iramurphy

Take this to the bank. Lennon and the other coaches are not happy with Buning. His inability to communicate, lack of consistency, lack of leadership and immaturaty are the primary reasons. If you somehow don't believe this to be true, talk to the coaches yourself. They will likely not comment if they don't know and trust you, but the fact that their answer will not be a resounding vote of confidence should make if clear to even the biggest skeptic that there is a problem. None of this has anything to do with Thomas or Bollinger. The D1 momentum was in place long before Buning arrived. It was not Buning that was the impetus. It was only after President Kupchella got on board that things began moving. The work of Dan Maritinson who moved to Grand Forks from the west coast to get these things done and his working with other UND alumni and the president was what made the difference. I will tell you I did not care much for a lot of things Kupchella was doing early in the presidency. The issues with the Med School, Engelstad, the first management group of the REA etc. were bothersome. He handled it in his own way and as his tenure comes to a close the results speak volumes. I also thought Buning would be OK. I haven't had to work with him. I don't know of any Alumni who have become new big time donors because of him. His relationship with the coaches is terrible. If it is one coach, and the rest get along well with him and respect him, then I would say that coach may need to move on. If it is multiple coahces especially gentlemen like Dale Lennon and Hakstol who have been successful and are highly respected then maybe it is the AD. I believe you can include Roebuck in the group that is considering moving on because of Buning but I haven't spoken with him. A lot of people who felt he was OK have changed their minds after working with him. For those who were so high on a West Point grad, I will submit to you that any West Point grad who spent 20 years in the Army, and served in combat and retires as an LTC. had not been recognized by the military a one of the best. That should have been a red flag. One of the staff from the West Point (Army) athletic department claimed UND did not ask call them about him and he would not ahve received a resounding ercommendation from them. I will tell you this. If he stays and Lennon, Hakstol and or Roebuck leave, UND will lose a lot of support from the Alumni who have been willing to increase donations to help with the D1 move. We can't afford to have a controversy at a time like this. The FB team had a good chance to take a run at one more D2 title in the fall and had a great recruiting year. The WBB and hockey teams are also going to be contenders for national championships again next year and had good recruiting years. It is a lot easier to relace an average AD than it is to relace excellent coaches who have been loyal to UND for years.

I have known Pat Seaworth for over 50years. He is one of the brightest attorneys I have ever met. His legal opinions are opinions without rancor or prejudice. He attended UND for 2 years and NDSU for 2 years and got his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Dunn was an NDSU guy but is also a man of integrity. I believe they are both respected by their peers and Seaworth is a Bismarck native and I am not aware he has any problems with NDSU and in fact I have seen him cheer for them when he was in college. This issue is no longer a rivalry issue. It is a serious issue where Chapman is again trying to bully people and get his supporters on the SBoHE to enable him to do so. I don't think Paulsen will do so again but I am not sure. Chapman is not trusted nor respected by the other presidents. Now he is having major problems with his supervisor (the guy he answers to). That means he hasn't been able to take direction from either Potts or Dunn. He will likely have trouble with the next chancellor as well. He has displayed similar behavior and temper and bullying when dealing with the Fargo Dome authority and has used the NDSU supporters on the city council to undermine the agreements he reached with the dome authority to get "a better deal". He recently made requests to have only certain people from the dome authority negotiate with NDSU. I spoke with a gentleman who served on the Mn. SBoHE when it was in existence. He is an NDSU alumnus and a big NDSU fan. He said their SBoHE "would have fired his ass". The rest of the state is beginning to tire of his immature antics and it will hurt NDSU. The strength of NDSU is not Joe Chapman but the faculty, students, and their community. They shouldn't sell themselves short. Their recent success has more to do with those entities than Joe Chapman. He has accomplished a lot and has done some good things. He is developing a pattern of not being able to get along with his supervisors and is creating turmoil with the chancellor and SBoHE. They tolerated it once and supported him. I don't think they will continue to do so. His request to have Dunn not do his performance evaluation is cowardly at best. He acts dishonestly and in an unprofessional manner then doesn't want to be held accountable. NDSU is too good of a school and has made to many recent gains to jeopardize things with Chapman's unprofessionalism.

You seem to miss the point. Chapman has done a number of good things for NDSU. It does not give him the right to lie and to try to bully people. The end does not justify the means. The real facts are known by a number of people. That includes those who watched and listened to his recent meltdown when he met with Fargo folks over the Dome rental issue that didn't get reported. He lied to people at that meeeting and put on quite a show ranting and raving. It was all quite unprofessional. Those who are on the Dome authority seem to know about this. He has a pattern of lying to people. It isn't just those folks and Dunn who (worked for NDSU). The SBoHE attorney (who by the way attended NDSU and got his law degree from Wash U in St. Louis not UND) did not make any negative comments about Chapman but seems to know the facts. Potts was not a UND guy but worked for he people of N.Dak. Chapman can't seem to get along with any of these folks. At some time you will need to get your head out of the sand and face the fact that this guy is a loose cannon. He has done a lot for NDSU but if you excuse his dishonesty and bullying then I guess the end does justigfy the means and all colleges and Universities in the state need to take off the gloves and fend for themselves. In the long run it will cost the taxpayers more and give ammunition to those who don't see the value of education spending and it will hurt NDSU in the long run. It will likely lead to some new legislation that will keep his successor and the other presidents from being as effective. You are wrong if you think Chapman doesn't care what others think. He was literally sweating when he was grilled by the Attorney General the last time he got out of line and if he has hired an attorney and is whining to Paulsen and the public he must be concerned about what someone is thinking. Even Paulsen won't put up with this forever. Doesn't mean he doesn't do good things. He just needs to remember to tell the truth and needs to remember he works for the taxpayers of the state of N.Dak. not just the athletic fans at NDSU. There are a number of academic folks there who are not impressed with his bullying or unprofessional behavior. I think you should also add to the things you know about Chapman. His top priority is Joe Chapman.

Why are all of those Gopher fans dressed up???

I was told he is in Phoenix today so that would make it less likely he is the donor.

I posted under another thread. This may be the gift from B John Barry. I think the plan would be to name the College of Business after him and it would be in teh $25 million range. Won't be for athletics. This is the only one I could think of. Anyone know if they had the announcement yet?

B John Barry and College of Business has a new name??? Guess $25 million. Have they had the news conference yet? He stated he would help with the $500,000,000 endowment and his new vocation in life would be philanthropy. It will not be tied to athletics. That is the only one I can think of.

I don't think anyone is going to ride anyone out of town. The new guy hopefully will do a good job. People are hearing good things about him. To comment that those who supported Steve Johnson are part of a "good ol boy fan club", shows a real lack of understanding. Steve is a proven, successful coach and has ties to UND which are very valuable when it comes to raising money and garnering support for the team. Women's hockey is part of UND athletics and needs to do a better job of raising money and increasing donations as well as pulling its own weight. I understand it won't be the same as the men's program. I am saying it needs to do better. Many of us are UND sports fans and want to see women's hockey succeed. We want track and baseball and basketball etc. to succeed. Steve Johnson should have been interviewed. The best person should have been hired and maybe that is the guy they hired. UND can't expect Alumni and former athletes to always step to the plate if they show no loyalty to UND alumni in return. That is the crux of the matter. He deserved an interview based on his success, his experience as a coach and because he is part of the UND family, he needed to be given the benefit of the doubt. It seems to me the group that pushed so hard to get women's hockey is not as strong nor as vocal as it had been. They should be a bigger group with more funds to donate and more supportive now than ever. I don't see that occuring. In the meantime, the new coach is hopefully going to do a great job and the hiring is done. No sense making love to a dead horse. (Unless of course you attend or graduated from the Ag college, but that is not appropriate discussion for this forum).

The kid is a good defenseman. He didn't cost us any games. No single player has. I am sure he has some games where he wishes he would have played better. So does any good athlete. He handles the puck very well, he passes well and he is a smart player. Find one college hockey coach in the country who wouldn't want him on their team. I think he will need to be stronger but what the heck do I know? The criticism isn't any different than those who criticise Hakstol or the team when things aren't going the way they would like. There are those who criticise without knowing what they are talking about all of the time. I would also think he is smart enough to understand the vast majority of fans appreciate him as a hockey player. I wouldn't know if he is happy here or not. I would hope the coaches and team captains know the answer to that and address it before it becomes enough of an issue that a kid would leave early because he isn't happy.

You don't need to have stayed at a Holdiay Inn Express last night to figure out he has an alcohol problem. He is a little old to be doing this type of crap. What kind of example is that for his son? Doen't he have any friends who will drag his butt of to a treament program?

I think that was so he can play for the Med school in next years Malprctice bowl. He starts Med School in the fall.

If my nephew doesn't go, I will have an extra seat at the table.

Thanks I will try it.

Anyone know a great restraurant in downtown St. Louis to get a great steak. Price doesn't matter if its good.

Agree. There is nothing about the other three that jumps out at you. None of them have a playing career that is better than Johnson's. He has had great success as a head coach. Stacy Wilson was an asst. at Duluth but she left the program. Why and what has she been doing lately? The others are Asst. Coaches for St. Cloud (not a power, and Harvard they are a power). If Steve Johnson is interested and not given an interview, that would not be a good reflection on Bunning. I hope someone can convince him otherwise. I guess it could be that no one else is all that interested. I hope Bunning understands the quality of candidates he can get with UND ties. After all, it seems to have worked for the mens hockey team. Were I the AD, I would have done enough research to have had one or two candidates in mind and recruited them to apply at UND. Until we start believing we will be a Womens Hockey Power deserving of the best coaching and expect the best players to come here, no one else is going to either.

Jeff. He was bigger than Mike. Both heavy hitters. I think Jeff also had a stint with the CFL.

Another example of Chapman doing things his way without regard for the rules. Walaker has the same attitude and I don't think it is any coincidence he and Chapman were involved in violating the open meeting rule again. Same with Paulsen. To their credit they want to help their own entities. Unfortunately it isn't their money. I don't see a problem with the purchase of the buildings downtown if it was done with private money. Pretty typical arrogance of our University Administrators and elected officials to not bother keeping the appropriate state officials in the loop. (Maybe it isn't the case and Chapman did all of that with Potts' blessing). I doubt either of those guys show up at work each day with the idea that they serve the students and taxpayers of the state of N. Dak. or the citizens and taxpayers of the city of Fargo. Those guys tend to serve the people who keep them in power and can expand their power base. They have at their disposal a number of political boosters or Alumni and business people who benefit from their relationship with these power brokers and it becomes mutually beneficial. Then they tend to justify the means by the end result. Chapman has done many good things for NDSU therefore the previous Chancellor and those who thought he should live by the same rules were dupes. That is the reason he and his organization are so much better than anyone else and why the rest of the state wallows in thir own mediocrity. I could go on but you get the picture. If he is your guy you won't get the point. Many of us do some of the same stuff in our own lives with our customers, our clients, on your church board etc. Hopefully the rest of us stop at breaking the law. That is the big difference in my opinion.

Wheeler needs another year before the big time. He can go back to U of Mn or the minors but won't be ready for a while. Look what happend to Stafford and Bochenski and he wasn't up to their standards yet. He will be a heck of a player as he matures though. Johnson is ready but needs to play at his highest level night in and night out. He should be a dominant defenseman in every game he plays.

On the other hand we can simply quit gloating and be happy UND won. Thank them for their congratulations and show class. Dick Vinger who was a great BB coach at Kenmare, Rugby and GF Central used to say: "When you win say little, when you lose say less". UND won. That is all there is for us to say. Lets leave the Gopher game and get own with #8 in St. Louis. It makes them more upset to see your UND gear. That speaks loudly enough and says it all.

Oh yeah and Dale Lennon, Murphy, West, Helling then Olson. Dale has accomplished more, Murphy left too soon, Olson faded at the end. West played all over the country against some awfully good teams (including Army) back when they didn't distinguish D1 vs D1AA or D2. Helling went to multiple bowl games then moved on. Olson turned the program around when it wass down and went to two Bowl games but the program suffered his last few years, then Murphy revived it but left too soon. Murphy never lost to the AC and I don't think they would have had their run in the 1980's ahd he stayed. He was a hell of a recriuter and offensive FB mind. Don't forget Frank Zazula. He was quite an inovator and had some very good teams in the 1950's but didn't hav ethe success of these other guys.

UND won. Set a new record for points scored. Sioux won 38-21. It was 30 below zero when we left GF and got up into the 40's in Sacramento, froze the pipes in part of the motel at night and I believe set new record lows. Good N.Dak weather for Dec. . They were freezing and we practiced in shirtsleeves.

If I were a sportswriter worth my salt, I would track this guy down for an interview. He had a buddy who played at Shattuck and became a Sioux fan because of the Shattuck UND conection. It would be a great ESPN interview. Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Go Sioux!

It was called correctly by the ref and it should have been called. It was a terrible penalty. It could have cost us the game! No excuse for it and college players must be more disciplined than that especially leading 2-1 in the regional finals. If he isn't dressed for the FF that would be the reason. Over the course of the year we do take too many undisciplined penalties. We can't do that in the FF and get away with it. We were lucky and the kids did a heck of a job on penalty kill.

Should be easy to get tickets on Sat because two teams will be done and some of the BC fans and whomever else loses in the first round will go home.