iramurphy

The Lamoureaux twins were two of the best athletes ever from the state of North Dakota. In addition to playing hockey at the highest level available they were blue chip soccer players who could likely have played college soccer. I can't remember if they won an NCAA championship at the U of Mn but I do remember how excited people were when they transferred back to UND and what that meant to our young program. They are still two of the best women's hockey players in the world and have been great ambassadors for UND. Their parents and brothers have also been an important part of the UND hockey family. I get the financial pickle UND athletics is in but I don't believe there was ever much of an effort by the University to explore fundraising options. One of our million dollar donors was never approached. I know donors listed in the top 100 athletic donors weren't asked. Having said that I doubt $60 million was ever going to be raised. These young athletes feel betrayed. You would too. The fact that there aren't many fans at their games doesn't lessen the time, effort, hard work, and passion these women have dedicated to the sport and our University. We didn't have the financial backing to start women's hockey in the beginning and we we lose too much money. No surprise it was cut but put yourself in the shoes of not only the twins but of the other athletes male and female who committed to UND and feel betrayed by the University and the schools administration. Most people on this board would be rioting if UND dropped Men's Hockey. Look at the fuss over the name and logo. The Lamoureaux twins have made comments and accusations because they and others are hurt and angry. Look at how people have acted over the nickname fiasco. The Lamoureaux twins and the other athletes have done nothing even as close to the dumb ass comments and accusations related to the name and logo. I'm not agreeing with them, but I understand their anger and frustration. Show some class and cut them some slack. The rhetoric isn't going to change anything and it makes us all look stupid. Sometimes our family members say and do stupid things and the rest of us need to let it go.

I believe he has over the years

Yeah, I eventually figured that out. You are correct. I don't understand why, as a sports minded society, we don't let kids mature physically and emotionally and be patient with their development. The high end kids will make it no matter where they go. The other kids, most of whom won't play in the NHL and many who won't play college at the highest level, give up too much in order to attempt to accelerate their hockey development. The one sport athlete mentality is stupid and not in the best interest of the athlete. AAU basketball leagues have expanded to include multiple levels and include some very mediocre kids but most of them are overpaying a lot of money for the experience. Those that are convinced kids develop better going to juniors early may be right but we don't have evidence to support either argument other than the individual stories or success or failure.

The Oshie kid playing for Warroad the next year was really good. He was a senior. The program said it was TJ. Your comment about setting him back 2-3 yrs is unfounded. Is taking kids away from the families, friends and communities really what is best for these kids? I have always contended that high school kids should be in high school and playing other sports and being involved in other school activites and not be deprived of all of the opportunities, academically, and socially. For those who aren't ready to go from high school to college, they can go to Juniors after HS. None of these kids should be playing hockey or any other sport exclusively. The medical studies all show the potential harm to these one sport year round athletes with an increase in injuries and peaking at earlier ages. What we are doing to our kids is shameful. When Dave Hakstol was looking at one of our kids a couple of years ago he said " tell the kid to stay out for football". Kids should remain in HS and play soccer or FB or tennis or lacrosse and be in the choir and student council and get caught in the basement by their girlfriends Dad that senior year. Staying loyal to their community, school and teammates who helped develop their game may be important in building leadership and life skills . They can to Juniors the next year. All of those goals and aspirations can wait one year. The best kids will be fine and those that need more time can have an extra year of two. I hope all these kids stay in HS.

Connor O'Brien finished? ( Concussions).

This best reason to move on is that we have Regional Hockey tomorrow and we still have people who give a rats behind about the logo issue. Who cares anymore? Not only has that Sioux ship sailed but it sank! Those PC folks and activists whose lives were so miserable because we had the name, have nothing on the folks whose lives seem miserable without the name. Who cares, it's a name and logo. I'm more concerned about whether T Poolman, who I think is one of the most complete and outstanding defensemen we have ever had, will be healthy enough to play.

Actually, today all people have said was the Hawks gave Arizona a great game.

This team was well prepared to utilize the talent we have against a top 10 team. Bernstein, Crandall and Hooker showed they can play at the big time level. Jones and his staff have recruited some very good players and they won a conference title and made it to the tourney. He and his staff have earned a new contract and salary increases.

No excuse. Conference Champs and WNIT bid is a big deal anytime our MBB or WBB teams are in. The herald staff should be able to read a schedule, know that we have 3 UND teams in tourney's this week and HS BB. Get stories and photos Sun, Mon, Tues for yesterday and today. Work with UND's SID or hire the Dakota Student reporter to help with UND coverage or send an intern to cover HS stories. Disappointing.

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