star2city

Back in the days, supposedly there was going to be an I96 or I98 going west from Duluth. There have been additional interstates that have been approved or pushed recently - especially in the South. I26 was just extended north from Asheville NC through the mountains and into Virginia. A new interstate is connecting Birmingham and Memphis. There also talk of a new parallel interstate to I10 from the Georgia coast into Texas, as I10 is susceptible to being cut off in multiple locations from Hurricanes (I10 was cut off for an extended time at Pensacola bay). A lot of states upgrade their heavily traveled non-interstate roads into limited access highways. With all the truck traffic, that probably needs to happen between Minot and WIlliston. It would be interesting to know how many jobs Bakken has created in this country. Cities with oil and oil service company headquarters, like Houston, Denver, and Oklahoma City, have gained a lot of jobs due to the Bakken. Also, some industries, like heavy transportation, makers of rail cars, rail tankers, piping, instrumentation, ceramic, pumps, electrical equipment are all in boom times because of oil / nat gas industries and in converting nat gas liquids into plastics like polyethlyene and polypropylene (the plastic industry had just about abandoned the US when nat gas prices were high). Of course, its not just Bakken, but numerous other places like Eagle Ford (Texas), Barnett (Texas), Wattenberg (Colorado), Unitah (Utah), Marcellus (WV/Pa), and soon, Utica (Ohio). The oil / gas industry may be the one industry that is preventing the US from becoming Europe.

Good luck to the Jacks the rest of the way!

Montana newspapers giving a lot of press to the Bakken: Kalispell Daily Interlake: Area Contractors tap into Bakken Building frenzy http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_73b1b612-2933-11e1-87c4-001871e3ce6c.html Billings Gazette: Billings companies busy supporting Bakken boom http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/billings-companies-busy-supporting-bakken-oil-boom/article_8004f278-00d9-500f-9c84-549318d6f3cd.html

We really should have started an annual game years ago, with Toews, Zajac, etc. etc, before the Jets "returned". Now, with the Jets back, the Sioux are not as large of a media story.

Los Angeles Times: North Dakota flood victims still await aid http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-dakota-flood-20111217,0,5126853.story

Name one at the FCS level that was worse .....

In another 10 years, Highway 2 between Minot and Williston may be the key economic and political corridor in the state. Not just Williston and Minot will see growth, but a number of smaller towns like Stanley, Tioga, Berthold may become the size of Wahpeton. Hard to imagine that just five or six years ago, NW ND was practically an economic basket case. The reign of Imperial Cass may be over after the 2020 redistricting. Kalispell: Oil's booms ripples reach Flathead Valley http://www.dailyinte...1871e3ce6c.html

The UND-NDSU volleyball game was on a Tuesday evening and drew a record college volleyball crowd (2400) for ND. Students actually showed up. They will show up for an NDSU game, as the game will be free and won't interfere with their party nights. Basketball will attract a lot more fans than volleyball. Unless the weather is really bad, the game will attract at least 8000. Fans on both sides want to see UND vs NDSU.

No question that this is a bad mark on the program. But stating this will linger and give plenty of fodder for a long long time? NDSU's Best Buy scandal, as well as their pot dealer and DUIs was just two years ago. The Best Buy scandal was one of the more egregious scandals in FCS of all time. But where is NDSU football today?

Beasley was only at UND for two years. Players like Mustard and Guldseth had even higher community connections.

Road game performances - generally very good Home game performances - not so good. Friday evening party issues prior to home games? It's been speculated on before.

Liberty studying move to FBS http://www.sportsnet...aspx?id=4457605 With 50,000+ online students, as well as 20,000 on campus, and their stadium going to 30,000 seats, they move up if given the opportunity..

The fans currently attending men's basketball and even football are basically the hard-core fans, and that's about it. When UND starts playing in the Big Sky, attendance could go up 30-50% by doing nothing, just because the games become meaningful. If UND starts consistently winning, attendance could go up by 100%. Look at women's volleyball as an example. Prior to Hardee, attendance was lucky to be 300, Now averaging around 900. In the Big Sky next year, average attendance could go over 1000, as an NCAA berth will be on the line. Look at women's hockey as another example. Prior to the twins, attendance was around 600. Now averaging over 2000. Next year, when the team has even more depth and experience (and hopefully an even higher win %), maybe 3000 is possible. Sioux fans connect with the Lammy twins, with Hardee's attitude, and with Roebuck's drive. That helps all three of those sports. Women's basketball actually has rather good attendance in comparison to regional schools - largely due to residual goodwill about Roebuck (NDSU's women basketball attendance, by comparison, has dropped like a rock). In football, Sioux fans formerly felt highly connected to Lennon and certain players, like Dressler. The problem for football and men's basketball is that neither Mussman or Jones have really made an authentic connection with Sioux fans. No amount of marketing will correct that. Men's basketball does have a chance to make a major connection with Sioux fans this year: beat the Bison in front of a huge crowd.

A while back on another forum, you agreed with a Bisonville fan that both of you would never step foot again in Grand Forks because of how horrible our fan base is. Guess you forgot about that oath? Really, though, I think you'd have been welcomed with open arms. The people that run into issues are the ones spouting "Sioux Suck Sh**t" as their main conversation pieces, but then wonder why they get treated differently.

Apparently, the Old Dominion AD has been on Norfolk radio stating that talks are underway in New York City to start a new FBS league. The league would likely include: FIU FAU Ga Southern Ga State Charlotte Appalachian St Old Dominion James Madison Delaware maybe Towson or Liberty Technically, the NCAA doesn't allow a new FBS league can't just spring up from mostly FCS teams. But with all the realignment, leagues like the Sun Belt or the WAC could just become a shell of their former self that these schools could then occupy.

Sac St AD Terry Wanless had an interview several months ago, where he stated something to the effect that Sac St can't generate rivalries in the Big Sky, and that a league with more California schools would be a big bonus for them. Personally, can't believe that Sac St would have voted to include UCDavis and Cal Poly in football unless Sac State also received assurance that if it was ever offered Big West membership, that it could obtain the same deal. Sac State can't generate interest in the Bball program and the program is made even less interesting by playing non-California schools. Having Sac State in the Big Sky doesn't really make the Big Sky any money - and certainly not from broadcasting rights which was the original hope when adding them. So the bottom line IMHO is that Sac St will be let go on their terms if they get a Big West offer. That's one of the reasons that the Sky wanted UND and USD, as the Big Sky finally threw in the towel on their California experiment. (The Big Sky added Cal St-Northridge and Sac St when Idaho and Boise left). The problem for Sac State is that the Big West doesn't necessarily want them either.The Sacramento market is already covered in the Big West by UC-Davis. What the Big West wants is San Jose St, as it doesn't have any presence in the Bay Area. The Big West adding SDSU is also causing a lot of concern at UC-San Diego, as their hopes to go DI seemingly have gone down the toilet with the SDSU move. http://www.signonsan...-room-ucsd-too/

UND would rarely ever travel there. Maybe as the inaugural game for the program, but that's about it. If MSUM is still $7 million short, and most of the big money FM donors have already made commitments, that's a lot of $100s to raise.

The next major infrastructure challenge in the Bakken looks to be schools: District 8, the rural school district that surrounds the city of Williston, will likely see its enrollment quadruple next year (600 more students) due to new developments coming on line. http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2011/12/14/news/doc4ee78758481d3948475829.txt Williston itself is expecting up to 1200 new students next fall http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2011/12/02/news/doc4ed9035bbd547181020048.txt Watford City as well as other Bakken towns will likely continue to see substantial enrollment growth, too.

The Big Sky would still be at 10 members (13 football): no need to unless Montana and MSU left. Depends on what happens with Idaho and the WAC. Sac St football would likely stay in the Big Sky, with the rest of their sports moving to the Big West.

San Diego St should practically be a lock for the Big West men's autobid. The Big East is also going to schedule SDSU four times/ season, so that should help their RPI. The Big West is actually a very good conference in certain things, like volleyball, soccer, baseball, softball. Moving to the Big West will also save SDSU a fortune in flight costs for their Olympic teams, as most of the Big West is in the LA metro area. They'll probably actually save on travel with the Big East/Big West combo, compared to the MWC. Does the Big West now go to 12 schools? If so, Sacramento State might be moving on from the Big Sky. San Jose St would get the nod over Sac State, but SJSU needs somewhere to put their football team.

Looks like MSU-Moorhead is approaching the $30 million mark. Still needs $7 million more to meet goal and announce a team. If that goal isn't reached within a couple of months, sounds like the idea will be dropped. Still, that is impressive. NDSU has been trying to raise $30 million for seemingly forever for their BSA remodeling. Guess hockey can pull in money in the FM area ahead of all other sports in spite of all the Bizon talk about how worthless hockey is and no one cares about it. http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/343904/group/Sports/

No way to get around this: Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and Burlington Northern Sante Fe are huge beneficiaries of the Keystone Decision, adding hundreds of millions annually to their profits and Buffett is a huge donor to this administration. Investment U: Bakken Boom and Keystone Decision will make railroads hugely profitable http://www.investmentu.com/ Investor's Business Daily: Buffett's Bakken Boom http://news.investors.com/article/591960/201111161602/Billionaire-Buffetts-Bakken-Boom.htm In the meantime, Iran begins war games to close the Strait of Hormuz http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2011/12/13/oil-irans-hormuz-strait-threats-could-wreak-global-economic-havoc/ Why the Keystone Pipeline isn't approved just based on national defense is mind boggling.

Let's follow the money trail on this stopping Keystone decision. What industry benefits most by stopping the Keystone pipeline? Railroads (A number of railroad sidings are being built in western ND that will load unit trains of oil.) What railroad benefits most by stopping Keystone? Burlington Northern Sante Fe - will gain hundreds of millions in profits annually Who owns Burlington Northern Santa Fe now? Berkshire Hathaway Who is the primary owner of Berkshire Hathaway? Warren Buffett Who is a major donor to the current administration's reelection? Warren Buffett Who often obtains private meetings in the White House? Warren Buffett Who was sponsoring the Nebraska environmental groups? Warren Buffett Which is the more hazardous form of transportation: railroads or pipelines? Railroads, by far. Now, you have the rest of the crony capitalism story. http://www.americant...capitalism.html

Sounds like this might be happening. It would certainly end an era. Roebuck is the last carryover from DII days. With the talent coming in, WBB days are getting brighter and Roebuck will have that recruiting legacy. Brewster seemingly came back as the heir apparent, so there likely won't be major adjustments.

This team is regressing. It might even struggle to stay ahead of Houston Baptist for fourth place in the Great West. NJIT is actually rather decent (took Oakland to OT on the road), and Utah Valley is the class of the league. 12 or 13 wins, max, unless some major adjustments are done.