Benny Baker

Just to be clear, by “several years ago”, I meant the date it was registered in 2018. But correct, it went inactive earlier this year.

Mentioned this to someone the other day, but putting “Nodak” on green, black, and white hockey-centric clothing isn’t really a novel idea here in North Dakota: https://m.facebook.com/100042171531851/ After all, “Nodak Apparel” was a registered ND trade name several years ago.

Thanks! Didn’t see that in the herald article!

“Dodds says the rights have been acquired by UND through the mark’s use over many years”. I didn’t read where UND acquired the mark from Nodak LLC, though???? When the dust settles, we’ll all see that the agreement was not an assignment of the trademark from Nodak LLC to UND, which is why there is no financial transaction; but rather, a hold harmless agreement.

I think that’s Schloss’ shortcoming. He’s the media. He supposed to be “the enemy”. (Almost famous). He writes puff pieces for the Sioux instead of being critical. For example, UND didn’t play bad, they ran into a hot goalie. Or, UND only recruits “character” guys, while completely dropping the ball on the Mitchell Miller scoop. Speaking of scoops, anyone notice how Schloss tweets about new commitments about 10-15 minutes after it hits the threads here? It’s almost as if you guys are his recruiting sources….

Take a lift from soccer. Put 8 stars on the side of their helmet and add number 9 after April.

The full "Fighting Sioux" name never made it on a hockey jersey either. Most seasons the word "Sioux" was also absent. And truthfully, from 1964-1993,* the hockey team was the only athletic program to wear the "Blackhawk" logo whereas every other program was using the interlocking ND and Geometric logo. Seems to me that there's always been a "hockey only identity" but its only recently that a certain subset of folks have chosen to complain about it. *Correction, if I recall, we had home whites for a few years in the 70s with the ND, but I still stand by the point.

Until I see proof, this is my take too. It is such an obvious conflict and so outrageously stupid to try to pull off, that I have a really hard time believing that was the intent and motivation here.

#jerseygate or is it nodakgate? Yes, a lot of open questions needing answers.

I want to know motivations and intent. If the Berrys' intended to register the trademark with the motivation to leverage a buyout later on, then I might join the "Fire Berry" crowd because that shows a complete absence of common sense and ethics. But, I am willing to hear the situation out first....

https://a.espncdn.com/pdf/2012/0305/doc_6.pdf

Wasn't it back in the 1990s when the Baker/Wanless administration wouldn't let the hockey team put a Sioux logo on their jersey for a couple seasons? If the hockey team is now calling 100% of the shots on their uniform, can someone explain how this change in uniform control occurred? Or, more generally, who is responsible for uniform control at UND?

Guessing it's partly because they're cheaper than the ugly replica jerseys currently for sale.

FWIW, Tambo left under Hakstol and his 7 points tied for the lead in Olympic scoring last year. (No current NHLers but former Sioux/NHLer Corban Knight had 3 points for comparison). Wilkie’s 23 goals his senior year would have easily led UND.

Kleven needs to get to Ottawa ASAP and cement his role before Tychonick takes his top six minutes up there next year…..

Right. That’s where I fear NIL + transfer portal could screw UND. What’s to stop the exponentially larger Michigan grad/booster population from paying a Kawaguchi/Gaber/4-year type player $500k for “appearances” through an NIL contract to transfer to Michigan their last year(s) of college … And yeah, $500k is the logical extreme, but Minnesota’s highest paid athlete in 2021 was a wrestler who made his through an appearance. Each scholarship Texas Longhorn lineman gets $50k a year for appearances. So I see where this is headed. It’s almost as if UND could leverage an Engelstad-type relationship to further it’s NIL prospects, but who knows.

Gotcha. Sounds like Minnesota has several NILs started then. Can anyone name one of UND’s?

I think this is worth repeating. For anyone not concerned about NIL, I fear that is the same mentality UND had when it neglected to transition to DI when a few other Dakota schools did. Keep up with the joneses or expect to fall behind …

What do you mean “Minnesota’s NIL”? My understanding is that NILs need to be independent (at least financially) from the school. This is why most people are concerned that NIL will serve to benefit the Big 10/larger schools the most because they pump out 50k grads a year. That is why Michigan already has NIL programs like: -the licensing and apparel agreement with the Brandr Group -the Victors Exchange program that matches businesses with student athletes -the champions collective, see above -Wolverine+, the sports subscription program that pays players. Hell, every Florida Atlantic female athlete is getting paid by the Florida Panthers. So the idea is not that FAU, Michigan, Minnesota, or even North Dakota would be paying their players. Instead, we need someone with the initiative to set up an exchange where: -Jeff Tellman pays Gaber to send out tweets every Friday night to promote Grinders after the Game -Wes Rydell pays Kleven to star in a commercial promoting Rydell Chevrolet -[current siouxsports.com user/business owner] pays [that recruit they’re really hoping UND gets] to promote their business. Like the folks at Michigan, can anyone tell me what UND is trying to do to get ahead of the game in NIL?

The conversation was about NIL … But yeah, to answer your question and to bring the conversation full circle back to where it started with Aiden Park and Michigan, last year’s Michigan team had the NCAA record for first round draft picks, not any BU team.

Important to remember that NIL has only been around since July 1, 2021 though.

Since we're talking jerseys and prices, I'll make my yearly post that I'm still looking to purchase an authentic white Nike jersey (2002-2009ish)! I'm happy to overpay. You just need to PM me and name your price! Also, I have a few white gemini Geo's I could add to purchase price or include in a trade ...

Maybe he means straight from MN high school to college??!??! If so, not many kids are successful with that route, so okay sure, I agree. If not, I won’t go back all 20 years, and reasonable minds will disagree on this next one, but the Gophers did have a Hobey Hat Trick finalist (Ben Meyers) from the metro literally just last season…

We beat out more than 20 schools for Matej Tomek. Glad DeRidder has experience at this level though.

Right? If I recall correctly, seeing how similar their stat lines were during their last year at NTDP and how things have shaped out for all three of them since then is rather telling of how things could go for Spicer. However, I think I’d roll the dice with a freshman Spicer over a senior Budy.