Irish

I would like to find a way to get the "old people" (like me) more involved in organized chants like "sieve" etc that seem to originate from the student section. I sit with the general public and see spontaneous cheering, but very little participation in chants etc. When some of us do participate, we feel out of place, because no-one else is doing it. Maybe we could flash the chants on the screens or use flyers to help organize. If we could make this work, it would ratchet up the noise and possibly help keep the chants clever but clean. We need a coordinated effort. Everyone needs to be encouraged to be involved. We are stuck with the seating arrangement that gave the best seats to the richest (or corporate) group - not the most fanatic fans. We need to get these people involved in the cheering.

Don't forget Ayr, ND - former home of my favorite sports team the Ayr Rifles.

No need to get insulting I'm with Sioux 27 (by the way I played football also) There are many factors that go into a successful program including recruiting, motivation, conditioning, game preparation, offensive and defensive philosophy - and many more. The Sioux have done extremely well at many of these over the past few years. This is a credit to the coaching staff. If we have one weakness, it is with the overly cautious and conservative (at times) offensive philosophy and poor play selection. In just about every loss recently, this has been glaring. It can be very frustrating to watch the Sioux go into conservative mode on offense and stop trying to make things happen. They play not to lose instead of playing to win. Many fans who are loyal to the Sioux feel the same and should be allowed to express this on this forum. Figuring out where we could pin them back to if we punted is not an offensive philosophy that will consintantly win against good teams. We could do better.

Ah, but what do they know and when did they know it?

I agree that Belmore had a good day - it's a relief to see him perform well. For the life of me, though, I just don't get the handling of the quarterback situation. We have had many opportunities to play Freund and don't seem to be interested at all in giving next year's quarterback any snaps this year. It seems to be all about Belmore - how to build his confidence - how to get him into the game - never replacing him with Freund when he played poorly. It took an extremely long time for us to give Manke his shot. We seem to be focused on Belmore to the exclusion of everything else. Why Freund has never been given any snaps seems to defy logic. I hope we are not sorry later. What could the coaches possibly know that we average fans do not? Any guesses as to their thinking?

Alrignt - I don't have the exact statistics and agree that the Sioux have won some close ones. It's just that the cpnservative philosophy and play selection drive me nuts some times. We don't have a lot of close games (or games that should be close based on talent) - but look at last year's Omaha game. In my opinion, we lost that one because of our conservative play selection and attitude towards trying to run the clock out. This year's game was very winnable. I feel that our offensive philosphy changes when things get tight and that it doesn't always work out to our advantage. We start playing not to lose instead of playing to win. In my opinion, going for it on fourth and one was a no brainer.

I too think that our D** conservative streak killed us. When they had fourth and goal, they went for it, when we had it we wimped out. Game over. Lennon and Mussman need to seriously re-evaluate their philosophy. It's killing us in tight games.

What worries me the most about the UNO game isn't the uninspired play by the Sioux lately. It's the offensive play calling. The second half of the Mankato game reminded me of last year's Omaha game - a first down run for 3 yards or less followed by a very predictable series. We seem to think that if we let the clock run for three plays and then punt we can rely on our defense to hold. We were 3 goal line stands from getting knocked off. I thought we learned our lesson last year, but apparently not. Contrast our second half selection on Saturday with the Northern Iowa game. I know that Bellmore doesn't move the offense, but come on - open it up a little. In my opinion, this conservative streak is the only chink in Lennon's coaching armour. It seems to come out at the worst times. I don't think that Mussman could call a turkey like this without Lennon's support. I hope we come ready to win next week. We're at our worst in the second half with a lead.

What a lackluster performance. This is no where close to the team we had at Northern Iowa. The second half was tough to watch. When we have the ball on offense with a lead, we get extremely conservative, especially if we are struggling. The play calling reminded me of the Omaha game of last year. how many times in the second half did we open a series with a run of less than 4 yards? If not for a couple of great goal line stands, this would have been a totally different game - one we might have lost. I hope we can pull it together soon. It's tough to watch a talented team play this way week after week. And what is this fascination with Bellmore that the coaching staff seems to have?

In my opinion, this is the crappiest decision ever by the athletic department. I wouldn't mind paying for parking at the site but to pay $5 to take a GD shuttle bus because there is not adaquate parking at the arena is pathetic. We need to find out who is responsible for this decision and let him know directly what we think. I hope that loyal Sioux fans don't just roll over and take this. This nickle and dime crap needs to stop. Once again the average fan gets stuck.

What a great coaching job by coach Manassau. It seems that in every successful season, there is one game that is tougher than it should be that you need to pull out. Hopefully this is the only one for this season. My main concern is the pattern of the past few years where we play like gangbusters the first few games - hitting on all cylinders - Great offensive balance, opportunistic defense - the whole package. Then, about midway through the season we start to bog down. We usually win most of these games on talent (a credit to our recruiting program). During this streak the offense becomes conservative and predictable and the defense tends to give up long passing plays at key times (looking at our talent both in the secondary and on the line I'm always shocked when this happens). When we hit the tough games at the end of the schedule we aren't playing nearly as well as early in the season. Not since our championship season have I felt that we were a better team at the end of the season than the beginning. Anyone else see this pattern? If we can play like we did at Northern Iowa, we could very well go all the way. If we play like we have the past few weeks, we could have several losses comming into the post season. How do we recapture the magic?

The tight Sioux play calling is driving me nuts - we get the ball with about 3 minutes to go and start running the ball until we have to pass - then we are intercepted - they get the ball and go for it - they move it down for a FG. What's wrong with this picture?

Why are we running the ball?

Home town speculation aside - it does look like we were outrecruited this year - especially by the Gophers. I hope our freshman class works out, but I am worried going into the season. I had hoped we would do better.

It's now Wednesday - does anyone have a clue as to the parking arrangements for the Potato Bowl? How much parking is available on the south side? Is there going to be a tailgating area as before? Where is the reserved section this year? Are there going to be shuttle busses? If so where do they leave from? What times do they run? Will there be an altered traffic flow? Come on Athletic Department - we need to know in order to make plans. I can't believe that no one from UND seems to be concerned about this.

However they do it, parking promises to be a fiasco. If they make room for tailgating (which they really need to do), there will be almost no parking around the Alerus. I've yet to hear the plan. However, I'm not very excited about taking a shuttle bus to the football game, and less excited to pay for parking. If parking is too much of a problem, this will affect the crowds all year. Come on athletic department, get your act together.

It is somewhat of a non-issue right now - except for a few excited supporters of Division I. Most people I know are against the move - many things need to be better explained including finances, conference affiliation, title 9 implications etc. There is not a groundswell of support that will include increased financial support. Most people can't understand why we are in the red now - with increased football attendance from the move indoors, increased hockey attendance, the increase in ticket prices etc. No one I knows understands the relationship between the Englestead and the athletic budget. The general feeling is that we should have a comfortable financial cushion. Most people I know including myself see football as the only sport that would benefit from a move up. That is because there is a IAA level for football only. We would sacrifice all other sports. I would much rather have the Sioux Women's basketball team in contention for a national title that go the way of the Bison Women's program for example. Many people see this recommendation as something that was done in the backroom behind closed doors and that the wishes of the general public will be disregarded. Remember, polls show that there is a majority against the move. I wonder if this is a done deal and if the committee is there only to give the appearance of outside input. I feel that a move to Division I is a huge mistake, and one that probably will be made regardless of public opinion.

Speaking of renewing hockey tickets - has anyone heard any more about any reseating plans? Before I shell out the kind of cash it takes for decent season tickets, I'd like to know where I'm sitting. What's going on with the plans to move the students?

Quite to the contrary - the only sport that would benefit would be football. Ask the once proud Bison Womens Basketball, volleyball, or softball teams. What do you think would happen to both Sioux basketball teams, track, baseball, volleyball, soccer? The move up to DI for these teams is a killer. This is just from a comptition aspect. How do you think we would fund the move - apparently we are broke now even with attendence at record levels for hockey, football, and women's basketball. The move up would be a train wreck for most programs.

I see us as an extremely talented team next year - different from last year, but just as talented. What will make or break us is offensive philosophy and play selection. Strangely enough, we seem to be in some ways worse off with a dominating and opportunistic defense - in close games we rely on the defense to make the plays and tighten up on offense. Coach Lennon has consistantly assembled teams that are more talented than ever - what holds us back is offensive philosophy. It seems that when we play weaker teams our offense plays like worldbeaters - we keep them off balance, take chances, and move the ball down field. It's only in tight situations that we get predictable. Watch tape of last years Omaha game and look at our offense. It's enough to make you pull our your hair. Hopefully, we'll see the need for balance next year. I'm looking foreword to watching our young talent - I wonder who will have breakout seasons.

You know - going into the regional as the top seed or one of the favorites and coming up short.

Curious - no one is talking about the elephant in the living room - it seems that this is happening every season.

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere, but what happened to Maggie? This cut at this time of the year seems bizzare at the least. What is going on in Women's Hockey? I would appreciate it if someone could enlighten me - this has gotten very little press. For the dollars that this program is costing we should see much better results.

The next program to win a National Championship? How? In our lifetime? We'd settle for a winning season. I'm not against women's athletics, but the cost/benefit ratio of Women's Hockey is ridiculous. The expense of this program is a millstone around the neck of the athletic department. It is forcing us to cut into proven programs - this is no way to operate. This has to be far and away the biggest money loser we have -with little potential of making up any of it's costs. It will be a drag on athletic finances forever.