Ozzie82

In the recent past they've had combinations of music, an announcer, and fun drills and it does not appear that it led to an increase in the type of player you're talking about.

Welp, there's been the predictable amount of chatter about the spring game. Very few observations here, very little media (although I expect UND football 360 would have an article at some point, and Midco is supposed to produce a "Day by Day" segment). The football program didn't put much into it, and they aren't getting much out of it. There isn't a lot of buzz following the event. As stated by other posters earlier, there are some programs who are de-emphasizing the spring game, while others still make it an event. By creating a graphic advertising the game, and by inviting recruits, UND has chosen to make it a "thing." To me, it begs the question: what is the purpose of the spring game? For most programs it has 3 purposes. One, it's the 15th - and final - practice of spring. That was accomplished, and we hope it was productive (especially for the offense because of the new system). Two, it's to impress recruits. Since UND invited recruits, clearly they are hoping to make an impression on them. Judging by social media here were a good sized group of recruits there. I was there; I didn't see anything that would have screamed to an potential recruit, "Man, this is really fun! The players are having a great time! I have to be a part of this!" I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary that prioritized recruiting, it was simply an opportunity for recruits to watch practice. No music, no announcer, no fun drills, nothing in the stands to generate excitement. Making recruiting a priority is the backbone of most schools that still do this event and that's not the case here at UND. Three, it's to generate excitement for the upcoming season, to sell tickets, to make a positive brand impression. I think they failed on this point; I don't think the spring game generated any kind of excitement. I said to myself multiple times while I was there, "Why would anyone come to this? Unless you are a parent, a girlfriend, or a huge football fan, there is nothing here that would draw the average fan or family to attend this." Flat out - it was boring. And I LOVE football. In summary, I continue to think that the spring game as a missed opportunity. Every year less and less effort is put into it; at this point they should probably just cancel it. Hell, if you've ever been to a regular practice they have music... they should just make it a regular practice, not advertise it, and be done with it.

And/or some music. Suuuuuuuuper. Booooooring.

It’s intentional. It would be an event if the head coach wanted it to be an event.

You've all sold me on Speedway. I'll check it out.

I answered "no way" to this comment, sioux24/7. I stand corrected! At least for now; I have no idea where Boltmann will be once the Drake game kicks off.

The facility, in principle, is fantastic. Multiple restaurants, water park, access to the Alerus and convention room without having a coat. It's a draw for sure. But someone needs to come in and give it a second life and make it into a better/newer version of itself.

Canad's rooms need a top-to-bottom overhaul. Dated, worn, and dirty.

I think it's clear that Kett will start, and I think he'll have a really good year. I'm excited to see what transpires.

He's gotten regular playing time - and scoring - at Fargo post MN high school playoffs.

Thanks for the report. He's a heck of an athlete and it would be great to get him onto the field. He can help this team.

It's possible that they could win a title, but your example isn't an apples to apples comparison. Many of the D1 caliber studs at the Bantam AA level in MN have already moved on to their high school teams. Still, that's a very impressive Bantam record, and I'd love to see them play top level competition in MN at the high school level to see what happens. It would be fun to watch. I saw an GF Herald article that quotes Tarek Howard... he thinks if GF had one high school team they'd compete with Edina and Morehead. I wish we could see it!

This is the first time I've seen Bubba taking pictures with recruits. I'm glad he's made that change, and I hope it continues.

If the university made parking, tickets, and concessions free they wouldn't make any money. Simple economics. They base prices on maximizing profits, so they set the prices to get as many fans as possible to the events while still making money. They try to find the sweet spot in the middle. Obviously there are things outside of their control (weather, success of the team, etc), but they can't make the majority of their decisions based on the fan who is going to show up no matter what or the fan who is going to not tailgate because it costs $15 (and again, that fan isn't going to show up if the tailgating price was $10, so why base decisions on them?).

The university doesn't base the price on those types of fans. If the school made the price $10 or $5 those cheapos wouldn't come, either. $15 for tailgating is a very fair price. $5 for parking is a very fair price. The game tickets are a fair price, too. The entire experience is fairly priced.... all the team needs to do is give those on the fence a reason to attend and the cheapos will come.

My guess is that somewhere around zero people saw the price of $15 and said, "Nah. Nevermind."

How many D1 players come out of GF each year?

Thanks. That's kind of what I figured. I assume they'd be a very good A team.

I'm in the Twin Cities and have never seen ND high school hockey. My assumption, based on nothing other than assumption, is that Edina would crush them but they'd do well in class A MN hockey. Would Central match up well with Edina? Would they match up well with the MN class A champion? Would they likely make the MN state tournament in either A or AA?

As I posted about at length, the problem in my mind is not the venue. I prefer the HPC because of the intimacy; the Alerus would look silly with 500 people there... but I can see the argument in favor of it. The problem is that Bubba prefers not to make it an EVENT like what is done all across college football. There are a million things that can be done to plus up the event, draw students and spectators, and add excitement, but Bubba refuses to do it. I defend Bubba at times but not on this subject. It's a major missed opportunity.

It's relatively new. They like that there is more time in between practices for teaching. I hope you are right!

Prediction: offensive production starts slowly as everyone learns the new offense, has a mediocre showing in spring game, this board over reacts.

I am posting this so the UND/NDSU thread isn't at the top. #donotcareaboutthatthread

No way.

Huh? Recruiting is about many things, but primarily it's about relationships, and Danny JUST got the job. One of the reasons the QB signed with NDSU - he had established longer term relationship with the coaches and staff (championships don't hurt, obviously). The time to see what Danny's recruiting chops are would be exactly a year from now. He'll have game film to show recruits instead of theories, and he'll have a better chance to establish relationships with the player, their family, and his coaches.