UND Fan

Pass to Kusler inside the 10 but a clip will move it back to the 28.

Sprig - we are both giving updates on different pages. We should get toghether - but is anyone reading these?

Turnover then a penalty - Mesa has the ball on or 15. We intercept!

UND holds again - has ball on their own 40!

TD pass to Johnson. 7-0

Datflix is working great right now! We held Mesa on their first drive. Belmore throws for 20 yards on the first play.

Guys - one factor that continues to be overlooked in the discussions about moving to DI is having the ability to recruit that caliber of athlete to your school. My biggest concern is just that. Two major factors are against us - geography and the weather. I will preface my comments by saying that my thoughts do not apply to football - I think we could be quite competitive in IAA in a fairly short period of time. Obviously, we are already a power in hockey. My comments do apply to ALL other sports. We would likely continue to get talented athletes out of Minnesota and a few from Wisconsin (we all know that, unfortunately, there aren't many in ND - mainly due to the dwindling population base). Getting DI quality kids from other parts of the country would be very difficult - we are a long way from home for them. The good ones would have many other options. This also adversely affects recruiting costs. Not many kids can drive to Grand Forks for their recruiting visit compared to most other DI schools. Flying to GF is expensive and having to go through Mpls reinforces that GF is "in the boonies". Ask our BB coaches about recruiting young athletes to UND - expensive and you have to bring in a bunch to get a couple of commit. Plus, even in DI, a lot of kids like to play near their parents, girlfriends, etc. There is no arguing that the winters in GF are long and cold. Don't for a second think that that isn't used against UND by other recruiters when a kid is trying to make a decision. Many recruiting visits for various sports are made during the winter. 20 below temperatures with 30 mph winds aren't too impressive for kids who come from more southern locations. While we may have the facilities (we need in an indoor practice facility and our track, baseball, softball and soccer facilities leave a lot to be desired) and maybe the money, we have to get the "right" athletes to be able to be competitive. I, for one, do not want to make the move unless we can be competitive in most sports. Despite our great success in swimming and women's BB at the DII level, we won't be powers in DI. I also don't see us being able to compete in VB, baseball, softball, soccer, track, etc. The money issue also scares me. The costs of recruiting and scholarships grow greatly - expecially recruiting. Remember - just about everyone will have to fly into GF and that we have to bring more athletes than average in to get a specific number to commit. We would need to develop more income from attendance - FB and BB. I am not sure that a tremendous improvement could be expected. We just don't have a great population base to draw from. Will BB atendance grow if we have mediocre results - I am not sure! All this being said, I would reluctantly agree that a move up is appropriate if DII FB scholarships are cut again. But, if so, we all need to be prepared for being average at very best in all sports but hockey and FB. THIS POST IS MEANT ONLY FOR THE SITUATION AT UND. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO OPEN (OR CONTINUE) ANY DEBATE ABOUT NDSU's DECISION TO MOVE UP. IN FACT, I WOULD PREFER NOT TO HAVE ANY RESPONSES IN REGARD SU AT ALL. SU GUYS - PLEASE DON'T THINK YOU NEED TO JUSTIFY YOUR DECISION TO MOVE UP. IT REALLY DOESN'T HAVE ANY AFFECT ON UND - OTHER THAN WE WILL WATCH IT CLOSELY TO SEE HOW THEIR TRANSITION PROGRESSES IN SPORTS OTHER THAN FB.

Anyone know how we did injury-wise yesterday? Gagner - any word on him?

Any UND students among those reading these posts? If so, how much excitement is there around campus for the FB team and, in particular, this game? Bottom line-do you think there will be a good turnout of students tomorrw?

UND 24 Delta 17

Two reasons that I believe address the need for a weightroom in the Betty: 1) The existing weghtroom is for hockey, I don't think it was meant to be "shared". 2) Logistically, the hockey weightroom is a long ways from the locker rooms at the Betty. Reason No. 1 far outweighs anything else - and probably appropriately so!

The fund drive is definitely continuing. I know that they are still looking for $75-100,000 to complete the weightroom. Plus, there are other needs.

Mike McFeeley had a good column on this in yesterday's Forum. I don't know how to post it here. I would guess someone will do so. Not overly complimentary!

Grant Gunhas and his dad were in GF for a visit last week. UND would like to have Grant but isn't offering a scholarship - at this point, at least. This is primarily because they already have an abundance of players at that position. For those of you who remember how Don played for the Sioux, if Grant has the same work ethic, he will contribute somewhere at the DII level! Don didn't have tremendous talent, but he played smart and went at it 100% at all times. UND really wants to land Pennick. I guess he didn't play quite as well at the end of summer so the DI schools have backed off a bit. I agree with Corella, the talent is very deep in MN this year. Nothing in ND other than Pennick and Gunhus and they play for a Moorhead HS.

It sounded from the reports of the EGF scrimmage that we had a few players banged up. Does anyone know who may not be available this weekend. I haven't read anything in the paper about it.

Men's BB Update: Everyone is back in GF. Doyle and Nobles are healthy, Parks still has a ways to go. Lindahl gained more weight and strength over the summer - sounds like he also has more confidence. He could be very good this year. It is unlikely that anyone else will be added to the roster prior to school starting. There are a couple of possibilities, both transfers - a big kid from Texas and a wing from out west. Neither are likely to happen. It appears that no one of consequence will walk-on. I am not sure if everyone knows the two kids we added over the summer. Shawn Swan is a very talented wing out of Nebraska. He played at a NE JC last year. A former 100 and 200 state champion, he is a great athlete and should help us right away. You all likely know that Gutter will not be back. He is working at a Walmart in Milwaukee, not likely to go back to college anywhere. He was given a great opportunity and didn't take advantage of it - too bad for him!! We also signed guard Corey Lott out of Rochester John Marshall. They are happy with their three freshmen recruits. All will be redshirted. The kid from WS, Seckar-Anderson, has gained 20 pounds this summer. They are very pleased with him. We have offered a bunch of HS kids scholarships for next year. Some very talented players are considering us but geography and the lure of DI will continue to be a detriment. One recruit decided to attend another NCC school last week. His decision was not unexpected. The Betty is impressing recruits. We will see if it will help us land some kids we couldn't get in the past.

I see Don Hansen has the Sioux rated 2nd in his preseason poll (behind Saginaw). That is surprising - he has never really acknowledged the quality of the UND program.

Yes, the Big Sky plays the majority of their conference games on Thursday and Saturday - allowing plenty of time to travel on Fridays. Interestingly, the ladies play on Tuesday and Thursday. Lots of missed class time!

Anyone know anything about who is walking on (whether invited or on their own)? If so, any background on them would be appreciated. Is the Ecklund kid from MO trying out?

My impression of Hoff..... is somewhere in between. He made a lot of great plays but also really made a lot of mistakes - some that were quite costly. I think the kid has excellent potential and will be a great corner for us. In mhy opinion, he simply made a lot of rookie mistakes last year. Those will go away with experience and maturity.

Apparently there was a pre-season depth chart in yesterday's Herald. I have been unable to find it on their website. Can someone enlighten me how to find it there? If it is not available online, it would be great if someone could fax it to me at (904) 886-5234. Anything surprising on the lists? Thanks!

Pirate - thanks for the update! Keep us informed!

I would be very surprised if Austin would be eligible. I don't think he completed any of his classes at UND!

Glas would prefer to play all their games in the Betty. Obviously, he hopes that improved success will cause attendance to increase to the point where they may be forced to move some games to the Ralph.

Sicakota - you beat me in responding to teamsioux's question and you did a good job of highlighting the reasons. I am sure we could have both added a few more bullets to your list! While it may complicate things a bit - taking advantage of the opportunity to move to the Betty was a no-brainer!