fightingsioux4life

I thought we couldn't question anything about Ralph Engelstad here?

I'll just leave this here. "Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. "The harder I work, the luckier I get." - Ralph Engelstad.

Can this team just turn it off and on whenever it wants? I have doubts.

If the team shows zero energy and plays terrible and loses this coming Friday, I think the coaching staff needs to look at what might be causing these late-season slumps. It has happened more than once. You cannot win 26 games (some of them Top 10 teams) if you are "not that good". Something is causing this, but I have no idea what it is.

So you are okay with what we are now? That's fine. But some of us are not. Thus the outrage on this thread.

Facility upgrades are essential and I give him, Chaves and the donors who put up the cash credit for those. But this total lack of expectations and accountability will make those upgrades meaningless. Human nature is what it is. If you have a nice, comfy job where being average to slightly above average is good enough for endless contract extensions, you can expect the same results over and over. Expecting different results is the very definition of insanity. And I would hope Armacost isn't micromanaging Chaves. Somehow I don't think he got to where he is by doing that. I put both their e-mail addresses earlier in this thread because both of them are responsible for this inane extension. If you want to make your case for the extension, please go right on ahead. But don't complain about my disagreement with it. Make a coherent case that Bubba deserved the extension.

This is why I am not dumping my season tickets. But this is still unacceptable and the last straw for me. President Armacost is the only one who can change the tone and expectations around here. I honestly don't care what Chaves has to say about anything anymore.

The NIL collective isn't just about FB, so not necessarily.

I have a hard time believing the money people are content with all this. And if this sorry situation continues, the support and money will gradually dry up. Not all at once, but eventually. And the worse things get, the harder it will be to clean up.

That's the problem; the suits in the athletic department don't give a damn about what the friends and supporters of this fine institution think. They have their cute country club positions secured. It doesn't matter how bad our teams get, nothing will change. The only person who can change this is President Armacost.

It's a dilemma. I don't want to penalize the players who bust their behinds all year to get better. But I also don't want to reward mediocrity. A Catch-22 for sure.

Maybe now people will stop telling you to shut up about the shortcomings of our once-proud FB program. You have been right about all of this. Kudos to you, sir. If we had more people like you in the athletic department, things might be different.

Full Disclosure: I will not be dumping my season tickets over this. However, my hopes and expectations have taken a big dive.

The One Trick Pony club?

So you think FCS isn't horribly watered down? It is. And pretending it isn't doesn't make it true.

So we went through the time and expense of moving up from Division 2 to Division 1 to have an "above average FCS program" in a division that is heavily watered down with really weak programs? You basically just said "Nattys don't matter". I don't tolerate that B.S. in the hockey threads and I don't tolerate it here, either. The FB boosters pushed hard for this Division I move 15 years ago. I don't think they did it to be "an above average FCS program". This entire athletic department is being run like a high school and I am sick and tired of it. Anyone who thinks this is how it should be done, please make your case.

We've been "building up under him" for 10+ years now. How many more years do you think he should get?

There is nothing "sol-id" about this program right now. Nothing.

Nope. Just a cog in a failed system.

As @jdub27 says, it does no good to complain on a message board (even though that is one of the purposes of having one, but I digress). So, here are both President Armacost's and Athletic Director Chaves' e-mail addresses. They are both ultimately responsible for what happens with athletics at UND, so the buck stops with them on things like this. andrew.armacost@und.edu william.chaves@und.edu Please be respectful and courteous in your comments. I know this is an emotional topic for those of us who care about UND athletics, but nasty comments will be (and should be) ignored. I will be sending e-mails to each. I will post them on here after they have been sent.

My last comment on this topic: If he's so great, then why don't teams hang onto him despite being a Grade A Prick? There has to be some concrete reasons why he bounces around the league so much.

He wears out his welcome after a few years in one city. There is a reason he doesn't last long in one place. He's a Grade A Certified prick.

That's the last straw: Bill Chaves needs to go. NOW! Anyone who wants to defend this contract extension, please give us your reasons. Don't complain about my dissatisfaction.

What has he won besides the 2004 Cup? And that title was won before the lock out, after which a lot of rules were changed to open up the game. Torts is a relic from a different era.

Today, physicality gets you in the penalty box.