Ole in MSP

Play at the Alerus? Yes, it could be done with a portable ice and refrigeration system, but last I remember, Blais and the wise folks at the time said NO to including that capability on a permanent basis. At the time I thought it was short sighted and time will tell whether it was the right decision. Playing at the Alerus would likely set the program back 20 years. Better off playing at Great Plains center in Fargo.

Agree, just checked, it is 40+miles from Mayville to GF and 60+ from VC to Fargo mostly on vacant interstate highways. People commute that far all the time. To keep these two schools open is inefficient and expensive. True, there are alums from both that have made wonderful contributions to society, but in all likelihood they would have done so no matter where they went to college. If the enrollment of these schools is not growing by 3-5% regularly every year then shut them down. I live in Minnesota and it just frosts my butt that I pay taxes to keep UMC and UMM open when they are so close to other state schools that could provide a more tax efficient education. Kids who need that small school environment should go to a private college where they pay for that luxurious small class size and environment not the taxpayer. I know of a rural lake country public school district in Wisconsin where one township has 22 kids enrolled in the local schools. That township pays over $1 Million to the school district in taxes. The cost per year to educate those 22 kids is about $55,000 each. Could Harvard be that expensive? Think about it! It is a matter of efficiency, not politics.

Just remember that the U of Minn almost jumped in bed with this guy too and backed out for some reason. He ended up donating some money for the new TCF stadium I think, but there was a lot of concern up front when he was trying to be the big cheese on that project. The guy has some stink on him.

Nothing personal against any Mizzou fans, but my National Merit Scholar daughter went to Mizzou for a year before transferring, I do not think that overall Mizzou can meet the academic rigors of the Big Ten in general. I'd be surprised to see MU in the Big 10.

The bottom line on everything Bison is Taylor is an arrogant jerk, just trying to improve his own credentials for his next job. If the folks in Fargo do not see it they are totally blind. This guy is a Navy guy, Navy folks have huge egos! He cannot tolerate the fact that he has accomplished some neat things, but they are not earth shattering and he still is not recognized for them. To bad, life is tough.

Yes, they might not get kicked out, but do not rule out consideration for dropping FB since they haven't been competitive in years. Indiana is a tough state to play FB. Lots of competition for talent, even IU struggles most years.

You can forget ever having a regional again in GF unless REA decides to remove all the logos from the arena. Regionals are moving off campuses so that is likely not an issue REA will have to worry about for the time being.

I think the new name ought to be "Fighting Cocks". Most of the state is farming/agriculture and farms have chickens with roosters around hence the name includes a local "vicious" and aggressive native animal. The mascot could be............... well, there are several options. Actually I like Roughriders, but Prairie Dogs is another option as is Pronghorns. What a mess.

I am 63 years old, born and raised in GF, graduated from UND and attended Sioux games since 1952, and other than the death of my mother, father, and brother, this is the saddest day of my life. The Native Americans in the Dakotas should be ashamed of themselves for not coming forward sooner and faster on this issue to support it. 50 years from now the name of the Sioux will be long forgotten.

Thank you.

Could not find the spring roster. Any help to locate?

No way to sugar coat it, Chappel is the most ignorant athlete ever to come out of GF, maybe the whole state. He had a tremendous future in whatever he decided to do in front of him and screwed it up. Even if he did not pursue FB after college, his name alone with alums etc would have been great as a door opener for other opportunities. What a waste.

Of ALL the Summit games played in the big Dance, how many games have they won? Last two years 0 for 2. What does history show? No crap, just what do the numbers show?

Very nice job by the guys! Congratulations! Hey AD Taylor, how's that D1 status treating ya down there at the AC? You can meet us on the websites and the chatrooms. but we'd rather meet you on the field. Maybe some of your arrogance would go away if you actually played UND in a few sports. Hope your FB team can find a soft home game to help your w/l record.

Amen, let's move on without the Bison!

Please go back to my original comment " UND needs better attendance and schedule than the last year or two or I think there will be financial issues ahead even with the alumni support." This was not meant to be contentious or derogatory. I am not worried about the hockey team as they will be fine. As an interested and concerned alum who lives almost 7 hours away and find it difficult to attend games, I would like to see local attendance at both FB and BB improved over the last two years. My concern is that in a weak economy, considerable dilution of the family sports dollar, and the costs associated with a D1 program across the board i.e. travel etc. that the financial situation could be very tough. I have no numbers to back up my position, however, larger schools than UND and NDSU are having financial issues even with larger populations to buy tickets.

Are you delirious? Penn State has more undergrad students than the population of GF. Add the grad and prof schools approach the population of Fargo and the grad and prof schools alone have more students than UND. Winters there are much milder than ND, but it is hilly so a little snow has a big effect. There are numerous towns including Harrisburg around that dwarf the towns in ND within 100 miles of UND. Not saying FB will never make money, but admit it, the splitting of the ticket dollar in the GF area will not support all the major sports that UND wants to support, especially if they are not winning regularly. Penn State does not have hockey either so that dilution does not occur.

If he is worried about not going to get playing time at UND, he sure as heck is not going to get playing time at Iowa. They have running backs 6-8 deep and the academics are just as tough or tougher. Too bad if it is true, hope he stays cuz he will get playing time sooner or later.

Interesting that you do not think FB is a major sport at either school. Thought NDSU had FB on the brain! With 63 scholarships and 100 players both schools will need some decent attendance to support their programs. Fargo has the population advantage and the head start for playoff contention so that should not be as big a concern at NDSU. UND needs better attendance and schedule than the last year or two or I think there will be financial issues ahead even with the alumni support.

I did not say anything about NDSU attendance, my point was UND attendance and revenue gets diluted by having so many major sports in such a small attendance area. Something will suffer as folks cannot afford to attend everything. NDSU does not have that problem of hockey diluting the fan dollar. is that what you agreed with? Your reply was confusing.

Yes, I see your point, but during late season FB, Hockey, and BB seasons it is not easy to get to and from GF on a regular basis for people more than say 100 miles away. While I wish all the people in that radius well, I do not think the financial ability of enough families in that area to have season tickets to all the UND major events at a high enough level is available. You have to rely on alumni contributions and a large local fanbase to pay top college coaching salaries. Not saying it is not possible for UND, just a stretch because of local ticket revenue across all the major sports. Good FB and BB coaches at UND and NDSU will continue to be enticed away by higher salaries and bigger opportunities. Fact, as a result of geography as much as anything, the population of the area is just not going to match other universities in size and therefore attendance across the board. The 100 mile radius around SIU has perhaps 20 towns over 20,000 people plus St Louis, Evansville, and Paducah. Believe it or not the area around UNI withing 100 miles has far more population than eastern ND. I love hockey, but the dollar dilution of that program for attendance is not helping the other D1 sports in comparison to schools like UNI, NDSU, and SIU that do not have that distraction of funding.

Assuming you could put 8-10K butts in the seats at REA on a regular basis for a decent MBB team you could pay a coach pretty well. The problem in GF is how much of the entertainment dollar per family can they devote to a winning hockey program, FB program, and a MBB program. Their just is not enough local population to financially support several major sports and the costs associated with them. I think that is the major reason that Kup was not a big proponent of going D1. One sport for sure, two maybe, but tickets to every major event at the D! level is not feasible for the income and population of the GF and surrounding area. It probably is not for Fargo either, but they do not have the Hockey ticket issue diluting the available family dollars.

Live in St Paul, and I agree they will make some sort of run to get here for the FF, but I am not as optimistic as many of you. Yes, returning large numbers helps, but I still do not see really exceptional scoring talent returning or that real offensive game changer coming in. Lots of shots on the net all year, but many were not quality. Genoway out really hurt the offense, but it is way too early to see what next year looks like. DU, UW, and even SCSU had more pure offensive talent than the Sioux this year. The D will be outstanding no matter who plays, but I really want to see more goals when we get 35 shots or more on goal. We made every goalie in the country an All American this year.

Well planned and controlled growth is very good. Chapman's plan for rapid growth was not for the benefit of ND or NDSU, but for his own agend and own ego and his aspirations to move on to a bigger University. It was strictly personal. On the subject of rapid unplanned or uncontrolled growth, Enron is just one example, others are the housing industry and mortgage industry. Look what condition they are in today. NDSU and UND should both plan to grow as the state and region can support both financially and population wise. I do not see masses of people moving into the area. Sure the oil boom has brought in some folks and Fargo has grown in population over the last 30 years, but unreasonable growth is not good for any kind of enterprise.