UND92,96

UND is expected to sign another North Dakota quarterback today: link. I'll be very interested to see whether Travis Mertens signs with anybody today. If not, I guess he's going to concentrate on basketball in college. I had heard before Christmas that he may try both at UND, but a lot may have changed since then. I think he's the biggest uncommitted North Dakota prospect out there.

I think UND may have gotten a good recruit in Rion Rayfield. He's averaging about 20 ppg so far this year.

Two days away from what should be the best home game of the year so far. I really hope we can fill the Betty for this one.

I'm hoping for some pleasant surprises tomorrow. No running back or receiver commitments have found their way into the media, and generally you want to sign skill position players every year due to the inevitable injuries and/or attrition. I would also expect at least one more linebacker will sign.

Playing Upper Iowa (men) and Mary (women) in February isn't ideal, but then again, neither is NDSU's January/February home schedule (men): Utah Valley St. (RPI 295) SDSU (RPI 230, but at least a familiar opponent) UMKC (RPI 264) Idaho (RPI 312) IPFW (RPI 269) Jamestown College Mayville St. Mary Whether playing AT Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado St. and Kansas St. is worth having those home games during what is normally the meat of a schedule is debatable.

verbals so far: Paul German, lb, Fargo South Ian Henderson, ol, Winnipeg Creighton Schroyer, ol, Pipestone Ross Cochran, lb, Kenosha Adam Ward, dl, Maple Grove Joel Schwenzfeier, db, Kittson Central Ryan Kasowski, lb, Grand Forks Central Jake Landry, qb, Grand Forks Central Kyle Krusenstjerna, dl, Eastview (MN) Carl Hanson, db, Oak Creek (WI) Matt Bakke, dl, Grand Forks Central Peter Gibbs, dl/olb, Grand Forks Central Steve Kalwasinski, te, Rochester Ty Boyle, dl, International Falls Dylan Glaser, ol, Bismarck High transfer: Taylor Murray, ol, SDSU

UND gets a couple of good commitments today: Ty Boyle, a lineman from International Falls who was 2nd team A.P. all state on offense, and Dylan Glaser, a 6'3", 270 lineman from Bismarck who was a two-time all stater.

All I can tell you is what I've heard regarding the reported figures for bball attendance at the Ralph. As for the Betty, if anything, it seems to be under-reported, at least that's my perspective using the supposed capacity minus the approximate number of empty seats. If there were really only 2500 people for the women's game last night, I'd be shocked.

To give credit where credit is due, the full front lobby at the Betty was utilized last night, so congestion wasn't bad at all. Now if they could just find someplace else to have the Fighting Sioux Club function (Olympic arena perhaps?) so that the entire area behind the north (?) bleachers didn't have to be blocked off... With that said, I really like dakotadan's suggestion more and more regarding a different set-up for basketball in the Ralph.

It's kind of an apples to oranges comparison using last year's numbers. I believe the suites artificially inflate the basketball attendance figures at the Ralph, since my understanding is that those people are counted whether they show up or not--and most don't. On the other hand, I do not believe that the Betty counting is necessarily 100% accurate, either. As I said, if there were 2700 for the UNO game, I really think there were over 3000 last night.

I don't know if I just can't judge the size of the crowd at the Betty yet, or if there was some problems with the count, but I could have sworn there were 3000 or more there last night. The "official" number was only a little over 2500, though.

Fitzner was a walk-on UND player for a year or two, and then transferred to Wayne State when Mac got the job there. He's from Valley City.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was thinking of festivus when the phrase "feats of strength" was mentioned.

I think you have a good idea, but the issues with scheduling around home hockey series and concerns about how the ice would be affected would be challenges. On the other hand, other schools/facilities seem to make it work so it's not impossible.

I agree. Another addition to the "ignore" list. I guess a little maturity is too much to expect from some people.

Another commit: Carl Hanson, a 6'2", 180 lb. defensive back from Oak Creek in Wisconsin. link.

I will grant you that the SW St. game wasn't a huge problem despite only officially having about 350 fewer people. But there really seemed to be more overall congestion for the UNO game--a lot more than what you would expect based on a relatively small increase in attendance. I am going into the next couple of games with an open mind. If the Betty can handle 3000 or more people (hopefully the next two games will exceed 3000) with no major problems, then great. I would still question the ability to ever expand the capacity beyond 3500 to 3800 or so, but time will tell.

I'm just curious, were any of the three of you guys at the UND vs. UNO games this year? I can't fathom how the Betty could realistically handle another 1300 to 2300 people regardless of whether more seats were added or not. Or more specifically, it might be possible to fit 4500 seats or more with larger portable bleachers, but getting the people into and out of the building, as well as handling the traffic at halftime and between games (concessions, bathrooms, etc.) would be the biggest challenge. I think it has to be experienced before a person can really understand what I'm talking about. But if you guys have been there for a game with much over 2000 and still feel the way you do, then I am more than happy to simply agree to disagree.

There's really only one way to know whether the Betty could reasonably accommodate more people than what's its current capacity is, and that's to have a game which is a sell-out and see what the experience is like. I'm hoping we find out either tomorrow (probably unlikely), or a week from tomorrow (quite possible). There's no hockey game tomorrow night, folks. Tickets are relatively cheap compared to hockey and football. Check it out.

I don't think we'll routinely see more than 4000 at a game, but it will happen a few times a year if at least one of the teams is good enough. Or at least, it happened many times at Hyslop over the years, and not only against NDSU. Heck, St. Cloud St. drew 4800 for the games against UND last Saturday, and that was even considering they were going head-to-head with a home hockey series. And historically, SCSU doesn't touch UND in terms of women's basketball attendance. I think a lot of people are really missing the boat if they don't check out a UND women's basketball game this year. One need not even be a huge basketball fan to be highly entertained by them. Of course, with a 3800-4000 seat arena, there's not that much room left on the bandwagon.

I guessing somewhere in the low to mid 3000's. It's hard to say how much attendance will be held down by the fact that it's a Thursday instead of a Saturday game. Considering how well the Sioux women have been playing, how long it's been since they've played at home, and that Augie is a quality opponent, I'm hoping for a much bigger crowd than the UNO game, which was reported to be around 2700.

I wonder how much, if any discretion UND has in terms of deciding where to play any particular game? For example, say it becomes clear that the Betty is simply too small to handle conference games. And further assume that the Ralph isn't available due either to hockey being at home the same weekend, or concerns regarding the ice. Would the contract between UND and REA allow for games to be held at the Al? I realize that brings up all kinds of issues (determining seat locations for season ticketholders, whether the coaches would want to have multiple "home" courts, etc.), but I see a day in the not-too-distant future when the Betty simply may not be the best option from a bottom line standpoint for several games which can and should draw well in excess of the 3800 (or whatever the Betty's true capacity is).

UND still number 2. link. Interesting that SCSU stays number 4.

verbals so far: Paul German, lb, Fargo South Ian Henderson, ol, Winnipeg Creighton Schroyer, ol, Pipestone Ross Cochran, lb, Kenosha Adam Ward, dl, Maple Grove Joel Schwenzfeier, db, Kittson Central Ryan Kasowski, lb, Grand Forks Central Jake Landry, qb, Grand Forks Central Kyle Krusenstjerna, dl, Eastview (MN) transfer: Taylor Murray, ol, SDSU I'm a little surprised that two defensive linemen have committed thus far considering five signed last year, including some very highly-regarded ones.

If Dietz is, in fact, out for the year, I have a lot of doubts as to whether UMD will even be a tournament team. That would be a shame for such a great player to have her career end with an injury.