Bison06

Did I miss something? When did he turn down a scholly from NDSU? Please don't tell me how I would or would not react if the situations were reversed, you really have no clue. If the shoe was on the other foot I would say good for him, my favorite team didn't identify him as a scholarship player and if he can get money to get a higher education, best of luck to him. You can't be upset when someone else puts a higher value than you did on a commodity and buys it away from you.

What I would say to that is we obviously have some extra scholarship money to use. Completely different situation than UND is in. NDSU by offering him a scholarship at the 11th hour has shown that he was very low on the scholarship totem pole and decided to try and pick up an extra player as opposed to sitting on the scholly money. UND on the other hand, as you or maybe another poster said, identified his talent early but didn't deem him worthy of a scholarship. Now, that for whatever reason other schools are in the game, UND fans are upset that he may take money to play elsewhere when they didn't identify him as worthy of offering money in the first place.

Do you hate when NDSU fans post here or do you love it? I am so confused.

Oh please, now this says something about NDSU's recruiting class? Dream on man.

But Travis just said he didn't do anything in the all-star game that he hadn't shown the last 2 years. I'll end it there, it just seems odd. The last thing I want is for an 18 year old kid to log on here and read anything controversial being said about him. I hope he ends up at the school that fits him best and that he has a great 4-5 year experience.

For the last time right back at you, I am not arguing his worth, I have seen the film. I think he looks like a preferred walk on to be completely honest. What I am asking is, why are UND fans clammoring all of a sudden and seemingly desperate to keep a kid that is a preferred walk on?

When was that offered? Just recently or back in Jan or Feb?

Take it easy, this isn't a UND vs. NDSU thing. I am just trying to understand why you all care so much if he goes somewhere else, either he is good enough to earn a scholarship in the eyes of UND coaches and fans or he isn't considered a star in the recruiting class and losing him shouldn't be a big deal. It can't be both.

But UND had no way of knowing that an offer wouldn't come from another school later and that could have left them out in the cold. I have seen guys fly under the radar before at the FCS level, but from my understanding he wasn't even offered a DII scholarship. I just find it odd that there is so much talk about a player that obviously wasn't high on UND's recruit list and now from reading the posts on this board, it would be a huge deal if you guys lost him. I have no doubt the kid is a player, but this all seems very odd. If UND had him pegged as such a good player why not offer him and make him a feature of the recruiting class?

That's not the way it works and you guys know it. You offer a player what they are worth, not what you hope to get them for. If what you are saying were true, every player would be offered a preferred walk-on offer first and if they turned it down they would up the offer and if they didn't accept that they would up the offer again etc.

I understand, but when they were recruiting him they didn't know that he wouldn't pick up other offers later. Not offering him a scholarship shows he wasn't very high on the priority list. So why is everyone acting like he is the next Digger Anderson? So all of a sudden he has a good all-star game and he is a different kind of player? I don't buy it. If 3 years of high school tape doesn't convince a team that a kid needs to be a priority and will likely be a star, I don't understand how one game can change someone's mind.

The obvious question seems to be, if he is going to be such a great player for UND, why is he not being offered a scholarship at UND? I have never seen so much hoopla over a preferred walk on in my life. If he is really that good, why didn't UND see him as a priority?

Sadly, I agree that they won't get in much trouble over this compared to what others schools have gone through. I believe the NCAA is all about setting examples with their punishments and punishing a school like Montana in a big way just doesn't make enough headlines to be worth the time the NC double a-holes would have to put into it.

From the perspective of this NDSU fan, the only two games that matter in the NDSU vs. UND conversation are the last one and the next one.

How is MarQueis Gray on any sort of NFL QB list? He may have a shot at another position, but QB? Tebow throws it better than Gray.

If you don't have a problem with the Dakota Marker, why the disparaging nicknames on this board? Road Marker, Mile Marker? And my personal favorite that it resembles a turd?

The Dakota Marker is about 75-100 lbs and is a scaled replica of the actual border markers that are along the ND/SD border. I have seen a few of these things while out hunting and they are enormous. 7 feet tall and probably a ton. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Marker My point has been that NDSU fans(other than a few crazies) think of the dakota marker the exact same way all of you would think of a trophy with MSU. Something nice to create some interest and a little more excitement leading up to the game. Nothing more. In fact, SDSU isn't even our biggest rival in our conference at this point. The bad blood between UNI and NDSU is pretty evident and I would consider them our most heated in conference rival at this point.

You realize the trophy is a scale model of the markers that were put in place in 1891 right? Not exactly the type of situation where you allow for artistic interpretation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Marker

Again, 8 years ago the fallout from the breakup was much more intense. I think everyone was much more sensitive and NDSU and UND fans were both in a we don't need you so eff off kind of place. Other than it being 8 years removed, I see them as identical situations. Other than a few radical fans on message boards, NDSU fans knew it would never be the same as the nickel.

I hear UND fans saying almost exactly what NDSU fans were saying back in '04. "Great way to build some excitement" "Makes the game more interesting" etc. Nobody actually believed that SDSU would turn into a hated rival the way UND was. Actually the SDSU "rivalry" has turned out to be much more heated than I ever imagined it would. I just find it ironic. Seems like a pretty clear case of double standard from my perspective.

I think it is just a matter of timing. It seemed forced back then because of the proximity to the "breakup". Otherwise it is nearly an identical situation. Actually, If anything, UND starting a trophy game with MSU would be even more manufactured than the NDSU v. SDSU situation. The SU's had a partnership of sorts that helped guide each school through the transition, so it made sense to have our fanbases attach meaning to the game. But MSU has been a DI school for over 30 years and UND is just the new guy on the block in their world.

I thought it was a great idea in '04 for NDSU and I think it is a great idea now for UND. I just remember reading about the Dakota Marker quite a bit on this board back in '04 and NDSU was catching a lot of flak for "making up rivalry" with SDSU. I think it's a fair question to ask why it was contrived in '04, but now most UND fans seem to think that it is a great way to create some excitement between the two fanbases involved in a trophy game?

Splitting hairs a little there I think, but fair enough I suppose.

Not trying to troll, but isn't this the exact same idea that you guys thought was a horrible and contrived attempt to make a game more meaningful than it actually is when NDSU and SDSU started a trophy game? I actually think it would be a good idea, just pointing out my recollection of the events back in '04.

Decent speed?