bincitysioux

I don't see it. Even if UND were VERY VERY good and consistently near filling the Sioux Center, do you really think 5,000 additional fans would buy tickets in one week's time leading up to the Big Sky Tournament? We need to first double attendance at basketball games to even get within 5,000 of that lofty goal of 8,000 for a Big Sky tourney....................

But they do have some leverage there. To a half-assed hockey fan like me, Minnesota and Wisconsin are the two schools that I want to see the most in Grand Forks..................

The logo is the interlocking ND. The name is North Dakota..............

No kidding.....................................

I'm not going to get too in depth about it, because this forum is not for political talk, but IMO there are no candidates that realtistcally threaten Rick Berg's run for senator.............. Just like there was nobody that were realistic threats to the re-election of Dorgan, Conrad, or Pomeroy for many many years..................

Ya, I know this town loves a winner. But I don't see a Big Sky game, a regular season game or a tounament game, drawing 8,000. Maybe a Montana, Montana St, or even Weber could draw 5,000................but that is a big "maybe". A Big Sky Tournament held in the Sioux Center would be one helluva time IMO.........................

Berg is a lock for the Senate.

HIghly doubt if UND won the #1 seed that the tourney would be in REA. 8,000? Got a little over 7,000 for NDSU, so I doubt any Big Sky games would approach that number. If were in a position to host the tourney, though, I'd bet the Sioux Center would be packed and provide a great atmostphere for any games that UND participated in.......................

I support the Spirit Lake lawsuit. I just don't think we should have to be under sanctions while it is going on. The repeal law forbid UND from taking a new name until 2015 anyways.....................

Can we deport Frank Burgraff along with Al Carlson? I suppose Frank could fly the plane...........................

Fullerton has said many times that the reason the regular season champ hosts is so that the Big Sky's best team has the easiest road to get into the NCAA. I assume not including all teams is also a factor for that. I actually think it is a good model. Doing everthing to make sure that the best team in the league throughout the regular season makes the NCAA tourney is a good idea. It potentially means a higher seed, which in turns increases the odds of winning a tournament game, which means more money and exposure for the conference.

True, but that probably wouldn't look good at a pre-determined site either.....................

No. However, the NCAA owns the NIT, so I assume if we ever participated in that, sanctions would apply.....................

Unless the conference chooses to adopt the same policy as the NCAA, North Dakota will be able to host. The sanctions don't apply to conference championships.

Even the WAC's commissioner is jumping ship............................. Karl Benson leaving WAC to become Sun Belt commissioner

Big Sky Basketball Tourney Grows to 7 Teams

Douple first interjected himself into this debate back in January of 2009 when the legislature was toying with the idea of mandating a Sioux-Bison football game. NDSU's A.D. revealed one morning that the Summit discouraged all member schools from scheduling UND. Douple was interviewed by Dan Hammer that afternoon and Douple categorically denied ever discussing UND's nickname with any administrators of any of his schools. The next day Kolpack had an article in the Forum in which Douple said he discouraged his schools from scheduling UND. Here is a fun walk down memory lane. Kelley had been on the job for a whopping six months at the time. If you truly believe that a rookie college president had enough influence to set policy at a conference that they weren't affiliated with, and get the commissioner of said conference and the A.D. of our biggest rival to work in conjuction through the media to build steam for an anti-nickname agenda, then I have some ocean-front property in North Dakota for sale that you'll likely be interested in........................

You know what the biggest difference to me is between Alcorn St. and UND's situations? The commissioner of Alcorn's conference never came out publicly and said their membership could be in jeopardy. The commissioner of UND's conference has.

Also, while on the member overview page, at the far right of the screen, basically straight across from the avatar, you can click the "find content" tab. Then you can either choose to view posts or any threads that the member has posted in.

Let's not forget about our friends at Denver either, a major geographic outlier in the Sun Belt Conference............................... Denver being forced out of Sun Belt Conference

There are very few "full-time" free channels on FTA that are worth watching. Mostly foreign channels and religious channels. There are a couple news channels. The best thing FTA is good for is picking up live sports feeds, mostly college. I don't consider FTA a convenience, rather it is a hobby. I've had a system for about 7 years, and honestly, since the Sioux games became available on Fox College Sports two or three years ago, I only turn the thing on once or twice a season if there is a chance that I can scan in an away game. I watched the Fresno St football game on it this season, and that is the only time I used it so far this year. FTA can be a great supplement to cable or regular satellite, but if you are hoping for it to be your main avenue of television viewing, I think you'd be disappointed unless you are a Muslim. Having said that, given that UND games won't be available on FCS after next season, IMO it would work great for you to watch Sioux home games, assuming that they will still be available on FTA like they are now. I think they will, because that is how Midco and the rest of the regional cable companies up here get the feed.

Of course, with the nickname fiasco, if we were awarded a "home" game as a seeded team, we'd have to "host" NDSU at the Fargodome.........................

The one thing that I'm jealous of at NDSU is their football fan support and attendance at the Fargodome. And like I said, I'm not in favor of the game. But IMO, it is foolish to say that a long term arrangement for a football series would not be financially positive for NDSU. Your attendance is great. Over the last 7 years, the Fargodome has been at 88% capacity, and that is awesome. But I think as is true in Grand Forks, everyone loves a winner. Over the last 7 years, the Alerus has been at 74% capacity and as recently as three seasons ago, UND set an attendance record and the place was at 85% capacity that season. Then came a couple of poor years and our attendance has declined. Same thing could easily happen in Fargo. IMO, if it were an every-other year series, scheduling a guaranteed sell-out every 4 years would be a positive fiscal policy for both schools. Just like there is no guarantee in Grand Forks that UND will sell-out for Montana or Montana St. in future years, there is no guarantee that NDSU will sell-out for Robert Morris or Lafayette in future years.

Forgive me if this has been posted elseware, but here is a link to a podcast from today's Scott Hennen show where he interviewed Tim O'Keefe. It is the 2nd podcast from the top, (13-02-2012 (7.18 MB)), 15:40 in length. O'Keefe makes some awfully valid points, coming from a guy who has great "Fighting Sioux Cred"................

Colonial Athletic Association signs broadcast deal with NBC Sports Group NBC will televise nationally at least five CAA football games. Comcast will televise another 13 CAA regular-season football games regionally.