LET'S HELP BUBBA

[UND Fan]

I will preface this by acknowledging that many of us are disappointed that last year's BSC championship team members did not receive rings.  I hope that something will happen to rectify the situation.  I am sure that many of us would help but is very unlikely we could raise enough $ for all the rings.  I understand the rings cost at least $200 each and we would probably need about 125 (100 players, 15 coaches & grad assistants, trainers, etc.) for a total cost of $25-30,000.   

That said, I talked to Bubba a few days ago and learned that he has a couple of specific needs - knee braces and concussion caps. 

KNEE BRACES 

Knee braces are essential to protect offensive linemen from injury.  While knee injuries are always possible, UND wants to provide its athletes with the best braces available (manufactured by Don Joy).  Funds for these braces have been provided by an outside source in recent years.  That source is no longer available and the expense was not included in the 2017 football budget. 

In addition to protecting Fighting Hawk athletes, Bubba and Coach Knauf feel our use of Don Joy braces is a significant advantage in recruiting young offensive linemen.  These prospects (and their parents) are pleased that UND provides the best knee protection available.  It can be the difference between the athlete choosing UND over another offer.

The annual cost of purchasing Don Joy braces approaches $5,000.

CONCUSSION CAPS

Providing all players with concussion caps is very important.  Funds for Champion concussion caps are also not included in this year's football budget.  If we are successful in raising funds for the knee braces, it would be great to help Bubba out with these caps as well. 

The cost of the caps is about $4,500.

CROWDFUNDING

I have worked with Mike Mannausau and the UND Alumni Association.  They are in the process of setting up a link to their Crowdfunding website for us.  This link should be available early next week.  I will post it here when it is up and running.  Not surprisingly, the link will refer to us as "ss.com" as they cannot use the word "Sioux". 

It would be great if you would PM me with the amount you are able to contribute.  You do not need to provide your name if you would prefer not to do so.  It would be good to know how we are doing.  I will post updates on this thread.  The official totals will be continually posted on the Crowdfunding website.

Some thoughts:

• I realize many of us are Champions Club members and actively support UND athletics.  This would simply be an extra contribution to assist Bubba in his efforts to make us an FCS power now and for many years to come.
• There are other college fan sites that provide financial assistance to their university's athletic programs.  We at siouxsports.com should do the same.  As noted aboe, all donations will go directly to the Alumni Foundation.  Therefore, all contributions will be tax deductible.
• On the Crowdfunding site, you will decide whether you want to have your name posted or do so anonymously.  I am sure that Bubba will reach out with thanks to all donors.
• While this is aimed at ss.com members, we would gladly accept money from non-members so please pass this info on to your friends, families, etc.

Again, many of us are already supporting UND athletics but LET"S HELP BUBBA with a couple of his important needs.  Some may be able to make a significant donation while others can help with $20-25 - it will all add up!

The link will be provided as soon as it is available.

Thanks!

[sprig]

UND fan, you settings are set to not receive pm's.

[UND Fan]

2 hours ago, sprig said:

UND fan, you settings are set to not receive pm's.

I might need some coaching on this.  I do communicate with other posters via the mailbox in the upper right corner of the screen.  I thought that was PM.  If not, let me know what I need to do.

Thx

[sprig]

48 minutes ago, UND Fan said:

I might need some coaching on this.  I do communicate with other posters via the mailbox in the upper right corner of the screen.  I thought that was PM.  If not, let me know what I need to do.

Thx

I get a "can't receive messages" when I try to send you a message. Can't find anywhere to stop someone from sending  a pm except in the ignored users list. Check that, maybe I'm there. 

[UND Fan]

13 minutes ago, sprig said:

I get a "can't receive messages" when I try to send you a message. Can't find anywhere to stop someone from sending  a pm except in the ignored users list. Check that, maybe I'm there. 

I certainly do have a couple of guys on "ignore" but not you.  I will try to send you a message.  Let's see if you get it and if you can respond to me.

[UND Fan]

sprig - I just realized my mail box was full.  Please try to PM me again.

 

[sprig]

3 minutes ago, UND Fan said:

sprig - I just realized my mail box was full.  Please try to PM me again.

 

That worked

[UND Fan]

4 minutes ago, sprig said:

That worked

Thanks for letting me know if the problem, sprig!  AND, thanks for being the first to contribute! 

If any one else had tried to PM without luck, please try again!

 

[SJG73]

I'm sorry but that equipment should be the responsibility of the university if they have a D1 football program...it's  cost of doing business.  On the other hand I will donate toward rings.

[Ozzie82]

This is discouraging that the football budget is not big enough to cover the knee braces and concussion caps. We either have a division 1 football program or we don't - as of now it appears we do not yet have the funds to run a legitimate division 1 football program from top to bottom. The staff is forced into making difficult choices that may affect the health of their players.

 

This is a glimpse into the real budget problems the athletic department is having and why other programs were cut. It appears from the outside that steps are being taken to fund the existing programs appropriately but the issues are clearly not solved yet.

 

I'm surprised this thread has not generated more comments. The revelation of the lack of funds is a real eye opener. Thank you UND Fan for bringing this to our attention and organizing a fund raiser.

[Ozzie82]

14 hours ago, SJG73 said:

I'm sorry but that equipment should be the responsibility of the university if they have a D1 football program...it's  cost of doing business.  On the other hand I will donate toward rings.

OK but the scholarships are not funded by the university either... they are donated by individuals. I'm not sure what other football related items are funded by the university and what is donated but it appears we may be surprised if we really knew who actually pays the "cost of doing business" if we had access to their spreadsheet.

[bison73]

5 minutes ago, Ozzie82 said:

This is discouraging that the football budget is not big enough to cover the knee braces and concussion caps. We either have a division 1 football program or we don't - as of now it appears we do not yet have the funds to run a legitimate division 1 football program from top to bottom. The staff is forced into making difficult choices that may affect the health of their players.

 

This is a glimpse into the real budget problems the athletic department is having and why other programs were cut. It appears from the outside that steps are being taken to fund the existing programs appropriately but the issues are clearly not solved yet.

 

I'm surprised this thread has not generated more comments. The revelation of the lack of funds is a real eye opener. Thank you UND Fan for bringing this to our attention and organizing a fund raiser.

I was wondering when the funding issues were going to come to light.  I posted awhile back that there were issues and what you were seeing with cuts was just the tip of the iceberg.

Then when they had coaches and students get up and having to beg to keep their sports was nothing more than an embarrassing dog and pony show as the die was already cast.

Now this? Having to beg for safety equipment which should be a given? Even though we are rivals this really makes me sad for whats going on with your program. Especially since Bubba

has made such good progress the last few years.

[UND-1]

22 minutes ago, bison73 said:

I was wondering when the funding issues were going to come to light.  I posted awhile back that there were issues and what you were seeing with cuts was just the tip of the iceberg.

Then when they had coaches and students get up and having to beg to keep their sports was nothing more than an embarrassing dog and pony show as the die was already cast.

Now this? Having to beg for safety equipment which should be a given? Even though we are rivals this really makes me sad for whats going on with your program. Especially since Bubba

has made such good progress the last few years.

Thanks for your concern I can see you are deeply moved. The players will always have the knee braces This is so stupid. He is bringing up items that are on the fringe of the budget that he's hoping alumni and donors could step up and pay for, like they do other things in the program. More of those that get paid for the less he has to worry about.  

Have the players ever not had the knee braces that they needed in recent memory?  D2 days even....

[bison73]

13 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

Thanks for your concern I can see you are deeply moved. The players will always have the knee braces This is so stupid. He is bringing up items that are on the fringe of the budget that he's hoping alumni and donors could step up and pay for, like they do other things in the program. More of those that get paid for the less he has to worry about.  

Have the players ever not had the knee braces that they needed in recent memory?  D2 days even....

If thats the case then Bubba needs to close his trap because it makes the situation up there look bad. And you certainly dont need anymore help in that area as of late.

[UND-1]

4 minutes ago, bison73 said:

If thats the case then Bubba needs to close his trap because it makes the situation up there look bad. And you certainly dont need anymore help in that area as of late.

He gave one person an idea of fundraising that they could possibly do if they are interested.  That person took it to Siouxsports so everybody knows, which is fine.  But it's not like he took out a PSA announcement, my gawd.   

You guys pay off the TM-backed coaches office note yet?  Saw you got a new TM-backed locker room note to pay for now, as well.  That's sound.  

[bison73]

Nice deflection.

What notes are you referring to? Are you privy to how those projects were financed?

[UND-1]

24 minutes ago, bison73 said:

Nice deflection.

What notes are you referring to? Are you privy to how those projects were financed?

Are you privy to UND's budget for each sport, line by line?   So no I am not.  

People need to get a grip.  UND has numerous donations that pay for different things every season.  If the fans/alumni don't know what needs to be paid for the are less apt to donate just generally.  They like to donate to something, to a cause.  

[UND Fan]

1 hour ago, Ozzie82 said:

This is discouraging that the football budget is not big enough to cover the knee braces and concussion caps. We either have a division 1 football program or we don't - as of now it appears we do not yet have the funds to run a legitimate division 1 football program from top to bottom. The staff is forced into making difficult choices that may affect the health of their players.

 

This is a glimpse into the real budget problems the athletic department is having and why other programs were cut. It appears from the outside that steps are being taken to fund the existing programs appropriately but the issues are clearly not solved yet.

 

I'm surprised this thread has not generated more comments. The revelation of the lack of funds is a real eye opener. Thank you UND Fan for bringing this to our attention and organizing a fund raiser.

Guys - I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you that all other DI programs funds these types of protective items within their football budgets.  I can tell you that these are upgraded products and that not all programs use - hence, the recruiting advantage, etc.  I can also tell you that these items were funded by an endowment that no longer has funds available.

While I certainly can't control the content of this thread, I would certainly appreciate it if all this debate crap about athletic funding issues be done (if you feel it is necessary) on another thread.  And, as is always the case with an SU fan trying to get us excited, it is best to ignore them!

Some of us are simply trying to help Bubba and our football program.  If you want to help, that is great.  If not, please don't put a damper on it for others who really care about the program.  Ozzie - these last comments were not intended for you!    

[homer]

49 minutes ago, bison73 said:

If thats the case then Bubba needs to close his trap because it makes the situation up there look bad. And you certainly dont need anymore help in that area as of late.

We are hoping players don't have to share helmets this year.  Thanks for the concern.  

[UND-1]

1 minute ago, UND Fan said:

Guys - I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you that all other DI programs funds these types of protective items within their football budgets.  I can tell you that these are upgraded products and that not all programs use - hence, the recruiting advantage, etc.  I can also tell you that these items were funded by an endowment that no longer has funds available.

While I certainly can't control the content of this thread, I would certainly appreciate it if all this debate crap about athletic funding issues be done (if you feel it is necessary) on another thread.  And, as is always the case with an SU fan trying to get us excited, it is best to simply ignore them!

Will these funds now just be pulled from a different source?  Because I know they aren't going to just stop buying them if a new endowment isnt created.  

The wording in this thread makes it sound like the program is months away from shutting down.  That is the problem I have with it.  

The idea is great and yet not uncommon, which is why Bubba brought it up.

[fightingsioux4life]

56 minutes ago, bison73 said:

If thats the case then Bubba needs to close his trap because it makes the situation up there look bad. And you certainly dont need anymore help in that area as of late.

Yeah, we are just falling apart at the seams up here. NCAA title in hockey in 2016, Big Sky FB champions in 2016, Big Sky MBB regular-season and playoff titles in 2017, Big Sky Volleyball regular-season and playoff titles in 2017, Big Sky WBB regular-season title in 2017. And VB is kicking butt already this year against big name schools. Yup, we have our work cut out for us to get out of this hole! Meanwhile, I am sure NDSU is secretly working on their application to join FBS and the Big 12 and will unveil it in the next couple of years. 

Btw, where are all those stupid "Bubba Gump" comments you guys were spewing on here a couple of years ago? I don't see them anymore. Gee, I wonder why that is? 

Quit trolling our board unless you have something useful to contribute. Go back to Bisonville, please.

[UND-FB-FAN]

58 minutes ago, bison73 said:

If thats the case then Bubba needs to close his trap because it makes the situation up there look bad. And you certainly dont need anymore help in that area as of late.

There are always areas of necessary funding. Are all FCS programs, including NDSU, now so accomplished that they are complacent in their funding projects?

Bubba expressed priority areas of potential funding; that shows dedication to making the program even better, not the contrary that you are trying to falsely spin. Most can see right through your comments as typical Ag school crap. 

As usual, I hope NDSU fails this season. Good day. 

[UND-1]

Let me sum it up:

The knee braces weren't in the budget because they were paid for by an endowment.  

Does that mean they cannot be paid for now, whatsoever?  No.

They want a NEW endowment to do the same thing.  Crazy, I know.  

Comprende?

[UND Fan]

13 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

Will these funds now just be pulled from a different source?  Because I know they aren't going to just stop buying them if a new endowment isnt created.  

The wording in this thread makes it sound like the program is months away from shutting down.  That is the problem I have with it.  

The idea is great and yet not uncommon, which is why Bubba brought it up.

I would agree that they are not going to stop using these items - I am sure they will pull the money out of general budget.  However, that means that this $9-10K will not be available for something else that was in the budget.

Bubba was not indicating that "the world is ending!".  I simply asked if he could use some financial help with anything.  He stated that these funds had dried up - I responded that I would try to help.  End of story!

I will not try to justify or explain this any further.  If people want to help, great!  If not, that is fine!

[UNDvince97-01]

55 minutes ago, homer said:

We are hoping players don't have to share helmets this year.  Thanks for the concern.