Irish

No because we have become Bizarro World - the worse you perform as a game and program manager the more years are added to your contract.

Welcome to the "depressing life" club.

You mean the play that led to us blowing a chance to finally beat our most hated rival - the one that defies logic? The discussion was about our record last year and I believe this play was an integral part of how our season went. Although the fumble was costly, in my opinion Bubba's overall coaching last year was sub-par at best. And by the way, I also mentioned his clock management and poor sideline coaching all season long. Excuse me for mentioning perhaps the worst call in Sioux history in a discussion of Bubba last season.

That's the play you cherry pick? Remember the Bison game? Did you watch his clock management? Bubba's poor sideline coaching led directly to our record last year. What's worse, this was his 12th season of being a head coach. Clearly no learning curve here.

All of the resources in the world wouldn't make Bubba a better game coach - his crappy coaching led directly to our losing season last year. So this is what we want for our Football program? What's worse is that not being able to properly manage a game or clock seems to be hard baked into him. I expect zero improvement in this area for next season.

To be fair we "day by dayed" it all of last year

Wow - we are not only embracing mediocrity, we are giving it a full on French kiss. First Chaves now Bubba. Might as well get used to it I guess.

User name checks out.

That's the Driscoll I expected to see all season.

I agree that more money is needed. I wish that the good old boys that lobbied hard for Bubba would help a little more in financing his tenure. Also, check out the attendance under Lennon when we were DII and compare it to the Muss and Bubba years. A winning program would give us increased revenue and there would be more money to help pay coaches. When things go south in a season the Alerus becomes almost deserted. It is a bit circular - to raise more money it helps to have a winning team and to have a winning team you need money to pay good coaches. Frankly our football program has been floundering since the Muss hire. We seem to have a desire to stick with mediocrity far too long. When NDSU fired Babich he was 46-22 but had one bad year and wasn't winning championships. We don't seem to have the willpower to demand a winner.

How in the hell is Mankato beating us - either on the ice or in recruiting. We need to step it up.

I agree football needs more money - however, the program needs to generate some enthusiasm from the fanbase. Increase attendance and hopefully inspire some donors. Football shoots itself in the foot repeatedly. It's hard to see first game enthusiasm and compare it to the end of the season. I don't know any donors who want to shovel in more money for a couple more years of Bubba Ball. And I believe that there are many good coaches out there that would love to more up and could outcoach Bubba in their sleep.

Nobody from the Hockey program snuck into the huddle at the NDSU game and said "go for it". If we beat the Bison just think of the improved attendance for the rest of the season which translates into more $.

The topic probably should be The Transfer portal - 2021 - It Taketh Away.

Any chant would do - I blame a lot of this on the Ralph which isn't so much a hockey arena as a giant commercial building. At any break, especially when the crowd is fired up, you can expect some inane commercial often disguised as a video "contest" - looking at you Steamatic. And I really don't give a crap about which cartoon character wins the fictitious race on screen. Imagine if the Ralph (with a video assist) worked with the cheer squad and student section to get the crowd fired up instead of trying to get advertising revenue. I also agree that the PC tamping down of the student section hurts atmosphere. Half the delight of the Old Ralph was watching the creative ways the student section worked the game. I don't expect any changes because this has been discussed at length. We need Hockey leadership from the facility. For all of the complaining about the pro-hockey Athletic Department they don't seem to give a crap about game atmosphere.

Soft in front of the net is hard to watch. Not Sioux hockey. I have been disappointed in our D and of course our Goalie play.

That's one interpretation - I don't buy it, however. In order to believe that you would have to believe that not only did Karl not help him improve but he actually made him much worse. I suppose it's possible but not very probable. However what happened is a big mystery to me - just doesn't make sense.

Crap - now I have to listen to Bison fans for another year - although lately it has mostly just been crowing about how good they are and wanting to challenge Alabama. They think UND is so far beneath them that it isn't so much fun to mock us anymore. That's why I am so frustrated about this year. We could have shut them up a bit.

It certainly would have affected the trajectory of our program - renewed fan enthusiasm and attendance - a recruiting benefit, and probably given us momentum for some games we lost. We may have made the playoffs and with 2 losses the Bison would probably have been on the road for their semi-final game at least.

I'd prefer a "business" goalie

I just don't get how a seasoned goalie with his stats last year can come to a better program with perhaps the best goalie coach in college hockey and play like he has.

Would more money for the Football program help - absolutely. No Question. I have no insight into the Athletic Department budgeting process, but it seems that there are two main ways for Football to get more money - a rich donor (or many semi-rich donors) or sell more tickets. Since no deep pockets alumni seem to be stepping up we need more butts in the seats. Look at our attendance after the Bison fiasco - we have been on the cusp of capturing many more fans many times recently but it always seems to slip away - mainly because watching our team for the the last 14 years has been by and large a frustrating experience - first 6 years of Muss - then 6 years of watching Rudy call the plays - then this year. (I'm not saying there haven't been high spots, but not sustainable). If you don't think a winning program brings in more fans, look at Hockey during the last few years of Gino. Winning begats more money which in turn begats more winning. We seriously need more money in the program, but I'm not so sure that some donors worry that a richer Bubba for the next couple of years is the way to go.

Sorry - my question wasn't meant to be directed at you as much as a topic for general discussion - thanks for your reply

Totally agree with the need for a dominant O line. When you can impose your will on a team many good things happen. My point is that we don't seem to be winning the "chess match" that is O against D. I have seen almost all of the games in the past 6-7 years. Just off the top of your head, how many times have we seen the defense load the box with up to 8-9 people. Now, name a time in which we made anyone pay for overplaying. I can't. That is a big miss for our coaches and to me an indication of what needs to be improved in our program.

Agreed - For ambiance and staff I recommend the Toasted Frog - Skys is nice too - I like the bar side better than the dining side. I want Elly's Ivy to succeed but it has been a bit of a hot mess every time I have been there - staff is nice but mills about too much instead of taking care of customers. They need someone in charge. As for Harry's - I just can't get used to paying $40+ for a steak and then have to pay for a side and salad. Just charge me for the whole meal up front - I'm not sure why this irritates me so but it does. It reminds me of the "resort fee" tacked on to a room charge at Vegas. I also loved the Boot and wish we could have the equivalent here - I'd sacrifice a little of the pomp of Harrys for just a bit of the feel of the Boot. Hopefully Harry's will figure it out but they seem to be locked in to their business model.