Corella

It is funny that you would question me on this matter, I know a thing or two about what I am talking about. Here is the difference between the NSIC and the NCC in baseball and why the NSIC wins sometimes during mid-week games. The NCC team pitches its 5-8 type of guys. The NSIC team starts it's 5-8 type of guys. For the NSIC teams, facing the NCC teams pitchers like these is very comparable to facing their own conference's weekend pitching. For the NCC teams, the pitchers they face in these games are absolutely brutal, anyone who has ever witnessed these non-conference games can attest to that. These pitchers often couldn't break a pain of glass with their fastball, as a hitter it is frustrating and brutal to have to lower yourself to hitting the crap that you hit when you were 14 and 15, does more harm then good. Case-in-point, the pitcher that beat UND for Bemidji this year was a sidearmer who may have hit 70mph once or twice and threw junk more then anything that was closer to 60mph. Almost every time an NCC team loses to an NSIC team in baseball, it is for this reason, not because the other team is better.

Here is this week's "official" regional rankings. Central Region 1. Central Missouri State 37-5 2. Emporia State 29-16 3. North Dakota 30-10 4. Missouri Western State 28-13 5. Minnesota State Mankato 26-12 6. Wayne State (Nebraska) 30-13 7. Southwest Minnesota State 24-13 8. Northwest Missouri State 28-15 Winona State 23-15-1 Like always, the NSIC is taking up spots in the baseball regional rankings, and are extremely overrated. Bemidji, a team that had 2 non-conference wins, is 8-8 in conference. A few years ago, a bad UND team went to Marshall to take on Southwest which was ranked in the top 6 of the region, and beat them by 10 runs both games. # 2 Emporia beat the Sioux all 3 times they played this year, granted it was UND's first games, but that is working against them.

Truely unbelievable. Larry Eustachy is forced out because he partied with coeds at an opposition's frat house, later admitting he had an alcohol problem, nothing more. Bison Bob Entzion is forced to resign (or did he get axed??) for trying to get some homosexual lovin' in a park, nothing more. Fred Oien is finally charged with spousal abuse after it happening for years according to his wife, is an alcoholic who must now get treatment and also go to anger managment class, is charged in court and has his sentence plea bargained down, and he keeps his job. One of those three do not fit, and sadly it is the most criminal and socially unaceptable of the 3. Aparently South Dakota State has no university integrity at all. I can honestly say that if that was UND, and it was RT was facing the very same situation, I would be truely embaressed to have him act as my AD, nor would I want my daughter to perform under him as AD.

Nice rival. That trophy would never see Brookings (thank god, the place is a hellhole) other then when it travels there on gameday and the Bison win it back. Only good thing about them as a rival is that if the stealing of the trophy thing continues with your new "rival", it will be pretty simple to find, it is either in the town gas station, the town pub that AD Oien aparently frequents daily, or one of the 3 houses in town. My suggestion for a trophy between NDSU and SDSU is a miniature deck, because the Bunnies might be able to hide under it for a quarter or two, but the Bison will eventually have their way with them in the form of a .22 calibre blast to the back of the head.

They may have been ranked in '98 also, not sure though.

Sioux are ranked #19 in the country and #2 in the region in the latest National College Baseball Writer's (NCWBA) poll released today. #1 in the region Central Missouri State is also #1 in the country. This poll isn't the "official" region poll though, at least I don't think so.

I always thought that Billiter was a pretty good coach. It must be darn near impossible to get 5-7 tranfers in every year and still win, and Billiter did that. I never respected his recruiting methods, bringing in that many transfers year after year, but I doubt many coaches would have the success he did molding that many new players together, all while having good success. When I saw him sign at Augie last year, I have to admit the first thing I said was shoot. The guy looks like a sleezy used car salesman, but I think the guy can coach.

Tony, it really pains me to see you proclaim that you have upwards of 7 teams on the NDSU schedule that could run the table given UND's schedule. Last year, if I looked at UND's schedule and asked myself if Montana had it, would they be able to run the table. I probably would have said yes, but then a team that doesn't even qualify for the playoffs or win the "lowly D2 NCC" goes and beats them, and Montana was supposed to be the cream of the crop. Certainly no one around the country has or will put UC-Davis, Cal-Poly, Weber St, Valpo, Nicholls St, whichever non-cardinal Louisiana school it is, UNC, or anyone else I see listed in Montana's class. That is really all that needs to be said to refute the statement. NDSU proved last year by beating the nation's premier 1AA program in Montana that if a non-playoff D2 team can do it, there are a good 20-30 other D2 teams that could easily give a 1AA powerhouse such as Montana a run for their money. With that out there, how the Hell could as many as 7 teams on NDSU's schedule run the table given UND's, when NDSU proved the exact opposite point last year against a team a many times better then anyone I see on the Bison's schedule this year??

Bottom line, it is plain dumb logic to say that there are potentially 6-7 teams on NDSU's schedule that could go undefeated if given UND's schedule. There are no teams of the caliber of Montana on there, and even Montana was defeated by a non-playoff Division 2 team. With your logic, then NDSU should have walked through their schedule last year and took home a national title because they beat such a storied 1AA team, when, in reality, they were at home watching the playoffs on TV after having lost to 2 D2 teams, one of them a non-playoff team also. It simply doen't make sense.

To me, there is some basis to make comparisons between the 2 schedules. Last year, the Bison went into the home of the powerful Montana Grizzly and came home victorious. UNA went to Jacksonville St or whoever the Hell it was, a team ranked in the top 25 at the time, and defeated them. Central Washington went to Montana St, home of the Big Sky champion Bobcats, the "toughest 1AA conference in all the land", and sleighed that dragon. D2 National Champ Grand Valley went into Davis, CA, and took down the homestanding and Great Western power to be Aggies. It has been said before, and it will be said again, there is not much difference between the divisions. If these D2 teams, some of them playoff bound in the lowly NCAA division of 2, others not up to that task, could go into hostile territory and beat the heavily favored and superiorly talented ranked teams from the "greater echelon" I see no reason to believe that any team on NDSU's would walk through UND's schedule undefeated, or even that it can be said that NDSU's schedule is much tougher then UND's at all, because there are some non-playoff level teams on UND's schedule, the same ilk of teams that have sleighed the dragon before against "good" 1AA teams, and a lot of the teams in question come off of mediocre records last year. The proof is in the puddin, and NDSU mixed a good batch last year in beating the Griz, then losing to a few "lowly D2 teams". How quickly people forget.

Then again, how would you know. From the mouth of a few baseball parents and players, baseball sounds like it is in trouble in beautiful Brookings, gone in favor of the greener pastures (no pun intended) of equestrian. I trust what players say anyday over some "drive by poster", as people like you are so affectionately known on your board, such as yourself. Back to the real issue at hand, UND and Mankato have the stage set for an epic battle in 2 weekends for the conference title and hosting of the conference tourney. Just think, NCC baseball tourney at Kraft during Springfest, those games wouldn't be crazy or anything . Legend, I'm sure you could find a grill to sit around and keep your little hands warm. I am willing to bet that GF would support the tourney greatly, you win in baseball here and people will show up as the Varmints and GF Legion programs have proven when they are successful.

SDSU is the worst NCC baseball team I have seen in at least the last 5 years. They were absolutely pathetic, no pitchers, no hitters, nothing. There was talk amongst the SDSU fans and players that their program was going to be cut just like USD's, and equestrian was going to be added, this to be in th next few years. Sad to see what was a close to a powerhouse just a few years ago turn into what it has.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter where the Nickel came from, the brainchild of someone UND, NDSU, or an alien, whoever put it up did so with the idea that the winner gets it until it changes hands through a loss, no other provisions. UND won it, until it is won back there is a special place for it in the UND football offices. Enough said. The NDSU glee club should spend their time thinking up a trophy for the winner of the SDSU-NDSU game and not worry about something that is out of their hands, as it is in this case.

I'm with you UND Fan, I don't necessarily see this as a negative. Look at it like this, UND has been given a $110 million dollar facility and a $7 million dollar facility in the past 5 years. I think the UND community should be greatful that it "only" needs to give $500,000 for construction on 2 first class facilities totaling almost $120 million. It still sounds like a good deal to me.

Sid had this in his column today in the STrib. It is Sid so it very well could be wrong, but it was info contrary to what I had been told. "Apparently Zach Parise, the University of North Dakota hockey player who recently signed with the New Jersey Devils, still is with the team and might see some ice time in the playoffs this weekend."

Here's the link to the editorial in today's Forum. Forum editorial Take note of the 1st 2 sentences of the 2nd paragraph, evidently it is UND's fault . Other then that, it is right on.

You know how those games go Vince, the Gophs throw about their 8th or 10th pitcher, who actually looks like someone who would be a weekend starter in the NCC. SDSU probably throws their 5th guy, who has the stuff of a T-ball pitcher. Comparable to when UND plays Crookston or Bemidji, except on another level. Hitting that crap really throws a hitter off for not only that game but can cause problems for an extended period. UNO beat UW-Milwaukee the other day too, and Milwaukee knocked Nebraska out of the NCAA tourney last year in Lincoln, and they made it to the Super Regional final also I beleve, amongst the final 16 teams alive in baseball. Gotta love baseball. I'm sure Jacks fans are figuring they can compete in D1 baseball now too because they played the Gophs to a close one, but their is more to the game then is seen in the boxscore. There really isn't that big of a gap between better D2 and D1 baseball hitting, but the pitching is where the biggest difference lies.

I was told all along that Seckar-Anderson flew below the radar most of his SR year because, despite being the leading scorer at right around 13, his team was very balanced and started 4 guys 6-6 and above, 3 of them essencially PFs. His team was pretty good though, their starting "PF" signed at Lewis, a D2 school in Illinois, and they either went to state or lost out in the state qualifying game. He was getting interest from D1 schools though, so I think UND is lucky to get him at the "price" that they did.

Interestingly enough, I put 2 quarters in the Twamley meters this morning at 9:52 for class at 10. I arrived back at my car at 10:54 with a "ticket nazi" writing me up. I told him that my meter just expired, there is no way I should be getting a ticket. "Your meter had expired, that is not my problem. I am not breaking any rules by writing a ticket." I am still pissed. Granted, I was 2 minutes over, but give me a break. They watch those meters like hawks, they are there every Mon, Wed, Fri at quarter to the hour, and on Tues and Thurs at 20 after the hour hitting people up, the meters have to be their cash cow. If only every thing at UND was run with the efficiency and productivity of the parking enforcement, we would have a literal utopia going on campus. Ridiculous.

The Ivy League schools do the same thing, it is called a Grant-In-Aid, and a student-athlete signs one much in the same way they sign a letter-of-intent. However, in the NCAA's eyes, it is not an athletic tender, it's like an academic scholarship. So, by law, they are a non-scholarship league.

I read that headline too. The second game was obviously close, but the first game (5-2) was one of those that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates. JJ Scheving is UND's top pitcher, he has literally all but locked up the NCC Pitcher of the Year, but has had a zillion arm problems the last 5 years. I don't think you could risk starting him at this point in the year based on his past. Schlangen is probably UND's #2, and he throws a ton of pitches every outting (the type of pitcher you don't want to be a fielder for), doesn't know the value of the 5 pitch inning if you get what I mean. With the amounts of pitches he throws, he isn't really a bounceback quick type of guy at this point. The #3 Travis Johnson had some arm pains in St Cloud last week that were abnormal. So there really wasn't much choice in the matter, and luckily it worked.

Pretty good crowd turnout on a not-so-perfect-for-baseball kind of day, the wind is freezing. Good wins considering the Bison started 2 of their top 3 pitchers, and UND got it done with 4 and 5 or 6. Some heated moments on the field like always in this game, above all it's always good to beat the rival.

In case anyone is wondering, 2 wins by the Sioux, 5-2 and 2-1. Travis Koehn homers in both games, JJ Scheving picks up 2 saves. Darin Heston, UND's 5th or 6th starter, shuts the Bison down in game 1, Brent Sukut, UND's 4th starter does the same in game 2. Jeremiah Pepikorn goes hitless for the Bison. Sioux move into 1st in the NCC, and were 7th in the region. The Bison were 6th in the region, so both will change.

I'm sure, and I would fully expect NDSU fans and admin to take the exact same stance UND has had they won the last game. That only proves how idiotic your Glee Club is in its suggestion to use the Nickel, no real fan who understands what the Nickel really means on either side is in favor of it.

Your going because you are a "football power". Nothing wrong with that, I mean, look how well your football team did this year to show for it. Oh yeah...