bincitysioux

I think that would be the better route. Probably half of the traffic on this site naturally gravitates only to the hockey forum already. No need to have a separate forum for NCHC news, or Big Sky football or basketball news. Discussion about Montana football is probably always going to take place in the UND football thread and so on. Personally, I like it the way it is. There are multiple options with the "Community" and "Other Sports" threads. No need to take up more real estate on the main page. But that is just my opinion.

I don't buy it. Cable One has picked up the games for years. The only thing different this year is that Midco is doing the negotiating rather than UND. They are likely asking for a bigger "royalty" to get the programming than what Cable One was paying in the past. I'm sure it doesn't help matters knowing that Midco is Cable One's biggest local competitor in the FM Metro area. Cable One is not the only company that has carried Sioux games in the past that is not this year, as of right now. My guess is that this is on Midco.................. Luckily the tens of thousands of people that don't get Midco can take solace in the fact that there will be a penalty clock on the screen this season, even though they won't be able to see it.......................

ROOT is doing a Big Sky preview show that will air on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week on it's various channels......................

I thought UND Sports Extra was going to be on UND Insider. I don't see it.....................

Did someone say Deek's Pizza? Thank you Jesus.............................

Ya, sounds good to me..................

Big Sky Football Notes

I tend to agree. The presidents of the major FBS schools already have free reign to call the shots regarding FBS/BCS football. Combine that with the monies they receive from the NCAA for March Madness, and I think they are more than content. I doubt that when they are cashing million-dollar checks from the BCS and the NCAA BB Tourney, that they are thinking too much about potential revenue from non-NCAA affiliated Soccer, Volleyball, Track & Field programs etc...............

I'm expecting a 35 point win and over 10,000 in attendance..............................

Jayson, I've watched alot of Big Sky TV over the past 3 years. The quality of their webcasts has been far superior than that on UND Insider. Not so much the video, but the continuity of the stream. Big Sky TV has always been nice and fluid for the most part, while UND Insider is constantly freezing, buffering, and falling behind. Can you say why the big difference, and will these new "upgrades" solve this?

Maybe the new nickname could be the University of North Dakota "Buffering".............................

I was told by the associate commissioner of the Big Sky that the contract with Root Sports would have no effect on UND's deal with FCS, except that FCS would not be allowed to carry a game that Root decided to carry. I don't know why the football games (and basketball, and volleyball, and women's hockey) will not be on FCS this year. Either because FCS did not want them anymore, or Midco would not allow them to be on anymore. Kudos to UND/Midco for getting the hockey on at least.  The one thing we do know about next year is that not even hockey will be on FCS, due to the exclusiveness of the CBS deal. That was the NCHC that gave us that gem, but I would have thought UND could have thrown they weight around a little bit on that issue. Both UND and Denver will have far fewer games televised than they did in the past.

North Dakota loves a winner...................

I think there's a LARGE group at Bisonville that think online students are "illegitimate"......................... Despite the fact that schools like North Dakota, Florida, Wisconsin, Washington St, Auburn, and George Washington actually are among the best schools (among others) for students wishing to pursue an online education. Afterall, hardly anybody does things "online" these days.......................................

FYI: I moved the last 6 posts in this thread to the UND/Midco thread...........................

My point is that actual viewership the last 3 years with games on FCS was undoubtedly much higher than what it will be with games on Midco. Like I said, the FCS deal is going away because of the NCHC, not because of Brian Faison or UND. FCS coverage was a luxury the last few seasons. My main issue is with cutting out a state-wide TV station from the package. The fact is that most people who live in North Dakota do not even have the option of subscribing to Midcontinent programming. If Midco is going to be the main avenue of getting UND sports out there, I view that as a problem.

Not sure what you mean by that. UND sports went from being available in 54 Million homes to 275,000 homes. In my book, that is a downgrade. The vast majority of North Dakotans won't even have access to "UND Sports Extra", which has been aired state-wide for like 30 years.

I do understand all of that. This will be the last year that the Sioux hockey is available on FCS. That is due to the exclusivity clause that the NCHC signed with CBS. My problem is that UND football, basketball, volleyball, and women's hockey will not be on FCS this year, presumably because of the deal with Midco. I question whether or not it was a good idea to cut Forum Communications/WDAZ out of the TV rights in favor of Midco. Midco serves about 275,000 homes in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Forum Communications serves about 650,000 homes in North Dakota alone, and probably reaches 100,000 more in South Dakota and Minnesota. I understand that very few games were televised on Forum Comm's ABC stations, but the Sunday night coach's show was, as well as marquee games like the Gopher hockey game and NDSU basketball game were. The deal with Midco drops UND's overall state-wide audience by two-thirds. Who cares if Midco will have HD and a penalty clock if nobody can see it?

I've been hearing football ads on 970 WDAY and seeing them on WDAZ for 2-3 weeks now. Haven't seen anything on today's event other than on Fightingsioux.com and Midcosportsnet.com.........................

I guess up until this new atrocity that is passing for a TV deal with Midco was signed this summer, I think Faison's team has done an excellent job with marketing. They expanded the FSSN to numerous local cable companies, and then got the deal with Fox College Sports that made Sioux sports available nationwide. The radio network has increased exponentially, and now includes occasional broadcasts of basketball, volleyball, and women's hockey outside of the Grand Forks market. As far as facilities go, I don't know what more improvements could be made outside of the Indoor Practice Facility, and maybe a different soccer field. The Betty, REA, and Alerus are all first class, and were all in place before he got here. Kraft Field and the Alerus have both received turf upgrades under his watch. Tennis will be moving into a new spectacular facility soon. I don't know how much, if anything, he had to do with any of that, but with the REA, Alerus, Sioux Center, updated Kraft Field, and Choice Wellness Center, I'd hardly say that UND has facilities that are "no better than a DII or DIII school".............

Could Faison possibly the best A.D. that North Dakota has ever had?

Well that is good news I suppose. Kind of sucks for the fans that are aware that North Dakota has other sports besides hockey....................... No access for FTA satellite users either. Link This new deal with Midco sure does suck compared to what we've gotten used to for like 10 years now.

2012 Big Sky position rankings: Running backs

I think the Sioux Center is an awesome basketball venue when it is near capacity. I don't miss the Hyslop at all...................

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