UND-FB-FAN

Futile overexploitation of a niche sport. UND athletics should want to expand and become more competitive regionally. There will be several weekends where the REA will go unused, unless UND decides to utilize that facility with one of the two most popular sports in the nation.

I think they should schedule a couple weekends there, again. It would potentially draw more than the 3,000 that the Betty holds. Why? Because it's just a treat to be in that building, especially if it was a Saturday game with the bars up and running. I think UND could maximize UND basketball by playing in there - it would boost attendance in my opinion, particularity if they are playing the right opponent (NDSU, USD, SDSU, Montana, Weber State, etc.). Keep building basketball, UND. It is tremendous to have a building like the REA to potentially use; think about it.

Thank you. You get it.

You don't think the football boosters along with Team Makers benefits the other Ag school sports, such as basketball? Well, it does. The support garnered by football doesn't just go to football, just like the support garnered by hockey at UND doesn't just go to hockey. Football helps out all of the Ag school athletic department. Hockey helps out all of the UND athletic department. Being maxed out is a good thing, to a point. Oh, and way to further expand on NDSU. Let's try keep this UND as much as possible. My hope is that one day UND's football and basketball programs can help out the UND athletic department just as the hockey program currently helps out UND.

And you will always be behind the eight ball. Keeping UND in the stone age does nobody any justice, unless you want to impede UND's practical progress. EDIT: Again, hockey doesn't have to be downsized, but football and basketball need to be expanded by a ton.

I could write a book on this topic, but I'll resist lengthy dialogue on this specific issue ... for now. Higher education provides instruction that ultimately benefits all of society, which includes benefit to even those who do not or did not attend post-secondary institutions themselves. You want to know why tax dollars should go to higher education? Because UND and other forms of higher education both directly and indirectly help the community, region, state, country and world community. This should be self-explanatory, so I'm not going to waste my time on explaining this any further. UND's mission statement echoes this exact premise. https://und.edu/discover/mission-statement.cfm I will again include the same sentence I did with my prior post. Many people of North Dakota have a difficult time accepting higher education as a critical function of society.The State of North Dakota directly sponsors the University of North Dakota for the reasons mentioned above, yet folks would rather hemorrhage dollars with a sport program that draws less than 1,000 attendance per game and loses millions of dollars per year versus properly maintaining the academic, service, and creative integrity of UND's mission statement? Just today people are protesting that UND should drop administration positions in order to keep an unpopular, financially-inept women's hockey program - that is absolutely asinine. As for my University of North Dakota athletics agenda, there is a reason that 39 of the 50 states in this country have either a college football or college basketball coach as the state's highest paid public employee. Its because it directly benefits that specific university through attendance and boosters, and, thus, it also benefits that particular state. The athletic programs themselves may lose money, but how do you quantify the impact that major DI athletics has on other tangible and intangible factors, such as enrollment and longstanding alumni pride? It is quite difficult. I may not agree with the numbers that today's market has produced (multi-million dollar coaching contracts), but I agree with the premise that these programs promote pride, support, and interest for their respective universities. UND should want to compete with other universities around the country. As a DI athletic institution, they need to better emphasize football and/or basketball. NDSU has grown tremendously in support (via both enrollment and donor dollars) due to their football and basketball success. The same is true for universities around the country. UND should not fall victim to complacency. UND needs to look to invest in the mainstream sports - football and basketball - while maintaining hockey. I get tired of this pro- versus anti-hockey argument ( @Oxbow6 ). I donate $ and purchase season hockey tickets every season. I do not dislike the hockey program; however, I feel that program is beyond maxed out, and if UND wants to take the next step as a successful institution, it needs to better emphasize and expand DI football and basketball. The idea that UND should only be a "hockey school" falls right into the competition's hand. The status quo is not good enough. The prior DII status of UND was not good enough. UND athletics needs to continue to expand within the competitive environment that exists today, and I commend President Kennedy for making a logical move on Wednesday that will actually promote UND athletics forward. This is what I like: moves that confront the status quo and look to make UND more competitive within the state and within the country. The people of North Dakota may have a difficult time understanding higher education, but that shouldn't deter those who fully understand it. The consensus within North Dakota is not superior purely due to uniqueness; that is where isolationism comes into play. Continuing to resist change is not a strategy that treats those kindly in the end. I hope North Dakota, and even UND, figures this out sooner rather than later.

You may want to expand on what you're saying (i.e., do you agree with these potential biases or are you now in understanding of these potential biases). You may be trying to crank out a negative response from some, or perhaps I just misunderstood your post, but I'm a bit concerned about the potential lack of understanding of DI athletics from a national perspective. I fear the DII mindset hasn't left as many people as I would hope it had by now. A political, and subsequently educational and collegiate athletics, issue that has plagued the region and state of North Dakota for decades has been isolationism. Unfortunately, many local traditionalists are certainly terrified that progressive movements will recognize logic and disrupt the inadequate status quo, and as such, fight hard to resist said progress.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/4242753-miller-emotions-aside-unds-remaining-programs-are-better-position#.WNxlKueKl6k.twitter Any priorities within the UND football program that the UND athletic department might eventually identify to improve with the savings? I suspect reinvestment into other women's sports will be the initial focus (Title IX consideration and competitive equity), but after that I would suspect the men's basketball and football programs could use a much-needed competitive boost in coaching salaries and/or equipment, especially since they are both coming off record seasons. Discuss.

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20170328161444799632304&ref=rec&tm=&src=FCS UND is just one of three FCS opponents that Utah State has recently added to their future schedule.

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20170330183130675135504

Idaho State will remain a bottom-feeder in the Big Sky Conference. Sounds like today's presser exposed some concerns as to why that will continue to be the case.

Duration of existence is really independent of the issue. Women's basketball is just more popular than women's hockey and there are far more factors involved with that than just the duration of a program's existence.

You are again misguided, but I will give you credit for your attempt to make me look bad. My comments have been focused on individuals who are far from fair when it comes to supporting the University of North Dakota at all levels. Not supporting the new nickname and logo seems to be correlated with not supporting football and basketball ... I wonder why? Don't be so naive to think there isn't a large group of "hockey-only" folks out there - that is obviously where many of my comments are directed. Can you validate that everyone I've debated with actually does support UND football and basketball? I'll save you some time: of course not.

Way to create a moving target. I'm only referencing claims implied way earlier. I would hope you're kidding, but unfortunately I doubt the thought-process of many around here (both this forum and region).

How do I really feel? I feel that hockey is not untouchable at UND, which before yesterday, many thought was the case. A false narrative that floated around here was women's hockey could never be touched at UND due to the "hockey culture". That self-entitled attitude apparently rubbed off onto some of the student-athletes as evidenced by social media. Your hyperbole with the whole "UND football only" is way off. I have season tickets for UND men's hockey and enjoy supporting that program; however, I shouldn't be taken to task just for enjoying football and basketball more. That is another area that UND and its "fans" need to improve on: undue criticism.

The point is that the REA was not God's gift from Heaven to Grand Forks due to unparalleled hockey fandom ... UND hockey is in a very fortunate position with that building. Many other big-time hockey universities do not have that luxury. Yet, even with that luxury for UND, the almighty hockey programs of the impeccable hockey town of Grand Forks took a hit. Take note: the lesson is that hockey popularity (and feasibility) is far more fragile than you want it to be, even in Grand Forks and North Dakota.

Yes, this position is far too popular among the uninformed out-criers with their soapboxes. Again, these individuals decided to put no thought into the situation before ruining their personal reputation. UND has terminated administration members, both directly and indirectly; it has been well publicized. Do these vocal individuals, many of whom never attended or graduated from UND or any post-secondary institution for that matter, expect UND to be operated by a bunch of people off the street? C'mon people of Grand Forks and North Dakota - stop embarrassing us.

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19019077/highest-paid-us-employees-dominated-college-football-college-basketball-coaches?sf66823110=1 Sorry, but there were no men's hockey coaches, and certainly no women's hockey coaches, to be found. I guess North Dakota is still leading the nation in moral insight, though, right? That thought process always helps the know-it-all locals sleep at night. Even the "State of Hockey" pays more to a "bouncy ball" coach ... wow, can you believe it? The truth hurts if you're one-sided with the minority.

This is very true, and not coincidentally those are the same folks making the uneducated comments regarding the current situation. Uninformed, localized individuals making uninformed, stereotypical comments .... sad deal.

Yes, you are correct; however, the complacency of the hockey crowd could hurt them some. Basketball has many followers in the region and it certainly could grow rapidly. Same goes for football. Those sports can grow and grow fast in this region. Hockey is already maxed out. In fact, we just witnessed it have to get cut down to a more logical size after yesterday's events. If some alum gave UND men's basketball a $100 million gift then I'm pretty sure things would be a little different in the ol' hockey town of Grand Forks.

"Bouncy ball" will always be more popular than hockey. You should want people to accept facts, not "alternative facts" aka lies. The fact is UND basketball will not always have its season end in a "whipping" and basketball, in general, is a more popular sport than hockey. You obviously don't watch popular sports (I feel sorry for you, in that regard) because UND obviously does have a good chance to win games in the NCAA tournament.. NDSU beat #5 Oklahoma in 2014 and UND was down only 7 points to #2 Arizona with only 7 minutes or so to go in this year's NCAA tournament. It's called March Madness for a reason - check it out or look it up sometime If you want to use facts that favor your hopeless argument, try using Canadian statistics.

I agree. From what I've seen and heard, I think Brad S. could've definitely mediated this issue far better. There are so many people who feel UND made this cut with no class and that's all they see. They do not see or know about the $1.3 million budget reduction goal or, even in some extreme cases, the state's budget shortfall. Furthermore, many of these "out-criers" know very little about the women's hockey program to begin with; they certainly weren't doing anything to try fix the attendance issues. More reporting of facts and figures and less one-sided emotional bias in reporting would've certainly helped the overall perception of the issues facing UND.

Which is upsetting in itself being there are so many folks who feel it is necessary to comment on the situation yet they are so uninformed. Why are so many opposed to research and facts? A little background search would go a long ways in preventing emotionally-charged, subjective criticism. I've seen several comments from people who do not even realize the state's budget shortage, yet they feel it necessary to attack UND's administration. Their source is the "culture of Grand Forks and North Dakota" ... wow, the public education system still has a lot of work to do.

So UND should just sponsor men's and women's hockey and football? - Now that is laughable! UND's men's basketball program did win the Big Sky Conference and they participated in the NCAA tournament which was viewed by 1.4 million people. So, your standards are flawed, because women's hockey wouldn't even draw 10% of that viewership even if they were a national championship team. Heck, even UND's men's hockey has difficulty reaching viewing numbers like that. If you tell someone that UND tightly played the University of Arizona's top 5 men's basketball team, and that UND is the alma mater of NBA great Phil Jackson, you would have a positive conversation with said person outside of the area. If you want to work odds and be fair, @Old Time Hockey, that "outside of the area person" probably wouldn't want to talk hockey and would rather talk football and basketball (based on national interest levels). Also, Bemidji, St. Cloud, and Duluth are Division II programs that require less program-wide funding. That one is not hard. - EDIT: Also, Title IX compliance consideration.

With no women's hockey? HA! Doesn't seem that way. The University of North Dakota is a public research university that happens to be the State of North Dakota's flagship university. It is not a "hockey school", or whatever ignorant-labeling you can come up with.