fightingsioux4life

I have stated this before and I will again: The Lamoureux sisters would give our women's program instant credibility and a big shot in the arm talent-wise. It looks like Rivard might have struck gold with this freshman class. This is probably her last chance to build a winning program here. Getting the Lamoureux sisters here would probably put us over the top in terms of having a winning team.

I am going to get a TV hooked up in the same room as my computer. I have Midcontinent cable and high-speed internet and they are delivered via the same cable. Shouldn't be too difficult.

That is what was carved into the 1997 NCAA Championship Rings! I hope your statement is prophetic for 2007 in St. Louis.

Dang it! I missed the GWG while I was posting on here! That does it, I am getting a TV set up in the same room as my computer so I can do both. I did see the replay, though, nice effort by the younger Zajac. Time to go for the sweep tomorrow night!!! GO SIOUX!!!

I think you forgot the "W" in Toews!

Evenly played game so far, pretty good October hockey. I vote for Oshie to get the game winner!

Play getting a little chippy.

Skille for Wisconsin looks to be injured.

There haven't been a lot of great scoring chances for either team tonight. Both teams have had to fight for every shot. The next goal wins.

Time to dig down deep and get the lead back.

Sioux looking good, leading by one. We have to come out strong in the third. Badgers will throw everything at us, the crowd might become a factor as the clock ticks down. Come on Sioux, let's secure the split tonight!

These Badger announcers aren't all that bad. They are much better than the Rodent announcing team! This game is a standoff so far. Sioux skating well, cycling the puck well, but need to get more shots on goal.

Big series early in the season. The WCHA opener for both teams. It's on Grand Forks cable, so I can watch it (with the sound muted and the radio on, of course). I hope we can light up "Hobey Elliot", but it probably won't happen. Prediction: Friday: UW 3, UND 1 Saturday: UND 4, UW 3 GO SIOUX!!!

Got mine in the mail today as well. This is the best conference tournament in the country. Period. It's as much a big party as it is a hockey tournament. But I think the best part is walking around the "X" in my Sioux jersey and getting cold stares and smart remarks from Gopher fans. I can't WAIT until March!!!

Paying off the bonds is good. I thought the Fighting Sioux Club was funded mainly by individuals and businesses at various levels in exchange for benefits (parking, tickets, etc.). I didn't think REA had anything to do with it. The REA is a positive for UND; I'm not promoting the idea that it shouldn't have been built. I just think that a facility that is home to our main revenue sport (Men's Hockey) should benefit the athletic department more than it does. This is the heart of my argument. You are right; my point is that if they are selling all this stuff (and there is no shortage of people standing in line between periods to buy this stuff, believe me), they are probably making a lot of money off of it. Especially beer sales. And if they are making all this money, why doesn't more of it end up in UND athletic coffers? That is the central question here. Thanks for the info on tuition waivers and the increasing cost of tuition (thanks to the backwater/bush-league Legislature we have in this State , but that's another topic). I didn't consider that in my original posting. If UND administration is soaking up the benefits from REA and not giving some back to athletics, the blame for that would be on President Kupchella. The point I wanted to make is that in the past whenever someone criticized REA, Inc. for something (student section management, charging to tour the arena, etc.), they were told to stop complaining about it, to be grateful for the gift of having this arena, that REA is privately-run so they can do whatever they want and so on. I feel that this viewpoint is being used to justify anything that REA does whether its good for UND athletics or not. This is why REA doesn't come up in discussions about the athletics deficit. And I think that is wrong. Some serious questions have to be raised about this stuff before irreversable damage is done to our programs. Cutting sports such as baseball and softball won't put a dent in the budget; it's like pocket change compared to hockey and football. But it is a good idea to look at it anyway; especially with the D-I move coming up. My overall concern in all of this is this: REA was supposed to make the athletic department financially self-sufficient with all the revenue streams it would produce (concessions, suites, merchandising, concerts, etc). And according to WDAZ tonight, 2.2 million people have attended events at REA over the past 5 years. So if the arena is a financial success, how come the athletic department is in the red? Some of it is tuition costs, as you pointed out above. But I still don't believe that REA is giving UND the best deal it can. I have a hard time believing that expenses are eating up all the revenues from this arena. And since REA was built to benefit UND athletics, that is unacceptable.

At least 2001 is in the same decade AND Century.

Whining? I don't think so. It's called looking out for the interests of an athletic department I (and many others on this forum) support financially with our own hard-earned money. We want our teams to have the best situation possible in order to compete and win on a national stage. That will get more expensive once we move up to Division I in all sports (I-AA in football). No one is suggesting that we go back to the Old Ralph (it would require a lot of renovations to use again). But you can't blame all the financial problems on the ND Legislature (which I have a very low opinion of, by the way). The fact is that when this palace was being built, it was promoted as a cash cow for UND and UND athletics. It was supposed to make the athletic department more financially secure. That hasn't happened. Somebody is making money off of this arena and it isn't my alma mater. I can't remember a time in the past (during the days of the Old Ralph) when the athletic department was swimming in this much red ink. I know the cost of college athletics has gone up over the years, but that still doesn't explain the increasing deficits in the athletic department while REA continues to sell out almost every night and sell overpriced food and beverages (both alcoholic and otherwise). This isn't a conspiracy theory. It is a fact. There is the viewpoint among some in Grand Forks and the UND community in general that you can't criticize REA no matter what they do. The idea is that the arena is a wonderful gift (which it is) and any criticism equals being an ingrate. The fact that REA is privately-owned is also used to promote this viewpoint. I disagree with both ideas 100%. Being a gift and being privately owned doesn't make REA immune from legitimate criticism. As stakeholders in this great enterprise that we like to call UND sports, we have a right and a responsibility to criticize institutions and decisions that we think are detrimental to the health of our programs. If we can't criticize REA, then let's just make the REA General Manager the AD and be done with it. The bottom line is this: If we don't find a solution to this financial situation, we will soon be talking about roster caps and scholarship cuts. I don't think anyone on this forum wants to see that.

This was a rhetorical question; I was hoping someone else with more connections than me would do some digging and figure it out. I probably should have phrased it better. They would just use their so-called "data" to "prove" that UND can't cut it in the "big-time" of Division I athletics and to "prove" that our poor little old market in the northern valley can't support an arena like REA. But it would provide us with some cheap entertainment.

And what would REA do without our hockey programs? Bring in a Major Junior team? Not trying to be a wise guy, just asking the question. The arena was built to support the University of North Dakota in general and Division I hockey in paticular. It could not survive without those programs, no matter how many cheesy garage bands, tennis matches and curling tournaments they bring in. Most things are open to negotiation in business and in life. You just have to have the backbone and guts to get your fingernails dirty once in a while. But since REA and UND have such a symbiotic relationship, it shouldn't come to that. I will admit that the solution to the revenue problem is not easy to come by. I'm just concerned that we aren't getting the deal we were told we were getting when this arena was being designed and built. I want our athletic department to have the resources to make this D-I move a success. I want us to have successful programs at the next level, not just the D-I name. I hope that our leaders (Buning, Kupchella) have a game plan to make it happen.

PCM, And just how long are these contracts that are signed with REA? I know the lease is 30 years, but how long are the contracts for maintenance, revenue sharing, etc? I have always wondered that. Maybe someone on here knows? What REA doesn't seem to understand is that REA exists to serve UND, UND does not exist to serve REA. This arena was promoted as a big money-maker for UND athletics and the greatest thing since sliced bread when it was being built in 2000-2001. That hasn't happened. Ralph Engelstad built this arena to benefit his alma mater and to display his gratitude for what this institution did for him. He didn't build it so that a small group of corporate wanna-be suits could cash in on our #1 sport at our expense. I wonder what he would think about the current situation between UND and REA? I don't think he would approve of it. I think Roger Thomas allowed REA to dictate too many terms during the initial contract negotiations. That was one of his weaknesses; he was just too darn nice of a guy! Tom Buning seems more of a no-nonsense type of administrator. Let's hope this helps us get a better deal in the future. This is just my opinion and feelings on the matter. Some on here will disagree with it, but that is what I think. Fire Away!

I will be there! Hope the weather cooperates!

Sioux-cia, It's now official: Da Bears are for real! Even without Alexander, the Seahawks are a pretty good team. And the Bears made them look like the Lions. Da Bears should win 14 to 15 games in the regular season, but I would be a little concerned about peaking too early. You must be playing your best football at playoff time to make a run at the Super Bowl. If Da Bears can avoid this roadblock, we might have ourselves a rematch of Super Bowl 20 (Bears vs. Patriots). I think the Pats might have another run in them. As for my Vikings, I was nauseated at what I saw on television before I left for the tailgate party. Receivers left wide open. More bad passes from Johnson. The O line not earning its money (again). Aarrgghh!!! I'm surprised I was able to eat anything yesterday! If this keeps up, they'll probably earn a top 10 draft pick, which would help them upgrade the offense. They might want to draft another quarterback; get rid of Johnson, keep Bollinger and Jackson. If they lose to the Lions, it's curtains for the 2006-07 season.

Agree with you 110%. The 2001 National Championship team had a huge positive advantage in turnover margin. We have to start taking better care of the ball. And it's not just Belmore, either; the running backs and receivers have been too careless. And the defense isn't forcing the turnovers it has in the past. If we want to hang with the big boys, we will have to reverse this.

I want absolutely nothing to do with the BSCS (Bull S@#$ Championship Series). This whole concept of going D-IA in football is delusional at best, irresponsible at worst. We would never compete for a bowl game that anyone cared about. Maybe Gopher fans get all excited about going to the Music City Bowl (or worse) every year, but I wouldn't. I honestly don't think we would ever qualify for a BCS bowl. If in the future, there is a playoff in D-IA football, I don't think we could qualify for that either. Let's focus on getting into D-IAA football and building a championship-calibre program. We can make our money off of the D-I Men's Basketball Tournament, the NCAA Hockey Tournament and a few money games against D-IA teams. I want our football program to compete for championships. We can do that in IAA, we will never do it in I-A. I really wish Phil Harmeson would dump this idea.