IrishSiouxFan

I'm originally from Nashville, but I've lived in Grand Forks for quite a while and intend on making North Dakota my permanent residence (I'm also a UND grad). That said, I realize UND and NDSU have a lengthy rivalry history with one another, but the scheduling reluctancy of each school has cooled that down quite a bit to the point that the only thing we are competing for is funding and resources. All I'm saying is that maybe now is the time to redefine ourselves athletically and choose a nemesis that is not based on radius.

I know what I'm about to say won't be popular but I'm not sure I want UND to be associated with NDSU. It's time to move on to bigger and better things and it's hard to do that with your little sister holding onto your coat tails. I realize that at one time NDSU was our biggest rival but it's time to look toward a bisonless future and build rivalries with larger schools from different states. Just my opinion.

Not that I'm complaining, but why isn't Montana listed as one of our rivals?

We shouldn't have trouble selling tickets with a schedule like that.

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/nba/phil-jackson-net-worth/

That could work too. We could build a stadium that could rival the Papa Johns stadium at the University of Louisville

Absolutely!

Game Stop Stadium sounds great to me! Let's print this guy off an honorary doctoral degree and start stacking some bricks

That's exactly where I would live if I were super-wealthy

Nice find! I noticed on his wikipedia page that he sponsors amateur sports, maybe this could be a segway to close him on the idea of donating money. We could call it Nygard International Stadium and he could write it off as a tax deduction (although he lives in Canada, could be tricky).

Looking at the struggles that USD and SDSU are having with athletic facilities makes me proud to be at UND. I think UND fans have higher expectations for our universities athletics because we have had a taste of the good life (national rankings, network deals, association with top universities) through hockey and have a clearer vision of what we could be with the right facilities and coaching staff. Ralph didn't just build a hockey arena he set a standard of expectation and dared an institution to dream big or not at all.

That's a good question. He did play his college ball at UND, and went from here to the CFL, and it's been rumored that he has been in talks with UND for over a year now about some type of football related donation. I tried finding his net worth on the internet much to no avail, he also wasn't on the list of richest Canadiens. To be honest, I'm not sure Mr. Fennel has the kind of capitol needed to be the Ralph Engelstad of UND football, but then again I have never met Mr. Fennel nor have I peaked at his portfolio. If he does, he does seem like a prime candidate for someone who would want his name permanently attached to UND football.

My graduate advisor is connected to the alumni association and told me that we had around 11 very wealthy alumni (he didn't specify how wealthy). It came up in a class discussion on the various tactics universities use to encourage alumni donations. I was actually hoping someone on this board might have more information about it. Cratter. Although I don't have a link with that information I did hear from a fairly credible source.

Amen!

Finally, a sport NDSU can be competitive in!

Nice find! My question is, do we really need a dome? Could we get by with a partially covered horse shoe stadium? The weather doesn't really get nasty until around Thanksgiving up here.

I agree, it was a huge oversight not to make the Alerus larger, or at least giving it the capability of expansion to accommodate growth. I have no idea why the city of Grand Forks invest that much money in a structure that would be outgrown 20 years down the road.

I would agree that we have a nicer football stadium than 90% of FCS programs out there, there is no question that our attendance will go once Big Sky play commences (especially against Montana and Montana State). All I'm saying is that big things are coming, and they're coming sooner than most people are expecting.

Nobody is being ungrateful. The Engelstads are wonderful people dedicated to UND and have made enormous contributions to hockey and basketball. It's not in bad taste to ask if anyone has heard if they plan on making anymore donations to UND.

UND has around 11 extremely wealthy alumni who could easily make this happen without putting so much as a scratch on their bank accounts. It's too bad Ralph didn't play both hockey and football or this thing would have been built ten years ago. in my opinion a school like UND deserves a facilities like these.

I agree with you entirely, but if a wealthy donor(s) wants to put the cart before the horse and build us a new stadium and a training facility, I say go for it! Our recruiting would go up exponentially with facilities like that.

http://grandforkslife.blogspot.com/2007/12/und-is-planning-for-future.html

You're right, we shouldn't be allowed to day dream 10-20 years down the road until we fill up the Alerus. UND and the fans shouldn't be allowed to imagine what a new football stadium and training facility might look like and what it would take in terms of donations to make it happen. We get it, we need to raise attendance at the Alerus, that will happen once we start Big Sky play. Until then, let us enjoy mapping out a strategy to bring UND football home to campus.

I like the retractable roof stadium, I would like to know how much it will cost and if can it expand to seat more than 25,000 as the university grows.

You should definitely pull for the Sioux, then after the game you can go back to supporting Kansas.