Irish

Overshadowed by the locker room mess is the fact we are 6-0 at home and 1-4 on the road.

To recap - UND Football has been wandering in the wilderness for over 10 years while the knuckleheads to our south have had unprecedented success. We have had one shot so far at the playoffs and it was a self-inflicted fiasco. Now we have gotten in again after an up and down season. If we put together a full game from everyone we could make some noise. We really need to establish ourselves as a relevant program both for fans and recruiting. We have a multi-million dollar athletic department budget. Yet, rather than bid $20,000 more (it wouldn't have even taken that) we are sending our team that is 6-0 at home and 1-4 on the road to Louisiana to dress in tents. Not a recipe for success. I hear Ira very accurately tell us that we need to support this program with dollars. Yet here I am giving about as much as I can and wondering if any money I give (Captains Club and season tickets in two sports - one is football) will make a difference at all. Winning starts at the top and I am frustrated. Fans have a right to complain.

You are correct that special teams play has been an asset this year (and a pleasant surprise). Apparently there is is still some heartburn from watching us get punts stuffed in seasons past. Hopefully he has the upside that you mention and can continue to grow and contribute. I would mention, however, that being a good recruiter he should look for some stronger legs for our kicking game.

You are 100% correct. I am very happy to make the playoffs. However, watching the last two home games I did not see an assignment sharp team. When they put it together they play good ball. Past time to gain some game focus.

Stop whatever that extremely loud pyrotechnic bang is - way too loud and extremely annoying.

Always satisfying to beat Clown. Now let's hang a 5 spot on them tomorrow and then on to sweep the gophs. A nice start to the season.

Nothing would make me happier than if we hammer the Clowns.

After seeing the student section last game I see absolutely no reason why I shouldn't be able to move more towards the middle next season - except for a stubborn AD.

Good point about the defense.

It makes sense, but I think it is the wrong approach. Sure, we lost Jost after 1. But how about the contributions of Parise, Boesser, Oshie, Schmaltz, Nelson, and the rest? We would have had no where near the success without our high enders. No one is suggesting that we go full BU, but having blue chippers in the mix is a very positive thing.

Of course you know that no one is saying that at all. If we need to play someone to make this season a success, by all means let's do that. But to burn a game just to have him come in for one play and hand the ball off makes absolutely no sense. If we needed his skills this game in order to win, then great - let's play him. But one hand-off??

Bubba is not known for his astute game management.

I agree that chemistry is very important - I would include in my definition of chemistry having the right skill sets on each line - ones that complement each other and make each player better. Reading about Janatuien's struggles last year made the second half of last year a bit more understandable. As to the theme of "a bunch of duds" - if you watched us absolutely struggle to put the puck in the net while almost every other team in the league seemed better up front it is easy to understand. We added some key pieces this year and I don't underestimate the power of a determined off season. As to rock stars - don't forget that during our championship season we had a first line of NHL ready talent. Do you think we would have won it without Boesser and Schmaltz? Remember, we narrowly got by Denver in the semis - saved in the final seconds by Schmaltz. It seems to me that we have changed our recruiting a bit - we are more enamored with finding the next Caggula (under the radar high end talent who stays for 4 years) and less with getting in the next Toews, Parise, Oshie, or Boesser. I think this is the harder path as it is much more difficult to figure out who has great potential and is flying under the radar (especially with younger and younger players being signed. Just look at our young signees who didn't end up here for next year's class) than it to figure out the impact of a Boesser or Parise. With our pipeline to the NHL, fans, tradition, and facilities there should be no reason we don't get high end studs on a regular basis. I hope to see some added to the next couple of classes.

When we had the Caggjula, Schmaltz, Boesser magic and won #8 I was almost positive that recruiting studs up front going forward would be a big positive for our program. I'm not sure how it turned into an area of concern just a few years out. Berry needs to up his recruiting chops.

True, but by that logic there is no sense discussing anything on this board since it won't make anything change. And I have emailed the Ralph.

Well excuuuuse me for daring to mention that they could possibly make better use of the new video screen with more things involving the hockey game to fire up the crowd and fewer commercials.

You correct in pointing out that the players play the game. However, I was commenting on Bubba'b body of work - coaches influence culture, attitude, execution, among many other things. Head coaches control everything from who they recruit to what schemes they run to how they run practice and how the chemistry is in the locker rooms. Some coaches have the ability to produce teams that seldom make mistakes, execute well, and don't beat themselves. They show up for big games and often find ways to win. I don't include Bubba in this group. He's not at the bottom either. He is what his record says he is - a .500 coach.

With Bubba it's not just the losses - it's how we lose. We usually don't show up for one or two cupcakes each season and then piss games away against the good teams. A frustrating loss for sure today.

I agree with this - I'm not saying the big screen is the main problem - just saying it's not helping at all.

More things to keep the crowd fired up about the game - replaying good hits and plays (not just the goals), maybe coordinating cheers like the sieve chant, coordinating with the band. It seems like every time the action stops, especially after a good Sioux shift, the crowd attention and energy is instantly drawn to some advertising "race" up on the screen. I think they need to work on ways to get the crowd cheering and on their feet rather than chasing ad dollars. I miss the crowd and energy of the Old Ralph where the whole arena was into it. In my opinion, much of what is on the screen takes away from the crowd energy rather that adding to it. After all the great plays last night I can't think of one time the crowd was on their feet and loud during a break in the action. I'm sure if the focus changed from getting ad dollars many good ideas would come up.

It's fantastic to watch replays - however, most of the other time is spent broadcasting stupid advertising games and being used as a crowd dance cam. They could make so much better use of this technology.

The new video screen is nice for replays but otherwise seem to function broadcasting stupid advertising games or as a crowd dance cam. Not impressed with its use.

I saw three things tonight that I hadn't seen a lot of for the past few years They hit some corners with their shots They got some odd man rushes and breakaways They made the other team pay for taking penalties If we can keep this up against better teams we will have a good season.

Izzo has made a career of being the ultimate Bison lickspittle.

Or perhaps a bit of both. I know it is a trend that is coming everywhere - I just don't like it. I can live with going through for a concert but a craft show?