The Sicatoka

Hmmm .... what to do, what to do, in Grand Forks, if you wanted to host both hockey and a state basketball tourney in the same town, at the same time, what to do, what ever to do .... http://www.theralph.com http://www.aleruscenter.com Question for someone who's seen them and counted: How big are the end unit seating systems at The Betty? I'm guessing about 9 or 10 rows and about 38 seats wide for about 750 "end seats" total. I ask that because the same units at The Al are 19 rows by 39 seats (741 seats) each (for a total of 1482 on the ends). Yes, I counted. Could the end units from The Al be used in The Betty? If my estimate is close, instant extra (roughly) 800 seats and suddenly "4000" seats.

Who cares what the other guys built. The key questions are: - Are you consistently filling yours? - Do you have somewhere to go if yours no longer is big enough? This conversation is based around one or two dates where it was full. You don't build churches for Christmas and Easter, especially when you have a cathedral next door and another down the street. As far as "no atmosphere in The Ralph", why not try to get more BB fans out consistently and create the atmosphere? As far as schedule, Wisconsin (Kohl) and Ohio State (Schott) do just fine making schedules work. It can be done. To me, the extra $10-12 MM would be better spent on an indoor training facility. Again, we'll agree to disagree.

What headaches? These? I guess we'll have to agree to disagree because I don't see the logic in building a 5500 seat arena (that'd probably not have the configurability of The Betty) next to an arena with a 5500 seat lower bowl.

Starting here also http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?s=...ndpost&p=128975 and reading pages 2 and 3 of that thread give some good pro/con thoughts. The "similar to soccer" notion is new (but not a selling point to me because I'd rather watch paint dry than watch soccer ).

But those 2000 seats would have doubled the cost of the arena. For example: Gonzaga - 6,000 seats, $25 MM http://www.spokesmanreview.com/sports/story.asp?ID=37430 Northern Illinois - 6,100 seats, $22+ MM Any hope of getting Dale and the football lads, and the other teams, an indoor training facility would have been all gone.

Which is why some of us have started to advocate, in the event of a "DI UND", dropping baseball and golf, sure money losers, and adding mens lacrosse, something that has a possible facility, would have potential gate revenues, and better chances for titles than any of the afore mentioned. (Rather than rehashing the lacrosse conversation, start reading here if interested: http://siouxsports.com/forums/index.php?s=...ndpost&p=128601 ) If you're serious about getting "bang for the buck" (cost/benefit ratio), you have to look at everything with a truly open mind.

I still believe that the sizing of The Betty is right because of the following: Expected crowd : Best facility 0 - 3300 : The Betty 3300 - 6500 : The Ralph (lower bowl, plus suites, plus Club Rooms) 6500 - 9000 : The Al in BB configuration (if 13500 around a FB field make it loud, that should do)* 9000 - 13000 : The Ralph (ala Kansas at UND) * If The Al doesn't work for that, go back to The Ralph for that range and open the upper deck. The Betty added needed training and workout space. Sure, it's not perfect. But it's four more courts and lockers and a weight room and a study room and a film room and office space. And it was relatively inexpensive ($8 MM) because much of the infrastructure for an arena already existed (due to The Ralph). Sure, you could have spent more like $20 MM for a new 5000-6000 seat arena, but why? You already have The Ralph and The Al. What you wouldn't have in that scenario is the possibility of putting up an indoor training facility for about $10 MM some time in the not so distant future. I see this as a choice broken down as: - three great arenas, but not much training space, and not much athletic facilities money left - two great arenas, a very good non-conference BB and VB arena, and training space, and the potential for even more space or facilities for other sports Not everyone has to agree it was the right choice, but I always heard RT say, and still hear Buning say, the issue wasn't playing facilities, but training facilities and facilities for the other sports.

The "where froms" surprised me. The shear number of recruits surprised me more. Wazzup widdat?

Gee, what a couple of crazy concepts hidden in that sentence: - Control what's yours to control. - Winning solves myriads of problems.

Not according to RT, back then, would've it been cheaper to redo the Hyslop. I heard him say it at Boosters. Part of the issue was renovation would have meant asbestos remediation work --> big bucks. (Asbestos is best left alone. It's fine if you leave it alone and don't mess with it. Once you tear into it you have to follow all of the OSHA and EPA regulations.) And all of those things could have been done. There's just one item not addressed in that list: Total (all sports) available training space. That issue wouldn't have been addressed.

Looking at this from a profit and loss point of view, and using the 2004 EADA data, if you only want UND playing sports that it profits at then say good-bye to everything except mens hockey and womens basketball. And I've given the easy solution to you all already: Rework old REA into a new basketball facility. It held 6067 for hockey so it'd hold more for basketball. If The Betty isn't good enough, why aren't basketball fans out raising the funds for an arena? It's not like they're short from paying for The Betty.

I'm tellin' ya, they'd rather play them in The Ralph (think: Club Rooms and suites). Then again, if someone ponied up the bling I still think moving the remaining sports out of Hyslop to The Betty and renovating old REA for BB/VB only wouldn't be a bad solution either. Getting Athletics completely out of Hyslop would open that space up for academic buidings down the road which wouldn't be a bad thing. The only "catch" in this notion is "Hyslop pool". Then again, I thought I read a musing by someone in student government about adding an aquatic center to the new Wellness Center.

I dunno. Some grassy field or park with trees maybe?

Too many folks trying to ride zebras would be my guess.

Why is it easier to play on the road this year? My suspicion is "fewer distractions".

Clean out completely. Start anew.

Sure she does, just the one that grows peaches, not the one that docks lakers. ;)

Folks, honestly, I'm sure the hope is to play in The Ralph more often. Why? - it would mean attendance is up to where you need The Ralph - the Club Rooms would be open PS - I finally saw The Al in basketball configuration. If 13500 spread around a football field can make the place tough for visitors I'm guessing 6000-9000 for hoop would feel about the same for a road team.

From the above Herald link: " ... they had already heard enough"? Is that how academic inquiry is supposed to work? They'd heard what they'd wanted to hear and that was "enough"? This quote makes me feel like I'm watching an episode of "South Park" with Mike Nowacki starring as "Kyle".

So, who gets to pick the value set the NCAA protects? The Ayatollah Myles Brand? My most protected value is the First Amendment to the Constitution. How ya like me now, Komrad "Catalyst for Social Change"? PS - Ayatollah Brand gave that speech yesterday in .... Omaha! ;)

Let's put those two out (Travis and Darcy Zajac) out with Andrew Kozek. Imagine Woog .... "Tajac scores on great passes from Dajac and Kojak."

Huh? Three freshmen in the REA opening game? Uh, no. Opening Night at REA: 3 Matt Jones <-- FR 4 David Hale 5 David Lundbohm 7 Brandon Bochenski <-- FR 8 Nick Fuher <-- FR 10 Rory McMahon <-- FR 13 Brendan Connelly 16 Kevin Spiewak 17 Ryan Connelly <-- FR 18 Tim Skarperud 19 Ryan Bayda 20 James Massen <-- FR 22 Brian Canady <-- FR 23 Aaron Schneekloth 24 Chris Leinweber 25 Ryan Hale 26 Jason Notermann 27 Chad Mazurak 30 Jake Brandt <-- FR 35 Andy Kollar Freshman scratches that night: 6 Andy Schneider (DQ'd from fight v. Manitoba) 9 Chris Fournier 21 Derek Faul

Didn't you read my epiphany? Not all would like all aspects of it, but I have to get strong creativity points just the same. So, like I said, give me the power.

Wouldn't Sundby be "medical hardship year" eligible for 2005 and still be a sophomore for 2006?

So Roland went to the other side of the ball .... twice!