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The Next Step


GeauxSioux

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*There is nickname fatigue amongst the faithful, and it's time to move on. It's about providing the best opportunities possible for our present and future student athletes in all of our programs. Sadly, it looks as though retiring the Fighting Sioux name will be what it requires to move the ball forward. The writing was on the wall 18 months ago.

* There IS and always will be - from here on out. All it would take to BLOW UP any new "agreement" between UND and the tribes would be another stupid "Cowboy and Indian" party on campus and here we go again....it's time to CUT IT ALL LOOSE you guys...I'm sorry! I was always one of the most strident supporters of the name until I realized....there is NO WAY to win here and we do NEED to get our other programs into a DI conference ASAP! The Summit won't "wait" for us...and the Big Sky has shown no inclination to expand east. This isn't a game - unless ALL you care about is hockey. Maybe some of you do? But I'd say then you really don't care about the future of UND....

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There is nickname fatigue amongst the faithful, and it's time to move on. It's about providing the best opportunities possible for our present and future student athletes in all of our programs. Sadly, it looks as though retiring the Fighting Sioux name will be what it requires to move the ball forward. The writing was on the wall 18 months ago.

Fighting Sioux is > Summit League IMHO.

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Fighting Sioux is > Summit League IMHO.

I know you love this University as much as anyone here. But after reading that, all I can say is that I'm glad you're not amongst those calling the shots on this one. Who are the opponents filling the Betty now? What exactly is the carrot we are holding out for?

Get the referendum at Standing Rock, win it, retire the name with grace, and move forward.

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I know you love this University as much as anyone here. But after reading that, all I can say is that I'm glad you're not amongst those calling the shots on this one. Who are the opponents filling the Betty now? What exactly is the carrot we are holding out for?

Get the referendum at Standing Rock, win it, retire the name with grace, and move forward.

UND isn't going to be filling the Betty with the likes of Oakland, Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, Centenary, IPFW...

I also don't see any need to hurry and make a rash decision before the Standing Rock Tribe votes, at least let them play out the process. Does anyone thing the Summit leave UND in the dust, don't see it happening.

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UND isn't going to be filling the Betty with the likes of Oakland, Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, Centenary, IPFW...

I also don't see any need to hurry and make a rash decision before the Standing Rock Tribe votes, at least let them play out the process. Does anyone thing the Summit leave UND in the dust, don't see it happening.

What people are forgetting is that the coaches of our Summit-bound sports need to have this affiliation written in stone for recruiting purposes. They would no longer have to speculate about the future of the program and would be able to provide a vision for the recruits. That is huge in their eyes.

The sooner we lock in our inevitable Summit League spot, the sooner we start getting better recruits and a more stable program. I know there are many hockey people who could care less about that and think the name is more important but they are completely wrong. This is a historic time for all the other sports programs at UND and they need to realize it.

The next step would be locking in the Missouri Valley spot for football which is going to happen also. Just not under their current setup.

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As sad as i would be to see the name go i think it would be best if we changed it. I can live with just UND for now and a nickname later. I think the Summitt is making this choice for UND instead of the legal process. We have until Nov. 30, 2010 according to the agreement, then UND set their own timetable to study this and try to get tribal support now the Summitt is setting a timetable for UND to drop the name or get tribal support now. Why doesn't President Kelly come out and hold a press conference to relay the actual timetable to everyone including the Summit. So what does this do to all the Indians that voted for the Sioux nickname on the Spirit Lake and all the potential Sioux supporters on the Standing Rock who may not even get a chance to vote. I feel bad for the Spirit Lake Supporters who showed the PC crowd that they support the name. Oh wait if the name goes we don't have the Indians to worry about anymore. Lets see them blame their poverty, racism, and joblessness on something other than the Sioux nickname.

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The sooner we lock in our inevitable Summit League spot, the sooner we start getting better recruits and a more stable program.

Inevitable is the reason we let the process play out. Let the Standing Rock Tribe put pressure on the Tribal coucil to have their vote and go from there.

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Inevitable is the reason we let the process play out. Let the Standing Rock Tribe put pressure on the Tribal coucil to have their vote and go from there.

I agree here.

Personally, I think the three other Dakota schools should be pressuring their conference bretheren to admit North Dakota. It's such a no-brainer in terms of travel expenses for
everyone
that it's amazing that Douple is even thinking about Utah State, or (
:silly:
) Chicago State.

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* There IS and always will be - from here on out. All it would take to BLOW UP any new "agreement" between UND and the tribes would be another stupid "Cowboy and Indian" party on campus and here we go again....it's time to CUT IT ALL LOOSE you guys...I'm sorry! I was always one of the most strident supporters of the name until I realized....there is NO WAY to win here and we do NEED to get our other programs into a DI conference ASAP! The Summit won't "wait" for us...and the Big Sky has shown no inclination to expand east.

All it will take is another cowboy and Indian party? There already was one such party: yet the tribal vote came in 2-1 for the nickname. (BTW, check out today's paper for a story about a frat in Alabama. Somehow, their conference affiliation was NOT mentioned at all in the story I read.
:silly:
)

The votes can take place at any school in any location. Yet FSU isn't making plans to drop their nickname, nor is Utah or Central Michigan.

This isn't a game - unless ALL you care about is hockey. Maybe some of you do? But I'd say then you really don't care about the future of UND....

Sorry, but that's over the top. The "I love North Dakota more than you do" stuff is uncalled for.
:D

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And for the people who keep arguing that "we better hurry up and beg to join the Summit, otherwise they may take Chicago State": here's some more information on the academics at that fine institution:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...0,2985029.story

I know the Douple apologists have told me that it's easy to research a Big Ten school, all you have to do is buy as US News & World Report guide and viola! All the info you would ever need to compare schools with as many as 40,000 students. :silly: For that group of people, here's some of the info that you would need a lot of hard work to gather, much less analyze and winnow thru:

(Chicago State) Faculty also are concerned about the trustees' decision to lower the
minimum ACT admissions requirement to 15
, from 18, as they fear that students with lower test scores will be less likely to succeed.

I'm sure some of you are thinking "hey, don't you need much more than a 15 on the ACT just to get an athletic scholarship?" Don't worry, Super-Commissioner Douple is on the job! He'll have an answer for that to protect the Summit presidents from thinking too much. :)

And....if you get a far shallower pond, its a lot easier to rise to the top, isn't it? :D

(Chicago State's new president) also wants to increase undergraduates in the Honors Program to 600, from about 50.

Again: be careful what you wish for. If your read this and still think Chicago State is a school you'd be proud to be associated with, then by all means jump at that Summit offer.

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UND isn't going to be filling the Betty with the likes of Oakland, Oral Roberts, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, Centenary, IPFW...

I also don't see any need to hurry and make a rash decision before the Standing Rock Tribe votes, at least let them play out the process. Does anyone thing the Summit leave UND in the dust, don't see it happening.

You were a supporter of staying Division II I take it.

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I agree here.

Personally, I think the three other Dakota schools should be pressuring their conference bretheren to admit North Dakota. It's such a no-brainer in terms of travel expenses for
everyone
that it's amazing that Douple is even thinking about Utah State, or (
:silly:
)
Chicago State.

The last article that I read basically state that the Summit was not looking at these schools.

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You were a supporter of staying Division II I take it.

I think the time to move was when NDSU and SDSU moved. I would be willing to bet I am not the only one that feels this way. This whole move has been a mess from the get go. Poorly handled by the University.

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I think the time to move was when NDSU and SDSU moved. I would be willing to bet I am not the only one that feels this way. This whole move has been a mess from the get go. Poorly handled by the University.

I agree with you on timing and there are many that felt the same way. Kupchella had a bad experience with D-I at a prior job and it clouded his thinking, IMO.

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The last article that I read basically state that the Summit was not looking at these schools.

As much as I love the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname, it is time to change it. UND needs conference affiliation more than it needs the nickname right now. Summit League affiliation allows UND to schedule old conference rivals, keeps travel costs down (which is huge with this economy), and allow the coaches in these sports a better opportunity to recruit. Some may say that there may be other conferences, but in all reality the Summit League is the best fit for us. Today is a sad day as the inevitable looks to be happening, but on the flip side, this should be the first step to gaining conference affiliation and stabalizing the athletic department for the future.

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As much as I love the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname, it is time to change it. UND needs conference affiliation more than it needs the nickname right now. Summit League affiliation allows UND to schedule old conference rivals, keeps travel costs down (which is huge with this economy), and allow the coaches in these sports a better opportunity to recruit. Some may say that there may be other conferences, but in all reality the Summit League is the best fit for us. Today is a sad day as the inevitable looks to be happening, but on the flip side, this should be the first step to gaining conference affiliation and stabalizing the athletic department for the future.

I pretty much feel this way too, but I also think that a reasonable compromise between those who want the name dropped now, and those who want to fight this until the bitter end, is to change the deadline for gaining tribal approval to December 31, 2009. I've felt for some time that we'd know shortly after the Standing Rock election this fall whether there's any hope there or not. If we haven't gotten Standing Rock approval by the end of this year, it's probably never going to happen.

IMO, giving assurances to the Summit that the issue will be resolved by the end of this calendar year should be enough to get the ball rolling and reserve, for lack of a better word, UND's spot in the conference.

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