fightingsioux4life

Right now, we are still using the old Division 2 funding model of Season Ticket sales, Champions Club memberships and 50/50 raffles. And that won't cut it in Division 1 athletics. We need to start thinking outside the box or we'll remain a bargain-basement/shoestring budget Division 1 school. In other words, a colder, more northern version of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

I think you'd have to have about 10-15 new programs to make a dent in the talent pool, which is getting bigger and better all the time.

Apples and oranges, both in amounts of money and overall impact.

Don't get me wrong, I am not defending KEM. I don't like her and think she is a spoiled little rich girl who wants everyone to bow down to her. She is also not an honest broker. I just wish Kennedy had risen above her pettiness and at least tried to be tactful in dealing with what is a sensitive topic (distribution of REA revenues). I dislike both of them for different reasons.

Popular? No. The right question to ask. Yes. This idea that every program should support itself or dissolve must die.

Tact means you know how to talk to people to achieve your overall goals and objectives. It does not mean you refuse to make tough decisions when necessary. People skills matter.

Okay, I gotcha now.

Hire the same firm that runs the Alerus Center. They are doing a great job with that; they would do a great job with REA. Also, both facilities could coordinate their schedules; thus avoiding them competing with each other for events.

Watch it live here: https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/education/4607258-live-mark-kennedy-decision-coming-soon-cu-regents-vote-after-2-pm-central

I say 5-4 party-line vote.

Location is not the issue (NDSU, SDSU and USD aren't scenic locations either). Resources are. Time to put up or shut up and get out of Division I.

This is sad commentary on the state of UND Athletics.

But if he doesn't have Division I experience and a Master's Degree, he isn't qualified to coach here (sarcasm). Oh wait, Tom Buning isn't here anymore? In that case, I hope he applies.

Can't argue with that.

But that might offend the hockey-only crowd, so we just can't do it (sarcasm). #REAContractSucks #YouGetWhatYouPayFor #SSDD

Since when is the MBB coach in charge of fundraising? Isn't that the job of the President, Athletic Director and Alumni Association?

Considering they have never done any of these things before, this is okay with me. Now for a program like ours, Denver, Duluth and so on, it would be a bit puzzling.

Good point.

@MafiaMan, so are you suggesting we start hanging Runner-Up banners and NCAA participation banners? Individual conference title banners are okay. We have one banner with all the years we made the Frozen Four and one banner for the years we won our conference tournament. That is as far as we should go, IMHO.

Amen.

This is a false choice. And we have to stop putting stock into it.

So Tom Clifford must have been really mediocre because he never went anywhere else? (sarcasm) And we need to stop talking ourselves down. If we keep talking about ourselves like we are a bottom-feeding, bargain-basement institution, that is what we will become. Kennedy knows his days here are numbered so he is looking for an escape hatch. And Colorado is giving it to him.

She IS right about one thing. Kennedy is NOT committed to the University of North Dakota. Never has been and never will be.

And what you (and KEM and her cohorts) need to understand is that a school's #1 revenue sport absolutely has to help fund the other programs on campus. And that isn't happening right now. My first loyalty is to the school itself and all its programs/missions. Not to one individual (coach, president, etc.). Not to one program at the expense of the others. And definitely not to one donor, no matter who her daddy was. And that is why once 2030 comes around, the Engelstad Foundation and whomever else has their fingers in this need to be out of the picture. Permanently. That arena is one big cash machine. I cannot believe that all the profits are eaten up by operating expenses. The convoluted management structure is perfect for hiding where the money goes vs. where everybody thinks it goes. I have said this before, but we need a forensic accountant to untangle the finances of this arena. Because I think there is a lot we don't know. And it would infuriate us if we did. Either this situation changes or we should just move back down to Division II. Because being a low-end Division I athletic department is not in the best interest of UND. And I believe it is not what most supporters of UND want. We also should cultivate relationships with other potential donors. Division I costs way more than Division II did and we need more revenue streams than the Champions Club, 50/50 raffles and leftover table scraps from REA, Inc.

And no talk about Hot Goalies either.