Johnny Five

Well let's refrain from turning this into a Sioux-Gopher arguement, seriously. A majority of college hockey fans including myself (a Gopher fan) wish Danny Kristo a speedy and full recovery.

I assume the intent here was to compare Bison football verse Sioux hockey? I mean I'm a Bison fan but it's not even close. Let's be honest about it, Sioux hockey represents North Dakota more than anything else does. We have to remember that the Sioux are basically one level away from the bigs with many NHL draft picks on the team. Comparing that to NDSU football, who maybe will get a player or two drafted in the last rounds and some free agent looks with a whole level of college football in between them and the pros...A lot of times I don't think the people realize how lucky we are to have such good hockey in such a close area within easy driving abilities. The WCHA is top notch hockey and half of it is right in our backyard. And there are a LOAD of NDSU fans who crossover to Sioux hockey fans, that can't be disputed. Not too many Sioux fans cheering for NDSU football as they were in the playoffs, which is understandable. When the playoffs roll around, sports bars in Bismarck are loaded with Sioux hockey fans. It's really not even a discussion worth debating. Comparing sports within the state of North Dakota in reading through the thread, I would suggest that wrestling is possibly even just as popular as hockey in this state, particularly in the central to western portions of the state. I'm a hockey guy, but have been to the state wrestling tournament and it is intense as heck.

Jack is very good at baseball, basketball and football. He doesn't know hockey whatsoever. When it comes to UND hockey he has a few callers who know what's up, and that's about it. Let's be honest, it is amazing that he fills a 3 hour slot everyday in Bismarck. Like I said, he has turned down the big carrot, he won't be leaving Bismarck.

Jack Michaels does radio for Umary in Bismarck. Football and men's and women's basketball. Also HS at times and has a 3 hour radio show on 710 every morning. I do not think he would leave Bismarck though. I have it on good authority that he has passed up his dream job of announcing MLB in the past because of his family situation. I thought Hammer did a good job for UND.

Don't forget a 4th and Goal where they called Jensen's number as well.

All 40 of them? Ha...JK. Good for EWU. Sorry I'm a Bison fan but not a whiner. Bison had plenty of opportunities to beat them on their turf and blew it. Just like MMA, don't put in the officials hands to affect the game....don't drop the ball. EWU seemed like a team "destined" to win it this year. Winning tight games and comebacks all season long. I think the exciting part is as a Bison fan, really not that far off. NDSU usually has a solid running game. This year the defense was there and I think they were really a good QB and some horrible play calls away from making a more serious run. And for you Sioux fans we just really don't know yet but it will be exciting for you to get into that Big Sky schedule to see where you are at and what you need to do to get there. A lot of people b*tch about your attendance, etc...EWUs is a joke for attendance and now they are National Champs. It's what is on the field that counts. Time to close the book on the 2010 season and look forward to the recruiting, etc.

Here is a hockeybuzz article talking about the cuts including Rocco: My link

Ya darrel as a season ticket holder at the FargoDome I'm disappointed in the 1st two games. Georgia Southern backed out though, so what can happen? At that point there are only so many schools left with open dates. Georgia Southern and UMN back to back was the intent, you can't complain about that with the always difficult conference schedule coming. We can all joke at the Gophers but in a terrible season they still beat Iowa, are in the Big 10, and will no doubt be better under Kill than the joke that Brewster was. I thought I saw that Montanta State and one of the Cali schools (Poly I think) had open dates as well but who knows what the gaurantees are/were and conversations both ways. And then I'm sure it just comes down to, "Hey this is NDSU, we will give you X to come here for a one game gaurantee St. Francis." It's terrible that it comes down to that but that is the NC$$ in a nutshell. What really sucks is the first two games will have terrible atmosphere....I think the Georgia Southern game would've been packed and loud based on name alone. That's one great thing you guys can be excited for with the Big Sky. With new teams coming in, rivalries forming, etc....man back in the day we could go to games and know it was going to be 30+ spread against certain teams. When I walk into the FargoDome for a conference game, I have NO idea what to expect for the most part and I know you guys will see the same thing in the Big Sky. It takes some getting used to the new teams but it makes for a fun season as a ticket holder who hardly misses a game. Ya, not happy about the Home OOC schedule for NDSU. But it's a race to 7 or 8 and after this year all I will take is a chance in the playoffs and let's roll.

I gotcha...7000 more would've been loud be they obviously weeded out the corpies and half assed fans for that game. I had more fun at that one than any the past two years and I think a majority of the crowd did as well. Didn't mean to derail the thread into a pissing match....back to Coach Muss.

Matt- You are right on the coaches. Casey Bradley was probably the most popular and he is out of here. 90% of Bison fans have been overly critical of Bohl/Vigen and an absolutely vanilla offense. You can put that on the O. Coordinator, Head Coach and the fact that neither QB really established itself for whatever reason due to talent or injury. The passing game or lackthereof this season has been attrocious. Just saw your signature and wanted to note....I am a season ticket holder but I'm not a kool-aid drinker. I will tell you though that the 12,000 fans at the FargoDome were loud as hell. My family has had season tickets since 2004 and the Robert Morris game was probably the 2nd most rowdy game I've seen....right up there with Sam Houston State (Rhett Bohmar can't remember season) and SDSU in 2006. Sorry a little off base, just wanted to point that out. I think Mussman will be alright in the long run for UND. Keeping Dale Lennon would've been massive but that has obviously passed. When the Bison were in the transition and now that UND is....I always hated that waiting period. I can understand it if you play down....schools opting up I don't get it. Whatever.

Yeah NDSU is THAT terrible. Seriously it is mind-boggling to me how some people - on both sides - just cannot seem to give credit where credit is due to the other school. Maybe it's just me but I would prefer the two schools to be in the same conference, Big Sky or Valley, don't matter to me. A non-conference football matchup is good for bragging rights....a conference game is good for so much more. Doesn't mean we have to resort back to the NCC days whatsoever but I think it's safe to say UND, USD, SDSU and NDSU have/will successfully make the transition athletically no matter what you think about the other school.

App State (although I think WI gives them a tight one) SFA E. Wash. Delaware NH Wofford WM Montana State Bison fan. Bison need to force 2-3 turnovers and themselves 0-1 to have a shot. Mobile QBs have given them fits at times this year. Offensive coordinator (Vigen) needs to mix it up a bit on first and second down if the weather allows so the Cats aren't looking run, run, pass like every Bison fan knows is coming. This defense is good enough to keep them in the game for a long time though. We'll see what happens. Maybe we can get Sioux fans at least to root for the local boys like Gratzek, Grothman, etc....ha! I personally can't wait for the day when both the Sioux and the Bison are in the playoffs and hopefully on a constant basis. Even though the Bison are lucky as hell to squeek in, as a season ticket holder it is very exciting. Can't imagine what it would be like if we were talking both ND teams in round two of the FCS playoffs.