WeAreNorthDakota

It's not TV but I believe all games played in Big Sky venues can be streamed for free on bigskyconf.com through Big Sky TV. I don't know about the quality, but this should be an easy way to follow all the teams on the road when UND Insider doesn't give us coverage, especially the road football games that likely won't be televised.

New UND athletic program? No. They will be the same coaches. Playing in the same venues. With the same staff. Most of the players will be the same as last year, outside of graduating seniors and incoming freshmen.

Good. That means my mom will move at lease one more spot up the waiting list. Thanks Dave!

Two wins would be greatly satisfying to me. First would be a home win over Montana to prove, in just our first season, that we belong in the Big Sky as a football program. Second, a win over San Diego State to finally get the no-FBS-wins monkey off our back. That's a big thing that my Bison fan friends like to bring up and I think this SDSU team will be better than either of the Minnesota teams the Bison beat and definitely the Kansas team.

I see it happening all the time, whether the conversation begins about football, hockey, basketball, or whatever. Bison fans bring up their football team probably out of habit without even thinking about it, UND fans do the same with hockey. It just so happens that, in sports discussions, it is always the fanbase of the biggest rival that notices the annoying little nuances of the opposing fanbase.

There was no need to campaign three years ago. At that time, the only people who needed convincing was the tribal council at Standing Rock. The people of North Dakota, who the recent Alumni Association campaign targeted, had no say three years ago. Could people have done more to convince Standing Rock to vote before the deadline? Maybe, we don't really know everything that went on.

The article states that it was the banner hanging in the NCAA's Hall of Champions, and was sent by someone at the NCAA.

Why not the Flyers? I know it's a little generic but it certainly fits with the school's aviation program. Barons would also be a more "nicknamey" way to represent the aviation programs and would be a little less generic.

If I were a betting man, I would put a big chunk of change on Poly over 6.5 wins.

ONLY if all four schools are together again in the Big Sky. I don't see that happening, but I do not want to leave the Big Sky just to be back with the other Dakota schools. The Big Sky is a great place for UND athletics.

Adding "to" to the beginning of the quote doesn't change its meaning whatsoever. I think you may be confused by your own use of a double negative. You said that denying that Grand Forks is not racist is hilarious. Which I assume means that you agree that Grand Forks is not racist. Is that what you were going for?

Yeah, it should have been enough. A lot of people who will be voting YES agree with you. But it wasn't. The NCAA didn't change its stance because one tribe approved it. The NCAA won't change its stance if a majority of voters vote NO. The NCAA also won't change its stance if a majority of voters vote YES. They'll simply remove us from the list of those under sanctions. I hate the NCAA for force-feeding this to us, but we don't have any power anymore. There is no may happen. The sanctions stay if the name stays. The sanctions go away if the name goes away. It is very black and white. We vote to keep the name and accept the sanctions or we vote to retire the name and remove the sanctions.

No, he's saying NDSU had a peak in the cycle that had unfortunate timing, as they were ineligible for the FCS playoffs. Had UND happened to pull off wins against Fresno St. and Cal Poly this past season, you could say that UND would've had a similar unfortunately timed peak, a 10-1 season that would lead to not making the playoffs due to transitional eligibiltiy. Now, of course UND fans would've been ecstatic with that result just like NDSU fans were in 06-07 and 07-08. But it doesn't change the fact that it's unfortunate timing.

I really don't give a rats ass what any administrators are asking me to do. Just like I don't give a rats ass what you're asking me to do. I'll be voting YES on June 12th because it is what I believe is best for the University of North Dakota. You'll be voting NO because, I hope, it is what you believe is right for the University of North Dakota. THAT is called FREEDOM and it is what makes living in this country so great. We're each entitled to our own opinion and we get a chance to speak our opinion with a vote. If there are any undecided voters reading this forum, let me remind you of a few things: This vote is not about whether or not the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo is hostile and abusive. I don't believe that it is and I think if the vote were on THAT issue, it would be overwhelmingly in favor of the nickname. But it's not. This vote is not about fighting the NCAA. UND fought the NCAA when they sued and settled. The legislature fought the NCAA when it passed the law requiring the nickname's continued use. The NCAA did not change its stance. The people of Spirit Lake fought the NCAA when they sued and the lawsuit was thrown out. The NCAA won each of those fights. The fight with the NCAA is over. This vote is not about fighting the NCAA. This vote is not about making a stand against political correctness. Those listed above who have fought for the Fighting Sioux nickname have been making that stand for the past seven years since the NCAA made their ruling. That stand has yielded no results. The NCAA's stance has not changed. It is clear, at least to me, that it is time to stand down. The vote on Measure 4 to take place on June 12th is simple. A YES vote to allow the University of North Dakota to retire the use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo and to go forth as a Division 1 institution in good standing, free of sanctions. A NO vote to require the University of North Dakota to continue using the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo and to go forth under NCAA sanctions. Please use your FREEDOM to vote whichever way your priorities allow.

I think its a perfect point of comparison. Both programs went through nearly identical limitations in terms of the transitions. Both teams went through the transition with a rival from our neighbor to the south. Both teams went through the transition playing in the same conference against the same conference opponents. Once we have hindsight, I think the first 4 years beyond the transition for each program will be the best measuring stick for comparison. But for now, we're entering our 1st year out of the transition and NDSU is entering its 4th(?) and this is all we have to compare.

WOW. There is clearly no hope for you. Please vote however you please on June 12th, I just hope the good people of North Dakota have a better understanding of the priorities of our student athletes than you do, Fetch.

Have you ever attended a Sioux/Bison football game? I attended almost every one since I was 5 or 6 years old. I want that atmosphere back in the Alerus. I want to go to the Fargodome wearing my Sioux gear. The last Nickel Trophy game is my favorite sporting event I've ever attended, and I've seen some pretty awesome stuff. From a fan perspective, there isn't a single FCS team I would rather see in the Alerus for a regular season game. Not a single one. That is why I'm obsessed with getting this game back on the schedule. Faison and Taylor have offices that are 70 miles apart, but they're 1000 miles apart on this issue and its sad.

The success of Montana, which is directly atributed to whether or not their starting quarterback is allowed to be in school, has a lot to do with where the UND football team finishes in next season's Big Sky standings. I'd say that's relevant on the football board.

UND haven't moved on and haven't claimed to have moved on. A vast majority of UND fans want the game played every year and fully acknowledge that the rivalry has been alive all along despite the dead period in the transitions. Its the NDSU fans who claim to have moved on, and that they don't consider it a rivalry anymore, and they don't ever want to play us again that are being hypocritical. The rivalry is just as bitter now as it was ten years ago in the eyes of both schools' fans. Yet its Bison fans who say they've moved on but don't act accordingly.

So I guess we can all stop complaining about the lack of frontcourt depth. Hopefully the addition of these 3 guys can not only make up for the loss of Mitchell but make the paint a strength for the next two seasons as opposed to a liability.

Totally agree, good point guard play brings out the best in the other guys on the floor. When Anderson plays well, Huff, Webb, and Brekke are going to play better. When Anderson doesn't play well, the other guys are going to be inconsistent. That's a lot of pressure to put on the kid, but I love his game and hope he can help take this team to the top of the Big Sky before he's finished.

Yes, a school can provide an education without offering athletics. It would be idiotic to argue against that. However, in the United States, there is not a single university ranked in the top 50 by US News that does not offer athletics in some regard. There are ZERO examples of top colleges in the US that do not offer athletics. If UND were to follow your advice and make a statement by abolishing athletics along with the nickname and still manage to maintain its status as a quality state institution of secondary education, they would be the FIRST in the HISTORY of the United States. No, athletics are not required to provide an education to students, but there have been many studies that show a correlation between making the NCAA basketball tournament and a sizeable increase in applications for admission in the years that follow. Successful athletics teams have an impact on the number of students that apply to a university, a higher number of applicants means the university can be more selective, therefore raising the quality of students at that university, therefore raising the quality of that university. UND's move to D1 gives them the OPPORTUNITY to greatly increase the quality of the university, not just the quality of its athletic teams. Now, Dave, can you please provide us with an example of a top university that doesn't offer athletics? We're all dying to know.

Interesting to see the number of non-D1 counters on the schedule for the Big Sky as a whole. Everyone around here seems to assume the non-D1 games will be a thing of the past but it certainly looks like our peers in the Big Sky are still having trouble filling out a full schedule. Hopefully we don't have to schedule those games in the future but its just an observation.

Without the nickname, they're still the same student athletes, in the same groups, in the same classes, in the same practices, in the same buildings, with the same coaches. Without the college, the nickname is just a dead collection of letters and a picture on a hockey jersey hanging in your closet.

Two things stood out at the spring game that have me very excited for this season and the seasons to follow. First, quarterback play. The difference in Joey Bradley from last season to yesterday is night and day. Last season Joey looked absolutely dreadful and balls weren't going anywhere near where they needed to be. He made some throws yesterday that I never imagined he could make after watching him last year. The first deep ball to Hardin could not have been put in a better place and it was made 40 yards down the field. Then the throw he made on Hardin's toe dragging catch on the sideline was one of those "where only your guy can get it" throws. Joey will likely be the backup as a junior but I have infinitely more confidence in him today than I did on Saturday morning. You still have to believe that Braden will get the starting nod, but Joey will at least make it a difficult decision for Mussman and the coaching staff. Second, holy s*$t for wide receiver depth! We've seen two season's worth of what Greg Hardin can do and he showed it yet again yesterday with some impressive catches. RJ looked very solid making every catch he needed to all over the field and it looks like he'll build on the success he had last year. Blair Townsend made a series of catches near the end of the game that ended with the great one handed touchdown catch. It was a pleasant surprise to see him make an impact. His size at 6-3 and good hands should make him a matchup issue. Those three guys will be juniors. Tyrhe Ivery didn't play yesterday but was pretty solid when Hardin was out last season. He'll be just a sophomore next year. One of the guys I was really excited to see was Jameer Jackson. He wasn't a standout but he showed me exactly why I'm excited about his potential. You just don't see receivers with his kind of size very often. He's going to be very hard to bring down when he gets his hands on a ball and I could see him being a force on 3rd and 6 or 7 type situations when you have to fight to get to the sticks. This will be his freshman season. Wide receiver might currently be our best position group and NONE of them will be seniors. As a group, these guys are very versatile and the possibilities are endless in terms of what we'll be able to do with our passing game. I have visions of matchup problems dancing in my head. Watching our passing game the last few years has been very frustrating. It looks like those days are over. If nothing else, this team will be very fun to watch in our first season in the Big Sky.