iramurphy

Wentz earned the ring because of his outstanding play before he got hurt. He was a huge factor in their successful season. Not sure the Eagles would have made it to the Super Bowl without his contributions. He was one of the favorites for MVP and Rookie of the year prior to his injury.

Former UND commit Matt Walner hit walk off HR to win it for the Twins. Would have had Zach Muckenhirn and Walner at same time had they not dropped baseball.

Chatting with John Marks yesterday. He said 1986-1987 National Champs had a gathering in DL lakes area last weekend. 18 former players attended. Still close. Successful after their careers.

He plays basketball and has good feet. Played varsity FB and some BB as a freshman. Missed most of Soph year with a knee injury. Threw shot put last spring for first time and threw 49 feet by end of year. Great student. Good upside. He may be up to 270 by now.

Detroit Lakes Isaac Cariveau 6’3” 260 lb OL/DL commits to UND. (PWO).

Did you have Olen Kraus? Best teacher I had as an undergraduate.

Next year.(2024).

No, I don’t believe so. At least I didn’t see him.

I hope you had a chance to meet Tip Enebek who hosted the event at his course. Tip and his teammates who included Murphy never lost to the Ag school. They have great stories of their time at UND especially their time living in the door rooms in the stadium. Tip has donated a lot to UND athletics. He has also done an awful lot for homeless vets. I was still coaching receivers in the fall of ‘77 and the spring of ‘78. What position did you play? Glad you made it to the reunion. Hope you can get back each year.

Last summary from me with apologies to the keyboard warriors who might be offended. I summarized the UND events in DL and on Pelican Lake. Yesterday and Sunday at the Legends Course in Prior Lake former FB coaches, former players and fans got together. There were players from 7 decades. Mark Chipman Jerry Jacobson ( early ‘60’s) received the Legends Awards. I had great visits with many of the UND FB staff and Alumni staff. Had a great visit with Chris Kuper. Dale Lennon, Roger Thomas, Rob Bollinger, Jeff Tesch, Vince Repesh were among the former coaches. The addition to the Pollard with locker rooms and a new weight room which will be larger than any of the other colleges in NDak was reviewed. The multiple scholarships and the new 701 fund were stressed. The staff is excited and optimistic for this fall. I had a nice visit with Danny about the QB’s. Feeney has made great progress. His confidence and leadership skills are greatly improved. Great potential. Tough schedule but lots of positive energy for the upcoming season and the program moving forward. It won’t be easy.

“Lazy” was a description used by guess who on June 12 and by another poster on June 16.

I’m not a “high roller” either but had access to any and all of UND staff. So did anyone else. The invite was on the alumni website so it wasn’t only for high rollers. Having said that, there were some interesting and very successful alumni in attendance. A group of Pi Phi sorority girls who were having a reunion came. I think I counted 8 or 9 Sigma Chis. It was a lot of fun. Hosted by Jim and Nicole Poolman who do a wonderful job of making everyone feel welcome. Anyone who attended will attest to how engaging the UND personnel were and how hard they work. I highly recommend this event which was in its 4th year. Jim Poolman is the new chair of the Alumni Board. Last year the people who attended raised $36,000 for the Angel Fund. This year they were raising funds for students who experience financial difficulties and the goal was to match $20,000 donated by the Simonsons. They were over halfway to that goal before Jim Poolman was finished telling the attendees about the matching fund opportunity.

I attended the Alumni function on Pelican Lake this evening. A number of the alumni staff were in DL yesterday for the Champions Club Golf event, returned to GF last night, then back for this event this evening. Bubba was at todays event as were many alumni office personnel and key UND administrators including President Armacost and his wife Kathy. It was easy to visit with any of these key people. I had a long visit with Dave Hakstol. The athletic department staff, FB coaches and a number of key alumni staff will returne to GF tonight then will be In Minneapolis for the FB function Sunday and Monday. Anyone who thinks for a moment that these folks are “lazy” hasn’t a flipping clue. These events go on around the country year round. These events are not exclusive. Those who took the time had ample opportunity to chat with President Andy, Deanna Zink, Bill Chaves, Bubba and other FB coaches, and other coaches from hockey, golf and tennis. Many Alumni including former Sioux greats from multiple sports and Kraken Coach Dave Hakstol attend. It’s a great time to connect to other alumni and build relationships with key UND staff. It’s a great time to personally witness how hard these people work trying make UND including our athletic teams better and to connect with fans, supporters, donors and alumni.

Going back to previous discussions. I spoke with Bill Chaves, Val Sannes, and Tim Belmore today. They were very accessible to anyone who wanted to talk to them. I passed along the concerns/ideas some of you have expressed regarding complaints of some not feeling appreciated as Champions Club donors, not responding to messages, Emails etc. , some feeling they don’t receive communication from UND officials etc. I also related that I and others offered to coordinate meetings between them and fans or supporters but no one contacted me to set that up. They all would be happy to meet with any of you. I also let them know how some think they are lazy and clueless. I think they would love to have those folks follow them for a few weeks but they were disappointed to hear that. Bottom line: I said I would pass along those concerns/ideas and I did. They have major functions in Detroit Lakes today, Pelican Lake tom Orie and Sunday and Monday in the twin cities. Coaches from multiple sports are attending while also going back and forth between Grand Forks and these locations to coordinate summer camps, a big recruiting week for FB, MBB, WBB, and hockey.

Knutson lost control of his bike and fell into the path of the truck pulling a boat on a trailer. All captured on a homeowners security video. Driver of vehicle didn’t break any laws, no charges anticipated. Sad deal.

Detroit Lakes kicker/punter Nick Bubolz, has been invited to Kohl’s Professional Kicking Camp in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It’s a National Showcase for kickers and punters. Was invited after a good showing at the Minneapolis showcase camp. Will be a junior this year. His Dad,TJ, walked on at UND when Roger Thomas was coaching. I believe only played a year or 2. Also good athlete. Played QB last season when starter was hurt. Plays BB and tennis. 4.0 student.

On the contrary, this team and staff have high expectations for a successful season. They are excited to move the program forward. Fortunately, the excitement for the new season, the expectations and confidence of our players and coaches is what is most important. What we think as fans ……… not so much.

Thanks. Nice of you to do this.

For anyone wanting direct access to key UND admin, Alumni Assn admin, athletic Dept admin, or coaches, log on to undalumni.org and find an activity near you. The Golf outing in DL on July 13 is sold out but Kim and Nicole Poolman host the largest summer gathering at their beautiful lake home on Pelican south of DL on July 14.

Initially it was $10,000,000 but it included the Sports Med contract. The $10,000,000 was left “dangling “ for quite some time. I have no idea anymore but if I were UND, both issues would be on page one.

I agree.

You have posted some reasonable responses. Don’t start the immature crap that destroys discussions. UND isn’t buying players. Most of us aren’t going to deal with NIL. We do need to improve coaches salaries so funding is an on going issue. NIL is out there so schools, including yours and ours, need to be proactive. Recruiting has improved year to year. I assume you meant competing. While NDSU has the advantage of the National Championships other schools including UND have made some inroads. If this is how you have fun it should be more concerning than UND losing a recruit to NDSU. Spend time with family or friends instead of other school’s forums. Do like I do and waste time on your own forum when you have nothing else to do.

Yup. There is a way to connect those willing to contract with athletes with the athletes.

If the NCAA is going to do this right, at least on paper they should keep schools and coaches out of it. The athletes should need to approach businesses on their own to arrange their own deals. If they wish NIL deals to include association with the University, including wearing the uniform, using school names or logos etc. the University should get a percent of the deal. I’m not naive enough to think the NCAA would consider this, much less enforce it. However before we set up an NIL fund there should be businesses that would be willing to contract with athletes for an NIL deal. The school should know who they are and have appropriate contact info.

Google Louis Tiant. Maybe the way to save your arm is to smoke big Cuban cigars. That guy was fun to watch.