Coaching staff

[Higgins]

McFeely is kicking this program when he thinks it's down.  I'd love to see him write a comparable article about ndsu.  His job and his life would be in danger if he ever wrote anything bad about his hometown team.  

[Hammersmith]

It's funny how much you think McFeely is pro-Bison and anti-UND. It's pretty obvious most of you only read his stuff when he writes about UND. If you'd read all his stuff, you'd realize he's passively or actively negative about EVERYTHING!.

 

IT'S

LITERALLY

HIS

FREAKING

JOB!

 

McFeely is employed by Forum Comm to be a social gadfly. A newspaper position that was invented about 30 minutes after newspapers. A gadfly writes columns to upset people and get them talking. The stronger the emotions the better. Basically, a slightly more intelligent version of clickbait.

And it's a healthy role to have filled. We need someone to poke at our blind spots and make us think. A good gadfly will do that at the same time as generating revenue. Is McFeely a good gadfly? He's not great, but he's about what you'd expect in a market our size.

And, yes, he pokes at the Bison all the time. I think there are at least three long-running threads on BV that are more critical of him than you guys have been here. (And, yes, I've written posts like this over there, too.)

 

 

A couple other things to think about:

1. McFeely said nothing in that column that hasn't been said here dozens of times by just about everyone. So it must just be the old "I can s**t talk my brother as much as I want, but if you do it, there'll be trouble" sort of thing.

2. With the state of UND football at the moment, this column needed to be written. Everybody that follows UND football knows that things aren't going well, and they're talking about it to each other. This board is a prime example. If it's such a major topic of conversation, it would be irresponsible for the local paper not to cover it. And consider this: If Forum Comm needed to write a column on it, who would they want to give the assignment to? (and some of you are cute the way you think McFeely chooses what to write about; he's an employee - he writes about what his editor tells him to.) If they give the story to Tom Miller, it could hurt his relationship with Bubba and the program. And they're not going to give it to Brad at the start of hockey season. McFeely is the logical choice. He can write a critical column because that's what he's employed to do, and by giving it to a Fargo writer, it doesn't harm the relationship between UND/Bubba and the GFH sports department.

 

One last, tiny thing to Mama: Just about every major NDSU coaching contract in the last decade and a half has been published in the Forum at one time or another. McFeely doing it for Bubba is nothing special.

[homer]

20 minutes ago, Hammersmith said:

It's funny how much you think McFeely is pro-Bison and anti-UND. It's pretty obvious most of you only read his stuff when he writes about UND. If you'd read all his stuff, you'd realize he's passively or actively negative about EVERYTHING!.

 

IT'S

LITERALLY

HIS

FREAKING

JOB!

 

McFeely is employed by Forum Comm to be a social gadfly. A newspaper position that was invented about 30 minutes after newspapers. A gadfly writes columns to upset people and get them talking. The stronger the emotions the better. Basically, a slightly more intelligent version of clickbait.

And it's a healthy role to have filled. We need someone to poke at our blind spots and make us think. A good gadfly will do that at the same time as generating revenue. Is McFeely a good gadfly? He's not great, but he's about what you'd expect in a market our size.

And, yes, he pokes at the Bison all the time. I think there are at least three long-running threads on BV that are more critical of him than you guys have been here. (And, yes, I've written posts like this over there, too.)

 

 

A couple other things to think about:

1. McFeely said nothing in that column that hasn't been said here dozens of times by just about everyone. So it must just be the old "I can s**t talk my brother as much as I want, but if you do it, there'll be trouble" sort of thing.

2. With the state of UND football at the moment, this column needed to be written. Everybody that follows UND football knows that things aren't going well, and they're talking about it to each other. This board is a prime example. If it's such a major topic of conversation, it would be irresponsible for the local paper not to cover it. And consider this: If Forum Comm needed to write a column on it, who would they want to give the assignment to? (and some of you are cute the way you think McFeely chooses what to write about; he's an employee - he writes about what his editor tells him to.) If they give the story to Tom Miller, it could hurt his relationship with Bubba and the program. And they're not going to give it to Brad at the start of hockey season. McFeely is the logical choice. He can write a critical column because that's what he's employed to do, and by giving it to a Fargo writer, it doesn't harm the relationship between UND/Bubba and the GFH sports department.

 

One last, tiny thing to Mama: Just about every major NDSU coaching contract in the last decade and a half has been published in the Forum at one time or another. McFeely doing it for Bubba is nothing special.

Don’t disagree with everything you said but you are kidding yourself if you think the Forum treats UND and NDSU the same.  

[Mama Sue]

37 minutes ago, homer said:

Don’t disagree with everything you said but you are kidding yourself if you think the Forum treats UND and NDSU the same.  

I agree and no I do not read his column regularly. Maybe he does write often about UND.... it just seemed so... researched? I have done a sports column in our local paper.  Currently a recipe column so I respect his research... but a copy of the contract seemed a little overkill. But today, anything to see papers!

[WiSioux]

On 10/15/2019 at 5:49 PM, Kab said:

Row the boat ring a bell 

What's Western Michigan got to do with this?

[CMSioux]

10 hours ago, Hammersmith said:

It's funny how much you think McFeely is pro-Bison and anti-UND. It's pretty obvious most of you only read his stuff when he writes about UND. If you'd read all his stuff, you'd realize he's passively or actively negative about EVERYTHING!.

 

IT'S

LITERALLY

HIS

FREAKING

JOB!

 

McFeely is employed by Forum Comm to be a social gadfly. A newspaper position that was invented about 30 minutes after newspapers. A gadfly writes columns to upset people and get them talking. The stronger the emotions the better. Basically, a slightly more intelligent version of clickbait.

And it's a healthy role to have filled. We need someone to poke at our blind spots and make us think. A good gadfly will do that at the same time as generating revenue. Is McFeely a good gadfly? He's not great, but he's about what you'd expect in a market our size.

And, yes, he pokes at the Bison all the time. I think there are at least three long-running threads on BV that are more critical of him than you guys have been here. (And, yes, I've written posts like this over there, too.)

 

 

A couple other things to think about:

1. McFeely said nothing in that column that hasn't been said here dozens of times by just about everyone. So it must just be the old "I can s**t talk my brother as much as I want, but if you do it, there'll be trouble" sort of thing.

2. With the state of UND football at the moment, this column needed to be written. Everybody that follows UND football knows that things aren't going well, and they're talking about it to each other. This board is a prime example. If it's such a major topic of conversation, it would be irresponsible for the local paper not to cover it. And consider this: If Forum Comm needed to write a column on it, who would they want to give the assignment to? (and some of you are cute the way you think McFeely chooses what to write about; he's an employee - he writes about what his editor tells him to.) If they give the story to Tom Miller, it could hurt his relationship with Bubba and the program. And they're not going to give it to Brad at the start of hockey season. McFeely is the logical choice. He can write a critical column because that's what he's employed to do, and by giving it to a Fargo writer, it doesn't harm the relationship between UND/Bubba and the GFH sports department.

 

One last, tiny thing to Mama: Just about every major NDSU coaching contract in the last decade and a half has been published in the Forum at one time or another. McFeely doing it for Bubba is nothing special.

I try to avoid engaging with visiting trolls as it just perpetuates their presence. However, until Forum Communications eliminates The Grand Forks Herald like they did WDAZ, The Forum and its staff write for the Fargo "local paper", not Grand Forks. Could you see a Grand Forks Herald columnist writing similar stories about su? You think an editor went to McFeely and said "You need to write a column about UND football"? You can tell by his topics he's not on a leash - when he runs out of topics he attacks his co-worker Port. Do you think the Forum treated the coaching searches the same for the two schools in the way they reported on them? Forum stories on UND trend toward the negative  or in defense of su. 

[Mama Sue]

must be in the Forum DNA....I read a Forum-owned paper almost daily for area obits... don’t buy it but read it with my 6 am coffee at a restaurant.... very very obvious what communities they favor.... even with local high school sports....a community makes it to state in hockey and nothing in the paper.....so I am not surprised about their negative focus on UND

[UND08]

A couple of thoughts that I had after reading the article and the discussion about it here:

1. As far as the content and the message is concerned...I have no qualms about any of its content.  Like others have said here, it's a topic that's very much out in the open both on this board and social media...it makes sense to me that the print media would get in on the discussion.
2. Regarding the posting of the contract.  That's pretty common nowadays as their web capabilities continue to develop.  I doubt that it was in the print version, but posting a pdf copy of it is pretty easy to do nowadays.
3. I hate McFeely...but Hammersmith was absolutely right.  He's a gadfly...and whatever he can do to get a rise out of people...he'll do.  I guess we should feel honored that he thought the plight of UND football was a worthy enough topic to divert him from his daily Republican bashing.  Either that or it was just a slow news day...
4. Fargo definitely gets favored over Grand Forks by Forum Comm...and from a business standpoint it makes sense, as Fargo is their hub and largest market.  It's unfortunate...but it's probably not going to change. 

[UNDBIZ]

STOP CLICKING ON MCFEELY COLUMNS

[Bison06]

In looking through the contract, I found it interesting that it stipulates only one national championship bonus would be awarded. That seems like the type of bonus that is a really nice risk/reward bonus for the school. If I’m any athletic administration I’d shell out that 20k bonus every single year gladly if you’re winning NCs.

[fightingsioux4life]

1 hour ago, UND08 said:

A couple of thoughts that I had after reading the article and the discussion about it here:

1. As far as the content and the message is concerned...I have no qualms about any of its content.  Like others have said here, it's a topic that's very much out in the open both on this board and social media...it makes sense to me that the print media would get in on the discussion.
2. Regarding the posting of the contract.  That's pretty common nowadays as their web capabilities continue to develop.  I doubt that it was in the print version, but posting a pdf copy of it is pretty easy to do nowadays.
3. I hate McFeely...but Hammersmith was absolutely right.  He's a gadfly...and whatever he can do to get a rise out of people...he'll do.  I guess we should feel honored that he thought the plight of UND football was a worthy enough topic to divert him from his daily Republican bashing.  Either that or it was just a slow news day...
4. Fargo definitely gets favored over Grand Forks by Forum Comm...and from a business standpoint it makes sense, as Fargo is their hub and largest market.  It's unfortunate...but it's probably not going to change. 

From a business standpoint, it makes sense? Why does it make sense to buy the Heraldo, then run it into the ground, thus causing people to stop buying and reading it? Unless their ultimate goal was to run it into the ground, thus giving them an excuse to shut it down and dissolve it and call it a "business decision". If they don't care about Grand Forks, then sell the Heraldo to someone who does. Maybe a bunch of us can pool our resources and buy it from them. We could run it like the Green Bay Packers (ugh, I just threw up in my mouth typing that!).

[homer]

15 hours ago, Hammersmith said:

It's funny how much you think McFeely is pro-Bison and anti-UND. It's pretty obvious most of you only read his stuff when he writes about UND. If you'd read all his stuff, you'd realize he's passively or actively negative about EVERYTHING!.

 

IT'S

LITERALLY

HIS

FREAKING

JOB!

 

McFeely is employed by Forum Comm to be a social gadfly. A newspaper position that was invented about 30 minutes after newspapers. A gadfly writes columns to upset people and get them talking. The stronger the emotions the better. Basically, a slightly more intelligent version of clickbait.

And it's a healthy role to have filled. We need someone to poke at our blind spots and make us think. A good gadfly will do that at the same time as generating revenue. Is McFeely a good gadfly? He's not great, but he's about what you'd expect in a market our size.

And, yes, he pokes at the Bison all the time. I think there are at least three long-running threads on BV that are more critical of him than you guys have been here. (And, yes, I've written posts like this over there, too.)

 

 

A couple other things to think about:

1. McFeely said nothing in that column that hasn't been said here dozens of times by just about everyone. So it must just be the old "I can s**t talk my brother as much as I want, but if you do it, there'll be trouble" sort of thing.

2. With the state of UND football at the moment, this column needed to be written. Everybody that follows UND football knows that things aren't going well, and they're talking about it to each other. This board is a prime example. If it's such a major topic of conversation, it would be irresponsible for the local paper not to cover it. And consider this: If Forum Comm needed to write a column on it, who would they want to give the assignment to? (and some of you are cute the way you think McFeely chooses what to write about; he's an employee - he writes about what his editor tells him to.) If they give the story to Tom Miller, it could hurt his relationship with Bubba and the program. And they're not going to give it to Brad at the start of hockey season. McFeely is the logical choice. He can write a critical column because that's what he's employed to do, and by giving it to a Fargo writer, it doesn't harm the relationship between UND/Bubba and the GFH sports department.

 

One last, tiny thing to Mama: Just about every major NDSU coaching contract in the last decade and a half has been published in the Forum at one time or another. McFeely doing it for Bubba is nothing special.

Also, for comparison sake, I did a quick Google search and couldn’t find the mid season article from McFeely (or any Forum staff) on Dave Richman last year.  It worked out but with the state of that program at mid year and fans talking as they were (bisonville is a prime example) was it not irresponsible for the Forum not to cover it mid year??

[SiouxDiggity]

7 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

From a business standpoint, it makes sense? Why does it make sense to buy the Heraldo, then run it into the ground, thus causing people to stop buying and reading it? Unless their ultimate goal was to run it into the ground, thus giving them an excuse to shut it down and dissolve it and call it a "business decision". If they don't care about Grand Forks, then sell the Heraldo to someone who does. Maybe a bunch of us can pool our resources and buy it from them. We could run it like the Green Bay Packers (ugh, I just threw up in my mouth typing that!).

Local News outlets run on Advertising $'s and now sadly paywalls to keep things going and provide content. They are not there as a public service. I wish it were different but its not. If the community is not supporting them then they cant keep the staff required to provide all the content that people want for FREE. If you want better content, help them out by either advertising in the paper or buying a subscription to the paywall. Miller and Schlossman do a fantastic job with the stuff they do but in order to keep getting that content or increased content, someone has to pay for it. I used to have a totally different attitude about this until more and more newspapers started going to a paywall system and got me thinking about it. The Forum doesnt have to produce UND content unless there is a demand and money being pushed to proved it. Thats why they produce more Bison content because the money and demand is there. 

 

[UND1983]

NDSU made 34 three pointers in three days and didn't have to play SDSU due to an upset.  It was an absolute perfect storm.  Now they are suddenly the best team in the Summit after being average the entire 2018 regular season.  

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, SiouxDiggity said:

Local News outlets run on Advertising $'s and now sadly paywalls to keep things going and provide content. They are not there as a public service. I wish it were different but its not. If the community is not supporting them then they cant keep the staff required to provide all the content that people want for FREE. If you want better content, help them out by either advertising in the paper or buying a subscription to the paywall. Miller and Schlossman do a fantastic job with the stuff they do but in order to keep getting that content or increased content, someone has to pay for it. I used to have a totally different attitude about this until more and more newspapers started going to a paywall system and got me thinking about it. The Forum doesnt have to produce UND content unless there is a demand and money being pushed to proved it. Thats why they produce more Bison content because the money and demand is there. 

I am a paid subscriber to the print edition. Have been for years. So save the "put your money where your mouth is" comments.

And my original point stands: Why did they purchase a newspaper in a town they have zero interest in covering? Seems like a waste of money. Unless they are just trying to eliminate the other major newspaper in the valley so they can force the Forum on everybody. They think they are the New York Times or the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, but they aren't.

[SiouxDiggity]

1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I am a paid subscriber to the print edition. Have been for years. So save the "put your money where your mouth is" comments.

And my original point stands: Why did they purchase a newspaper in a town they have zero interest in covering? Seems like a waste of money. Unless they are just trying to eliminate the other major newspaper in the valley so they can force the Forum on everybody. They think they are the New York Times or the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, but they aren't.

I wasnt singling you out when I was talking about paying for the content, its more of a broad yell at the people that dont pay for it and want it to be given to them for free. Kind of the "Get off my lawn" grumble grumble...

As for the company buying the newspaper somewhere and not covering it part, those things dont need to go hand in hand at all. If Forum Communications were to go buy the Omaha World Herald, why would THE FORUM have to cover anything in Omaha. That would be that newspapers job still. Forum Communications isnt going to keep pushing money to keep something going if there isnt equal support from that community to keep it going. I get that you are saying that because of the small area that between the towns they should cover it. They do still cover UND Sports but The Forum has 3 Universities in town that they cover and have more of a demand and money behind them to be covered. I hope it changes as I am an alum and avid UND sports fan and continue to go to games and read as much as I can on them.

[fightingsioux4life]

22 minutes ago, SiouxDiggity said:

I wasnt singling you out when I was talking about paying for the content, its more of a broad yell at the people that dont pay for it and want it to be given to them for free. Kind of the "Get off my lawn" grumble grumble...

As for the company buying the newspaper somewhere and not covering it part, those things dont need to go hand in hand at all. If Forum Communications were to go buy the Omaha World Herald, why would THE FORUM have to cover anything in Omaha. That would be that newspapers job still. Forum Communications isnt going to keep pushing money to keep something going if there isnt equal support from that community to keep it going. I get that you are saying that because of the small area that between the towns they should cover it. They do still cover UND Sports but The Forum has 3 Universities in town that they cover and have more of a demand and money behind them to be covered. I hope it changes as I am an alum and avid UND sports fan and continue to go to games and read as much as I can on them.

Love the comment in bold! I sometimes catch myself doing that. 

I don't expect The Forum to cover Grand Forks more. I DO expect that if they buy the Heraldo, they won't strip it bare of content and then shut it down because people aren't buying it and/or reading it online. It just seems like that is the endgame here and it makes me sick. Either stop stripping it bare or sell it someone else. Honestly, if I want quality print news, I have to pick up a Star Tribune, lots of good news from all over the world in there.

[UND08]

19 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Love the comment in bold! I sometimes catch myself doing that. 

I don't expect The Forum to cover Grand Forks more. I DO expect that if they buy the Heraldo, they won't strip it bare of content and then shut it down because people aren't buying it and/or reading it online. It just seems like that is the endgame here and it makes me sick. Either stop stripping it bare or sell it someone else. Honestly, if I want quality print news, I have to pick up a Star Tribune, lots of good news from all over the world in there.

This is literally what hedge funds and the like do all the time in almost any business.  Maybe ForumComm's end goal is to keep the 3-5 people worth keeping (Schloss, Miller, etc.) bring them over to the Forum as Grand Forks writers...and shut the Herald down.  I don't know if that's their goal...but if the Herald can't be run profitably it very well could be.  

[SiouxDiggity]

We have gotten a little off topic here. This thread is supposed to be about the Coaching Staff so I will jump back to that. I am not sure what to do about them. I like Bubba and I think he is a fantastic ambassador for the University and football team. That being said, there are things that are definitely his fault and stuff that isn't but because he is the head coach it almost all falls at his feet. His main fault is being way too loyal. That got him in trouble with hanging on to Rudolph much longer than needed that's for sure. He might be doing the same thing with the Strength and Conditioning guys as well as Schmidt. This team is definitely better off then when Mussman was in charge and I would hate to see it go back the other way. Is Bubba the answer, I dont know anymore but there comes a time when just being middle of the road with the occasional scratch at the playoffs just isnt tolerable anymore.

[GoHawks]

14 minutes ago, SiouxDiggity said:

We have gotten a little off topic here. This thread is supposed to be about the Coaching Staff so I will jump back to that. I am not sure what to do about them. I like Bubba and I think he is a fantastic ambassador for the University and football team. That being said, there are things that are definitely his fault and stuff that isn't but because he is the head coach it almost all falls at his feet. His main fault is being way too loyal. That got him in trouble with hanging on to Rudolph much longer than needed that's for sure. He might be doing the same thing with the Strength and Conditioning guys as well as Schmidt. This team is definitely better off then when Mussman was in charge and I would hate to see it go back the other way. Is Bubba the answer, I dont know anymore but there comes a time when just being middle of the road with the occasional scratch at the playoffs just isnt tolerable anymore.

I'm thinking you meant Kostich? I know Schmidt has had some bad games and inconsistent at times but he is not the reason this team is bad. His defense has bailed this team out multiple times in the past 6 years. He really shouldn't be in the same conversation with Baukel, Kostich , and Rudy. 

[zonadub]

2 hours ago, SiouxDiggity said:

... This team is definitely better off than when Mussman was in charge ..

This is the common belief on this board. Is it really though? Mussman was a better recruiter, imho. Braden Hansen and Kenny Golladay off the top of my head. Muss may not have done much with them, but Bubba’s only trip to the playoffs was with (mostly) Mussman’s recruits.
Now the general feeling among many posters is that Bubba is recruiting D-II level players. That is not bad when they are natural talents like Santiago, but this staff is not doing a very good job of coaching them up to be competitive. It is going to be tough the in the MVFC.

[Hawkster]

7 minutes ago, zonadub said:

This is the common belief on this board. Is it really though? Mussman was a better recruiter, imho. Braden Hansen and Kenny Golladay off the top of my head. Muss may not have done much with them, but Bubba’s only trip to the playoffs was with (mostly) Mussman’s recruits.
Now the general feeling among many posters is that Bubba is recruiting D-II level players. That is not bad when they are natural talents like Santiago, but this staff is not doing a very good job of coaching them up to be competitive. It is going to be tough the in the MVFC.

Quoting for truth.     It can't be said enough, Bubba simply can't recruit.   I'm not sure anyone on this staff can recruit for that matter.

[Siouxperfan7]

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 9:46 AM, UNDBIZ said:

STOP CLICKING ON MCFEELY COLUMNS

McFeely is a click bait whore. He writes columns to stir the pot.  Adds nothing to the conversation. 

[Siouxphan27]

48 minutes ago, zonadub said:

This is the common belief on this board. Is it really though? Mussman was a better recruiter, imho. Braden Hansen and Kenny Golladay off the top of my head. Muss may not have done much with them, but Bubba’s only trip to the playoffs was with (mostly) Mussman’s recruits.
Now the general feeling among many posters is that Bubba is recruiting D-II level players. That is not bad when they are natural talents like Santiago, but this staff is not doing a very good job of coaching them up to be competitive. It is going to be tough the in the MVFC.

Getting close to the point where the main difference is the dancing. 

[Shawn-O]

27 minutes ago, Siouxphan27 said:

Getting close to the point where the main difference is the dancing. 

And towel snapping.