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It's not the same situation. Hockey isn't infringing on the reason we stay in the Big Sky. We're not pimping our basketball to any conference just to keep hockey happy, like NDSU is pimping out basketball and accepting instability just to keep football happy. UND needs to stay in a top conference for recruiting reasons to compete with BC, Wisconsin, Michigan etc. At the FCS level, it only matters that a school be in a full scholarship conference. So you're saying NDSU has to stay in the MVFC in order to stay competitive in the FCS? NDSU isn't competing with Alabama, USC, Notre Dame for football recruits. It will gain low level FBS/ high level recruits by offering full scholarships, but not high FBS level recruits. To most of the recruits, they don't know the difference between S Illinois and E Illinois anyway. Most of them are just happy to get a full scholarship. If Summit football teams pulled out, the remaining MVFC schools would want a cross scheduling agreement, so 3-4 of the MVFC would always be played just to fill out schedules. Thereafter, if the MVFC lost even one school, the Summit football conference could add the rest of the MVFC as affiliates. It's a bold move,but if the Summit could get two more football schools, the Summit could be a big winner longer-term. But really, you just proved that nothing is really important to NDSU but football. NDSU won't sacrifice anything to make the Summit better.

Looked at the Bison board and, wow, are they ever holding onto to the MVFC as the best thing ever. NDSU and SDSU fans are like groupies, screwing around out with the roadies so they can get closer to the real star, the MVC, even though the MVC basically just spits in their face. NDSU and SDSU will allow their flirtations to effect their own family relationships in the Summit, liking forcing everyone else in their lives to abandon them as they won't remove their fixation with the MVFC. It's a pitiful situation. If they just took their football out, the Summit would immediately have many more options, but NDSU and SDSU desire the MVFC more than the Summit, and in the MVFC they are just third rate citizens with no control. If they would just start their own Summit football, add SE Mo St and E Ill from the OVC, the Summit would instantly be changed and have enough members. Summit football and the six-team MVFC would have to cross schedule anyway, so it wouldn't be a true separation. Both SEMO and EIU are outliers in the OVC league. Get SIUE too or add UMSL and that would be a reasonable division for basketball: SEMO, WIU, EIU, UMSL, IUPUI, IPFW. But it will never happen because the Dakota schools are so enamored by the MVFC they will destroy the Summit to keep the MVFC.

Why can't the Alerus Center or Bismarck Civic Center host? Whatever high school events they might be hosting can be moved to the Ralph. The Alerus put in a bid for the World Curling Championships and Bismarck has hosted that event.

That's a very perceptive group of fans. Agree with almost everything they said:

Don't think that the Herald or any other news source has explained that this plant will not only make ammonia, but convert it into urea and ammonium nitrate (what blew up West, Texas). How much ammonium nitrate will be stored there and what would be the effects on buildings within a mile, five miles, and ten miles if it should blow? http://northernplainsnitrogen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Press-Kit-Complete.pdf

Bet IUPUI will be out the door with this news. Changes the way other conferences look at them. http://news.iupui.edu/releases/2013/05/jaguars-at-coliseum.shtml

This is the school the Summit should add, but they probably would want to be with UMKC. http://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2013/05/08/bob-sundvold/

Exactly. If Fullerton has a route to FBS, and that's UND's longer term goal, why change course and associate with a group that is totally dysfunctional in its decision making? Funny how Bison fans want an FBS option, but refuse to acknowledge that the Big Sky may be the only course of action to that end. The Summit League / MVFC is an deserted island with no charter flights get to FBS, which should be one of NDSU's primary concerns.

With the housing market already tight in Grand Forks, could imagine next summer might bring record housing construction just in anticipation of an influx of people and higher rents for two years. If the UAS and fuel tanker missions at the Air Base get approved, construction next summer could be even higher.

You talk like the IndianaPurdues's are not core schools, but if you can do math they are. The NCAA requires 7 full DI schools to keep an autobid. The IP's are needed for at least five more years until more DII's can be added. Adding a bunch of NSIC schools will drive out IUPUI, IPFW, and WIll out of the conference. They want teams in their area.

Northern St would probably lead the whole Summit in attendance. If they dropped football and added men's soccer might have been a decent choice a year ago. But why Douple and the Summit League President's just sat on their asses since Oral Roberts left is incredible to ponder. They knew Oakland was out the door too. Oral Roberts leaving was was what dropped baseball below six full members, so why they haven't acted for nearly a year and a half on baseball just shows incompetence on both the part of Douple and the rest of the Presidents. SDSU's Chicoine is the one who is in charge of the new members, so he's an idiot too or at best incapable of getting a group to decide on a consensus decision.

Since we host them this year, it would need to be a home/home for next two years.

When the Summit League didn't respond with adding somebody after UMKC left, that was rather telling that TSL didn't have anybody in their back pocket. They might have a DII team somewhere, but many of those choices would force NDSU etc to pull out of the MVFC so the DII team has a place to park football in the Summit. Thought there was an article by Kolpack a while ago where Bresciani was celebrating having a small league: think that was code for refusing to pull NDSU out of the MVFC to save the Summit. There has go to be a lot of divisiveness on which direction to go within the Summit Presidents, otherwise a DII team would have been accepted right after UMKC left. DU doesn't want DII teams, while IUPUI and IPFW and WIll would want DII teams near them. Another thing for NDSU is that somehow they need to schedule two more basketball games. Since they already use up the DII limit by playing Moorhead, Mayville, and Valley City at home, they likely have to go on the road for two more games. Sucks to be in the Summit. Maybe DU can get an extra DI game at home, but the rest of the Summit will take an RPI hit.

Looks like Douple has been talking with the Atlantic Sun Commissioner. The Atlantic Sun commissioner is probably checking out just how bright Douple is, as the Indiana teams might work for them grouped with the Tennessee and Kentucky teams. If you are IPFW and IUPUI, would you rather be in a Dakota focused league or a league that has a bigger payout with a big Florida presence plus regional teams ? The Summit could be dead within weeks if Douple can't keep the Indiana teams. http://www.arguslead...-strong-members Douple is going to be upfront in talks with the Atlantic Sun about stealing its teams? While commendable, the Big Ten has never worked that way when grabbing who they wanted. Guess Douple wants to add Northern Kentucky and Lipscomb.

No IPF is showing up on the city's "projects under review", so must be at least a few months away. http://gfplanning.weebly.com/

Jamestown's plant will take 2000 construction workers for 2 years, and then 150 plant workers, so this plant should have similar needs. http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/69605/

Agree. They really need to put this well away - at least 5-10 miles - from Grand Forks, not in north Grand Forks. The one to be built at Spiritwood is like 10 miles from Jamestown. It would actually be better to put is NE of Grand Forks, so any ammonia plume isn't likely to harm many people as that's not a normal wind direction, but sure that won't happen.

So you want Hak to slide over to O'Keefe's spot?

The Big Sky gives out a low six figure amount to each school on revenues from the NCAA, TV, and conference tournaments, but it does have a big revolving fund that UND has had to pay into to become a partner in the Big Sky (UND will get back minus any exit fee if it ever leaves). UND had to pay the Great West to continue to operate, as it had limited revenues from the NCAA. Any UND budget deficit could be largely due to paying into the revolving fund before official entry.

The Summit's vision was to be the Great Plains version of the Great Lake's Horizon. Well that vision crashed and burned when first Oral Roberts left and then UMKC left. Urban Basketball schools in the Plains south of Nebraska want nothing to do with the Summit. The Summit doesn't have any vision anymore except the NCC Rev. II (including Missouri and Kansas DII's), which is of no interest to the Indiana schools or or W. Ill. The Summit will need to add five or six DII schools just to compensate for the eventual loss of IUPUI, IPFW, W Ill, and Denver. So UND is supposed to wade through 10 more years of inevitable DII transitions in order to finally have a stable Summit conference and be peers with Mankato, Winona, Augustana, Pittsburgh, and NW Mo St. B.S. on that!

That is the problem. They don't have a place to bail to, so they are at the mercy of IUPUI and Ipfw and Denver, all of which want to bail. Since they can't control them they want to control us, they want us in the same sinking boat rather than thriving They always are willing to tell us what to do and be their bitch, but have never done anything positive for us. Look at our transition as proof. Separation is a very positive thing.

Would also have to add that NDSU and SDSU fans were all having wet dreams about the MVC and Horizon. It wouldn't have bothered them in the least if they left behind the rest of their Summit breathren whom they claim to deeply care about and love and flush them down along with the Summit. After not getting an ounce of love from the MVC or Horizon in expansion talks, both NDSU and SDSU know that the Summit is the only sure thing they have. All of the sudden IUPUI and IPFW are dearly loved brothers (that are vitally important to SDSU and NDSU's survival), instead of orphans that they would rather toss overboard. But now NDSU and SDUS fans want UND to join that dysfunctional conference, where the goal is not to build each other up, but to ensure you are the first to leave all the while saying you are committed. It's all a liars game.

Don't agree at all in the long term or the intermediate term. IPFW and IUPUI both have desires to leave. A lot of the Horizon schools were once Summit schools, and that's where those two want to be. Denver would leave instantly if the WCC offered. Either one of those events would plunge the Summit into the abyss. Why go there unless there is some type of multimillion dollar agreement that those schools stick together? This article states that the Summit knew for a long time that Oakland was leaving, yet the Summit still hasn't even started talks with any schools. That's utter incompetence in this day and age when a conference like the Summit should have at least 10 schools (preferably 12), just as an insurance policy. http://www.yankton.n...1a4bcf887a.html So the Summit had the foresight to do two schedules for next year depending on if Oakland stays or goes, but didn't have the foresight to even begin any kinds of talks? Either the options aren't really interested in the Summit, or the options are all DII schools, which don't help for four years.

Kind of think that Fullerton had that interview with Tom Miller last week just to frighten other Summit schools into thinking NDSU was thinking about leaving. A lot of NDSU fans and your admin probably want at least to have a pathway for FBS, and by Fullerton throwing that subject out in the open, it gets the attention of some of the other Summit schools into thinking that NDSU is now at high risk of jumping. If NDSU jumps, the whole house of cards falls down in the Summit. If you are a president of IUPUI or IPFW, you're going to pursue every avenue to get out before NDSU does. IUPUI and IPFW really have nothin in common with any Summit mate except for Oakland. By playing the FBS card, Fullerton could very well have destabilized the Summit, effectively helling "fire" in the Summit theater when the Summit audience is already on alert with Oakland leaving. Fullerton may be a lot sharper than people are giving him credit for. Why would Fullerton give that interview to a Grand Forks paper, rather than in Billings or Portland or Sacramento? It's pretty simple: by giving the interview to a Grand Forks paper, almost automatically the rest of the Summit leadership and fans will know about it because Fargo NDSU fans read it. A blaring headline about NDSU to the Big Sky has an effect that even Bresciani can't put out. Fullerton knows he needs NDSU if his dream of FBS is ever to come true, as several schools in the Sky don't have the capacity to pursue FBS. Knowledgeable NDSU fans know that no FBS bid will come from the MAC, or Sun Belt, or MWC, so those boosters that want FBS will get behind the idea of the Big Sky.

Sept 6 - 7 @ Middle Tennessee St vs Virginia Tech vs Austin Peay http://www.hokiespor...0130507aaa.html ----------------------------------------- Earlier I wrote that I didn't think NDSU could the quality of tournament that UND will have with Iowa State and Texas A&M. I'm wrong on that: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/050613aaa.html NDSU, Wisconsin, Louisville, N Iowa Sept 6-7 in Fargo