ND Pride Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Normally, it is somewhat simplistic to try and characterize a community the size of Fargo or Grand Forks in terms of being oriented in some dominant way, to the minimization of other sports, toward one sport or another. When I moved to North Dakota it seemed clear that Fargo was a big baseball town - Roger Maris, etc, etc . It was also clear that Fargo was a big football town and if you have not seen the resources devoted to golf then you are missing a few things. We used to joke that a broken ball washer at a golf course would be fixed in Fargo before an outdoor rink would be maintained. Hockey is perhaps my favorite sport and I see it as down the totem pole in Fargo. I would say football, baseball and even basketball are bigger. I think by most measures that would be true. It would take a lot of space to explain the rationale for these conclusions but if you look at attendance at high school sports events, which admittedly is only one measure, you would find hockey behind football and basketball. If you look at the number of kids playing and media coverage for baseball and golf you would see that they get much more than hockey. Someone could easily turn this into a book or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 I have some cousins in Fargo who are currently involved in the youth basketball program there. I would think basketball would be pretty big in Fargo with how well Fargo North and South have done in the state tournaments in recent history. A couple of years ago the State A was held in Minot, and it seemed like South had a bigger student section at that tournament, then they've ever had at a state hockey tournament. Correct me if i'm wrong please... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted March 2, 2005 Author Share Posted March 2, 2005 Here are the members of the All-State team, as listed on Bob Gillen's website. I accidently posted this in the goalie section.....der.... F-Sam Aide-Bismarck High F-Charlie Bair-Mandan F-Jordan Willert-Minot High F-Paul Campbell-Grafton/Park River F-Tom Campbell-Grafton/Park River F-Jake Stadstad-Grand Forks Central D-Tyler Jundt-Williston D-Dan Nelson-Hazen-Beulah D-Erik Galt-Fargo South D-Jake Marto-Grand Forks Central G-Josh Bruce-Williston G-Eric Olson-Grand Forks Red River At-Large All-State Selections F-Jared Kopp-Bismarck High F-Rody Selk-Minot High F-Paul Weisgarber-Fargo South D-Matt Hill-G.F. Red River D-Caleb Luecke-Fargo South G-Tyler Stahl-Minot High The only questionable selection I have is Matt Hill from RR. I think the kid should have been on the first team without a question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jloos Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Here are the members of the All-State team, as listed on Bob Gillen's website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy the Kid Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Best D in the state? That may be pushin it. He makes a good amount of mental mistakes as far as stupid passes and only going for a hit rather than making the right play. I think you may want to think about what you write. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redriverhockeyplayer Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Best D in the state? That may be pushin it. He makes a good amount of mental mistakes as far as stupid passes and only going for a hit rather than making the right play. I think you may want to think about what you write. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> very true, i have played with vigen for a long time and he is not worthy of all this talk about being hte best defensemen in the state. I think he was probably the third best defensemen on our team this year behind Hill and Galbreath. Vigen has made some of the dumbest plays I have ever seen. Feeding a forechecker in the slot on a powerplay breakout shoud not even happen at the bantam level, yet Jake Vigen manages to do that in a varsity game against White Bear Lake. He makes a few big hits and other than that is horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooperfan Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 very true, i have played with vigen for a long time and he is not worthy of all this talk about being hte best defensemen in the state. I think he was probably the third best defensemen on our team this year behind Hill and Galbreath. Vigen has made some of the dumbest plays I have ever seen. Feeding a forechecker in the slot on a powerplay breakout shoud not even happen at the bantam level, yet Jake Vigen manages to do that in a varsity game against White Bear Lake. He makes a few big hits and other than that is horrible. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sounds like you are probably the horrible one and pretty gutless i might add, that you claim to have played with him for a long time and yet don't identify yourself and joined this forum just to rip on the kid. Either that or you are just plain jealous. I can assure you there has been plenty of dumb plays made by several Red River players including Hill, Galbreath, and I'm sure yourself. I'm not saying that I agree with Loos saying he is the best D in the state but I would say he ranks right up there. I guess the teams that have scouted him know far less about hockey than you do though. I have watched Jake play many times and think he does a great job, I don't know him real well but I have friends who do and they say he is a great kid, we all wish him well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ND Hockey 4 Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8sk8er Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFSIOUX#1 Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 Why is Moorhead so dominating with a strong program from the bootom up and across the river they can't get the job done in a state where the caliber is not near the quality of MN? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soohockey15 Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soohockey15 Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 The next state championship Moorhead wins will be their 1st. South has managed to "get the job done in a state where the caliber is not near the quality of MN" twice since 1994. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not taking anything away from fargo souths championships, but moorhead has consistently better teams and look what they have to do to win their state championship. in north dakota the first game is always a pushover and sometimes so is the second. in minnesota the teams all have won their conference which means that moorhead doesnt play any bottom of the barrel teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringDeanBack Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 Not taking anything away from fargo souths championships, but moorhead has consistently better teams and look what they have to do to win their state championship. in north dakota the first game is always a pushover and sometimes so is the second. in minnesota the teams all have won their conference which means that moorhead doesnt play any bottom of the barrel teams. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think that there has been some confusion about my screen name. BringDeanBack refers to "keep bringing Dean Wilson back" as Fargo South coach. As long as he is there, South will continue to underperform with the talent that they have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringDeanBack Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 I don't know a lot about Dean Wilson, but I believe he's been at South for a long time. Was he there for the 1st state title in '94? I thought he had a pretty good track record, but then again I really hadn't followed high school hockey much from the late '80s up until just a few years ago when my kids got interested in it. What is it about Dean Wilson that leads you to believe his teams underachieve? Are there any specific incidents that come to mind? Was his defensive scheme somehow responsible for South giving up two fluke goals in the final 47 seconds to blow that championship game last year? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> According to you, South has the state's best feeder program (the Flyers,..wink wink) Wilson should be winning it every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFSIOUX#1 Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 Moorhead has a great hockey program, much better than Fargo South or either of the GF schools. That isn't a knock against Fargo South or the GF schools, it's just that Moorhead is that good. But then again, there are a lot of high school hockey teams in Minnesota that are superior to the best teams ND has to offer. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. I was just pointing out the irony of the statement that South supposedly "can't get it done" when in fact they have. Moorhead, as great as their program is, up until now has not been able to get the job done. I think they will probably win tonight and capture that elusive 1st ever state championship, but the fact of the matter is that it just isn't accurate to say the team accross the river can't get it done. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Did South get it done this year as you so professed that they would? Oh yeah that is right the best team in the state won and it wasn't FS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy the Kid Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 Did South get it done this year as you so professed that they would? Oh yeah that is right the best team in the state won and it wasn't FS. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted March 9, 2005 Author Share Posted March 9, 2005 Pat Sweeney just announced on the news that Fargo North won't be continuing the contract of Don Smith. He will however, remain a teacher in the district or at the school (can't remember whether he's a teacher at North or not...). I've heard a lot of rumblings about him in the past from North hockey fans/players. Would any Fargo North fans care to shed some light?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ND Pride Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanfromafar Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Now, I'll tell you why Fargo South will establish itself as the best team in the state within the next few years... quite simply, they have the best players. Did you know the Fargo Flyers squirts A team is 35-0? These kids are going to be playing for South a few years down the road, and will very likely destroy everybody that gets in their way in a fashion not seen since the 1983-84 Central Redskins. Just take a look at some of these scores I pulled off the Flyers website... 12/04/04 - Flyers 8, GF Blackhawks 2 12/04/04 - Flyers 6, GF Supras 0 12/17/04 - Flyers 14, Warroad 0 12/18/04 - Flyers 3, Roseau 0 12/19/04 - Flyers 7, Warroad 1 12/28/04 - Flyers 8, Grafton 1 01/02/05 - Flyers 5, Moorhead 3 01/09/05 - Flyers 4, Roseau 2 01/16/05 - Flyers 1, GF Supras 0 01/31/05 - Flyers 11, Moorhead 5 GF has all the history and tradition, but the future of ND hockey dominance is in Fargo (at least on the south side of town). Enjoy your all GF final tomorrow night, because it could be a long time before you see another one. Not that I'm going to act like a butthead and gloat about it if and when I am proven right about this, I'm just saying that judging by what I've seen with my own eyes the kids who play hockey in the Fargo youth program are superior players to the kids who play in the GF youth program. That isn't to say the GF players aren't good, it's that the Fargo kids are really really good. To whoever it was who made the statement earlier about how South can't possibly go on a run of 5 titles in 10 years because they only have 2 in their history so far... if I remember correctly Red River only had 2 in their history prior to winning 9 titles in 15 years (1987-2001). Think about that one for a while. Every winning tradition has its humble beginnings. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> DaveK, Agree with you that the numbers of kids playing hockey in South Fargo is very impressive; however, I don't share your opinion on youth hockey players in Fargo being superior. Perhaps the difference is that we are looking at different age groups. South ran up gaudy regular season records in both peewee A and bantam A (which is helped by the fact that those levels do north/south bracketing), yet both state championships went to GF teams. You may be correct in your prediction, but I don't think long-term dominance (although FS should be a favorite next year) at the high school level is close at hand. On another note -- does anyone know what happened to Minot because both their peewee and bantams teams posted terrible records last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beehlersweird0 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Heres the thing dave. Injins will be injins as well as i agree with billy da kid. I give him his props for knowing wat hes talkin about. Dont tell me eli rosendahl went to play in yugoslavia to have poeple be talkn dirt to us red necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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