Fans in hockey-crazed Minnesota have one fewer team to follow after the University of Minnesota-Crookston canceled the school's Division II hockey program, effective immediately, the Crookston Daily Times reports. The school is already bracing for state budget cuts and has struggled to find a conference to play in ever since the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association decided to go exclusively Division III.
Although there is no total estimate of how much the elimination of the hockey program saves, the team's travel budget alone was $85,000 last year and was expected to rise to $90,000 next season.
In other sports-related news, the U.S. Supreme Court has effectively OK'd James Madison University's plan to cut 10 sports. The court refused to hear a request by Equity in Athletics that challenged the JMU decision.
JMU had announced in 2006 it would cut seven men's sports and three women's sports. Getting the ax would be men's archery, cross country, gymnastics, indoor track, outdoor track, swimming, and wrestling and women's archery, fencing, and gymnastics. EIA plans to take its claim back to the U.S. District Court.
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Muser of NM 6:13PM March 24, 2009