82SiouxGuy

We finally have official word that Forney will not be back at UND.

I believe that UND had to switch manufacturers for the jerseys so they are also changing the design. I have not seen the men's jerseys yet, but they are supposed to be at least somewhat similar to the new women's jerseys listed above.

UND coaches and others have started using Twitter to stay in touch with fans and supporters.

LaPoint back on skates.

We all get it, you hate the Wild. It depends on how you determine elite. Over the past 4 years Gaborik has averaged more than a point per game played. He had 83 points in 77 games during 2007-2008, his most complete year during that period. I'm not going to take the time to crank the numbers, but that probably puts him in the top 10-15 in points per game over that period. Does that qualify as elite? As far as Pierre-Marc Bouchard, the system was not as good a fit for his skills. Also, he is more of an assist man and he hasn't always played with a lot of great finishers. His numbers may be better under a new system. That doesn't mean that Lemaire's system will hamper everyone on the Devils. I would expect Parise and the other wings will have similar numbers to what they have had the past few years. Zajac and the centers may be down slightly since they will probably have some added defensive duties.

I agree with most of your post. However, I would guess that Hakstol talked to both guys, got the story straight from them, and then punished Frattin from that information. I am sure that he is trying to make a point with the team that they need to watch their behavior after the incidents of the past few years. This incident was totally unnecessary.

They also add a transfer from UMTC at wide receiver.

No offense taken on my part. I think that pathetic is a little strong, but you have a right to an opinion. If by lately you mean last season, I can agree that both football teams did not play up to standard (again, suck may be a little stronger than I would state). Having 1 large university is an interesting idea. It's probably about 120 years too late to make it happen. But it would have fit well in the Big 10. I will agree with you that the schools should be playing each other in football again soon. UND-NDSU football used to be the biggest event in the state because most of the state was interested. A majority of the people in the state were rooting for 1 school or the other. Even casual sports fans paid attention to that game. I don't see anything that has taken it's place.

I did miss that part of your plan before I wrote my response. You would probably still have to build on to the facility if you take away court space for seating. After all, if you have something then it will be missed if you take it away. As far as asking the question, I'm not stopping anyone. I just gave some of the reasons I think would be raised if the question is asked. As always, I could be wrong. Knowing who some of the players are that have been involved may have shaped my opinions. Also knowing that the city doesn't seem to want to put more money than they absolutely have to into the Alerus Center may have contributed. Some sponsors would like being at the Alerus. But others may prefer being in a location where they could have some more exclusivity and where they may be able to stand out more. And some may already be at the Alerus and have less incentive to throw more money at the same location. It just depends on who the money people are.

That's part of what I meant, people will complain if they have to walk very far from their car to the treadmill or to the tennis courts. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense. But I think a more immediate problem would be parking for larger events in the arena. If you build on the current parking lot you are going to add that many more steps that people would have to walk to get to their seats for a football game or concert. People already complain about walking from the south end of the current lot. They will be even less happy if they have to walk another block against a cold north wind. Parking can be a major issue for the people in this area. They are so used to being able to park right at the front door that they don't like doing something else. They don't like to park in a ramp. They don't like parking a great distance away and walking. People living in large cities are used to walking many blocks. People in the Red River Valley are not. It is an issue that has to be dealt with whether we like it or not. That means the issue has to be addressed when considering facilities.

The Park District is going to develop a park on the site they own whether they put a new Wellness Center there or not. They get so much land from developers out of each development to put in a park. I think they already have a sponsoring organization to help support the park, I don't remember for sure but I think that it might be the Lion's Clubs. Several of the newer parks are supported by local service clubs. They supply money to help develop the park and help maintain it. Sertoma Park is one example. So they will use most of the space for a regular park and would not have much land, if any, to sell to support a move to the Alerus. Putting the facilities together would be great for the Alerus Center as you described. I think parking would still be a major issue. People in Grand Forks want to park as close as possible and adding to the building is going to move them even further away. Room on the site may become a problem in the future. Canad may want to add on to their facility which would take room to the north (and could increase the need for parking). And if the Alerus does need to expand the arena then you would have to rebuild the Wellness Center even further south. The group working on the Wellness Center may have there own concerns. For one thing, they have spent a lot of time pulling partners together to make it work at the current site. Will they want to add another major player, like the city, and try to find a way to please them also? It could backfire and pull the whole deal apart. They have a majority of the money raised already. I don't think they will upset the apple cart by trying to add to the mix unless they absolutely have to. They seem to have a plan in place that makes sense. They may be better off just going with what they have.

I don't think there is room downtown for what they want to put up and to have parking for the facility. One of the problems they noted about the Y is that it is landlocked, they don't have room to grow. But they have a good facility so it would be a shame to close it if they can make use of it.

The Park District already owns property south of Super Target for a new park. I believe that the new facility will be built on this property. I don't think that the Wellness Center would be a good fit with the Alerus/Canad facility. It would be great for people staying at Canad. Access for every day users would be hampered on a regular basis because of activities at the Alerus. The parking lot may not be full, but there are a lot of days that the Alerus has activities and Wellness Center patrons would have to park quite a ways from the facility. I believe that it would keep people from using the facility. Especially during the winter which I am sure is the busiest time for fitness facilities. It may sound silly, but people still want to park close to the facility even if it is an exercise facility.

And yet you use words like pathetic. And insult attendance at UND football games and the size of the venue. And call Winona State an NAIA team. You do realize that Winona won the NC$$ Division II men's basketball championship in 2006. They were in the NC$$ Division II football playoffs for several years in a row, and a team from their conference won the national championship in DII football this past year. They have a pretty good track record in athletics. But I know that you have been very busy following the "real NC$$ sports" in Division I. When you are in the playoffs you play whomever you draw. You beat them and then move on to the next opponent. If you opt out of a game then you don't get a chance to actually win a title. I realize that you may have forgotten that because it has been so long since NDSU actually participated in the playoffs for football. But you will get there again. We probably would get along a little better if you actually showed a little respect rather than take shots at UND. Funny, most people on a board called SiouxSports might actually take exception to your shots. Lip service about respect isn't going to cut it.

I am sure that the location is not changing. That is part of the appeal for having the YMCA and Park District working together, having facilities in the south part of town and downtown to cover the north end. Besides, UND has been using the tennis facilities at Center Court on 32nd Avenue South for years. The new facility will be approximately the same distance from campus.

The 12,283 is regular seats. It does not include suites. Actual seating available for football is probably more in the 13,500-14,000 range. That ranks a little bit below the median level of FCS stadiums. I haven't done the math but a quick count looks like a little over 50% have stadiums over 14,000. I don't know why that's pathetic for FCS. UND averaged over 10,000 last year during the first year of transition and with a very weak (as expected) home schedule. Yet they ranked about 30th in FCS attendance which means that close to 70 teams had worse attendance in FCS. Maybe not fantastic but certainly not pathetic. Once they get a good schedule they have a chance to move into the top 20. As far as the 6,000 for the playoff game, I wouldn't put much stock in that. If you look at Division II playoffs you will see that attendance at all first round playoff games is weak. I believe that UND's numbers were the 3rd or 4th highest during that round. And that was in spite of other things happening and the game expected to be a blowout. It wasn't as if UND hadn't hosted a playoff game for 15 or 20 years, they were hosting them almost every year. So not everyone got real excited to see another first round snooze fest. No immediate plans to move back outside. They just negotiated a new contract with the Alerus Center. I believe it is for 10 years. So I would expect them to remain indoors at least that long.

Lemaire gets more out of his players than most coaches, and they had a pretty good year last year, so I would expect New Jersey to be a contender. If they get to the playoffs you never know what they could do.

Yeah, that would be horrible for them if they won another Stanley Cup like the last stretch when Jacques coached in New Jersey.

It is very difficult to find triple threats like Earl.

You seem to be fascinated by who has the last word on a topic.

Thanks for the link. I didn't feel like looking for proof, but I was pretty sure that they had some issues to deal with.

I repeat: And: Comprender? (Understand?)

I'd say that it is a little early to predict that he is going to UNO because his brother is going there. You don't know if they get along. Some brothers want to play together and some don't. But even if they did, they would only have 1 year together and only if Jake goes directly from high school to college. More and more players are playing at least 1 year of juniors past high school. So they might not have a chance to play together anyway. He may decide to go to UW because that has always been a dream, no matter what kind of competition they have for spots. Or he may decide to go to one of the other schools for whatever reason. So I think that a little more information might help before you make a prediction.

Please don't get him started again. Dave doesn't see a difference between SD and HD. He believes that it's a scam. He says that SD on his television looks as good as any HD he has seen. This turns into a debate that lasts for pages as others try to convince him that HD is better. Just let him believe whatever he wants to believe.

So far SCSU has shown no interest in Division 1 athletics other than hockey. IIRC they have already had some budget problems. The football team has never been a huge draw, I think that the biggest crowds were usually against UND. But schools often like to play up a division and collect a payday. I would assume that this is what SCSU is doing. Just like UND and Texas Tech.