NoiseInsideMyHead

By "best" do you mean cheapest, or safest? Because those things are sometimes incompatible. I have bought re-sale tickets using TM and StubHub, and I have never had a bad experience. Private parties via Craigslist can be a mixed bag...PayPal gives the buyer some protections. Then again, I see a lot of handshake cash transactions taking place across the street from the venue 20 minutes before game time, too.

The poll closes in a few hours, but as the pollster, I'll go ahead and make some preliminary observations: Even with most votes coming in before the weather situation was imminent, it is fairly clear that UND fans were not going to be filling the stands this weekend, even if it meant losing money on tickets. I sometimes wonder whether UND hockey fans are also 'hockey fans.' Judging from certain events in Grand Forks of late (U18 worlds, womens USA vs CAN, Iowa Wild vs Moose exhibition), I would tend to say no. The relative lack of excitement about this UND-hosted NCAA regional within moderate driving distance doesn't change that answer with respect to college hockey, although I know a number of you are frequent attendees at the Frozen Four. Maybe the ultimate test would be a UND-less regional in Fargo, but let's hope that doesn't happen. The 36% of you who 'never intended to go' surprised me -- I suppose that knowing the geographic makeup of that bloc would be helpful, and maybe some of you were planning on going to the Frozen Four instead. The 23% who hadn't yet bought tickets is also a bit surprising as demand was initially very high (i.e., the lower bowl basically sold out) -- but I guess you would have had access to the upper bowl, the other teams' unused allotments, and the secondary market. Not really surprising to hear this week that the participating schools did not use up their allotments; as another person pointed out, UND really is in rarefied air when it comes to traveling fan support. The tickets forum here, and peeks yesterday at Craigslist in both GF and Sioux Falls tell a similar story. Paid attendance will, of course, be strong and the NCAA should be pleased. Butts-in-seats is the question, and we'll have to see how things look (unfortunately, on television). If you are at the games, feel free to post pics and/or your observations of the crowd. The surprise ending is that several of us appear to have seized upon a unique opportunity to make charitable donations to good causes in and around SF, especially those that can brighten some kids' weekends and possibly even ignite a passion for hockey. I hope that Sioux Falls' youth hockey is also promoting the event, and that unsold tickets will not go unused. Thanks for participating!

I bought mine on TicketMaster and simply sent the 'print at home' .pdf as an e-mail attachment.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sioux Empire still accepting donations. And @franchise ,

Awesome idea. Is this a thing they do, or do you have to know someone locally?

Thank you for this information. Holy crap, I just checked Fargo and Watertown as well, and it looks absolutely dreadful for Friday, and Sunday doesn't really look much better. I usually don't panic about weather forecasts, and I was really amped for the trip to SF, but this just looks bad. FWIW, Brookings and Sioux Falls don't seem to be affected. Isn't that stretch of I-29 notorious for closures, especially with wind? GET THE WORD OUT, PEOPLE. Especially while there's time to cancel hotel reservations without penalty.

BMOC is real. And arguably the 'talent pool' is better on a college campus, unless you're looking for middle-aged puck chasers, in which case...

And that's the problem. Some people on here have shown themselves to be more than willing to indict one president or another -- or one marketing decision or another -- in the absence of meaningful facts and when, ultimately, the real answer eludes us all. But when pressed, or presented with an alternative explanation that is at least equally as plausible (e.g., geographic preference or NDSU's recent success in football), they get defensive.

Don't know. It was suggested by another poster that UND was willing to sacrifice numbers for academic credentials. Better question for you is, do you expect that there ought to be a 1:1 ratio between the number of Twin Cities kids coming to UND and NDSU? And if so, is it your contention that any deviation from your expected 1:1 ratio is attributable, at least in part, to the relative effort and/or expenditures made by the schools in marketing? And if so, would you expect that a 1:1 ratio could be achieved solely by the lower quantity school increasing its marketing efforts and expenditures? The discussion thus far, and that I have consistently challenged, is that UND is lagging behind NDSU in Twin Cities enrollment because of a lack of, or cut in, direct marketing efforts under one or more administrations. I just want someone to come forward and substantiate the claim. I'm not saying there isn't a discussion to be had, and that an extrapolation of your data couldn't bolster a case for one or the other. However, a single year's enrollment figures from one high school simply isn't persuasive.

And a meaningless one at that. Yet you chose to take a shot at me. Run along now, and come back to the grown up table if you want to have a serious discussion, preferably with evidence or a shred of logic or sound reasoning.

Cherry-pick much? You haven't even made the case that marketing by EITHER University at this particular HS had any effect whatsoever.

Not quite drive-4-hours-to-watch-a-Sioux-less-regional-even-though-we've-already-bought-tickets-and-reserved-hotel-rooms-and-it-might-even-be-some-compelling-action-in-a-fun-venue-hosted-by-our-favorite-school hockey fans, but your point is well taken.

Curious to see people's thinking on this.

Wait until they find out what happened on a cross.

Moser53 should change his name to Master53. He has locked up more threads than the night manager at Jo-Ann Fabric.

You mean like this: and this: Envy is an emotion which "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envy)

I know that some fan bases are, umm, special. And rivalries, and all that. But this tweet from @MavPuck is absolute horse !@#$. That's a UND Assistant AD tweeting, if you didn't know, and a snide ass brain fart from @SpazPuck, I mean, @MavPuck, that 4 idiot Omaha fans apparently liked. SMH. UPDATE: Tweet deleted. (Yeah, doofuses, no kidding.)

MacKenzie River, 236 S Main Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57104 It's a chain, but I was there about a year ago and it was decent.

SCSU Air Force Mankato Duluth

That, and Sioux Falls has a Cracker Barrel.

Yes.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but UND fans should go and have fun, and trying to sell off your tickets (especially on here, not to mention minutes after UND got eliminated) is a douche move. Supporting the event by showing up is the best way to ensure that UND will continue to have host bids awarded in the future. You should represent, and wear Sioux gear and drive the NCAA nuts when you get on camera. For as much grief as we all give the other regionals for having crappy attendance, I would think that UND fans would not want the event hosted by their school to look equally pathetic. Remember - the Fighting Hawks logo will be evident on the boards and very likely the ice.

All sports are suffering. It is a changing cultural dynamic, and cannot be traced to a singular cause, let alone a single franchise, venue, or event. Some convenient places to direct your ire: Phones - Nobody pays attention to anything, anywhere. Especially 18-22 year olds. Enhanced viewing options - HDTV was the ultimate game changer, right along with expanded cable offerings, subscription only services, home-to-mobile viewing, unlimited data plans for mobile devices., etc. Cost - This is a no-brainer. Between ticket, parking, and concessions, attending live sporting events is expensive. Competitive balance - Parity reigns supreme in many sports right now. Traditional powerhouses are struggling, some for the first time in a generation or more. The future is not very bright. As college students fade away from interest in their own school's sports, those behaviors are likely to carry into adulthood and will have some effect on attendance at major pro events, many of which are already seeing diminished demand for tickets.

That play at the blue line summed up the game, and the season.