fightingsioux4life

Wasn't this the rationale some used for keeping Mussman because "he didn't suit up for any of the games"? And yes, I am bringing Mussman up again and no, I don't think it is out of line. He took what once was a nationally-competitive football program and essentially ran it into the ground. This is as bad as we've looked since 1986 and the buck stops with the CEO and nobody else. I do think Bubba will get the job done, but it's going to take a lot of time and patience from us and from the community. And that means getting out and supporting the team win, lose or draw. I'll be there, in the same seats I've had since 2001. How many others will be there?

I have no problem quoting posts using Mozilla Firefox, but it just doesn't work on Internet Explorer.

I think success in 2014 will have to be measured in something other than wins and losses. Work ethic, attitude when behind, attitude when ahead, discipline (or lack thereof), improvement from game 1 to game 2 and game 2 to game 3 and so on; those will be the things I watch for as the season progresses. It will take 2 to 3 recruiting classes to get the horses to win games against someone other than non-scholarship FCS teams and lower-level Big Sky teams as this is the lowest point we have been since 1986, but if Bubba and his staff can instill good work habits and discipline now, it will become ingrained in the culture of the program (like it was under Thomas and Lennon) and we'll be in the Big Sky Conference and FCS playoff mix in no fewer than 5 years. And yes, 6-6 is a little wishful, but you need to set goals and that is a reachable (though difficult) goal for this team. It would go a long way to getting potential recruits to seriously consider UND in the future.

What do you have against innovation?

I don't think it matters who the QB is. We have no line and we can't run the ball. Joe Montana would look bad under those circumstances.

If Hextall and Prpich can be discussed with a straight face, then yes, Duncan deserves to be talked about as well.

I was in the 5th grade at Lewis & Clark Elementary School in Grand Forks. I found out at lunchtime. I will never forget it, but for the younger generations, it's just another event they read about in their history books.

I think a 6-6 record is doable this year and would make Bubba a strong candidate for Big Sky Coach of the Year. But this won't be one of our wins: SJSU 31 UND 13

You can blame that on the Mussman regime. Six years of utter mediocrity will do that. That putrid situation won't last much longer now that we have a credible leader in Bubba and a solid group of assistants.

I vote for the former. And some people on this forum wouldn't be bothered by it. But I would.

First of all, I am not spreading "doom and gloom", I am simply making the point that it is highly unlikely that NDSU will ever set foot in the Alerus Center again for a regular season game. If the new AD in Fargo ends up being a guy Faison can deal with, then that could definitely change. But I wouldn't bet money on that happening. You can if you wish, I remain skeptical. And this is the first really bad decision, IMHO, that Faison has ever made. Overall, he has done a good job. I am just concerned about the possible consequences of caving in like he did.

It was some sort of scheduling adjustment. I never totally understood it myself.

That is pure apples and oranges. Your example involves games scheduled by the NCC. As individual members of the NCC, neither UND nor NDSU had control over where the games took place. Now that both schools are in different conferences, they control where and when the games take place and what money is involved.

This is similar to the rationale some of our fans had for preferring the Summit League/MVFC to the Big Sky Conference: "I just want to play the Bison again." That also would have represented both a lack of vision and a lapse in judgement. Thankfully, it didn't go down that way. This FB program needs to set goals and objectives that go beyond having FU on the schedule at all costs and/or being in the same conference as FU.

Well, I believe some "Bring on Bama" signs were seen in Frisco on a number of occasions the past three years. I think that is what people are referring to. I am willing to bet that Lakes believes that!

So you think you should be able to troll on a UND message board and not get some backlash for it? This forum is way more tolerant of contrary opinions than Bisonville, which is probably why you and other Bison fans post here.

I was there; that was truly hard to watch.

I think that team would have gone undefeated (48-0) if he had lived.

Okay, I'll bite on this one. Did we or did we not play Bemidji State on the road in hockey when they were making their move up from D-II to D-I in the late 1990's? Minnesota was too snobbish to do that; we were not. We didn't have to, but we did anyway. We have done this for years in Men's Hockey, so please don't go where I think you are going. And comparing MTU and UAA to FU is laughable. FU is an long-time, bitter, in-state rivalry. MTU and UAA are two schools that we once shared a conference home with (WCHA) and that we never had a bitter rivalry with. Like I have said before, this would never happen with Alabama-Auburn, Notre Dame-Miami (Fla), Texas-Oklahoma or Iowa-Iowa State. Heck, even the Minnesota Golden Rodent Men's Hockey team is planning on coming to Grand Forks in a few years. The Goofs have beaten us more than we've beaten them the last several years. So should Faison have rolled over and agreed to schedule games only in Minneapolis? The answer is no and the answer should have been no here as well. It's a matter of thinking and acting like a bona-fide Division I FCS Football program instead of meekly accepting our "place" as a glorified Pioneer League program that has no choice but to genuflect to those arrogant pricks in Imperial Cass County anytime they make outrageous demands. We need to adopt a snot-nosed, take-no-prisoners attitude that says we bow down to no one and we are here to compete for championships (both league and national). Caving in to Gene Taylor's outrageous demands are not an example of that.

Again, you are putting FU on some "higher" level when in fact they are at the same level we are (FCS, 63 scholarships). Their current success does not necessitate UND prostituting itself to get the game back on the schedule. And I think Bubba has more immediate concerns than whether or not we play FU; such as cleaning up the mess Mussman left behind. Which I believe he will, despite the wishful thinking of the FU faithful. Maybe I am wrong about all this (I certainly hope I am proven wrong), but this whole deal just doesn't make us look good.

No, I don't want Bubba fired. You really love putting words into my mouth, don't you? I understand why Bubba wants the rivalry to resume, but Faison has a responsibility as Athletic Director to look out for the long-term interests of UND athletics. By caving in like this, he has almost assured NDSU will try and pull this crap again and again. Will Faison cave in again and again? The answer had better be no or I'll be calling for his head, not Bubba's. Please answer this question for me: If Alabama and Auburn ever ended up in different conferences, should Alabama get to host every single game from that point on because they have more national titles than Auburn and have had more sustained success over the years, especially during the Nick Saban era? If your answer is yes, then you don't understand how college football scheduling (outside of Hyslop Sports Center anyway) works. There is no way Auburn would accept anything that asinine and Faison shouldn't have either. This is a bad deal all around and I won't apologize for saying so.

If Faison was "being a good AD", he wouldn't have capitulated like he did. He would have weighed the potential long-term negative consequences of genuflecting to these jerks and told Bubba nicely, but firmly "No, we are not taking this deal." But no, he caved in. Being a leader sometimes means saying no when others are pressuring you to say yes.

So you really believe that NDSU has somehow "earned" the right to be treated as a "quasi-FBS" program? Sorry, but that is simply unacceptable and if UND takes that posture, then God help us all. If turning down Talyor's final "offer" means we don't play them ever again, so be it. Instead, Faison caved in and made us look like a joke. That isn't good for recruiting, selling tickets or anything else for that matter.

And anyone that votes for Ralph Engelstad because of REA is totally missing the point of the poll.

I agree with you 100%, but Gopher trolls will just come on here and call him a "dime a dozen player".