Hammersmith

So I'm not the only one who thought that? Makes me feel better. Horizon = better than average mid-major conference Summit = one of the best low-major conferences There's a pretty big gap between the two(and one I don't think the Summit will ever be able to completely close). I think the very best-case scenario for the Summit is to be an average mid-major. Somewhere in the neighborhood of the WCC, MAC or Sun Belt. Remember I said very best case, so don't jump on me for being unrealistic.

ORU was the worst matchup for SDSU this year. For some reason, the Jacks got sloppy with ball handling this year, and ORU specializes in steals and swatting the ball away. It completely threw the Jacks off during both regular season matchups. The Jacks have dropped more this year than you would have expected for what they lost(one key player), but the overall level of play in the Summit has improved quite a bit for just a single year. Last year, the Summit was horrible in WBB(how else could the Bison have finished third - no matter how much they played over their abilities). This year it was okay; not great, but okay. It will be interesting to see if this was a one year wonder, or if this improvement will last. One thing you do have to say: The addition of the xDSUs(and the imminent addition of the UxDs) has created a major shakeup of the Summit and started an arms race in just about every sport. Assuming you guys get in, it will be interesting to see if you do the same in S&D.

The athletic department has to pay the university for the tuition/room & board/etc. The only way this doesn't happen is if the university waives the cost to the athletic department(like UND did a few years back when the women's hockey program was starting up). It still counts as a scholarship to the NCAA, but the athletic department doesn't have to reimburse the university. As for the rest of your question, that's more of a political one. It depends on the relationship between athletics and academics at the particular school(tuition not paid is money that doesn't go to salaries, support services, etc.) as well as the situation between the school and the state(does the state have a problem with large numbers of out of state students getting free schooling through sports).

Because CUSA is desperate for teams to fill out its tournament. They don't even have enough CUSA men's teams to award a conference championship(only two CUSA schools sponsor it). There are arguments to support keeping the nickname, but that isn't one of them.

Well, no hurry to change the nickname now. Summit just said UND missed the window for 2011-12(the year USD begins Summit play). Guess everyone can relax and let things play out at their own pace.

Not so fast. With the moving of the championship game to late Dec/early Jan, the extra round doesn't matter. In any case, if there was going to be a rule change, it would have happened already. It hasn't; it won't. edit: Shawn beat me to it.

No renderings yet. This was the first step of the process: identifying needs. The second step is in progress: identifying how much money can be raised over the next decade. That marketing report should be finished in the next few months. Once that data is in, then specs can go out to architects to create preliminary plans and renderings.

You're right about KBMY and KLMY. That'll teach me to double check my facts before posting something so absolute(and basing part of an argument on it). I remember checking the ForumComm website a while back for radio stations outside of Fargo, and I must've incorrectly added the TV stations to that mental list. As for our paranoia, it's a factor of so much bad stuff happening in such a short span. I'm not saying NDSU didn't bring much of it on itself, but all of it hitting at once has been a bit trying. If you want a laugh, check out the enrollment thread at Bisonville. Posters have been coming up with possible headlines the Forum could use to turn the positive growth into something that sounds negative. Our mess and mentality kind of reminds me of you guys from three or four years back. UND had a bad run back around the time the whole nickname issue exploded. I guess it's our turn on the whipping post. You've also got a good point about WDAY 970 being attractive if the format changes at RFM & KFGO begin to marginalize UND athletics in favor of NDSU. Who knows if that will happen, since some Bison fans are worried about the same thing from the opposite direction. This is one debate that we won't have an answer to for years.

Seasonal. The Bismarck and Minot flights will only be for the summer. The same is true for the second flight they're adding to Fargo. I guess they figure that adding second flight for a few months is a better option than starting a GF route for the same amount of time. edit: Looks like I might be wrong about this, too; bad day to be me. According to the Minot paper, Minot and Bismarck will get permanent flights to SLC starting in May, and then a second daily flight will be added in June to those two airports plus Fargo that will last for the summer. Minot will also get another flight added to MSP for the summer. The article didn't say whether that flight will be seasonal as well, or whether Bismarck will see a similar increase.

They're lucky enough that they can easily build it in phases. The most likely scenario is that they will first tear down the east stands and replace them with a permanent concrete structure and a "temporary" media box. Once that's done, they can tear down the concrete west stands and replace that with a larger structure that includes suites and a new press box. Finally, they can enclose the south endzone to make the whole structure a horseshoe. The total construction can be spread out over a decade or more if needed. They feel a little bit under the gun because the current west stands are deteriorating and something has to be done in the next 5-7 years. They're also feeling the need to start phase 2 of the Dykhouse Center, which is an indoor practice facility built onto the north side of the current structure.

"My oh my" is Scott Miller's trademark. Steve Hallstrom is the guy who changed careers. I've been wondering why so many think that NDSU switching to Radio Fargo-Moorhead is a bad thing(even among Bison fans). The only thing I can come up with is that they're living in the past. I don't mean that in a bad way, but I don't have a better way of saying it. The time is long past when ForumComm was the big fish in North Dakota. Today, they've only got one radio station(WDAY 970) and two TV stations(WDAY & WDAZ). If you want statewide anything, you don't go to ForumComm. Back when both of our programs sold our radio rights, one of the big selling points was the coverage area of stations owned by the bidders. It's why Clear Channel was so attractive to you guys a few years ago. Today, that stuff is almost meaningless. Not only are there no longer any companies left with statewide network coverage, but with both schools retaining the radio rights and basically buying airtime, the schools can now go to any radio station they want and negotiate to add that station to the network. Today, what does ForumComm give NDSU that RFM doesn't? Instead of one radio station to run ads on, RFM has six. RFM also grabbed Redhawks baseball from ForumComm, so it's a good bet that Scott Miller will be hired away from WDAY. Phil Hanson always has been paid by NDSU, not WDAY, so his moving over isn't in doubt. The same is true for Jeremy Jorgenson(shudder). The only thing that's different is the radio footprint. KVOX(740) has a slightly smaller footprint than WDAY(970) or KFGO(790) at night, but a vastly larger one during the day. Check out the maps from Sic's link to see the difference between 5,000W (WDAY & KFGO) and 50,000W (KVOX). Some have said that NDSU is making a mistake because KVOX(or KFAN if you prefer) has never carried live sports. To me, that's just another example of living in the past. It seems like RFM is working to further specialize their stations. Who's to say that KVOX won't be the area's primary sports station in a couple years; they certainly seem like they're putting the effort in. And that's something that was lacking in the last several years of the older style contracts between ForumComm and NDSU. As for the relationship between Marcil and NDSU, it's been very apparent for months that that relationship has deteriorated to the point of no return. The PR disaster also known as Dick Hanson hasn't helped matters, but the tone of Forum articles changed drastically after the house fiasco. I have to believe that Marcil took that personally, since a big chunk of it was his money. Since then, the Forum has changed from pro-NDSU(to a fault), to as anti-NDSU as any of the western ND papers. The very public withdrawal of ForumComm's bid in a thinly veiled attempt to undermine NDSU's bargaining position is just another example. Now if UND on WDAY is attractive to you guys, that's fine. But it might not be the same WDAY as you're thinking of. A lot has changed over the past ten or twenty years, and you might be better off staying with RFM and the media network you've already created. And if you want statewide TV coverage, just negotiate a deal with WDAY TV and KBMY out of Bismarck. WDAY TV has been available for a couple years since NDSU switched to Hoak Media. Of course, I don't know how your contract is worded with FCS, so that may not be an option.

You're right. I was confusing the Bennigan's closing with Outback(who left because of a high lease). When Bennigan's filed for bankruptcy, all the corporate owned locations(like Fargo) closed, while the franchised locations(like Moorhead) remained open. My bad.

Radio Fargo-Moorhead just got the NDSU radio rights as well. Looks like we'll be on sister stations for at least the next two years. Sounds like you guys will stay on 790 while we'll be on 740.

According to fightingsioux.com, it will be on FCS. Whether it will make it onto the DirectTV feed is another matter. I don't have DTV, but I believe you often don't know which FCS feed(of 3) that DTV will pick up until fairly soon before the game(a few days to a week). I think you just have to wait and see(or contact the athletic department - they might know). The UND@USD game will not be on FCS, though it will be carried in many Midcontinent cable markets.

It's the choice of the school. They can choose one or the other, but once they've chosen, they must stick to those rules(for the season). The lack of formatting makes it a bit tough to understand, but look back to the DI Manual excerpt that Sic posted. If a school chooses to use actual attendance, then only the 20.9.7.3.1.1 Actual Attendance section applies to them. If they choose to use paid attendance, then they must follow all the rest, from 20.9.7.3.1.2 Paid Attendance onward. The paid attendance section was added mostly for schools that were on the line and needed a way to stay above 15k even when they didn't have the fans. It allows them to sell blocks of general admission tickets to sponsors or other booster groups at a reduced rate to keep them FBS. It also allows big schools to easily satisfy the requirement without going through the bother of counting ticket stubs(or the electronic equivalent). If you've sold 20k season tickets before the first game of the season, you've satisfied the requirement already and don't need to worry about it.

It certainly wouldn't count under actual attendance, and it almost certainly wouldn't count under paid. The only way those tickets could count toward attendance without being redeemed would be if someone actually paid money to the school for them. Most radio giveaway and raffle tickets are donated by the university for promotional purposes. Unless the university was paid at least 1/3 the face value of the most expensive regular ticket, tickets-as-prizes only count if they are redeemed.

Since you brought my name into it... Mpls, you're wrong. Like Sic said, he copied it straight from the DI manual. The only area where confusion could creep in is where the messageboard software killed most of the formatting found in the actual manual. If a school chooses to use actual attendance to reach the 15k minimum, there is nothing preventing them from handing out free tickets. The only catch is that those tickets must actually be used; if they end up in the trash can at home, they don't count toward anything.

I think he meant that Norman's opened in a location where another restaurant failed(Bennigan's). Although I heard that Bennigan's didn't so much fail as the landlord jacked the new lease beyond what the corporate office was willing to pay.

It's a problem with the software ForumComm uses. It happens every once in a while on the Forum and Herald websites. It seems to correct itself after a time, so just check back later. You can try clearing your browser's cache, but I don't know if that helps.

Does GF have a limited number of full liquor licenses like Fargo? I've heard there are so few Class A licenses down here that the license can be worth more than the building in a sale.

I don't disagree with any of this reasoning, but I just want to reiterate that what NDSU wanted was not the reason they filed the claim with the State Fire and Tornado Fund. There is some form of state law or policy that says state institutions must file a claim and within a certain time limit. That's also why NDSU had to pull a figure($500k) out of thin air. The claim had to be filed, and the situation was too complex to get an accurate damage estimate within the time required. My guess is that NDSU picked a figure high enough to get at least most of the repairs done and will let the lawyers handle the nitty-gritty. I'd quote the relevant section from the Forum article, but they've decided to shut down my archive account even though they seemed happy to deduct the money from my bank account this month.

It's required by state law. I don't understand why, but that's what was reported.

Like many other ND government entities, NDSU is insured through the state. The $500k from the State Fire and Tornado Fund will provide the capital to begin repairs, then the fund will make a claim against the general contractor's insurance, which may in turn make a claim against the excavation contractor's insurance, which may make its own claim against any outside advice or testing it may have sought. It took Fargo and NDSU something like 5 years to come to an agreement after the Fargodome flooded during a summer rainstorm and the water flowed into NDSU buildings through steam tunnels; I doubt this will be wrapped up any quicker.

Hey, they said they wouldn't cut corners, they said nothing about not cutting columns.