, they have to remove the offending substance so that people aren't harmed by it. Based on pure private property rights however, we should just let businesses decide if they want to use Asbestos in their buildings and if people don't want to be exposed to it, they should just not patronize the place or "choose not to work there". Some people think fast food is next, but I think that is different. If you go to McDonalds and gorge yourself on Big Macs and Quarter Pounders, you are only hurting yourself; the guy in the next booth isn't going to be harmed by it. Smoking harms not only the person lighting up, but everyone in that building who breathes in the second-hand smoke. And the next business owner who tells me (through the media) to get out if I don't like second-hand smoke will never get my business again. Ever. I am not in favor of outdoor smoking bans, as I think that goes too far in punishing smokers. As long as they pick up after themselves, they can huff and puff all they want. But indoor smoking bans are no different than health regulations for bars and restaurants, fire safety regulations and building codes. Free enterprise must be tempered by reasonable concern for public health and safety. End Rant.

This must be a first in the history of sports in Fargo. All previous attempts to establish hockey in Fargo have failed in part because the Football-Wrestling-Basketball Sports Axis exerted a tremendous amount of influence in the community as a whole. Support for hockey was always painted as taking away from football, wrestling and basketball. In other words, it was treated as a zero-sum game. This is a sign that the construction of the Urban Plains Center (even with all it's warts) and the hiring of a credible hockey man like Dean Blais has given the idea of hockey in Fargo some real traction for the first time. I personally am all for it, as it will strengthen the sport in the region.

I'm not too sure about that. The momentum for public smoking bans is growing, not shrinking. If a conservative community like Fargo can get public support for a smoking ban, the rest of the state won't be far behind.

If Bjerke had had one challenger instead of two, he wouldn't have won. Pearson and Hilliard split the anti-Bjerke vote. Maybe council meetings will be more entertaining with Bjerke's ranting and raving. I suspect we'll have a lot of 6-1 votes with Bjerke being the 1. The link below has all the Grand Forks County Election Results: Grand Forks County Primary Election Results The Riverside Pool also won big.

So if the Final Five is not important, then it wouldn't have mattered if we had lost in the first round to Michigan Tech (which we came very close to doing) because we would have qualified for the NCAA tournament anyway? It does matter if you make it to St. Paul or not. I won't elevate it to the same level as the Frozen Four (like fans of the Beanpot do), but it's a great tournament stacked with some of the best talent in the nation year after year. I have reserved seats and I am not giving them up for anything. Everyone likes to point out the Denver example in 2005, but that is an exception to the rule. You can improve your Pairwise ranking by getting to the Final Five and winning at least two games because you are playing nationally-ranked teams who are either going to be in the NCAA's or are in contention for a spot. Tell Coach Hakstol and the players it doesn't matter and they probably would look at you like you've lost your mind. In my opinion, we should hang banners in The Ralph for Final Five championships won, along with the NCAA and WCHA regular season banners. No runner-up or participation banners, though. That honor is reserved for St. Cloud State!

I think people are forgetting how young the Pens are. Most of their best players are in their early 20's. I am surprised that they made it this far this soon. The Red Wings have a nice blend of youth and experience, solid goaltending and forwards that backcheck when necessary. Detriot has one of the best teams they have ever had and it's amazing that the Pens are doing as well as they are in this series. I think the Flyers or Canadiens would have gotten swept by the Red Wings. The Flyers couldn't skate with the Red Wings and the Canadiens don't have the goaltending right now. Whether you love them or hate them, this isn't the last time you will see the Pens in the Stanley Cup finals. The Wild on the other hand.....