82SiouxGuy

A bunch of colleges just formed a new hockey conference. The practical formation would just be a bigger version of that. We aren't locked into details, because the details will be negotiated. There is no way to know how the details will look when they are done in 6 months, 2 years or 5 years. So what if it takes 2 years or longer. This can be a long term process. And as I said, they may already be working on plans and the general public wouldn't have a clue that it was happening. The bottom conferences may fight it tooth and nail. But a change in structure would be up to the entire membership, which includes FCS schools, Division II and Division III. Those schools are going to do what is in their best interests. And even the lower level FBS schools may allow the big schools to separate in football rather than lose the March Madness money if the big 5 want to leave the NCAA. None of us are predicting exactly what is going to happen. That is why we have no idea about the details. But there is too much smoke, something pretty large is going to change in college football in the future. We are just discussing the potential changes that may happen

I've explained different ways that the big 5 could separate, ways they could differentiate themselves from the smaller conferences. You just can't seem to grasp it, even though the average 12 year old could understand that they have options if they want them. If the big 5 are serious about exploring these options they probably already have people exploring those options. That would cut down on the lead time. Contracts in place will also play into when something might happen. I'm glad that you seem to know what the big 5 conferences want. There are quite a few coaches, ADs and others from those conferences that are talking about this issue, so they must not have gotten the memo from you. But as usual, the fan from NDSU thinks he knows more about everything than the people actually involved in making the decisions. The conferences will do whatever they decide is in their best interests, whether that is keeping things the same, creating a new organization, or something in between.

The big 5 could set up their own organization and play just teams within that organization if they want. But they could also arrange to play schools from the NCAA if both organizations agree to it. Remember, NAIA schools play NCAA schools all of the time. If cross organization games are allowed, each organization would decide how to account for those games. With the potential dollars available, there is no such thing as too much red tape. If the big 5 decide that it is in their best interest to do so, they will be out of the NCAA very quickly. The NCAA certainly has the ability to design criteria that would allow only conferences to fit into a new division. The criteria would have to be passed by a majority of the membership, and that would very likely destroy any chance of an individual school being allowed to sue. Right now an individual school can't decide to spend whatever they want. They have limits based on their division. And they can't move up a division just because they want to. They have to get approval by the NCAA and get invited to a conference at the new level. Sam Houston State can't decide to offer 85 scholarships next year just because they want. And they can't just be part of FBS or the BCS because they want to. How is that any different? It isn't. Marian (Ind.) couldn't sue to be part of the NCAA Division I just because they won the NAIA football championship, no matter how much money they are able to spend. They would have to apply to the NCAA, follow all of the procedures, follow the criteria, and they may be allowed to reach that level at some point. NDSU can't just be part of FBS football or the BCS. It doesn't matter if they sell thousands of tickets more than some FBS schools. It doesn't matter how much money they have to spend. If NDSU wanted to move up they would have to apply, follow procedures, GET INVITED TO JOIN A CONFERENCE AT THAT LEVEL, and then they may be allowed to move up. But if they sued they would be laughed out of court.

Send mine to Grand Forks, please.

The bottom conferences would have no cause of action. THE NCAA IS A VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION. THE BIG SCHOOLS CAN LEAVE IF THEY WANT. IF THE NCAA DECIDED TO GIVE THEM THEIR OWN DIVISION, IT WOULD BE A DECISION OF THE MEMBERSHIP. Just because the bottom conferences didn't like it doesn't mean that they would have a choice in the matter. The NCAA could create any criteria they want to set up the new division, and the small conferences could either accept it or leave. They would lose any attempts at legal action.

Roy Williams made a point to let his players play teams from their home state. The reason that UND hasn't played SIU again may be as simple as schedules not matching up at the right time. And Faison being proactive to schedule so far out may be part of that.

Repeat after me, "The NCAA is a voluntary organization." The member schools of the big 5 conferences are voluntary members of the NCAA. If they decide to leave the NCAA, and take the money with them, they can do so without penalty. What is the incentive for the big 5 to "do what is in the best interest of college football"? The BCS is already separate from the NCAA, although the NCAA does have an interest in it. If those conferences decide that it is in their best interest to separate, they will do so. If the NCAA wants to keep them, it may be advantageous to allow the big 5 to set up their own football division rather than leave totally. The NCAA is not in control of this situation. It is up to the schools that belong to the big 5 conferences. They are in control of their own destiny. It may come down to what combination of money and other considerations are best for those conferences, and how effective the NCAA can be in selling them on a package. There is no "fix" to this situation. The final outcome will most likely come down to a solution that may or may not be negotiated. But I can assure you that any solution will favor the big 5 conferences, they are holding all of the cards.

Air China has had a contract with the Aviation School Foundation for years. Those students, at least in the past, have not been regular UND students. Air China pays through the Foundation, which handles the money and paperwork for the Aviation School. The students come to Grand Forks and they are paid by Air China to learn to fly. Many other foreign companies and countries have had similar arrangements with the Foundation and school. A couple off the top of my head have included Turkey and Saudi Arabia. A friend of mine used to move back and forth between teaching regular UND students and foreign contract students. He said the scariest situation in his life was trying to teach a Chinese student to fly and having a plane malfunction. That student was taken out of the cockpit until his English improved (most of the time they are also taking English as a part of the pilot training. You are right about the program mentioned above trying to increase students studying engineering, business and computer science.

A lot of those are probably aviation students. UND has trained Chinese pilots for many, many years. I know that in the past a lot of them were from Taiwan. UND has trained a lot of pilots through the Foundation that are not regular UND students. Some of those Chinese students may fit in that category.

You are fixated on this scholarship number issue. As has been explained to you several times, there are many ways that the top group of conferences could separate themselves. As dakota said, paying a stipend to players could be the division. The lower level FBS conferences couldn't afford that stipend, other than a few individual schools. It's possible that they could change the number of scholarships, even if you don't think it's possible. The scholarship numbers can be changed at any time by the membership, it isn't written in stone. The BCS conferences could separate from the NCAA and form a new athletic organization. They would take most of the money from the DI basketball tournament and make huge money on football playoffs. Or the NCAA could allow them to set up their own playoff system in football just so they could keep the conferences in the NCAA for basketball. That would be in the best interests of most DI schools. They can't compete for the BCS football title already, but would still be able to make money from March Madness. You just don't seem to understand the reasons that a split would potentially happen. It almost all comes down to dollars. The big conferences want more of it and they are getting tired of sharing with the smaller conferences. They see the potential windfall from a playoff system and don't want to share those dollars with lower level conferences that have very little chance of competing for the playoffs. It's all about the dollar signs.

UND has had a relationship with the University of Shanghai for well over a decade. They've had a series of exchanges of both students and professors. And there is even a UND Cultural Center on campus, http://und.edu/news/2011/09/culture-center-in-shanghai.cfm. I'm sure that it all adds up to UND having a pretty good reputation in Shanghai.

Beck was quoted as saying he hit the guy more than once. He didn't get knocked out with a single punch. So Beck had time to quit before knocking him out. I totally agree about fighting not being worth it. The only time it is worth it is to defend yourself or your family if attacked, and then only as a last resort.

There is no excuse for beating someone until they are unconscious, even if that person threw the first punch. If the other person attacked, Beck should be able to defend himself. But there is a limit. Unconscious is past that limit.

I've heard that a lot of NHL people believe that Hak is one of the college coaches most qualified to move up to the NHL. I don't know if an assistant position at Buffalo would be the job that would get him to make the move. He may be careful after Blais' experiences in Columbus.

UND is not going to return to Memorial Field as it currently stands. There is a contract with the Alerus Center for another 9 years I believe. After that it is up in the air. There is some talk about building a new stadium on the current site, some donors are rumored to have an interest. Part of Memorial could be used as a part of a new stadium, but that isn't guaranteed. Nothing concrete is in place. UND could also stay at the Alerus Center for a longer period. It is even possible that the Alerus Center could be remodeled at some point. The field at Memorial isn't going anywhere any time soon. The turf is in good condition. There is a natural turf practice field on the south side of Memorial. It is an advantage to have both natural and artificial turf on which to practice. It is doubtful that UND will go back to an outdoor stadium any time soon. Grand Forks has a lot of Saturdays in the fall that could potentially have bad weather. Bad weather hurts attendance for outdoor stadiums. People in the entire region are spoiled by having indoor football for multiple years. All of this information, plus more, is available on this forum. You can search the forums very easily at the top of each page. It can give you a lot of information when you have questions.

Considering the football team had trouble getting in spring practice, the baseball team couldn't practice outside, the softball team couldn't practice outside, the track and field teams couldn't practice outside and the golf team couldn't practice outside, all because of snow on the ground most of the spring, I'm pretty sure he was referring to the weather.

People are working on a lot of great things for the base. The Air Force is operating much leaner than it was several years ago, so even if the same missions were here the base would be smaller. The Dakota Sky project is one part of a plan to make Grand Forks, UND and the GFAFB one of the leaders in Unmanned Arial Systems. A key element is getting to use the airspace. The GFAFB will host Air Force units, Homeland Security, UND UAS, plus major manufacturers like Northrup Grumman. And they are working with Northland Tech along with Lake Region to increase the scope of the work. UAS repair work training and UAS data analysis training are involved. Besides all of this, GFAFB will have an opportunity for the next wing of the new tankers. The site that was recently chosen is just the first, they are choosing several others in the next several years. Grand Forks will be a leading contender for one of those missions. The new tankers need less support than the current tankers, so any new tanker wing will be smaller than the current tanker wings. But there is plenty of room at GFAFB for the tankers along with the UAS project and UAS mission. None of this is certain at this point, but it could be better for the Grand Forks region than the old base was because many of these jobs will be higher paying than the airmen that have been stationed here over the years.

A fundraising campaign has to have a solid goal, and usually needs to end when that goal is reached. The only times you don't follow those rules are if you either blow through the goal, or are very close and you keep going to finish it. If you don't follow those rules you lose credibility with the donors. They aren't going to stop fundraising. They will keep raising money, probably at a great rate. They will refocus and start another campaign soon. But it will be a new campaign, and will probably have another lofty goal. I'm guessing that the new campaign will start after a new Alumni Association CEO is in place.

They still have some money to raise for Phase 2, which involves mainly office space. They hope to have the money raised in time to keep the construction rolling right through both phases, but don't know if that will be possible. Getting started now before they have all the money raised for Phase 2 is important because of the calendar. If they waited to raise the money they wouldn't be able to start during this construction season, which would delay the project a full year. I would rather have them get started right away and get players in the building sooner rather than later. Some of the sports offices will remain in Hyslop even after the IPF is completed. I believe that baseball, softball, swimming and diving will stay at Hyslop, maybe others. Football, soccer, track and field, golf and probably cross country will move the IPF. Not sure about where the tennis offices will be. Of course, volleyball, both hockey and both basketball teams will stay where they are. I probably missed someone, but that covers most of the teams. There are some rumors that a couple of deep pocketed donors may have an interest in supporting a stadium at some time. Nothing will be happening in the next few years. Not sure whether it will happen in the future or not. But UND has a plan in place to make it happen if the donors come through.

When the UMTC AD was on the radio he said that there were no plans to add any more sports. He said that they had plenty of sports that they needed to support already.

All from the NHL Rule Book for 2012-2013. I tried to just quote items that referred to offensive words or gestures.

They always have a formal ground breaking for a large building. That will come later in the summer.

What would they report? That they're putting up a fence and marking the ground? It has already been reported that they are working on a new facility. They haven't started tearing down the old building yet, and they won't do a ground breaking for a couple of months. This is a long process and they aren't going to have a story on every step of the process. They will only have reports on the major steps along the way.

And a lot of times they are Labor Day weekend, which means that students would be gone home for the long weekend.

As I posted in another thread, the rumor is that contractors will start working on final salvage at the old REA as early as next week. They are going to take out copper and other metal that can be resold, old bathroom fixtures, pretty much anything that can be sold. Actual destruction on the building will start in late June. They are looking at somewhere around August 1 for the groundbreaking. First stage of the building is pretty much ready to go, they still have some money to raise for the second stage. That includes the offices. They still hope to have the rest of the money raised for Stage 2 in time to just keep construction going. It sounds like the baseball and softball teams will headquarter in Hyslop with some remodeling. But they will be able to use the IPF as needed during years like this.