dakotadan

Choir-boy smile, huh? He should fit in real well at UND! And his work ethics seem to fit the UND profile pretty well, too!

I completely understand where you are coming from. But the athletic department's job is to be as successful as possible at every sport. When a program is that successful the athletic department has to ask themself what they can do to take that one extra step. Would 1 or 2 more schollies have brought in that 1 or 2 key swimmers that could have helped win us the National Championship? Who knows. But when you are that close, it is worth finding out. Since the women's hockey program was started I have said that we need to support them as much as possible. I truely believe that they will be the next program at UND to win a National Championship. With the move to DI in all sports, that is all the more likely. However, I would love to see the swimming and diving programs prove me wrong in their last year of DII. Any school can pour all of their resources into their top program or two and compete nationally. But when your non-revenue sports are fighting for the top couple of spots in the nation, it says alot about your school and athletic program.

I went to Cedar Falls last year for the UND/UNI game and met some awesome Sioux fans! Still talk to them on a regular basis. In 2005 a group of us went down to Vermillion for the UND/USD game. We stayed at the hotel across the street from the DakotaDome. We spent too much time in the sports lounge in the hotel partying with the locals the night before that our group took turns throwing up before we walked to the football game on saturday. It was a great time and we plan on doing it again (minus the vomiting before the game.) The made up rivalry between NDSU/SDSU is a bit much. But USD will be the most familiar school and team that we will see yearly for a while. And the game this year could easily once again have a conference title and playoff implications on the line. It would be great to see alot of GREEN there this year!

I love how the commercial starts out. But they really don't tie it in with the rest of the commercial. I was one of the few who really liked the "Force of the North" campaign. And I see how they were trying to tie this years commercials into that: A Force to be reckoned with. Except they left out the "A Force". It's just: To be reconned with. Not bad, could be better. I'm just glad they are finally deciding to do some advertising. UND has 2 historic years in a row. It's the last year of the NCC. Followed by the first year of DI. They should be pushing that. Last chance to see UND play most NCC schools in football in a long time before a whole new level of competition!

Good read. I also found it interesting that they did not talk about the Swimming & Diving programs. S&D has finished in the top few spots on an annual basis. One could argue that with a little more support, S&D could have been one of UND's most dominant programs. Mens NCAA finishes: 2007: 2nd 2006: 3rd 2005: 3rd 2004: 3rd 2003: 3rd 2002: 2nd 2001: 3rd Women's NCAA finishes: 2007: 5th 2006: 4th 2005: 5th 2004: 7th 2003: 8th 2002: 5th 2001: 4th

While the Great West may not have many members or an automatic qualifier, it does have a few perks. Buning has stated that his intentions are to join the Great West (check) and the Summit League. By getting into the GW this quickly, it establishes a relationship with Southern Utah University. SUU just so happens to also be a member of the Summit League. On top of that, the current Summit League commissioner, Tom Douple, was previously the athletic director at SUU. He played a big role in forming the GWFC. The Summit League happens to also run the GWFC. Douple has stated that he would like to see the connection between the Great West and the Summit grow. I am sure he was sad to see the SUs move to the Gateway. On a side note, I wouldn't be surprised to see UND and USD make a similar announcement soon that they will become affiliate members of the Summit in swimming and diving. With the loss of Valparaiso, the Summit is down to only 6 schools who sponsor S&D. Besides, someone has to knock off Oakland! Summit S&D Centenary Eastern Illinois IUPUI Oakland South Dakota State Western Illinois

Someone tell this guy to be careful that he doesn't say that too loudly around any Bison fans!

I believe he was referring to the proposed Fargodome addition.

Great quote.

While it was pretty much known that the UXDs would become a part of the Great West, it is nice to see it confirmed and what the timeline is. The Great West will most likely be our FB home for some time. 07 @ SUU @ USD ? 08 vs. SUU @ UCD vs USD ? 09 @ SUU vs. UCD @ Cal Poly @ USD maybe? Or will the GWFC switch things around to get away from the rather unbalanced schedule they are currently on?

I was reading the history of the Al a while back and was wondering what the original plans looked like. I tried to find something online but wasn't able to. Does anybody know where I could find some renderings/layouts/plans online or even have some that I could get copies of? I have always been interested in architecture.

It already has happened. If I'm not mistaken, the Engelstad's last donation was one of the 10 largest individual donations in American history. I'm not going to say that Betty is going to give another $100 million to UND but you also can't say that UND will never get a historic donation when it has happened recently. And even if we don't get a single donation of $100 million or more, who is to say there isn't a hand full of alumni who can donate $50 million a piece. Until the official campaign is announced, kicked off and more information becomes available this is just message board banter. Besides, I'd take three $50 Million donations over one donation of $100 million. These are exciting times at The University of North Dakota!

I haven't seen this posted anywhere else but may have missed it. I'm not sure how long ago this actually happened. The WCHA has FINALLY updated it's website. It is pretty nice looking. I like the Men's and Women's standings right on the home page. Before when you looked up the current point standings a whole new window popped up to college hockey stats. And thank god that cheesy 1994 computer graphic hockey player doesn't pop up anymore when you open the site! The improved WCHA home page.

I wish the Al looked more like this. And had similar end-zone/bowled seating. That first level and ring of suites would be about right for UND.

If Fieldturf is in the plans for the Alerus, housing soccer there would be pretty neat. I'm not aware of any college soccer programs that have a dome as their home. While a 13,000 seat facility is rather large, hanging a curtain to cover the west stands could be a possability to make it feel more intimate. Hosting a quality 3 day DI soccer tournament with multiple schools could become something that UND is known for. Being able to guarantee northern schools like Michigan, Boston College, Montana, Oregon, etc. games that they knew would not be cancled due to weather could be a draw to get these schools here. And having a dome for women's soccer would be something unique that could be somewhat of a recruiting tool. How many college soccer facilities have 2-30 foot jumbotrons! And getting more events into the Alerus Center is always a good thing.

Do you honestly believe that there will ever be a point in time that people see the interlocking ND and think University of North Dakota and not Notre Dame? That will never happen outside of Grand Forks. That doesn't even happen now in Bismarck. I know not many others seem to agree, but I think that the UND logo is a very strong, classy and unique looking logo. And it's not some trendy logo that will be outdated in 5 years. I would love to see it used more.

I have said this many times before. I am glad someone else agrees. We may have used the logo first but it will never be thought of on a national scale as being our logo. With the move to DI, it is the perfect time to begin using a logo that will be original to the University of North Dakota.

The sad thing is that if that were to happen, it would probably be by people who have never attended a women's hockey game.

For anyone who may not have seen this yet, KVLYtv11.com has a great section about the flood. You can watch the original news from 10 years ago. For anyone who was not around at that time, it is a great way to be able to experience the flood almost as if you were here while it happened. Direct link to KVLY's coverage of the 97 flood.

Even though Humboldt is an independant, I believe they are still considered a part of the Northwest Region. Maybe somebody else knows for sure. But if that is the case, it would help UND in having another regional game/win.

I understand that our main goal is trying to find regional games and setting ourselves up as well as possible to win one more National Championship in DII. But this late in the game and with 10 games already scheduled, I wouldn't mind seeing another FCS home and home scheduled. Any more home games that we can get scheduled for that difficult 2008 season or even '09 will help out in the transition. There is a thread on anygivensaturday.com talking about FCS schools that still have open dates. (To be completely honest, there aren't too many names on this list that really jump out at me. NAU or ASU would be my first choice, but the dates don't really line up. But we will need home games in '08.) Just a thought. September 1 Howard September 8 Valpo ASU September 15 NAU La Salle Valpo ASU September 22 Davidson Valpo Prarie View A&M Savannah State September 29 None October 6 Howard October 13 ASU October 20 Duquesne Sacred Heart Prarie View A&M La Salle October 27 Robert Morris November 3 Duquesne November 10 St Peters Savannah State November 17 NAU St Peters Robert Morris Sacred Heart Davidson Valpo

I'm failling to see the point in having the game on a thursday.

UND was hit by it's own tragedy only a few years ago. We can all understand the feelings that the VT community is feeling right now.

I have tried registering there a couple times but the password sent to my e-mail never works to log me in. Any help I could get on that?

So today is supposed to be the day that Carr Reports presents the report to UND? So the Athletic Department hasn't even seen it yet? I thought that the athletic department already had the report and was just waiting to release it to the public and possibly make some big announcement(s).