fightingsioux4life

I said Alaska-Fairbanks of the Crappy Collegiate Hockey Association, not the surprise team in the WCHA this season (UAA). Fairbanks (or just plain old "Alaska", as they are calling themselves now) has always been a nickel (thanks for the spelling reminder! ) and dime program. Anchorage looks to be building a winner after years of mediocre teams. Michigan Tech is improved, but I'm not totally convinced yet. They've had other seasons that looked promising but didn't pan out. They still have to fight off 30+ years of losing. My point is that North Dakota's program sets a higher standard of excellence, a standard not shared by all schools who happen to have Division I Hockey. And we are not living up to that standard right now. And that is why people are ticked off.

I was born in Tucson, AZ. My parents moved to Grand Forks when I was 3 and I am still here. I went to Grand Forks Central and UND. I now work at UND (within sight of REA!) and have season tickets to both football and hockey. I didn't think I would still be here, but I am.

And the massive amount of "duckies and bunnies" talk we are getting from some posters is making me sick. I think most of the people on this board are die-hard, green and white blooded fans who want us to be #1; not 2nd, 3rd, 4th or anything else. We have high expectations, but I would rather have high standards and sometimes fall short instead of having lower standards that are easier to reach (example: winning seasons, home ice, occasional trip to the Final Five, ect). Great players come to North Dakota because of those high standards, they want to win. We get carried away sometimes, but that is better than having low standards and not caring if we win or lose. Just my 2 cents.

HockeyMom, I appreciate your positive outlook on most everything, but I have to disagree with you on this topic. You can be a real fan and still point out obvious problems with your team. This team has numerous problems right now and I don't blame people for being upset. I could go into greater detail, but after this weekend's games I am not in the mood. I will say this: Our standards for success are different than Michigan Tech or Alaska-Fairbanks or any number of nickle and dime programs in D-I hockey. Being decent and competitive are not good enough here. People have seen greatness over the years and know the difference between that and the kind of crap we are seeing right now. I will continue to support this program (and all of our other programs), but the facts are that this team is really bad right now and I don't think I should have to apologize for saying it.

Okay, this is going to be very negative, so get the kids away from the computer screen! It is time to face facts: This team is not that good. They can't hold third period leads, they take stupid penalties (Jones, this means YOU), and their starting goaltender (Lammy) has not played up to his potential this year and has not been consistent enough for my taste. In the good old days of the 1980's and 90's, North Dakota losing at home once on a weekend was big news around the league and country, losing twice at home on a weekend was almost unheard of. Now both happen on a regular freaking basis. In the good old days of the 1980's and 90's, North Dakota was almost unbeatable when holding a lead in the third period. Now all bets are freaking off when we lead in the third period. It would not surprise me if Michigan Tech came in here next weekend and pulled off at least one win. Emphasis on at least. I am pretty sure that the Brad Schlossman Rule will get a workout in Sunday's Heraldo (look at my signature at the bottom if you don't know what I mean), but that is no excuse for what has happened this season. Some of our players have said as much. Every team worth its salt in this league and in the country for that matter has good goaltending or else they wouldn't be good teams. If we are going to invoke the Brad Schlossman Rule everytime we lose a game, we won't win anything. I had better not hear this once from anybody in the media this week (and that includes TH and Pat Sweeney). Based on what I have seen so far this season, we can kiss home ice goodbye, we can kiss the Final Five goodbye and we can forget about going to St. Louis in April. This team is going to lose a crap load of games this season and we had just better get used to it. That meltdown in the Frozen Four last year in the semifinals is feeling more painful with every game we lose. This is going to be a long, cold, dark winter for those of us who bleed green and white. And if the Rodents win their 6th NCAA title in April, it will be an even longer offseason. Especially those of us who live in Rodentia (Minnesota and some adjacent areas). I apologize for the extreme negativity, but after what happened to the football team last Saturday and this weekend, I just can't take much more of this garbage. End rant. I return you to regularly scheduled programming.

With the apparent upcoming death of the NCC , here is how I think things will work themselves out over the next couple of years. And please keep in mind, my pronostication skills leave much to be desired. 1. Neb-Omaha will join the MIAA. This is a good fit for both UNO and the MIAA, geographically and otherwise. 2. The four remaining NCC schools (UM-Duluth, St. Cloud, MSU-Mankato and Augustana) will merge with the NSIC to form a 14 team league. The league will then split into two divisions (7 teams each), something like this: NSIC East Bemidji State University Concordia-St. Paul Upper Iowa University Winona State University St. Cloud State UM-Duluth MSU-Mankato NSIC West University of Mary UM-Crookston MSU-Moorhead Northern State University Southwest Minnesota State University Wayne State College Augustana College It is possible that a separate league could form based on a combination of the ex-NCC schools and several of the NSIC schools if this league proves too big to function properly, but of course this is all pure speculation. 3. UND and USD will work together to find a conference home in DI and help fill their schedules during the transition, which will be difficult. Forget all of this "go-it-alone" stuff, working together will make it easier to survive the transition period without any major collateral dammage. I could be wrong on all of this, but those are my thoughts on this at the moment.

I don't think Tech will be able to sustain their current ranking; they will be better this year, but not that much better. I think St. Cloud is for real and will have an excellent chance of making the NCAA Tournament (and winning a game this time). Minnesota and New Hampshire are the most legitimate of the four teams, but again it's only November and a lot of things can happen before March rolls around. If our team can put together a string of performances like last Saturday, we'll get in as usual. Whether we can win #8 in St. Louis is a question we cannot answer at this time, but I have to lean to the negative on that right now. End negativity.

I am getting ready to leave home for The Ralph. We are losing precious ground in the WCHA race and need a win tonight. Home ice might be hard to come by if we keep losing like this. GO SIOUX!!!

Technically, yes. But these teams are so evenly matched that I don't think it was an upset. If I was a betting man (and I am not), I would classify this game as a pick'em game, no real advantage either way.

And the Omaha Playoff Curse continues! Once again, Omaha folds like a cheap piece of lawn furniture when the chips are down and the game is on the line in the postseason. Different year, different team.....same result.

Okay, everybody together now: And we can build this dream together, standing strong forever...... Nothing's gonna stop us now! And if the world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other...... Nothing's gonna stop us, nothing's gonna stop us now!!!! On to Allendale.....GO SIOUX!!! And this had better be on television!

Objects in your mirror are closer than they appear!!! Hey, it's the "Common Man Progrum" on Siouxsports.com!

No mistakes boys! UNO timeout with 0:36 left.

INCOMPLETE! INCOMPLETE! SIOUX TAKE OVER ON DOWNS! Time to take a few knees and get out of here with a win!

Miller incomplete on 3rd down. 4th down coming up. Here's the ballgame right here.

1:52 left. UNO timeout. 3rd and 18 coming up. We have been putrid on third down defense today. Have to change that....NOW.

2nd and 16. Adam Wolff sniffs out the screen pass. Loss of two. 3rd and long coming up.

Miller getting too much time....thanks to holding by Omaha. March it back 10 yards, refs.

UNO takes over at the 28 yard line. Time to stop the Mavs, get the ball back and run out the clock.

Field Goal Good. UND 38 UNO 35 Defense absolutely HAS to respond now. No ifs, ands or buts.

Incomplete to Dressler. 4th down. Field goal time.

Agreed.

Third down and long coming up. Come on Sioux!!!

Chappell to the 8 yard line. Short gain. Might have to throw it here.

Dressler to the 10 yard line from Manke. First down Fighting Sioux!!!