star2city

The following story has been making the rounds of the Associated Press. Since the link probably won't last, the entire story is posted below. If the legislature gets involved in this, by the same logic, they should mandate which NCAA division that the schools should be in, which they didn't do last session. Hot air and political posturing IMHO.

Here's the latest standings in the USSA Director's Cup, what used to be the Sears Cup. UND scored in football, volleyball, and soccer, and will almost certainly score points in Men's Hockey, W BB, and both men's and women's swimming. Just a couple of comments: Grand Valley's sports program has really steppped up, as well as the whole GLIAC. The appearance of UCSD, which rivals UCLA and Cal-Berkeley academically, and Truman State on this list are testaments that Div II is not second-rate academically. Finally, an issue with Div II is that two important Div II conferences, California's and Florida's (both N. Florida and W. Florida are significant DII schools), do not sponsor DII football. DII football gets hurt without having conference advocates in these two important recruiting states. 1 Grand Valley State 2 California State- Chico 3 California-San Diego 4 Adams State 5 Massachusetts-Lowell 5 Truman State 7 Harding (Ark.) 8 North Alabama 9 Edinboro (Pa.) 10 North Dakota 10 Western State 16 SDSU 18 NDSU 38 Concordia 38 Nebraska-Omaha 41 Minnesota State-Mankato 52 Minnesota-Duluth 52 South Dakota 54 Winona State 71 Augustana

The following quotes, from the Aberdeen News-American, on the cablecast of UND sports over the Mid-Continent Cable system are quite enlightening, especially considering the South Dakota interview source and the candid answers of the MidContinent executive.

O&M Sioux: Congratulations on making a mighty fine choice of the Fighting Sioux as your #2 team! I've worked with a number of Hokie/Gobbler graduates and as they have all been down-to-earth, hard-working types, I find it hard not to favor the orange and maroon. What VaTech has done in athletics in the last 20 years, moving from the Metro to the A-10 (?) to the Big East and now to the ACC, has been nothing short of phenomenal. I can't imagine what the excitement will be like in Blacksburg next year. As far as the Bison moving to Div I, keep in mind their football will be IAA level. Major issues for them will be getting a conference affiliation for non-football sports, the five year probation period in all sports except men's basketball, and the 13-year probation period for men's b-ball. If UND had an open invitation to a decent Div I mid-major conference and there was not a 13 year wait for men's basketball post-season appearances, I think the UND adminstration would much more seriously consider a DI move. In the mean time UND's facilities will be constantly upgraded with revenue generated from the hockey program. Go Hokies! Go Sioux !!!

From the Winnipeg Sun, here are a couple of interesting articles on Leo Ledohowski, Canad Inns owner, and his expansion into Grand Forks: Grand Forks, grander vision 'Starting to get exciting'

BS1234: Maybe you should check some facts before you post. St. Mary's is not a full scholarship team, even though they are IAA. Ferris St. has more scholarships and would be a heavy favorite in any meeting between the two. Out of 699 teams, Massey Ratings have Ferris State at #164 while St. Mary's was at #365. A IAA label does not imply high quality, as you will be witnessing in the next few years.

UND92,96 or Corella probably can give a much better answer than me. I would expect her to receive some Div I interest, but probably not at a Big 10 or Big 12 level.

Nodakvindy: You make some good points. Since the Alerus can be variously configured up to 10,000 or so for basketball, with curtains for noise containment, I've wondered if that wouldn't be a better venue for higher attendance conference games. Politically, building the Betty larger probably wouldn't have been popular within the city as it would have been considered duplication.

A regular season women's BB Gopher vs. Sioux game in 2005 or 2006 would have a decent chance of exceeding 10,000 at the Ralph, IMO. It would be a Kelly Roysland vs Ashley Langen repeat of Minnesota Region 8 finals of the last three years. If UND could sign Kayla Bagaason of Fosston next year, that would make it even more interesting.

I think one of the issues for going to a 5500-6000 seat arena is that design scaleup is not linear in terms of cost/seat. A 6000 seat arena would probably be nearly double the cost of the Betty, so a $16-20 million expansion was too much of a stretch for the REA to finance at this time. With next year's men's team as deep as it will, a much more successful winning season with higher attendance also probably played a part in choosing venues. Also, with the 2005 championships at the Ralph, having more game experience within the Ralph may also have played a factor. I do wonder, however, if the Betty's ends could be expanded to make a horseshoe or true oval at a later time. From a non-UND basketball view, the Betty will be used for other events, like smaller concerts, exhibit space (i.e. during the World Juniors), and high school tournaments (with the Ralph/Alerus). I'm sure the REA management knows of ways to turn a buck.

This article, When sport is sullied by vulgarity, we all lose seems especially germane:

Wyobisonman: Name one in the last thirty days that was downright crude. For each one here , there would be thirty crude references to UND on the Bisonville. But you probably have a different view of maturity and civility. Bisonmav: There is a difference between being negative and being crude. Posting repeatedly 6-18 months ago about the difficulty of NDSU (or UND for that matter) would have in getting any sort of all-sports conference affiliation should be classified as hate speech to your ears, right?

Tony: I respect both you and Jim Dahl for the time and effort that both of you must but into your respective sites, but good grief, even with the happy face after your comment, at least 50% of posts on your site are hard-core snipes at UND. To any reasonable Bison fan, it is an embarrassment to your institution. Corella's comment was tame and rational, with no name-calling. You guys must have skins thinner than grapes, no wonder why there is so much fermenting and whining over there. Have you considered changing Bisonville's name to "Griping about UND not doing what NDSU wants" or "UND-Envy-ville" or "Bisonvile?" If you passive-aggressively complain about a few NDSU jabs on this site, at least act with some conviction on your own site about the reverse issue. Seriously, Jim Dahl has shown the maturity and vision to make this site a signficant attribute to the UND community. I would hope I could say the same thing about Bisonville in time.

Karla Beck from Starkweather-Munich has according to this GFH report, verballed to the Sioux.

I wouldn't want to bet on that. Have you ever checked out the Bisonville board?

Two rhetorical questions for Sioux and Bison fans alike: Has UND's decision not to pursue Division I reclassification at this time been driven by ego or emotion? In light of NDSU's 2004-5 conference alignment and, as of today, single home game 2004 football season (when most schools have 90% of their schedule committed), is it possible that Carr Associates "fully understood what" could occur?

What is your view on Nebraska-Kearney? Some time ago, their AD was a quoted on this board as not being interested in the NCC, even though they view UNO as a rival. Do you view Wayne State more than UNK as a rival? What school(s) do you think will next be added to the Mid-Con next?

Even any remote chance that USD had for the playoff's is being blown by the games with DivIII Wis-LaCrosse and provisional Div II Upper Iowa. Apparently, NCC vs Great Northwest games do not start until 2005.

From the Mankato Website, the first NCC schedule has been released. No surprise that the UND-Mankato game is at the Alerus. Having both Northern Iowa and Upper Iowa on their schedule is an eye-opener, but then MSU probably has no illusions about getting in the playoffs as those two games will kill their point ratings. They've also been loading up on JC transfers, based on another of their releases. 2004 Minnesota State Footall Schedule Date Opponent Time Location Aug. 25 Bemidji State 6:30 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Sept. 4 Oklahoma Panhandle State TBA Goodwell, Okla. Sept. 11 Northern Iowa TBA Cedar Falls, Iowa Sept. 18 Concordia (St. Paul) 6:30 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Sept. 25 St. Cloud State* 1:00 p.m. St. Cloud, Minn. Oct. 2 Minnesota Duluth* 6:00 p.m. Duluth, Minn. Oct. 9 South Dakota!* 1:00 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Oct. 16 Upper Iowa 1:00 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Oct. 23 North Dakota* TBA Grand Forks, N.D. Oct. 30 Augustana* 1:00 p.m. Mankato, Minn. Nov. 6 Nebrasaka-Omaha* Noon Mankato, Minn.

Somebison: You make a good point about some UND basketball revenue being included as revenue by the Ralph. However, if Teammakers contributed 1.4 million to the Bison last year, where is this accounted for? Both schools receive about 2 million in state revenue for their athletic programs, so by simple math it seems some of that Teammaker money went direct as "football revenue". There is no way NDSU grossed $1 mill in 2002 in football ticket sales as a good fraction of their tickets were reduced price or free student tickets. Remember your 2002 end-of-season "crowds" of 5000? Since Div I expenses will add $1.5 -2 million a year in expenses and the state will absolutely not chip in more money, NDSU will need to nearly double its revenue from ticket sales/Teammakers/student fees. That is not an easy task. My comments about the football schedule were tongue-in-cheek, but be prepared for Northern Sun teams (Crookston ). legend334: My point is that the Ralph is not a state-subsidized facility like the Hyslop or the BSA. It has to make money to cover its expenses, as pointed out in today's GFH editorial. I'm not sure what your points have been, other than cynically implying the Ralph's financials are not above board. Do you actually think UND athletics is worse off with the Ralph and Alerus? As Clayton Hoyt pointed out, there would be no Betty being built without the Ralph and more facility improvements will be coming because of the Ralph. Why would the athletic department move its last revenue producers to the Ralph if it wasn't in its best interest?

Also, to comment on Somebison’s link on athletic department revenues. UND and NDSU are using what appears to be entirely different methods of listing revenue. For example, NDSU appears to place Teammaker revenue directly in a sport, while Fighting Sioux Club revenue is placed in “Not allocated by sport”. NDSU’s revenue from “Not allocated by sport” is almost certainly state funding of coaches salaries, while UND’s figure in the same category includes FSC revenue and state funding. Much of the FSC revenue is due to seat licenses from the Ralph. Also, it is highly doubtful that $759,280 in revenue was generated by ticket sales or out-right donations to UND womens’ teams other than basketball. For Title IX purposes, some of the reimbursement from the Ralph is likely credited to womens’s hockey team. UND Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . Men's Teams . . . . Women's . . . Total Basketball . . . . .$183,524 . . . . . . $178,648 . . .$362,172 Football . . . . . . .$446,354 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $446,354 Other Sports . . .$855,116 . . . . . .$759,280 . . . $1,614,396 Total Revenues . .$1,484,994 . . . . $937,928 . . . $2,422,922 Not allocated by sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,929,708 Grand Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,352,630 NDSU Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . Men's Teams . . . . Women's . . . Total Basketball . . . . $300,092 . . . . . . $284,849 . . . $584,941 Football . . . . . .$1,216,824 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,216,824 Other Sports. . $245,846 . . . . . . .$383,173 . . . $629,019 Total Revenues $1,762,762 . . . . . $668,022 . . . $2,430,784 Not allocated by sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,054,206 Grand Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,484,990 To me, the most interesting question is how NDSU will be able to increase the total revenue level to UND's level with no additional revenue generating sport, a small number of home football games, and no sold-out UND/NDSU games?

legend334 - Just a few comments on the Ralph and Alerus deals with UND Athletics from someone who is neither a lawyer nor an accountant. On the Ralph-UND deal, as agreed upon with the State of North Dakota, UND cannot subsidize the Ralph’s operations, including employees’s salaries (which is non-trivial with about 30 full-time employees) , utilities (the Ralph actually ‘pays’ UND for steam and the electricity to run compressors to make ice is not cheap), insurance, maintenance, and capital expenditures. In contrast, costs associated with the upkeep and operation of the Hyslop or Bison Sports Arena are all charged to general university accounts and are not reflected in athletic budgets. The true cost of running an athletic department's facilities are much higher at any university than what is reflected by the athletic budget. Any charges by the Ralph to the U are more than offset by the returned dollars. The State of ND is not providing a free ride on the Ralph’s costs, and IMHO the UND athletic department is very much benefitting from the Ralph (greatly increased seat license fees) and from visionary Ralph management who do not have to answer to university or state politicos. UND benefits both financially and publicity-wise from events such as the World Juniors. Also, once the “Betty” is paid for, there is likely to be additional facilities for non-revenue generating sports that will financed by the Ralph. As far as the Alerus deal, football attendance is up compared with Memorial Stadium as season tickets and late-season single tickets are much more easily sold (and at a higher price.). Also, considering that several thousand students get in for free to the Alerus, it is not as good of a deal to the Alerus as it seems at first glance. The Alerus was the major beneficiary of $27.50 tickets to the UND/NDSU game, not the athletic department. Just like the Ralph deal, the Alerus-UND deal is a win-win situation for both parties.

Info from this article, Tommies disavow interest in NCC, effectively eliminates St. Thomas as a potential NCC candidate. Last week's vote allowing Colorado College (among others) to continue to compete in Div I hockey eliminated CC as a candidate. The three remaining most logical candidates, Concordia-St. Paul, Winona St., and Nebraska-Kearney, are all at least several years from a move. With only seven teams, the six conference FB and 12 confernce BB games next year become even more important.

Ironically, the Grand Valley now Central Michigan coach may beat us out again. From allcanadagridion:

There definitely has been less info on internet bulletin boards such as Minnesotapreps and Wisconsinpreps. There are probably more athletes in the Twin Cities and Denver areas that are being recruited than have been reported here. Canadian recruiting has definitely been stepped up by all appearances. NDSU's recruiting effort especially contrasts with last year, as there has been no "noise" in the Chicago area yet. They may be emphasizing the JC ranks much more, but as of today their effort seems like a stealth campaign. Their new staff may not have Babich's strength: recruiting ability.