fightingsioux4life

It is fair to ask if Berry’s handling of the team late in the year is working. Everytime we win the Penrose (a great accomplishment), I am ready for a letdown. This was a carboncopy of 2022. As soon as I saw us lose the zone on a 5x3 PP on Friday night in Omaha because the puck went under someone's freaking skate, deep down, I knew this team wasn't going to get it done. It is frustrating. And it cannot be explained away by pointing out the single elimination format all the time. Nor can it be explained away by "bad luck". I really hope the players don't read this forum and internalize that crap. I hope last night sits in the stomachs of these guys all off-season and they are motivated to make next season end on a winning note in April. And I hope Berry and his staff can figure out what happened and fix it so all of us don't have to feel like this every freaking March.

The whole thing is a crapshoot.

You get what you pay for.

That's the last thing we need.

This whole tournament is so wide open, you could throw darts at a board and get some of them right.

That was one frustrating year.

I picked Quinnipiac to repeat.

If, and that's a big if, this year's team reaches the Frozen Four, will you put on a special edition of the Hoggsbreath Brunch? And maybe a victory party after hanging #9?

Exactly what I was thinking. We should play a heavy game vs. Michigan. The offense will come with our talent and depth up front.

But they haven't done anything special in recent years, so I think that may be part of it.

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.