[New Nickname]

University of North Dakota Fighting Sasquatch…yes Sasquatch!

It is unique and the marketing possibilities are endless. The Bigfoot imprint would be our logo. We could finally have a mascot…something similar to the Big Foot on the Jack Links beef jerky ads (nobody messes with Sasquatch!) Because this is a mythical creature (I think?) we should be able to avoid the PC crowd and have a little fun with our mascot and marketing our team.

Envision it all…loud music blaring…team in the tunnel… close up of the glowing eyes of the Sasquatch on the fascia ring… cue the famous Patterson video of Sasquatch on the big screen...extreme close up of the sasquatch on the big screen as he turns his head toward the camera …the sudden primal scream of the sasquatch fills the arena…Brian Lee Rivers/Darrin Looker asks the crowd “Are you ready for your Yeti?...crowd worked up into a frenzy and banging their tree knockers (thunder sticks) together…

No, we don’t have any history of Sasquatch in our area but they are mythical (I think?) and frankly all the other names like Cavalry, Rough Riders, Sodbusters, Norkota, Spirit, Pilots, Oilers, etc. are either boring or lame. The kids want something hip, now, with it, and wow and Sasquatch fits that bill.

The marketing aspect of this is through the roof. Wisconsin fans do the Jump Around thing we can do the Squatch walk…yes, hunched over with arms swinging a few steps to the right and then back to the left…Lower bowl one direction and upper bowl the opposite. Tree knockers instead of thunder sticks. T-shirts featuring our beloved mascot with his huge foot over our opponent…”Squatch the Gophers” or Bison or any of our rivals as the caption. Former Sioux kids club now the Little Feet. Similar to how the T-Wolves use the howl of the wolf we could use the primal scream of the Sasquatch during games. Perhaps we can get James “Bobo” Fay of the TV show Finding Big Foot to do the primal scream for us. “Gone Squatching” would be code for following the University Of North Dakota.

Are you ready for the Yeti?

By far the best, and least politically contoversial suggestion yet. I'm all in! We can put "Bonehead " in a suit and give him free Coors Lt to run around the rinkas the mascot.

[POLL: Should UND-NDSU Resume the Football Series?]

Hate to sound like a know it all, but I stated last week I believed that the oil industry would be bringing some money to UND. Not that I had any inside info or anything but apparently some 15 million was donated today. Maybe someone knows the particulars.

[POLL: Should UND-NDSU Resume the Football Series?]

I didn't mean to demean anybody thats in pharmacy, agriculture, or engineering, they are all honorable professions. What I meant is that universties survive on research and alumni donors. In that reguard I believe lawyers, md.'s, and pilots are more likely to give large sums of money to their chosen universities. I also believe that the EERC (Environmental&Energy Research Center) at UND is heavily envolved with the oil boom going on in the western part of the state likely ensuring more dollars coming in to UND. Cash is what colleges need to survive. It's unlikely any fcs football program anywhere could supply the type of revenue needed to sustain a university. Until either NDSU or UND can fill up a 100,000 seat "Big House" for football academics will still be the engine that drives the universities, for which I believe UND is more equipped to do than NDSU. That is only an opinion and one persons observation.

[POLL: Should UND-NDSU Resume the Football Series?]

To everyone on this board from both sides of the isle, this is totally about NDSU and their marketing strategy. I am a UND fan but understand exactly why NDSU doesn't want the game to happen. The Bison's only cash cow is fcs football, it sustains their sports programs, having 6 home games a year is one more chance to gain needed revenue plus they don't have to give up their yearly money games with a regional fbs opponent. They really have nothing to gain and everything to lose. If you want to know what I mean, if they beat UND, they should, if they lose it hurts them in regional recruiting with UND and ends their mystic in the fcs football realm in the state of ND. If they really wanted to play GT would have scheduled them early on while NDSU has the upper hand coming off of a NC and before UND improves into a playoff type BigSky program which I think will eventually happen. They could play now when the outcome is probably not in doubt, not in a few years when a loss could set them back. UND has and always has had D1 hockey to provide the revenue, NDSU doesn't, and never will, that is why they have to protect the football programs success at all costs. I would like to see the game happen as well, but don't think it will. Remember we have a NC in D2 Football and 3 in D2 womens basketball just like NDSU does, albeit not as many as them. But we have 7 D1 Hockey titles they will never have. And the fact that they have an FCS NC sets them apart from UND, for now. If we were to beat them or win a NC at the FCS level in Football it would take away the only thing they have in their back pocket that we don't. They at NDSU have always taken a back seat to UND on the academic level because they don't offer the same professional colleges like Law and Medicine that UND does. FCS football has changed their image of being an ag school to that of a recognizable state institution both regionally and nationally just like hockey and aviation have done at UND. I personally don't blame them at all for not wanting to play, like I said before they have nothing to gain and literally everything to lose!

[Sioux vs. UNO]

I'm wondering what the effect of this being UNO's last games before the Christmas break will have on the team either positively or negatively. I know as a college kid sometimes they are thinking about getting home to see family after a rigorous first semester. In years past UND has had some lethargic efforts against non-conference opponents and the US under 18's in the same situation. Their minds are on the break and some down time not on the games at hand.

[Prospective Recruits]

Any Minnesota High School players that are on UND's radar? Its weird that none of our committed players are current HS players.

The reason none of our committed players are Mn High School recruits is that all the eligible upper classman are leaving school. I think their is something like 18 hs seniors playing their hockey in the ushl, dev. team in Ann Arbor, or Canadian Junior Leagues ( ex. Mario Lucia, BCHL). From what I understand their is only like 3 seniors in the state committed to D1 schools still playing hs hockey. This is considered a weak senior class from all accounts. It sounds like the next great class is this years soph., Class of 2013. Especially in the metro where some of the powerhouse programs are relying heavily on underclassman to lead the way.