Irish

Bubba's entire body of work shows he's not a winner. Yet here we are with another extension - and to salt the wound we have a "town hall meeting" where all questions are submitted but doesn't discuss his extensions or any expectations for the program. We have a serious problem here and it starts at the top.

At the risk of flogging a dead horse I'll repeat - after the town hall does anyone have a hint of a clue what we are doing to improve our football program to where we want it to be or to improve hockey so they can win a regional game? Do we even know the metrics that the AD uses to evaluate the programs or what our standards for success are. What are we doing to create success and what standards are the programs held to? We do know the AD Department's feelings on tailgating, the Peterson Poarch, and playoff tickets that may be redeemed some time in the future. Also we have great insight into our goal song. What a useless PR stunt.

I get that the coaches employment wouldn't be discussed - but fans have no idea what the Athletic Department expectations for any program are or what we are doing to improve. We are getting improved facilities but does anyone think next year will be an improvement?

It's the same $20 that the Athletic Department is going for - And I'm not the only one that doesn't think it's ok. And it's not the money. I'm not sure what my schedule will be and based on last year's attendance resale might be hard. And I'm pretty sure we will have to play this forward next year.

I had hopes that this forum would start a new era of fan-administration dialogue. Here's what I learned - - Information on Bubba's two extension - nothing, Expectations for our Football team going forward - nothing, Changes made to prevent future end of the season collapses in Hockey and Football - nothing. What I did learn is that the Administration doesn't like losing either (with no mention of any changes but implied is more of the same but we will try harder), and that changes in Football at the Alerus (tailgating, Peterson Porch, the obnoxious requirement to purchase playoff tickets as part of your package, increase in parking fees), will all stay regardless of fan wishes. Does the admin take any fan input and concerns seriously?

Then what changes or plans for the future are being made other than extending Bubba?

So - in summary - doodly squat on what we are doing to have our FB and Hockey teams win regional games.

There are bigger issues in hockey than Chelsea Dagger

First - the inexplicable extension of a 5-6 Bubba before his contract was up. A firm commitment to mediocrity. Not sure how anyone can explain that one. And while I can see the logic in your explanation I would point out that our 7-5 record was in my opinion the most frustrating 7-5 record ever. After finally beating the Bison we promptly got pummeled at Northern Iowa. Our home playoff loss was beyond frustrating. We hired a 22-21 good old boy and that's exactly what we got. Bubba is clearly not going to change much and our AD has signaled that we are happy with how things are going. I'm not sure how long his coaching would be tolerated at our rivals. Expect more of the same this year. Bubba will always be Bubba. Not much demand for excellence from the Athletic Department.

I would like him to explain exactly what he saw in the 5-6 Bubba that deserved an extension and why he thinks Bubba is the leader we need given his lack of playoff success and late season meltdown last year. What are our expectations for the football program?

Exactly - what are the odds of getting a straight answer about Bubba's two - count em - two extensions. I have no expectations for this.

Bubba's buddies are partially responsible for the current state of the program and will never see the light (but hey, he bleeds Sioux green). The main responsibility however is the AD who thinks so highly of Bubba and is so happy with our program he has extended him twice. Nothing will change here.

I think in summary - Bubba needs to recruit better players

You are correct also - losing to teams we should have beaten cost us a close regional and got us a first round game with Michigan. Don't know why we lose focus every year.

Dec. 1st hasn't been the problem.

Agree - and self-awareness is the first step to fix things. However, in my experience with coaches at any level change is hard. Most are committed to their style and "systems" and when challenged tend to double down on what they are already doing. That's where good assistants become very valuable. We need at least one coach on staff that fires the team up and isn't buddy buddy. And the problem of our late season collapses probably has many causes. We need to be a team that is hard to play against and plays for all 60 minutes every game - you know, like the team that swept Denver. I was stunned when that team went away and we reverted to I don't know what - a team that got swept by CC and Omaha. This might be a coaching problem, a problem with the players, a leadership problem, or a systems problem. At our level this should not happen. We didn't build off of that momentum but Denver used it to motivate and regroup. How do we fix this? Our ongoing goalie situation is a concern - hopefully our 4th portal goalie will be a stud. Compare us to Denver's goalie development - and their goalie led them to a natty while we had a confusing situation at the end of the season. We need to up our recruiting (I know we have a good class coming in) and get back our reputation of developing NHL talent. Something needs to change and it can't just be "we'll try harder". And it is stunning when you look at our national record since the Ralph opened that instead of getting some advantages we have regressed in terms of nattys. Berry needs to adapt.

So - will he make the necessary adjustments? Our flame-outs have been a regular occurrence.

Being not satisfied and making the necessary changes are two different things. Did he happened to answer where the hell the team was during the first 10 minutes of the third?

The million dollar question is where did that mentality go and why couldn't we build on it after a great series? The big concern is that it happens year after year.

I'm sure many tough questions will be submitted - something which is sorely needed. However, I'm equally sure that no tough answers will be given. Just blah blah blah culture. I'd love to hear from the horse's mouth the reasons for extending Bubba twice and why, even with our program advantages, we can't come close to getting it done in Hockey.

I know that the physical game is less now because of different reffing. However, in my opinion being a cake eater also includes the mental part of the game. Do you come to play and play hard in big games? Not showing up for the first 10 minutes of the third in a regional game with a lead is cake eating in the first degree. Also winning one regional game since 2016 is the frosting on the cake.

So -- time to switch to a different frustration?

I really think many people have a different understanding of how hocky "luck" happens. You know, that odd bounce, that off someone's skate, or that puck that ends up where no one could predict. If you play in your opponents end, put pucks on net, have men in front of the net or are just plain aggressive there is a much better chance that an odd bounce will happen. The better you play the higher the odds of "luck". Teams that are not in their end that much or don't put many shots on goal have a much lesser chance of the odd bounce. Some teams put themselves in position for luck by being relentless.

Well, when a team doesn't show up for the first 10 minutes of the third in a regional game in which they had the lead I don't know what else to call it.

You don't think that we would get many qualified applicants? Many coaches would love to have our budget, fanbase, and facilities. A big problem is that we don't see anything changing - just culture, culture, culture. Case in point - we have a top notch goalie coach yet we are on our 4th portal goalie. Meanwhile in Denver they had a goalie who developed in their system lead them to a championship. And I know we have a high school goalie in the system.