star2city

Gabe: If you haven't already figured it out, "The Phoenix" is almost certainly a Bison fan who had already been been banned from this board and now choses to haunt this message board again with a different log-in name that "arose from the ashes".

Agree CWU and WWU are possibly opponents, but isn't the GNAC going back to double round-robin scheduling? With WOU, Humboldt, and Dixie, they would have 8 games.

Bellingham Herald: WWU Vikings believe in the system Vikings ready to use home-field advantage in football opener

You and I have no idea what the state's procedure is or whether Buning was on probation. Could NDSU defend how they treated George Ellis? The courts repeatedly said no. The judge said George Ellis won If you are looking for injustice, perhaps look within your own camp first. Come back when it's cleaned up.

UND92,96, As close as you are to the programs, you probably have many stories/rumors that validate your opinion. Most people don't have that luxury. When UND hired LtCol Buning, my first reaction was, "oh crap, just how will UND and GF culture be able to deal with an ex-military officer?" There's been innuendo strewn about his leadership practically since he arrived, including athletic department employees on this board. Some of it appeared directed at him because of sour grapes over Bollinger not being hired. Some of it appeared to be whining by employees and boosters because their sense of importance was displaced. I have heard second- and third-hand instances of leadership behavior that seemed to destroy, rather than build, trust so Buning's likely imminent departure really probably needed to happen. But there remains a strong perception, however unfair, that an small element within the Sioux booster community wanted him to fail even before he arrived because he wasn't one of "them". The question remains, how much of the "lack of trust" issue actually resides with Sioux boosters, who help create a distrustful environment even before Buning arrived? Buning may have failed as a leader, but we as an entire community bear a level of responsiblity.

So all-in-all, the AD situation is a positive, too.

The DII limit for men's BB and women's are both 10 (was men's reduced from 12 to 10?). Thought UND was at the DII limit for both, but it may depend upon the yearly situation. DI only allows 13 men's schollies, so I doubt UND will go to 14 unless it's an AD mixup. DI allows 15 women's BB schollies, which may be reduced to 13 also.

So by those requirements, Bollinger is out, but the ADs at Mayville State, Crookston, or Moorhead State qualify. Sure, UND may be able to attract an AD from an existing DI school, with pre-existing issues, like Northern Colorado, Montana State, Southern Utah, or Centenary. Otherwise, it's Assoc AD time again. Why go somewhere that has a repuation for career damage?

DI wasn't being talked about publicly, but believe me, the administration was privately discussing it and was weighing a decision. When Roger Thomas left the AD position, the decision to go DI had already effectively been made. A new AD was needed that would lead the DI change. The exploratory committee didn't even make a recommendation: Kupchella made the final decision himself.

The fourth interviewee was John McCarthy, athletic director at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. In the survey, Buning actually received reasonable scores on DI implementation, which IMHO was the primary reason for him being hired. One can only imagine his score if "other issues" hadn't lowered his standing. This has been posted before, but the Athletic Director of the Year, Tom Jurich of Louisville, was nearly run out of Louisville within his first few years because he dared to be bold and piss off a large base of vocal boosters. Answer: Florida and Louisville. Obviously, UND is not Louisville. But I do believe that Buning had a vision for UND that was much greater than what much of the UND athletic department and boosters could embrace or believe in.

What was WWU able to do last year to keep the UND game close? So far, WWU has beaten UC-Davis but were shellacked by UNO this past weekend.

Buning had the type of DI experience at West Point that UND apparently was looking for, which none of the other candidates possessed. Not sure how this would be considered "cheap". If the last AD hiring had a difficult time finding candidates, the next one could be even worse.

Owl mascot unsettling for members of tribe

For an open-air stadium: $62 mill for a 30,000 seats. For a retractable roof: double that? Schnellenberger pleased Owls 'back on course'

Buning had reported to Kupchella until this summer, when Harmeson became Buning's boss and Kupchella began spending more time fundraising. Harmeson was acting AD before Buning and has been UND's faculty representative to the WCHA and (formerly) to the NCC.

The future of the Summit may very well lie with this legislation: the Summit could very well have a difficult time maintaining its men's autobid unless the core status timing is reduced. This change could really open up women's basketball. The rule change would effectively prevent the SEC/Big Ten/B12/ACC/BE/Pac10 from "stashing" 144 high caliber women's players.

Have you been to a UND football game? If not, perhaps buy $10 tickets on a Tuesday for the Omaha game and report back your observations.

Rather interesting takes on Josh Morton from Bakken's Blog With his background in broadcasting, wonder if Mr. Morton will be taking on some broadcasting or coach's show responsiblities as part of a broadened job position.

Seattle U to add five sports as part of move to Division I Seattle U must have its funding situation well-in-hand to offer five additional sports: they were already at the minimum of 14 for DI non-football schools.

The question had earlier been raised about how many scholarships SUU offered: 62 (1 less than allowable) and 26 more than UND. Source: Salt Lake Tribune: SUU football Facing an uphill climb

The last time we played a school from Southern Alabama in freezing weather (Livingston St), we lost.

Toronto Globe&Mail: Super Series' success could spur faceoff with U.S.

Some of their players are: Three UW castoffs find home at Central Washington