jdub27

Explain what away? That they also have 3 non D-1 games on their schedule? That they previously paid to be part of a marketing-type group that helped mid-majors get some games scheduled (doesn't exist anymore so it isn't an option)? That it costs less to get a team into Fargo than it does Grand Forks? That they have a bigger basketball budget than UND does, not to mention higher attendance, making it easier to incentive teams? That they had to overpay to get a mediocre team to open their brand new arena because that was the best they could get and its still nowhere near the quality of a team they wanted? Teams don't want to travel to North Dakota because it is long travel for little money or they can get home/home games with closer schools so their end of travel is cheaper. UND signed a 3-1 to get UNI to come here and a whopping 2,300 fans showed up to see a team that had knocked off #1 UNC the week before and was receiving votes in the polls. How much money do you propose UND pays teams to come up here and then don't get enough fans to cover the bill? I think (if they haven't) UND should try to see if there is a way to partner with NDSU to get a team or two up here every year and have the visiting team play Thursday/Saturday games and split the costs some way. <---That's trying to come up with a solution to the problem instead of just complaining about it.

I don't think anyone, including every single person in the athletic department, disagree that it would be nice to have more D-1 schools here but you can't just snap your fingers and make it happen. As already stated, the SD schools aren't all that open at this time for home/homes so what exactly do you propose? UND had to give UNI a 3-1 to get them here and even then that was basically a favor from Coach Jacobson. Giving USD or SDSU anything other than a home/home would not be received well. As for comparing it to football, talk about comparing apples and oranges. You can't be serious trying to compare the two? That is absolutely ridiculous on about 10 different levels. Look at any D1 basketball schedule in the nation, including P5 schools. UNC plays something called Fuilford. Duke plays Virginia State and Augustana (SD). They all have non-D1 schools on there. At least one if not two of these games are usually exhibition(which of course aren't allowed in football), give a cheap home game and give coaches a chance to look at a lot of different things. The other ones are a cost/benefit on going on the road for a money away game (which may be a breakeven scenario at best) or giving your fans and players a home game, even if it is against a lower level opponent.

It would make for a couple more quality home games but they wouldn't replace those games as they are cheap home games and a good warm-up for the team. Even the P5 schools play non-D1 games. UofM played Crookston and SW Minnesota St last year.

It hasn't. Patty V continues to make that known publicly and privately.

Considering you've provide no substance to back up any of your claims outside of an unsubstantiated rumor that your buddy supposedly didn't get paid timely (despite no proof and no other known instances where that has happened), I won't hold my breath. If "they" were talking about it in Bismarck, it obviously isn't a big secret, so I'm not sure what your hesitation to share is. You never did address my question about the NDSU athletic department not paying one of their assistant coaches his full salary. Whatever happened there?

Can I get a translator?

The fact that you get to keep repeating what is basically an unsubstantiated rumor is surprising. There has been absolutely zero proof of what you accused and none of the stuff that has come out about a budget deficit (projected or real) has anything to do with your claim of UND not paying its bills. I work with and have talked to many businesses do that do work for UND and not a single one has mentioned any issue with payments. Zero. UND missed their budget mark and they gave the reasons why (tuition cap after the fact and mandated budget cuts) and a gigantic part of that (particularly budget cuts) came after the fact, not "turns out travel costs 3x more than we thought even though its the same as last year". Big, big difference. I'm also going to go ahead and guess NDSU missed their budget this year as well due to state budget cuts. They already had to come up with a way to trim 15% of appropriated funds for next year yet not much discussion on that. You keep claiming that this is the tip of the iceberg. Please expand on that and tell us exactly what is going on. I'd really, really love to hear it. If not, then quit making unsubstantiated claims, especially when your own house isn't exactly in order.

It is a fair point, but I don't think it was meant to be a big e-mail, just being transparent and getting ahead of it if the number were to come out (even though it was somewhat known) with no explanation. Being 45 days into the job, there wasn't going to be, nor should there be, any specifics on what is a long-term issue but it is fair to say that it is going to be examined and how that is going to happen. It looks like Kennedy has offered to come talk to the GF Herald guys when he gets back so that should fix that issue as well.

This is a big part of it, they were already hamstrung on what they were working with. On top of that, all the focus groups were very clear to SME that the new logo not be a cartoon, be clean/simple and have some sort of determination type look. This input was pretty much a consensus from every stakeholder group.

He wasn't forced to make a choice or lose his shot before going to camps at other schools and has a good feel for what interest there may or may not be, which can not be said in some other instances. Huge difference between committing before and after summer camps. As already stated, it is more of a "soft verbal" and it wasn't a take it or leave it situation.

This whole this has become way overblown: It was known there was a deficit and it was going to be sizable, hence why golf and baseball were cut. The athletic department took on a larger burden than required because they had some extra revenues. This was to help shore up the projected shortfall that was caused by UND's initial budget being set at a tuition increase that was then blocked by the legislature, causing their budget to have a projected shortfall. After that, the state mandated cuts came, which the athletic department had to make some more cuts and that was the tipping point to cut a couple programs. There is now additional cuts coming for the next biennium, which is why it is still being looked at. Kennedy's e-mail was not a press release. It was a message to the campus that they were moving the CFO of athletics under the Finance Department and openly stating that there was a large budget shortfall (previously known but not exact dollar amount) and because of this, they are going to put together a group to study things more in-depth. He was getting in front of it in case the deficit number got released and was being transparent on what is going on and how they are going to address it because they have some time to get it figured out, unlike the last round where it had to be done in a very short time frame. This was part of what Shafer started and it makes complete sense for the new guy to take a fresh look at things and make sure that UND is where it needs to be. I'm not 100% sure what went on behind the scenes, but the Herald guys seemed to think something was imminent and that is why they wanted quotes. They mistook a an e-mail to the campus stating that things are still being examined and that because of budget issues, things might not be settled for a press release. Guessing Kennedy will learn a bit from this but at this point, there really wasn't more to talk about than the e-mail being sent out. I'm confused how this is a big issue or a surprise when the majority of it was known outside of Kennedy saying that here is the number and why it is a concern and here is how we are going to examine it. It is the openness and transparency that everyone wants. Not to mention this is not a UND only issue. NDSU's athletic department had to put together budgets with 15% savings of appropriated money.

You continue to offer zero proof. But speaking of schools that decide not to pay their bills, did NDSU ever pay their assistant wrestling coach his full salary or did that make it to litigation? Incorrect. USD was in the Summit in 2011 in all sports except football. The switch to the Big Sky was going to happen in 2012. The Great West disbanded in 2012, causing the need for both UND and USD to find homes for their football team.

The Big Sky has football which currently makes it the only option. Even USD realizes this as they committed to join it and leave the Summit until a few favors were called in at the last minute.

Trust me when I say that you are out of your element on this one on multiple levels.

I should clarify. It was known there was going to be a deficit and it was going to be bigger than expected when the state mandated cuts were announced. Baseball and golf solved a portion of that problem but that obviously only works for future years since the money was already spent for 2015-2016. Now there has been another round of state budget cuts for the next biennium, so there is some new work to do and things are being examined. The biggest thing with the announcement is the change in reporting and them releasing the final shortfall number. Again, part of that was addressed with previous cuts but because of another round of cuts, things are obviously still being looked it and Kennedy was announcing how he will be looking at it since he's new on the job. Regardless of budget situation, it makes sense for him to do anyway. Will be interesting in what his thoughts are coming in as basically an outsider.

Blind leading the blind? It should also be pointed out that the budget shortfall they are talking about included golf and baseball. Those will not be included going forward and will bridge a large part of that gap. It was known there was going to be deficit, hence the cuts. Some of this was addressed, but now they announced the actual number that they were working with.

While I'd agree with your odds, the MVFC is not an option at this point. They have zero interest in expanding. Patty V continues to make that very clear publicly and behind closed doors. There were budget options that could have made it work but it wouldn't have been sustainable and that is why they cut the cord on the two they did. The issues continue to come from the state budget shortfalls and I'm not actually sure any sports will be cut this round but I'd wouldn't rule it out. NDSU is in the process or just finished up figuring out to what their plans are for 5, 10 and 15% cuts in their athletic department. That amounts to somewhere between $1 million and $3 million.

They also had an actual post saying to stop in and check out the new items they had, including Fighting Hawks merchandise. Glancing at their website, looks like they don't have a very large selection at this point, but they do have some things.

You either didn't read the blog post or aren't comprehending what it said. It was about money being put into non-traditional media for the purpose of electing conservatives into the legislature. There is zero to do with higher education, it isn't mentioned once and even if the claims are true, it isn't the purpose of the backing. Why concern do the Koch brothers have with higher ed in ND and how does their money matter? Someone claiming a blogger is being paid money for something completely unrelated has nothing to do with Dean Bresciani's not being able to get out of his own way. Talk about a random distraction from the actual issue at hand. None of your "accusations" change anything that DB has done.

The North Dakota legislature has more NDSU educated legislators than UND educated legislators and those two combined still make up less than 50% of all legislators. With that fact in mind, please tell me more about how the legislature somehow is pro-UND. A lot of innuendo of which absolutely zero has to do with higher education but it sure has the making of a great conspiracy theory. What do the claims of the Koch brothers infusing money directly and/or indirectly into North Dakota politics to get conservative candidates elected have to do with Dean Bresciani?

Patty V just said within the last week or two that the MVFC has zero interest or intention of adding any additional teams, so I'm going to go with no, it still is not an option.

It'd be nice if they finished the Android app they were "recreating" last year and never completed.

Fact? Doubtful, they were still negotiating with little to no intention of actually agreeing to anything on GT's end. When BF accepted the offer that was on the table and sent it back to GT, he refused to sign it and started changing terms again. I think they should play every other year, rotating venues. Every player gets to play in 2 games, one at each venue. Seems pretty simple and logical to me.

I think historical powerhouse is a little bit of a stretch. Won a title in 2003 and since then have only had 3 playoff appearances (losing in the title game twice). Since losing in the championship game in 2010, Delaware is 29-28 over the last 5 seasons with 0 playoff appearances, finishing no higher than 5th in the CAA in that time frame. They were a consistent playoff team in the mid/late 80's to mid/late 90's. UND is 28-28 over the last 5 season with 0 playoff appearances (only being eligible for 4 of those years, 2011 was final season of transition and well, whatever last year was).

How many times do we have to go over the fact that GT was the one who kept changing the terms of the deals even after they were accepted and the Fargo media was the one that kept asking questions about the games being scheduled? Not to mention there doesn't seem to be an issue scheduling any other sport. And I'd love to hear more about UND and its culture. They sure didn't have a problem charging fans the highest price ever for a single game ticket against such an unworthy opponent.