johnson

The project has been separated into three phases. The reason behind that is because the majority of NDSU athletics are housed in the BSA and they'll have to move around the facility as the construction progresses. If you look at both the T&F facility and UND/Youngstown's practice facilities they all look like poll barns without a dirt floor on the inside. In fact if you removed the track and turf from the floor and strip the paint off the walls of Youngstowns facility it would closely resemble a turkey barn with the fans on the back wall and the opening around the top of the walls for light. NDSU's T&F facility is just on a smaller scale without a football infield and is separate from the main sports complex where as UND chose to build it all into one. I am not sure on why NDSU isn't looking for an indoor practice facility for football but I would bet one big reason would be the cost. Old Dacotah will change in the future but I don't think enclosing it has ever really been discussed. The Fargodome is very welcoming when their schedule allows and it takes less than an hour to roll out the turf. It takes longer to set up for game day but it takes very little effort and manpower to just get the turf in place. The old original turf took quite an effort as it was stored in small rolls that had to be zipped together roll by roll. The new stuff coming will take even less effort that is why they chose to spend the $3 million to get it done right. Most people forget the existing structure that is going to be reused was valued at $30 million when studies were done. If NDSU would have had to start from scratch the entire project would have been over $60 million to be completed. It may not be exactly what everyone wants but it will be an very big improvement from what they have now.

This is what confused me about the settlement and I'm still not clear on: "If UND does not adopt a new nickname and logo, or if the transition to a new nickname and logo is not completed prior to August 15, 2011, then UND will be returned to the list of institutions subject to the policy." http://www.ag.nd.gov/NCAA/SettlementAgreement.pdf Is that just an assumption by the NCAA that UND will automatically choose to use a new nickname as they transition away from the old one or is that forcing UND to choose one?

For some reason I thought they gave a time limit on finding a new nickname to keep the university from choosing to officially not have a nickname allowing the retired one to stay as the "unofficial" nickname.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the settlement have something in it about selecting a new name after a certain amount of time? I thought the NCAA wouldn't allow just the university name only.

NDSU's football offices were paid for with money donated specifically for that purpose. I believe the family that donated the money has there name on it.

Hiring HS coaches does happen at lower levels of college football. One quick example would be former NDSU DB coach Brian Ward. He was hired by a Kansas NAIA team while a HS coach and turned that program around and won a NAIA title before moving to Fargo. In MSUM's case it wouldn't take much to see an improvement. Their last coach was an athletic trainer before getting the interim job. He even managed to win a couple of games while in charge. Laqua is a true student of the sport. I remember him as a young kid trying to coach his teammates in Cavalier trying to make them better. He knows what it takes to be competitive and respected. I think most of us will see a change already this up coming season. He has brought in a few quality local kids who know and respect him to start his recruiting and has cleaned up the attitude of the current players. His staff is quite young but have experience playing at the college level and have that fire needed within to succeed. If Laqua was jumping into a NCC type league I would question the hire but I think he will do a pretty decent job in the NSIC. It will take some hard work to be able to get to the Duluth level but it isn't a stretch to think that they will become a .500 or better team soon.

MSUM is having a difficult time just raising the funds to start a hockey program let alone maintain one. Their basketball and football programs aren't going anywhere soon and they can't find enough donors willing to invest in getting hockey going. Scheduling would be a nightmare if they use the Scheels Arena. High School games wouldn't be a huge headache but now they would have to schedule around the Force who avoid scheduling home games when UND is playing in GF. So MSUM would be left trying to compete for hockey fans that will almost always drive to GF to watch UND play on the same weekends. I think that MSUM could have trumped the Force eventually if the WCHA was staying together but now it could be extremely difficult to sell the "leftovers" league to an average fan where college hockey hasn't been. I don't think MSUM could survive selling tickets at $5 and beer for a $1 like the Force have been doing. As Sickatoka pointed out that I failed to think of is that MSUM is actually 4th in the food chain for fans in F-M. NDSU, UND, Concordia and then MSUM. Even with a D1 hockey program it would still be difficult to change peoples minds. I agree that a D1 program could potentially help get MSUM's athletic department back on track but the costs could be too high for them. MSUM has been slowing building their basketball programs back up and they just recently starting focusing on getting the football program in order. That tells me that MSUM isn't willing to axe current programs to start up a hockey program at this time. I know MSUM's AD wants hockey in a bad way but for right now it is a major up hill battle to climb. I am thinking they are wanting to become competitve again with their current programs to show investors/donors that they are committed to athletics at their university. That obviously hasn't been the case the last two decades.

High School hockey teams in Fargo have very low attendance. HS Girls games are mostly parents and the boys typically draw about the same but with a few more students. Moorhead is a whole different story though. MSUM would have to put out a really good product quickly to get the fans to show up. MSUM is third in line around the FM area in terms of fan interest and I think it would take some serious winning for anyone in the metro to show up after the first season or two. Attendance appears to be decent at the Force games but you would find that quite a few of those tickets are either given away or sold at a discounted price. Dollar beer nights coupled with $5 ticket nights have gone over fairly well with the college age students but I fear that selling alcohol at a college event would be an issue in Fargo. Hockey has made strides in Fargo but it still has a long ways to go outside of Moorhead. NDSU has been clear that there is absolutely no interest in trying to fund a hockey program right now or in the near future. They wish to make sure all the programs they currently have are funded at a proper level. NDSU was approached about being the main tenant in the UP Center (Scheels Arena) well before a USHL expansion team was considered. Many down here thought the USHL team was a panic move by Brandt after the proposals didn't go very well with the local universities. He made the local school districts pay nearly $1 million each to secure ice time for their programs and then turned to the Fargo Parks to get involved to gain tax exempt status. Bills were backed up pretty bad for awhile and they were going through staff faster than Don's Car Wash. I feel that Ace Brandt owes Dean Blais big time for saving his rear on a risky investment.

The sad thing about your post is that they said that this past session.

I believe it is Al Carlson's and Bob Skarphol's wish to have all of the NDUS turned into vo-tech schools.

Once again, you are arguing with a teenager and have now made yourself sound like one. Don't get sucked into his comments. He knows very little which I think is very obvious. I think at this point he is just here to get you guys all riled up. I fear that he is doing a good job of it at this point too.

HowBoutThemBison?? is a teenager. Couldn't tell you Bison Dans age.

You guys do realize you are arguing with a teenager and making yourselves sound like one also......right???

I thought Muss said recruits don't care about being able to host a playoff game. I think he said last year that conference affiliation wasn't a concern for the recruits either. Therefore being in the BSC and not being able to host playoff games shouldn't have a positive or negative effect on his recruiting at all.

Antonio attended the NDSU spring game as well. The kid is an excellent athlete.

I have heard UND fans brag about only losing by 25 to Texas Tech and nearly embarrassing Northern Illinois last year who I believe belongs to the MAC. UND fans were laughing up and down NDSU's DI schedule during transition. I can still remember the jokes about Valpraiso coming to Fargo. Guess who's coming to Grand Forks now? Montana Tech was still joked about two years ago. That didn't stop until UND was handed Sioux Falls and Southern Oregon in the same year. NDSU fans tried to explain it all while UND was still D2 but it was nothing but laughs up north. NDSU schedule three non DI schools during their entire transition. UND did that this year alone. I haven't ridiculed UND about their scheduling woes because I know what it's like to have friends from the other side constantly joking about it. I think it is absolutely great that UND made it to the Big Sky. I feel it was the best possible outcome for both schools. You guys are happy out west and we are happy in the mid-west simple as that.

19,200 is the max from what I was told. No doubt they would reach that the first few games. I'm just trying to show you that SDSU does bring fans as well. The two North Dakota schools playing each other should be sold out every game. Why didn't that happen before we are only 72 miles apart.

I agree to some extent with the Fargo residents going to UND because of program interest. I know quite of few people on both side of the fence on that one. Most that I know are transplants however. I think you are forgetting that NDSU has performed well vs. FBS. Wins vs. Ball State, Minnesota, Kansas, and Central Michigan who took a 30 point loss to NDSU the same year they won the MAC conference and eventually lost by three to Purdue in their Bowl game. NDSU has been ranked off and on in the FCS polls starting in their first year of full DI transition and have held the #1 spot in the polls while still in transition. NDSU holds a winning record vs. FBS and FCS competition since moving up and have been averaging well over 15,000 per season. I think recruits see the whole picture don't you? Now what exactly has UND done to change this?

I personally don't know of anyone saying those schools have replaced UND other than a few on message boards. Nothing will replace UND on the rivals list. SDSU fans show up for games while UNI brings the hate. If SDSU and UNI were to combine athletic programs then I would say UND has a strong competitor for a rival. Most that say they have moved on have had more invested into the program than the average Joe and tend to make it more of a personal thing when the fallout began.

If you look at recruiting recently I think you would understand that statement. Regional recruiting hasn't even been close the last few years. A lot of residents in Fargo are UND Alum because GF has next to nothing to offer UND grads.

UND had three football games televised on FCS last year NDSU had two.

The record for single game attendance at the Fargodome was played against SDSU. I do believe that is the record for the largest attended sporting event in the state as well.

No, there isn't a requirement to play an FBS game but it is hard to pass up the guaranteed money ($375,000) and I think it really helps with fan interest as well. Six home games aren't required either but the overwhelming majority of season ticket holders almost expect it every year and it isn't good business to piss of your customers. I heard quite a bit of grumbling a couple years back when they only had five home games on the schedule and I'm sure the athletic department did too. Florida and Florida State have the luxury of being able to schedule twelve games every season. Unfortunately NDSU and UND don't have that luxury. If one school prefers to schedule a variety of non-conference opponents and keep they're options open then they should have that right to do so. I think the rotating Dakota school schedule idea is great for UND. It allows UND to participate and be a member of a respected conference while still giving them the ability to schedule all the familiar faces that the fans want to see.

I really don't know anyone that I associate with that has ever considered the SDSU rivalry on the same scale as NDSU v. UND. The Bunny's won a few recently and that doesn't sit very well with my group but that is about as far as it goes in my eye's.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all. It was more charged up than any other meeting between the two schools that I have been a part of anyways. It was a long time coming for both sides.