UND-FB-FAN

They can win some of the time, if they have good coaching - like you said - but the teams with the top talent and best facilities win most of the time. In the context of FCS football, NDSU has very good talent, coaching, and facilities. UND needs to catch up with the coaching and facilities, and most obviously with the talent.

Yes, correct. Doesn’t change a thing I stated. Football (and UND as a whole) would be a on a whole different (and better) level if that investment was $100M - not $80 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Engelstad_Arena) - and was put towards UND football on campus and not an off-campus multi-purpose city owned convention center. My gripe really isn’t against the Alerus Center, though; rather, it’s the REA. That should be a football facility, not hockey. But, we are where we are. Have to move forward … and hopefully correct past error? And no, I’m not implying that REA is going to be converted into a football facility.

Whoa … stop with the false hyperbole. I said football is more popular, never said or meant to imply that there’s no hockey interest in the state. There obviously is hockey interest in ND. The facility (100M REA) is a major draw, no matter what’s being played in it.

Very familiar with those places. I’ve lived near or in all of them. Hey …Eureka! Don’t like NDSU. UND alum. Minneapolis is actually quite football friendly. Despite what you said about Minnesota Wild, and the notion that it’s in the state of hockey, Minneapolis is actually a Vikings (NFL/football) town, far and away. But in actuality, far more places than Fargo, Lincoln, and Minneapolis think football is #1.

Prefer they beat Boise, make the trip more enjoyable.

Easily explainable by Facility-bias and absence of DI hockey elsewhere in the state. What would’ve happened with an $100M Memorial Stadium renovation in 2001? More missed opportunities. Ultimately, those REA tickets do not justify underfunding the most popular sport in the state and country (reminder: GF is not in Canada).

Oh I get your point. But if extrapolating this to sports, because that’s what we’re talking about (ya know? … siouxsports …), then UND is better off emphasizing ice hockey than football because redundancy is bad in athletic competition? Each university has a different reason or purpose in athletics? I disagree. UND is emphasizing the wrong sport. I disagree with the UND hockey-NDSU football singular supporter mindset, of which this state has plenty.

No, not what I’m saying. We’re speaking competitively, so of course I’ll put the lawmakers/lawyers, physicians, and pilots up against the pharmacists. I’m not asking to shut down hockey, just emphasize football. Similarly, not asking to shut down pharmacy. But, *if* the flawless four-corners-logic you speak of is in fact the case, then I guess the UND hockey-NDSU football backers are correct and UND should just drop football? That seems to be where you’re heading? Or go the Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin route and have a single public land-grant research university so we’re all simpatico? Competition is just so cruel, isn’t it? Who closes? UND? NDSU? We know consolidation isn’t going to happen, so I prefer my train of thought. Bring football to the top, embrace the reality of ice hockey as inferior, solidify football v. football competition.

Of course (that’s the verbal irony!)

These are certainly positives. Would like to see coaching salaries improve, also, but takes time, I suppose, and they’re not going to “rob from Peter to pay Paul”.

To be fair, UND also trains the state’s lawyers (indirectly lawmakers) and doctors, so I’d say collectively people are more impacted by lawyers/lawmakers and doctors than pharmacists. I know you and I can both agree - although how we get to the conclusion is likely different - that UND is the flagship and more impactful for the state. Ironically, though, the current state leader (governor) is a piss yellow and sh*t green supporter, but let’s not bring politics into this, shall we?

Agree - not perfect, but not awful. Need to still strive for improvement.

Disagree if you’re referencing NDSU. NDSU is the gold standard of FCS football. To not compare would be ignorant, and certainly not ridiculous. NDSU is 76 miles from UND. Big picture-wise, geographically speaking, they are largely one and the same. Both NDUS institutions. Ran by the same NDUS umbrella. Both easily mistaken for each other by folks outside of North Dakota and the immediate region. Now, of course there are differences in objectives, goals, philosophy, donor base, etc., as you state, but in the context of FCS football in North Dakota, NDSU is absolutely the best comparison to UND. And to state it is ridiculous to compare the two is absolute ludicrous. If you’re referencing the University of Minnesota, then I do agree with you, as University of Minnesota does not have direct in-state competition like UND-NDSU.

I disagree. Hockey and football are interconnected, as both are ran by the same departmental leaders. The dept. funding model emphasizes hockey, as do the people that make up the athletic department. Too many “hockey people” instead of “football people”. Too many people set in their ways, going about their daily business on autopilot, without stopping to consider the ramifications of their actions and whether or not a different direction would be better for the University and athletic department. You exemplified this with “GF is a hockey town” mantra. There are also certainly external influences, namely special interest donors - albeit they do have a ton of funding power.

I can explicitly tell you I do not want this; rather, just an emphasis on by far the most popular collegiate sport in this country. You can’t say you’re the flagship, but then only cater to a regional niche sport. The ignorance and lack of appropriate representation is appalling, actually. If you poll the entire state of North Dakota, football is more popular than hockey, hence NDSU’s recent rise in perception over the past 10-15 years.

I agree this needs to get better, hence my criticism of coaching, funding, and departmental prioritization.

100% agree.

Sounds simple; just win. But a lot more goes on behind the scenes than “just win”. UND isn’t consistently beating NDSU until UND football is taken more seriously by its own athletic department, fans, and supporters. UND-NDSU in the division I era has been completely one sided. The 2021 contest that was close on the scoreboard only showcased how inept the brain trust leading UND football right now is.

Oh boy, the bumpkins have surfaced now.

“Butt hurt”? Vikings? Hockey town? Dang you’re out in left field. As a division I model, centering on hockey won’t work. University of Minnesota - the “state of hockey” flagship - still invests significantly more in football than hockey. UND athletics is a dysfunctional model held hostage by special interest donors. If UND ascends, it’s because football grows, not because anything better or different happens to ice hockey.

You a hockey-only fan? You seem like someone with red hair …

Hockey-only fans are literally the red-headed country bumpkin stepchildren of sports fans. I’m not that. I fall in line with the mainstream.

The status quo isn’t nearly good enough for UND athletics. In fact, 2022-2023 was a very disappointing year. “Grand Forks is a big hockey town” is the status quo. Also perhaps a fact, but doesn’t mean it’s unchangeable.

Honestly, no. But credit to you on the attempted analogies.

Well, actually, if you don’t identify the problem, you can’t really fix it. So I disagree. With that said, it’s a major uphill battle, for sure