bincitysioux

Start winning games and being competitive in the Big Sky, and the Alerus will rocket up the list. The environment and fan participation is what makes a stadium for the most part IMO. From 2001-2006 or so, the Alerus was a raucous and rowdy place. We get back to that, and I say only Wa-Griz and Bobcat Stadium beat it.................

My family of four is heading to the UC Davis game in November. We're gonna fly to San Fransisco, do some sight seeing, visit some family, and drive to Davis for the game. Gonna make a little 5 day vacation out of it.....................

Thursday 8/29 Southern Utah @ S. Alabama Valparaiso @ North Dakota Monmouth @ Montana State Sac State @ San Jose State E. Oregon @ Portland St Friday 8/30 NAU @ Arizona Saturday 8/31 UC Davis @ South Dakota Langston @ Northern Colorado Eastern Washington @ Oregon State San Diego at Cal Poly SFA @ Weber State App St @ Montana

Ira, you always have awesome insight, so when you speak, I listen. You are usually right on the money. I hope whoever does not get named the starter doesn't bail at the end of the year. On the other hand, a 4 year long QB controversy probably wouldn't do anybody any good. I haven't seen either guy play, other than in the spring game, but given all the hype surrounding Molberg (which as been down right exhausting over the last year), if Bartels beats him out in camp then I assume he must be really impressing the coaching staff.

Once you put on the North Dakota uniform, you are a North Dakotan...............

North Dakota makes the playoffs.

Dan Hammer tweeted that Ryan Kasowski will be the color analyst for football this season. Probably explains why he has been hanging around at practices..........

The feeds on Big Sky TV from Northern Arizona last season were hands down the best on that platform. Hopefully since many North Dakota games will be on TV in HD, that means ours will be of similar quality on the webcasts.

Talked to Dexter on the phone this week and he said season tickets are just a shade over 4,500.

IT IS GETTING A BIT PERSONAL IN HERE, KEEP IT ON TRACK, AND KEEP IT CIVIL PLEASE.

Big Sky TV carries any game that is played in a Big Sky venue..............

THERE HAS NOT BEEN MUCH DISCUSSION OF THE NICKEL TROPHY IN THE LAST FEW PAGES, WHICH IS WHAT THIS THREAD IS FOR. GET IT BACK ON TOPIC.

I bought my tix on March 6, the day they went on sale. According to the AXS site, I'm sitting in Section GA2, seats 1105-1108. I don't see a section "GA2" on the seating charts that are available. Anyone know where the heck I am going to be sitting at?

Last I heard, it gets moved around amongst the coaching staff for safe-keeping. It made an appearance a couple years ago for a commercial for UND that Coach Mussman was in. I think it should be on display at the Alerus Center, along with the National Championship trophy. Where is the National Championship trophy by the way? It seems to me that the two most prized tokens of North Dakota football history should be able to be easily viewable for the fans on game day. You walk by multiple championship and Hobey Baker trophies on the way to a hockey game, why can't we pass by the NC Trophy and the Nickel on the way to a football game?

I tend to agree with most of that. The NCHC should have bent over backwards in every way possible to get Notre Dame into the league. They may not be a "traditional" hockey power, but the school itself is certainly the most recognizable brand name in NCAA sports. Having said that, I don't agree that staying in what has become of the WCHA would be preferrable to the NCHC. The admission of St. Cloud is an eyesore, but at least they do emphasize hockey. Staying aligned with Denver and CC, and then adding Miami was a great shift under the circumstances.................... On a sidenote, I see that there will be no TV coverage for the 3rd place game of the NCHC tourney.

I can't speak to this year or 2005, but I can tell you that in 2006 there were 3,730 season tickets sold, so it is apparently above that number.............

Coaches, players hand deliver season tickets in 30 minutes or less

Hell, he was last year.............................

I don't at all forget about R.J.................. Very talented player, quick and explosive, runs great routes, and has very soft hands. He was a huge contributor as a freshman and sophomore. Unfortunately, I see him getting lost in the shuffle for his senior season. That injury last season is going to bury him behind Jackson and Golladay. Let's also not forget about Casey Young or Tyhre Ivery. Both of those guys would have had the potential to be top 2 or 3 receivers at a great number of FCS schools. I don't know who does it, but somebody at North Dakota has been very good at recruiting quality wide receivers...................

I actually forgot about him. I don't know his situation, but it makes me feel good about our depth chart that potentially our 6th WR was at one time a scholarship Big 10 player................

I'm sure it was a combination of both. The Sioux Center is awesome when it is full and rowdy. My best experience there was in 2007 for the women's regional. The place was packed and rowdy as hell. North Dakota will definately have a major home court advantage there for a game against FU. I'm sure it will entice more people to buy season tickets. Perhaps even me, as I've been on the fence about season tickets for basketball for a couple years now. Part of me though, just wants to read "Attendance: 8,123" in the box score the day after the game.........................

Here is my take on North Dakota's Receivers: You are right, that alot of our optimism is based on potential. Hardin is of course a proven upperclassmen, an All-American, and most objective FCS fans would probably agree that he is at the very least one of the of 5 best receivers in the country. IMO, he has easily surpassed any former wide receiver to ever suit up for the Sioux, and there have been some good ones. I personally think that his 3 seasons here have been better than any WR to come through our doors. Having said that, I'm not sure he is even the best wide receiver on our team. Jameer Jackson is a physical specimen. He was recognized as one of the best freshman in the nation for a reason last year. So not only does Hardin have the accolades, but so does Jackson. That kid is good, runs precise routes, has excellent hands, taller and stronger than all of the DB's that will be covering him. Kenny Golladay is the "under the radar" guy that everybody is salivating about. That kid is a freak. He towers over every defender, is uber-athletic, and has the best hands of anybody on the team. If he is here and healthy for all 4 years, his career will go down as something special. Even our 4th and 5th receivers this season who will be Townsend and McGill, they probably even have better hands than Hardin. So anyways, that is my take. It may be bold to say North Dakota has the best receiving corps in the nation, but as someone who has seen every ball thrown to our top 5 receivers during their careers, I think that it is an argument that could be made. The biggest question is do we have a guy that can throw the ball to them?

I agree with all that. And of course with the bigger venue, there would be more FU fans there. But this is one high interest game that can be counted on annually between the two schools. I have never missed the football game much, but I really missed the basketball game while it was on hiatus. This series is a great way to build interest in North Dakota basketball, so I'm conflicted about turning away probably somewhere between 3,000-4,000 people that would otherwise not attend a Sioux basketball game. I also agree that playing in REA somewhat diminishes the home-court advantage due to all the reasons you said, but the majority of the crowd would be decidedly pro-North Dakota, so that would negate some of that. Also playing in front of 7,000-10,000 people in an early season game I would think would help the players get acclimated to that environment when they are playing in front of similar sized crowds later in the year at Weber, Montana, the Big Sky Tourney, and hopefully the NCAA's. Just my two cents. Also agree with all that. If it sells a few more season tickets that is great. North Dakota can and will probably charge double for this game, and that will make up for a good portion of the monetary loss of not playing in REA. The Sioux Center provides a fantastic atmosphere for basketball due to its intimacy, and I know it will be very raucous in there, but the REA is quite an experience for basketball when there is 7,000+ in there as well.

I shuttered when this was announced, because it is a bit cheesy. But if they got 57 new tix out in 6 hours that is impressive. It would be a good idea to explore this campaign for basketball expecially..............

I'd say 57 new season tickets in a 6 hour span is pretty good........