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Titletown on ESPN


t_speaker31

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the wikipedia one? that one is right.

i got most of that stuff off wiki, but someone on page one said that central had 26 state titles, i had written 24.

here is what i got for the ralph so far, i'd appreciate some help making this read a little better:

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey teams play their home games in the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Ralph is a $104 million arena that seats 11,640. The concourses of the REA are covered in granite flooring, each spectator seat is made of cherry wood and leather upholstery, escalators bring spectators between levels, and full-color LCD displays dot the arena. The arena was donated by former Fighting Sioux goaltender Ralph Engelstad. NHL great Wayne Gretzky was quoted calling the arena "one of the most beautiful buildings we have in North America" during the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championships, which Grand Forks hosted. Only walking through the concourse of The Ralph can you truly start to appreciate the storied history of Fighting Sioux Hockey. Every great player in the history of the program has a spot on the walls of the arena, immortalized on giant graphics that show everything from the seven National Championship teams to hockey card-like posters of players that include statistics from the player
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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/10/a-joy-named-sioux-hockey-king-in-nd/

Things to know about North Dakota

* ZEN MASTER: The University of North Dakota's most famous sports alumnus is Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who guided the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles and the Lakers to three. Jackson, a native of Williston, N.D., averaged 27.4 points as a senior at North Dakota in 1966-67 and played in the NBA, mainly for the New York Knicks.

* HOOPS VERSUS HOCKEY: Two North Dakota players have been selected in the NBA draft: Jackson and Jerome Beasley. By comparison, 135 Fighting Sioux hockey players have gone in the NHL draft, including 13 first-rounders.

*FAVORITE SON: Roger Maris is the state's most decorated sports figure. A museum dedicated to the baseball player is located in Fargo.

*ROOM FOR EVERYONE: North Dakota is one of the least-populated states, but the Fighting Sioux's Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,406) is the fourth-largest hockey venue in Division I, trailing facilities at Ohio State, Wisconsin and Nebraska-Omaha.

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also, if someone could hook me up with the number of Sioux that have been Hobey finalists, id appreciate it.

20 total nominations from 14 different players have been finalists. I can't believe Joyce wasn't a finalist in 1987.

2008 - T.J. Oshie & Jean-Phillipe Lamoureux

2007 - Ryan Duncan

2004 - Zach Parise & Brandon Bochenski

2003 - Zach Parise

2001 - Jeff Panzer

2000 - Jeff Panzer

1999 - Jason Blake

1998 - Curtis Murphy

1997 - Jason Blake

1993 - Greg Johnson

1992 - Greg Johnson

1991 - Greg Johnson

1990 - Russ Parent

1988 - Steve Johnson

1987 - Tony Hrkac

1986 - Scott Sandelin

1984 - Jon Casey

1983 - James Patrick

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How about per-capita though?

NYC: 1,000,000 + population

GF: ~50,000

Per capita, I have no idea what the ratios would be. I'm just saying, if we're going to hypothetically take the title (pun intended) away from Green Bay simply based on championships, then New York is hands down the winner. I doubt whomever coined the phrase "Titletown" had Green Bay's population in mind.

IMO, this is a fruitless attempt by ESPN anyways. I highly doubt any sports city other than Green Bay will go by the name "Titletown" in the national media, no matter what the results are. It was a nickname given many years ago, so talking about how many titles the team has won now is irrelevant. There have been many players whom have surpasses Bob Cousy's ability and ball-handling skills, yet none have been dubbed "The Houdini of the Hardwood". Or to use a hockey reference, if someone breaks all of Gretzky's records, I doubt they will called "The Great One", nor will Gretzky have to surrender his nickname.

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I like what you have ... but here's a stab at describing the Ralph:

Grand Forks is home to "one of the most beautiful buildings we have in North America", the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Wayne Gretzky, author of that quote, has certainly seen his share of arenas. "The Ralph", as its affectionately known, is indeed a palace on the prairie. Built to last, it features polished granite floors, counters and quality infrastructure. Built for comfort, it features great sightlines, 48 luxury suites, and 11,604 cherry wood seats upholstered in leather. Built to help recruiting, it showcases the tradition and history of University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey. The lobby celebrates championships, displaying 7 national championship trophies, while the concourses are decorated with photos and bios of All-Americans and professional hockey players. Behind the scenes, the training and rehab facilities are second to none. This treasure was funded by a $104 million gift from former Fighting Sioux goaltender Ralph Engelstad. In less than 7 years, its already hosted the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championships, the 2008 World Curling Championships, set a record for attendance at the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey West Regional, and drawn the largest crowd for basketball in the state's history, over 12,000 for a match between UND and the Kansas Jayhawks (should check that last).

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey teams play their home games in the Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Ralph is a $104 million arena that seats 11,640. The concourses of the REA are covered in granite flooring, each spectator seat is made of cherry wood and leather upholstery, escalators bring spectators between levels, and full-color LCD displays dot the arena. The arena was donated by former Fighting Sioux goaltender Ralph Engelstad. NHL great Wayne Gretzky was quoted calling the arena "one of the most beautiful buildings we have in North America" during the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championships, which Grand Forks hosted. Only walking through the concourse of The Ralph can you truly start to appreciate the storied history of Fighting Sioux Hockey. Every great player in the history of the program has a spot on the walls of the arena, immortalized on giant graphics that show everything from the seven National Championship teams to hockey card-like posters of players that include statistics from the player

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The Ralph is meaningless in a story like this....especially since the Sioux have won exactly ZERO titles since playing in the new Ralph. There's plenty of great facilities in all sports throughout North America, many of which a team has actually won in. Writing a large paragraph on something meaningless to the story isn't going to get Grand Forks the term Titletown.

Something tells me this whole story is set up just to re-give Green Bay the term in the long run.

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The Ralph is meaningless in a story like this....especially since the Sioux have won exactly ZERO titles since playing in the new Ralph. There's plenty of great facilities in all sports throughout North America, many of which a team has actually won in. Writing a large paragraph on something meaningless to the story isn't going to get Grand Forks the term Titletown.

Something tells me this whole story is set up just to re-give Green Bay the term in the long run.

I agree!! Grand Forks/The New Ralph is far from Titletown

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I kinda think a lot of you are kinda missing the point of what ESPN is doing here. They are not trying to take away "TitleTown" from Green Bay or trying to give it another city. They are simply looking for 20 town that could be considered Titletowns in their own way. Then they will visit each of the them and do a story on each one. Everyone knows that Green Bay is the real TitleTown, just like (at least) all of us know that Warroad is the real HockeyTown. Actually, I think Yahoo Sports did a little thing about who should be the real HockeyTown USA, and I believe they gave it to the Twin Cities, even though Detroit would never give it up. Just like Green Bay Will never give up TitleTown.

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I'm curious how Bison football and my statement come into play.

Nothing personal against you. It's just the observation you made about Green Bay's lack of success is the exact same thing NDSU fans would say to Sioux fans about our lack of titles. For years, no matter what the final score of the Sioux-Bison football game was or what UND's record was, it was always, "How many rings you got?" Even now that we have finally won a title, it's, how would you say it, 1 title in the last 113 years. Your argument against the success of the Packers franchise sounds uncannily similar to the reasoning NDSU fans have used for years about how worthless our football program at UND is, that's all.

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ND high schools probably would win any high school championship count in the country because there are like 4 schools that have a chance at winning every year in like all the sports and half the teams make it to state.

I would have to agree with this statement. I think it's a wonderful idea to try and get Grand Forks to be one of the finalists for Titletown, but basically the only titles that are going to hold any weight are UND's hockey titles and it's football championship. Individual titles won by UND athletes or titles won by high schools won't carry any weight. Neither will prominent alumni. That said, it certainly doesn't hurt to try.

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I just saw that there is a list of cities you can submit essays to bolster their status, and Grand Forks isn't one of them. You can, however, submit an essay making a case for Cavalier, ND if you like.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/titletown/n...tory?id=3339921

I interpret that as just being an up to date list of towns already nominated. I think there is still the option to either nominate an additional town or, if the town is already listed, to submit an additional essay to bolster that town's existing nomination.

The "Guidelines" state that nominations will be accepted through May 16, 2008.

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I just figured if we were listing Bollinger..... :D

Personally, I wouldn't want to argue North Dakota's claim to fame on any player that plays for the Vikings.... I'm probably going to get it for that one....Sorry, Vikings fans!

Moss? Carter? you do know he started his career under the wing of chris carter...both played for the vikings and both hold records. I'm sure you would argue for North Dakota's claim to fame if those guys were from here.

Anyway how about Potulney(sp?) and Irman(sp?) they won NCAA titles with the gophers, well the gophers essentially rode them to the title.

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I interpret that as just being an up to date list of towns already nominated. I think there is still the option to either nominate an additional town or, if the town is already listed, to submit an additional essay to bolster that town's existing nomination.

The "Guidelines" state that nominations will be accepted through May 16, 2008.

you are correct you can still nominate by making your case here.

http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/show/story/3336134

In your own words, tell us about the championships, the pageantry, the tradition, the teams and the fans that make your town TitleTown USA. If you need more space than the conversation below allows, post an essay in your profile blog and leave a link and synopsis here.

It's not just about championships like some people think.

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