Schlossman hits the kill zone

By now you've probably seen it. This week, Grand Forks Herald beat writer Brad Schlossman launched a much need cruise-missile at the UND President Mark Kennedy and his Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. Brad put in print what a lot of UND sports fans were thinking.

Thanks Brad.

By now, most of us can see that President Kennedy's IAC is nothing more than a farce or a facade. President Kennedy is the one that wields the power and last time I checked he is the President of the University of North Dakota. Correct? So, why isn't he exercising his power? He doesn't need to form a committee to make changes at UND. This why I think the IAC was doomed to fail from the start. It's nothing more than a show trial. Like Schlossman, I don't fault the people on the board.

 That being said, we don't need someone from the school of Arts and Sciences or the School of Mines making recommendations for UND sports programs. If I had to make a guess, most of these people have probably never played an actual sport in their lives. So, I doubt that they have clue one how to run an athletic department.

IAC members that asking questions about UND dropping back to DII or NAIA is a waste of everyone's time. It was never going to happen and just makes the point that the IAC is a waste of everyone's time. Honestly, in some instances, they should worry about their own departments because I imagine another round of cuts is coming in the future.

If President Kennedy is unhappy with the UND's current Athletic Director, Brian Faison, it's in his power to review his job performance and decide if they want to look for another AD. Personally, I think Faison has done an excellent job moving UND into a new hockey conference and transitioning UND to division I status. But that's why they hire university presidents. Right? From my chair, it looks like President Kennedy is putting some extra scrutiny on Faison's job. Again, that's his decision and it's in his power. 

This IAC is turning into a clown show on steroids, with the new president driving said clown car. The president was hired to run UND and make big decisions. Again, time to earn your paycheck. Also remember some very good people are going to get hurt by your decisions.

Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald -- At Monday's meeting, committee members were given a sheet by chair Kimberly Kenville that identified 12 sports that UND is "committed to sponsoring," which shows Kennedy is already making decisions for the committee.

One of the sports on the list is women's hockey. For the past several months, people in the community have been speculating that it could get cut.

Not only has that caused anguish for people who work with the program and its athletes, it has undoubtedly been used against UND in recruiting. If it's not even under consideration for being cut, why let it hang for two months?

Finally, leaving the UND women's hockey team swinging in the wind for almost two months was shameful. These good folks didn't need the unnecessary agony. Whether President Kennedy intended to this or not, for two months it seemed possible that the UND women's hockey team could fall to the knife. Shameful!

Herald Letter: New logo conspicuous by its absence at UND

Yesterday, while reading the Grand Forks Herald letters to the editor, I came across this interesting letter. Mr. Johnson isn't the first one to ask this question. When Brad Schlossman tweeted the picture of the ice going in, missing was the new logo. There were a few tweets back asking where and when the new logo was going to be at center ice.

UND's new nickname is the Fighting Hawks. So, why is UND not getting behind it and painting in on the ice at Ralph Engelstad Arena—or on the basketball or volleyball floor at Betty Engelstad Arena—or on the football field at the Alerus Center?

Instead, those facilities are using the interlocking ND logo, which is being phased out. Why? Does UND not even like the Fighting Hawks logo?

The university wants all the fans to get on board with the new logo, but the school itself has not even fully embraced it.

J.R. Johnson

Grand Forks

From what I have heard and read, the new logo isn't going to be on any playing surface this season. However, we're to expect to see it there during the 2017-18 season.

UND Re-Ups with MidcoSN

On the UND Athletics front, there’s some good news for the University of North Dakota Sports fans. UND has re-upped for five more years with Midco Sports Network.

On the flip side of that announcement, there's the real possibility that for five more years, you're not going to be able to watch UND hockey nationally if you're one of those people that live outside of the regional area and have Dish Network or DirecTV.

So, for now, it’s back to the NCHC.TV package.

Moving forward, UND Hockey will not be seen on Fox College Sports because MIDCO is still trying to corner the market in Fargo, ND, and Midco doesn’t want Cable One viewers to be able to watch UND sports produced by the MIDCO Sports Network.

According to a press release, the University of North Dakota Athletics Department has signed a five-year television contract with Midco Sports Network® (MidcoSN®) through the 2021-22 season.

The new agreement will include a minimum of 40 live event broadcasts per year, plus the continuation of weekly programs UND Sports Extra and North Dakota Hockey with Brad Berry.

UND will receive $1.425 million in rights fees over the length of the new contract.

“A great broadcast partnership continues for UND Athletics with our five-year contract renewal with Midco Sports Network,” said North Dakota Athletics Director Brian Faison. “We will continue to enjoy increased exposure, added revenue, high-quality production and exceptional distribution for our sports programs by Midco Sports Network."

Live event broadcasts will once include all home men’s hockey games, all home football games, five men’s basketball games, five women’s basketball games, four women’s hockey games, and three volleyball matches. Conference television contracts take precedence before MidcoSN selects its broadcast schedule.

 

Moving forward

Good Afternoon! Fall is slowly approaching, and I am actually bummed out. This has been one of the best summers that I can remember. It's been hot, the weather has been perfect. I wish it could go on, at least for three more months. But I digress. I guess I can move to Florida if I don't like the ND winters.

Students are returning to campus. College football kicks off the 2015 season in five days.

Also, I am hoping the vote on the UND nickname is coming soon. To be honest with you, over the last couple of weeks, I have grown tired of it as well. I can live with whatever happens as long as UND isn't named the Sundogs.

Jordan Simon from St. Paul says that No Nickname option shouldn't be allowed. Fine, I am cool with that if we eliminate the Sundogs option. I am good. I can live with that.
Per the Grand Forks Herald:

Congratulations to UND President Robert Kelley on his upcoming retirement. But before the president goes, the community needs one last thing from him, which is that he refuse to allow the No Nickname option to advance to the public vote.

Continuing with that name is just an attempt to be known as the hockey team that had its name taken away by the NCAA.

This is a hockey-only fight, and the groups kicking and screaming for North Dakota don't care about the rest of the university or community. The people who will raise a ruckus already don't like Kelley; why should he care what their reaction is?

It is in the best interest of the community to move on and pull this Band-Aid off.

It's fine to have positive feelings about the old nickname. People see it as a symbol of their favorite team; I still have clothes with the logo on it, and there are pictures of me wearing those clothes.

On Friday night, I was enjoying the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series at River Cities Speedway. When all of a sudden, my twitter feed blew up. Some UNO fans had taken issue with the paragraph below. Some even wanted me to ban Redwing77 from ever posting again.

First that's never going to happen, unless Redwing77 attacks someone with what I would consider a malicious attack or uses racist material in one of his posts, I am not firing him.  Besides Redwing77 is a good friend of mine. 

Perhaps it is a ridiculous idea. Perhaps UNO and SCSU will relent closer to the game like DU did. Perhaps UNO's policy is strictly due to the fact that they're desperate to bring new business to a new arena. I don't know. The Mavs, here in Omaha, get a pathetic following even compared to the USHL Lancer team.

The UNO fans were upset because  Redwing77 called UNO's following pathetic. If you look at the numbers, UNO was sixth nationally in attendance last season. Initially, when you look at that, it appears to be an impressive feat. However, Maverick fans only filled 37.4 of their building. So, does he have a point. I don't know.  It's still better than 53 other teams.

Through These Doors on TV this Season

Happy to hear #ThroughTheseDoors will air on TV this season. Great show! Cool promo poster. #cantwait pic.twitter.com/ZzBl9TZVOq
— Lisa (@hitzgirl) August 19, 2013

Entire UND Sports Radio Network, on-air talent return for 2013-14

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Fans of North Dakota Athletics will once again be served by a strong UND Sports Radio Network in 2013-14. UND Athletics Director Brian Faison announced today that all 12 of UND’s radio affiliates will return from the 2012-13 season, including North Dakota affiliates in Beulah, Bismarck, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Langdon, Minot, Williston and Wimbledon, as well as Minnesota affiliates in Mahnomen and Warroad.

 “We are excited that Clear Channel Grand Forks will continue to serve as our flagship stations for North Dakota Athletics,” said Faison. “We continue to enjoy exceptional local coverage throughout the state and the region for UND Athletics thanks to a great group of affiliates.”

 Clear Channel Grand Forks will once again serve as the flagship stations for UND Athletics. KQHT-FM (96.1 “The Fox”) continues as the home for UND men’s hockey and football, while KSNR-FM (100.3 “Cat Country”) will be the home for men’s and women’s basketball. Women’s hockey will once again air on KKXL-AM (1440 “The Fan”). The new four-year contract includes UND baseball and volleyball for the first time, both of which will also air on KKXL-AM. Additionally, the UND Coaches Show will be carried live on Wednesday nights on KKXL-AM.

“There will also be daily two-minute "UND Sports Today" updates, which will air across most of the UND Sports Radio Network.

“Clear Channel is thrilled to have the opportunity to continue our partnership with the University of North Dakota,” said Clear Channel Grand Forks Market Manager Pat McLean. “UND Athletics has been a big part of the growth of our radio stations over the past decade-plus. Thank you to Mr. Faison and his staff for the faith they have in our people.”

 “WDAY-AM 970 in Fargo returns with double the signal strength and will carry UND football, men’s hockey and the UND Coaches Show, as well as other mutually agreed upon events under a new contract that calls for up to 100 events. In addition, both KFYR 550 AM and ESPN 710 AM in Bismarck will carry football and men’s hockey games, with ESPN 710 AM also carrying the UND Coaches Show.

 The on-air talent for UND Athletics also remains intact for the 2013-14 season. Tim Hennessy returns for his 35^th year as the voice of UND men’s hockey, while Jack Michaels returns for his third year as the voice of UND football. Paul Ralston (ninth year) and Mitch Wigness (second year) return to call men’s and women’s basketball, respectively, and Darrin Looker returns for his eight season as the voice of women’s hockey.

 Hennessy and Ralston will team to host the UND Coaches Show every Wednesday night from the final week of August through the end of the men’s hockey season. The UND Coaches Show broadcasts live from the Ground Round Grill & Bar in Grand Forks at 6:30 p.m. Central. Fans are encouraged to attend the live show to interact with UND coaches and broadcasters while enjoying food and drink specials.

 The first broadcast of the UND Coaches Show in 2013-14 season is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 28.

2013-14 UND SPORTS RADIO NETWORK
City                              Station                               Content
Grand Forks                   96.1 FM The Fox                   Football (flagship), Men’s Hockey (flagship)

                                    100.30 FM Cat Country           Men’s & Women’s Basketball (flagship)

                                    1440 AM The Fan                  Women’s Hockey (flagship), UND Coaches Show (flagship)

Fargo                            WDAY 970 AM                       Football, Men’s Hockey, UND Coaches Show, WDAY Game of the Week

Bismarck                        KFYR 550 AM                        Football, Men’s Hockey

                                    ESPN 710 AM                        Football, Men’s Hockey, UND Coaches Show

Minot                             Oldies 1390 AM                    Football, Men’s Hockey

Williston                        101.1 Jack FM                      Football, Men’s Hockey, UND Coaches Show

Dickinson                       1460 AM                              Men’s Hockey

Valley City / Jamestown   103.1 FM The Raven              Football, Men’s Hockey

Devils Lake                    Cruiser 102.5 FM                   Football, Men’s Hockey

Beulah                           FOX Sports Radio 1410 AM     Football, Men’s Hockey

Mahnomen                     Gold 101.5 FM                      Football, Men’s Hockey

Warroad                        Classic Rock 1410 AM            Men’s Hockey

Langdon                        Classic Rock 95.7 FM             Football, Men’s Hockey

UND made 3 Million + Men's Hockey Ticket Sales.

University of North Dakota	Unit ID: 200280
General Information	Athletic Department Information
264 Centennial Drive, Stop 8193 Grand Forks,  ND 58202-8193 Phone: 800-225-5863 Number of Full-time Undergraduates: 9,265 Men: 4,897 Women: 4,368	Director: Brian Faison 2751 2nd Avenue North Stop 9013 GRAND FORKS,  ND 58202-9013 Reporting Year: 7/1/2011 - 6/30/2012 Reporting Official: Erik Martinson Title: Business Operations Phone: 701-777-0835 Sanctioning Body: NCAA Division I-AA

Total Revenues by Team
Varsity Teams	Men's Teams	Women's Teams	Total
Basketball	$1,047,088	$1,025,953	$2,073,041
Football	$2,961,719		$2,961,719
Total Revenues of all Sports, Except Football and Basketball, Combined	$5,660,001	$3,899,711	$9,559,712
Total Revenues Men's and Women's Teams	$9,668,808	$4,925,664	$14,594,472
Not Allocated by Gender/Sport			$2,917,820
Grand Total for all Teams (includes by team and not allocated by gender/sport)			$17,512,292
CAVEAT
Men's hockey had an exceptional year with $3,318211.00 in ticket sales for FY12.

You can get all of the stats by searching on this link [click to search]

Interesting conversation from today's Herald Chat

Every Wednesday, the Herald Sports writers have a chat where they discuss various issues with the fans and today someone posed a very interesting question that got some great responses from the Herald Writers. For those that are upset with the current state of affairs with your favorite team, there are some interesting points to take from this exchange.

UND Athletics announces North Dakota Strong campaign

Official Press Release 

Proceeds will be donated to Altru’s Breast Cancer Coalition

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Throughout October, the University of North Dakota Athletics Department is once again raising funds and helping to spread awareness for breast cancer research in the greater Grand Forks area and beyond. 

UND fans are encouraged to support the North Dakota Strong campaign by purchasing t-shirts available at select events and locations. One hundred percent of the $10 cost of the shirts will be donated to Altru's Breast Cancer Coalition. The coalition is responsible for assisting women who are either uninsured or under insured to get their yearly screening mammograms. The coalition also assists with buying educational materials for all patients who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

The shirts can be purchased at the Altru Cancer Center, Wednesdays during lunch in UND's Memorial Union, the GW Gear store at UND football games, and at home men's hockey games during the month of October. 

More events and locations will be announced throughout the month of October.

Altru Health System, UND Announce Sports Medicine Partnership

Official Press Release

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Altru Health System has pledged a $10 million gift to the University of North Dakota through the UND Foundation in support of a sports medicine partnership between Altru and UND. According to UND President Robert Kelley, $9 million will serve as the leadership gift for a new UND Athletics Complex, an indoor practice and competition facility on campus.

 “This is an important first step toward building a world-class sports medicine program,” Kelley said. “When completed, the indoor training facility will include space for academic and clinical studies on human performance and conditioning, which will greatly enhance the University’s and Altru’s roles in sports medicine.” The remaining $1 million is directed to support the replacement of the football turf at the Alerus Center.

 ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

President Kelley said the gift promotes an ongoing partnership between two of the region’s largest organizations, both of which are responsible for stewarding their resources in ways that improve our communities. Specifically, Altru Health System has been the University’s sports medicine provider for more than 20 years. 

“The indoor athletics complex will be an asset for the entire University and will impact health and wellness for the campus, the community, and the region. Together, we are implementing our missions to improve the health and enrich the lives of people in our region,” Kelley said.

“This partnership is part of a much larger initiative to improve the health of our entire community,” said Dave Molmen, Altru’s Chief Executive Officer. “This investment extends our educational partnership and provides a state-of-the-art educational laboratory for UND’s students to gain necessary experience in the field of sports medicine and thus, help feed our community with needed health professionals. In addition to training sports medicine professionals, the partnership will conduct research that will advance sports medicine knowledge and techniques. As we like to say, by working together, we all get better.”

Dr. Casey Ryan, Altru’s President, said that “The University plays a vital role in educating future health care professionals. This gift creates an opportunity to improve the university experience for the students, who we rely on as our future leaders to continue our mission of improving health and enriching life.” Altru and UND see this gift as an investment in training the best for the community.

 ABOUT THE GIFT

“This $10 million gift from Altru is one of the largest made in support of North Dakota Spirit | The Campaign for UND, which strives to raise $300 million for UND’s passionate students, inspirational educators, innovative programs and extraordinary places like the new athletics complex,” said President Kelley. It will be paid over 30 years.

Altru’s gift to UND is the most recent example of Altru Health System’s fulfillment of its mission by strengthening ties to other organizations. Last year, Altru became the first member in the nation of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. The relationship brings Mayo Clinic knowledge and expertise to Grand Forks by providing access to systems previously available only within Mayo Clinic. In 2010, Altru announced a gift of $6.5 million to the Grand Forks Park District and YMCA to enable them to replace and remodel fitness facilities.

“This gift will help build a transformational facility that is the essence of the North Dakota Spirit Campaign,” said Tim O’Keefe, Executive Vice President and CEO of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation. “This gift provides immediate excitement as well as the necessary momentum to raise the remaining $26 million of the $300 million goal.” Learn more about the campaign at spirit.und.edu.

 ABOUT THE FACILITY

The UND Athletics Complex will provide a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning area, a student-athlete academic center and sports medicine space for all UND Athletics teams. Additionally, it will provide a practice and training facility for the football, track and field and soccer teams. The facility will serve the community by offering a host site for youth athletics camps and college and youth track and field meets.

 “Our mission is to build champions, and this facility will play a key role in doing exactly that. As UND Athletics has made the commitment to excellence in Division I competition, the need for an indoor practice and competition facility on campus has become clear,” said UND Director of Athletics Brian Faison. “This is a game changer for UND Athletics.”

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)

Midco Sports Network Set to Broadcast Over 40 Live UND Games

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Sioux Falls, SD  June 25, 2012  --  Midco Sports Network  has announced that they will broadcast up to 45 live games, plus up to 40 weekly special shows featuring the University of North Dakota athletic program for the 2012-13 season (schedule follows).

“It is phenomenal to add such a great selection of UND games and special programming to our broadcast schedule,” said Midcontinent Communication’s Vice President of Business Solutions Mark Powell.  “We know the UND fans will be happy to get a chance to catch all these games which includes hockey, football, volleyball, and basketball on Midco Sports Net.”

Midco Sports Network will partner with the University of North Dakota to also include weekly shows featuring game analysis, interviews and reporting with several of the coaches of the University’s athletic program.

“This agreement continues to give all of our teams tremendous exposure, and strengthens a great relationship between UND Athletics and Midco Sports Network,” said UND Director of Athletics Brian Faison. “Midco Sports’ commitment to improvements in production, the future conversion to high definition and the continued regional exposure is very important. Our fans will be thrilled with this partnership.” 

This is a 5-year agreement with UND, Powell said.

To locate your Midco Sports Network channel, please visit midcosportsnet.com.

Twisting the words to fit an agenda - the Nickname cost

Yesterday it was revealed that South Dakota State University said that it would honor it’s existing contracts but wouldn’t schedule any more games until the nickname issue at UND was settled. The SID of SDSU even went on KFGO and talked about this issue.

Nick Smith, Bismarck Tribune --- O’Keefe said keeping the nickname would have a major financial impact on UND’s athletic programs. He said it also would have an economic impact on both the university and the city of Grand Forks.

He said UND is unable to play against several universities due to the nickname. Teams that won’t play UND so far are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota-Morris.

O’Keefe said South Dakota State University won’t be playing UND’s football team following the teams’ next scheduled game. A cross country meet and a volleyball tournament at SDSU also have been pulled.

Justin Sell, the SDSU athletic director, told The Associated Press that the school doesn’t have a written nickname policy. He expressed surprise that the UND Foundation had brought up the issue on Tuesday. Sell said he’d spoken with UND officials a year ago about putting a hold on scheduling further games.

“To be honest with you, this kind of came out of the blue for us,” he said about the UND group publicizing the issue. “We’re just taking a wait-and-see approach until we get more information on where things sit. It’s as simple as that for us.”

Some bloggers have tried to twist the words and put out misinformation and have gone so far to say that respected UND Alumni are liars… Those are pretty big charges, but hey lets not let facts get in the way of a good argument. The words are right there in black and white and I underlined them. This is the same person that has been dead wrong or at least missing the mark through most of the nickname issue.

If you read the screen shot about and then read the paragraph that was pulled from the Bismarck Tribune article you will see that the message is pretty consistent, they are saying the same thing. I am not sure how this proves that anyone is not being forth coming. I also read where someone said that this is an old issue, it has been common knowledge that SDSU wasn’t going to play UND if they kept the Fighting Sioux nickname.



Official Press release - UND Athletics undertakes re-branding initiatives

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota Athletics Director Brian Faison announced today the rebranding of several organizations and media and Internet platforms affiliated with UND Athletics.

The rebranding initiative is a result of the retirement of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, as directed by the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education. The transition process for both is to be substantially completed by Dec. 31, 2011. Beginning on that date, UND’s varsity athletics teams will operate without an official nickname or corresponding logo until at least Jan. 1, 2015, as mandated by the North Dakota State Legislature.

Organizations

• The Fighting Sioux Club, the official fundraising arm for UND Athletics, has been renamed the North Dakota Champions Club.
• Sioux Crew, which promotes student involvement and attendance at UND Athletics events, has been renamed NoDak Nation.
• The Sioux Boosters club has been renamed the UND Boosters, and the weekly fan luncheons have been renamed the UND
Fan Luncheon.
• The Sioux Kids Club will retain its name for the duration of the 2011-12 season due to contractual obligations with sponsors.
• The Sioux-Per Swing golf tournaments have been renamed the North Dakota Champions Golf Tour.
• The Sioux-Per Gala has been renamed A Night of Champions: UND Athletics Auction and Gala.

MEDIA

• The Fighting Sioux Sports Network (television) has been renamed the UND Sports Network, and the Fighting Sioux Radio
Network has been renamed the UND Radio Network.
• UND’s weekly television show, Sioux Sports Extra, has been renamed UND Sports Extra, while the weekly Fighting Sioux
Coaches Show (radio) has been renamed the UND Coaches Show.
• All television and radio network opening and closing billboards have been revised to reflect the changes.

INTERNET

• UND Athletics’ official website, FightingSioux.com, has been renamed UNDSports.com