"What do you mean, 'Frontier Airlines has filed for bankruptcy.' How are we going to get home?"Photo Credit: Darin McGregor-RMN
Nels Haug probably didn't sleep very well Thursday night.
The same could be said about Jeff McMenamy, Rob Wirt and the thousands of other University of North Dakota hockey fans who traveled to Denver to see the Fighting Sioux compete in the Frozen Four.
The result was discouraging - North Dakota was whipped 6-1 by Boston College - and undoubtedly more disappointing than it would have been for the casual local fan had the University of Denver or Colorado College endured the same fate.
In North Dakota, you see, college hockey reigns supreme. A loss that eliminates the Fighting Sioux leaves the state in a condition of mourning comparable to Colorado after the Broncos lose a playoff game.
"It's kind of everything for Grand Forks," said McMenamy, who attended the game with his wife, two children, brother-in-law and father. "It means a lot to the state, too, because North Dakota isn't known for much of anything. There's a lot of pride for the Fighting Sioux."
McMenamy and his five family members donned North Dakota jerseys, though all but McMenamy's father now live in Wyoming. His father remains in Grand Forks and is a season-ticket holder.
"North Dakota hockey is kind of like God is to religious people," said Wirt, a North Dakotan also clad in Fighting Sioux colors. "No matter what you spend the day doing, at the end of the day, hockey always comes first."
The other Frozen Four participants - Boston College, Notre Dame and Michigan - also can claim they have passionate fans. But none of those schools can say hockey is the No. 1 game in town or on campus.
Each is a football-first school that has experienced moderate to significant success in men's basketball.
Most of North Dakota's other sports, including football and basketball, are members of the North Central Conference in Division II, meaning Fighting Sioux hockey is the one that receives national attention.
"This is huge, and it's about all we've got," said Haug, who grew up in North Dakota, moved to Denver for nine years and now lives in Minnesota.
Luckily for Fighting Sioux fans, if the hockey team truly is woven so deeply into the fabric of their daily lives, they are supporting a winner. North Dakota has seven national titles to its credit, tied with DU for second-most all time and trailing only Michigan's nine.
The Fighting Sioux have had 18 Hobey Baker Award finalists, tied for the most with Michigan State, including two winners. In 1987, Tony Hrkac won the award - considered the Heisman Trophy of hockey - and Ryan Duncan won last year.
With such a storied history, the disappointment was palpable on the faces of the North Dakota faithful when their beloved Fighting Sioux were on the wrong end of a 4-0 deficit after the first period.
"I can't put it into to words. This (stinks)," Haug said. "Let's just say there will be a lot of bummed-out fans if this doesn't change a bit. But when you've got the best player in college hockey in T.J. Oshie, anything can happen."
It didn't happen for the Fighting Sioux, but that doesn't mean green jerseys will be any less prevalent in the stands next winter.
"What I try to do when something like this starts to happen," Nels said, "is remind myself that there always is a next year."
The same could be said about Jeff McMenamy, Rob Wirt and the thousands of other University of North Dakota hockey fans who traveled to Denver to see the Fighting Sioux compete in the Frozen Four.
The result was discouraging - North Dakota was whipped 6-1 by Boston College - and undoubtedly more disappointing than it would have been for the casual local fan had the University of Denver or Colorado College endured the same fate.
In North Dakota, you see, college hockey reigns supreme. A loss that eliminates the Fighting Sioux leaves the state in a condition of mourning comparable to Colorado after the Broncos lose a playoff game.
"It's kind of everything for Grand Forks," said McMenamy, who attended the game with his wife, two children, brother-in-law and father. "It means a lot to the state, too, because North Dakota isn't known for much of anything. There's a lot of pride for the Fighting Sioux."
McMenamy and his five family members donned North Dakota jerseys, though all but McMenamy's father now live in Wyoming. His father remains in Grand Forks and is a season-ticket holder.
"North Dakota hockey is kind of like God is to religious people," said Wirt, a North Dakotan also clad in Fighting Sioux colors. "No matter what you spend the day doing, at the end of the day, hockey always comes first."
The other Frozen Four participants - Boston College, Notre Dame and Michigan - also can claim they have passionate fans. But none of those schools can say hockey is the No. 1 game in town or on campus.
Each is a football-first school that has experienced moderate to significant success in men's basketball.
Most of North Dakota's other sports, including football and basketball, are members of the North Central Conference in Division II, meaning Fighting Sioux hockey is the one that receives national attention.
"This is huge, and it's about all we've got," said Haug, who grew up in North Dakota, moved to Denver for nine years and now lives in Minnesota.
Luckily for Fighting Sioux fans, if the hockey team truly is woven so deeply into the fabric of their daily lives, they are supporting a winner. North Dakota has seven national titles to its credit, tied with DU for second-most all time and trailing only Michigan's nine.
The Fighting Sioux have had 18 Hobey Baker Award finalists, tied for the most with Michigan State, including two winners. In 1987, Tony Hrkac won the award - considered the Heisman Trophy of hockey - and Ryan Duncan won last year.
With such a storied history, the disappointment was palpable on the faces of the North Dakota faithful when their beloved Fighting Sioux were on the wrong end of a 4-0 deficit after the first period.
"I can't put it into to words. This (stinks)," Haug said. "Let's just say there will be a lot of bummed-out fans if this doesn't change a bit. But when you've got the best player in college hockey in T.J. Oshie, anything can happen."
It didn't happen for the Fighting Sioux, but that doesn't mean green jerseys will be any less prevalent in the stands next winter.
"What I try to do when something like this starts to happen," Nels said, "is remind myself that there always is a next year."
9 comments:
There are few things better than seeing the Sioux get waxed and their obnoxious fans get silenced. What a great night.
That performance brought out the "f'ing sux" from Fighting Sioux. And, silly me, I thought this team would be fearsome as it got its complete game going once in Denver. Guess its experience there last year (in W Regional) wasn't helpful.
Oh well. Good ol coach Dave can now turn his full attention to his other job that being a bail bondsman.
The look on the Sioux faces was priceless.
Even as us Sioux fans leave the state of ND and move onto our careers and life, we passionately support the Sioux from afar. We will be back, we will continue to be thorns in DU's side, we will continue to pack Magnus Arena with green, we will continue to bring balance/reason to this blog, we will continue the hunt for #8. It will be interesting to see who gets #8 first, and eventually pass Michigan in the title count. We will not rest or accept anything less. As we become just North Dakota and lose the Sioux name, we are going to shove North down your throat and we will gag you with Dakota. Sioux fan in Denver!
We appreciate the "balance & reason." :-)
I guess you can teach us about about gagging.Thursday's game was a consumate choke job.
To the anonymous Sioux fan: Why dont you go back to ND? Take your chock team and coach with you and raise some bail money.
All these DU fans saying how great it was to see UND lose, where was your team, home watching the Frozen Four instead of participating in it. We may have losted but at least we got there. Oh must have hurt not making when you host. DU and Gwoz still suck.
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