Bison06

I don't necessarily think you need to view giveaways or gimmicks as devaluing the product. I would view it as a loss leader in a way. Spend some money(take a hit on profit) to introduce people that otherwise wouldn't know or care to your product and show them a great time by winning. If tailgating becomes a great experience, many of these casual fans will begin to attend games simply for the pre-party. It becomes a self generating cycle, but it begins with getting butts in the seats. What's the old saying? People go where people go? If you have a newby showing up for their first UND football game and there is 7k there, do you think they'll be excited, or ever come back? Not likely. What if that same person showed up to a game where 7k paid for their tickets and 6k were given away, but it was packed? Much better experience and maybe they come back and pay for a ticket next time.

CMSioux doth protest too much, methinks.

The subtleties of sarcasm and irony seem to escape you my friend.

Since they distribute drugs, I always assumed they went under the heading of criminal. Is that incorrect?

Can we get this thread back onto talking about how dirty of a program NDSU is and how all players both past and present are criminals and/or farmers? Sheesh, you guys act like you don't want to overreact to players not showing up for community service anymore. Good lord, what sort of UND fans are you?

Enjoy it while it last fellas, that pendulum has a way of swinging back the other direction after a bit.

haha, can't argue with that I suppose. In the context of my entire body of posts in this thread where I said a suspension was warranted, this is but a minor blemish.

UND is a very good school and a degree from there is well respected in most circles. With that said, it's no disgrace or insult to say Notre Dame is on a different level. Notre Dame is considered one of the best schools in the world. By most measures NDSU and UND are very much on the same level. Obviously, in some instances one school offers programs the other doesn't, but by and large there is no difference. Which is why I always find it funny when people say NDSU is such an inferior school.

haha, please don't waste your time. I have been consistent since the beginning that these players should have been suspended at least 1 if not 2 games. The only thing I have been opposed to is the commentary on this board that UND players are immune to legal troubles and that NDSU runs a dirty program. Both are false.

Good to know I haven't lost any credibility then. Never once have I rationalized these players not being punished. In fact, I said from the beginning they should have been suspended.

I was young for most of his tenure, but from what I have heard you are probably right. If the stories I've heard are true, there isn't anything near that going on at NDSU now.

So has NDSU.

You lose credibility when you mention UND and Notre Dame in the same breathe academically. http://www.forbes.com/colleges/university-of-north-dakota/ http://www.forbes.com/colleges/university-of-notre-dame/

So players have been kicked off of UND athletic programs for "cheating", I sure haven't heard of one.

I think it's pretty obvious what Golson did after reading the article. Notre Dame is superior to 99% of institutions in terms of it's academic reputation. For them to let him stay on the team after what he did would have much further reaching negative effects in terms of recruiting quality students than it would at most schools. This happens at NDSU, UND, most schools that don't have the academic reputation of Notre Dame and the consequences would be much different. In my mind, this offense completely outweighs winning a few football games. I'm guessing the powers that be saw it the same way.

Yes. He accounted for nearly 20% of the points scored against NDSU's defense last year. That has to be some sort of a record.

Makes sense. I still think UND would have much more success in the Big Sky if they were built more like the UND teams of the early '00s. Shut down defense and power running. Those teams just aren't built to handle a power running attack. And recruiting to Grand Forks is much more conducive to this type of team.

I agree with this completely. I have been saying for a long time that Jensen is an average QB who has come up big with his legs in some pretty tight situations. He's got a good head on his shoulders(most of the time) and seems to understand his role well. In my mind, the comparisons between him and Steve Walker are laughable. Ironically, because of the team's accomplishments he will likely be viewed as above Steve on all-time NDSU lists. Sad. He is pretty accurate if he can stay in rhythm, but if he is pressing at all he WILL turn the ball over.

With NDSU it's the chicken or the egg conversation. Which came first, the ball control offense leading to shut down defense or the shut down defense leading to the ball control offense. I find it humorous that many NDSU fans are critical of the playcalling, but fail to realize that our offense is designed to be boring. Take care of the ball and never put your defense in bad situations. The defense and special teams puts NDSU's offense on short fields and in great situations to score enough points to win. I agree with you that UND needs to find a way to run the ball, that would be key. With the type of offense UND is looking to build, they will need to couple that with a defense that can force a lot of turnovers or at least stop teams from making big plays.

I am not here to teach you guys anything about football, most of you are very knowledgable about the game. But, keep in mind that the way UND's team is constructed, they will always likely be in high scoring affairs. Being a passing team like UND is lengthens the game and gives the other team many more opportunities. The team just isn't built to win 17-14 or 10-3 games. Even bad offenses can score if given enough opportunity. Couple that with a below average defense and you are looking at a lot of games like last year. UND is used to having teams that are built much differently and I think that is why the fanbase is in turmoil mentally. It's very difficult to have both a wide open offense and a shut down defense because with that offense you will put your defense on a lot of short fields and short rest.

By no means am I hear to brag up the bunnies, but Zenner under 150 is easier said than done. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/players/120605/index.html

I'm guessing it would depend on where those 4 losses came from and how those teams finish their seasons. 7-4 and middle of the pack Big Sky finish won't get you in. If 7-4 gets you 3rd in the Big Sky then you are likely looking at a playoff berth. Not trying to be a contrarian at all here, just an outsiders view. UND would have to be vastly improved to come away from next season with anything better than a 6-5 record. SDSU is a legitimate squad. Montana will be much improved IMO. MSU and EWU bring back a lot of guys from good team last year and NAU has been pretty salty as of late. Valpo-W(Should be an easy win) SDSU- L(Tough match up for UND, stingy defense and power running game. UND needs this to be a track meet to have a chance IMO.) Montana-Toss up(Though, if I had money on the game I would put it down as a loss for UND.) Montana State-Loss(MSU is my pick for Big Sky title, UND is a year or two away from competing) Idaho State-Win(Bad team) EWU-Loss(I expect, EWU to contend for the Big Sky title, I don't see UND in that class yet) Sac State-Win(Bad team, home game) Portland State-Toss up(UND hasn't shown much on the road lately, PSU has the firepower to score with UND) NAU-Loss(Good team, on the road, I don't see this one being very close) UNC-Win Davis-Win(Not super confident to pick a win here, again road games have not been UND's strong suit, even though I don't expect Davis to be very good) So I guess as I look back here, I see losses against SDSU, MSU, EWU and NAU, with Montana another probable loss in my book. Assuming UND wins every other game(not a given) 6-5 or 5-6 is most likely IMO. Though, the team could be much improved and we won't know that until they play a few games. I actually think that UND will look worse the first couple games than they did last year. I think the offense will take a few games to get in sync and it won't be the explosive offense it was last year until mid-season. I didn't see anything that would suggest UND got a ton better on defense so I think that SDSU game will be a butt kicking to be honest. We'll see. Final prediction 6-5. Rip away.

Your obsession with bringing up NDSU in unrelated threads is astounding. You seem quite outspoken about NDSU scheduling KSU and that they will lose handily. What will you say if NDSU wins that game?

If you ask me, this is no different than what happens on espn these days. This guy and the herald know that by writing this controversial piece their website will get a huge influx of hits. Pretend to be offended, write a controversial article and watch the sheep flow to you. It's been happening for years.

I disagree, I think there are plenty of fans on this board that are naive to UND players getting in trouble. If they aren't naive they sure are acting as if UND players never get jammed up. What NDSU athlete run-ins haven't been reported?