President Kennedy Message on Athletics

[planet2county]

Ask yourself where hockey would be without a multi-million dollar contribution. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

9 minutes ago, planet2county said:

Ask yourself where hockey would be without a multi-million dollar contribution. 

at the top where ralph wanted it...he had vision...something some of these douchebags on twamley don't have

[Siouxphan27]

2 hours ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

bring on winona state in the quarter finals of the d2 playoffs!!!! heck bring on the gorillas of pitt state...love it!

 

[planet2county]

Yes, Ralph took the initiative and funded that intiative. 

[AJS]

16 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

Summit League = Landing pad for all schools rejected by the Big Sky.

And unfortunately it appears UND may be willing to throw away the enormous opportunity that the Big Sky presents, mostly because it and many of its supporters miss NDSU.

Where would the hockey program be today if it were equally consumed by a perceived need to be in lockstep with Minnesota?  Probably not at the top......

 

I don't think the Summit league would be a discussion if UND wasn't in the financial trouble it is in. One thing is clear, something needs to be done to fix the budget. So, if you take away the Summit league and the savings on travel it would provide, what would you do about the $1.4 million deficit now that Kennedy took away cutting sports? 

I'm not following the enormous opportunity the Big Sky presents either. In all reality, outside of Football and Basketball, none of the other sports (not including MH) matter on a national stage. Basketball with obviously the biggest opportunity, which we'd be able to accomplish in either league.  

[UNDBIZ]

[SooToo]

23 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

Summit League = Landing pad for all schools rejected by the Big Sky.

And unfortunately it appears UND may be willing to throw away the enormous opportunity that the Big Sky presents, mostly because it and many of its supporters miss NDSU.

Where would the hockey program be today if it were equally consumed by a perceived need to be in lockstep with Minnesota?  Probably not at the top......

 

Fully agree with your post. Lots of discussion here about the enormous savings to be had by jumping conferences, but does anyone really have any hard numbers on what UND might gain -- perhaps travel-budget numbers compared to those from the  AC -- to justify sliding down to the bus league?

[homer]

It really bothers me that the students will be asked to raise fees again.  I don't know how they will vote and the decision is there's but really feel that members of the IOC and Kennedy need to make a good case for me to change my mind on that. 

[Oxbow6]

Who wouldn't want to make a trip IUPUI to watch BJ and boys hoop it up? Maybe take in a Pacer's game too. That thought there just sold me on the Summit. 

[UNDBIZ]

6 minutes ago, homer said:

It really bothers me that the students will be asked to raise fees again.  I don't know how they will vote and the decision is there's but really feel that members of the IOC and Kennedy need to make a good case for me to change my mind on that. 

Agreed. Student fees are already high and should not be raised. Just asking is an insult to what they already give. 

[hky]

Raise ticket prices?  Really?  So the "revenue" sports can support the others more than they already do?  Except for men's hockey, I thought increasing attendance was the goal.

[NoDakFan]

I'm not sure how Kennedy will avoid this topic in the future. This seems to be a completely poor sighted and unsustainable model now, but to try the Kelly method of raising revenue is a poor decision.

All of this is contingent in the third parties agreeing. As a student, academics should always come first; so no siphoning money away from there. While I personally don't have a problem with increasing student fees, I can see why other students might not be big on it, and should be avoided. On the ticket prices, good luck. We have trouble with attendance in every sport but hockey and raising the price will make it even worse. I don't know the details on the Ralph's and A's contract with UND ,but I have to imagine it's already pretty UND-friendly contract, so to ask for more is almost insulting ( I bet.)

Either something has been hidden from us or the university is going to be struggling financially for the foreseeable future, as to expect all of this to happen to plan is nothing more than false hope. I had hope Kennedy would manage this right, but wow was I wrong. 

[bincitysioux]

So in the end, the IAC's and Kennedy's plan is to make more money.  Brilliant.

[bison73]

6 minutes ago, bincitysioux said:

So in the end, the IAC's and Kennedy's plan is to make more money.  Brilliant.

Did Kennedy agree to go along with the committees recommendations?

[darell1976]

4 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Who wouldn't want to make a trip IUPUI to watch BJ and boys hoop it up? Maybe take in a Pacer's game too. That thought there just sold me on the Summit. 

Who is going to fly to Pocatello, Idaho to see the Bengals? Every conference has teams that aren't attractive. I am sure the same thing was said about UND joining the Big Sky. The SL isn't bad as far as teams but the thing that I worry about is teams leaving. What will make teams not bolt for another conference given that conference's history. I believe the BSC had only 2 teams bolt (not including Idaho) and thats Gonzaga and CS-Northridge. Pretty impressive.

[darell1976]

12 hours ago, dmksioux said:

I found this a bit interesting.  Hadn't heard or seen it in print before.

 

"The Summit League has already scheduled a visit to the UND campus November 1st-2nd, which can be reasonably construed as “serious interest” by both parties."

 

https://letsgodu.com/2016/10/06/state-cuts-will-likely-impact-summit-league-membership/comment-page-1/

Quote

The Summit League’s University of Western Illinois is at the mercy of a shaky Illinois state budget and the must cut a whopping $20 million over the next two years. Sports could and probably will be the first to go and the Summit League commissioner Tom Douple has been keeping a close eye on the future of the Leatherneck program. The timing could be ideal to add the Fighting Hawks to the conference.

So if WIU dropped sports, replace them with UND in both the SL and the MVFC. I am sure Kennedy is keeping a close eye on this along with Douple.

[Blackheart]

7 hours ago, bincitysioux said:

So in the end, the IAC's and Kennedy's plan is to make more money.  Brilliant.

Let the gathering of pitchforks and torches commence.

[dlsiouxfan]

13 hours ago, Cratter said:

Pretty dumb statement to make....is his tenure going to be a short one? Otherwise it would be more wise to say "we might take a look at options down the line if we find sponsoring 20 sports isn't a long term solution, but right now we are dedicated to making it work."

Nah, instead it was basically,  "I'm not going to look at this issue ever again, as far as I'm concerned while at UND."

Looking at Kennedy's resume, it's pretty obvious he is a short-timer.  His entire career is made up of short mediocre and unimpressive stints in leadership positions.  Taking that into consideration this decision isn't surprising.

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

Just can't believe how this all transpired in the last couple of months, unless there is some kind of big change to come out yet? Way too much energy involved to be the same old, same old.

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

1 hour ago, dlsiouxfan said:

Looking at Kennedy's resume, it's pretty obvious he is a short-timer.  His entire career is made up of short mediocre and unimpressive stints in leadership positions.  Taking that into consideration this decision isn't surprising.

You may be on to something here. I had high hopes and expectations of Kennedy at the beginning. Unless there is yet a big surprise in the Athletic Department, he maybe more like a one timer, and not as in hockey.  With all the bad press as of late years with the UND & NDSU Presidents, this could be more of the past, last thing UND needed?

[Wildfan]

I don't think it is right at this time to raise student fees. Student Tuition has been raised multiple times in the last few years, and they have lost some of the privileges they had. Such as the pool is no longer free for UND students on open/lap swim times, now they pay i believe $4 a time. Student Health is no longer free, must pay co-pay which was no required before, not even a  discount for the students. The University is making between $20-$50 more on every doctor visit now. 

I do believe Mhockey ticket prices could and probably should be raised. Most single-game tickets are sold at the same price. You don't usually see a large rink with a popular product doing this. I have heard from people that it's disappointing that the nose bleed seats cost the same as the 2nd row. It is great for fans to know how much they will pay every game, however, the university/REA could make money with pricing depending on seat location/game.

[Siouxphan27]

Breaking News, Beyond Repair:

Kennedy to announce UND adding 3 new sports; Dodgeball, Waffleball, and Team Fence Sitting.  

He's also proud to announce a new major available in the Geology department; Caving. 

[AJS]

Here's my best guess. This is going on the assumption that Kennedy has numbers on different scenarios that could either (1) Save money (2) Add Revenue to get to the $1.4 Million (captain obvious, I know). The only thing that would make sense to me, is something happened the week In-between when the Coaches / Athletes gave their speeches and yesterday, that led him to believe that the savings would be there. This is all pretty obvious stuff, but whatever it was (league affiliation, ect) he must have a much better feeling on it as of today, then he did two weeks ago. I just can't imagine there being anything else, other than that. You wouldn't march coaches / athletes for the fun of it, if you knew that wasn't an option.

It's either that (hoping) or the guy has absolutely no spine and when push come to shove he folds.

[Nodak78]

19 minutes ago, AJS said:

19 minutes ago, AJS said:

Here's my best guess. This is going on the assumption that Kennedy has numbers on different scenarios that could either (1) Save money (2) Add Revenue to get to the $1.4 Million (captain obvious, I know). The only thing that would make sense to me, is something happened the week In-between when the Coaches / Athletes gave their speeches and yesterday, that led him to believe that the savings would be there. This is all pretty obvious stuff, but whatever it was (league affiliation, ect) he must have a much better feeling on it as of today, then he did two weeks ago. I just can't imagine there being anything else, other than that. You wouldn't march coaches / athletes for the fun of it, if you knew that wasn't an option.

It's either that (hoping) or the guy has absolutely no spine and when push come to shove he folds.

Here's my best guess. This is going on the assumption that Kennedy has numbers on different scenarios that could either (1) Save money (2) Add Revenue to get to the $1.4 Million (captain obvious, I know). The only thing that would make sense to me, is something happened the week In-between when the Coaches / Athletes gave their speeches and yesterday, that led him to believe that the savings would be there. This is all pretty obvious stuff, but whatever it was (league affiliation, ect) he must have a much better feeling on it as of today, then he did two weeks ago. I just can't imagine there being anything else, other than that. You wouldn't march coaches / athletes for the fun of it, if you knew that wasn't an option.

It's either that (hoping) or the guy has absolutely no spine and when push come to shove he folds.

Perhaps some donors stepped up during homecoming after hearing the passion of the coaches and players speeches.  Just guessing.

[BobIwabuchiFan]

This whole thing goes away easily if the Football team continues to win and goes deep into the playoffs...They haven't been picking up their slice of the pie for a long while with Mussman and his crew destroying the legacy of UND football.  Once this happens, then there will be more revenues from the 60 scholly team sport we call Football and the rest of the financial loss leaders can rest easy.  Just win baby, just win!!!