fightingsioux4life

I agree 100% with this, except that I put 100% of the blame on the coaching staff. They are the ones that recruited these kids, they are the ones that decide who plays and who sits, they are the ones that call the plays and decide what systems and schemes to use and they are the ones that have to set the tone for the entire program. Teams take on the personality and attitude of the head coach and, by extension, his subordinates. Just like in the military, if the operation goes bad, the blame lies with the officers that were in charge of it. This program lacks the leadership at the top and the right kind of players on the roster to be a success. The only way this gets fixed is with a top to bottom housecleaning. Give the new head coach whatever he needs to build the program the right way from top to bottom. He'll also have to weed out any players that are attitude problems. If that doesn't happen a week from today, I think Faison deserves whatever criticism he gets.

This is why a change must be made now; the program hasn't hit rock-bottom yet. A couple of more years of this crap and it will. And it will be that much harder to rebuild it. The sooner we make a change, the better.

Nice taking my comments out of context like that. Let me explain it to you more carefully this time: While collegiate athletics are not the same as professional athletics (these are student-athletes on scholarship, not multi-millionaires being paid by billionaires), winning and losing are more important in collegiate athletics than in high school athletics. Collegiate athletics are an important marketing tool for colleges and universities. The coaches are well-paid professionals and the student-athletes are going to school with very little coming out of their own (or Mom and Dad's) pockets. In high school athletics, the coaches usually double as teachers in the school system and the players are high school kids who play for fun; most of them aren't good enough to play college football. So yes, winning and losing is important in collegiate athletics, but not quite to the level of professional sports, where coaching changes happen far more often. And, FYI, the example you ripped off from the hockey forum was a critique of Hakstol's coaching style, which is fair game in an online discussion forum like this. Thanks for playing, our hostess has some nice parting gifts for you.

If they would just allow these girls to check like the boys, this might not happen. The Olympic hockey gurus started that crap and it has trickled down.

Based on your value system, we should join the Pioneer Football League, where no athletic scholarships are involved and it doesn't matter how bad they are because everyone else in the conference is just as bad. But we aren't in the PFL. We are in the Big Sky Conference and we didn't move up to be mediocre year after year after year. It took NDSU three years to reach the playoffs for the first time. They have had one losing season since moving up to Division I FCS (in 2009 they finished 3-8). This program has done nothing but deteriorate since Mussman took over in December 2007. It's been a slow decline, but now we are reaping the harvest of mediocrity. And it is a very bitter harvest for those of us that care about this institution and it's programs. This isn't high school, where all that matters is that the kids have fun. This is FCS football and having a perennially underachieving and irrelevant program year after year is simply not acceptable and must not be allowed to continue.

The all-purpose excuse in Grand Forks for bad attendance at sporting events.

The bleeding has been stopped. Now it's time to sew the wound shut.

College hockey should not be run like the NHL....or the AHL.......or even the ECHL. Most of these guys will never make it past the ECHL. They are here to get an education and play hockey while doing it. Keep the game and practices fun and expect good grades and good behavior in return. That would suit this team much better than the "structured, business-like" approach Hakstol has put in place.

Very funny Mr. Sunshine. I have never said people have to agree with what I post and I don't care if they do or not. And if calling them as I see them is considered in poor taste by some, then so be it. I am through pulling punches on issues that affect my alma mater (athletics and otherwise). And, for the record, I wasn't planning on mentioning my distain for Saturday-Sunday afternoon games again. I hope that puts you at ease.

I hate these Saturday-Sunday afternoon weekends. College hockey should be played on Friday and Saturday nights, in front of rabid, passionate fans, as God intended it.

He just cannot finish. I think he needs to stop being so hard on himself. Just go out there, play, have fun with your teammates and things will work out much better. Of course, being trapped in Hak's "business-like, structured system" doesn't help either.

Very good post. I'd +1 it more than once if I could.

My section (204) had lots of empty seats in it.

I don't know, but I was there and it was horrible. I honestly think the Cushman Classic had more people than today's game.

You are correct about that. The reason they ever committed to Minnesota in the first place is because Shantel Rivard was the head coach and the program was a train wreck. Then Idalski took over and they transferred. Coincidence? Nope, I don't think so either.

All he was doing is giving a perspective of why Ponder would do what he did and why it wasn't all that risky. I have seen dozens of players do it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Rarely does it roll into the end zone and out of bounds for a safety. I think you just took it wrong.

B-R-U-T-A-L

They are still not as bad as what Oregon uses for football.

Wow, was this really necessary? Bad hair day? Come on, it's TGIF.

Also, the pylon is considered part of the endzone and thus, if you are in bounds and touch the pylon with the ball, it is a touchdown. Ponder was really close to doing it last night. It didn't matter as Pederson scored on the next play, but Ponder getting hurt might matter next week. He was looking better than I had ever seen him and then he gets hurt. I hope it isn't too serious.

Just what we don't need right now.

I think Jacksonville is going to finish 0-16, which means the #1 overall pick is out of reach anyway. As long the Vikings get a top five draft choice, I can live with that.

I am in the lower bowl directly below that (Section 106). I have had those seats since REA opened, although I think 306 gives you a better vantage point for viewing the whole ice. I once sat in the very top row of the upper deck around center ice in the student section; it looks like a video game from up there!

Look at this this way, it will save you pain and suffering down the road.

The Lamoreaux twins didn't get an NCAA title, but they gave this program instant credibility when it had none. That helped in recruiting and helped speed up Idalski's rebuilding timetable. Now it's time to knock Minnestoa off their pedestal. I am sick and stinking tired of seeing their smiling mugs on the front of the Star Tribune sports page. Putting a stop to this undefeated streak of theirs is a good first step to putting them back in their places. Beating them in the NCAA tournament will be the next step.