The Sicatoka

Face it, NDSU is going the same thing to Michigan and Texas that MSU-Moorhead and UM-Crookston did to NDSU. UND may not be DI across the board in athletics, but the "big time" fans come out to watch just the same. UND: Packin' the house for Goldie and Bucky when they can't do it for each other.

So today in America we base academic reputation, which is what universities are first and foremost about, by NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association, classification? Poor, poor DIIIs MIT and Cal Tech, and Johns Hopkins, and Carnegie Mellon, and RIT, and (get the point?) ...

Did Commy just say he'd be on "The Diggler Plan"?

Look at Jake's and Jordan's numbers from last season and imagine if Phil pulled it off. I can't help but when I think about it.

Three? Fishing opener is over. Set the beverage down. Last eight NCAA Division I Mens Ice Hockey champions: 2004 Denver 2003 Minnesota 2002 Minnesota (OT over Maine) 2001 Boston College (OT over North Dakota) 2000 North Dakota 1999 Maine 1998 Michigan 1997 North Dakota Sure there are 13 DI-As playing hockey (counting DI-A powers UConn, Army, Air Force, Bowling Green, Miami of Ohio, and Western Michigan, none of whom will ever win a DI-A title under the current system), but there are 14 DI-AAs that play college hockey. Now college hockey is more legitimate, right?

Control what's yours to control. That's why I like Tim. PS - UND's laundry is on the line. Where are the links to NDSU's athletic budget information?

I'm surprised no one picked up on these statements by Roger Thomas in the link to the UND Athletics FY04 budget:

Weren't NDSU's numbers in FY03 in red ink? Was that projected? (Same answers as for UND I'm sure.) Now "red", big "red", is being projected at NDSU. What'll that bring? No crystal ball here. However, forgive me if I prefer even the reasonable hope (reasonable projections) of being revenue neutral or positive. And wasn't the state of Montana the best comparison to the state of North Dakota? That same Fargo Forum news story reports that they both have athletic budget woes again.

(I'm stealing the thunder of "star2city" from another thread but I thought this was worth it.) The full story.

From the Fargo Forum, Monday, May 17, 2004: Please don't tell me that Alan Sundby is this Alan Sundby.

If the projections are "fictional world" why worry about them in the real world? Are projections real or not?

What move? Link from official University of North Dakota spokesperson speaking on the subject please. (The previously posted Lennon statement doesn't pass muster: First, it's not a direct quote. Next, in a court of law it would at best be classified as hearsay, meaning he said that he said.)

When did Dale Lennon become a professional consultant on transitions to Division I?

NDSU's six-figure FY03 debt isn't fictional. (Same source you cited.) However, if the numbers are fictional, why'd NDSU take Inniger away from endowment building and put him on immediate needs solicitations?

BisonMav: You've locked onto one quote by Dale Lennon that doesn't align with the stated position of his boss and his boss' boss.

And NDSU lost six-figures during the same reporting period as well. Now for FY05 NDSU projects a seven-figure shortfall that is 2.5 times UND's FY03 number. And as much fun as the budgetary number are, I prefer the Title IX numbers on that site. And as far as "wishful thinking and reality" there's a million or so things NDSU needs to come up with. Really.

I'll answer for "star2city": About the same as the one over Dakota Field. But the roof on Alerus Center is just fine over the top of the only NCAA football championship in the state where the year starts with a "2". PS - In terms of space and facilities upgrades The Betty is a higher priority. (Be sure to check out the construction photos. )

Now let's have a reading from the Book of CSL (to NDSU):

"Could"? "Could" is strong wording? Then the wording of this must be on stone tables:

Which budget are you looking at? How about UND's FY04 Athletics Budget: $48,352.00 in the black.

Most put a clause in saying, if they're in the NCAAs, they'll play whomever the NCAA bracket puts them against. You have to have principles: NCAA money first.

UND's Liz Kaler moved up again today at the NCAAs. However, we have to tell her that only "Goon" is supposed to have to play shots like this.

Marcil's was a proposal. Propose first; argue later; vote after that. A cafeteria plan would do a better job than a three-division NCAA at stopping schools from spending more than they make by... allowing schools to only sponsor the number and types of sports that make sense (educationally and fiscally) for them and the demographics they serve. Did I just possibly say cut programs? Quite possibly, yes. (More on that to follow.) A cafereria plan would provide more or better educational opportunities than the status quo because... schools would no longer be forced to create and maintain athletic programs to meet an arbitrary minimum number of programs setpoint. At (sadly, far too) many schools this would allow reallocation of general institutional revenues and significant student fees back from athletics and into educational and research facilities and activities thereby creating better educational opportunities. The governing athletics doctrine would become Title IX ("no discrimination") and not some arbitrary "minimum of 14 sports" criteria. A cafeteria plan would provide more competitive athletic opportunities AND minimize the number of sports added just to satisfy the rules than the status quo because... (aren't these goals mutually exclusive?) Guess what. You're probably right here. Those two are most likely mutually exclusive. But programs are being cut already*, athletic opportunities are disappearing, due to budgetary issues. (Title IX is a great scapegoat for many.) Let's stop avoiding the unsavory subject of having to subsidize collegiate athletic budgets from the general institutional budgets and student fees and deal with it head on. * Put "athletic department program cuts" into your favorite search engine and see what all comes back.

Why should Marcil have talked for why DIs would go for his proposal? It was just a proposal in the NCAA News. The arguing comes after the proposal. (Gee, that sounds almost like marriage.) But onto other things. Yes, DIs want to play basketball. It's about the TV money. Next, the conversation about football: I believe is best had not from a "Dx" perspective but from a number of scholarships perspective. As you say, "DI-AA schools already feel stigmatized as not really being DI." Eliminate the "Dx" labels. Let the schools pick the level they want to play and lose the stigma of an arbitrary Roman numeral. (See Marcil's commentary on "II" and my "cafeteria" plan proposal.) As far as exclusivity, hasn't DI already lost its exclusivity? When schools like Rider and Elon and even smaller schools are "DI", where's the exclusivity? (It's the same dilemma faced by DII when the "UM-Morris"-types showed up.) Here's what I would hope all NCAA members want: - to provide, at worst, a net of no effect on the overall institutional budget (no institutional general revenues to underwrite athletic programs; these are extra-curricular, or at most co-curricular, programs) - to provide high-quality educational opportunities - to provide competitive athletic opportunities (and not just have the sport to meet an NCAA or Title IX requirement) If NCAA member schools all held to those simple core values I believe a cafeteria-type plan would work. Sadly, I suspect my hopes are far from reality. (See the post by "RD17" above, especially the first sentence.)

I'll fill in some gaps with what I know. A school can only talk (via press release) about recruits who have signed a national letter of intent. A student-athlete can "verbal" at any time. A school can not talk about a student-athlete who has made a verbal commitment (meaning hasn't signed an LOI); however, the media can talk about the verbal being given if they find out about it. The media seems to find out through the student-athlete, their parents, friends, or the student-athlete's HS coach. If the media asks a coach about a recruit, the wise coach says something to the effect that they can't talk about possible recruits who haven't signed an LOI.