nodak651

$108,375

I requested bids from both schools and NDSU's is about 200K for the quarterfinals. UND bid less for the quarterfinals than they did the opening round. UND QF bid was only 97.5K. What hurts UND is they they listed Alerus rent expense for the full 42K. You would think the city would be interested in helping UND out a little bit, considering how much economic activity hosting a game brings to the town for bars/restaurants/hotels, etc.

I'd take any name that is unique to UND over a generic hawk.

Disappointed in Mike and CHN... doesn't appear there is any original reporting there and this news is half a year old. They already have two separate teams and Simon Fraser is playing 7 D1 games this year rather than 6. He copied this video basically:

https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?345582-2023-Playoffs-Round-1-Sacramento-State-North-Dakota

Save it for after the playoffs...

Thank gawwd...

Yeah, the convention center is sized perfectly for games like that. Would be similar to UConn in a way. Looks like is about 4.3 miles from campus on side streets https://www.google.com/maps/dir/32.229998,-110.9441054/32.1716908,-110.9433705/@32.1970474,-110.9538794,8973m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!4m1!3e0?entry=ttu Their baseball stadium is about 2.6 miles from campus

Their coach over the summer said that there have been no current talks about D1, so that could actually be a good thing in the long run, say 5 years from now.

Yeah, I think Oregon and San Diego did last year. Collegiate Consulting who does the NHL feasibility studies tweeted and then deleted a tweet that said San Diego was doing a study. The university later denied it. Smoke is there... something was discussed. Collegiate Consulting did the same thing with Navy, who was reportedly close to pulling the trigger. San Diego will need clarity with their conference situation before they take any steps obviously. Greg Flugar reported that Oregon told the Big Ten at one point that they would be willing to start a hockey program. Iowa State is finally back, after their program was suspended and shut down for a year or two. Of course, new programs at FBS schools would be amazing and great for the growth of the game, but I think if I got to choose two schools to add hockey, I'd maybe look at Green Bay and Milwaukee. Both schools already have arenas that would work and it would be great for travel and the budgets of the CCHA programs. Better visibility in Wisconsin and in Milwaukee (near Chicago) would be great for the game as well. I think Roosevelt, which is moving to D2 currently, could be a school that has the potential to suprise everyone with an announcement, as well. They play out of the Blackhawks old practice facility.

Would be cool to see a little hotbed in the SW form someday with ASU, Arizona, NAU, UNLV. There's potential at least. Could see Grand Canyon throw money at it as well.

Northern Arizona officially got approval to move up to ACHA D1 and it sounds like they are close to getting a new on campus arena. NAU administration dragging their feet and getting the ice plant installed and a zamboni. Update 9/20/23:  Today, the university began the installation of several components of an ice rink - boards and glass. There is also sport court being installed. This is a HUGE step in the right direction!  However, the university has no intention of spending the extra money on getting zambonis and a chiller, which are really the only two large pieces remaining to make this Multi Purpose Area suitable for an ice rink. Basically, 50-75% of the components are either already in the building or are on the way.  Why won't the university just pull the trigger on the small amount we have left?

https://clarksvillenow.com/local/apsu-announces-new-club-hockey-team-first-step-toward-ncaa-sanctioned-sport-at-ford-ice-center/ The new Austin Peay club hockey team plans to compete in the College Hockey South association and, according to Athletics Director Gerald Harrison, this is the first step toward building an NCAA-sanctioned college hockey team. “When you look at it, there’s some things we need to do,” Harrison said. “We’re going to get some great sample size; we’re going to see the energy and passion in the community, as well as the students. If this works itself out and grows, then sure we’ll have the opportunity to look at that going into the future. But this is the first step of many.”

That wasn't the question.

Indoor Pickleball Coming to a Converted Mall Near You Capitalizing on a booming sport, billionaire financier to open 50 locations, the first in July. By Richard Berger | May 25, 2023 at 07:41 AM In Lake St. Louis, a western suburb of St. Louis, the Paddle Up Pickleball Club plans to take over a former Bed, Bath & Beyond store. In Concord, New Hampshire, the new 25,000-square-foot All-Stars Pickleball Club recently opened inside the space formerly occupied by Old Navy at the Steeplegate Mall. In Stamford, Connecticut, a group plans to build a massive indoor pickleball venue at the site of a former Saks Off 5th in the Stamford Town Center shopping mall. Soon, the two-story, 80,000-square-foot space will include 28 pickleball courts, a cafe, a lounge and a childcare area, reports Richard Kaufman for the Stamford Patch. And in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, a new pickleball venue run by Proshot Pickleball recently opened at the former Burlington Coat Factory store inside the Harbor Square Shopping Center. Other pickleball businesses are also eyeing shuttered retail spaces as they search for new court space. As long as former stores meet the specifications required for pickleball courts, they make “so much sense,” as Mary Cannon, co-founder of CityPickle, New York City’s first pickleball club, tells MarketWatch’s Charles Passy. Pickleball, sports bar coming to Southridge Mall as planned health club's offerings expand

Really curious to see all your thoughts on this. Assuming UND could get him, and at a price within our budget, would you guys want him?

If the city builds a bunch of pickle ball courts, it would make projects like this from the private sector less feasable. The city should really look into getting a company like this to open up at the mall. Give them a bunch of tax incentives... way cheaper than just building it outright. If that doesn't work, then build it using the sales tax.

I don't know. Put the pickleball courts in the mall. Work with UND to put an inflatable dome on the new softball field. Connect the indoor soccer field to the south side of the Alerus so that it could potentially be used as extra convention space if the opportunity arrose. Add a restaurant/bar space to service the Alerus and new rec facility. Potentially look at adding some seating on the southern end of the Alerus at the same time. UND still has a new aquatic center on its master plan, so the city could work with UND to attach the aquatic center on to the the wellness center.

Design lacks imagination imo.

I thought that would be if they didn't add football, and MEAC if they did?

Did the city consider locating the children's museum there? What about the new indoor sports center space that the city has/had the tax referrendum for as part of the Alerus tax? Would have thought the owners of the mall would have made a greater effort there. I suppose they were working to locate that school there. Shame that fell through for the reason it did.

I seriously think the news guys in Fargo are a huge part of that. They bash the FCS constantly, and ironically, they sound like UND hockey fans from 10-15 years ago, when they were comparing hockey and fcs football. They'd say the FCS was JV, that it wasn't the best competition, nobody cares, no casual interest nationally, etc. All a pointless argument really. It's pretty crazy the Fargo media bashes the product that they invest so much time and money in to cover. Especially when an FBS invite doesn't seem to be coming, and because if NDSU did go FBS, WDAY would lose their TV rights.

I think NDSU may be looking at an issue similar to what Gopher Hockey faced after the Big Ten was formed. Just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if businesses own a decent chunk of NDSU's tickets that go unused. The businesses didn't really seem to sell them ever, especially if for a loss. Fan apathy. People have "been there & done that", and the band wagon fans aren't interested in watching a team that no longer has the same hype and excitement around it. Dom and McFeely and Kolpack trashing FCS on the TV and in print, nearly non stop, can't help at all either. They are constantly belittling the FCS, similar to how people (justifiably) were crapping all of the Big Ten Hockey conference and how bad it was. This did and does make winning feel less good, so that reduces how much time and money fans are willing to invest (is return worth the investment) NDSU losing to SDSU 5X in a row and now UND and USD this year reminds me of the Gophers record vs MN schools from about 2013-2020. SDSU stole NDSU's thunder similar to how UMD won 2 or 3 national championships, along with SCSU, Mankato, UND, and Denver all having national success. Gophers program/fandom is now on the upswing again, imo. NDSU is going to get worse before they get better. They have to hit rock bottom.

I don't see any reason not to expect sell outs at the Alerus Center given that NDSU could draw 18-19 K and UND can sell 11.5K twice a weekend for hockey. For that to happen, UND needs more buy-in from casual sports fans and hockey fans. I think that is happening, slowly. Finally getting an NDSU win will help in the long run with the casual fans. Most of the schools you're referring to also have much larger stadiums though. Not really a ton of apples to apples comparisons from stadium/program/institution standpoint across the FCS. Idaho may be the closest comparison, maybe? UND's FB program is extremely unique when you compare us to other schools across the national landscape.