Irish

Now that the roster is up, what is the general feeling about the overall quality of this recruiting class compared to some of our biggest rivals (Minnesota, Denver, etc)

Please let's stop feeding this troll and hope he goes away - Every time someone comments on his posts, it encourages him. Let's all put him on ignore

Seems like this should apply to us also

With this latest slight, I'm starting to feel strongly that the Alerus Center doesn't value Sioux football at all. We need a home that is ours and one that is excited to have us - one that will promote us and make us feel wanted. Combine this attitude with the rude crowd management people and you have a real unfriendly place. I wish we could leave and leave the Alerus to it's crappy concerts every other year and wedding receptions.

Agreed - Although I never like to see players leave, if he couldn't beat out Goska, it makes you wonder.

It's so hard to compare eras A better question would be "is this the talent we need to be where we want to be this season?" An even better question would be "can Muss finally put things together?" Let's face it - our transition has been mediocre - the only signature win during our transition was for an opponent (Sioux Falls). We haven't been horrible nor have we been great. New year, new conference, full playoff eligibility -- let's see if we can get things done now that the excuse of transition is over. There is no doubt we have some talent - can we play to potential? - the jury is still out on Muss's teams playing to potential - This is a crucial year for us if we want to capture the excitement in the Alerus again

Totally agree - In my opinion, the biggest rebuilding we have to do is with game buzz and atmosphere. Coaching staff appears to be working hard on talent and shoring up weak spots. Now that we have a conference and DI schedule, we need to get the atmosphere back. We have had almost a perfect storm of misfortune to bring the atmosphere down to where it is now - a lackluster home transition schedule, unfortunate losses to lesser teams, mediocre teams, poor marketing (think last year's video), a decline in tailgating, and the loss of the students. Couple this with uninspired game management and here we are. I know that having a great schedule will help, but more needs to be done. Winning is a must. In addition, this team needs an identity. In talking about the loudest games, a theme arises - everyone there remembers those team's style - an efficient offense and a defense that just came at you. The loudest moments came from the "on your feet Sioux fans for another 3rd and long" we knew that the defense would bring it. I think a reall buzz kill recently has been our loose secondary and lack of pass rush. We have the talent to turn this around, but need a team identity. If we don't get the crowds and students back soon, it will be a long couple of years. I'm not saying the staff isn't working on this, just saying that this is the most important issue in my opinion. We need the Alerus to rock again.

Nice comeback However, if you put these jerseys by the old ones they don't look similar either

Oh, I'm sure there is a chart - however, you can't tell me that these uniforms are the same color that they have always been - this color is a washed out pea green - compare to past Sioux football uniforms and you will see the difference - either we changed color or we got an off batch - this color is horrible

Gotta say, though - I hate the new pea green - matching the helmets doesn't make this color any better - Look at our old jerseys to see what color they should be

God I hope they match the jerseys to the helmet instead of the other way around. UND's colors do not include pea green

I've watched you with interest as it is sometimes fun to have a fan of another team on this board - especially if it's before a big game However, your act is getting really old - you have way too much time on your hands. Please grace someone else's board for a change or run along back to Bisonville If your only intention is to irritate, Jr. High will be starting in about a month

I'm still not seeing Muss as the guy to take us to the promised land. I'll give you that he has improved, but some of my most frustrating moments as a football fan have come from watching his teams. In addition, the atmosphere in the Alerus was shot the last couple of years. I hope things improve and he deserves another year or two, but I'm not feeling all of the love he is getting. This program has a year or two at best to get the fans back or it will be a long decade. We need someone who knows how to win and how to coach to win. Not sure he's our guy.

Even so, I was at the Sioux Falls game, and there is no doubt in my mind he created that. Agreed that his timing for taking over was not good -

True, but he created the 3-8 fiasco and coached the worst game in modern Sioux history - Sioux Falls I agree that he has matured and hope you are right, but he certainly had a long ways to go in my opinion

On paper it definitely should be hockey - however Hak should have won a couple all ready - I'm not quite ready to just chalk it up to bad luck/hot goalie Both coaches need to figure out how to finish

I can see your point with the QB issue, but a couple of times when he wussed out we had absolutely nothing to lose.

I'm selling that Although he has matured as a coach, his lack of stones as a game coach drives me nuts He needs to step up his game

I really like "Force of the North", but could live with Roughriders I too am worried about the pointy heads and their selection

Great thought-provoking question. For me it starts in college and continues on. The barn, the Old Ralph, and of course the New Ralph - all had or have a classic atmosphere. Plus, we are competing at the very highest level in the country - for a long time (79 - 2000) we could consistently say that we were the best program in the country for any division. Come into our house and we'll hammer you. We are still elite, but need to take the last step to be the best. It is a source of great pride to be the best program in the country bar none. We need to figure it out and get it done. Of all of the eras, we have things stacked for us now. Let's pull the trigger.

All I know is that whoever picked out the current color on the football jerseys should be flogged.

I'll admit to being old school on Sioux Basketball - maybe when you are on the lower end of DI the better talent comes with a price or they would have gone elsewhere - however the "If I don't get the ball more I'm not going to play defense" attitude drives me nuts - as does continually launching 3's when you can't make any. In my opinion, coach Jones needs to run this team, not the other way around. If he can't stand tall, expect a very uneven season that will be frustrating. Sorry, but I grew up watching Dave Gunther's finely tuned machines - he took crap from no player and had some great ones. I am concerned about the overall attitude of Sioux basketball.

I agree it's a new year, but I think it will take more than wishful thinking. I think it will take some active intervention from the coaching staff. I didn't see a lot of that the past 2 years. We are talented, lets see how far teamwork takes us.

The talent seems to be there - nice job of filling some holes. Now, I think the main difference-maker will be if coach can run the team, or if the players who want to "showcase" themselves get control. If these guys can play together like, say a Dave Gunther coached team, the sky is the limit. In my opinion, Coach Jones has some work to do in this regard.

This is pure speculation - I have no facts to back this up, but it seemed to me that Dell came into last season out of shape - he certainly put on weight. His performance the first half was certainly not what I expected from an All-American. It seemed like he had to play his way into shape. He had an outstanding year two years ago, mainly due to his positioning and the fact we had studs in front of him. I expected him to improve last year, and it seemed like most of the year he regressed.