bincitysioux

Personally I have no problem with outdoor football in this region, and as I said I would still be there. But I froze my ass off enough as a student at North Dakota before the Alerus was built and at other NCC venues to know that the climate controlled confines of the Alerus are a great asset. Now that I am older, I am sure I am not the only father that would think twice about bringing a 3 year old and 6 year old to a late October or early November game outside when it is 45 degrees with a 20+ mph wind......................and when I am 65 and crabby about my arthritic knees, I'll bet I won't want to sit my butt on an aluminum bleacher next to some 33 year old father that dragged his 3 and 6 year old kids to the game that started whining about being cold after the first quarter. It is easy to blame our mediocre attendance on the transition. We've played some poor teams at home, and have sometime played poorly against them. But the reality is that of the 5 former NCC schools to move to DI, North Dakota is the only one that has experienced a drop in attendance rather than an increase over the course of the transition.................... Why you ask? A combination of things, but the biggest reason is because sports fans in Grand Forks and the surrounding area are a fickle bunch and alot of them border on not being very knowledgable about the level of college football that UND competes at. Everyone loves a winner. I'm convinced that a good portion of people that are inclined to buy tickets to North Dakota football games don't really care who they play, they just want to see a convincing win, with alot of points and hear the fireworks go off and high-five Loyal Janke as he trots around the arena. Evidence of this is the fact that North Dakota set its all time attendance record in 2008 with perhaps the worst home schedule in the modern history of the program. Every DII and DIII game on the schedule that year outdrew Cal Poly the following year which was ranked #16 at the time, and was perhaps the best football team that has ever come into the Alerus. So while I honestly hope that you are right about attendance going through the roof when we start Big Sky play (and I'm sure it will get a boost) , I don't think it will be the silver bullet that some make it out to be.....................unless UND wins. People will be intrigued by Montana of course, but unless we are playing good football and the Herald articles are about how we're in the top 3 of the standings in the conference, the average Sioux football attendee won't care if it is defending national champion Eastern Washington or Black Hills St.......................... I love hockey, I'm there every weekend, but football in Grand Forks will always take a back seat to hockey, at every level of play. It is apples and oranges.

Has anybody gotten their season tickets in the mail yet? I've got them for football and hockey and haven't received them as of yet. Usually have them in my possession by now I think.................................

How? 15,000 in a 19,000 seat stadium brings in the same revenue as 15,000 in a 30,000 seat stadium.................... Same goes for North Dakota..........If we had this 30,000 seat stadium that many are dreaming of, it doesn't make us any more revenue than our current 13,000 seat arena does when only 8,500 people are coming to games. And I'm quite skeptical about how well the fans of either North Dakota or NDSU would welcome a move back outdoors after spending decades in a climate controlled environment. I'd go, but I wouldn't be happy about it, and I am die-hard. As far as the "FBS-readiness" of either school (a path I hope that North Dakota certainly never goes down), both are in fine shape IMO. If Idaho's Kibbie Dome seats 15,000...........than so does the Alerus. The all time attendance record at the Alerus is "officially" 13,500...................like many schools already do, North Dakota could come up with a creative way to at the very least issue 1,500 more tickets than that for games. I hope this Indoor Practice Facility gets off the ground in the near term. It could be a boon for multiple North Dakota sports. Something that sets it apart from the rest and could be a real asset. But let's not pretend it is some sort of silver bullet. Apparently, Youngstown has perhaps the nicest one in FCS.................and they've been pretty mediocre for the better part of a decade. I'd rather challenge for a Big Sky title over the next several years than worry about where in the world North Dakota is going to play football in the remote chance that we ever join the WAC..........

Dec. 4 vs Montana State Tue. Nov 1 - UM-Crookston Fri, Nov 11 - Creighton Mon, Nov 14 - Idaho Mon, Dec 19 - Bemidji St Montana Tournament Thu, Dec 29 - Idaho vs. North Dakota (5 p.m.) Montana vs. Southern Mississippi (7 p.m.) Fri, Dec 30 -Idaho vs. Southern Mississippi (5 p.m.) Montana vs. North Dakota (7 p.m.) Tue, Jan 03 @ Idaho Thu, Jan 12 - Jamestown College (7:00PM) Tue, February 14 - Mayville State (7:00 pm) @ Montana @ Colorado St. @Harvard, Jan 17 @ Missouri, Dec 10 @ Minot State, Oct 30 Link

UND FOOTBALL: Offense dominates first scrimmage Sounds like from the article and a few posters in attendandance, that the offense looked good today. To me, that is a nice report to hear, considering that for the past three seasons, all we seem to ever hear from the coaching staff is that the defense is way ahead of the offense at this point.................that is a nice change as far as I'm concerned, considering that I feel that the offense has really struggled the last two seasons......... Also nice to hear from homer and from the Herald that Joey Bradley apparently looked good. Obviously the QB position is of major concern to this years team. Whether it be Bradley, Goska, or Hendrickson that comes out on top, there needs to be improvement in that area from last season.................

This thread needs to veer quickly back to the topic of the 2011 football season.

Tue. Nov 1 - UM-Crookston Fri, Nov 11 - Creighton Mon, Nov 14 - Idaho Mon, Dec 19 - Bemidji St Montana Tournament Thu, Dec 29 - Idaho vs. North Dakota (5 p.m.) Montana vs. Southern Mississippi (7 p.m.) Fri, Dec 30 -Idaho vs. Southern Mississippi (5 p.m.) Montana vs. North Dakota (7 p.m.) Tue, Jan 03 @ Idaho Thu, Jan 12 - Jamestown College (7:00PM) Tue, February 14 - Mayville State (7:00 pm) @ Montana @ Colorado St. @Harvard, Jan 17 @ Missouri, Dec 10 @ Minot State, Oct 30 Missouri Link Minot Link I'm assuming we're playing AT Minot for some sort of show of support due to the flood.......

This thread appears to be nothing more than useless smack. Closed.

Eh........... I don't think our pass defense was so horrible last year. Yes...........they were prone to giving up the big play, but they were second in the conference in Passing Efficiency Defense............ They were young, but show alot of promise. There were far more problems on offense than there were on defense.................. As far as the QB situation.............I didn't really like what I saw from either Goska or Hendrickson last year....................but considerding the style of offense that Coach Mussman has imposed during his time here over the last decade, (also considering the "Pistol" an apparent failed experiment), I'd say Hendrickson has a leg up on Goska. From what I saw last season, Hendrickson throws a better ball, and is just as good on his feet as Goska is. Neither seemed very accurate and that is the major concern. When you think of the QB's over the last decade that have run Mussman's offense like Klosterman, Bowenkamp, Belmore, Freund, Landry...................with the exception of Reed Manke, all were pretty much "drop back, stay in the pocket" passers. And Manke was good at that too but improvised more than the others I mentioned ever did...............As far as I can tell, Joey Bradley is the only guy that fits the mold of "pass first" QB on this year's roster. Given that, I'd be mildly surpised if Joey Bradly isn't the starting QB against Drake, since he appears to be the most proven "drop-back" passer on the squad...................

Although I am normally pretty critical of the Herald's lack of coverage, to be fair, the players merely report today, practice doesn't start until Friday. I'd hope they'll have some coverage then...................

Having big aspirations is fine, but to say that North Dakota has "below average" facilities is way out of line in my book. Ask any football or basketball player about the top reasons they chose North Dakota, and I'll bet 75% of them will have the facilities in their top 3 reasons. The Alerus may not be "FBS ready", but neither is UND...................part of the reason North Dakota moved from Memorial Stadium was because the stadium was outdated and nearing capacity on a regular basis. Neither is true of UND's current situation with have the Alerus as its home field. The Alerus is perfect for UND...........an up-to-date, TV ready, spacious, climate controlled environment for the fair-weather fans that patronize UND football games in order to pass the time until hockey season starts.........if you are bummed about the atmosphere at the Alerus, I think you'll be severely disappointed if UND moves back outdoors to a modified 20,000+ seat Memorial Stadium. As for the Betty, I'd rather have 3,000 people in 3,000 seats than have 3,000 people in 6,000 seats. Agree the soccer field sucks, but it is just soccer............. Baseball should be dropped. Won't happen since UND has invested in Kraft field. Back on topic.............great news about the Indoor Practice Facility. I hope it still includes plans for the indoor track....................UND's track and field facilities are the real joke around here...............

NDSU should be in the Ralph (or Alerus), but I see no reason for Montana to be in the Ralph at this point. At best I think that game could fill the Sioux Center. IMO, a sold out 3,000+ in the Sioux Center is better than 4,000 in the Ralph.

vs. Idaho in Grand Forks @ Idaho in Moscow UM-Crookston vs. Idaho in Missoula Bemidji St. Jamestown College @ Montana @ Colorado St. Apparently Idaho 3 times: a home-and-home, and at a tourney hosted by the Lady Griz.

Who cares? What's the point? If it does get scheduled at all, it will get scheduled roughly 6 months to a year after Gene Taylor is no longer employed by NDSU.......................

Valley City State Waldorf Idaho St. NDSU Montana @ Kansas @ Sacramento St. @ Longwood @ Louisiana Tech @ Bradley @Idaho State @ Missouri-Kansas City Link

Make that two Summit schools................... Waldorf Idaho St. NDSU Montana @ Kansas @ Sacramento St. @ Longwood @ Louisiana Tech @ Bradley @Idaho State @ Missouri-Kansas City

I like the non-conference opponents that we've been able to figure out thus far. NDSU and Montana at home is great, as is Bradley and Kansas on the road. Getting an in-season home-and-home with a Big Sky school is a bonus too. But I'm worried the remainder of the non-conference schedule might get ugly. With only 10 conference games this season, and 9 confirmed DI non-conference games to this point, that is alot of dates to fill. The schedule for both the men and women were issued a fair bit earlier than this in the prior two seasons. I'm sure the departure of Ryan Moody hasn't helped, as he was in charge of scheduling since Coach Jones took over. I'm starting to doubt that South Dakota will be on upcoming schedules. According to some posts at GoYotes.net, UND is not willing to schedule USD in football and basketball in the near term due to the way they handled their Big Sky invite............... I find it mildly interesting that the only Summit school known to be on the schedule right now is NDSU. In one way it doesn't surprise given the Summit League "directive" that their members be cautious about scheduling UND due to the nickname. In another way, it is comical that the only Summit school that has thus far agreed to play North Dakota is NDSU. Comical because Gene Taylor is the one who was initally so vocal about the Summit's concerns over the nickname. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised to see Nebraska-Omaha on the basketball schedules for this season, as they are transitioning, need games, and owe UND greatly for their affiliation in both the WCHA and NCHC.......

Softball: UND hires EMU assistant

Just a joke dude.................notice the

Who are you and what have you done with Ole? This post was way too optimistic to come from Ole in MSP..........

Big Sky Conference dreams big

I've often wondered why the University can't or doesn't utilize the Alerus more as a practice facility, for basketball games, and for softball games in the spring. It seems like it would be natural to do so with the arena sitting unused for what?............345 days out of the year? It seems it would make sense since the Alerus needs to make more money any way it can, and the University needs the space. I think part of it has been the stubborn mentality of the Alerus management. UND has been exploring trying to hold a softball tourney there for a few years now. Coach Strinz told me this spring that the price tag would have been $24,000..............for softball. Question: is the Alerus large enough, to have a track in it?

Couldn't agree more. The guy has been a huge asset to the university, and it was quite evident long before any talk of the NCHC became public knowledge. I hope he sticks around for many more years.

That would certainly be a first, but given the times we live in, not out of the realm of possiblities.