Herd

Those Massy ratings and quarter will get you a bowl of soup. Their relevance is nil. Yes, NDSU used to beat the jacks too, not any more. None of the dakota schools have the speed and athleticism to compete effectively with them at this point.

Could the yotes/sioux/bison complete for an NIT DI championship, absolutely not. I say give them their due, they almost ran the table in the Summit and have 20+ wins.

I fully expect the Lady Jacks to make a run at the NIT Championship, and be one of the best teams in the NIT field. Could the yotes/sioux/bison complete for an NIT DI championship, absolutely not.

The Jack Ladies are a top 40-50 DI team. usd/und/ndsu are not currently in their league. The coach at SDSU is be far the best recruiter in the dakotas.

There is no price tag to put on a school's good name and basic integrity. I trust that integrity would follow the donated gift of a ND farmer.

I am comfortable with NDSU and Fargo having to work hard and fundraise to put the facilities that are needed in place, even if it takes some time. I believe that this method of getting the facilities thing done is much preferrable than being hostage to 1 major doner that just gives you everything you want, and ties strings and loopholes to each donation. Often times the kid that is more successful is the one that actually has to work for his success.

Playing SD or ND in a regular season game would be fine when they are DI counters. But I would much rather goto a holiday tournament where there is a chance to play high mids Bucknell, Princeton or high major like Marquette or Cal. A Holiday tournament with SDS, a team from your same conference that you already have a home and home with . . . not interested. Regular season games with SD and ND (outside the Summit) when they are counters would be OK. Anyone that thinks this will Dakota Holiday Tourny thing will happen isn't thinking it through very clearly.

The gophers gave 100% for this game, they gave the bison everything they had. Last year the gopher effort was less than 100% and you could question their motiviation, but not yesterday. Those of you who would like to discount this win for your own purposes don't know what you are taking about. That team in green is good, and they took everything that the gopher threw at them today and won. That was not an emontionless, punchless team wearing maroom today. They had everything on the line today including their personal pride and the future of their program. They were tough and motivated, and it showed on the field. The bison D held them to 21 points, a real accomplishment. Their D just wore down at the hands of a punishing rushing game. The gophers are not built to handling that type of an offense. I have the full gopher slate on Tivo (as a fan), and they have improved each week. That was not a punchless, defeated team. They did not lay down, they gave everything. They lost.

On the Fan this week, they kept referring to how much superior the "quality of life" is in the Twin Cities vs. ND. What, how are they defining quality of life? If you have pro sports teams you have a better quality of life? Do the pro sports teams and more restraunts really trump the traffic, pollution, crime, and homelessness that you see in the TC metro. Is the quality of life in Fargo, GF, Bis, Minot so much inferior to Minnesota? Sorry, I didn't get the logic.

If the leadership and commitment to DI in Fargo would have been in place sooner, the move would have happened sooner. The besting timing IMO would have been shortly after the 1990 championship in the early 1990's. UND hasn't been forced into anything, your leadership has been shamed into moving to DI, look at your schedules for goodness sakes vs. your neighbor in DI. I'm sure there is a spot in the Northern Sun for UND if you beat Minot to the punch, I wouldn't want to force you to do anything against your will like move to DI. What a bunch of crap, if und and usd stay in the NCC, the conference goes on and a few teams are brought in from the Norhtern Sun to balance the 2 conferences. Und and usd left and the conference died. You killed the NCC, not SU. Forced to leave, what a bunch of crap. Shamed and embarrassed by your actions and NDSU's success, yes. Forced, no way.

Because they sponsor 63 scholarhips rather than 85. There is no rule that says you can't have a better team with 63 scholarships than another team with 85 scholarships. You choose your scholarship level and your subdivision. The dribble that ESPN is saying about attendance levels for 4 years is total BS. You choose your scholarhsip levels. If it was about attendance then NDSU would be FBS next year with an average attendance for 4 years above 15,000.

If they were in the FBS, Application State, before today's game would be ranked in the range of 50 or so, just like the teams below. Would these teams be capable of beating Michigan on AGS? Certainly. The people that say this is a miracle win know nothing about college football and the FCS. Appalachian State is a very good team. 41 Texas A&M 42 Purdue 43 Missouri 44 Pittsburgh 45 Wake Forest 46 Virginia 47 Oklahoma State 48 Kansas State 49 NC State And DK, you don't deserve to even have an opinion.

So Dave, what is defined as Big Time college football? I want to make sure that I don't waste too much my time with small time college football, but I need some help with the definition. Questions: Are all FBS teams considered Big Time? Are just BCS conference teams considered Big Time? Are only top 50, 25 teams considered Big Time? Are only the the top 5 teams considered Big Time? You know, USC, OH St., ND, TX, MI. . . Does your stadium size determine if you are Big Time? How big is Big Time, 40000, 60000, 80000? Are teams considered Big Time or are Games considered Big Time? If a Big Time team plays a non-Big Time team, is the game Big Time? Can a DI FCS team be in any way involved in a Big Time Game even though their not a Big Time team? If an FCS team is beating a Big Time team, can it be referred to as a Big Time game? Is Boise State from the WAC considered Big Time? Is Boise State vs. Weber State Big Time? Is Boise State vs. Washington the following week Big Time? If a crappy Indiana plays a Michigan, is that considered Big Time, does it matter if it's played at IN or MI? Is Minnesota Big Time? If Minnesota plays on the road at FBS Florida Atlantic, is that considered Big Time? If App St and Youngstown play at MI and OH st in front of 100,000 people, is that considered Big Time? These are legitimate Big Time questions. Please help so I can set the Tivo ahead of the time and catch some Big Time football in 2007, minimizing my time wasted on Small Time college football!!

Nearly everything that Gene Taylor has touched the past 5 years has turned out pretty well. I can see where he wouldn't be very popular up north with your AD situation, but that is mostly sour grapes. He has never ducked the media and has been open and honest about playing und. He went on the radio with Ed Shultz and Bunning for goodness sake and spoken candidly in what was really a no-win situation. He has really been surprising respectful toward und when you look at it. Your former AD and president were not. Hopefully his answer will continue to be, no thanks.

As a business man, I deal with suppliers and contracts each day. Some suppliers are honest, trustworth and deliver results without a lot of talk and promises. Other suppliers will promise you the world, but you cannot trust them and they do not consistently deliver. Sometimes the good supplier will tell you that they cannot meet your requirements. Their integrity and honesty is what makes you want to continue to work with them. Back in 2003, the bison AD expected to have an honest dealing with RT, meaning you either sign the contract or not, done in an open and honest fashion. RT turned it into a power play after dragging it out to the 11th hour and trying to make his supposed business partner look bad. GT is now done with that dishonest supplier. Both you and I would be done with that supplier if treated in the same manner. So please defend the decision by und, but don't defend RT's ethics, you cannot.

No, I think he should have done what he and his administration were going to do. But he, his administration, and his coaches should have shown some integrity in the situation. I could define integrity for you if you need some help with that concept.

Hammer . . . there you go again trying to introduce facts when everyone here is just more comfortable with "fuzzy grayness", and the general passage of time. Who really knows, maybe . . . . . . Roger Thomas took a und mandated 6 month sabbatical in 2003 and just didn't get back to Gene, but was well intended . . . The und press conference was really called to annouce the fall concert schedule at the Alerus. Or maybe it didn't happen at all. Were you there? . . . Maybe the contract had some "legal jargon" about an "ndsu gf campus" and the lawyers at und got involved to stop it in its tracks. If it weren't for the lawyers, game on! . . . Maybe Gene Taylor isn't his "real" name Let the official record show these new facts.

Every year the und story on the 4 year contract offered by ndsu changes a little more and a little more, and get cloudier and cloudier. Kinda like that fish that you caught that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. You know, its interesting, there are even some people as time goes by that think that terrible thing with the Germans and Jews never really happened. Hummm, interesting.

Edit: Anyplace, anywhere, anytime . . . except und (is that more accurate for everyone). There are you happy? I kinda like it . . . This phrase generally applies to playing upwards anyway.

If the ncaa didn't want everyone jumping to DI, moving DII football scholarships up, not down, would have been a good idea 10 years ago. The main factors driving teams to DI are obviously football and Basketball. For ndsu, it was football, but in hindsite, basketball needed DI just as bad. The gap in football between DII and DI 63 continues to grow fueled by the move-ups and schollies levels. There is now no middle ground for great DII conferences like the NCC. A higher % of DII's are now well below the 36 level maximum. It would be a breath of fresh air if the ncaa would take some responsiblity for what it has done to DII and have some long range plans. The ncaa has been driving the train for the DII exodus.

IMO, the bison admin would be happy to play your fine institution if you Pres and former AD weren't ?ackasses! I don't think anyone is afraid of anything.

Agreed, the top DII can definitely hang with the DI FCS top 25. They may not have the depth to do it for a whole season, but und proved that they are a very good team. In the same way, ndsu can hang with Minnesota for a game, but would take some serious lumps playing MN's schedule week in and week out. Scholarships are a big factor over the course of a season 36-63-85. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to play a Michigan St, Wisconsin, or Illinois.

It is clear that you cannot stand the success that ndsu is experiencing so early in their DI transition. That is clearly your motiviation and your blind hatred. They will reach a level that your beloved sioux may not be capable of achieving, and you clearly can't stand it. That is your motiviation disguised as ripping on DI football. It is important that everyone that reads your opinioins understands your motivations and knows where you are coming from. Last year Ball state nearly beat Michigan, and I can think of 15-30 teams in DI FCS that could play with Ball State. How can you say that DI FCS teams do not belong on the same field as Michigan or other top FBS team. Try telling Ball State that they don't deserve to play Michigan, I think they would have a big problem with that. Often times FCS/FBS teams are recruiting the same players, how can you say that. In a team sport anything can happen on AGS.

Let's see now. . . You are saying that DI FCS football is to DI FBS football, what high school football is to the NFL? Wow Dave, you are a genius. What an amazing analigy! Have you completely lost your mind? You have said some stupid stuff before, but that's craziest thing I have ever heard. Blind hatred (and I mean blind) is obviously short circuiting an logical thinking on your part.

Whether its Ball State, CMU, MN, WI, NE . . . you believe that you can win, and you play to win. It's a team sport and the best team wins. The most all-americans, best track speed and greatest strength do not win by showing up. It's the team that executes and plays together that wins. I do not share your inferiority complex. Taking the field against teams like Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, KState and Minnesota and others in the top 50 and being competitive is what being DI in football is all about. Anytime you take the field against good competition you run the risk of getting beat by 1 or by 30. The bison lost to Cal Poly by 30 in 2005 before returning the favor by 35 in 2006. Thats the way it works sometimes. What would you rather do, play good competition or hide under a rock. Your attitude is an embarassment! Anyone, anywhere, anytime!