siouxfan512

I'm interested to see how close this is. I think a lot of the Nodaks crowd, will move to Roughriders.

Are we really going to go over this again?!?!?!?! Yes, people are justified in North Dakota being eliminated. Not because of the fact that it was eliminated, but because of the timing of when it was eliminated. This option (given its popularity) should have either been eliminated on day one, or left as an option throughout the process. You don't dangle the carrot out there, then take it away at the end. If people on this message board can understand the ramifications of eliminating a very popular option, and how it would tick of stake holder, then member of this "committee" should have certainly had that understanding. On the first day of nickname discussions, this should have been an agenda item: So team, North Dakota/No Nickname is going to be a very popular option, though certainly controversial ..... How should we approach it. - We allow the fans/students/alumni what they want to keep up moral, maintain school and program interest, and minimize offending our stakeholders.- We squash this option right away, and announce that it is just not feasible. No Nickname would be a hardship on the school from a sales, marketing/branding, advertising perspective.Pick either #1 or #2, then stick with it. Removing North Dakota/No Nickname WHEN THEY DID, was just the beginning of a sting of inconsistencies that have everyone believing that this entire process was a joke. I've heard a little to much defending of this committee that they did their job in eliminating North Dakota. Maybe they did, but with a horrible approach. Undoubtedly, this committee DID NOT do their job, or even abide by their own guidelines. Had they done so, Fighting Hawks would not have even made the initial cut, as there is nothing unique about it. Bottom Line: People are completely justified to be upset with the President, the committee, the process, the final nickname. None of this was handled well from day one. I will give credit where credit it due. When the voting initially started, they seemed to do that well. It was restricted to the most vested of stakeholders (ticket holders, students, alumni, etc.), but then they managed to even screw that up, but changing the voting process halfway through (and that was to include my personal choice). This entire thing has be a debacle.

I don't think I'll be able to completely make myself forget about those two horrible losses, because UND was such a surprise going into that Idaho St. game. Nevertheless, this team has shown a ton of improvement. Closing this season out the right way would just reinforce the improvements we have seen so far, and would show that not only has our skill improved, but that our team is developing a winning mentality. Ask the Bison player and fans about it, they have developed the kind of winning mentality that winning programs need. This has been a really fun season for UND football, and I can't believe there is only to weeks left in the regular season. Playoffs Baby! Lets do it!

well said

I was a big time Nodak supporter, going back quite a while, and I'll now be moving to roughriders. Not happy about it, but it has become even more of a less of two evils for me. It is what it is.

Kind of a terrible name for a podcast

Well I took a little bit of crap from some people after I posted this saying, UND just needs to win (which we do), It doesn't matter what other teams do (which it does). The hope for this weekend was to clear up the playoff picture a bit, but instead the waters are even muddier. All of a sudden, N Colorado has new life, and an outside shot at the playoffs. Basically and help UND could have gotten this weekend, they didn't. S Utah, Portland St are both in. Barring a terrible two weeks E Washington will be in (though they have had several close wins and they still need to go TO Montana and host Portland St)N Arizona will likely win one more (Sac State next weekend, in Flagstaff)Montana has new life (E Washington-in Missoula, Mt State - in Bozeman remaining)North Dakota and Northern Colorado determine something next weekend. 1 will be out of the playoff run for sure, the other's fate will come down to the final weekend with UND closing the season @ Cal Poly and N Colorado closing out the season against Abilene Christian.UND needs to put the foot on the gas because the playoffs start right now.

Where is gfhockey? I fully expected him on here saying tippett would have won that one, or Blais would have had the boys ready to play .... blah blah blah natty

That last goal is on the defense. Can't let a guy cruise down the slot untouched.

I almost guarantee someone said that out of pure (poor) speculation, and it somehow transpired among bison fans (I married into some bison fans too) into a general undisputable fact.

nevermind

Anyone having sound issues with the webcast?

hopefully he gets in a post game argument with eaves. Then eades shows up and squirts eaves with a waterbottle, meanwhile Rylan Kaip will show up and start a fight. And the student will litter the rink with dead badgers.

Pretty much, he'd rather try to beat the breezers off his own kid every year.

The students better not disappoint when MN finally comes back to the Ralph. I expect plenty of gophers on the ice.

Particularly in hockey. Whenever the team struggles and they interview a player, they always say, "We need to get back to playing Fighting Sioux hockey". While it completely sucks that we were forced into retiring the nickname for the school, it particularly sucks for hockey. Mainly because that is the sport that had garnered the most national attention when it came to recognition of that nickname and logo.

Haha, nice. I know there are people that absolutely hate some of that stuff, but you gotta love some of those old school traditions. Unfortunately, half of that gets missed when you watch on tv.

Look at you, getting the blog posted on the main siouxsports page. I assume that is new, as I haven't seen it before. Nice work.

It'll be interesting to see if someone can get one in. I remember when I was in college in the mid 2000's and some guys snuck one in. If my memory is right, it was a Halloween night game, and they snuck it in inside one of their costumes. I remember it lying right in front of the Wisconsin players as they were lined up for the anthem.

Any word from the recruiting trail? Who they are visiting?

There is still time for Fabbro to change his mind jk

any chance it was a thumbs up or a friendly wave?

Agreed, I don't think we are talking incredibly expensive upgrades. Addressing the natural light issues would be nice too, especially on the concourses, though that would be more expensive. I can also acknowledge that a lot of the improvements needed for a solid game day experience stem from winning. Win and the fans will come, Win and the tailgating will improve. Look at what NDSU tailgating has become over the past 4 years. It comes from winning, and it really is amazing to see how their game day has exploded. There are so many Buses and RVs and tailgate setups down there. I was there a few weeks ago, and it was a blast (especially because South Dakota won, hahaha) but seriously, you can hate their program and their team, but serious respect to what they have turned that game day experience into.

Have you considered applying to manage the Alerus Center? You just put more though into your reply, than the Alerus has put into a game day improvements over the last 15 years.

Haha, no doubt. Though if I was one of those filthy rich alumni, I would gladly put some of my money forward, like what Ralph did. Pretty cool to be able to impact that many people (fans, students, players, etc). As this topic has turned into more of a defensive discussion about the Alerus center, I would like to re-direct it. I am NOT saying the Alerus Center is a terrible building. By most school standards its a top notch facility. I'm just saying their are things that I don't like about it as well. 1. Concourses need a major upgrade. 2. I hate that there are no end zone seating. I think it looks really tacky. I would have rather they cut out a few of the back rows and extended the stadium out to have seating room behind the end zones. Just a personal preference. 3. Game day effects. As it has been mentioned the production quality is lacking. The fact that they can't even turn the lights out before the game, and amp up the crowd as the team comes out is poor. If their currently lighting system can't handle that, then it was poor planning to put it in. Look at the difference in the game day effects between hockey and football. 4. Sitting in their feel like you are in a tin can or a pole barn. The big metal walls behind the bleachers are hideous. I know it gets loud in their but its just not the most appealing. 5. Location. I always have though that it would be way cooler to have an on campus stadium. I just do. I get that this isn't the Alerus Center's fault, but I think it would do a lot for the student involvement and the tailgating. It would be nice to have tailgating on campus instead of right next to the interstate. I will reiterate, I DO NOT think the Alerus is a BAD football stadium. I DO think it needs some upgrades, and if an alumni ever wanted to come to campus and build a Ralph like football stadium, I would gladly accept.