IrishSiouxFan

I'll definitely be there, I can hardly wait for football season to start! I'm predicting over 11,000 for the fist game (large student section for the fist half of the game). Next year I'm predicting tickets will be scarce for those who get caught procrastinating.

I know it's a stretch and there are plenty of reasons why they wouldn't be a good fit, but I would like to see the NCHC go after Air Force.

It's scares me to think that the NCHC might actually be having closed door meetings with St. Cloud in the event Notre Dame doesn't join. I would much rather see Bowling Green or anybody really than St. Cloud. Now I'm definitely wanting the Irish to join to prevent this from happening.

That could work, I wonder when the naming rights expire for the Alerus. How cool would it be to watch basketball in the "Phil Jackson" arena!

Now that's funny!

I wonder if UND might one day end up in the MAC as a result of the NCHC?

DO you happen to know how much revenue the REA generates for UND each year?

Huge oversight in not building the REA with the ability to expand. Just my opinion, still a top notch facility.

I'm sure the REA wouldn't like that at all. Why doesn't Minnesota do an outdoor classic game in their new stadium, they could sell it out for a UND/Gopher game. Also, how much would it really cost to build a new arena that could seat 20,000, another $100,000?

I wonder if the REA would be willing to build a new main hockey arena onto the existing facility, one that could seat 16,000-20,000. They could use the existing main arena for basketball and women's hockey. I think the REA has proven that they could easily fill $16,000- $20,000 seats, they could also open up 2,000-3,000 more student tickets.

I went at 2pm and it was very much picked over. I did happen to score a sweet hat for $10 and a bunch of bobble heads to add to my Sioux memorabilia collection!

How much were the jerseys going for with the discount?

Hey that's awesome, I love reading posts about NDSU! I heard there's an entire message board dedicated to athletics at the worst school in America, it's called Bisonville. You should check it out!

I seriously doubt this administration is going to pick an nationality/ethnicity as a logo and nickname. Plus, for those of us who are not of nordic decent will not cling to it. More than likely they pick a lame animal that a bunch of other institutions use and everybody hates it.

Those are great points, lets dream small like St. Cloud State, it worked out so well for them. Let's stay at the Alerus forever and play FCS football, once everyone else has moved up maybe we can start a new conference with SIoux Falls and South Dakota School of Mines. Maybe if the Alerus was to consult JLG again and figure out a way of doing some major renovation to turn it into a bowl shape with additional seating, but I can't see Grand Forks dropping that kind of money on a renovation for a facility that's not generating any revenue. I have lived in Grand Forks for 5 years now and the train tracks are that busy here, not a day goes bye that I don't get stopped waiting on it to pass, plus I hear the damn thing several times a night as my apartment is right by the train station. They are talking about building an over pass and that would help things greatly, but if that happens it will be after I'm gone.

I love the way the dome and IPF compliment each other, they wouyld be a very attractive addition to campus. My only fear is that although 25,000 seats may sound like a huge amount now, we in all likelihood will need more than that say 10-20 years down the road. I wonder if it can expand seating without compromising the quality of seating?

Did Google Maps tell you that you have to cross a busy rail road track and an even busier intersection to get there? Did Google Maps show the multiple parking lots on campus near where the stadium is now (not to mention the huge parking garage we built a few years back right across the street)? The Alerus just doesn't feel like it's truly apart of UND, it's just something we rent out during football season (because it is). We need something that we can build a history and tradition behind, something we can pass down to future generations and in my opinion the Alerus is not it and never will be.

First off, I live in the apartments on campus and I walk to both Hockey and football games. The Alerus is much further away than an additional 5 minutes as you claim, but it's not far enough away to deter students as they have shuttle transportation options. Originally when I was speaking about the downside of the Alerus not being closer to campus it was in reference to creating a true college football game day environment. If we had a nice stadium on campus (where the memorial field is now) we would have one of the best game day atmospheres in the country. Just imagine all the tailgaters out in the parking lot as well as everyone celebrating outside of greek row and having barbecues across the street in the park. This type of atmosphere is more conducive to encouraging alumni to making donations to the institution. Personally, the Alerus is an okay facility that could have been a lot better if there was better vision behind its construction. Football belongs on campus, let's bring it back and soon!

Don't get me wrong, I love both designs. The dome with the retractable roof would be absolutely amazing if we can score it. My main concern is that a dome would cost at least twice what an outdoor stadium would and could possible hinder future expansions as UND grows. The only problems I have with the Alerus is that it's too far from campus and was not built with the possibility of growth. These are huge oversights by the good people of Grand Forks and gave a $100 million dollar facility a short life expectancy. We have to learn from the Alerus's mistakes and make sure we have build a stadium that can grow with the university.

The statement about the "horse shoe" no longer being in the plans was made several years ago, they could have easily changed their minds. I didn't notice the dome in the JLG master plan for UND only the IPF and the shoe.

Looks like they might be going with the "horse shoe" after all! That would be so sweet if they did!

and that number would have been much higher if the REA was larger or had the ability to expand. We could easily sell out 15,000 to 20,000 tickets for certain games.

But lets spend that 8 years left on the lease doing some serious fund raising for a new stadium.

I respectfully disagree with most of your statement. Attendance for football has suffered mainly due to the quality of teams on the schedule mixed in with the disappointing performance of our team. Things are starting to look up at UND in terms of football, we are recruiting higher end players and with the possibility of a state of the art IPF our recruiting classes will get better and better. I'm originally from the south (Tennessee) and have lived in Grand Forks for about five years now and have no idea why people here wouldn't want to have an outdoor football stadium, the weather doesn't get cold till around November and the below zero climate doesn't arrive until mid to late December. I am very impressed with the new outdoor facilities that North Texas and and Florida Atlantic have built (seats 30,000) for UND $80 million, there is no reason we couldn't do something like that here. Bottom line is UND's football attendance will go through the roof once we start playing in the BSC, regardless if we stay or try to move up to FBS play we have to start planning for a future in another stadium, we are about to hit a huge growing spurt.

For the love of God can we please stop talking about NDSU and how horrible there facilities are. Take it over to Bisonville.