dlsiouxfan

I find these result unbelievable. If this is followed through with it might as well be a death sentence for every other sport on campus other than hockey. It's unfathomable that a majority of the "stakeholders" in UND have decided that we are to become a second rate university in ND. I'm speechless.

When ndac and sdsu announced they were moving up UND was fresh off their first D-2 football national championship and were looking forward to future ones. Ndac and sdsu hadn't seen one in over a decade so the prospect of postseason ineligibility was trivial to them because they hadn't seen the postseason for that long anyways. Eventually feelings changed and most Sioux fans, alumni, administrators have crossed over into being D-2 proponents. Trust me if UND had partnered with the Ag college both would probably be in the Big Sky right now. SDSU can best be compared to a fat chick who hangs around her good- looking friends hoping some guy picks her up too.

Supposedly he's being honored next season at a basketball game with and honorary doctorate or something of that nature. The alumni association is trying to get him back for that.

If we have to change the name it's best we go without a nickname and let the current traditions continue to be carried on by the fans. It would be the ultimate defiant gesture towards the NCAA. If ten years from now the students and fans decide they want a nickname then they can adopt one then. Until then I say we remain simply the University of North Dakota. Besides Flickertails is awful and it's what other schools call us when they're poking fun at us and we should never be the Rough Riders because that pompous jackass Phil Jackson suggested it. I think it would be great if next year when he shows up at a basketball game to be honored we boo his ass right off the floor and remind him that people remember when you turn your back on where you came from.

That may be true, but it's a general feeling that at this point a game like this is very much desired by the program. We don't belong in D-2 anymore and this will be a good measuring stick to see what we need to do to get where we need to be. Speaking with the players they all seem very excited about it.

Like it or not as a college coach making sure your players behavior or attitudes doesn't negatively affect the team or your win- loss record is a big part of your job. It's your job as a coach to prevent atmospheres like what's going on with women's hockey from developing. If you can't control your team then you've just proven that you shouldn't be coaching. Players probably are a big part of why that team has stunk the last two seasons and off the field disruptions only made it worse, but the coach has to take the largest amount of blame. It's her job to get a team on the ice that wins games, if she can't do that no amount of excuses should allow her to keep her job.

Honestly it won't matter who went first five, ten fifteen years from now. I have to ask if we beat your ass on a level playing field five years from now will you still be clinging to the whole we went first thing? Exactly. Get over it. Who went first is immaterial, it's what you do after you move up that matters.

If Phil feels so strongly about changing the nickname then maybe he should use some of considerable amounts of cash to change some opinions here at the university. Until then we should continue to listen to alumni who actually give a dollar or two back to the university and respect their opinions regarding the nickname.

I don't understand how that statement in question can be construed as arrogant. UND has the largest enrollment in the North Dakota University system, the Ralph and the Al are two of the premier sports facilities in the state, and the Fighting Sioux network reaches homes throughout the area on satellite. UND moving to Division I was inevitable. We've already established ourselves as the crown jewel of the NDUS by becoming the premier academic institution in the state. We have an extremely wealthy alumni who love to support their university and their athletic teams. Who's jealous of who?

Fact is five years from now it won't matter who moved up first and for what reasons. If in five years we're both D-1 and we're kicking your ass like we did in D-2 none of this will matter. Like it or not we're coming, hope you're not scared.

Women's basketball was in the black and football has been in the past, but due to a very poor deal with the Alerus Center came up red this year.

Part of that tradition has been having the premier athletic program in the state of North Dakota and getting the best local talent. That tradition is diminished if our athletes are soon unfairly labeled as "leftovers" or "Bison Rejects". For example, it wasn't long ago that UM-Crookston won the national Division II hockey title. Did you care? There names were etched on a trophy too, but it doesn't matter if no one cares to read them.

Agreed

The two go hand in hand. Without college athletics many alumni don't feel motivated to donate. College sports gives alumni something to take part in and stay connected to the university through. I think you'd see far less donations to academic interests if alumni didn't maintain their allegiance through college athletics. Collge athletics is about prestige and a poor athletic program reflects badly on the university as a whole. Look at George Mason for example, I read an article in USA today that they're expecting a record freshmen enrollment next fall and that interest in their school by high school students as risen dramatically with their NCAA tournament run. College athletics add in many areas that aren't always tangible when it comes to the balance sheet.

Just my personal opinion as a student I wouldn't mind paying an increased athletic fee to fund a Division I move. I dont' know how it will go over with the rest of the student body since we're going through a time where more and more costs are being lumped on students. I wouldn't mind paying this fee since it goes to something I appreciate and get something out of compared to some of the other fees (ex. ConnectND) which seem like gigantic wastes of money.

What this does is give both of these highly qualified individuals a chance to compete for the position this spring. They both will get a shot to prove themselves as the DC and it's better to do something like this during spring ball as opposed to fall camp. Expect one of the two to be named defensive coordinator after spring ball is over.

Anybody else catch the Dakota Student yesterday. Front page of the sports section there is a story where three current un-named women's hockey players badmouth Rivard and one even suggest that she needs to be fired. It really sheds light on what a mess that program really is. It probably was the second most embarassing thing for UND aside from the whole School of Communication fiasco in the paper yesterday. It's time to cut our losses we need to seriously consider cleaning house in that program. Get rid of coaches, players, assistants, everybody or scrap the whole idea and just drop the program.

When you speak of Bohl leading the bison to some great wins over the past few years other than the Montana game what wins are you actually speaking of. If you're talking about his wins over sdsu, UC-Davis, and Northern Colorado then I guess I don't understand what the big deal is and how beating these teams is suddenly greater at the I-AA level than at the division 2 level. Other than the Montana game when has he ever won a big game or a game the bison weren't favored to win. He always loses to Cal Poly, he couldn't beat the Sioux in the final rivalry game even though his team was heavily favored, his team lost in St. Cloud to miss the playoffs in the last season they were eligible to be in the playoffs, and he lost to Montana State. All of his big wins are against former D-2's and mediocre to bottom feeder I-AA's. I'm sorry but I don't see what the big fuss is about.

As much as you may despise it basketball is a bigger sport on the national level and within the state of North Dakota than hockey ever will be. A successful D-I mid- major basketball program at either UND or ndsu would be a bigger draw than our hockey program.

Actually UNO pretty much has a monopoly on all of the talent that there isn't room for in Lincoln hence a lot of players who should be playing I-AA but don't have the opportunity because it's either full blown D-I or D-II and plus have the advantage of recruiting in some larger population areas than we have. Grand Valley recruits is in the fifth most populated state I believe and thus has a large area to recruit from. Not only that they've adopted the strategy employed by most Division I-AA schools by continuing to receive transfers from all of the area I-A schools. In a state like North Dakota we lack some of the advantages other schools in high population areas have. We've made up for it by offering the highest quality of football outside of the University of Minnesota and Wisconsin and have gotten kids who were snubbed by these two. If NDSU is soon viewed as the best school in the area after these two they'll start getting all of the talent and we'll suffer for it by not getting the talented players we were once getting.

One of the big reasons we've had the success at the Division II level we've had is because we've been able to get Division I level talent here at UND because of the distance between us and Division I schools. If we don't move up the quality of our atheletic teams will drop as these kids head to other programs. People are even less likely to support a mediocre division II team then they are a mediocre division I team. Case in point look at the past few recruiting classes for the men's basketball team. Look at this year's recruiting class for football. The fact is if we lose every kid we go up against ndsu and SDSU for we'll start seeing poor results on the playing field when we play the UNO's and Grand Valley's of the division II world. This isn't a question of maintaining the status quo. It's a choice between taking a risk and possibly moving forward or not and choosing to regress.

Yes, corporate sponsorship dollars is one area where we'll start to lose out if we remain division II, but UND and ndsu also compete for North Dakota sports fans who have no strong allegiance to either of the universities. There are far more of these at the Ralph or the Al on a given weekend than us diehards and if we start losing these people we'll be playing to empty arenas and hurting in the pocketbook. Also, it isn't so far fetched to see the Division I label start turning allegiances. Just look at some of the recent signings. I know a few of these kids grew up lifelong Sioux fans and now they'll be suiting up for the bison. People in this state also want to support a program they feel is on the way up and right now watching the bison on compete on the national stage against the likes of Wisconsin and Minnesota is winning people over faster than our teams continuing their excellence at Division II.

These studies must be taken with a grain of salt when talking about UND's move up. UND is in a unique situation where remaining a D-II will further hurt the bottom line and lead to increased expenses. We're currently in a situation where it is extremely expensive for us to fill out our schedule. We have either spend more on travel or give out generous guarantees just to put together a quality schedule. We have a D-IAA program south of us that if we don't move up a division and choose to compete with will cut in to our fan base and lead to diminished attendance and donations to our Division II athletic programs. We leave a substantial amount of revenue on the table in our big money sport- hockey by continuing to remain a Division II. These studies also fail to factor in the increased donations that would come with a Division I move every other school has seen increased donations since announcing their moves and UND would experience the same. We're leaving a lot of money on the table by continuing to wait with this. Kupchella needs to make this move or we need to can him and get someone who will.

Johnny Royale your are correct NDSU would have an advantage right now if the two schools were to play and they should they do have 25 more scholarships. The fact is a lot of the guys on UND's team this year were Division I-AA and a few Division I-A level players. If in ten years both schools are still in their respective divisions then we'll start to see some disparity. The other fact is that in the past with a level playing field between the two schools UND has taken it to the Bison. If UND moves up this year it won't matter who moved up first or second all that will matter is who's winning and don't be surprised if in 5 years we're the one who's consistently winning and beating you.

Joe Mays and the rest of the Bison middle linebackers should be fighting over who gets to carry Digger's jock. He's got a legitimate shot at the next level. Joe might get to watch him play on Sunday's next year.