fightingsioux4life

The time to drop FB was back when we first moved up to Division I. Then we could have adjusted our budgets accordingly and probably would have more success in both Men's and Women's Basketball than we have currently had. But you don't build HPC Phase I and then drop FB. We have put too much time, money and energy into this Division I move to do that. There is simply no excuse for our athletic department to be in the sorry shape it currently is in. None. I don't want to hear about how big Fargo is getting. I don't want to hear how cold and desolate it is here. I don't want to hear how this is as good as it is going to get. Those are all excuses. And that is what you get from an institution that has lacked strong leadership at the top for 10 years now. A turnaround has to start with the hiring of a strong UND President who believes that athletics are an essential part of any four-year liberal arts university in the United States and can be used as a powerful marketing tool, especially in the age of social media. Without that, Chaves won't be able to do the things he wants to do. And it won't really matter who is in charge of what program on campus.

Considering the bad grammar on this forum, I think the "standard", whatever it is, isn't very high to begin with.

So we should just drop FB, continue ignoring MBB and WBB and focus entirely on hockey? Sorry, that is not the answer. It would be better to go back to Division II. Either we do the Division I experiment right or we drop it. No in-between.

You, my friend, are what is wrong with UND right now. We'll NEVER do this, we'll NEVER do that. This isn't "realistic", that isn't "realistic". Blah, blah, blah. Have you ever heard of the term "self-fulfilling prophecy". Because that is what is happening in Grand Forks right now. You start accepting mediocrity and adopt low standards, then you get mediocrity and low standards. That perpetuates mediocrity, which starts the whole vicious cycle all over again. This monster feeds onto itself. And the only way to kill this monster and restore the tradition of excellence we used to have around here is to hire a strong UND President who acknowledges that academics, athletics and research can and must coexist for the entire campus to move upward and forward. Not downward and backward.

Well, we found the money to buy out Mussman. So I think it is very possible.

I don't believe that. It's the lack of leadership on campus that has caused this. That is why the upcoming UND Presidential hire is so important.

And everybody loved their juice boxes.

In other words....the same old drivel.

Probably the usual drivel.

I don't think our alumni base likes this at all. But in order to raise more money, you have to build relationships with potential donors. We haven't been doing that and the results speak for themselves. Aside from HPC Phase I, our facilities are the same or worse as when we were D-II. And we are now 10 years into the Division I experiment. Unfortunately, too many of our own people think as long as the student-athletes do good in the classroom and good in the community, there's nothing that needs to be fixed. And that mentality has to change. And it has to start with our next UND President.

But it's all okay boys and girls, because it's "all about the relationships" and "all about teaching life lessons". So it doesn't matter how much we lose or how bad we look doing it. After all, this is just high school with better athletes. And you cannot talk about improved fundraising because that is "spending other people's money" and that is just WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!! (extreme sarcasm on a very frustrating day). Now I'll sit back and wait for the contrarians to tell me how wrong I am and how I am not a "real fan" because I don't like what is happening and I have the nerve to post it on our fan forum.

I'd like to tell these idiots where they can stick that lottery ticket.

10-7 ISU. 8:30 left in 2nd quarter.

About 10,000.

Amen. And I don't care if they have Patrick Roy in goal either.

Man, do I miss those days! That was a special time on campus and I am grateful to have been a part of it. And I so miss the Old REA, what a storied building that was.

Yeah, I don't think Nick Saban could win there.

There are a substantial number of UND alumni living in Imperial Cass County, ND. I really hope they are NOT supporting NDSU at the expense of UND. If that is the case, then we aren't doing a good job of cultivating relationships with people. The "leadership" at UND has been non-existent to incompetent over the past 10 years. The next Presidential hire will be crucial to changing this dynamic.

So it's a zero sum game then? You either have great academics/research or great athletics? Sorry, but that's a false choice. You don't have to give up one for the other. But it seems like that is the philosophy at the University of North Dakota. And I do not agree with it. This isn't high school, where it doesn't matter how bad your athletic teams are. Maybe you think it should be that way, but it's not. Athletics are a great marketing tool for any university (just ask Gonzaga)....IF you are successful. If you are NOT successful, then athletics can be a millstone around your neck. Which is becoming the case here. And the last time I checked, the Champions Club was run by the UND Alumni Association. So maybe that should be disbanded then? So we can emulate Rutgers? No thank you.

No, they don't HAVE to cost more. But how much are you willing to bet they won't cost more? Especially since that is the cost structure on the other side of the Alerus Center.

But would these people be willing to pay substantially more to move to midfield? Because those seats almost certainly will cost more.

And if I was to sit down and talk with these people, what kind of response would I get? I think I can guess: -We don't have the resources to do this/that/whatever. -It isn't "feasible" to do this/that/whatever. -The student-athletes are doing good in the classroom and/or community, so it isn't a big deal. -Bubba is "one of us", so we don't think a change is warranted at this time. Anyone else who wants to add to this list, please feel free. No one is questioning that you want us to be successful. Everyone here (except the Bison trolls) wants that. But too many people like @jdub27 will just accept any explanation they get from the higher-ups at UND and conclude that nothing can be done about what is wrong. And the problem since the day we moved up to Division I is that we didn't have a plan on how to raise the money necessary to put winning teams on the court/field. That is why our coaches are underpaid, our facilities (except for HPC Phase I) are still Division II and our teams are mediocre or worse across the board. And we have been Division I for 10 freaking years now! If the only reason we moved up is NDSU moved up, then it was a big and costly mistake. The Alumni Association has posted record fundraising numbers, yet athletics doesn't seem to get one red cent of it. It seems to me that the Alumni Association has decided to focus almost exclusively on academics and research because athletics is "fine the way it is because of Men's Hockey and REA". Well, I think we are capable of being more than "Rutgers with hockey". I think we need to come up with outside-the-box ideas when it comes to fundraising and revenue streams. The "time honored" tradition of season tickets, Champions Club and 50/50 raffles is not enough at the Division I level. We aren't playing the likes of Augustana, UM-Crookston and Winona St. anymore. But all of this will require a President that cares enough about athletics to come up with a functional plan and the resolve to carry it out. And that person hasn't been selected yet. So until that happens, we are kind of twisting in the wind right now.

This is a dangerous point for UND athletics as a whole. The conditions are ripe for apathy to set in. The opposite of love is NOT hate, it's apathy. Once that sets in, it is very hard to dislodge. Chaves has his work cut out for him.

Ask him yourself: william.chaves@UND.edu And here is the UND Alumni Association and Foundation "Contact Us" page where you can submit a comment on why with historic fundraising numbers, athletics continues to operate with a bargain-basement, shoestring budget. I have a very hard time believing that our alumni don't care about athletics and aren't interested in donating to upgrade our facilities and overall budget. Good academics/research and good athletics are not mutually exclusive. In short, we are rapidly becoming Rutgers with hockey. I think we are capable of much, much more as an athletic department and as a university.

Don't start with the politics again. Please.