so.cal.sioux

You are the greatest.

My comment was confusing. It was directed only to football except for the statement about basketball. Generally I don't think bball can make it to 15k average but you are right, it is not needed to keep your D-I status.

I stand corrected. Interesting find. But it would not be #28 as we do not average a sell out. We average around 10,500 which puts us somewhere around #40. I was wrong but please don't tell my wife.

I don't think you have you facts straight. UND doesn't come close to some of the top programs in basketball. Kansas seats around 18,000 and consistently sells out. Same with North Carolina. Maryland has a huge new arena that seats around the same I Believe. UND averages around 10,000 fans per game. That is not even close to the top 50 programs in basketball. UND hockey also does not come close to football I-A programs. In order to keep your I-A status, you must average 15,000 per game. I think this is doable in football, maybe not basketball. Hockey is not maxed out but it is damn close. The room for growth in the future will be seen in Football and Basketball, more so football. We need to start allocating our resources, in terms of more marketing dollars, to those sports. UND needs a marketing budget at least on par, if not more, than NDSU! Right now it isn't even close.

Did you read the bio on Ray Purpur? If not, you should and get back to us on who would be the better fundraiser. Dean has NO experience fundraising. I agree with you second paragraph. Football and BBall must receive more attention from administration moving forward.

Pay closer attention to all the advertisments and you will realize that football is the most marketed sport at UND. It seems like the hockey team is because of the buzz that follows the men's team and also all the bells and whistles in the REA that help advertise. When it comes to marketing dollars, I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of the dollars go towards football.

The Princeton Review -- msn.com Something to be proud about. Congratulations to UND on this ranking!

Couldn't have said it better. Ray Purpur would be an excellent choice. I was initially on Bollinger's bandwagon for the job but I am not sure he would be better than Purpur and not sure he would even want it.

Although a great coach, Dean is not what UND needs. We need someone with experience working within an athletic dept. It is obvious this is a HUGE and critical turning point in UND Athletics history. If this hire doesn't turn out, it could set UND back a number of years. This has to be the right guy. Ray Purpur would be an amazing hire for this. I would like to see Dean back at UND, but just not in the AD role.

Let me be on record that this project will never happen. No one will travel to the NCAA Hockey Hall of Fame and once the citizens of Grand Forks have seen it the building and HOF will run into financially hard times. This project will never happen.

How is that back stabbing? We didn't promise Tom anything. UND didn't give out any information on the issue so the only way to get some sort of information are from places like siouxsports.com, which just happens to be a message board. What do you think message boards are? It is a place for people to say what they heard at the water cooler that day. Get over it. Tom knew he would receive some sort of backlash from taking the 2 leave of absences instead of taking the respectable way out and resigning. I am not privy to why he took the 2 leaves but I am assuming he had the option of resigning right away, which he didn't. That opens him to some criticism. You have been on this board for a while. You know what type of things are posted on here. Cowboy Up.

100% true

I agree with you. Everything in the Jacobs article is right on. The guy to blame for this is Harmenson. His ego and arrogant personality clouded his judgment, on this issue and many others. Ironically enough it has done the opposite on everyone's perception of him being arrogant and full of himself. Those opinions are crystal clear. What is also crystal clear is the fact that Harmenson must be removed from his position as VP. He has lost his credibility with people both inside and outside the university. His handling of this PR nightmare is just another reason in a long list of why Phil needs to go. I am not saying Buning didn't need to go because there is no doubt in my mind that he did, but they need to give the "choice" to Phil as well. "Hey Phil, you can be retained at UND in another fashion or you can resign. What will you choose?" This whole thing has cast a huge dark cloud over UND and it will be quite some time until sunny days appear again over Hyslop and Twamley.

My ranked candidates for UND Athletic Director... 1. Rob Bollinger 2. Ray Purpur (a very close second) 3. Al Molde These are my picks with the discussed candidates to date. All three would be a good fit and I would be happy with any of them. There may be a candidate from the outside that throws his/her name into the hat and could bring strong credentials and could crack the top 3. Remember: This is for informational purposes only. No wagering!

Only one misspelled word and a run on sentence. You are improving young Skywalker. P.S. Her radio show is horrible. I would rather hear a replay off that morning's Tim & Swyg show than hear her rants.

What about Al Molde? He was the #1 candidate in 2005 but couldn't come to terms. You would think UND would want to throw more money at a quality applicant this time around.

I agree. Rich would be an interesting candidate. Even though I like Rich a lot, I would have to throw him into the same category as Dean. Great coaches and great people, not what UND Athletics needs at this critical juncture.

God forbid we even take a look at candidates, dare I say it, without UND ties

Even if he does have interest, he would be the wrong candidate.

I 2nd that. Does your computer not have spell check?

I agree with everything you just said except for the Dean Blais part. Rob would be a great candidate but Dean does not have the experience and attributes that is needed. Rob does.

You are right, Roger didn't have experience as AD when he took over. Although I think Roger did a good job as AD, there were some things that were not done that the Athletic Dept had to deal with when Roger left that is reflected in Bunings statements to Harmensen. Every AD makes mistakes and there is no possible way that they can get everything right. If you were looking for an exception to the rule on coaches turning into ADs, then I would say Roger would be that exception. That being said, I don't think Dean holds the same attributes that Roger has and thus I don't believe he would be a successful AD at UND.

I see your point but comparing UND to Wisconsin is apples and oranges. Barry Alvarez was able to be the AD while he was coaching because he had a plethora of Associate AD's to pick up the slack. They in fact were the ones running the department. They would just report to him on their progress. I would assume the same situation still exists with Alvarez concentrating his time on fundraising and big time boosters. The same situation does not exist at UND. You only have a couple Assistant AD's. The AD at UND is more involved in everyday decisions than at Wisconsin. Furthermore, Wisconsin is already a well-established athletic presence in the Big 10 Conference. UND is transitioning to D-I without knowing for sure where all the money is going to come from. Without a marketing plan in place for D-I. Without knowing what conference they will be competing in. Bottomline, we need someone that knows what they are doing and can't afford to bring in a "big name" without any administration experience what so ever.

Will you tell me how Dean Blais is qualified and has the attributes to be a good AD at this VERY critical juncture in UND Athletics history? He is a hockey coach! The biggest thing on his resume are his NCAA championships AS A COACH. The AD position is more than glad handing and being a public figure. Although Dean is an amazing hockey coach and a better guy, he would not be suited to be AD with no experience what so ever to speak of.

Rob Bollinger & Ray Purpur have to be early favorites. Is Betty Ralston going to throw her name in the hat? Gentlemen...(and Hockey Mom)...start your engines! debate!