UND92,96

Yes, that '99 win against UNC was one of the more satisfying regular season wins I can recall. Riendeau's hit was incredible. Unfortunately, it still irritates me that despite both teams having one regular season loss, and UND having the head-to-head win, UNC got the higher playoff seed and a home playoff game.

The thing to keep in mind is that the arena portion of the Alerus actually does make a modest profit. The list of events it has hosted thus far is quite impressive. It's the convention center that loses money due in large part to the lack of an attached hotel. With the construction of the hotel and the entertainment complex in the near future, the finances of the convention center should take a turn for the better, which should more than offset any diminished UND football revenue the Alerus receives due to the new deal between the city and UND.

I agree with you regarding the '98 team. Another disappointing team would be the '96 squad, which was probably one of the two or three most talented teams ever at UND. However, three losses in the first half of the season kept them out of the playoffs. That was the senior year for guys like Callahan, Cheatham, Tibesar, Borowicz, Prinsen, Gomez-Tagle and Ell, plus you had Moore, Kleinsasser, Lotysz, McKenzie, Howe, etc. as younger players. The big difference between the '96 and the '98 teams was that the '96 team actually got on a roll late in the season and very possibly could have made a nice playoff run had they gotten in. It's still hard to believe that during the four-year careers of Phillip Moore and Jim Kleinsasser ('95-'98), UND failed to win a single playoff game.

I'm assuming you mean the UND population, as opposed to the reported population of 49,000-plus in Grand Forks. It's true that not every UND student lives in Grand Forks, although I suspect that the vast majority do. And if we further assume (I know the old saying about assuming anything ) that a good percentage of those students are claiming anything other than Grand Forks as their residence for census purposes, then the population of Grand Forks is artificially low. Whether they're counted as such or not, there's something like 10,000 or more UND students here for at least 3/4 of the year, and they're as much of a resident as those of us who live here year-round as far as I'm concerned. If somebody has data to dispute my theory, I'm interested in reading it. I'm generally skeptical of census numbers since I don't believe they are particularly accurate, but I suppose there's no better method at present for measuring population.

That is technically true, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, although I strongly suspect that if the large majority of the roughly 12,000-plus UND students actually listed Grand Forks as their domicile, as I believe they are supposed to since they spend the majority of the year here, the numbers may come out a little differently. From what I understand, most college students tend to list their hometowns as where they lived prior to college, even though they probably only actually reside there for a few months in the summer, at most. As such, the census numbers don't perhaps reflect actual populations of towns with fairly large universities all that accurately. While it's true that most college students leave after their college days are over, another group inevitably takes its place so that 10,500 to 12,500 are a pretty constant number that I don't believe is necessarily reflected by the census. Although it would be nearly impossible to measure, I wouldn't be surprised if Grand Forks actually has more people living within its city limits, at least from August through May, than does Bismarck.

UND Fan: You don't automatically lose a year of eligibility, although since the 5-year clock doesn't stop during the transfer, you effectively do lose a year IF you have already taken a red-shirt season. For example, when basketball player Matt Schneiderman transferred from Morningside to Northern Iowa, he hadn't yet red-shirted so he was able to use the season he had to sit out as a transfer as a red-shirt year. As such, he was able to play for four years between Morningside and Northern Iowa. In Anderson's situation, he's already red-shirted and he'll be on year 4 of the 5-year clock this upcoming school year. Therefore, if he decided to transfer prior to the start of the school year, he'd have to sit out a year as a transfer (year 4), and effectively lose a year since by the time he was eligible, he would be on year 5.

I don't honestly believe there's much of a chance of Anderson transferring--particularly to NDSU--but if he did, I believe he'd be giving up a year of eligibility. If I'm not mistaken, a transfer "up" requires the student-athlete to sit out a year. Since he's already had a red-shirt year, I don't believe he could sit out another year (unless it was a medical hardship situation) and NOT have it count towards his four years of eligibility. Giving up a year of eligibility and any chance of further post-season play would appear to make such a move highly unattractive. My guess is that this rumor has as much validity as the Ruley or Johnston to MSU-Mankato rumors from a few months ago.

According to the WDAZ sports tonight, Chris Mussman will not be pursuing the Mankato job. Apparently there was some discussion between the parties, but it appears that Mussman didn't feel that this was the right job for him, at least at this time. I don't doubt that he'll be moving on within the next few years, but this is good news for UND since obviously it would have been very difficult to bring in a new o.c. just a few months prior to the start of the season.

Dressler was extremely impressive this weekend. The 100, 200, 400 triple is very difficult, and especially so in the Class A boys division. Not only did Dressler win all three, but he won in outstanding times and by very large margins over his nearest competitors. He set a state record in the 200, ran an outstanding 10.66 in the 100, and was just over state record time in the 400 despite not being pushed at all. His 100 time was apparently not aided by a wind over the legal limit since there were records set that day, including the 200 as mentioned. Prior to this track season, I had thought Dressler was a kid who had excellent football speed, although not necessarily sprinter's speed since he was primarily known as an 800 meter runner last year. But now, I think it's safe to say that he has excellent speed, period. His times this year probably establish himself as one of the better sprinters ever in North Dakota high school track.

UND won the NCC women's all-sports title for the third time in four years. It certainly doesn't hurt that UND sponsors each of the NCC-sanctioned sports whereas some schools do not, but it was a very good year nevertheless.

In terms of women, who wouldn't want to go to UND if offered? The year-in, year-out success over a 17-year period speaks for itself. In terms of men, sure the past decade has been mediocre, but looking at the big picture UND is still one of the most successful programs in this region. 19 NCAA appearances and 8 national quarterfinal appearances isn't too bad. While past success doesn't ensure future success, it does show that it's possible to do very well here. With a new facility, hopefully the program will get a shot in the arm.

Brenda Davis was a senior last season.

I can only assume that the odds of there being two 19-year-old Alan Sundby's from Cavalier are pretty staggering. I heard this on the news last night in a half-awake state and I had really hoped that I simply heard the name wrong. We can only hope and pray that he's going to be alright.

I can't help but wonder whether a Title IX complaint may be down the road for schools which add "sports" like equestrian in a blatant attempt to meet the proportionality requirement while expending as little money as possible, aside from the cost of the scholarship. I think we can safely assume that the school will not be purchasing a bunch of horses. If they were going to expend that kind of money, they may as well have added a sport like gymnastics, which is an NCAA sport and which is fairly popular (in terms of participation) as a high school sport in this area. Somehow, I doubt that the equestrian team will be transported to the east or west coast for competitions very often, and the opportunities for competition locally would seem to be quite limited, although I must admit that the UMC-SDSU equestrian competitions are an exciting proposition. What's next, rounding up 27 women on academic or some other form of scholarship and claiming that they are actually a part of some fictional team like croquet or kickball?

I thought the o-line played o.k., although as expected they had some trouble against the defense. With Smith and Kuper, you have two experienced guys to be the anchors of the line. Hendrickson has played some in the past, as well. It looks like Hoffelt and Braegelmann will have the inside track for the other two spots, so a big key will be how they can progress since they have no real game experience. I would think one of the biggest concerns will be depth since several younger guys will need to be ready to play. However, Mussman has certainly shown in the past that he can develop offensive linemen, so I have to think UND will be fine there by the time the first game rolls around. It's got to be beneficial to be able to practice against a defense which will probably be among the best in dII.

I believe there was also a Vito Perrone, Jr. It was well before my time, but I know he was a very good track athlete at Grand Forks Central. According to the football media guide, he lettered in football at UND in 1976.

I had assumed that baseball was similar to basketball or hockey in that the regular season champion was viewed as more of a "real" champion, whereas the tournament champion was more for getting an auto bid to the NCAA's (in the cases of basketball and hockey, anyway). However, based upon the fact that nowhere in the Herald was there any mention of UND being considered the NCC champion (only the number one seed in the tournament), am I correct in assuming that there is no such thing as a regular season champion in baseball? If not, is there any particular reason for the completely different level of importance seemingly being placed on the regular season compared to basketball?

Game 1--UND 4, Mankato 1. Congrats to the Sioux--NCC champions!

The UND women's programs have had a very solid year. Excluding hockey which, of course, did not play in an actual conference but did finish above .500 in its second year of existence, all but one of the women's teams teams thus far have finished in the top-4 in the NCC. Swimming and tennis won the NCC, soccer was second, basketball (which did win the conference tournament) and golf were third, and volleyball, cross country and indoor track were fourth. The one exception is softball which is clearly the one program which is in serious need of an upgrade. I'm not sure what the problem is there, but there's not much excuse for finishing last. In the men's programs, there's a pretty big gap between the programs which had a very good year, i.e. football, hockey, swimming and baseball, and the remainder of the programs which struggled, i.e. basketball, golf, cross country and track. With any luck whatsoever, basketball should be back near the top next year, and golf has been very good in the past. Track and cross country will likely always struggle until there's a decent indoor track. As much as I personally love track, unless it's contemplated that an indoor track will be built within the next 5-10 years, the men's track program may just as well be dropped. You simply cannot be successful in this climate without a decent indoor track.

Not to belabor the point too much regarding Dressler's speed, but according to a list published in the Star Tribune today, his top 400 time is nearly a full second faster than what anybody in Minnesota has run so far this spring.

Is there any news on recruiting--good, bad or otherwise? The silence is deafening! I see where USD just signed a juco from the Mon-Dak conference. They seem to be the only NCC school who has signed several players this spring.