Goon's World: South Dakota

Showing posts with label South Dakota. Show all posts

Friday, June 19, 2015

Argus Leader: UND nickname options ranked and analyzed

Mick Garry from the Argus Leader had a few things to say about UND's nickname selection process and ranks the final seven nicknames left standing. Of course, he has Sun Dogs number one. Meh.

Mick Garry, Argus Leader -- At an unbelievably high level I don't care. But the choosing of a new nickname for a college is a unique situation because it doesn't happen every day. So I'm here to grade the efforts of those who are going to re-brand the UND athletic department for what I expect will be all eternity.

They released the final seven options and they are these: Roughriders, Sundogs, North Stars, Nodaks, Fighting Hawks, Green Hawks and no nickname at all.

In descending order of preference:

7. ROUGHRIDERS

6. NODAKS

5. NORTH STARS

4. NO NAME AT ALL
Mark my words: The absence of a nickname will give sportswriters in that area the latitude needed to come up with something else. That's how it all started in the first place, you know. Sportswriters wanted better flow to their sentences. UND will casually become known as the "Nodaks" and 50 years from now, they'll officially adopt that nickname.

3. FIGHTING HAWKS

2. GREEN HAWKS

1.SUNDOGS

STRENGTHS: This isn't a dog, which might be news to some out there who have never experienced a clear blue 20-below January afternoon. And it's not taking the word dog and hammering it up against some other word that makes it sound a little cuter. Sundogs are the visual fruit of sunlight interacting with ice crystals and they are impressive sights. They are symbols of the under-appreciated beauty of winter and life in the north and all the requisite qualities demanded of those who choose to live in places where you get to see an occasional Sundog. Logo-wise we're dealing with what looks like a sun and the marketing and design wizards who will be charging UND Ralph Engelstad-level mountains of cash will be able to come up with things that are genuinely impressive. No reason to dummy-down or angry-up a Sundog.

WEAKNESSES: Nobody knows what a Sundog is and there will be a temptation to put ears and a snout on a mascot to make sure your whining four-year-old sugar-buzzed brat wants to hug it during a time out.

Firs, UND has played without a nickname for three years already. For the most part, it's worked so far. To some, UND was kind of bland.

Sure, at first, it was hard to write, UND, UND, UND and North Dakota, North Dakota and North Dakota. But after a while, you kind of figured it out. Moreover, the Green and White (UND's colors) might suffice if you were stuck. I know this upset some of the UND fans.

Seriously, I don't want to write a gammer using the nickname "Sundogs" in it. Not going to do it.

Finally, UND Alumni, fans, and current students we need to push back before the University of North Dakota is stuck with a very bad nickname. We all know what's driving the nickname "Sundogs" and where it's coming from. Again, we need to take a stand and push back against this horrible, moronic nickname choice unless you want your favorite school to become a mockery. I can live with the other six nickname choices listed above, but "Sundogs" is a nonstarter for me. It's too egregious to accept.

Monday, September 30, 2013

SCSU Hockey: St. Cloud State launching 24-hour sports channel

Alternate St. Cloud State Husky logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, if you live in Minnesota and you get Charter Cable, you will be able to see the Saint Cloud State University Huskies play hockey and other sports on your television. In my opinion, this deal is kind of like Midco.net, although Midco is in more states (South Dakota, North Dakota and a good chunk of Minnesota).

Dave Aeikens, Associated Press — St. Cloud State University plans to debut high-definition, televised sports and news coverage in October, and with it comes a statewide, 24-hour all-Huskies sports channel on Charter cable.

The $4.8 million in technology upgrades St. Cloud State is completing will make it equal to or better than most universities that train broadcast journalists in the country. The dedicated high-definition sports channel is unprecedented in Minnesota and rare for universities in the country, the St. Cloud Times reported (http://on.sctimes.com/183kQCq).

It means enhanced coverage for St. Cloud State hockey, the school's only Division I program, and regular television appearances for men's and women's basketball, football and other lower-profile sports.

"This is a platform that not even the University of Minnesota has. This is a television channel that anybody that gets Charter will have access to content from St. Cloud State University," said Joel Larsen, interim assistant athletic director for marketing and promotion. "We have a great opportunity to showcase St. Cloud State University from many angles, and that is not just athletics."

Workers have been remodeling broadcast studios and installing equipment since July.

St. Cloud State's television technology matches most professional broadcast studios. High-tech cameras that cost $100,000 are the same that are used by sports giant ESPN.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

I wonder if Bill Bradley still wants the BSC to drop UND

That's a final: UND 35, Sac State 14. We already have our game story posted at SacStateSports.com. Check it out. #BigSkyFB #SacHornetsFB
— SacStateSports (@SacStateSports) September 23, 2012

One of my facebook friends pinged me today and asked me if I had the link to the Sacramento State blog post that Bill Bradley of the Sac State Sports wrote that said that the Big Sky Conference should kick UND out of the Big Sky Conference because of the school's Fighting Sioux Nickname.

This was before UND has finished their transition period where they became an official member of the BSC. Apparently, the said author didn't think UND was worthy of being in the Big Sky Conference based our nickname.

Obviously, getting kicked out of the Big Sky Conference was a concern around the UND athletic department this past spring before the June 12th vote on the measure 4 nickname referendum was voted down.

That being said, it was interesting to re-read what this beat writer from had said.

Bill Bradley, SacStateSports.com Editor --- UND is joining the league next season as part of a Big Sky expansion to 13 teams that includes Southern Utah and UC Davis and Cal Poly in football only. If only it were that easy.

The problem is UND’s entry to the Big Sky hasn’t gone as planned – at all. From its botched entry in the league to its continued controversy over the Fighting Sioux nickname, UND has transitioned into the Big Sky like a child going kicking and screaming.

Which is why the Big Sky Conference needs to say, “No thanks. We made a mistake. Thanks for playing. Go find another conference.” The premier league in the Football Championship Subdivision and a competitive mid-major group in basketball doesn’t need the long road trips and headaches UND will bring.North Dakota was supposed to join with South Dakota as a package deal. It was all set to make the Big Sky a 14-team league, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said this fall. However, at the last minute South Dakota got a better offer from a more geographic-friendly league, the Missouri Valley Conference.

After re-reading that article, I guess I am going to enjoy UND's first official Big Sky Conference win in football against Sac State, even a little more. I wonder if the writer of said article would still write his blog post, more specifically I wonder if he still wants to see UND get booted from the Big Sky Conference.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Hockey and the new television deal

The University of North Dakota just announced a new television deal and one of the questions that others have asked is will UND Hockey be part of the new television deal on a national level. The answer is no.

Tom Miller, Grand Forks Herald --- As has been the case for the past few seasons, Midcontinent’s UND broadcasts will be available for Fox College Sports to broadcast nationwide.

That will change in the 2013-14 men’s hockey season when UND joins the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The NCHC’s television contract with CBS College Sports gives CBS national exclusivity for national broadcasts.

UND’s other sports could still be aired on FCS, but UND and FCS will have to renegotiate a contract after the 2012-13 season.

Midco Sports Network has three channels at its disposal in case of scheduling conflicts, although UND is expected to be primarily carried on MSN’s main channel. In the past, MSN has aired programming from schools such as South Dakota State, South Dakota, Augustana and a few others, as well as high school games from North and South Dakota.

I know not having the UND hockey games on a national television level is a going to cause a problem for many, because I know a lot of people that watch UND Fighting Sioux hockey games on DirecTV and or Dish Network.

Just how many "Fighting Sioux" hockey games are going to be broadcast on the new CBS Sports Network is unknown at this time. I do know that we have one more season of WCHA hockey before we have to worry about it. Living in North Dakota and South Dakota won't be a problem, it's the other 48 states.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Opinion: Big Sky Should Admit North Dakota Mistake, Let Fighting Sioux Go

Image via WikipediaIf you haven't seen this, it's worth a read.

Bill Bradley, SacStateSports.com ---- The problem is UND’s entry to the Big Sky hasn’t gone as planned – at all. From its botched entry in the league to its continued controversy over the Fighting Sioux nickname, UND has transitioned into the Big Sky like a child going kicking and screaming.

Which is why the Big Sky Conference needs to say, “No thanks. We made a mistake. Thanks for playing. Go find another conference.” The premier league in the Football Championship Subdivision and a competitive mid-major group in basketball doesn’t need the long road trips and headaches UND will bring.North Dakota was supposed to join with South Dakota as a package deal. It was all set to make the Big Sky a 14-team league, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said this fall. However, at the last minute South Dakota got a better offer from a more geographic-friendly league, the Missouri Valley Conference.

That made sense, but the Big Sky, which also wanted UND because of its reputation as a research institute, didn’t withdraw the invite to the Fighting Sioux, which were making the transition from Division II to Division I FCS. The UND regents accepted, making UND the only member of the Big Sky in the Central time zone.

I posted his on Sioux Sports. I love the Fighting Sioux nickname, and there is no way that the school will ever be able to replace the Fighting Sioux nickname with anything that I consider to be acceptable, but I don't see any way UND can keep the name "unless" the Spirit Lake Tribe wins it's law suit against the NCAA. I also would love nothing more than to see the NCAA lose their law suit, I think they deserved to have that happen to them because I think they are a bunch of hypocrites. I am not holding my breath but I hope the Tribe wins. That being said I think it's time to move on before we end up on the outside looking in. Do we really want to call the Big Sky's bluff?

Goon's World Extras