fightingsioux4life

Don't expect a coherent response. He'll just repeat the same message using different words, then tell you to fire off an E-mail to someone at UND. I like the players we have landed the past couple of weeks. But there remain serious issues surrounding this program that must be addressed sooner rather than later.

It is nice to hear good news on our basketball programs.

He was being sarcastic about Berry's ability to recruit top talent.

Excellent.

Well, with that attitude, you are right. FB won't ever amount to anything. Which is why some people are very passionate about changing the trajectory of that program. Just like we don't want hockey to fade into the darkness of irrelevancy.

This pushes back against the whole "B1G Taking Over The World" narrative pushed by some on here. Great pick up!

How about this version?

Struggling early is fine if it leads to growth and improvement as the season progresses.

I must agree with you. I feel a lot better about this team than I did a couple of weeks ago.

Excellent.

IALTO!

Doesn't the portal make that rule null and void?

I agree with you and share your concerns about the program. But you can find good players in the portal. Some of whom may have slipped through the cracks when they were being recruited the first time.

But when they ran into older, experienced teams, they got beat. Freshman are still Freshman (no matter how talented they are) and they will occasionally struggle against older, more experienced players.

No disrespect to Quinnipiac; I picked them to win the tournament. But for some reason, the Goofs got conservative after getting a two-goal lead and it backfired big time. Prevent defense prevents you from winning. It is a fact of life in the NFL and it is also a fact of life in this sport.

But I thought everything was about $$$$$?

He would have way more resources to work with here.

So it's the player's fault ESPN2 chose to cut to him?

Hennessey would probably retire.

Easy to say when you are sitting in the stands or at home watching. I do not like the Goofs, but I won't criticize a player for being emotional after a crushing loss like that.

For once I agree with you. Well written and well stated. One minor change: I would substitute Bemidji with St. Thomas. Otherwise, you are right.

Minnesota's recent success has zero to do with the B1G and everything to do with replacing Don Lucia with Bob Motzko. They were stuck in the mud with Lucia for years. Same with Michigan and Red Berenson a few years ago. I really hope that doesn't happen with Berry and UND. And being loaded with blue chippers is great.....until those NHL suits start waving entry-level contracts in their faces after one or two college seasons and they sign them. A mix of 3-4 year and 1-2 year players is probably the best formula for success. Otherwise, you are starting over every October and you never get to build on what you started. That is what we have to establish in Grand Forks if we are going to get back to winning.

Fair enough. However, that doesn't explain away the talking point boilerplate drivel someone on this forum received in response to e-mails about the state of our programs. They posted it in another thread on MBB earlier this year. Which makes me cynical about your all-purpose solution of having conversations with these people. Their jobs are 50% political, so don't think they are above resorting to political boilerplate language to answer your questions. Getting a straight answer on these things is next to impossible.

Then why didn't the B1G start killing it back in 2011? Realignment was announced in Summer 2011 and took effect with the 2013-14 season. They could have started recruiting off the B1G brand name 12 years ago. So why didn't the B1G do better before this?