NoiseInsideMyHead

Most complaints to the ORC come from either Gandalf, Legolas, or Boromir.

Spud Webb will be crushed.

Not sure about Title IX, but I'm guessing UND would get licked in a Title LXIX lawsuit.

Anybody else receive the e-mailed fan survey from UND/REA? Mine arrived Tuesday afternoon, and showed up as coming from fans@theralph.com. The survey was quick and straightforward enough; it covered MH, M/WBB, VB and FB and hit on everything from in-game experience to concessions to parking. My only beef is that it never asked me to provide contact information for the raffle.

I've been to both as well, and I will say that having a little elbow room in certain sections of the Alerus back in the day was nothing compared to crickets in the Ralph. If WH had gotten HALF the lowest FB totals, we might not be having this conversation.

I had to double-check the thread. Perhaps we should all stop and ponder this: maybe, just maybe, it's the CHANGE that is "dumb," and we all place waaaaay too much blame on the result. Because, you know...sports.

Fairweather fans can be the source of many ills, to be sure. But at some point, we can no longer simply blame fan apathy. An empty arena week in, week out (year in, year out) means that one has to look at the product itself.

Fixed.

Liked the sax solo, though.

Trump bombs Syria >> Oil goes through the roof >> WH is reinstated

Rink was made with holy water.

They use this guy to start the races. I hear he charges a million a shot.

World Championship. Semifinal. USA at home. Online only, no live TV...replay is on NHL at 10:00 AM (AM!) tomorrow (a Friday!). And these gals want $$$.

ESPN's crowd mix is absolutely terrible. GW goal in last minute and I don't hear a thing.

I don't know if it's the bands, the PA, ESPN's mic placement, or whatever, but I'm getting nothing from the atmosphere in the arena. #siouxfansneeded

To anyone on the ground in CHI, I'm interested to hear if the NCAA/UC made any efforts (obvious or otherwise) to mask or conceal permanent Blackhawks logos. Obviously the ice and signage is event-specific, but is there anything 'missing' from the rink or concourse areas of the arena?

Watching the premiere of "Brockmire" on IFC, only to find out the fictional baseball team on the show had previously changed its name from the Morristown (PA) Savages ('a baseball with a headdress') to the Frackers. Can't help but think back to the discussions about replacing "Sioux" with something that accurately reflected North Dakota, and I'm almost certain that more than a few people submitted "Frackers" among other oil patch-related nickname suggestions. No good reason, but it made me smile.

Fact check: Really? Not quite sure what you mean here, but assuming you're talking about hockey, the trend of student attendance at games was noticeably downward when they finally reconfigured the upper bowl at REA and removed an entire section. As for football, the students were perennial no-shows and I don't think Kelley had anything to do with that. REA runs the events, including concessions. Do a little research. How about the NCAA, the tribes, the schools who wouldn't schedule UND? Oh, and there would not have been a playoff game at Alerus this past season otherwise. Spare me. Yes, she was an icon, but de-emphasizing alcohol use at college sporting events...what a scandal. It was a no-brainer and a decision that was entirely understandable. Be happy the venue allows beer at all, because many don't. And nobody told the band they couldn't play the beer song (which, frankly, is old and tired). On balance, it sounds like you're judging the tenure of a president based on (1) alcohol, and (2) your experiences at hockey games. With those priorities, you should consider a run for the State Board of Higher Education.

In fairness, the FF is not exactly priced at 'good old fashioned, blue collar town, midwestern value, local fan friendly, niche sport, easy access, buy at the 11th hour and pick up and go' levels...more like, 'national prestige championship event where you want to be seen even if you don't care that much about college hockey' levels. (Hosting it in far-off places like Tampa is an extra slap in the face to northern, mom-and-pop hockey fans of limited means.) I don't know much about Duluth's fan base, but it's a lot of money for 3 games, especially when you figure in last-minute travel: For comparison, UMD's pricing structure:

Scary video. If it turns out he's okay, with the way he went down, I can see some interesting and quirky GIFs coming out of this.

Just like I flew in from Yugoslavia on TWA today, rented an Oldsmobile at the airport, went shopping at Venture, and bought some New Coke to drink while watching XFL games on my GoldStar television.

I didn't want to needlessly bump them so as to sully their historic significance, but I do recommend that people peruse some of the oldest threads in the Women's Hockey forum for some interesting perspective.

Donned hoodies and facemasks to make mischief, yet they do it in broad daylight and invite a newspaper photographer along for kicks? Civil disobedience has changed. Good thing they asked to remain anonymous.

Looks like a couple of WH players are not going to get their UND Housing linen deposit back.

Athletics has been under a microscope for a long time. Take away the months of speculation, and lucky guesses, by people mostly not in the know. You still have the unavoidable leaks. Sure, some people may have learned about certain developments unofficially via Twitter (it's 2017), but the University called a team meeting and its first official action BEFORE the first public statement was to tell the players in person. What would you have had the University do differently? There are no "secrets" in a public institution; that's fantasyland BS. And if there were, people would be crying foul because everything was done in the dark by a few at the top.