St. Cloud Writer Slams UXD's/XDSU's

[bincitysioux]

What a tool...........

Bigger just isn't always better

North Dakota, which left the NCC after the 2007 season, played at home against Division III Wisconsin-La Crosse;

South Dakota, also a 2007 NCC defector, played at Southeast Louisiana;

North Dakota State (left the NCC after 2003) played at Wyoming;

South Dakota State (left after 2003) played host to Western Illinois;

Northern Colorado (left after 2003) was idle, resting up for next Saturday's game against Texas State.

Any of those matchups sound like natural rivalries to you?

"I feel bad for them," Hammer said. "Other than when they play an old NCC team, they just don't have any rivalries."

Things are particularly awkward for North Dakota and South Dakota, who this year are members of the Great West Football Conference

[GeauxSioux]

I think the comments by the readers are about as crazy as the article itself. In the big picture, I really don't care what some writer in St. Cloud thinks about UND's move to Division I, but the article was worth a laugh.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

I am now dumber after reading that article. That article destroyed as many brain cells as a week's worth of binge drinking on the SCSU campus.

[jimdahl]

I must say, some of the anti-NDSU arguments are a bit familiar. They're similar to the arguments a lot of us made when we were fans of a D-II football team watching one of our D-II rivals move to I-AA.

Is North Dakota State — which won five Division II national football titles between 1983 and 1990 — ever going to play in a meaningful Division I game? Is it ever going to be in a major conference, or contend for a national title? Highly improbable.

More likely, the Bison will occasionally be cannon fodder for schools in BCS football conferences and top-tier basketball conferences, and settle into their own mid-level conference with a bunch of other mid-level schools, several of which used to be in ... the NCC.

...

Instead, North Dakota State's football "rivalries" this season include Austin Peay, Central Connecticut State, Youngstown State, Southern Illinois and Indiana State. Is that really better than playing North Dakota and South Dakota — and St. Cloud State?

Yes, the NCC defectors officially moved up a category. Their reward: Exponentially higher travel costs and the loss of traditional rivalries, all just so you can say you're "big-time." Which they're not, and never will be: They're deluding themselves to think otherwise.

Some points are true, but some are born of misunderstanding. When NDSU was moving, I thought UND should move too but also asked some questions similar to the above because I believed the hype that I-AA was such a step up that the SUs would have thrown away exciting rivalries for .500 records versus unknown teams. I worried that would reduce attendance and lead to financial strains.

Instead we've seen that the SUs were immediately competitive (SDSU moreso than it was in D-II), bringing new excitement to the programs. DeLand can feel sorry for the SUs and UxDs, but he won't be joining SU fans in that assessment, as attendance is up over 50% at NDSU and 100% at SDSU. Clearly those fans are excited about those games, even if an SCSU columnist is not.

It's still true that FCS is not the big time, I-AA teams aren't generally more nationally known than II teams, and in a lot of ways I-AA is just a different lower division than II. I, for one, am as happy to see our Great West conferencemates on future schedules as I would be to see SCSU instead; and the ability to get a game vs. a Texas Tech or even a Minnesota is exciting to the fan base and players, and does provide an exciting glimpse of the "big time" that SCSU isn't going to get from the NSIC.

[mksioux]

Honestly, his ignorance and misdirected anger remind me of some comments on this board from the not-too-distant past.

I'm sure St Cloud State fans would much rather have the Dakota schools visiting their campus than Upper Iowa, Moorhead, UMary, and Crookston. I'd be mad if I were a St Cloud football fan too. But directing the anger at UND and USD is misdirected, just like the anger from some UND fans felt a few years ago was also misdirected. The fact of the matter is the Dakota schools finally did what they should have done in the 1970s and are where they belong.

[UND92,96]

While the context was quite different, another columnist from a regional newspaper also recently took a curious pot shot at UND/Grand Forks: link

Where once the worst fear was getting trapped in Grand Forks for an extra day, now the traveling Coyotes have more sophisticated weather issues confronting them. Another part of the Division I experience.

[Hansel]

Sounds like Ryan Bakken- circa 02

[Yote 53]

Reads to me like this guy finally came to the realization of what life is going to be like in the NSIC...boring. You know, because the Wayne State v SCSU gridiron rivalry goes back to the days of yesteryear. SCSU and Mankato should have moved up when they had the chance.

[NorthDakotaHockey]

The former North Central Conference, for years, was the best and toughest D-II conference in all the land. Rivalries were long built and hard fought. Regional games with the Montana schools, and more recently with Grand Valley State, were also tossed in.

I, for one perhaps among many, miss the old NCC, and know that the Sioux will not return to a conference, with long established rivalries, for a good many years yet. It will also be years before the Sioux become any type of real player at the D-1 level. I would much rather follow the team, both at home and on the road, travelling the NCC than across the country with our new found conference opponents.

Sure, someday we will again play the Bison. We will get whipped by them for a few years, and we will hold our own with them eventually. Not, however, for what will likely be at least ten years or so.

The guy may be a tool, but I agree with much of what he says. Bigger ain't always better. While there may have been many good reasons to go to the D-1 level, the loss of the once proud and great North Central Conference is a tough by-product of that move.

[UND92,96]

The former North Central Conference, for years, was the best and toughest D-II conference in all the land. Rivalries were long built and hard fought. Regional games with the Montana schools, and more recently with Grand Valley State, were also tossed in.

I, for one perhaps among many, miss the old NCC, and know that the Sioux will not return to a conference, with long established rivalries, for a good many years yet. It will also be years before the Sioux become any type of real player at the D-1 level. I would much rather follow the team, both at home and on the road, travelling the NCC than across the country with our new found conference opponents.

Sure, someday we will again play the Bison. We will get whipped by them for a few years, and we will hold our own with them eventually. Not, however, for what will likely be at least ten years or so.

The guy may be a tool, but I agree with much of what he says. Bigger ain't always better. While there may have been many good reasons to go to the D-1 level, the loss of the once proud and great North Central Conference is a tough by-product of that move.

The problem was that once we lost four schools from the NCC, and could only find one true replacement (UMD) with no other candidates willing to step up to the plate, it just wasn't the same. It was only going to take one more defection for the league to fall apart, and in such an unstable situation, you can either act or react. IF we still had the NCC of 2000, I'd have been more than happy staying dII. But I look at the current situation for SCSU, Augie, Mankato and UMD and have absolutely no regrets whatsoever for the decison to go dI.

[Riverman]

While the context was quite different, another columnist from a regional newspaper also recently took a curious pot shot at UND/Grand Forks: link

And it's always 80's and 90's and sunny all year round in South Dakota...

[wyomingsiouxfan]

And it's always 80's and 90's and sunny all year round in South Dakota...

Anyone who would want to spend more time than is needed in Vermillion is crazy. Ah, the hell with it, let's all go now. We can all get together for dinner at the HyVee before doing some early trick or treating at the trailer park next to the Dakotadump.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Anyone who would want to spend more time than is needed in Vermillion is crazy. Ah, the hell with it, let's all go now. We can all get together for dinner at the HyVee before doing some early trick or treating at the trailer park next to the Dakotadump.

Nice! Dinner at HyVee. I don't know how they can make fun of anybody down there in Vermin...er...Vermillion.