iramurphy

That is not an opinion that is a fact. Kelly may have been told the name issue would be gone and he wouldn't have to get involved but he certainly was not brought here to get rid of the name. Anyone who actually believes that has no clue on the hiring process of the University Presidents. I reference to other comments. It was made clear by the NCAA, UND officials and the representatives of the SBofHE all along that UND did not have to drop the name. Failure to do so would mean UND could not host any post season tournaments or games and would not be allowed to wear the logo during post season play. Some folks have been involved in trying to keep this name for 40-50 years. Written letters, met with people, written to the NCAA, talked to UND officials or SBoHE officials and donated money. The issue must be pushed by the tribes and native peoples or it is not going to change. Wringing hands calling people names and fussing won't make a lick of difference and neither will insulting UND officials or SBoHE officials. It would be great to keep the name and logo. It is not worth the sanctions. Would be interesting to know if the Big Sky and any stipualtion on the name.

Ya but he helped the UND punter one summer and he is the leading punter in the NFL right now. I need an excuse to go to Hawaii and I went to UND for a lot of years. That should count for a sympathy vote..

Really don't care what you believe. I spoke with John,( I used to work for him) and he certainly said that and I countered with "we aren't very good this year". I told him he needed to push NDSU to resume the rivalry and he agreed and said he was trying but couldn't get "those guys" to agree. Those guys included Taylor. He reminded me that I and one of my partners sent him a dozen black roses when UND broke their 12 game winning streak against NDSU and we had a good laugh. There are very loyal NDSU alumni and fans who are smart enough to see what Chapman did and the mess he made. I don't believe you are one of them. I would never betray a friend so I wouldn't discuss where I learned things about the Chapman mess but it is all information available to you if you put your beer down and make the effort. I suggested you go talk to Dick Hanson. I don't know him but my guess is that he has put that mess behind him. Try looking into leases for buildings that NDSU has for buildings that still sit empty. The Chapman issue is over and NDSU wll recover. A UND grad gave your school $1 million to build a home and another more than that to finance the business building. You ought to do the same. A couple of other corrections. The Big Sky is a good fit but does not cover all sports. It doesn't have baseball and I don't think( but I can't remember for sure) swimming. I never "claimed I knew a student who had an in with the NDSU administratioon". When you accuse someone of something you need to keep your facts straight. I don't hang out with students, I simply passed on information available to the public through the open meetings and information open to the public about the financial mess Chapman left at NDSU. I also never said Hanson covered up anything and in fact he did a good job. Chapman and his lackeys did the cover-up. I also said Hanson should have been given a shot at the presidency. He would have done a good job and he will do a great job with Bemidji State. UND did not apply to the Big Sky in 1978. I was still on staff at that time. I can't speak for what NDSU did then but I believe there were discussions in the media and within the institutions. There is a big difference between that and applying and getting turned down. The NCC was still a very good conference at that time.

The way the point system worked for D II UND wouldn't have made the playoffs had they played NDSU those first years. We should have still played them in all other sports.

Good point, but I think they will resume regular season play within the next 5 years.

Received a Thanksgiving message from Erin McBriar and mentioned I asked Sioux fans to vote for Mat McBriar for the Pro Bowl. She said in Sunday's NFL Wives show they have a flag FB game and she wore a green UND Tshirt with the Fighting Sioux logo but they made her turn it inside out because they don't allow logos on the show. Too bad. Would have been a reason to watch.

Notre Dame is an excellent University. This poster is going to an excellent Agricultural College south of us. I also believe that if you are a good Irish Catholic ( I am an Irish Catholic so I am not picking on someone else) and make the right donation to the proper place you have a better than 50-50 chance of admission as long as you aren't a complete doofuss. Similar to a lot of schools. The competition is between the hockey teams not the math departments or FB teams etc. Somehow this got sidetracked by some poor soul left in Johnson Hall for Thanksgiving who has nothing else to do but jump on the Irish bandwagon and bash UND. (unless you count the sheep deal).

I agree, but they also need contributions and votes. Somewhere along the line the right people will tell both sides to grow up and resume the game. If John Q. who has been huge in the last 10yrs for NDSU doesn't get them to resume the game, it may take the Gov. or the big donors. The schools should be able to figure this one out but if there is enough political pressure Taylor et all will be reminded they work for someone and that someone will tell them how it is going to be. The politicians should have more important things but it won't be the first time they get involved with stuff they shouldn't be involved in.

So lets assume that an "awesome student" from Johnson Hall who loves Notre Dame couldn't get in there. ACT scores less than 15 don't get into either Notre Dame or THE University of North Dakota (which by the way is an excellent academic institution with some academic programs better than that of Notre Dame). Let me guess... that 15 on the ACT and a B- average from whatever small high school got an "awesome" Presidential Scholarship (maybe from Chappy himself) and a room on the third floor of Johnson Hall at the State of North Dakota's best Agricultural College. Congratualtions. By the way what the heck are you doing at Johnson Hall? Its Thanksgiving. Wouldn't your famliy let you come home?? I suppose someone has to stay there and feed the sheep. Don't forget to use a condom.

I am not convinced a coaching change does anything for th eprogram right now. There is clearly an improvement in the atheltic ability of the DB's and LB's The last two classes are pretty good. Coach Belmore works very hard at engaging the Alumni and does a good job recruiting Mannasau (sp) had a great relationship with Mn. HS coaches. We were at a big disadvantage when we announced the move to FCS but this years recruiting class should be the measuring stick. I stated before I was disappointed in some of the play selection esp punting inside the opponents 50 when we had nothing to lose. Sometimes you need to punt there but not this year and not when we need to let the guys know this is how we play Sioux FB. you go out and make those plays. Can't see change will be made and I don't think it does anything for the program right now. Next year is the decision year.

Your first line should have read, "I don't know about NDSU ever dominating again". (UND won 10 of the last 13 games. They both had runs of 12 straight wins at different times, but UND holds a big advantage in this storied rivalry). Having said that, I forgot to mention Idaho as another great destination for games. In the 1970's we flew to every game with the exception of the NDSU game. That included the South Dakota Schools, Northern Iowa, Morningside, Augie and our game against the Gophers. They were always charters and usually Turbo-Props. We flew in the AM of the game and home after the game. That was a big recruiting plus. We seldom missed school. We had extended trips to UNLV and for the Camilia Bowl. I can't remember if the Arkansas State game was an over night. As the Turbo props were taken out of service by the airlines UND started bussing. Flying is preferable. Big Sky was always the goal if we finally moved up. Missouri Valley is a good FB conference. Big Sky is every bit as good and I think top to bottom more attractive. UNI, NDSU, SI, Youngstown, etc are all good FB schools. Big Sky for all other sports is much better. It was a good move at the time for NDSU and if they are happy there they enhance both conferences as do USD and SDSU. UND NDSU rivalry will resume. Taylor is starting to act like an owner with post game interviews and comments etc.. Really needs to understand some leadership concepts. He does not need to be hanging out on the sidelines and jumping around with the coaches and players. When they lose he can give suppoortive comments otherwise he is starting to remind me of Bunning. Taylow is a roadblock to the game resuming. Their new president is a sharp guy and at some point in time the Governor will give them the word to get this game back on the schedules. It will happen, not sure when.

Good thinking: www.nfl.com/probowl will get you there. Can go to special teams then punters and click Mat McBriar

Former Sioux student and track athlete Erin McBrair is married to Cowboys punter Mat McBriar. ( A couple of years ago, the UND punter came to Detroit Lakes to work out with him). He leads the NFL in punting and she wants people to vote for him for the Pro Bowl. His net average is 42.4 yds/ punt which leads the league. She is also one of the NFL wives on VH1 which is a bad reality show but she is donating part of the compensation for doing the show to the Detroit Lakes High School track team to buy 100 new hurdles. Her high school track coach was Mike Labine former Sioux Track All -American. Vote early and vote often.

Big Sky is a great conference. That is the conference UND, NDSU, USD, and SDSU should have joined back when we also should all have gove D1AA. We are going to a conference with trips to great spots in Montana, California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Conference has great tradition and has had success in FB and BB. Nothing wrong wtith Summit but their FB conference was more attractive. Wouldn't be surprised in the other Dakota teams make the move in the future. The "old NCC' was a great conference and had great success. I think Sioux fans are very happy with the conference. Should be attractive for recruiting. We need to move it up to the next level. $$$ support, fans in the stands, marketing, media coverage, entertainment at events and connection with the students, GF community and region. Talked to John Q Paulsen last week. He made sure he told me he didn't think UND was any good but when I told him he needed to get the rivalry going again he agreed and said he had been trying but Taylor and Bohl don't want to. Too bad. They would likely have had the upper hand lately (especially this year). They might have made a dent on the big advantage UND has over them over the years in FB. If they wait too long it will be back to the norm with UND dominating again.

I would like to see us schedule Army. Give them a 2 for 1 and or work a hockey series and or WBB/MBB. They are getting better but I think we could normally give them a competitive game. Would be a great experience for our team to play at Michie Stadium and go a day early to tour West Point. I would stop sceduling NAIA teams unless we have no one else to bring for a home game. If we had to drop the Fighting Sioux logo then we should also be able to continue to schedule Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and any of the other PC schools we couldn't schedule before.

You can never have enough talent at RB. The back-up QB needs to be better and needs to play. UND has made mistakes for years not getting back-up players PT. (Reed Manke broke his collar bone when he was still playing and we were ahead of Winona State by about 30 pts. When outcome is no longer in question you need to play other guys so they will hang around for all 5 years. This is a tough year but I believe the level of talent is improving at DB and LB. Last two recruiting years were good ones. If the timing of all of this remains on schedule we should be better next year if we can get a QB and continue to improve OL and DL. I think LB's DB's are going to be better and the young guys on OL will continue to develop. I have no idea if one of the RS QB's can play or if Hedrickson or Goska can improve enough to make difference. IF we have no one else at TE move Daggett in and flex him. He should have had more reps this year as Jr to see how much he has developed as receiver. He is a big target with good atheltic ability and good speed for a big guy. Nor sure what else we have coming up but I don't think we have included TE in scheme other than blocker. We usually bring on other RB or WR. Hell, I'm too old to scheme these things. I think right now the staff has been recruiting well. I was disappointed when we failed to go for first downs in opponents territory against Montana and Davis. I think in a year when you have nothing to lose and you are playing a favored opponent you let your guys know we can do this and the tradition at UND is that we go get this. If the message is we don't think we can do this we won't. We have next year to continue to get better. The move to the big sky is a plus for recruiting and means great games and travel for our team. Go Sioux. MBB looks better and WBB looks like they will be young but fun to watch. Students need to get their butts to those games too.

I disagree there wasn't talent at RB. Murray is an outstanding RB. Sutton is a good RB. Miller should have been redshirted. Surprised at the lask of QB depth. We have a HS jr. QB who is better than the two guys UND has been playing. He attned UND games regularly as a kid to watch the Manke Brothers play. He was at Wisconsin last weekend, has been at Gopher games, and NDSU has had him in. Air Force just contacted our coaches. Hard to understand only lukewarm (if any interest) from UND. You don't come in late on a kid like this. NDSU has gone from off the radar to the first FCS team he will consider. Oline is still small but getting bigger. The young linebackers show promise and the young D-backs are faster and more atheltic, but need to get better. Dline hs some kids but needs to get deeper. Not sure about TE. We didn't use our TE this yeart or last year for that matter. We need to take the opportunity to get more kids on the field in years like this. We are not going anywhere. Get the back-up linemen, WR's in the game more. There is no excuse for our back QB's not to have plenty of experience this year and last year. Frankly the school, the community and the media need to upgrade in a number of areas. We can't have 6000 empty seats. Give the tickets to area students. At least they buy concessions. The band is grea but get them scholarships/stipemnds and double the size. Create pre-game activities for the UND students. Engage the students in their dorms, fraternities and sororities. Create incentives to get them there. Improve the in game experience. Give score updates to other college scores regularly. Have post game activites. UND needs to upgrade it's marketing for athletics as well as UND as an institution. We can't keep talking about these things. We need to have a minimum of 10,000 butts in the seats every home game.

This years NFL Wives are Cowboy wives or former Cowboy wives and includes among others, Deion Sanders wife, Rocket Ismail's wife, Leonard Davis's wife and Cowboy punter Mat McBriar's wife Erin, from Detroit Lakes. She is a former UND student who competed in track for UND during her freshman year before transferring. She is married to Cowboys punter Mat McBriar. First episode airs this Sunday on VH1. Not sure it is worth watching cuz I don't think she wore her Sioux gear in any of the shows.

Kelby Krabbenhoft, the Sanford CEO, attended a UND Siouxperswing last Thursday. Among other things he was very complimentary of the UND Medical School and the UND athletic dept. He stated "Sanford Health wants to be part of UND's athletic scholarships, UND's $300,000,000 capital campaign and part of UND's $19.2 million dollar indoor FB practice/indoor track facility". He also stated Sanford was very happy with sponsorship of the Siouxperswings and indicated a willingness to continue that relationship. There are also a number of things Sanford wants to do on the medical side but they have indicated they want to be a big part of UND atheltics and academics outside of the Medical School.

His Dad was a great athlete at Bismarck St. Mary's and was an excellent wide receiver for Sioux FB. I think he had at least one uncle play FB for UND also.

The decision rests with the tribal councils. Hopefully Standing Rock will support keeping the name. If they do and the Spirit Lake resolution of support stands, then UND needs to interact with the the tribal councils and the reservation communiites in such a way they would never again want to lose the association with UND. Workshops for their teachers through the College of Education, site visits for students in history, anthropology and visits from our students and faculty in the Figh and Wildlife Management programs etc.. Internships in Social Work and Counseling/Psychology on the reservation. Rotations for Medical Students and or residents in Family Medicine to support Indian Health Services. Clinics for coaches and student athletes for reservation coaches and students. Exhibition games by UND athletic teams on the reservations with proceeds to help reservation youth. Tie in to that cultural workshops for UND atheltes and coaches and other students and faculty. Maybe that bunch of PC faculty who never seem to do anything worthwhile will donate their time. There could be so much UND athletics could do for our reservation communities. Athletics and the Fighting Sioux name can be used in such a positive manner to make that happen. It would require full support by President Kelly and our athletic director as well as different departments within the University family. If we don't do anything differently there will always be pressure to drop the name and all of the hand wringing and rhetoric will get us no where.

I think your comments are pretty good. The former student hasn't been wrong yet and was aware of the problems with Chapman from day 1. As a former student he or she has no particular bone to pick with NDSU but the information has been right on over the Chapman years. One might figure out her or his position is such that they would be close to the situation all along. As I have suggested check with SBoHE members or Hanson (if he is willing to discuss) about the details of the mess Chapman made. No reason to believe me or my source but my source hasn't been wrong yet. The information I hear isn't confidential. The Sanford Health Involvement will be Sports Med support for NDSU atheltics and there will likely be a donation for the Urban Plains Center. There will also likely be a nice donation to the addition to the community center in Detroit Lakes, Mn. from Sanford Merit Care in the $100,000 range.

It is pretty easy to see the amount over budget at UND for that home vs the huge amount the Chapman's put the NDSU home over budget isn't even close. The Chapmans arrogant attitude and the demands for change at NDSU were a big part of the problem. That didn't occur at UND. At UND Kelly and his wife weren't the cause of the cost over runs. Had the cost overruns at NDSU been similar we wouldn't be having this discussion. I don't think there will be a $30,000,000 donation or anywhere near that to NDSU from Sanford Health and I doubt Denny Sanford has any interest in NDSU. I understood he was a Gopher fan. . I think Sanford Merit Care will establish a relationship to provide sports medicine support to NDSU athletics. The future relationship with NDSU is because of the location of Merit Care headquarters and I believe the Sanford CEO is related to Pat Simmers who either is or was one of the athletic dept fundraisers. There is some rethinking going on about whether or not to get into bed with NDSU until this mess is cleaned up. Sanford is also having discussions with UND and has picked up sponsorship of the UND Siouxperswing Golf outings this year. The interest in UND is to establish a similar relationship with the Med School they have with USD and possibly facilitate the relationship between the two schools. Sanford uses their Sports Med/Ortho Depts as an effective marketing tool. There is pressure to back off enthusiatic support for NDSU atheltics beyond what they will do for other area schools. The CEO may intervene based on his family relationship. It will not go over well with most MC employees. Mercil was pissed before the new radio contract. I would refer you to members of the SBoHE and or Dick Hanson to verify the financials woes I have referred to. I would not depend on a blog to get reliable info and there is nothing I can say that will convince the die hard fan. Best to get the info from those who you won't doubt. My source is a former NDSU student who doesn't disclose any confidential info but knows the details of the problems with Chapman. He was also smart enough to note Chapman's lack of honesty and lack of integrity years ago. I suspect review of the SBoHE meeting minutes might also be helpful. Two former Chancellors, a former interim chancellor and the attorney general of N,Dak. all exposed Chapman for what he was. Too bad no one would pay attention. Would have saved NDSU a lot of embarassment and money.

The problem at NDSU is not the mansion. It is the movement of funds to the atheltic dept or other Chapman projects that he wasn't authorized to move unrestricted funds to. The house at NDSU isn't his major problem but the stories coming out about Chapman and "the missus" made changes and pushed projects which increased costs demonstrates he arrogance his problem is the $11,000,000 deficit and the depletion of the reserves and how Chapman got the school to that point. One of Mercil's friends told me yesterday Mercil is not happy at all. He donated $1,000,000 to help build a home on campus for their president and Chapman fouled it up.

That isn't necessarily true. There is ample evidence that University funds were misappropriated illegally. The question is whether or not anyone in the States Attorneys office in Cass County is willing to do a thorough criminal investigation. I would hope you might try visiting with Dick Hanson the interim President who was stuck with this mess. He is trying to get the school back on track without criminal trials but even if he can do that, to say nothing criminal happened is the type of attitude that allowed Chapman to get away with what he did. "He is our guy, he is moving us forward better than anyone in the history of the school. Laws, rules, ethics, honesty and the students be damned (he moved some student funds too)." Anyone who understands anything about higher ed finding and procedures would think your attitude ridiculous. He took personal credit for all good that happened. The research dollars probably had more to do with the N.Dak. Congressional delegation and the growing economy of the Fargo area than Chapman. The increase in students was accelerated when he opened the doors to anyone with a pulse. (It would have happened anyway baesed on the demograhics of N. Dak.). I don't agree with those who think you have no right to post because you don't agree with the prevailing opinions and you certainly bring the opposite bias to some discussions, but your opinion and attitude that Chapman was a great president and a victim of circumtance and maybe guilty of being over zealous loses credibility on this issue. He was dishonest, arrogant, self-serving and unethical at best. He was guilty of criminal conduct at worst. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between but I can't understand how anyone can defend this bum. The SBoHE is guilty of the fomer board chair enabling Chapman and covering for him when his superiors tried to get him to get in line. Hoeven is also guilty of enabling him when he sent a message to the board to "do whatever it takes to keep Chapman". That cost the state a couple of good Chancellers (Potts and Izaak). A good investigative reporter should be able to uncover the criminal behavior but then they and their employer will likely face the wrath of a lot of NDSU supporters and Fargo politicians who also had a hand in this.