IrishSiouxFan

If nickname supporters can drum up congressional support from not only North Dakota but other states it would go a long way in putting pressure on the NCAA. I'm not a fan of groups like the Tea Party, but it seems like they would support the state of North Dakota from being man-handled by a large liberal organization like the NCAA.

I could have sworn I read something to that effect in an article in the Herald a week ago, they are waiting for the legislators to recess before making the trip. I'll see if I can't find a link.

So making the statement "I hate everything about UND" on a UND board doesn't make you a troll? Seriously, I'm not going to be negative to anyone on Easter, but you know why you come to the boards and it isn't with good intention. Just go troll a summit league opponent's board for a while.

Let's just hope our administration and legislators can hash out something in the next couple of months. I know they plan on going to Indianapolis to meet with the NCAA, I wonder if it would be more effective if the Governor, a few Congressmen, and a some US senators attended as well. I wonder if the NCAA would be more likely to compromise and reduce sanctions if they were met with more than just UND administration and state legislators?

Does anybody know if the Englestads will be donating anymore money to UND? I realize Ralph played hockey but would they be interested in helping build a premier football team?

If you hate everything about UND then why do you devote so much of your time trolling UND boards being negative about a school that NDSU doesn't play. I actually feel sorry for you and other NDSU trolls on these boards, go start a real rivalry with SDSU and USD, troll their boards for a while, that would actually make sense.

Has anybody heard of any rumors that they might renovate the Alerus? Maybe if they took one of the end zones and made a horse shoe out of it would be okay. That could tied us over for a while, though as much money as Grand Forks is losing on that place it's highly unlikely they would renovate it.

You people have no passion or vision beyond the sport of hockey (which I love), our swear our fans have a defeatist attitude when it comes looking toward the future. We could easily sell 25,000 tickets for hockey against certain teams, we practically own the Excel Center (Ralph East) during tournament time. We most certainly have a much larger fan base than NDSU without a question. I have been all over the US and Canada and it never ceases to amaze me how many people I see wearing Fighting Sioux shirts and hats. I was in Vegas a couple of months ago and must have seen at least 30 people wearing UND merchandise (no lie) Does NDSU have a national television deal? (NO) How many Olympic athletes came out of NDSU, let alone still attend there? UND is ranked 159 in the country academically along side Maine, Texas Tech, and Hawaii. We outrank (academically) schools like Louisville, West Virginia, Bowling Green, and NDSU (191). So yes, UND is the flag ship institution in North Dakota, not NDSU. A 15,000-18,000 seat stadium may be fine for 5 years or so, but it will not accommodate our growth down the road. I hope our athletic director is more optimistic than our fans, or we will never be anything more than a hockey school.

Bison fans were saying the same thing about the REA while it was being built, that we could never fill it and it was a waste of money. UND has a much larger fan base than NDSU, it's not even close. We could easily have attendance well over 25,000 in the right conference, with a good team, and a great facility. I'm so sick of Bison fans coming to our boards to spit poison on our potential. UND is the flag ship institution in the state of North Dakota and that name recognition is extremely attractive to expanding conferences, it's the main reason the Big Sky sent us an invitation and sent you a rejection letter. We have to start building toward the future and that involves bringing football back to campus in a stadium that will be the toast of FCS. We have to think bigger because we are better! Please go troll somewhere else.

As much as i support UND football they have not even come close to the national and international notoriety of the men's hockey program. Fighting Sioux hockey is the premier team in the Dakotas. I hope one day we will see a slight shift towards football and basketball, but for now our hockey team is a tremendous source of pride for us and special accommodations should be made for them.

It has no culture to it, it feels like it was thrown together very quickly without thought to design and expansion (speaking about the seating area). The outside of the building is very nice, but when you get to the arena area it's just a bleacher on one side and a bleacher on the other (like a high school field). I think UND deserves something nicer than this, something that feels like UND football has arrived. College football should never be played off campus, it just feels wrong.

Thanks GeauxSioux! I have been looking for those renderings everywhere on the net! It's a shame the horse shoe stadium isn't in the plan anymore it's a beautiful looking facility. The only thing I don't like about the retractible roof stadium (other than cost) is that it only seats 25,000 seats. Although it would be sufficient for a while, UND is sure to outgrow it once making the jump to a bigger FBS conference. I wish we were going with the horse shoe

No one is posting negative comments on here or trying to sell bull. I respect where you are coming from and I too want what is best for UND football and basketball. What I am saying is that it is way to early to be considering abandoning 80 years of tradition before we give the administration and legislators the opportunity to meet with the NCAA behind closed doors and try and work out a compromise, one that results in UND hosting home games (very possible). If after that meeting has taken place and the NCAA has ruled that UND cannot host playoff games then I might be willing to rethink my position on the logo and it's effects on the university. Having a successful football program is detrimental to the growth and exposure of UND, I know once we start having serious success at the FCS level we will be targeted by bigger FBS conferences along with Montana.

I would hope they would build at the Memorial Field on campus, it would be a great location!

It's not that I don't see the importance of it, I'm a season ticket holder and love college football and want big things to happen for UND. But I honestly feel that the NCAA has overstepped their bounds and is bullying UND, regardless of anybody's views concerning the issue UND or the state of North Dakota shouldn't have a liberal agenda forced on them out of fear of sanctions. I'm not saying losing home field advantage in a home playoff scenario doesn't suck, I'm just saying we have to stand up for ourselves and the price for that is sacrificing hosting a possible playoff game. I will continue to support UND athletics with my attendance and donations but there is no reason for me to believe that UND would be hosting a playoff game in the near future anyways.

Thank you! Seems to be a lot of confusion that the WCHA playoffs would not be affected by the NCAA sanctions.

I had heard the same thing, his name is Dave Fennell (allegedly), he played at UND in the early 1970's and went on to become a Canadian League hall of famer. I believe he went on to become CEO of a couple of gold mines in Canada. This rumor has been floating around for almost a year and although nothing substantial has come of it yet, I do think it's a possibility. My question is, will $30 million build a stadium nice enough for a growing UND (not that I wouldn't be grateful for that much of a donation), it would seem that additional funds would need to be raised on top of that amount. I really hope this rumor is true and that we get a nice new stadium at UND named after one of our most successful players, the Alerus is a horrible place to watch football.

I'm not totally convinced that sanctions will have that much of an impact. As someone posted earlier, teams that won with the home field advantage were seeded higher and thus were favored to win regardless of the location of the game. I respect that others feel differently and goes to show that UND easily has some of the most passionate fans in the FCS, but honestly our team needs to have a Boise State mentality that we will play anyone, anytime, anywhere and win! A winning tradition, good training facilities, good media coverage, and loyal fan base will attract high level recruits to UND.

I understand you're from NDSU and all this legal talk is very confusing and probably goes right over your head, so let me dumb it down a notch for you. UND can compete in all NCAA tournaments but must wear an alternative jersey without the Sioux name or logo on them. UND is prohibited from hosting post season play but may host events like the WCHA tournament and other conference tournaments. Hopefully that explanation is clear enough for a trolling retard like yourself. Seriously, do you have any idea how ridiculous it is for NDSU fans to troll UND sites, we don't even play you in anything, we are no longer rivals. You're like that crazy ex-girlfriend that can't seem to accept that it's over and move on. I'm sorry that no one cares about NDSU and that you will never get invited to a good conference, but you need to make the best with what you have and accept that UND is a more appealing option to the world of sports.

I didn't hear about that, if it came to fruition it could add some decent exposure to the Big Sky. I wouldn't mind seeing schools from the Big Sky and other Mid West conferences forming a FBS conference to take the place of the WAC.

So you wouldn't want to play in a conference that gets national coverage on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3, with the possibility of playing in a televised bowl game? Seems to me that would be more appealing to potential recruits than playing a home playoff game. Now everybody hit the negative comment button, I'm a glutton for punishment.

If we could genuinely get a WAC invite we should take it. The national exposure on ESPN would be worth it alone. I'm just afraid our facilities are not up to par with WAC standards (Idaho Vandals excluded). Surely Kelley and Faison have explored this possibility. The Big Sky is a nice conference to be in, but the WAC would give us huge national exposure.

Unfortunately, I don't think we could generate enough financial support from the alumni and community to build a new stadium and training facility. Plus, looking at our football performance over the last several seasons would be a big concern for an FBS conference. I think we will be in a FBS conference just not for at least 5-10 years.

In all honesty, if we could build a new stadium on campus and a training facility UND would be a very attractive school for a conference like the WAC, MAC, or Sun Belt (football only). FBS is not out of the realm of possibility down the road.

You people are trigger happy with the negative votes on these boards when someone has a differing opinion. I respect everyones view on here and I understand that it is a slight disadvantage to not have home field advantage during playoffs. It's still early and it's still possible for progress to be made with the NCAA in terms of reducing the penalties or being removed off of the hostile and abusive list.