UND Fan

I have been one to agree with UND's stance to wait awhile before making a decision regarding DI. I think it would be great for football - disasterous for all other sports. However, if the decision would be made to merge the NCC and NSIC, I would immediately be a strong proponent for moving up! I really don't think that will happen anytime in the next 20 years. I do see Concordia-St. Paul continuing to improve their programs and becoming a real power in that conference and a potential NCC team. I am not sure that the funding would ever be there for Northern to be a strong DII school year-in-and-year-out. Winona could probably do it more readily than Northern.

I guess there isn't much to him bu the can jump out of the gym!

Gutter and Doyle are both on campus and working out with the guys. They must have been omitted as they will both red-shirt.

PCM - Thanks for the update. It is greatly appreciated.

Have any UND students in here and GF residents seen the UND men's working out? If so, how do they look? Who impresses you?

I think the two lists of quality DII FB teams pretty much covers the perennial challengers. I might add Saginaw Valley and Central Oklahoma. I understand that UND is talking to some of the teams on this list.

As I recently posted in the BB forum, from what I hear, the Athletic Department has finally gotten the message and is in contract negotiations with many different quality DII schools for FB games starting as early as next year. I won't mention the names but most are perennial top 20 teams. We already have Central Washington and Mesa on the schedule (acknowledging that Mesa may not be a top quality opponent - despite last weekend's outcome). With us having more open dates due to a smaller NCC schedule, it sounds like we will have some good, well-known opponents coming in. On the Men's BB side, with the opening of the new building next year, it appears that many name DII teams will be scheduled. REA understands that larger crowds mean more $ and is aggressively promoting a strong schedule. Interestingly, most of the discussion is in giving teams a guarantee rather than arranging home-and-home commitments. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.

UNDvince97-01 - Thanks for the positive comment. I, like most everyone else, was surprised and highly disappointed by UND's performance on Saturday. But, it was the second game of the season. We certainly should not throw the season away at this point. True Sioux fans can and should talk about a team's performance, strong points, weaknesses and the likelihood of success. But true UND fans stick with the team whatever the outcome. I, for one, do expect us to have a successful season. Does that mean going to the playoffs? Probably not, but you need to remember that we are coming off a 5-6 record last year. A 7-3 or 8-2 record would be a nice step forward. BisonMav - I also appreciate your comment. It is good to see mutual respect amongst each team's fans. It is a huge rivalry but the state is much better off when one (or both) schools are doing very well in whatever sport.

The coaching staff is really disappointed that Franklin isn't able to go right now. They are seeing good improvement in others in their one-on-one sessions, etc. Right now, it appears that Franklin will be ready by the time practice starts but I got the impression it might be somewhat questionable. The problem is with his big toe. This will be one of the most interesting years that I can remember and I have been following UND BB for many, many years. There appear to be so many different players who could contribute - of course, that doesn't mean they will be a great team. But.... they could be!!

All holdovers and recruits are in school and working out daily. There appears to be a great deal of raw talent but with so many new faces, it will likely take a while gel. Everyone is working hard and getting along well. Unfortunately, Franklin is having a foot problem and not able to work out. Keith Parks and point guard, Caro Nobles, are looking very good. Neither did play last year due to lack of having enough credits. It appears they are both good kids who are now taking school seriously. Doyle and Gutter are likely to be red-shirted. It appears that they are working hard to bring in a lot of quality opponents next year for the first year in the new building. Of course, with the NCC shrinking, there will be more non-conference games. I also understand that UND is talking to some very well-known DII football schools about coming to Grand Forks in the next couple of years. I think they finally realize that our non-conference FB schedule needs to need be upgraded substantially.

Interesting insight! Thanks!

Last I heard, Irvin had a sore knee but they didn't think there was any damage to it!

You make a good point. You certainly can use Teamline on the Internet. However, there is really never a need to do so for listening to UND athletics. Their website provides radio coverage for all UND FB, BB and hockey games. You really only need Teamline when your only communication source is the telephone.

Teamline is for use via telephone, not via computer.

Do others agree that there are far too many graphics? I would rather watch what is happening on the field than see the long T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N, First Down and Instant Replay graphics Pretty good other than that.

Bison Kent (and Bison Guy) - I often wonder why you two spend so much time in this forum! You seem awfully concerned about UND, our programs and how we do things! But Bison Kent, what the hell are you doing here at 4:18 in the morning. You have to have better things to do than to be in a Sioux website at that time!!

Sorry to hear that Jim Wacker, former SU FB coach, died this morning. He had been fighting cancer for some time.

While I visit USCHO often during the hockey season, I am seldom their otherwise. And, I had never visited their Cafe until just a few minutes ago. For me, it certainly didn't seem too exciting or interesting. I visit this site two or three times each day. I, like others, am disappointed when there is nothing new to read. However, I personally have no interest in doing anything at this site other than discussing UND athletics. While I would not be opposed to a Cafe-type format for discussing other UND-related topics, I have no interest otherwise. In fact, I believe it would be counterproductive and take away some of the uniqueness and credibility of this site. I would much rather determine how we could inform the countless UND fans who are not aware of this site to join us. A few dozen or a few hundred more Sioux fans would add a great deal more activity and topics to this site. Any ideas how we could do this? I have recommended that this site be mentioned in Sioux Illustrated but I didn't get any "warm and fuzzies" that they will do so.

I am quite sure the Parks played this last year at Parkland College in IL. It is good to see that Austin decided not to play football. Having him join the team in December would not have been good. I will find why Nobles didn't play last year and post what I learn.

Tony - While much of this discussion seems trivial, I don't understand your last post. With UMD replacing NDSU, UND will travel to Duluth instead of Fargo for their fourth NCC road game. If we go to Fargo, that truly is another road game. With UND already having made a commitment to play at New Haven, that would mean that UND would play six road games next year. I am sure we are not interested in doing that. You know SU would never do that.

Virg Foss has a semi-interesting article today in the Herald regarding the continuance of the UND/SU football rivalry past this year. The challenge is that, with SU pulling out, UND will have 3 home NCC games and 5 on the road in 2004. It would be our turn to play in Fargo. That would mean 6 road games - something I am sure that we won't do. As I have said before, although I don't know if SU's move up is a wise decision, I respect them for making it. However, as they have made this decision to play at another level, I do not think we should play them in the future. Let's, as they have done in the past, schedule more of the best DII teams in the country for our non-NCC games. Men and women's BB was also discussed in the article. Unfortunately, I don't know how to attach the article to this post.

That was to the point, wasn't it? Unfortunately, even though I didn't like reading it, he was probably quite accurate with his thoughts.

Thanks for the info - very interesting! It is good to see Blais taking such an active role with these kids. That may go a long ways when/if he is recruiting the same kids sometime down the line. It is also good to see a lot of players from the Cities attending the camp. Rivard's involvement can only help the women's program. It appears they received some commitments in recent weeks from some talented girls from the Cities.

It appears the point guard that we had hoped to get has decided to stay in DI. He hasn't committed to anyone so there is still a possiblity that we may get him. We are now looking at another JC point guard out of Texas (that sound familiar?). Sounds like he a pretty talented also.

I found it very interesting who Bohl and Taylor were paired with at the recent Maris Charity Golf Tourney. I am sure it wasn't a fluke that they happened to be with someone who has a lot of $ in his pocket. He isn't an SU grad but may be swayed to do something big for SU sports. He doesn't have Englestad type of $ but he has a bunch of it! I would guess that SU sports facilities were a topic of discussion during the round!