President Kennedy Message on Athletics

[SIOUXFAN97]

24 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

The solution to this problem is beyond obvious. Cut womens hockey. Boost both basketballs and volleyball. Those three can actually put butts in seats and create revenue. Womens hockey is a black hole filled with empty dreams and no revenue, that sport just sucks. Grand Forks is a mens/boys hockey town, not a womens hockey town. 

there is no checking so calling it hockey is really reaching...

[bincitysioux]

2 hours ago, Sioux63 said:

Faison met with women's soccer last night to explain that all sports were on the table. He possibly met with other sports? My understanding is that two years ago women's soccer almost got cut.  The players have complained to Faison and Irle for a couple of years on some very questionable tactics by the head coach.  Most schools would have fired him by now.  Quite possibly soccer could get cut to eliminate a problem and future complaints.  Personally I would hate to see it go.  I just don't see them cutting w hockey no matter the financial strain and I'm not a women's hockey fan.  I see 3-4 sports being cut and WH stays.  

 

 

2 hours ago, UND-1 said:

Oh really?  That is not a good sign as Soccer is just more 'easy pickings' for him and Kennedy.  If they don't address the elephant in the room we will know there are forces behind the scenes.  

If I were king for a day, soccer would be the last of the 5 sports that I assume (hope rather) are on the chopping block.  Simply because A) the Big Sky sponsors it, and B) it has to be the cheapest to run by far of any of the sports we are talking about.  It's true that Bronson is hardly a "facility" but at least the university owns it.  The IPF should theoretically provide a boost to the program over time.  No need for skates, helmets, bats, or sticks.  A shirt and shorts, a pair of shoes, and a ball and Ta-Da...........you have a soccer team.

[bincitysioux]

48 minutes ago, dmksioux said:

Well, I contacted the committee member I know personally and gave them my two cents as to which sport should be cut...

I wrote to Kennedy himself offering my very intelligent input................

mark.r.kennedy@und.edu

Be short, be concise, and be polite.

[CMSioux]

9 hours ago, bincitysioux said:

Seems like a simple three component process to me.

1)  If the Big Sky doesn't sponsor it, there is no need for North Dakota to offer it, save for mens hockey of course.  Goodbye Women's hockey, and M&W Swimming & Diving.

2)  If the Big Sky doesn't require it, there is no need for North Dakota to offer it.  Goodbye Soccer and Softball.

3)  Fully fund every scholarship in all women's sports to address Title IX concerns.  If that still falls short, then you look at keeping Soccer and/or Softball.

Ah but you got to create this without having to deal with all the personal agenda's and politics that will be in the room. This is a totally defendable criteria - unless changing conference is the first item on the agenda. 

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

1 hour ago, bincitysioux said:

A shirt and shorts, a pair of shoes, and a ball and Ta-Da...........you have a soccer team.

Take these away, and you'll outdraw hockey.

[UNDBIZ]

UND enrollment is now 53% male. We are way over on Title IX compliance. The men on campus should sue. 

[The Sicatoka]

5 hours ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

I think there's a huge misunderstanding by most people regarding Title IX because quite frankly it has been sold as such.

UND does not have to meet every single prong and criteria for compliance - they have chosen to.

They could easily drop womens hockey and meet 2 of the 3 prong criteria at minimum.  There would be no issues.

You only have to meet one of the tests ("prongs", there are three) to meet Title IX. 

As far as having "matching" sports, where's the women's football or wrestling teams at NDSU or SDSU? That alone proves you don't have to have the same sports for men and women. 

Where UND runs the risk is the opportunities and interests aspect of Title IX. Has WH created enough interest that it'll be tough to drop. Then again, same could be asked of any sport. 

[The Sicatoka]

What gives me hope in all of this is that the final decision maker is a former CFO of a Fortune 100 company.

In his letter he asked Faison and Brekke to "provide the approximate cost of each program and the attendance numbers". 
http://www.grandforksherald.com/sites/default/files/KennedylettertoIAC.pdf

If that doesn't scream "CFO doing cost/benefit analysis", what does. 

But he also says in his letter he's doing this once during his tenure. I expect him to go well beyond what has to be done right now, and instead go into the realm of making sure there are no more issues down the road. 

Like I speculated before, the non-BSC core sports (outside MH) should all be concerned: WH, MS&D, WS&D, Soccer, Softball. 

[geaux_sioux]

52 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

What gives me hope in all of this is that the final decision maker is a former CFO of a Fortune 100 company.

In his letter he asked Faison and Brekke to "provide the approximate cost of each program and the attendance numbers". 
http://www.grandforksherald.com/sites/default/files/KennedylettertoIAC.pdf

If that doesn't scream "CFO doing cost/benefit analysis", what does. 

But he also says in his letter he's doing this once during his tenure. I expect him to go well beyond what has to be done right now, and instead go into the realm of making sure there are no more issues down the road. 

Like I speculated before, the non-BSC core sports (outside MH) should all be concerned: WH, MS&D, WS&D, Soccer, Softball. 

Cut them all and get legitimately serious about the remaining sports.

[jdub27]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

You only have to meet one of the tests ("prongs", there are three) to meet Title IX. 

As far as having "matching" sports, where's the women's football or wrestling teams at NDSU or SDSU? That alone proves you don't have to have the same sports for men and women. 

Where UND runs the risk is the opportunities and interests aspect of Title IX. Has WH created enough interest that it'll be tough to drop. Then again, same could be asked of any sport. 

UND only has to meet one prong, not all three. Opportunities and interests only matter if that is what you're claiming as your test (and I think we've figured out by now that you can get those survey results to say what you want...)

[Corella]

1st time in a long time.....

Please folks I emplore you....make your voices heard & known. Our "leaders" in the Athletic Dept (I Use that term as loosely as possible!) are more concerned with being champions of Title IX & Compliance then being champions on the athletic court/field. Is that what we moved to DI for? To be the best at Title IX? Because, thats what our athletic dept has become, & it's a total crime & they're getting a free pass. 

An AD needs to be someone who buys into an athletic dept. Goes to bat for everything & does what's right for the interests of athletics as a whole. Makes himself available to all teams & programs, & asks "what can I do to help make your program better". Is an AD who is now in his 9th yr & still rents an apartment, doesn't attend games & doesn't make himself available to his teams, has he bought in & is he out for the Flagship's best interests? Or is he in retirement mode & more interested in collecting a paycheck?

It's time to demand more folks. It's time to demand that our AD has an actual face in the community (just as how he demands our athletic teams have a face in the community), in fundraising, & at all sporting events. This is the Flagship university of our state for God's sake, not a D3/NAIA/JuCo school where an AD can remain fairly anonymous!

An institution's football program is what drives the Athletic Dept, & we're lucky enough to have the right man at the helm of our football program. To say that Bubba gets "it" is an understatement. Do we have the right man & regime at the helm of the Athletic Dept? If your answer is 'yes' you're sorely mistaken. & the more I see what President Kennedy says & releases, the more I believe (& hope) he sees these exact deficiencies in Athletic Dept administration. Because it's damned pathetic. Trust me when I say that.

End rant.

[GeauxSioux]

Part of this equation is facilities, near term and long term.  The attached was part of UND's reclassification analysis.  UND at some point will need to upgrade the swimming facilities.  Big $$.

 

 

[UNDvince97-01]

5 hours ago, Corella said:

1st time in a long time.....

Please folks I emplore you....make your voices heard & known. Our "leaders" in the Athletic Dept (I Use that term as loosely as possible!) are more concerned with being champions of Title IX & Compliance then being champions on the athletic court/field. Is that what we moved to DI for? To be the best at Title IX? Because, thats what our athletic dept has become, & it's a total crime & they're getting a free pass. 

An AD needs to be someone who buys into an athletic dept. Goes to bat for everything & does what's right for the interests of athletics as a whole. Makes himself available to all teams & programs, & asks "what can I do to help make your program better". Is an AD who is now in his 9th yr & still rents an apartment, doesn't attend games & doesn't make himself available to his teams, has he bought in & is he out for the Flagship's best interests? Or is he in retirement mode & more interested in collecting a paycheck?

It's time to demand more folks. It's time to demand that our AD has an actual face in the community (just as how he demands our athletic teams have a face in the community), in fundraising, & at all sporting events. This is the Flagship university of our state for God's sake, not a D3/NAIA/JuCo school where an AD can remain fairly anonymous!

An institution's football program is what drives the Athletic Dept, & we're lucky enough to have the right man at the helm of our football program. To say that Bubba gets "it" is an understatement. Do we have the right man & regime at the helm of the Athletic Dept? If your answer is 'yes' you're sorely mistaken. & the more I see what President Kennedy says & releases, the more I believe (& hope) he sees these exact deficiencies in Athletic Dept administration. Because it's damned pathetic. Trust me when I say that.

End rant.

Potential post of the year ^^^^^

And so many facts.

[The Sicatoka]

I won't rip on "renting". I may be looking at buying a place out of state and just renting in ND. 

What I will say is this: Lead from the front. If you expect your people to do something you should be there doing it first. If that's not happening that's what I take issue with. 

[UNDBIZ]

Looking at the makeup of the committee, it will be very difficult to cut swimming with a student on the swim team and Irle in the room. 

[UND-1]

Why are Danielle Irle and Sue Jeno both on the committee?  They are both extreme feminists who stop at no no lengths to protect Women's sports.  Plus, they add Dick Clay, who is a great guy, but is also a coach of a female (and male) program.  

Essentially, the Men's programs have NO representation because Faison is definitely not in their corner and gets walked all over by the other two above.

That committee sucks.   

[UND-1]

6 hours ago, Corella said:

1st time in a long time.....

Please folks I emplore you....make your voices heard & known. Our "leaders" in the Athletic Dept (I Use that term as loosely as possible!) are more concerned with being champions of Title IX & Compliance then being champions on the athletic court/field. Is that what we moved to DI for? To be the best at Title IX? Because, thats what our athletic dept has become, & it's a total crime & they're getting a free pass. 

An AD needs to be someone who buys into an athletic dept. Goes to bat for everything & does what's right for the interests of athletics as a whole. Makes himself available to all teams & programs, & asks "what can I do to help make your program better". Is an AD who is now in his 9th yr & still rents an apartment, doesn't attend games & doesn't make himself available to his teams, has he bought in & is he out for the Flagship's best interests? Or is he in retirement mode & more interested in collecting a paycheck?

It's time to demand more folks. It's time to demand that our AD has an actual face in the community (just as how he demands our athletic teams have a face in the community), in fundraising, & at all sporting events. This is the Flagship university of our state for God's sake, not a D3/NAIA/JuCo school where an AD can remain fairly anonymous!

An institution's football program is what drives the Athletic Dept, & we're lucky enough to have the right man at the helm of our football program. To say that Bubba gets "it" is an understatement. Do we have the right man & regime at the helm of the Athletic Dept? If your answer is 'yes' you're sorely mistaken. & the more I see what President Kennedy says & releases, the more I believe (& hope) he sees these exact deficiencies in Athletic Dept administration. Because it's damned pathetic. Trust me when I say that.

End rant.

Pretty good content here.  Starting to all come out.  Some of us were trying to express this last spring but nobody was buying it.  

[The Sicatoka]

That committee was neither formed by Athletics nor by Kennedy. That committee was formed by the University Senate, the same University Senate that passed resolution after resolution against the old nickname. Need I say more? 

Again, I say my hope is that Kennedy is taking all this under advisement. (That's the PC way of say, "I'll pretend you have a voice and make you feel important, but in the end I'll do it my way because I'm the one truly tasked with the power and responsibility.")

[The Sicatoka]

45 minutes ago, GeauxSioux said:

Part of this equation is facilities, near term and long term.  The attached was part of UND's reclassification analysis.  UND at some point will need to upgrade the swimming facilities.  Big $$.

Track, football, and soccer have a pretty solid resolution now with the HPC. Tennis is in good shape with the agreement to use the new tennis facility in Grand Forks. 

Baseball is already gone. I'd say softball should be very wary give their facility was rated the same. I'd say swimming should be wary as their facility need should be near the top (bottom?) of the list now as well. 

 

[The Sicatoka]

9 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

Why are Danielle Irle and Sue Jeno both on the committee?  They are both extreme feminists who stop at no no lengths to protect Women's sports.  

If they can't separate personal likes and feelings from objective reviews of pros, cons, costs, benefits, they are unfit for the committee and unfit for leadership. If they are there as advocates they should be removed.

[geaux_sioux]

How does one go about getting an AD fired?

[UND-1]

2 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

If they can't separate personal likes and feelings from objective reviews of pros, cons, costs, benefits, they are unfit for the committee and unfit for leadership. If they are there as advocates they should be removed.

By those metrics they are unfit for the committee and unfit for leadership.

[The Sicatoka]

1 minute ago, geaux_sioux said:

How does one go about getting an AD fired?

Well, if it's NDSU's it involves a car and a park in Omaha ... feel free.  

[Nodak78]

3 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

How does one go about getting an AD fired?

Step 1)  Take financial controls away.

[The Sicatoka]

7 minutes ago, Nodak78 said:

Step 1)  Take financial controls away.

Oh my ... I hadn't considered that ... but that is very true.