iramurphy

Don't know how it went, but he has seen it and played here before with Shattuck. Fergus Falls is big Gopher country and he has Gopher FB blood in the family. It will be his former Shattuck teamates and the coaches more than the arena to get him over those yellow and marroon ties but it sure helps to have the arena.

We can only hope. The best president UND had was Tom Clifford and the best guy the AC had was Loftsgard. I think they were both "local" guys. I would hope we can find a replacement who better understands the people of the State of North Dakota and the Alumni of the University. Don't read this as saying Kuppy didn't do a good job. I think he did a decent job. I am hoping for someone with a more personable style. I would hope Bruce Smith who is head of the Aviation program would be a candidate.

Does anyone know if Jay Panzer teaches? If so is he looking for a hockey job?

More than twelve of us read it. There was nothing other than support for the move to DI. It was respectful and there was communication of support financially and politically for the move. There was recognition of the difficulties the change would bring especially the financial costs but the will to work together to overcome those difficulties.

Which letter? To Kupchella from FB alumni, the letter from Kupchella in response to that or a different letter altogether??

PCM I think you have been whacking yourself on the head with those drumsticks. Are you going to be OK?

I am pretty sure he wasn't.

I thought all we have heard recently was that the AC wanted to play UND and UND was afraid. Taylor must not have been straight with the media or fans. Remember he was at Navy and Buning is a West Pointer. UND won't play the AC until it will have no adverse affect on playoff opportunites. If the roles were reversed I would certainly want to play them with a 25 scholarship advantage. They wouldn't want to play us. UND doesn't need them anymore than they need us. At some point in time, the rivalry will resume on an even playing field and it will be more intense because of this. Taylor should be smart enough to keep his comments like that out of McFly's column even if it is true. That is not going to open up communication to renew the rivalry. However, thanks to McFly, we can point out to our s&!t kicking friends from the south, that when they are sitting outside their home at the trailer park, cleaning the crap off of their boots wondering why their Bison are not getting beat by the Sioux this year, that it is Taylor and the AC coaches who don't wish to play UND!

Posters bring up good and valid concerns. I supported Rob and he has been a friend for many years. He would have been a great AD. I think Kupchella and Harmeson did what they usually do and they did nothing wrong. I don't think either of them wanted Rob from day one, but they are certainly entitled to their own opinion. There are many many people in Grand Forks and the Alumni community who appreciated all of what Rob has done for UND and Fighting Sioux athletics. He is too valuable to be an asst. or assoc. AD here. His present job had a lot more responsibility and would be a step down. He already has other job offers from the private sector. Bottom line, he didn't get the job. Rob would be the first to say support Tom Buning. Remember all Tom Buning did was apply for the job and get it. Please give him your support and make him feel welcome. If you have time go on over to the press conference and meet him. I think you will be impressed. Lastly, I don't think anyone is "whining". Kupchella and Harmeson work for the students and the people of North Dakota. Those of you who feel bent our of shape when others critcize their decisions, should remember that. I get the impression that they do not feel they are there to serve the students and the people of the state of North Dakota but that is based on personal contact with them not their comments on the subject. . If people have concerns about their performance then they need to take them to task. I would however, separate that from Tom Buning's position as the new AD. To do otherwise would be unfair to Tom Buning. It is also the best way to show respect for Rob Bollinger. As I said, if you get a chance, go meet him and welcome him to the UND family. Have fun with Kuppy and Dr. Phil.

I think Buning is an impressive guy and will do a good job and deserves our support. I also felt Rob Bollinger should get the job. He earned it, but no way will anyone change this decision. Kupchella will never regain support from a number of former Sioux athletes but he has never shown he cares what they think. There are a number of big $$$ supporters who have stated this is the last straw and will pull their support. It isn't as much that Rob didn't get the job, but the callous way he was treated by some in the administration and the disregard this administration has for the alumni, especially former athletes and the tradition of Fighting Sioux Athletics. I am disappointed for Rob but happy for Tom Buning and will do what ever I can to help him move UND athletics to higher levels of success. He is bright and articulate and will work very hard to continue and improve the high quality athletics we have come to expect from UND. I hope he has a plan to shake up UND's dismal track and field, softball and volleyball programs. They have slid by for too many years with mediocore programs. At the same time he will need to support FB, MBB, WBB and hockey with the goal of national championships. He will also need to raise the funds to build an indoor track/baseball/softball/soccer/FB practice facility and continue the process to DI when appropriate.

Back then there was no DIAA. There was DI, DII, and NAIA. I can't remember if there was DIII but I don't think so. DII was made up of smaller Universities and Colleges that didn't play DI, and included almost all of the DIAA teams today in addition to teams that have since gone on to the real DI. Montana, Montana State, Northern Iowa, Youngstown State, San Diego State and UNLV among others. There were a number of Bowl games for DII teams and these three Bowl games were some of them. There were no playoffs. The Camellia Bowl was in Sacramento and thought by some to be the "Rose Bowl" of DII. It was televised on ABC. UND won all three of these Bowl games. Details of the games are in Lee Bohnet's book about UND Sports history. Is that what you wanted?

Thanks for setting me straight. I was under the mistaken impression that because UND beat the Agricultural College 10 of the last 13 games and also owns a decisive edge in the series, that everyone, except the jock-sniffers in Fargo, would believe that would be the criteria one might consider when trying to decide which is the better team. Obviously, I was wrong. Unlike the rest of the world, you simply declare it to be the case. Where do I get season tickets. That also means that Army is better than USC, Rutgers is better than U of Miami or Harvard is better than Michigan. Some time back I believe they were better, especially Army. Times change buddy and UND has been a much better team in the last 15 years or so. If you wish to consider all of history the same holds true. There was a decade or so in the 1980's when they used creative accounting to increase their scholarships and were the best DII program in the country. The NCC made them stop it and they were no longer dominant. One of your beloved former assistant coaches outlined how it was done over a few beers. I figure it created almost 13 scholarship equivilants. That is a rough estimate but it was significant. Once they were back on a level playing field UND resumed our dominance. As for being comparable academically I was again mistaken. US News and World Report rankings year after year rank UND in the tier above the AC. A number of other ranking services do the same. These ranking services see clearly UND is a better academic institution. They obviously have not heard from Fargo Bison and I would assume you will straighten them out.

It does. Well said.

You left out a very important part of DFS's post. He/she said "UND and the fan" (fans). I am not trying to lobby for Bollinger because I have stated my opinion. To clear up misconceptions of those who have not coached or been part of an athletic department Rob has been functioning as an assisstant AD for years and has been very successful at it. The assistant AD in Fargo with similar duties is Inniger. No one would say he has no experience, yet I read where some posters think that because this position at UND is with the Alumni office, it wouldn't count as AD experience. At the bigger Universities around the country this is a typical duty of one of the assistant AD's. Because a candidate is very good working with people and well liked does not mean they can't make difficult decisions or work with difficult people. The assistant AD's make those decisions all of the time, so all of the candidates should have experience doing just that. I think all four of them do. If folks don't realize the importance of the fans, students and Alumni then I am not sure they understand modern day Intercollegiate athletics. Read the thousands of posts on this site and I would think one might change their mind. People want their opinion to matter and if your AD makes you think your opinion is important then you are much more likely to donate, support the University, cooperate with projects or plans, donate your time or attend athletic events. I respectfully disagree if you meant to say that there are more important things in chosing the AD than the people skills, but I disagree. If you don't have the people skills you won't get people to listen beyond the superficial BS. It isn't the only thing by a long shot, but whether we are looking for a new AD, new coach, new president of our University or a CEO for our company these people skills are of paramount importance.

I would hope not and that doesn't make the atmosphere. The best atmosphere is likely your own arena and it isn't worth debating which is best but I like ours. Other than tounaments, I have only been to Gopher and Duluth games. If you are a Gopher fan you will prefer their atmosphere. UND and the Gophers have better atmosphere than the Dogs but that is just my opinion. Why would anyone give a rat's behind if they stand or sit. It isn't worth having your seats threatened by the president of the university and making National news for foul language is it?? It certainly isn't worth giving up seats to be able to stand. The team has no clue whether the students stand or sit and could care less. They appreciate the cheers and the support but you don't need to stand the whole game to accomplish that do you?