iramurphy

Did I miss it or is the GF Herald's sports staff too overwhelmed to have some coverage of the UND women's BB team and their game tonight? I'm only checking the online articles.

Not even close. Would need to win it. Beating Arizona would be biggest upset in ND athletics history but not biggest story.

Biggest problem with the logo issue we are losing about $1,000,000 per year. We should have launched the new brand with celebrations and sales of hawks gear and clothing the day the name was announced. We have a new brand and haven't been the Fighting Sioux for years. I've had season hockey tix for 40 yrs and travel for some road games and 8 FF's, so I think I'm a UND hockey fan. I still wear Sioux gear and will until I wear it out, but I could give a rats behind about the former name or logo. If anyone thinks the Sioux name or logo are coming back you are kidding yourselves. I wouldn't want it anymore. It isn't worth the hassle. We should be focused on building successful programs and championships. We should be focused on upgrading, expanding, remodeling and maintaining our facilities. To me it's the University and the people, athletes, coaches etc. never has been, never will be about a logo to me. When we aren't paying coaches and assistant coaches enough to keep them and cutting programs we should be bitching about the revenues lost not the stupid logos, past or present.

Not even close. I'm not defending nor condemning his early years but the support including institutional support, financial support, fan support and marketing was much better at the AC in Richman's early years than Jones. I don't know if Kennedy will be any better than his predecessors but a conference title, and decent recruiting will get you a new contract. The players seem to like playing here. He certainly has earned his extension.

We are awful so far. Weak passes. No one looking to shoot. Went about 3 1/2 min without scoring.

How well did that work for us last year? We can't afford inconsistent play from a "game manager" like we saw last year. Studsrud has shown some real promise at times. His best quality is that he doesn't turn the ball over much. I think Studsrud has the potential to be a game changer but he needs to get better. "Stout defense" can keep us in most games. Quality running game is a huge plus but when we face a stout defense, will we have the the ability to adjust and take advantage of opportunities in the passing game? I like our improvement in most areas but we need to be able to develop our QB's. I'm hoping for noticeable improvement in all of our QB's. Without it, I think it will be tough for us to advance far in the playoffs. Not being pessimistic cuz that is what spring FB is for. Bubba sees it. He mentioned at the end of the season that we need improvement at QB. I happen to agree.

The oline will be a work in progress. DB's have some studs but they will need to push the others to get better both at the other starting positions and depth. I think Dline and LB's will be a strength. We should be good at RB and receivers. We have some talent and depth at TE. The oline and QB are the key to our success next year. We must improve this spring in both areas. The line needs to have new guys step up and establish themselves as quality starters. Depth will be an issue like last year especially with the injuries we dealt with. We need to see improvement from all 4 QB's if we are going to get better. Doesn't sound like you guys are seeing any of the backups as capable of pushing Studsrud so he is going to have to push himself to get better. He must improve with quicker reads and more accurate passing. He is athletic and smart enough but must improve on 56% completions. He is the senior and 4 yr starter and needs to make his receivers and offense better not the other way around. We can't have the inconsistency we saw last year. He has done a good job of protecting the ball, but he needs to become a game changer this year for us to be successful. He can, but he needs to have the personal drive to get much better. To me he is a big key to our success next fall and he will need to remain healthy.

Yes it is too much to ask. Don't want anything to do with it anymore. That ship has sailed and if we can't afford to maintain our sports and have to change conferences, we sure as hell need to get beyond the Fighting Sioux issue and launch our new brand. Maybe one of the reasons we seem to be slow to make progress is we waste time and effort on stuff that either doesn't matter or we can't change. We have joined the MVC/Summit. Our focus needs to be on raising funds, improving coaching salaries and improving facilities. We also need to evaluate the game day experiences and how we improve attendance. The new President needs to be on board and we need to sell the Alumni Assn. on the importance of moving our projects, including marketing to the forefront to enhance the University experience for all students and the fan experience. Their thoughts should be an investment which should improve revenues through attendance, and sales of gear with new logo. Studies show increased donations will follow.

They got a commitment from the stud TE for Crosy-Ironton

Not sure I agree with this. Some of the biggest supporters of UND athletics had no idea this was a done deal other than the rumors that we might look into it. There was a group that met at homecoming discussing some solutions to solving the financial shortfall on an annual basis. We also heard we are losing up to $1,000,000 per year by not launching our new brand and logo. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the group couldn't get a target number of dollars needed. If we need $400,000 more per year it is an easier task than $1,000,000 per year. Kennedy told an alumni group at Jamestown this past summer he was going to look at how the AC was doing things. No surprise a politician without UND ties took the easy way out. It's a done deal as far as the move, but I'm of the opinion we tackle the problem and raise the funds so we move forward from a position of strength rather than weakness. We should be making the move to the MVC/Summit based on it is what is best for UND now and the foreseeable future. We should not make a move because we feel we must in order to survive. This problem didn't show up over night. If we can't gather the momentum and resources to support our athletic programs, then we have the wrong people running our athletic department. If this is the best move for UND then it should come with fanfare and celebration. We can and should be so much better. We also need to get phase II of the practice facility done so we have facilities as good or better than the other schools in the MVC/Summit.

I can read a map. It is about money. Location is a huge factor related to expenses. We won't save money if we are mired in the middle of the MVC. We were just establishing ourselves as a Big Sky power in FB and WBB. We are there in VB. Hopefully now in MBB. We haven't launched any marketing with the new logo. We haven't stepped up our marketing for athletics and the University. We leave a lot of money on the table and tend to focus on cutting expenses rather than increase revenues.

I believe we lose a recruiting advantage for UND. Fly to Montana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Utah, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington. Bus to Fargo, Vermillion, Brookings, Omaha, UNI. Do we fly to Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Denver and Oklahoma ? We go to a conference where the other schools are established and Fargo, UNI, SDSU, Youngstown, Illinois State etc are looked upon as the conference powers in FB. Remember how our coaches talked about how recruits felt the Big Sky was a positive factoring their decision process? Most Recruits don't know about or care about our old rivalries until after they get here. We no longer have that unique travel opportunity to offer recruits. How does this affect our established recruiting base? We assume we will get better crowds from visiting teams and I believe we probably will, but how much better? We certainly haven't shown we are ready to compete week in and week out with the best of the MVC yet. Are we ready for the Summit? We Should be for VB, WBB, and MBB. We forfeit the opportunity to be a conference champion and lose one of the opportunities to make the playoffs in FB and lose our best chances for playoffs in BB and VB. We don't make playoffs in WBB or MBB without winning conference tourney. I am not too excited about this. I also don't like asking someone to let us into the Big Sky then backing out when things get tough. Maybe we have no choice, but I would rather remain in the Big Sky.

Not sure I understand some of this. The AC is the premier FCS program in the country right now. The media exposure, hosting playoffs etc go with it. There is tremendous support in the region for them right now because of their success. Comments like " it took our new coach 3 tries to make the playoffs and they made the playoffs their third year" aren't a fair comparison. Their new coach made the playoffs his first year. Good for them. I've said it before, we need to focus on us. The rest will come. We made the playoffs this year, then laid an egg. I like where we are headed but there is no excuse for the loss to Richmond. We can fix that with recruiting and we extended Bubba's contract. We need to be willing to tear it up and give him a better one if we continue to improve and we need to quickly improve what we pay our assistants. We need to move past the Fighting Sioux fiasco. Doesn't matter how we might feel as individuals, we aren't ever going to be the Fighting Sioux again. We are too slow to establish the Fighting Hawks as our brand. It continues to cost us money when we are out front with our new name and brand. We need to fill the Alerus and upgrade our pre-game, game time and post game experience and entertainment. With a student population of 14-15,000 we should be trying to figure out where to put everyone. Just like the FB team we need to keep getting better as a fan base and with increased community support. We can't afford to take a step back next fall.

These guys must have overslept. Playing hockey in their Christmas pajamas.

I thought I read that Bubba said we need to improve at QB. I would agree. Studsrud completed only 56% of his passes this year after completing 60% last year. He was too inconsistent and too slow getting through his reads. We need 60-65% completions with same TD to Int ratio and he could be All - Conf. He needs to deliver the ball as the receiver makes his cut. He needs to be more of a positive factor next year or we will struggle to win another conference Championship. A fourth year starter needs to be able to do more than read a defense, hand off, and protect the ball. He hurt us in all three loses with inconsistent and mediocre play. He showed spurts of being a much better than average QB. We need that caliber of play every game, all game. Oline should be better, receivers should be better, RBs are outstanding. We need him to improve and play at a championship level and if he can do that, next year could be special.

Maybe 3500

I disagree. They had a poor game Saturday as a group, but we need to do a better job of getting them the ball on the break. Studsrud has done exactly what Bubba asked him to do. Protect the ball and read the defense. Needs to get through his reads quicker and deliver the ball on the break which will give your receiver a step or step and a half on the defender. He has an adequate arm and is a very good athlete. He did not have a good game in any of our three losses including Saturday. He showed signs of being very good mid season. We need that consistently all four quarters every game. If he plays like that every game we probably win all three. He doesn't lose games but he could be a bigger factor winning games. He is a gamer and played with pain against N Arizona but we need him all 4 quarters and if we are going to make play offs next year, he needs to continue to improve. Jerry Rice's " game speed" was partly due to having a HOF QB. Mercer, Stanley, Wanzek and Toivenen are very good and they block well. Fastest receiver we ever had at UND was Norm McGee. Great guy but these kids catch the ball better and can block. If you can't block with this offense you are not going to play much. We should be better next year at TE and WR.

You make a good point but the counterpoint is how many others will travel to these schools vs how many alumni and fans will attend games in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana etc. I think you get a few hundred either way, just a different group. We have made a splash in the Big Sky this year and let's not end the marriage so soon. The University needs to improve marketing for athletics and for the University. It will require an investment. We should be looking at charter flight packages for trips to our Big Sky destinations with alumni and fan gatherings at each destination. Give the fans a chance to interact with the coaches and the kids and develop relationships for the team and staff to meet fans. Bus trips and charter flights need to be priced to cover costs rather than for UND to make money on the trip. When you know kids and coaches you are more likely to follow the team. It will take time and money but it can pay off. I convinced Rob Bollinger to start a golf outing in our community 20 years ago. We started with 56 players. Now it is sold out every year and alumni and fans get to speak with our coaches and alumni staff. We build the relationships that result in donations. It raises about $15,000 per year but the value is reconnecting with Alumni. One of the local businessmen who never went to UND is now a huge fan and has hosted a UND fundraiser. And donates generously to UND athletics. We need to start thinking outside the box. I see more opportunities in the Big Sky. It also can increase our national footprint better than the MVC and Summit. We should coordinate these trips with our recruiters from our high school relations dept ( don't know what they call it now). We have people working on making up the budget deficit which by the way is an annual challenge not something new.

I don't think they are. His notes on the Richmond web site tell people to Fly to Fargo and party with them and their 30,000 fans Friday night and they won't have to pay for food and drinks the whole weekend. He also claims they have to fly to Fargo and drive to GF. He claims our recruits have to fly to Fargo then drive to GF. (I'm sure that has happened, but not often). He claims we will have only 6500 at game. I will bet we get 10,000 or more. Anyway he is an example of someone who was never good enough to play and thinks the success of a FB team has something to do with him. I guess when your life revolves around booze, bullying and a FB team your are stupid enough to do what he does. Bison fans who know him make fun of him. They can't stand him either.

Bring some warm clothes and join the per-game tailgating. Forecast is 36 and partly sunny.

I said "we" aren't the brightest..... Doesn't mean anyone in particular and I included myself. I have been watching for 46 years and I am not saying it has never fired up the fans. I'm saying I would rather see a clean hard check that rocks an opponent but leaves our guys on the ice. You may be right, but for every time we think a fight does something positive I bet we can find 4 or 5 where it hurt us. We tend to forget stupid penalties that hurt us and remember a fight that fired us up. For the fight to fire us up we also need to win the fight. Right now, one of the keys is staying out of the penalty box. We didn't need a fight to dominate a very good SCSU team. I think our PK needs to get back to what it was earlier this year and Cam needs to get refocused before we take a chance on losing a player for a game and a half. We aren't deep enough defensively to lose Ausmus.

Don't know where you got that idea but if our team and coaches believe that we will get our ass kicked. Look what happened to Weber and Cal Poly. From here on in it is every play for 60 min. No mistakes. We can win but I would bet it won't be a blowout. We need to establish the run. Studsrud needs to avoid his first half struggles and play the entire game like he did the 4th quarter last game and second half of most of our games. We need to shut down their run and we need pressure on their QB. Special teams can't fail to cover punts and KO's. Great time to return a punt or KO to give us an edge. Should be great game. Full house will make a difference.

More than anything we need time and patience. The solution will come from within not from fans. Terrible play the last month plus but if they remain close as a team, keep working to get better we will be ok. Can't explain the weekend debacle against Michigan State but we saw the potential the week before. I do agree Cam is struggling. He needs a break.

That would only put him in box and give other team power play. If that is what we "need" we are in deep trouble and not very smart. Getting ejected doesn't ever help team. Clean hard checks can do same thing for majority of fans and keeps him on the ice. If other team scores on power play everyone will scream for him to be benched for being stupid. Gotta play smart. We aren't the brightest fans but we are smarter than that. Building will erupt with fast play, hustle and clean hard checks that leave all our guys on the ice. We have had enough dumb penalties to last the season.

That's why we should stay in the Big Sky.