BobIwabuchiFan

Ouch! Nice to see someone check their facts as opposed to keeping the ones they want....

Why does this always have to be about the BB or FB programs and not about all of UND athletics? The nickname and logo have consequence for all of the programs and it will have a negative effect on all programs if it is finally removed...Try being a fan for all of UND, instead of just your chosen favorite programs... BobIwabuchiFan

When was the last time the Engelstad held a business convention? I think the two facilities have different roles in the community...One is a convention center that can be used as an athletics facility and one is primarily a hockey arena for the Fighting Sioux...to compare the two and say one could have sufficed versus the other is comparing apples to oranges in my mind.

You and your ilk have gotten your wish and the Sioux name and logo will be gone soon...In about 2 years, no one will be talking about the Sioux anymore and then you'll have to get into line to have your voice heard with the thousand other victims...Sadly, all of the bunk described as the negative effects on Native Americans will be found untrue as nothing will change for you or anyone else when the nickname and logo goes away. Unintended consequences really suck, so hope you the best in getting rid of the anger in your life. BobIwabuchiFan

I must have a poor memory, but I remember specifically when Kelley was in the running for the presidents job that the SBOHE asked that the panel from UND should provide 3 candidates to the board for the final decision. I believe the hiring board only provided Kelley's name. At that point, I thought the fix was in...Now the supposed revelation from Douple it all seems to fit very well. By the way, Kelly was at the final five last year in St Paul and at no time did he or Faison wear any Sioux Jerseys or Sioux logos, only the ND designations - very telling, very telling.... BobIwabuchiFan

I'm still not understanding your logic on why ND needs to bail out states that overspend their own budgets....Why not ask what we could have done with the 65 billion we gave to GM and Chrysler to save the IAW Union...Its going to be neat to see how the Dems play this one when ASFME comes calling asking to be rewarded for all of their campaign dollars in the last 30 years. Again, thinking the states somehow got into this ordeal because of the actions of Republicans in the Federal government makes no sense either nor does it make sense to think the Democrats in ND were the only hope of fixing this as they did nothing whilst in the majority other than vote for a unknown piece of legislation against the will of the people. Additionally, I would state that you only need to look at the legislatures of these states that are suffering the worst to quickly find out that they have been Democrat majority ruled for the longest time and now will have to pay the price of overspending. The country doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem...plain and simple. Lastly, how has the 800 billion stimulus bill gone for all of these states? If we would have focused on infrastructure builds like replacing bridges, highways, and the shoddy electrical grid then we wouldn't be dealing with a minimal bump in growth and a 9.4% unemployement rate for 2011 and a potential double dip recession once the Fed quits buying T-bills in July. Instead, the President and his majority in both houses rewarded cities and states by allowing them to continue to pay their city/state employees for one more year and even letting them add employees that the Federal government will not pay for in the next fiscal cycle. Imagine what you could have done with that money now when we have multiple states having to figure out how to get around the Constitution and try to file Bankruptcy. If you think things have been tough lately, you haven't seen anything yet and most of the politicians, republican and democrat, are trying to get out now so they won't be painted with the loser brush when the crap really hits the fan...My 2 cents...

I think if Mussman doesn't pull a decent QB out of the Juco's or somehow transforms one of his current players into a top notch QB, we will be looking for a new coach for the start of our first season in the BSC...Winning anything less than 7 games next year would be considered failure in most of the fans eyes and I agree with the posters that our Defensive talent needs to be much better than it is now considering USD's wideouts are going to kill us next year and anyone who can complete passes of greater than 5 yards will do as well...Oh well, at least we can drink and tailgate before the home games - tends to take the sting out of the losing. BobIwabuchiFan

I think he looks just like the cowboy singer on the Village People...I sure hope we don't go with something this cheesy as a name or logo!!!

I don't agree with the idea that NDSU will move to the BSC because of the oil boom in western ND...that would go against all of the paradigms they have set up in Fargo and its pretty far fetched to begin with. On the other hand, I do believe UND moving the BSC will enhance their perception of being an all ND team and University and will most likely drive more donors who happen to be getting richer by the day in the western part of the state to potentially send donations to UND versus NDSU. I also think its very noticeable that NDSU is really turning into Fargo state because it sits at a critical juncture of the two major highways in ND/Minnesota and ultimately provides the perspective to many in ND and Minnesota that they are fundamentally an eastern ND college focusing primarily on Agriculture - a view that many have and will begin to have in the Western part of the state when UND starts to play against the Montana's and the the western US teams in the BSC. Ultimately, we won't see anything short term, but I believe long term you will see this perception turn in a postive way to UND at the cost of NDSU. BobIwabuchiFan

Does anyone else care if Scheels or anyone else provides more money to NDSU?

I won't say I played college ball, but I've played the game as well and it doesn't take alot of experience to see having the DBs play 10 yards off the receivers results in a lot of 3rd down conversions. The first game of the year was very telling with the pounding they got, the on-side kick to the side where the player wasn't even looking for the ball, and not being able to finish the possesion with a score, but rather a fumble or turnover. I don't think the post by the UND Fan was anything but a very good interpretation and fair based on what most of us saw on the field. Having intimate knowledge about the coaches and the kids doesn't mean squat if you are not producing...The system is based on merit and if you don't earn the merit then you will be removed. Given the outcomes for this year, I agree the staff should get one more year to show its either a fluke or its the best you are going to produce given the coaches capabilities. One way or another, a 3 win season again will help make this decision pretty easy... BobIwabuchiFan

Hey gang I am in China...whats the score right now?? BobIwabuchiFan

Lets face it with Football...we don't have a very good product right now. You go to the Hockey game, you get the atmosphere, the pre-game video, a Hall of Fame player drops the puck, and they actually beat tough opponents. Football has always had a problem with marketing their product at UND...I remember starting at the school and having the actual football team go from Frat to Frat to ask them to attend the games. Its a long haul right now and it will be some more time until they are in the BSC and have some additional recruiting classes. As well, no one really cares to see Lamar...Ask yourself how many people would show up at the Ralph if we had games with Alabama-Huntsville or Quinnipac for regular games and imagine if that all you had for a schedule for the year anyways, kinda like the football schedule as of late. Again, Grand Forks is a hockey town plain and simple and we'll need to market the team and the overall product better if we want people to come to the games and motivate the team on the field. BobIwabuchiFan

Kristo was grinding all night and moving the puck...I still don't like the defense letting the other team skate across the blue line and set up shots...Drives me nuts!!!!! BobIwabuchiFan

Yeah, I would be interested why WYOBISONMAN would be against starting up the rivalry again?

I'm interested based on the people on this board what the breakdown would be for people for or against ever playing the Bison in football again?

I don't disagree with this approach, but you still have the local government making business decisions based on their ward needs as opposed to the overall city's needs. Does anyone feel the Ralph would be in any better situation if they were dependent upon the city to fund their needs for marketing and maintenance for an awesome structure?

Maybe you should have negotiated with the city to keep the civic center it already had and saved all of the Federal money spent on the Alerus with the city's contribution. True, we did have UND football prior to the Alerus, but I'm having trouble remembering why we didn't have massive hotel building and development south of 32nd when all the football games were at the ol' Memorial and all the weddings were at the all new Westward Ho and the Fabulous Ramada Inn - Oh yah, I forgot that architectual gem, the Townhouse as well with its own 9 hole putting green on the main floor. I suppose they all knew this was going to happen in 1978 anyways and there was no need to deny the destiny. Again, you want to have your cake and eat it to...Just doesn't work out that way unless another billionaire builds a world class building/event center for GF and then you don't have to contribute the $75 a year you provide with your property taxes to keep that big financial black hole like the Alerus open. As for the 1.5 miles, I'll have to check google earth like you, but given the greater metropolis area of GF I'm sure you could get confused about where high density shopping centers could be - I suppose its just like the time you use to live in the Chicago suburbs or even in Minneapolis and not understanding general directions. Apologies for the error in distance....

Matt, Lets take them in order... Arena events are a disaster at the Alerus. So whats the root cause of this abject failure in your mind? I think you gave a pretty good root cause with the fact that the city council wants to run a business - how does government do when trying to run a business? How about a city council that has silos called wards that protect their own interests as opposed to overall benefits of the city itself? Is it because we can't pull in the big acts because the city is too small or the venue stinks? If that was so, then how does the Ralph pull in great shows with 5-8k less seats - do you think its because they get to make their own decisions and set their own goals as opposed to letting the city councill direct their every move or expenditure from a political perspective? I'm very interested in what your solid analysis shows here for the real root causes of the failure you report. Convention business is a disaster. Again, whats the root cause? You can continue to tell everyone they don't have enough, but why is that so? What level of convention business should a building this size and a demographic like ND have? What part does the city council play in this area of the business as well? What kind of money is allocated to advertising for this portion of the facilities function or is this something the city can't afford at this time? Sioux football - The university most likely signed the agreement because they know for the next 10 years that they are not going to be able to collect enough donations to build a seperate facility the size of the Alerus and most likely do not have any property left on which to build on that hasn't already been spoken for (EERC expansion needs, student housing needs, etc.). The real problem with the Alerus not producing more revenue from these events is simply because the university doesn't hhave a decent conference nor any real football rivals people are willing to go and pay for tickets. Basically, the University's product stinks and their competition does as well. Only way the Alerus goes higher with this agreement is once they get a real conference. Directly quoting you, "So, no shows, no events, no banquets, no conventions. What is "all of the extra money coming into town due to the shows, conventions, games, etc.."? Can you explain? - Contrary to your belief that nothing is going on with the Alerus, people actually travel to these games/events from outside the city and the state and they stay in hotels, eat at restaurants, and actually shop at the few small chain stores scattered all around town because we don't happen to have any high density shopping centers/areas . To pretend that this doesn't generate money for businesses and ultimately generate sales tax for collection by the city is just plan ignorant and oblivious to the facts. I can tell the Alerus bothers you regardless if it was making any profit, but if we had the capability to seperate out the actual tax collections associated directly with the Alerus and its functions, you would quickly realize that the city and the city council is asking a very large building to operate on a ridiculously low budget and thus they have set the table to low expectatons and low probability of profitability.

Do you even pretend to know what a high density shopping center is? By the way, Its the only one in the freakin city? Have you every lived outside of Grand Forks in your life? To qoute that the expansion on the south side of 32nd Ave was planned for in 1977 is utterly ridiculous. The majority if not all of the expansion around the columbia mall was post flood, not 1977...Even today the mall sits mostly empty because its anchor stores have left and crossed over to the other side of 32nd street. Take the expansion of these stores south of 32nd in combination with the multitudes of Hotels sprouting up in that area or near the Menards side its undeniable this is a high density shopping area. I can agree that the Alerus may not have been the primary reason for this expansion beyond what would be expected, but I believe its a primary driver for the Canad Inn location next to property and also the rapid expansion of the hotel capacity in the city as relative to the high density shopping center. Have you seen what's happened to the North side of town lately - its a virtual graveyard for shopping and the hotel choices are more for truckers and transients. Lastly, can you point out any building or business project from any city in North Dakota that doesn't require incentives? I know for a fact that many of the incentives currently provided by the city and the state are very small when compared to what other states and cities offer for businesses to relocate or create jobs in their community. Again, I believe that everyone on the city council and people like yourself or local boy want the city to remain small. I can gaurantee if we hadn't built the Alerus and didn't fight to bring in Canad or other entities we would continue to be a small town when compared to Bismark and Fargo.

I just don't get why you play off of the receivers 10-15 yds when you have a 3 and 23 and you end up giving 27 yards to the other team almost every time??? How do you not make some kind of adjustment on the defense when you have given up multiple 3rd and long situations over and over??? Any ideas???

Where has all of the major construction been the last two years relative to the Alerus location? Where do you go to shop in GF - is it the Plaza Mall or downtown? Have you been in GF long? Drive two blocks down the street from Alerus and you can see a high density shopping area and just across the street properties are starting construction on new office structures as well as new apartements. How about the new hotels at the end of the road by Alerus? Why did it go there to begin with? Why didn't they just build it close to the Ralph next to Simplot? I think you know what the answer is...but the truth is hard to reconcile about whining about the Alerus costss.....

Again, how many previous Klan members were democrats? Democrat President Woodrow Wilson actually wrote a book glorifying the Klan? I don't remember Wilson being a Republican, do you? How about Robert Byrd from West Virginia - devoted Klan member who rescinded his membership to the Klan? Do we have to have a lesson on political parties prior to the civil war and how the Democrats were for slavery and the Republican party led by Lincoln was not? Do we need to go further to show that the number of racists who happen to be liberal democrats far outweighs conservatives who are PC nut jobs??? I'll stop as its getting redundant... BobIwabuchiFan

Great idea...propose it to the city council and drive a petition to do so...Do you think there isn't hotel and room taxes already being levied by the city for these same things? I have no problem adding more to the sales tax for food and hotels, but make sure this money makes it into a fund allocated for the Alerus and not the pet projects of the ward commissioners. The problem with GF is they really want to be a small city...its evident when you go to the city council meetings and its evident by the people who complain about paying $2 million dollars out of the city fund for an event center that is really for a city the size of Fargo. In the grand scheme of the city budgets, how much sales tax and hotel room revenue is being collected because of the Alerus? Do you think any reasonable amount of that is being offered back to the Alerus to help grow or maintain the facility? Also, how much capital investment has been made in the city since the Alerus has been built - do you think this is why we have a high density shopping area within two blocks of the Alerus and we can't even get the city to repair a public pool on the north side without a long, drawn-out arguement from the city council? Where is the perspective?

I don't think you can just measure the economic benefit or detraction of the Alerus by looking at their books at the end of the year. How do you figure out all of the extra money coming into town due to the shows, conventions, games, etc.. All I see is a bunch of whiny people in GF who have to complain about everything if it doesn't turn a profit or its not black and white how its impact is felt in Grand Forks - like Kenny Powers says, there is no I in team, but there is a U in C#nt and don't be a bunch of whiny c$nts. Take a look at all of the hotels built since the opening of the Alerus- do you think they opened these hotels because the University was growing in GF or that industry had tripled and that many more people had to come to city??? Granted the Engelstad helps considerably, but you have many people coming to town spending money on gas, hotels, food, drink, and shopping. To say this was a mistake would be very short-sighted and really ignorant of the ideas behind the speed of money.... BobIwabuchiFan