Mandan won its fifth straight girls basketball title tonight with a 58-51 win over Devils Lake. I am not going to bore you with the details of the game, but lets put it into perspective. First, winning state titles in girls basketball isn't anything that new for Mandan. The Braves won their first title in 1995 after falling short the previous four years.
What followed the next 13 years is that Mandan was in the title game for 12 of them losing out only in 1998 and holding an astounding 8-4 record in state championship games in that time span. Making that kind of record and holding it is hard, but it is easier to make it to state in North Dakota Class A Basketball than to make it in North Dakota Class B or any college or pro sport.
The requirements for making it to State in Class A Basketball are that teams must win two regional tournament games before losing two of them. There are only 18 Class A teams compared to over 100 Class B teams, and only eight spots per state tournament. In the meantime, Class B basketball regardless of sex must qualify for one of eight single elimination style regional tournaments through 16 District tournaments. As a result, only three different North Dakota Class A basketball teams, regardless of sex, have been able to stage a three-peat. The last boys team to do so was Bismarck High from 1957-1959 while Williston was the only girls team to do so before Mandan achieved the feat in 2005. No Class B team regardless of sex has been able to achieve a three-peat though the Bottineau Braves Girls Basketball team has a chance to do so next year.
Since it is almost a lost cause to compare the Mandan Girls dynasty to just North Dakota sports, we must do it on a national level in College and Pro Basketball. In the college game to the run that UCLA had under John Wooden in winning 10 titles in 13 years, 10 consecutive Final Fours from 1967-1976, a 38 game NCAA Tournament winning streak 1964-1974) (though UCLA didn't make the 1966 big dance), and a 88 game regular season winning streak from 1971-1974. On the Women's side, both Geno Auriemma (U-Conn) and Pat Summitt (Tennessee) would be amazed at what Greg Amundson has done at Mandan, and with less resources than what they had. And that does include John Wooden and his UCLA teams too.
With that, only one more team remains in Mandan's way and that is the Boston Celtics who won eight NBA titles from 1959-1966 under Red Auerbach and 11 titles in 13 seasons. While Mandan may have 5 straight titles, the Celtics streak is the longest in sports history and is the top of rarefied territory in which dynasties and all other teams aspire to pass.
Congratulations to the Mandan Girls on their fifth straight championship and good luck next season.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Welcome and Gas prices
Welcome to Dakota Country. I thank you for taking the time to read this blog. This blog will cover state, national and any world issue from the mind of a typical North Dakota resident. This will run the gamut from local issues and subjects of national importance to issues that interest me. This will include local, national, and international sports coverage and so on.
With that said, let's talk about Gas Prices. I was driving around Bismarck today and I noticed that gas prices were topping $2.59 while they were at $2.09 just six weeks ago. In the case of this person, it is clear that there is gouging going on and, with respects to Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, the local stations are not doing the gouging. That problem can be traced all the way to the top to the Oil company executives and the US Energy department.
Proof can be found in the fact that the US Energy department announces the state of US Oil and Gas inventories in reports each and every single week. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices_35;_ylt=AueD1OBgxd6sxMWbwuJvjxOAsnsA
The total information regarding gas price hikes is paramount to other problems in the world, but a US Government that looks out for the little guy, us, should be able to predict that supplies dwindle when US Refineries are shut down for maintainance. Instead it is clear that they are looking out for their buddies at Exxon-Mobil, BP, Conoco, Arco, and Chevron among others. When these idiots get the lion's share of profits, it is clear that Bush and his friends are the ones doing the gouging, not your local gas station.
With that said, let's talk about Gas Prices. I was driving around Bismarck today and I noticed that gas prices were topping $2.59 while they were at $2.09 just six weeks ago. In the case of this person, it is clear that there is gouging going on and, with respects to Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, the local stations are not doing the gouging. That problem can be traced all the way to the top to the Oil company executives and the US Energy department.
Proof can be found in the fact that the US Energy department announces the state of US Oil and Gas inventories in reports each and every single week. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices_35;_ylt=AueD1OBgxd6sxMWbwuJvjxOAsnsA
The total information regarding gas price hikes is paramount to other problems in the world, but a US Government that looks out for the little guy, us, should be able to predict that supplies dwindle when US Refineries are shut down for maintainance. Instead it is clear that they are looking out for their buddies at Exxon-Mobil, BP, Conoco, Arco, and Chevron among others. When these idiots get the lion's share of profits, it is clear that Bush and his friends are the ones doing the gouging, not your local gas station.
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