UND Fan

92,96 - You make a good point - thanks for enlightening me! Plus, most of these underclassmen are likely to gain a few more pounds of muscle as their bodies mature and they continue their work in the weight room.

NDSU Grad - While I certainly hope that those predicting that our defense will be the best ever nwxt year, I agree with you that the '01 group would be awfully hard to top. In certain games this last year, we gave up a lot of yards - and too many points. With most everyone back and some very talented redshirt freshmen joining the mix, we should be very good. One challenge is that we are quite undersized on the D-Line and LB position - I bet our average weight in those two areas was 20-25 pounds less than the average NCC team. Guys - I fully understand that Digger and Dahlen are outstanding LBs and we have good D linemen, but it sure would be nice if we had more size against some offenses. Not a complaint - just an observation.

My opinion on the Bismarck issue. Although I currently live in Florida, I have lived in Grand Forks, Bismarck and Fargo. My perception is that Bismarck is easily the best sports town of the three. I believe that the primary reason is that as they do not have one of the state universities located there, they "value and appreciate" athletic events and competition because it isn't as commonplace there as it is in Fargo or GF. The fact that Bsimarck is centrally located within the state and has decent facilities is also a factor.

Thanks for the note. I agree, Winona has become a "player" in DII FB. With that, recruiting should be easier so your success should continue. What is your take regarding WSU eventually joining the NCC? Any chance of that happening in your opinion? Do you know how many FB scholarships you will be able to fund next year?

That wouldn't surprise me - he is a real talented kid. Sure wish we could have landed him!

Thanks for the post. Very interesting! It sure would have been nice if the hotel were completed before the World Championships but I don't think that is a possibly, is it? Any construction experts out there?

That article was timely for this discussion, wasn't it? Although all conversations regarding the Old Ralph have been related to Athletics, I know that the EERC would love to have that property for their growth. I think that is prompting the Athletic Department to move a little quicker than they may have otherwise.

Please excuse my ignorance - what the hell is that?

This is a response to star2city's post under "Announcement Soon" in "other UND topics". It probably should be discussed here. He stated that with UND BB and VB moving to a new facility and with the new Wellness Center that will be built, that UND sports of FB, track, baseball, softball, soccer, etc. would have plenty of room for indoor practicing. I, as well as all of the involved coaches, will really disagree with that. First of all, the new Wellness Center is at least a couple of years away. More importantly, there really isn't room for one of these sports to adequately practice, let alone 2 or 3 of them at the same time which often happens as normal practice times are mid or late afternoons (after most classes are done for the day). Obviously, the only one of these sports that actually would hold competition in Hyslop are the track teams. Our small oval and poor facility for hosting non-running events is very embarrassing and one of the reasons that our Track teams are average at best. With the ND climate, much of the preparation takes place inside. It is impossible to effectively work out for track events when other sports are attempting to practice in Hyslop. Hosting HS track meets is also an embarrassment at UND due to the facility. UND has (or will have after the BB/VB addition is completed) nearly the best facilities in DII for hosting athletic events. However, compared to the other top DII schools, our practice facilities are near the bottom. With our climate, having a first rate indoor practice and track facility will allow us to greatly improve our recruiting efficiencies - in FB as well as the sports disccussed above. Bottom line - we will be better in all these sports! Fortunately Tom Clifford agrees with this and may take the lead in getting a facility off the ground in the relatievely near future.

The UND coaching staff thought the younger VerDoux was going to be a stud. That is part of the reason that actively encouraged the older one to walk on. I don't think there were any hard feelings caused by big brother not making it. My understanding was that the younger one didn't continue his progress and the UND staff lost interest. As was mentioned, I hope we were right, not Billeter! Winkelman is a dandy, Glas had hoped to sign him early but he decided to wait. At that time, it appeared to be between UND and St. Cloud. But, who knows now. A couple weekends ago, UND had a similar type of player in from WS. He is a friend (different school, same conference) of Daniel Harkins, the recent signee. Gutter will likely be pretty good but may be a year or two away from being a major contributor. He is somewhat of "a bull in a china shop" right now. A nice problem - if anything, he works too hard!

I had understood that both Parks and Nobles could get a medical hardship year. But Parks probably will not as he played in 7 games which will be more than 20% of all games for the year. Nobles played in 5 games so he would be eligible for two more years.

The following should be fairly accurate: Partial scholarships: Bradley, Dahl, Jahner, Stoute, Jacobson and Wells. Full or nearly full rides: Johnson, Rypkema, Lindahl, Parks, Nobles, Doyle and Gutter (the latter two being redshirt freshmen). The other two redshirt freshmen (Leikas and Hoy) are walkons. A full ride has been accepted by the Harkins kid from Wisconsin. I believe Jahner, Stoute and Jacobson are each getting a half scholarship or less. Bradley, Dahl and Wells are getting very little if any assistance. My best guess is that we have 2 1/2 to 3 full scholarships available yet for next year. We will need them as we lose a lot of players after the 2004-5 season. I guess it isn't quite as bad as it would have been had Parks and Nobles not gotten hurt. If Parks heals up (he knee was really messed up), he will be here another two years. Someone posted earlier that Nobles will not be back this year, I am not sure if this is fact or not. He also may have two years left. The coaching staff is very high on Doyle (also coming off knee surgery) so Nobles return may not be quite as crucial - although we could sure use him this year!

Your speculation would be outstanding for the GF economy and it would be great if it happens! But do you think that building could be upgraded for such a purpose - it would cost a million $ just to repair the roof plus there are many other sturctural problems with the building. I also wonder if there is enough room around the building (access to it by truck, etc.) for a manufacturing concern. The rumors I am hearing is that the building will be knocked down and replaced by a year-round practice facility for UND football, track, baseball, etc. Too bad there isn't room enough for both there. Although the manufacturing facility could easily be built out west in the Industrial Park, it probably should be right there with the EERC.

Thanks - that makes sense that he handled ND with his good relationships out west. That should also help in not losing recruits to UMD - if he was assigned to MN or WS, that could have been a problem. Unlikely a ND kid would want to go to UMD. Besides, I don't think there are many really good ND kids this year. The top four have already commited - two to SU and two to UND.

Sounds like Jark is a good one - you would like your receivers to be a bit taller than that but talent can make up for a lack of height. Does anyone know what area Bubba was recruiting? I know he wouldn't actively attempt to change a kids mind who was leaning towards UND - but if a kid truly wanted to play for Bubba, we could lose a recruit or two to UMD!

It is interesting to see Kole Heckendorf on the list of potential recruits. I believe he is Keith's (St. Cloud's QB) brother - both played for Mosinee HS. What a talent this kid is: sprint champion is track, plays hockey but, most importantly, his FB stats. He caught a national high of 116 passes as a junior, 60+ this last year, set a WS HS record for TD receptions, etc. It would be great if we could land him!

I was thinking the same thing - that comment sounded like there was more to it than he simply was out of the running for the job.

somebison - Obviously, you meant Schweigert... It appears that part of the deal was that all assistants would have their jobs for at least the first year. Plus, I don't think that any of our assistants would simply move for the same job over there. That actually would be a step in the wrong direction. I could see him hiring some former Sioux players and UND grad assistants down the line. I am sure that Bubba would not have control of the schedule enough to pull out of the Bison game next year. Plus, I assume that it is in Fargo and UMD will get a guarantee - they need the $.

Bubba Schweigert just was announced as UMD's new coach. I know that Coach Lennon was preparing for this and has some plans in mind. I would guess that he will try to fill the spot quickly for recruiting purposes - especially if we also lose Dosch.

Good news regarding Caufield - he was very good in HS. Hopefully, his success will continue to college. Thanks for the update, 92,96! Keep them coming!

I understand that UMD will likely make an announcement regarding their new coach tomorrow - if it didn't happen this evening. Bubba and Mussman supposedly both had very good interviews. It is between them and one coach from a WS school. The other candidate, Meierkort, got the South Dakota job. Dosch appears to be in the running for the Jamestown job. That announcement is also likely to be made quite soon.

I "unofficially" learned that Dressler commited to the Sioux during his visit last weekend. Not sure if it is fact. They feel he can be a very effective kick returner and situational receiver. He apparently is one tough kid with great quickness and speed.

Discussions continue about why UND doesn't plan to play NDSU in the major sports in forseeable future. Yes, you can say that SU made their decision to move up and UND doesn't want to play them because of it. This makes sense and, as a UND fan, I fully agree with that stance. SU can say - it will take a few years before they get all the extra scholarships in place so games for the next couple of years wouldn't be unfair, etc. That is probably also true. These are among many factors (most important is DII's formula for qualifying for playoffs) that are discussed as to why the we should or should not continue playing each other. However, one of the biggest reasons for UND coaches not wanting to continue hasn't been discussed much: With NDSU's lack of a conference affiliation along with having some trouble filling their schedules, the game against UND (FB or men & women's BB) would be NDSU's "Super Bowl" for at least the next couple of years - easily the most important game on their schedule. While it would continue to be a big game for UND, it certainly wouldn't be the most important of the year. A game against UNO or St. Cloud to determine an NCC championship or to make the playoffs would be much more important. While you may or may not agree with this concern on the part of the Sioux, when you combine it with the Bison making the decision to change divisions, I believe that it is the only position for UND to take.

If you guys don't care to hear what I know about UND men's BB (see my post of 12:21 on 12/16), I will gladly discontinue my posts about it. By the way, unless someone appears out of nowhere, UND will NOT have a DI transfer playing after the first of the year. They may have one in school for the second semester but he will not play. The FB player is Stattelman.

The players vote would certainly make the selections legitimate. The coaches pick the weekly honorees, don't they?