89rabbit

Here is another story from the Yankton Press & Dakotan: http://www.yankton.net/stories/103106/comm...371103106.shtml

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader: http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...342/1002/SPORTS Gateway takes look at SDSU Football conference might lure Jacks from Great West by Terry Vandrovec tvandrovec@argusleader.com PUBLISHED: October 26, 2006 Less than three seasons into its foray into NCAA Division I-AA and an affiliation with the Great West Football Conference, South Dakota State has caught the eye of another league. Gateway Football Conference commissioner Patty Viverito said Wednesday night that her league has requested institutional information from SDSU and North Dakota State as it studies potential expansion in the near future. The Gateway is preparing for the possible departure of Western Kentucky, which is considering a move to Division I-A football beginning next fall. That school's board of regents will vote Nov. 2 on the Division I-A matter. "We've had conversations with both North Dakota State and South Dakota State before," Viverito said. "But it didn't really make sense to have any meaningful conversations about Gateway football unless they had a foundation home for their other sports. The planets aligned." In September, the Jackrabbits and Bison were accepted into the Mid-Continent Conference in everything except football - a sport the league doesn't have - beginning in 2007-08. . . . (read more)

Best of luck with that. http://www3.sdstate.edu/SDSU/NewsDetail45702.cfm?ID=46,5376 SDSU continues record-breaking enrollment South Dakota State University has continued its record-breaking enrollment for the seventh consecutive year. Enrollment figures released Sept. 27 by the South Dakota Board of Regents reported SDSU with an enrollment of 11,377 for the fall semester. That number reflects SDSU

You know another "entirely different reason" could be that Woden fabricated the whole story.

I'm not sure if you are just trying to get aff all fired up or if you are really this clueless. Finacial ruin, what are you talking about? SDSU has raised it's athletics budget to $7.786 million dollars (for year '05-'06) and it is still growing (expected to be at or near $10 million by '08-'09). While doing that we have also had our "Lifelong Champions" campaign going on and it has raised nearly $7 million in pledges and donations towards our goal of raising $20 million to endow athletic scholarships. When Tim Van Alstine, Western Illinois' athletic director looked at our finacials, he said he was "jealous" of our funding model. I know it is scary for UND going D-I without a conference, but making up stories about SDSU's situation won't make things better for UND. http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...322/1002/SPORTS Mid-Con site visit a hit Conference members 'pleased' with SDSU's facilities, academics Chris Solari csolari@argusleader.com August 12, 2006 BROOKINGS -- Peggy Miller and Fred Oien could barely contain their smiles. One by one, the seven Mid-Continent Conference leaders took their turn gushing about South Dakota State on Friday evening. They said they were moved by the passion of the community and campus for Jackrabbit athletics, and admitted being "jealous" of the school's funding model and overall academic make-up. Most of all, they couldn't seem to mention enough about "how pleased" they were with the visit. . . . (read more) Woden, you keep saying that nobody wants us (like if you say it often enough it will be true), when the facts are that SDSU is what UND wants to be . . . a member of a D-I conference. Check out the Mid-Con web sire (left hand side of the page, part way down) for irrevocable proof that we are in fact wanted and members of the Mid-Con starting July 1, 2007. http://www.mid-con.com/ Best of luck to UND on your move to D-I, you are a quality school and will find a conference home eventually.

Please forgive my omission of one letter s. . I bow before your superior spelling/typing skills, or is it proof reading skills . . . either way your elementary English teacher will be proud.

I totally get that you were making fun of the schools that take the guarntee games. That is why I asked you how much UNI was paying you. It wasn't trying to run down UND, just having a little fun with the fact that you are making fun of punching bag schools when in fact that is exactly what UNI is paying UND to be this season. I'm sorry if that embarrased you, it was supposed to be funny. Have a nice day. P.S. That airplane you made reference to, looked more like this . . . Wow! look at it go. I watched it take off, fly about aimlessly and land, but never once did it fly over my head.

Oh I get it. You make fun of D-I schools for playing guarantee football games and when I point out that UND is doing the exact same thing (just at a lower level and lower pay structure) you get kind of frustrated, because I made you look a little foolish. So you retort with a response that makes little to no sense, a post akin to "oh yea, well my dad can beat up your dad", and you want to call that sarcasm. Gotcha. I thought you might be trying to be clever but I was unsure. Now I know that yes you were trying. Thanks for your assistance.

What does that mean? Are you suggesting that your D-II program is going to pay guarantees to play D-I schools, or are you suggesting that your lone D-I sport, Hockey, is going to pay a guarantee to play our club teams?

How much is UNI paying you guys?

Bin, I realize that only the Presdients can vote to extend an invitation. However, Fullerton is their mouthpiece/symbol of the BSC and the title of the thread is "Fullerton Still Talking Big Sky Expansion". We can discuss the intricacies of how conferences select their new members or engage in banter over semantics if you like, but it really doesn

Thanks I think we are all looking forward to it.

Right that is the point. UNC is an after thought, at best, in Denver (not trying to slam our Bear friends just stating a fact) just like a D-I Western Washington would be an after thought in Seattle. Neither school would "deliver" their nearby media markets. This fact has never stopped Fullerton from dreaming, and although is didn't work with Cal-State Northridge (Los Angeles), didn't work with Sacramento State (Sacramento and Bay Area), didn't work with Portland State (Portland), and won't work with UNC (Denver), there is no indication that he is prepared to accept this reality. The fact the Fullerton is not willing to accept that reality works against all Dakota Schools and is another reason beyond distance that none of the Dakota schools is likely to get into the Big Sky anytime soon, in my opinion. With that said I don't really want to debate this topic as I have been done this road more then once already. I don't want to shift focus away from the fact that I need some help in understanding the logic of how adding another West Coast school to the Big Sky Conference increases UND's chances of getting an invite.

How did UNC give Fullerton the Denver market? I hear what you are saying, and agree with you, I am just pointing out how Fullerton thinks.

You are right Fullerton does love the BIG markets, so if he added UBC I would also see him pushing for a school like Western Washington, a great travel partner for UBC and natural rival for Eastern Washington, as this would give him the Seattle metro. After all, won't Western be looking for a football home after the NCC falls apart so they might very well move up and since we are speculating this would make a lot of sense. Wouldn't it? Don't get me wrong I am not saying that UND won't get into the Big Sky, but I don't see the logic in thinking that the Sioux's chances go up if the Big Sky adds yet another "West Coast" team.

You know not of what you speak. If you are talking about the Women's Semi-Final win over Bentley (Mass.) that was a three pointer at the buzzer to send the game to OT and although it was a very impressive shot - the defender was right in our girl's face - I would hardley call that a miracle. I was at the game, the shot was not tipped. I am not sure how that compairs to the Refs blowing a call in the last few seconds of the Men's '85 National Championship game. The final scores tell the story of '02-'03 Jackrabbit Women, they did not get lucky. NCAA D-II Playoffs SDSU 107 - Regis (Col.) 71 SDSU 77 - North Dakota 56 SDSU 87 - USD 63 SDSU 83 - Cal St. Baskersfield 62 (Qtr. finals) SDSU 69 - Bentley 62 -- OT (Semi finals) SDSU 65 - Northern Kentucky 50 (Finals)

I'm still not over our lose to Jacksonville State in the National Championship game in '85. SDSU has the ball with the lead and time winding down. Jacksonville State tackles McDonald in an attempt to stop the clock and the refs call a travel. Jacksonville wins by 1. JSU 74 - SDSU 73. We were robbed!

I agree 100%. That is why I am glad that SDSU is using proportionality. It means it has and will take us longer to reach "fully funded" status for football, but it also means no law suit, like the one that USD had filed against them (they lost by the way).

More news about UNO: http://www.fremontneb.com/articles/2006/07...e/d8imnu0g1.txt NU Regent Hassebrook again floats idea of cutting UNO football By ERIC OLSON OMAHA, Neb. - A regent is again proposing the elimination of the University of Nebraska at Omaha's football program to ease budgetary problems in the Mavericks' athletic department. Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons made the same suggestion 10 years ago, before the regents approved upgrades in athletic facilities and programs at the Omaha campus. Hassebrook renewed his campaign to cut the football program in a letter to the editor published Thursday in the Omaha World-Herald. He said in an interview with The Associated Press that cutting football should be one of the options discussed in the wake of UNO's announcement last month that it had a $440,000 athletic budget shortfall. "I support athletics at UNO. But I support athletics at UNO at an appropriate level we can afford that does not unduly detract from our ability to fulfill our academic mission," Hassebrook said. Chancellor Nancy Belck said the university is not looking to cut any sports. "It's been very important to our program," she said of football. "I've learned you never say never, but that is not what we're even talking about." . . . (read more)

This either: http://www.sdsufans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1152223952

Star2city, Why the venom? I have been on this board less then a month and can think of only one time and that was on a differnt board, (there could be more, but I only remember one) on a Valpo board, that you and I even exchanged posts. As I recall that exchange was passionate, but didn't get nasty. So I have to ask . . . Hey bud, what's your problem?

Star2city, Mr. Fee's article from the GF Herald was brought up on the "Any Given Saturday" board and I responded. Don't know what else to tell you. I didn't post anything about it here because this is a Sioux site and you guys are entitled to be a little bias on your board (just like I am over on the Jackrabbit board). I try very hard not to be disrespectful over here because I am a guest, so I self moderate my posts on your board. However, now that it is here I stand by what I posted. Does my approach indicate a personality disorder? I don't think so. Am I AFF? No. Oh and by the way AFF are not my initials as I am told you asserted in the past. Only one of the letters would be correct.

An interesting piece from the Grand Forks Herald telling the story of moving to D-I from the Sudent Ahlete's prospective: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/14950109.htm NCAA DIVISION II TO DIVISION I TRANSITION: 'Totally worth it' NDSU, SDSU athletes: UND athletes will like the move By Bob Bergland Herald Staff Writer North Dakota State and South Dakota State athletes have a simple message to give their counterparts at UND who will be experiencing the transition to NCAA Division I: Don't worry, be happy. Because UND's first official season in Division I won't start until the fall of 2008, this year's juniors and seniors will get a reprieve from having to make the transition. But the rest of the UND athletes will need to adjust to new regulations and a different level of competition. Megan Vogel, a senior basketball player at SDSU who went through the transition, said the positives have outweighed any negatives. "The experiences I've had, the things I've been able to do, are second to none," said Vogel, who was recruited as a Division II player before SDSU made the transition. "I would never have experienced what I've experienced as a Division II player at a Division II school. "You can't explain the feeling of our first Division I win against the University of Kentucky. There's nothing that replicates that." NDSU baskeball player Lisa Bue, a junior who was on the Bison's first Division I recruiting class, also felt the move was positive for her team, school and the Dakotas. "From an athlete's perspective, it's totally worth it," Bue said. "It's great for North Dakota and South Dakota to have these D-I programs, since there weren't any D-I programs or professional teams in either state. "And these programs have always been run like D-I programs, so it's good now that they're getting more credit for being a D-I program. I think when they were D-II they worked just as hard, but now it's just a new level of competition." . . . (read more) Go State!

No smack intended here, because in the NCAA's eyes you are a D-II school competing in a single sport at the D-I level.

SDSU Athletic Director Dr. Fred Oien and Mid-Con Commissioner Tom Douple were both interviewed on "The Sports show with Brad & Scotty", on our local ESPN Radio affiliate. You can listen using the links below: http://www.brookingsradio.com/sports.htm http://www.brookingsradio.com/FREDOIEN6-28-06.mp3 http://www.brookingsradio.com/douple6-29-06lo.mp3 Special thanks to rabbitman from bringing these to my attention.