fightingsioux4life

I am totally 100% with you on this. However, if we absolutely cannot find an FCS team to replace SD Mines, then get one of our old D-II rivals to fill it. That would attract some fans and would look much better than SD Mines. My biggest fear is that Faison won't even make a solid effort to accomplish this.

I agree with you, but we aren't Faison. Since it is Faison and not us, I am sure he will settle for a lower-level team so we can keep more of the gate and balance the budget. Faison should also do whatever he can to get South Dakota School of Mines off the schedule for next year, even if it means settling for an established D-2 team. But I suppose that won't happen either. Faison should be on the phone as much as possible to fix these things. It's time we act like a DI FCS team that is serious about getting into the playoffs and winning once we get there.

Blame it all on hunting season. That's what our program always does.

I also received this same call at work. We need more of this.

Well, the hockey team is out of town, so that excuse is out the window. It is my belief that the students will be back once the meaningful games are back on the schedule. This is the first meaningful game we've had at home in a long, long time.

Amen. It is amazing how many excuses and rationalizations people in our fan base come up with to explain why it just isn't possible to bring our program to the next level in FCS. We don't have the money for this, we don't have the money for that, we don't get along with certain people in other athletic departments, we have hockey so nothing else matters, blah, blah, blah. We have to start thinking big and then act on those ideas. Here are a few of mine: 1) No more games against schools like South Dakota School of Mines, University of Sioux Falls and Black Hills State. I couldn't care less about how much of the freaking gate we get to keep from those games. Just how much "gate" will this team bring in if we keep scheduling like this? People aren't going to pay good money to watch us play teams like this. And once playoff time rolls around, these games will cost us a playoff spot. I can almost guarrantee it. Do what it takes to bring in legitimate DI FCS teams and quit giving us excuses why it just can't be done. 2) Better marketing before and during the season. Starting your advertising the week before the first game is bush-league at best, negligent at worst. This might have worked in D-II, but it won't work in FCS. We have to make it clear to the public that UND Football matters and is going places. That will help sell tickets. The best advertising for a program is getting fans to buy a ticket and watch a game. 3) Better TV and Media Coverage. Getting more games on TV will give the program more exposure and improve everything from attendance to recruiting. If this means picking up more feeds from opponent broadcasts, then we should work hard on making those deals happen. This has gotten better over the years, but it can and needs to get better as we move forward as an FCS program. Those are the three biggest things I came up with. They will cost money and will require a commitment from all of us, but they are necessary to win championships at this level. And, as I have said before, if we aren't willing to do these things, we shouldn't have moved up in the first place. End Rant.

If we don't get a good QB for next season, we'll have trouble beating Northern Colorado again. Nothing would end the honeymoon of being accepted into the Big Sky Conference like a 3-8 season and a couple of double-digit beatdowns by teams like Montana and Montana State.

Next week, UND can finish what has been a challenging and frustrating transition period with a win over longtime rival South Dakota and clinch a share of the last Great West Conference title in the process. This is probably the most significant game at the Alerus Center since October 29th, 2005 when Nebraska-Omaha ruined what was shaping up to be a national championship season with a 20-19 comeback win after being down 19-0 late in the third quarter. In my opinion, the program was never quite the same after that. But next Saturday afternoon, we can start a new winning tradition, this time at the Division I FCS level. This is the time to fill the Alerus Center up again, like we did from 2001-2005. This is the time to bring back the noise, the excitement, the energy, the passion. Do your hunting some other weekend. Take a nap some other Saturday. This Saturday, get your rear ends to the Alerus Center and show this team that you support them and that you are fired up for the Big Sky Conference in 2012!!! Go Sioux!!!

This is also an excellent idea. Anything but games against NAIA or transitional D-II programs.

Likely the last conference title as the Fighting Sioux.

You are right, but they are still a rival of ours (even if we don't play them anymore) and I love it when they lose. I hope in the future we get them in the playoffs; what a big match-up THAT would be!

And I don't care if it's hunting season, get your butts to the Alerus Center and support the team!

I just couldn't resist. All the arrogance that has come out of Fargo this season is absolutely nauseating. You would think they are angling to move up to FBS and aim for the BCS. They will be a contender in the playoffs, but today's loss should bring them back down to earth a little bit.

It's a rivalry, that's what rivals do. They have never given us any quarter, so I won't do so for them either.

Back to business here. The D has to come up with just one more stop to secure the win.

That's right. Youngstown 27, NDSU 24 in the (Fabulous) Fargodome. As Scott Miller would say....MY OH MY!!!

The defense has played lights out today. Aside from issues in the secondary with pass coverage, the defense has been a major strength all season long. I think they'll have to close out the game for us today.

Here's an idea: buy out the South Dakota School of Mines game and replace it with a money game vs. one of the programs listed above. Yes, we would lose a home game, but this would be a case of addition by subtraction! I would rather drive 300 miles to watch us play the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium than sit in the Alerus Center for 3 hours to watch us play the freaking "Hard Rockers". I want that game off the schedule!

Around 4 minutes left in the 3rd Quarter. Tied at 7-7. Defense has been solid, offense has been sluggish.

7-7 at halftime. We must get the offense going if we are going to win.

We just HAVE to get a QB in the off-season. Joey "McNabb" Bradley has shown us absolutely nothing and I don't know if anyone else coming up is any good. A solid, accurate QB would make this a very good team next year.

Har, Har, Har. Enjoy your status as #1 in the nation while you can. Shoot, go hang a banner if it inflates your already inflated ego (you hang banners for every little accomplishment as it is). But the banners I want to hang aren't given out in November and I am going to enjoy some payback in Janurary in Grand Forks. Having said that, it's kind of nice that your fan base is back to its old arrogant self; it just hasn't been the same with the Rodent program being down. That will make the payback that much sweeter.

The North Dakota Senate has voted 39-7 to allow UND to drop the name and logo with the "cooling off period" amendment: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hzxfmf50-6VEp-jdQIBDqifj9MYQ?docId=c822fb3fac244a1c9a8c1f5020094bd2 Now it's on to the House where I hope "Clueless Al" doesn't try to sabotage this.

It looks like the legislature has opted for the sanity of a cooling-off period instead of what "Clueless Al" wanted: http://www.kfgo.com/fm-headline-news.php?ID=0000005911 Grand Forks Rep. Stacey Dahl says the measure prevents UND from adopting a new nickname and logo until January 2015. She calls it a "cooling-off" period. Now this is more like it. That would give everyone time to "cool off" and it would allow us to proceed with entrance into the Big Sky Conference. It also would give Spirit Lake time to proceed with their lawsuit, which I hope is successful. The NCAA needs a big helping of humble pie.

Here is a link to the KFGO web site: http://www.kfgo.com/...p?ID=0000005911 Here is the passage that talks about "Clueless" Al's proposed amendment: House Republican Majority leader Al Carlson has another amendment to block the university from dropping the nickname and logo until all lawsuits over the issue have been settled. Espegard calls Carlson's proposal "wrongheaded." The committees will vote on the amendments later Tuesday. The other amendments being tossed around only pertain to not picking a new name right away; which is what will probably happen anyway. Like I said above, THIS MUST BE DEFEATED!!! Our future depends on it.