TheFlop

Hopefully Duluth's incoming class doesn't develop until they are Juniors....or not develop at all.

Love Kunz as a recruit but is a little sad that UND needs 2 UMD recruits to back out in order for a UND "blue chipper" to get in.

If you've been in Grand Forks for the last 3 years it must have all been spent in Pete Haga's food truck if you didn't notice the start of this last year. Regarding the N. Washington underpass, they left it beat up almost the entire Summer. When they finally fixed it, it only took a couple days to fill it and asphalt over it. Not exactly major construction. As for the money....major projects obviously take time and money. There is such a thing known as preventative maintenance. But you are right, in the history of time there has never been an instance of an entity (government or non government) dragging their feet/doing less than their best/etc in order to get what they feel they want/need.

That is true. However both produced as underclassmen. It is certainly possible that some of the incoming freshmen that aren't blue chippers will also surprise, UND's success next year depends on it. I think the real concern is with the sophomore class from this year. UND has had good players get even better their junior years....but how often have their been Sophmores that showed minimal results as Fresh/Sophs but just exploded as Juniors?

People were starting to complain about roads already last Summer. If you would have driven under the Washington Street underpass at any point last Summer you would have seen. They left that thing beat to crap throughout their pleading for a yes vote as a shrine to the deteriorating roads in Grand Forks. Do you think perfectly good roads just fall apart after one winter? No. They weren't keeping up on maintenance and a perfect storm of a winter exposed them for it.

You make a good point. I do wonder though if college hockey would be a little less susceptible (not totally immune) to the money corruption. Most elite hockey players come from financially stable (if not outright wealthy) backgrounds. Many of the elite football and basketball players come from poor families that truly need the money (makes them more susceptible to bribes and payouts).

It's not a coincidence that certain high profile roads were allowed to degrade in the year leading up to the sales tax vote in Grand Forks. They will be fixed this Summer but the city had to make sure people understood last Summer/Fall that the "only" way possible to get roads fixed was to approve the sales tax.

Once again, not sure why everyone is obsessed with comparing UND attendance to Duluth attendance. UND attendance should be compared only to past UND attendance if UND wants to hold itself up as the gold standard for on ice product and attendance (not Mariucci sold out but empty arena attendance....real attendance). Not sure if Duluth fans would wet themselves if they had better attendance. I think the bigger danger would be them wetting themselves posing next to the championship trophies that are starting to pile up there.

I never said UMD has good fan attendance. Win or lose they have never had strong attendance. The fact remains there is a big difference between paid attendance and the number of people that show up. UND's paid attendance has been really good. However, anyone that went to a UND game the second half of the season could see a noticeable drop in actual attendance. One season isn't cause to panic....but another season like this and all of a sudden you have a trend. UND has never had to withstand multiple mediocre years in the new Ralph but as last season showed it doesn't take long for the crowds to thin out when the product isn't good. Based on the iffy Freshman and Sophmore class performance to date....and an incoming class that seems to have only one pretty sure thing....it is fair to have concern about what the next couple years have in store.

One down year resulted in a noticeable attendance drop (actual....not announced attendance). Point is don't get cocky and assume it won't drop further if the same product is put on the ice again. People don't pay $50+ a ticket and buy a bunch of $8 beers to watch a slightly above .500 team play a bunch of low scoring games and miss the playoffs. One good recruiting class can change everything but UND has been getting spanked by UMD and Denver lately in that department.

Seriously? 3 appearances and 2 wins in 8 seasons. You must be a St Cloud State fan the way you focus just on appearances.

Another area UND fans shouldn't get too cocky in. Anyone that attended a game at the Ralph after the Xmas break would have noticed a significant difference between tickets sold and butts in seats. Hopefully an improved product turns that around next season.

Since Sandelin got a building upgrade to help with recruitment he's 3 title game appearance and 2 title wins in last 8 years. You're assuming that Hakstol/Berry would have achieved the same results if half of their career was spent recruiting into a lesser building than the old Ralph (the old Decc). Try again.

With the better college coach (over Hakstol and Berry).

Ever since UMD upgraded their facility they've been the better program.

What's Sandelin's record since the Amsoil opened in 2010? Three title game appaearances? You can add in his first 8-9 years to try and deflect his success.....but fact is once he got a legitimate arena he's been really good.

20 years ago? Yes. But since you brought it up, full color Kindles can be had for $50-$100 depending on size. I'm guessing that price can be even cheaper in bulk. I'd be more likely to support a program that puts a new Kindle in the hand of every kid......and even one in the hand of every adult that demonstrates need. Wi-Fi is everywhere and the internet is full of free books and entertainment options. Would be exponentially cheaper than building a library. Shopping....education....etc is all moving away from bricks and mortar but for some reason the small but vocal library proponents insist on a big new physical building.

Just not demand that justifies the expenditure.

Those numbers really aren't that great when you think about it. I have a lbrary card......but haven't been into the Grand Forks library in the last 10 years. Simple Google handles many more "reference questions" in a day than the library does. As for the public computer usage......would be very interested to see how many actual unique users there were versus how many of those uses were repeated uses by a relatively small group of individuals. Regardless, the numbers you cite don't justify a new library costing tens of millions of dollars.

Before anyone is allowed to vote for a downtown library location......they should be required to visit the downtown Duluth library. While there, picture the same clientele but with a much worse parking situation which would be the case in downtown Grand Forks. http://www.kbjr6.com/story/37839278/bed-bug-scare-at-duluth-library-prompts-overnight-treatment-open-for-business

Problem is Philadelphia is a major market. 1/2 of the teams make the playoffs every year. His first year at Philly was solid. Last year was not. This year Philly is solid again but not great. This isn't college where the locals will just keep patting him on the head and say wait til next year. The results he has had would be fine if he was in Buffalo, Carolina, Florida, etc, but won't keep him behind the bench in Philly for long.

What would Pete Haga do then???

If he's truly an NHL player, he should have made those around him better this year.....just like Jost and Boesser did to him. That didn't happen.

For those assuming that the sophomore class will just automatically develop by next season.....Shane Gersich never progressed from his soph to junior year. I wonder if he realizes that the puck bunnies on the AHL circuit are fewer and more worn out than what he had access to at UND.

As for the argument about NDSU or UND having higher standards.....it's like arguing whether Grand Forks or Fargo has more mosquitos in the summer. Both colleges have a very small number of programs that are tough to get into. However, unless you are a knuckle dragger that still does homework with a chisel and a piece of slate, getting into either college is quite easy.