fightingsioux4life

That is my point. She is being completely unreasonable because Kennedy won't roll over when she snaps her fingers. And that isn't going to change. How can Kennedy work with someone who runs to the media and lies through her teeth? She is not an honest broker. If we are going to cave into her every whim, we might as well make her de-facto President.

REA is NOT going to "shut down". They need us to fill that arena to make money to keep up with maintenance, utilities, etc. And your canard about an AHL team coming in and adopting the Fighting Sioux name and logo is not going to happen either. This is the logical result of a rich heiress being stood up to for the first time ever by a President with a backbone. Nothing more, nothing less.

The problem is that your hero MISS McGarry doesn't seem to want to do that either.

I am simply stating facts. Facts that people didn't want to talk about for years until the current kerfuffle sprung up last week. No gift is ever 100% positive, there are always some negatives. Ignoring those negatives is foolish and pure wishful thinking. If UND isn't getting a fair shake from the four (?) different boards that govern REA, then it needs to be addressed. We finally have a strong President that won't roll over every time he is ordered to. Kennedy is doing his job as President of UND. You cannot demand a strong leader, then complain when he does his job. Make up your mind.

That is a straw man argument. Nobody is going to make that claim, much less myself. UND and Grand Forks has benefited greatly from REA and BESC. But these buildings were built to serve the interests of UND, not the other way around. And that is something that MISS McGarry doesn't seem to understand.

So that means she gets to run UND from Vegas through her REA employees? And that gives them a license to treat UND like a red-headed stepchild whenever they want? Sorry, that is not acceptable. REA was a magnificent gift to UND. But it is a double-edged sword as well. Since 2001, everything has revolved around what REA wants. Heck, I am surprised they didn't try to quash the move to Division I because it would take attention away from hockey. An athletic department, much less a University, cannot operate successfully like that. I saw this coming years ago, but was shouted down and told to shut up when I said anything. What say everyone now?

Didn't her contributions run through 2011 and stopped after that? Once donors start implementing extortion, it is time to cut them loose.

She has stated in public that she doesn't care about UND all that much. She is not a strong candidate for giving in the future. So we should stop catering hand and foot to her.

MISS McGarry is going to do this anyway. She has said she doesn't care about UND like her late father did. She went out of her way to point out that her dad was an alumnus of UND, but no one else in the family is. What makes you think she'll give us more money in the future? Let's tell MISS McGarry to take her pompous, arrogant, entitled attitude back to Vegas and focus on potential donors who actually care about this place.

Here is my question. If UND had been receiving 50% of all revenues from facilities, tickets, concessions and apparel, where would our budget situation for athletics be? I say much better than it is now. That arena is a big cash machine. And UND should start getting more of the revenues from it.

If this is the case, we may as well name Jody Hodgson the A.D. and MISS McGarry the President and move on from there (sarcasm). Perhaps we could build a throne room, complete with a throne for her to sit on as she barks out orders to people (more sarcasm)? A wealthy heiress living out of state who has publicly stated she does not care all that much about UND cannot be allowed to run this institution from a distance. It is highly unlikely MISS McGarry will ever give large sums of money to UND in the future, so why cater hand and foot to her every whim? We should work harder to facilitate mutually beneficial and mutually respectful relationships with alums who are successful in their professional lives and want to give back to the school that helped them get there. That will make this a better place, not throwing roses at the feet of someone who obviously doesn't care if UND succeeds or not. A gift with strings attached is not a gift.......it is extortion.

For the record, I do NOT have "multiple logins". I am NOT DaveK. I have no aliases that I use to pretend to be someone else. What you see is what you get from this UND supporter.

And you said MY comments were "demented"? Look in the mirror buddy. And if you really plan on taking money from the Champions Club, you are hurting the student-athletes that play on these teams that we cheer for. But you have your nose so far up MISS McGarry's a$$, you can't see that.

There were many reasons he left. And no, it wasn't all about $$$$$. It was a lack of commitment to the program and the student-athletes in the program. We could have retained him if we gave him a decent bump in pay and promised him we would do more to promote and support what he was trying to do.

All jokes aside, the point people are making is that a lack of upper body strength can and will limit his professional career.

Very condescending response. You asked if I grew up under power lines. You made several derogatory comments about my intelligence. I would call that "attacking". Not that I care what you think about me, but it is quite funny that anytime anybody questions REA, you are quick to jump all over them with an "How DARE you" approach. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this issue.

Nice personal attacks son. Doesn't add credibility to your argument though. Now go back to sucking up to REA.

Be careful! Every time I suggest this on here, I get accused of "spending other people's money".

Then why are people soooooo worried about what she thinks or how "offended" she is? Why don't we focus on successful alumni who care about this place and want it to succeed? #simplequestions

Really? Next I suppose you'll drag up that old urban legend of REA being torn down if UND p!$$ed off the Engelstad family?

Because this spoiled rotten heiress doesn't run UND. Mark Kennedy does. Kennedy does not work for MISS McGarry. He works for the SBoHE and indirectly, the people of North Dakota. If MISS McGarry wants the UND President job, she can apply for it the next time it is open. Otherwise, she had better learn how to deal with people outside of her kingdom and bargain in good faith.

Allow me to give everyone here a snapshot of the big picture with regard to REA, its relationship to UND and the very real and serious consequences of this issue: Imagine that the contract split the revenues 50-50 between UND and REA starting in 2001. Imagine the extra revenues that would have resulted from that more equitable contract. Now imagine all the coaches salaries that we could have increased during the critical transition period from D-II to D-I. Imagine the coaches we could have retained with those extra revenues (Hint: I am talking about Dale Lennon). Imagine the assistant coaches we could have retained instead of losing them to lateral moves to teams in our own freaking conference (which happened to MBB just last week). Imagine Phase II of the HPC under construction or at least close to its fundraising goals instead of being a twinkle in our eyes. Imagine all the championships we could have won because we had more money to invest in FB and WBB. WBB made it to the D-II national title game in Rochester, MN in March 2001. REA opened in October 2001. FB won the D-II national title on December 8th, 2001. After that point, FB and WBB had very good bordering on great teams, but couldn't quite get over the hump. This also was a time of six figure deficits in the athletic department, which Kupchella ordered solved IMMEDIATELY! Imagine what those extra revenues from REA could have done for both aforementioned programs? Gene Roebuck may have padded his legacy with 2 to 3 more national titles and UND FB might have been Grand Valley State instead of Runner-Up/Second-Fiddle/Stepping Stone U. The fact that all of this happened after REA opened makes me think it is more than a coincidence. And now the consequences become even more important today with regard to....... NDSU's increasing (and sickening) advantage in athletics fundraising, athletics success and national profile. The more they win, the smaller and more insignificant we look. This has to change soon, or we we will become "that other school in North Dakota" (just typing that makes me ill). More revenues will be crucial in preventing that. The reality of FCOA as a permanent part of intercollegiate athletics. We cannot simply conclude that it is not "feasible" to fund FCOA and resolve to do "more with less". That is a one-way ticket straight to permanent mediocrity. We will learn what it was like to be Morningside for all those years in the old NCC. More revenues will be crucial to meeting these needs. Our move from the Big Sky to the Summit League and MVFC. If our programs fall flat on their faces early and often in our new leagues, it will make our problems worse and harder to overcome. More revenue can help us establish a solid foundation for the future. The possible upcoming CFB shake-up with regard to divisional realignment and scholarship limits. If there is another division added to CFB (a G5 division split off of the P5), we will want to position ourselves to be in that new division, not stuck in the old (and further watered-down) FCS. More revenues will be crucial to making it happen. A more equitable REA contract would help make these problems easier to overcome and solve. Unfortunately, some people care more about soothing the hurt feelings of a rich heiress who lives in Las Vegas, NV and has admitted she doesn't care all that much about UND. I oppose that messianic "cult of personality" thinking and support doing something about this problem because I love UND, I cherish UND and I want a bright future for UND. The contract is a joke. It is wrong. It must be fixed. And it must be fixed NOW. (drops mic) (exits stage right)

Shhhhh, you might upset MISS McGarry! Then she'll order the demolition of REA! We can't have that!!!! (extreme sarcasm)

Excuse me? "Their money"? They make that money off the backs of the student-athletes on the Men's Hockey team. That money is supposed to support UND athletics. That was the whole point of building REA. REA is supposed to serve the interests of UND, NOT the other way around. If REA is skimming a bunch of that money off the top for their own benefit, then it is our business and no, they cannot "do what they want with it". REA, Inc. is not some for-profit business that is in it to make a bunch of money for its shareholders. It is a non-profit entity set up to manage REA and make sure it is carrying out its mission. And if they aren't doing that, Kennedy has the right and responsibility to call MISS McGarry out on it. It is entitled, spoiled brats like MISS McGarry that are the problem here, NOT UND and NOT President Kennedy.

If she doesn't want to donate anymore, that is her choice. Of course, once you play that card, you cannot play it again. Unless that rumor of REA being torn down is actually true........ If UND is getting screwed financially by REA, Inc., then Kennedy is right to point it out and ask for some changes. People who give money to an institution should do so because they believe in it and want it to succeed.....NOT because they think it will make them de-facto President.