A decent read?



Kurt Snibbe/ESPN.com

Proposed Fighting Sue helmet logo.



Someone posted this article on Sioux Sports – I believe it was a Bison fan. If you haven’t seen this it’s worth a quick look. The reason that UND hasn’t been in March Madness is that UND just finally finished their transition to Division I in all sports, I expect that eventually UND will make the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball tourneys as well.

Low Graduation Rates? Fine with the NCAA. Two Feathers? OMG! Over at the University of North Dakota, the state's voters recently endorsed a referendum to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname. Right now the school's teams are the -- we'll get back to you on that, as UND teams have no nickname at the moment.

The NCAA ordered the University of North Dakota to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname and cease using a Sioux head image drawn by a Native American artist. The NCAA also ordered William & Mary to cease using a two-feathers sports logo. Yet the NCAA is fine with the University of Utah's American Indian nickname, the Utes, and its two-feathers logo.

What's the distinction here? Money. The North Dakota men's basketball team has not made the March Madness event in 20 years. William & Mary has never made the men's tournament. Neither the University of North Dakota nor William & Mary provides the NCAA with the only thing it cares about: greenback dollars. The University of Utah, on the other hand, has 26 March Madness appearances, including 12 of the past 20 tournaments. Because in the case of the Utes, the American Indian imagery generates cash for the NCAA, all is well.

Since the University of North Dakota needs a new nickname, TMQ proposes the Fighting Sue, perhaps with Johnny Cash theme music.

That being said, UND is usually in the NCAA Division I playoffs for hockey every season but once (missed NCAA playoffs in 2001-02) since 1997 and last season was the first time during the span that UND didn't wear the Fighting Sioux logo during the NCAA tourney. I am not so sure that the Johnny Cash Logo would catch on either. :) I did get a good chuckle out of that one though.

I do think it’s funny sometimes how the NCAA picks certain issues like Sports Team logos over more important issues like graduation rates.

Are there more than one set of rules for certain universities?

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a story that happened to catch my eye today - especially after the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. It appears that the NCAA has cleared the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill of any wrong doing when it appeared that UNC did in fact commit academic fraud. I guess the unprecedented precedence the NCAA set this past summer only applies to certain schools and not to other schools.

First off, I want to be clear - in no way is accademic fraud as bad as a child sex abuse scandal - that being said there should have been some kind of punishment for UNC's transgressions.

Dan Kane, News Observer --- The NCAA’s position that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has done nothing wrong by offering bogus classes that helped athletes maintain their eligibility has spurred a wave of skepticism from national sportswriters and others who follow college sports.

“The NCAA concludes no violations in UNC academic scandal,” tweeted Stewart Mandel, a college football writer for Sports Illustrated’s website. “This actually happened.”

Several said the announcement last Friday has given universities looking to gain the advantage in the big-money sports of football and basketball a license to bend the rules.

Bruce Feldman, a college football columnist for CBSSports.com, said in a blog post the announcement shows that the “NCAA MAKES IT UP AS IT GOES ALONG. The NCAA finds pretty much whatever it wants to find ... or not find.”

Jay Bilas, ESPN analyst and former Duke basketball player, said on Twitter: “And the NCAA wonders why it’s a laughingstock? Cue NCAA Prez to lecture on integrity, and who’s ‘in charge.’ ”

Neither UNC-CH officials nor the NCAA offered an explanation for the determination. UNC-CH officials announced the news Friday morning ahead of a holiday weekend. The NCAA did not issue a statement, but provided a brief confirmation of UNC’s announcement later in the day.

Again, I want to be clear, while  child rape and abuse for 15+ years is much worse than academic fraud - in anyone's universe; because in the end the fact that PSU athletic department knew about Jerry Sandusky and and covered up the crimes of Sandusky is not acceptable and inexcusable and I have no problem with how the NCAA treated Penn State University. I honestly don't know, if you can punish the PSU football team enough to make things right - they are going to be cleaning up Sandusky's mess for a very long time.

That being said, the NCAA also set a precedence by letting big basketball/football programs let players that shouldn't have been eligible continue to compete on the playing field. By letting one college fudge academic records to keep a player eligible has set  a precedence for other schools that might be entertaining this idea and this is also not acceptable.

If any thing the next school that get's caught cheating and doing the same thing should immediately stand up and say hey, you let UNC get away with it and if they are sanctioned the NCAA will open itself up for a lawsuit in my opinion. I was also wondering how long before something like this happen - you knew the NCAA would return to it's hypocrisy of not treating all institutions of higher living the same way. We should know by now that the big schools in many instances are allowed to skate while other smaller schools feel the full brunt of the NCAA.

Column: After UNC ruling, what does NCAA tell Penn State? Or UConn? m.si.com/news/wr/wr/det…
— Michael Rosenberg (@Rosenberg_Mike) August 31, 2012

And NCAA wonders why it's a laughingstock?:bit.ly/O1bzUF Cue NCAA Prez to lecture on integrity, and who's "in charge."
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 31, 2012

Related articles

• Are there more than one set of rules for certain universities?
• NCAA clearing North Carolina leaves some in disbelief

Compare and contrast - it's the same thing right?

During the Frozen Four in 2011 the poor guy in question see picture above; you've probably seen the video and pictures before got caught up in the moment and was taken to task by opposing fans that don't cheer for the Green and White.

I was tipped off about this little gem through an email - if you watch this Through These Doors video an at roughly the 5:32 mark of the video you will see a fan wearing lets say maroon colors sitting to the left of the stanchion in the front row flip off the Fighting Sioux players as they celebrate a goal against the Saint Cloud State Huskies.

The moral of the story is you never know when the camera is watching and don't do something that you might regret later. I would also say that no fan base is immune to this either.

NCAA Sanctions Manhattanville college

The NCAA has busy again as it sanctioned another school this time it’s ECAC Division III west school Manhattanville College.

From the details of the release it looks like the school was giving more money to it's Men's hockey players - which would be a NCAA violation under NCAA Division III hockey rules.

The coach of the Men's hockey team Eric Lang has since resigned to pursue other employment opportunities. 

Manhattanville College failed to monitor financial aid packaging

Manhattanville College failed to monitor its financial aid process, which led to student-athletes receiving more financial aid awards than the general student body, according to findings by the NCAA Division III Committee on Infractions. Penalties in this case include two years of probation and increased oversight requirements.

This case was resolved through the summary disposition process, a cooperative effort where the involved parties collectively submit the case to the Committee on Infractions in written form. The NCAA enforcement staff, university and involved individuals must agree to the facts of the case in order for this process to be utilized instead of having a formal hearing.

During the 2009-10 academic year, international student-athletes received an average of $8,538 more in financial aid packages than non-student-athletes. The difference was most pronounced among men’s ice hockey student-athletes, who received an average of $1,730 more than other student-athletes and $9,671 more than non-student-athletes. While student-athletes comprised 22 percent of the international student body, those individuals received 34 percent of the total amount awarded and distributed as financial aid to international students. Because the percentages were not closely equivalent to the amount of student-athletes within the general student body, the school’s awards were in violation of Division III rules.

The college’s financial aid award process allows students to petition to have their awards adjusted. Seven (35 percent) of the incoming international men’s ice hockey student-athletes went through the adjustment process, resulting in their awards being increased by an average of $7,572. Other student-athletes saw their awards increased by an average of only $5,850, while non-student-athlete adjustments averaged only $4,711. The committee noted that the former vice president for enrollment services, who met regularly with the men’s and women’s ice hockey coaches, exercised sole discretion regarding the adjustments and failed to document his reasons for adjusting the aid of the international student-athletes.

The university failed to monitor the conduct and administration of the athletics program when its staff did not educate the admissions and financial aid personnel in the determination of financial aid awards. The college also failed to establish record-keeping procedures in the college’s financial aid appeals process. Because the college failed to keep records regarding the financial aid appeals process, it could not be determined whether the same types of violations occurred in previous years.

The penalties include:

Public reprimand and censure.

Two years of probation, from August 7, 2012, through August 6, 2014.

Attendance at an NCAA Regional Rules Seminar by the vice president of enrollment management, the director of financial aid, the athletics compliance officer and the director of athletics during the probationary period (self-imposed by the college).

Request of a Level Two review from the NCAA Committee on Financial Aid during both years of the probationary period. During this review, the committee looks closely at an institution’s policies and procedures for awarding aid, as well as the impact of those factors on aid received by student-athletes.

Establishment of a comprehensive compliance and rules education program. Details are noted in the public report.

Completion of a written report detailing the composition of the college’s financial aid to the committee within four weeks of the beginning of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years.

Additional details are noted in the public report.

Summer Dreaming...

If you’ve read Goon’s World for any length of time (thanks for reading by the way), you will see that this is for the most part, a 24/7 365 days a year blog dedicated for hockey… When I am not watching hockey, I am actually thinking or dreaming about hockey (NCAA and NHL Hockey). Let’s just say,  hockey is my religion of choice for me.

While listening to a podcast of the Pipeline show last week while riding my bike, Fighting Sioux junior defenseman Dillon Simpson said something that got me thinking – it’s going to be hockey season very soon. While I am not very good at math – we’re roughly about 2 months away from the start of the college hockey season. "If" the NHL gets their stuff together with the CBA, we are about 9 weeks away from the drop of the puck in the NHL.

The summer is beginning to wind down and incidentally the fall semester at UND starts on 22 August – so like I mentioned above -– we're getting down to crunch time – hockey season is just around the corner... The college hockey season begins the 6th and 12th of October with exhibition games against the Manitoba Bison and the USNDT under 18 team.

In the final season of the WCHA as we know it – the University of North Dakota Hockey team will begin its defense of the Broadmoor Trophy – in case you were counting – UND is going for the 4-peat … That would be unprecedented if UND won the trophy for season in a row.

Yesterday was a big day for the University of North Dakota sports – Per Jayson Hajdu UND has officially gone Division I in all of their sports.

The University of North Dakota is proud to announce that it has been elected to full Division I active membership status from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), officially completing UND's transition from Division II status. UND President Dr. Robert Kelley received a letter from the NCAA today confirming the University's active membership in Division I athletics

If you’ve been paying attention this summer, you will have noticed that the NCAA has been very busy – yesterday, the NCAA levied a very heavy punishment against BGSU defenseman freshman defenseman Ralfs Freibergs, basically Freibergs is going to get to play 3 regular season games and possibly about 2-6 playoff games if BGSU doesn’t decided to have him file for a redshirt.

Kevin Gordon Sentinel Tribune --- Bowling Green freshman defenseman Ralfs Freibergs has been suspended for 33 games by the NCAA, the result of his junior hockey team in Latvia playing in a professional league, Falcon hockey coach Chris Bergeron said.

The Latvian born Freibergs has played junior hockey in the United States the last 2 1/2 seasons, but played in his home country before that.

He played with the Latvian national team in the World Junior Championships in 2009 and 2010 . To prepare the team for the WJC, Latvian officials had the team play in a Latvian professional league.

The NCAA penalized Freibergs one game for each game he played in the league. "Ultimately, anything professional, when it comes to the NCAA, is something that will have penalties with it," Bergeron said. "We knew, as a program, as a staff, this was a possibility. It's not something out of left field."

BG has 36 regular-season games this season, so Freibergs will be eligible to play the Saturday game of its next-to-last series of the regular season.

This is what former Princeton Tiger and current LA Kings’ Kevin Westgarth had to say about the prospects of the NHL having another lockout. I agree with Westgarth; I think we are going to see a lockout – actually – I would be very surprised if it didn’t happen. In my opinion, I think that the owners are trying to weaken the NHLPA.

Pat Leonard, Blue Shirts Blog --- Finally, the LA Kings’ Kevin Westgarth said it best on Wednesday when asked what he believes is the players’ No. 1 issue, considering the feedback he’s received from his peers:

"Generally, like the fans, we are concerned about – I think everyone has a little post-traumatic stress from last time,” Westgarth said, referring to the lockout and missed season of 2004-05, when the union lost the battle and eventually agreed to the salary cap in place today.

“It is something (where) they locked us out last time. It’s foreseeable for them to lock us out again. So guys obviously want to play, but obviously we need to get the right deals together, as well.” Read that one more time: “It’s foreseeable for them to lock us out again.”

Boston Bruins heir apparent Tuukka Rask is ready to take over the reigns as the starting goalie in Beantown this fall. According to Capgeek, the RFA Rask has a new one year deal worth $3,500,000.

Tuukka Rask was caught off guard - just a little - when he heard fellow Bruins goalie Tim Thomas decided not to play next season.

Surprised? Yes.

Shocked? Not so much.

''I wasn't expecting him to do that, obviously,'' Boston's new starting goalie said Thursday at a charity event. ''But I really appreciated what he's done and I appreciate his decision to want to be with the family and take some time off hockey.

''It really didn't shock me that much, but I'm more sad to see him leave because we had a really good connection and friendship going on. But I'm sure he's happy now where he is, and gets to spend time with his family.''

Here is some interesting news – former Edmonton Oiler, Vancouver Canucks and New York Ranger forward Mark Messier has been awarded a $6-million in a settlement with the Vancouver Canucks. [Vancouver Sun] Mark Messier played with the Vancover Canucks from 1997-2000 and returned to play for the Rangers from 2000-04.

Former Fighting Sioux forward Chris Vandevelde was on an Edmonton Oilers podcast recently and this is what he had to say about his recent success in the AHL playoffs. Also, the Edmonton Journal also has this story on Vandy as well. There is a chance that Vandevelde could make the Edmonton Oilers roster out of training camp.

Jonathan Willis, Edmonton Journal --- In 68 regular season games in the AHL, Chris VandeVelde scored just seven goals. In 14 post-season games, however, he tallied six times. What happened?

I’ve spent a lot of time looking at VandeVelde’s last couple of seasons over the last two weeks. Between evaluating the Oilers’ prospects for our prospect series here at the Cult of Hockey and the Top-25 Under-25 at the Copper and Blue, his name would have come up anyway, but combine those two series with the fact that VandeVelde turned down his qualifying offer, subsequently signed an identical deal, and now is in the conversation as a possible Oilers roster option in 2012-13 and he’s been top of mind.

VandeVelde was on Oilers Now a few days ago, and host Bob Stauffer asked him about that bump in goal-scoring during the post-season. VandeVelde had some difficulty answering the question but even so I found what he said interesting:

"I mean I just… I, you know, I was shooting more and I had confidence and that’s a huge thing. Any player with confidence is obviously better, and just making good plays, playing with good line-mates, that’s just how it went and we had a good run there."

Here is a break down for UND's conference Affiliations. UND’s 2012-13 Conference Affiliations – this is an exciting time in UND sports as now all of UND’s sports have a conference to play in.

America Sky Conference: Men’s golf

Big Sky Conference (BSC): Men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s golf, soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, volleyball

Great West Conference (GWC): Baseball

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF): Men’s swimming and diving

Western Athletic Conference (WAC): Women’s swimming and diving (affiliate member)

Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA): Men’s and women’s hockey (2012-13 final season)

A look at the numbers

Bonin 21 posted this graphic on Gopher Puck Live and it's give a good illustration on what UND Fighting Sioux hockey has accomplished in college hockey the last 20 years. UND will leave the WCHA with the edge over Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Related articles

• Jeff Dubay resurfaces - talks about his addiction
• Nick Bjugstad returns to the Gophers

So is Montana next?

You have to wonder if the University of Montana is next? While the situation at the University of Montana isn't quite as bad as the issues at Penn State - the situation is not good either - let's not forget that the NCAA did set a precedent with Penn State University.

Montana is sitting out there with some serious allegations of criminal wrong doing. I don't know if I would like to be their athletic director right now. In fact he might be just a little bit worried; I wouldn't want to be an administrator on  a campus that had the attention of the NCAA right now. 

Gwen Floario, Missoulian.com --- “The NCAA just can’t look only at Penn State if they take this leap,” said Ridpath, author of “Tainted Glory: Marshall University, the NCAA, and One Man’s Fight for Justice.”

The NCAA has not said what brought its investigators to UM. But the school also is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for how it handles reports of rape and sexual assault, and the U.S. Department of Education has its own investigation into allegations of harassment by members of the football team.

UM President Royce Engstrom said Monday he hasn’t heard from the NCAA since the organization notified him Jan. 30 of its investigation into unspecified allegations. At that point, the NCAA said such investigations usually take about six months.

“I don’t know how strictly they adhere to those timelines they set for themselves,” Engstrom said. “I think until we hear from the NCAA we are just going to go about improving things the way that I’ve discussed throughout this.”

-----(SNIP)------

When the alleged gang rapes at UM originally came to light in December, then-Vice President Jim Foley described them as “date rapes” and later, in an email obtained in a joint FOIA request by the Missoulian and the Wall Street Journal, complained about media accounts that didn’t use his preferred term. In another email, he questioned whether a victim who had spoken publicly about her ordeal had violated the Student Code of Conduct.

Engstrom announced last month that Foley had resigned as vice president, although he will retain his university job and nearly $126,000 salary through the end of his contract in June 2013.

Breaking down the sanctions

The Penn State Nittany Lions American football team takes the field (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The NCAA has spoken – Penn State will play a $60 million fine – they will face a four-year postseason ban – lose a total of 10 scholarships for four years. Lastly, all of Joe Paterno’s team’s victories from 1998 to 2011 have been vacated and he loses 111 career wins. So by deducting the  111 career wins from Joe Paterno's win total he is no longer the all-time winningest coach in NCAA football history.

Penn State has signed off on the agreement with the NCAA to accept these harsh penalties.

With the correction, Paterno goes from number one all-times winningest coach to eighth on the all-time wins list. Paterno is fifth among FBS coaches.

Here is a breakdown of the NCAA Penalties – while it’s not the death penalty the sanctions are harsh.

$60 million fine. The NCAA imposes a $60 million fine, equivalent to the approximate average of one year's gross revenues from the Penn State football program, to be paid over a five-year period beginning in 2012 into an endowment for programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse. The minimum annual payment will be $12 million until the $60 million is paid. The proceeds of this fine may not be used to fund programs at the University. No current sponsored athletic team may be reduced or eliminated in order to fund this fine.

Four-year postseason ban. The NCAA imposes a four-year postseason ban on participation in postseason play in the sport of football, beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 academic year. Therefore, the University's football team shall end its 2012 season and each season through 2015 with the playing if its last regularly scheduled, in-season contest and shall not be eligible to participate in any postseason competition, including a conference championship, any bowl game, or any postseason playoff competition.

Four-year reduction of grants-in-aid. For a period of four years commencing with the 2013-2014 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2016-2017 academic year, the NCAA imposes a limit of 15 initial grants-in-aid (from a maximum of 25 allowed) and for a period of four years commencing with the 2014-2015 academic year and expiring at the conclusion of the 2017-2018 academic year a limit of 65 total grants-in-aid (from a maximum of 85 allowed) for football during each of those specified years. In the event the total number of grants-in-aid drops below 65, the University may award grants-in-aid to non-scholarship student-athletes who have been members of the football program as allowed under Bylaw 15.5.6.3.6.

Five years of probation. The NCAA imposes this period of probation, which will include the appointment of an on-campus, independent Integrity Monitor and periodic reporting as detailed in the Corrective Component of this Consent Decree. Failure to comply with the Consent Decree during this probationary period may result in additional, more severe sanctions.

Vacation of wins since 1998. The NCAA vacates all wins of the Penn State football team from 1998 to 2011. The career record of Coach “Joe” Paterno will reflect the vacated records.

Waiver of transfer rules and grant-in-aid retention. Any entering or returning football student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and will be eligible to immediately compete at the transfer institution, provided he is otherwise eligible. Any football student-athlete who wants to remain at the University may retain his athletic grant-in-aid, as long as he meets and maintains applicable academic requirements, regardless of whether he competes on the football team.

There is no doubt that the NCAA hammered Penn State – hard - to quote Brandon Noble a former PSU football player that was on ESPN the morning and he said, “The NCAA has opened up a can of worms.”

There are many that have asked the question, why act now? Why not wait for the investigations to finish before the NCAA acted against Penn State University.

Ed Ray, the president of Oregon State and chairman of the N.C.A.A.'s executive committee, said the case, and the sanctions imposed, represented a declaration by university presidents and chancellors that “this has to stop.” By that he meant a win at all costs mentality with respect to intercollegiate sports.

“We’ve had enough,” he said. [New York Times]

Penn State is also not done being punished – they still have to face the Big Ten who is also set to announced that they are going to take away their share of the bowl revenue for the next four seasons and they won’t be able to play in the Big Ten Conference championship for the next four season that means Penn State will suffer about a 13 million dollar hit – that’s a huge loss for PSU.

Judgement day for Penn State

What I have read today - the sanctions that Penn State University is going to experience - is going to be more punitive than if the Penn State University football program had suffered the death penalty.

I am not sure how that is possible? According to all of the reports, "Unprecedented," said one NCAA source. "This is just unprecedented."

So just what is it that we will see tomorrow in the way of punishment that is so unprecedented? It will be something we have never seen before.

If there is no death penalty for Penn State University - what penalty would be unprecedented that we have never seen anything like it before? There are some that aren't happy about the NCAA deciding to punish Penn State without even so much as a hearing and it appears that Mark Emmert was the lone arbiter on this mater as well. Some are going to ask as well - what actual NCAA violation was violated?

(ESPN.com) --- NCAA president Mark Emmert has decided to punish Penn State with severe penalties likely to include a significant loss of scholarships and loss of multiple bowls, a source close to the decision told ESPN's Joe Schad on Sunday morning.

But Penn State will not receive the so-called "death penalty" that would have suspended the program for at least one year, the source said.

The penalties, however, are considered to be so harsh that the death penalty may have been preferable, the source said.

The NCAA will announce "corrective and punitive measures" for Penn State on Monday morning, it said in a statement Sunday. Emmert will reveal the sanctions at 9 a.m. ET in Indianapolis at the organization's headquarters along with Ed Ray, the chairman of the NCAA's executive committee, and Oregon State's president, the news release said.

It is expected the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and/or the NCAA Executive Committee has granted Emmert the authority to punish through nontraditional methods, the source told Schad.

This begs the question - what stops the NCAA to just punishing schools without so much of a hearing? Who is the arbiter? Who decides the punishment? Where is the due process? I have no problem with the NCAA giving something in the way of punishment to Penn State - however - do they not have the benefit of at least being heard?

According to Rival.com Penn State is going to have 10-plus [scholarships stripped] for four years or five years - plus a multi year bowl ban.

NCAA boss Mark Emmert is open to PSU death penalty

While I do think that PSU football could receive the death penalty – color my cynical – I just don’t see it happening. In the end the almighty dollar will prevail. Mark my words… A death penalty would affect the bottom line of more than one school – the NCAA would be hard pressed to cause suffering on the other B1G schools.

NEW YORK (AP) --- The president of the NCAA says he isn't ruling out the possibility of shutting down the Penn State football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

In a PBS interview Monday night, NCAA President Mark Emmert said he doesn't want to "take anything off the table" if the NCAA determines penalties against Penn State are warranted. Emmert said he's "never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university."

He added, "What the appropriate penalties are, if there are determinations of violations, we'll have to decide." The last time the NCAA shut down a football program with the so-called "death penalty" was in the 1980s, when SMU was forced to drop the sport because of extra benefits violations.

After the NCAA suspended the SMU program for a year, the school decided not to play in 1988, either, as it tried to regroup.

While I would personally have no problem with the NCAA throwing the book at Penn State University, however, I don't think it's going to happen. Not in this case. All you have to do is look to the SMU scandal of the 1980's to realize that there might never be another NCAA death penalty handed out again – the death penalty buried the SMU football program into a twenty year period of mediocrity that they are finally recovering from now.

In 2002, John Lombardi, then president of the University of Florida and now president of the Louisiana State University System, expressed the sentiment of many college officials when he said:

“ SMU taught the committee that the death penalty is too much like the nuclear bomb. It's like what happened after we dropped the (atom) bomb in World War II. The results were so catastrophic that now we'll do anything to avoid dropping another one.”

That’s not to say that the acts that happened on PSU’s campus aren’t egregious, because they are disgusting – there is also no way to sugar coat this mess. I am just not hopeful that the NCAA will do it in this instance. We will be watching to see how this shakes out.

Now we find out from an L.A. Times article that the Sandusky might have been abusing young boys as early as the 1970’s. Wow!

Joe Paterno’s family continued its fight Monday to save the reputation of one of college football’s most honored coaches, insisting that it will conduct its own investigation into the Penn State University child sex-abuse scandal tied to Jerry Sandusky. Meanwhile, reports that Sandusky may have abused some victims as early as the 1970s raised new questions about the already complicated legal liability issues in the scandal.

Citing "sources close to the Jerry Sandusky case," the Patriot-News reported that three men have told police that they were abused in the 1970s or 1980s by Sandusky, who was convicted in June on 45 criminal charges of sexually abusing boys. He is in jail awaiting sentencing...

So the sports world is watching – what the NCAA does next is anyone’s bet…

Farwell 'NCAA has been similarly accused of making it attractive financially to keep these players playing in their system'

To tonight while I was riding my bike and I was listening to the Pipeline show on Team 1260 A.M. out of Edmonton, Alberta .

The hosts Guy Flaming and Dean Millard had on Mike Farwell who is a radio analyst for Kitchener Rangers hockey team and works for  570 A.M. News. Farwell is also a sports anchor on the Sportsnet 590 A.M. The Fan out of Toronto, Ontario.  

You can listen to the show in question by clicking on this link or you can download the show on iTunes store.

Guy asked Mike Farwell about the various allegations surrounding the CHL and if there is any truth to some of these rumors.  The response to the question was quite interesting.

“In my personal opinion and I am heading into my thirteenth season in this league,” Farwell said. “Where there is smoke there is fire and we hear unfortunately about these types of situations far too often. “

“You listed some of the power houses but again; I don’t want to get into a naming of names and who said what and he said – she said sort of thing again. It’s not too hard if want to just Google it you can find the members clubs across the entire 62 team Canadian Hockey League that have been accused of these things before.”

Then Farwell dropped this little throw away nugget out there, “having said that, the NCAA has been similarly accused of making it attractive financially to keep these players playing in their system, despite that fact that it goes against their rules and regulations as well.”

“I want to make that abundantly clear we hear this so often, you have to ask what is going on.  To me this is really the elephant in the room for the Canadian Hockey League and its incumbent on the league to do something.” 

Wait, What? I was disappointed that the hosts didn’t dig a little further and ask for clarification from Farwell, he also gave no specific example of what he was referring to.

College is pretty regulated and there just isn’t a lot of dirty under the table stuff going on in college hockey. When is the last time a team in the NCAA hockey was given the death penalty for improprieties? You don't have the violations in college hockey that happen in NCAA Division I Basketball and Football. If you don't think the NCAA is looking up North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Boston College and Denver's rear ends you're highly mistaken.

This is also not the first time I have heard Major Junior Hockey Fans make the charge that NCAA hockey has questionable recruiting practices. Really! There has not been a lot in the recent past and there has only been six NCAA violations since 1974 according to Joe Meloni of the College Hockey News. 

Does Penn State belong in the Big Ten?

The Face of Pervert

I found this article while reading the Thank You Terry Hockey Biog. Can you imagine If the Big Ten decided that they no longer could tolerate the scandal at Penn State?

Does Penn State belong in the Big Ten?

The Big Ten’s Council of Presidents voted in 1990 to “integrate Pennsylvania State University” into the conference. PSU began athletic competition in the league in 1993, making the Nittany Lions full-blown competitive members for 19 years.

Though full details aren’t available, the emails released so far and other investigations indicate Paterno and the school’s president, vice president and athletic director learned of Sandusky’s perversion as early as 1998.

In other words, *for at least 74 percent of the time that Penn State has been in the Big Ten Conference, four of the most powerful figures on campus allegedly chose to focus on protecting their institution and positions of authority at the expense of children already abused — with more victims to come because of their inaction.

Is that how the Big Ten does business? And is that the kind of operation the Big Ten wants to associate itself with?

Those are brutally hard questions. But the discussion needs to happen, and at a level far beyond athletics.

The history of major schools getting kicked out of conferences is short.

* This is the sentence that makes my blood boil – Penn State knew – that’s unacceptable.

If the Big Ten decided that they no longer wanted Penn State in their Conference – would cause great turmoil – especially after all of the dominos had already fallen in re-alignment.

In my opinion, Jerry Sandusky is a disgusting P.O.S and deserves to rot in hell for the rest of his life for what he has done to defenseless children. There is no excuse for what Sandusky has done – no matter how you look at it the guy is pure evil.

Going forward, how does Penn State make it right? Is there any chance the Big Ten kicks Penn State out of the Big Ten Conference? What should happen to Penn State? What is a just and right punishment?

In Conclusion; People (Staff, student and visitors) have the right to feel safe on America’s college campuses, what has happened at Penn State is unacceptable especially if they covered it up and kicked it under the rug. Penn State needs to pay some kind of a price for the sins of their football program – but what is an acceptable penalty? Does Penn State deserve to have the book thrown at them? Are NCAA sanctions up to a death penalty an acceptable punishment? What do you think?

Spirt Lake Tribe’s Committee for Understanding and Respect files appeal

Here is the latest from the Fighting Sioux nickname story – the Spirit Lake Tribe’s Committee for Understanding and Respect has appealed their lawsuit that was thrown out of by U.S. District Court Judge Raph Erickson to 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald --- Three days after their effort to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname at UND was roundly rebuffed by state voters, nickname supporters at Spirit Lake filed documents outlining issues they want to address at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The tribe’s Committee for Understanding and Respect has appealed last month’s decision by U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson to dismiss its lawsuit against the NCAA, in which the tribe argued that Sioux people were inappropriately denied “a seat at the table” in negotiations over use of the name, among other issues.

Erickson ordered the lawsuit dismissed on May 1, saying that none of the several counts brought by the pro-nickname committee stated a sufficient legal claim under federal law.

The Spirit Lake committee filed its notice of appeal on June 1 and then turned its attention to the statewide referendum it had placed on the primary election ballot through a petition drive. Last Tuesday, North Dakota voters overwhelmingly rejected that effort and voted to allow UND to retire the nickname.

So is this a losing cause or does the Spirit Lake tribe’s Committee for Understanding and Respect have a chance to have their appeal heard? Personally, I think this lawsuit will be thrown out of court. I would love nothing more than to have the NCAA lose a lawsuit in court but I don’t think this lawsuit has a chance of moving forward.

ND SBoHE directs UND to retire Fighting Sioux nickname

So it begins again, the retirement of the Fighting Sioux nickname is back on after the Measure four vote revealed that a majority of voters in North Dakota voted 1113,684 (Yes) to 55,114 (No) to allow UND to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname again.

Associated Press, FARGO — The state Board of Higher Education has directed the University of North Dakota to retire its Fighting Sioux nickname.

State residents voted overwhelmingly earlier this week to uphold the Legislature's repeal of a state law requiring the school to use the nickname. The moniker that the NCAA finds offensive had been brought out of retirement for a second time while the measure was decided.

Board President Grant Shaft, of Grand Forks, says there's not much more that can be said about the issue that hasn't been said already.

UND will be asked to report its progress at a later date.

As we found out before, when the Fighting Sioux nickname was first retired from January 1st until about February 7th 2012 – when 17,000 petitions were handed in at the State Capital in Bismarck, ND forcing UND to become the Fighting Sioux again – that’s it’s going to take some time getting used to not being the Fighting Sioux anymore. After Tuesday's vote, UND once again becomes the school formally known as the Fighting Sioux. Don’t expect fans to just change overnight, UND has been the Fighting Sioux for 80+ years.

That being said, you’re also going to hear and the home of the Sioux at the end of the national anthem, and you’re going to see Fighting Sioux jersey’s and gear for a very long time. The reality is that UND isn’t going to have a new nickname until 2015.

A look at the numbers - Measure 4

This morning I have been looking at the numbers from last night’s and there really isn’t much to glean from them other than this voted ended up being “less” close than I thought it would. I don't think that I was the only one that was expecting a closer vote. I personally was expecting more like a 54-46 split than a vote of yes (67.35%) – No 55,114 (32.65%).

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - It has been a hot-button issue for years. The much talked about, much debated Fighting Sioux nickname debate. Voters are trying to decide, once and for all, whether to retire it or keep it and risk sanction by the NCAA.

Yes: 113,684 (67.35%)

No: 55,114 (32.65%)

426/426 Precincts reporting

A "Yes" vote retires the nickname. A "No" vote requires U-N-D to keep it.

I was only able to find one county Billings that voted for the Fighting Sioux nickname No 150 - Yes 148.  Another head scratcher was the low turnout at the Spirit Lake Tribe’s voting stations yesterday. According to WDAZ there were only 50 ballots counted by early yesterday afternoon – my question is where were the voters from the Spirit Lake Tribe yesterday?

North Dakota Voters let UND retire Fighting Sioux nickname

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athletic logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The  people of the State of North Dakota voted today to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname - this is a bitter sweet day for many of us who love the Fighting Sioux nickname and the logo - but as you can tell by the election results that  most recognize that the cost of keeping the Fighting Sioux name is too great and will  great harm to the University of North Dakota eventually.

First off, I it was very hard for me to vote yes on measure 4 because I do not believe that the Fighting Sioux nickname is racist or hostile and abusive.

That being said, the NCAA has UND over a barrel and they hold all of the cards because the NCAA writes the rules and controls college athletics - UND can play by those rules or the University or face NCAA Sanctions (as it currently is). One final options is that UND can go join another governing body - the option is not feasible.

I like many think that the NCAA is an out of control organization that needs to be reeled in because they have over stepped their bounds and put there nose where it doesn't belong.  None the less, lets not forget that the North Dakota State Attorney General signed a settlement agreement with the NCAA and UND is expected to abide by that settlement agreement.

Contrary to Majority Leader Al Carlson's delusions of grandeur, the NCAA wasn't going to bend and they have pointed to the Settlement Agreement time and time again.  The good people of Sioux county have finally weighed in on the issue and have voted to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname. That in it's self doesn't make sense since 1000+ people from the Standing Rock Tribe signed the petitions to bring measure 4 to a voted.

But I digress.

If UND had retained the Fighting Sioux nickname our sports teams would not be able to play the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota State and possibly the other school North Dakota State University during the regular season play because of the Fighting Sioux logo.

While playing Iowa might not seem like that big of a deal to some fans, not being able to play the Badgers and the Gophers in any sport is a big deal and would end up proving costly for the University of North Dakota in the end. Who doesn't want to see UND beat Wisconsin and Minnesota whenever we get a chance.

In my opinion this is a sad day me and it has been an emotional roller coaster - I love the Fighting Sioux nickname and it's one of the best logos and nicknames in all of college sport, nothing we replace the nickname will ever be as good as the Fighting Sioux nickname. I will wear my Sioux logos with pride until they wear out. 

Rob Port of Sayanything blog had this to say of the vote.

It was a valiant fight, but it’s time for the Sioux nickname to go. Barring a vote on the Standing Rock reservation, or the Spirit Lake Sioux getting the NCAA to back down with their lawsuit, the people of North Dakota have spoken. It’s time for the name to go.

Statement from UND President Robert Kelley About Vote on Measure 4

We are appreciative that voters took the time to listen and to understand the issues and the importance of allowing the University to move forward. We also understand how deeply this has affected all of us.

Tuesday's vote allows us to focus our attention on our students as we continue to build exceptional programs in all areas of the University. We appreciate the support that has been expressed for the University of North Dakota over the past several weeks, and especially for UND Athletics. It is support that will continue to be important as we build a great future for the University and for UND Athletics.

We will continue to work with the State Board of Higher Education, the North Dakota University System, and the leadership in athletics as we move forward.

NCAA makes "all" hand passes illegal...

Historically the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee has come up with some good rules and some really bad rules as well. This year the Rules Committee decided that they are in favor of doing away with all hand passes even in the defensive zone.  

Hand passes made illegal

Committee members proposed that all hand passes be made illegal, including in the defensive zone.

The referee will stop play on any hand pass, and the faceoff will be in the offending team’s defensive zone. Additionally, if the team commits the violation in its defensive zone, that team will not be able to change its players before the ensuing faceoff.

 “This is a way to promote scoring and create more chances on offense,” McLaughlin said. “Not being able to make a line change can have a pretty big impact, and this takes away a rule that gave the defensive team an advantage.”

From the bad rules department – this rule change is a head scratcher – there is no reason to change the hand pass rules. 

The NHL has a hand pass rule and this rule works very well n the NHL game. 

I don’t see the logic in this rule change what-so-ever, it’s incoherent… I don’t know how it’s going to promote more scoring in the offensive zone – that’s also an illogical reason for promoting this rule change. If hockey seriously wants to "promote" goal scoring in hockey then they need to change the size of goalie equipment in all levels of hockey (NCAA, Junior Hockey, ECHL, AHL, NHL). The size of goalie equipment is too big.

Would it not make sense if the NHL and the NCAA mimicked each other closely if college hockey is going to serve as a development league for the professional ranks? 

Before you bite my head off consider this, College Hockey Incorporated is promoting the NCAA route as a way to making it to the NHL – so if the NCAA “is” going to be an alternative development – as opposed to going the CHL route – why not have the NCAA rules mimic the CHL, NHL and AHL rules?

Is the NCAA not sending players to the professional ranks in high numbers? College Hockey INC said that 301 ex-college hockey players played in the NHL during the 2011-12 season. That means that the NCAA is currently supplying about 1/3 of the players in the NHL. Wasn’t this one of the reason for promoting the half shields/three-quarter shields? 

Honestly, I don’t see how anyone couldn’t make the argument that NCAA Division I Hockey isn't a developmental hockey league – all you have to do is watch the AHL and the NHL playoffs this season and you will see many ex-college hockey players playing in the playoffs.

Related articles

• NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee Misses Boat

  ---

• NCAA Rules - Net Dislodgement change

  ---

• NCAA to look at the use of three-quarter face shields

  ---

• Three-quarter shields may replace full facemasks in college hockey

  ---