iramurphy

Nice articles coming out of LA. Many comments form his Titan players and Titan family similar to what we hear from his Fighting Sioux family. Google Gene Murphy for articles. The list of coaches who played or coached under Gene Murphy is impressive. Army head coach Rich Ellerson, Northwestern Asst Jerry Brown, Jim Chaney former Purdue Asst, Rob Bollinger, Dale Lennon, Roger Thomas, and Pat Behrns of UND and UNO. Raiders former head coach Tom Cable, present Raiders coach Hue Jackson, former 49ers and Lions head coach Stever Mariucci. 49ers asst. Ed Donatell, former Titans asst. the late Mike Heimerdinger (wonder what nickname Murph had for him).

I received word this afternoon that former UND player and coach gene Murphy passed away today Oct. 29.. He was 72. He had been hospitalized at the USC hospital after surgery Tuesday for esophogeal cancer. I was told the surgery went well but he died of a heart attack. The name Murphy of Ira Murphy was for Gene Murphy. He was from New Jersey and grew up a St. Louis Cardinals fan. His hero was Stan Musial. He spent his first year playing for the Gopher freshman before transferring to UND. He played Quarterback and as a player and later head coach for the Sioux he never lost to the AC. I don't believe I ever heard him call them anything else. They were and always will be the AC. He was an assistant coach under Jerry Olson and was the offensive coordinator during the 1970's when UND won 4 conference titles and the Camelia Bowl between 1970-75. Before serving as UND's head coach for two years. He turned around the program that had struggled for a couple of years and led the Sioux to another conference title and the playoffs. He then took the head coaching job a Fullerton State and led them to a conference championship, bowl games and national rankings. His Fullerton years are documented in a nice story about Murph in the Orange County Register of Oct. 29. I couldn't figure out how to cut and paste. Gene Murphy was the best recruiter in the history of UND athletics. He was a loyal UND fan in all sports. When Gino Gasparini was a the surprise hire for the head hockey job in the late 1970's and was getting harrassed by fans and the media for being picked over Ned Harkness, Gene Murphy stood by him. Back then there were no hockey fans, FB fans, BB fans. We were all UND Fighting Sioux fans. We had an annual "tri-jock" party with FB, hocky and BB players. Athletes from different sports and different teams hung out together. We also were not isolated from our fans and the the other students we lived in the dorms or apartments or fraternity houses with. Gene Murphy and his love for UND and UND athletics fostered that attitude maybe more than anyone else. His Irish wit and charm were legend. His exploits as a student among the co-eds are still told over cold beers. When he recruited, he recruited the Mom's first and there were very few Moms who didn't have a crush on Murph. When Gary Pietrozewski (sp?) was thinking of going to the AC and his Mom liked the idea of Fargo being closer than GF to drive to games, Murph convinced his Mom they were building a new interstate between the Twin Cities and GF that would make it a shorter trip. Petro came to UND. Murph brought Dale Lennon and Rob Bollinger and Roger Thomas to UND. He was introduced and admired by players and coaches at UND over the years who have had the opportunity to meet him and hear of his love for UND. His players have a record of success after football that is also remarkable. Steve Mariucci coached under Murph. Hue Jackson and Cable of the Raiders coached under Murph. Whenever there was a former Sioux player in need Murph would make sure one of us was aware and the Fighting Sioux family would respond. Those Fighting Sioux didn't have to be athletes. If they were Fighting Sioux fans Alumni, students, it didn't matter. Gene Murphy had their back. When one of his former players was signed as the back-up punter to my son-in-law Mat McBriar of the Cowboys Murph contacted me to let me know how much McBriar had helped his former player. Gene Murphy and those who coached, played hockey, volleyball, bb, swam, ran track or were students or faculty and were like Murph are the real tradition and spirit of the UND Fighting Sioux. That is why the Spirit of UND and the Fighting Sioux will live forever with or without a logo or a name on a jersey. He is survived by sons Tim and Mike, daughter Aileen and her mother Christine McCarthy. I hope Tom Clifford met him at the gates of heaven with a pint of God's best Irish lager and a pinch of Skoal or Copenhagen and a reservation on heaven's handball courts for the two of them..

Mollberg threw for 419 yds and 3 td's in 41-22 loss to undefeated Hermantown. Brian Labatt caught 7 for 139 yds and a td. Lakers couldn't stop Hawks ground game.

Mollberg hasn't had injury problems before this year. I have not heard LaBatt committed yet.

The coaches from the AC were here earlier this year watching him. For some reason they aren't keeping me informed of their intentions. I would think all area D2 schools would be after him. i believe UND is first to offer. He would be great LB or H-back or slot. Great verticle jumping ability. Has good speed. Yards per carry and per reception are outstanding. He and Mollberg are excellent HS BB players.

Coach Mussman was informed by Mollberg tonight that he will not be attending Iowa and will be attending UND. Looks like early commitments are starting to come in. Other DL kid offered is Labatt. He is 6' 3", 210 lbs. Has played QB (when Mollberg was hurt), slotback, tight end, safety, DE and LB. Has 53 carries for 448 yds and 1 TD, 17 receptions for 378 yds and 6 TD's, and 1 int returned for a TD. 4.0 student. ACT around 30. Reported to be leaning to UND. Would be great to get another early commitment.

Well then, next time have a Concordia grad or MSUM grad read it to you. I forgot you guys are a little slow.

Who knows. If he were the QB I would change our offense to utilize his athletic ability. Might need some sort of run option game. I am not sure he throws that consistently but I might agree... give him a shot if Bradley doesn't ge things turned around.

You certainly have a good points but I still like the fact that we opened things up and created some opportunities for success. I think the plan was we would run the ball but its tough to pass up gains of 15 to 30 yds per play when they were that open. The coaches have been criticized time and again for not opening things up. The plays called were good and if Bradley plays like he had so for this year, they work. Bradley had avoided getting us in trouble before today.

Perham QB is only a junior. UND will recruit him. He isn't the QB Mollberg is, but he is a great athlete and excellent HS QB. Mollberg is a better passer and it is hard to compare the two. When Perham beat DL, the biggest difference was Jason Hein the Perham QB and the 4 DL turnovers, but Mollberg played hurt and still almost led them to a win. I would take them both but Mollberg would be the QB. Jesse Hein is a Sr. Lineman for Perham is the QB's older brother and UND is looking at him.. He is only 5"11" but has quick feet and is about 265 lbs, All State Wrestler and is tough and nasty. I would take a chance on him because I think he can play and that will increase the chance his brother will go to UND.

The game certainly wasn't lost by the "play calling". In fact the play calling showed good preparation against a team that is excellent against the run and expected us to run. The plays called were good and put our kids in a position to be successful, we just didn't execute. Even the call on first and goal on the one yd line was an easy pitch and catch if we execute. Kids just didn't execute. I think opening it up early forced them to respect what we should have been able to do passing and and they weren't able to stack the box against the run. O-line did a good job. I don't think we were sacked and QB's had time. Defense did well except for the two TD passes to wide open receivers. Keys to game were the poor QB play especially in the first half, Cal Poly's 2 TD's to wide open receivers, personal foul by CB that took them from 2nd and 11 around midfield to 1st and 10 inside our territory. ( Kids need to play disciplined) and dropped pass by Hardin that may have been a TD. Good game plan, kids played hard, just didn't execute. We are getting very close to where we need to be. Need to keep getting better bigger and faster each year. I was very disappointed in crowd. 9900 for homecoming against a very good team for conference lead is not acceptable. Student crowd was better but also not great. Many students left a halftime again. Crowd wasn't a factor like it can be in the Alerus. Cal Poly had only one false start due to crowd noise.

Mollberg held out to protect healing ankle sprain. He wasn't needed. He could have played. Will play next Tuesday. Other UND recruit, LaBatt is having a great season and had another big game as TE, H-Back and LB. Might get commit soon from him.

Dr. Mendez is an excellent Neurosurgeon, He was with Merit Care in Fargo for a number of years. He was my neurosurgeon. Doesn't do surgery if not necessary and gets excellent results.

Triple option is a bitch to defend. One key will be how well our LBs play and how well our CBs can fill. D-line should be solid. DB's also need to play man when they have too and keep their passing game in front of us. If they can get outside on us we will have trouble. If we can force them to throw we need to put better heat on the QB. O-line has done a great job and if we can run and Bradley manages game without turnovers we will win. Zeb Miller wins it with a field goal late.

That cross rink back side pass has been tough on the Sioux for years. The two Sat were higher than the ones I remember a few years ago. I don't think we were as good in the corners as last year and because of that I don't think we cycled the puck as well in the offensive zone. There were times when we didn't play great position hockey and a couple times had all five guys on top of the puck and out of position. Kristo was impressive but I haven't seen another Frattin or similar yet. Am anxious to see Grimaldi healthy. (I heard the feminists are stalking him). Team played physical hockey Sat. but as Hakstol stated, we didn't pass well. Even the passes from stick to tape weren't always crisp. That should come with time. Different style this year and we will have to bring the lunch pails every player, every shift every game. When our young kids adapt to the speed of the college game and get used to each other this should improve. We will need to be patient and hope the goaltending is good enough to win a few while we mature. Thus the thoughts from an old BB player.

Hard to believe he would waste his time on this. He may want to spend more time trying to get Englestad filled up again. UND played Boston College and the attendence was embarassing. Last week UND hosts Maine and it was no where near filled. The band is great and the crowds have been great but UND can't afford to lose the following for UND hockey. I thought he understood the relationship between athletics and the University. Not sure who came up wih this dumb idea but it is a mistake. The Beer Lady gets a charge out of the fans and I believe she is of age. Great fan to showcase. There is nothing wrong with beer and I would rather showcase her smiling and having a beer from one of the local distributors who happens to be a great UND booster than some fat ass stuffing nachos down their throat in between pieces of pizza washed down with a diet coke.

That would make it the state's Agricultural College wouldn't it?? The AC. (nothing more, nothing less) John Boy, I think I had it wrong. That must not be Grandpa Walton whose knee you have been sitting on in the barn listening to yarns. I think it might be where our pal "Whiskey Joe" Chapman is hiding. You must be smoking driftwood with Joe and John Q. to think your old AC was so short on funds. Joe, under the watchful eye of his pal John Q., pissed away the reserve funds at the AC didn't he? The $250,000 he was getting for an expense account along with the $50,000 for " the Missus " and the wasted $1,000,000 for the Presidents house is the reason the legislature isn't going to be too generous to not only the AC but higher education in the state. They still think Joe and his missus pissed in their cornflakes. Is he is trying to tutor you to get that $1,000,000 your were wishing for. Pay attention, he got more than that from the AC and didn't have to work the farm. Don't believe everything he tells you. Those in Fargo who bought his line of crap ended up embarrassed and betrayed.

Does it matter? The only thing that matters is whether keeping the logo is in the best interest of UND and UND athletics. It is pretty clear it is not and any other discussion about permission, Native rights, proving what the NCAA or Fullerton or Graham Cracker claims or false statements or criticism is warrented or not has become fruitless. It doesn't matter anymore. UND can not risk any damage to UND athletics over the name. UND has no control anymore over what happens so UND needs to move on. The legislature needs to rescind the name and then we retire it. If Spirit Lake or someone else can keep UND from being hurt and keep the name,that would be great, but unless that is a sure thing this has got to end.

Mollberg was 9 of 12 passing for 184 yds and a TD with a pick. He ran for 122 and a TD on a windy night. DL lost to Perham with 4 turnovers. Couldn't stop Perham's running game. Perham and DL are good but not great HS teams. DL will have to get by Bemidji and Hermantown in their section but Perham, if they play this well, could contend for their 3A section. The 2 Hein brothers were beasts for Perham. THe senior is a 5'11" 270 lb lineman with great feet and quickness. The junior is a 6' 2" QB DB. He ran for 4TD's I believe and took the ball away from a DL running back on about his won 10 and returned it for a TD as DL was dring for a TD/ That was a 14pt turnaround and the gamewinner.

Seems pretty clear UND needs to either retire the name or have the NCAA sanctions lifted. We can fuss all we want about the NCAA and how inconsistent they are and how they should stay out of the issue. We can fuss all we want about who to blame. Doesn't matter anymore. It seems the Big Sky feels the same. They don't want to waste time screwing a dead horse with an issue they can't fix. Spirit Lake can take them to court (should have done that years ago) but UND can not take a chance on losing admission to the Big Sky. It is cleat UND has not been able to schedule games with certain schools because of the logo. That also hurts UND hockey and anyone who hasn't figured that our either hasn't been paying attention or is too closed minded to figure it out. The legislature needs to recind the law and UND needs to retire the name. If Spirit Lake or anyone else can get the NCAA to reverse the decision then by all means bring the name back. Hanging on to a thread of hope isn't worth the cost (no longer risk, but cost).

I think he stays unless he ends up behind Wentz. If Wentz moves ahead of him on the depth chart, he has to decide if he wants to be a back up or go somewhere else to play. I don't know his academic major and that should make a difference. Once a kid gets to a school and they spend more than two years in the program, I believe they are less likely to transfer. If the AC is winning or competing for a National FCS title he is less likely to leave. There is something to be said for being part of a winning team and championship. I haven't seen him play except on TV when he was in HS and he was a big kid, good athlete and excellent QB at that level. My opinion on him probably isn't worth much.

John Boy, I think you spend to much time in the barn with Grandpa Walton smoking driftwood. You won't make your million $ doing that. Get your ass back to school to learn about fertilizers, herbicides, and using the GPS to run the combine while you listen to Hank Williams on the stereo. Iowa hasn't told him what they are doing. They are still in regular contact with him. He hasn't said he wants to be a Hawkeye. He is pretty excited to be a Sioux QB. If Iowa or any other FBS school offers he will consider but he is pretty excited about his future at UND. I don't think anyone knows what he will decide if that opportunity arises. Otherwise,he will learn the system at UND as quickly as he can and if and when the time comes that he earns the starting spot, he can flat out throw the pigskin. (that is a football to you John Boy, not what the AC gals show hanging over their waistline). There are a lot of other factors including friends who will be at school at UND, the relationships he is developing with his future teammates and the academic opportunites UND offers. Iowa is not a cinch if they offer, but if they offer, he will see a whole new level of recruiting and pressure. I think he is comfortable with playing for UND and the opportunites that affords him athletically, academically and socialy. If he decides to go somewhere else, then that is his choice and good luck to him. He has shown he is too smart to go to the AC and if people think he wouldn't be a threat to start there as a Fr. or Soph. then they haven't seen him play.

Mollberg completed 10 of 13 for 288 yds and 4 td's tonight against Park Rapids. TD passes of 56,57,64 and 75 yds. Lakers won 36-7 on a windy night in Park Rapids.

Only game to think about right now is Saturday's game. Can't look past anyone (Sioux Falls, was good enough to compete with good D2 teams but they were still NAIA).

Did you read the replies on that blog with the gay slurs, degrading comments about sluts and getting laid and how he shouldn't even be a hockey player? ? That is what I referred to. I assume you are a woman and if the worst thing is some 18 year old who believes that men and women should act differently then your life will be pretty good. He isn't dictating anything to anyone and I suspect he will treat women and girls with respect. I don't know what his beliefs are about what the role of women vs men on earth is but I suspect like you and I he will learn with experience life isn't so simple. I don't think his seemingly narrow view of who is in charge is going to cause my wife or daughters any harm, they would laugh and ignore him. You might consider doing the same. There are other windmills to chase more worthy than an 18 y/o kid who is entering college with an opinion of how people dress and act. Ben Blood and his teammates will likely not be coming to your house and that is an example of taking a comment way past its meaning. Don't sweat the little things.