Re: North Star College Cup - MN, UMD, MSU, SCSU
I believe that telling the reigning NCAA Champion that you will be "considered" as an opponent to have a 2:1 home series is very arrogant. I wish I knew a little more about the circumstances leading to the NSCC and the pay outs involved. SCSU and UMD telling the UofM to shove it may probably had an impact.
No one making decisions at any of the Minnesota schools would have been surprised by a 2-for-1 offer. It's just reality. To expect the Univ. of MN to agree to evenly trading games with all the Minnesota teams is ridiculous. It was never going to happen. The alternatives UMD would have to have wanted would have been a series with the Gophers in the ratio of once every 3 or 4 years, or the Gophers telling Mankato and Bemidji to pound sand.
You say the Gophers told UMD that they would be "considered" for a 2-for-1 scheduling arrangement. That may be the case, but it is the first I have heard about any specific scheduling negotiations between the schools. Your claims that you were tied into the team and that you slept on the couches in the arenas are all well and good, but unless you can point to something in the public record your reporting on these "negotiations" will be taken with a grain of salt.
I'm also left shaking my head about the idea that UMD or St. Cloud telling the Gophers to "shove it" in a scheduling proposal somehow strong-armed them into coming up with the North Star cup; an agreement that effectively set up a 2-for-1 trade regardless.
As point of fact, there is no financial incentive for the Gophers to play the other MN schools just for the sake of playing MN schools. Cheap road trips? The Gophers have 3 non-con away series to schedule each year. It's not difficult for them to come up with attractive options, especially considering the 1-for-1 deals that are currently set up with teams like Notre Dame and BC and the upcoming agreement with UND.
If I were King of the World the season would be expanded to 38 regular season games, the Univ. of MN athletic dept. wouldn't have a policy mandating 20 (yes, 20, not 22) home games per season and the Gophers would alternate home series with each of the MN schools each year.
Scratch that. If I were King of the World the Big 10 wouldn't have started a hockey conference.
But none of those things are reality. Given the circumstances, the North Star cup was a good compromise where each school gave a little bit and maybe will end up fostering something that is even more beneficial for all the schools.
The tournament arose because all 5 schools wanted to maintain ties, and were willing to compromise some other priorities to make that happen. So yes, I can't believe anyone is complaining.