McFeely Blog rips Big Sky.........

[WYOBISONMAN]

Mike McFeely, Sports columnist for the Fargo Forum took a swipe at the Big Sky Conference in his recent Web Blog. McFeely examined the decision by the Big Sky to take Norther Colorado over North and South Dakota State as conference members. It is a great read that shows the stupidity by the Big Sky Conference in that decision.

A quote from the blog....

No, I firmly believe the Big Sky presidents are so geographically arrogant that they would rather take a piece of crap, on-the-cheap athletic program simply because it is located in a Rocky Mountain state. Then again, what else would you expect from a conference that added two piece of crap, on-the-cheap athletic programs (Sacramento State, Portland State) because they are located in major West Coast markets?

There are two entries that talk about this issue. One titled, "Nice choice, Big Sky" and one titled, "Nice choice, Big Sky (Chapter 2)"

It is a good read as we move towards the possible invite of NDSU and SDSU to the Gateway.....and UND examines a move to DI

http://www.areavoices.com/mcfeely/

[UND92,96]

There's no question that the addition of UNC has been a complete and utter disaster so far for the Big Sky. The awful men's basketball program should have been anticipated. The currently awful football program was probably more difficult to have anticipated. The legal problems? Sadly, that shouldn't have come as a huge surprise, either. Anybody remember Steve Cutlip?

[The Sicatoka]

The Big Sky allowed itself to be put into a box, and now the box is getting smaller:

The west coast BSC wing is associated with talk of jumping ship to west coast based conferences.

The xDSU's have found homes (assuming Gateway, Mid-Con) to the east.

The Big Sky better realize this narrowing or squeezing of what was their vast space or they'll be the "Top of the Rockies Only" (and not much else) conference soon.

[bincitysioux]

The west coast BSC wing is associated with talk of jumping ship to west coast based conferences.

That could bode well for UND

The xDSU's have found homes (assuming Gateway, Mid-Con) to the east.

And that could as well

[WYOBISONMAN]

That could bode well for UND

And that could as well

That stuff could work to your favor if the Big Sky Presidents realize what a corner they have painted themselves into. If they pass on the UxDs, it would be a huge mistake......but given the geographic bias they might be that short sighted.

[RD17]

It comes as no surprise to me to see a low class operation like UNC's fall flat on it's face in D-I. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

[The Sicatoka]

(I can't resist the temptation any more ... )

Given the history here (NDSU trying to woo the Sky and being spurned), does McFeely's uber-bashing of the Big Sky, casting it as something you really don't want, signal that an invite to UND is coming soon?

I wouldn't put that type of behavior past the Fargo sports media jackals.

[Bison Dan]

(I can't resist the temptation any more ... )

Given the history here (NDSU trying to woo the Sky and being spurned), does McFeely's uber-bashing of the Big Sky, casting it as something you really don't want, signal that an invite to UND is coming soon?

I wouldn't put that type of behavior past the Fargo sports media jackals.

Yea I'm sure McFooly has the inside story on BSC expansion.

[sultan]

The McFeeley article has a lot more to do with the fact that the conference NDSU really wanted to get into(The Big Sky) didn't happen and now that they are getting into the Gateway they are just bashing the conference they didn't get into. They did the same thing with DII , the NCC, smaller schools in the area, smaller cities in the area, NAIA, DIII, other schools coaches and administrators . I could go on and on. Fargo has done this for years. That's why most schools and people in the area (unless your connected to NDSU) have always thought NDSU and their fans were arrogant. There is a definite pattern being followed when it comes to making fun of other people and institutions. If they had gotten into the Big Sky they would be making fun of the Gateway now.

[Bison Dan]

The McFeeley article has a lot more to do with the fact that the conference NDSU really wanted to get into(The Big Sky) didn't happen and now that they are getting into the Gateway they are just bashing the conference they didn't get into. They did the same thing with DII , the NCC, smaller schools in the area, smaller cities in the area, NAIA, DIII, other schools coaches and administrators . I could go on and on. Fargo has done this for years. That's why most schools and people in the area (unless your connected to NDSU) have always thought NDSU and their fans were arrogant. There is a definite pattern being followed when it comes to making fun of other people and institutions. If they had gotten into the Big Sky they would be making fun of the Gateway now.

So McFooly is NDSU? The article has to do with the school they picked to join the BSC. Great choice! As far as being arrogant well sultan we could argue that all day.

[nodakvindy]

The Big Sky has fallen considerably with the losses of Boise St., Idaho and Nevada. I'm not sure how UND is a good fit for the Sky at this point. The sporting offerings don't match up, it's a very poor geographic fit - let alone the time zone issues, and it doesn't fit into the UND recruiting footprint. As much as it pains some, the Mid-Con is clearly a better fit.

[WYOBISONMAN]

The Big Sky has fallen considerably with the losses of Boise St., Idaho and Nevada. I'm not sure how UND is a good fit for the Sky at this point. The sporting offerings don't match up, it's a very poor geographic fit - let alone the time zone issues, and it doesn't fit into the UND recruiting footprint. As much as it pains some, the Mid-Con is clearly a better fit.

The one thing the Big Sky will always have to offer either UNDor NDSU is a rivalry with the Montana schools. Those would be absolutely huge games. I don't think either the Mid Con or the Gateway can match that with the exception of playing SDSU.

[GeauxSioux]

The Big Sky has fallen considerably with the losses of Boise St., Idaho and Nevada. I'm not sure how UND is a good fit for the Sky at this point. The sporting offerings don't match up, it's a very poor geographic fit - let alone the time zone issues, and it doesn't fit into the UND recruiting footprint. As much as it pains some, the Mid-Con is clearly a better fit.

As discussed previously and pictorally with Wyobison's NDSU's alumni map, UND and NDSU have big pockets of fan support in AZ and CO, not to mention the Pacific NW. Plus one home for the "money" sports would be great. I think Swimming and Diving could become part of the Mid-Con or Horizon as an associate member. The big problem with the Big Sky insofar as a conference home for sports would be baseball and softball.

[WYOBISONMAN]

I posted a link to McFeely's blog over on Any Given Saturday and I see I have drawn the rancor of the UNC fans (all three of them).

[Diggler]

I posted a link to McFeely's blog over on Any Given Saturday and I see I have drawn the rancor of the UNC fans (all three of them).

The monster from Return of the Jedi?

[nodakvindy]

As discussed previously and pictorally with Wyobison's NDSU's alumni map, UND and NDSU have big pockets of fan support in AZ and CO, not to mention the Pacific NW. Plus one home for the "money" sports would be great. I think Swimming and Diving could become part of the Mid-Con or Horizon as an associate member. The big problem with the Big Sky insofar as a conference home for sports would be baseball and softball.

While there may be pockets in CO and AZ, the vast majority of out-of-state alumni are in the Twin Cities and that's clearly a check for the Mid-Con. While having football and basketball in the same league would be nice, I don't think it's a necessity. And people consistently seem to neglect the time difference. That would certainly hurt media coverage, with games not finishing it time for newspaper deadlines and the evening news.

[GeauxSioux]

While there may be pockets in CO and AZ, the vast majority of out-of-state alumni are in the Twin Cities and that's clearly a check for the Mid-Con. While having football and basketball in the same league would be nice, I don't think it's a necessity. And people consistently seem to neglect the time difference. That would certainly hurt media coverage, with games not finishing it time for newspaper deadlines and the evening news.

While your time zone point is a valid one, I don't think the Twin Cities/Mid-Con connection is as strong an argument. Other than NDSU and SDSU the Mid-Con is in Shreveport, Kansas City, Rochester Hills MI, Tulsa, Cedar City UT, Macomb IL, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne IN. None of these cities are particularly close to MSP. I would think that UND would be attempting to schedule both SDSU and NDSU on an annual basis regardless of which conference the Sioux end up in.

With the Big Sky, you would have UM and MSU next door. UNC is close to Denver, Flagstaff is about a 2 hour drive from Phoenix and all of the grads in the Seattle and Portland areas.

Back to the time zone issue. With the internet, I think people rely far less on the nightly newscast and the morning paper. If and when all of the games are streamed, you will have less of a time zone issue.

[siouxnanigans]

While your time zone point is a valid one, I don't think the Twin Cities/Mid-Con connection is as strong an argument. Other than NDSU and SDSU the Mid-Con is in Shreveport, Kansas City, Rochester Hills MI, Tulsa, Cedar City UT, Macomb IL, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne IN. None of these cities are particularly close to MSP. I would think that UND would be attempting to schedule both SDSU and NDSU on an annual basis regardless of which conference the Sioux end up in.

With the Big Sky, you would have UM and MSU next door. UNC is close to Denver, Flagstaff is about a 2 hour drive from Phoenix and all of the grads in the Seattle and Portland areas.

Back to the time zone issue. With the internet, I think people rely far less on the nightly newscast and the morning paper. If and when all of the games are streamed, you will have less of a time zone issue.

One additional point about the time zone... While it is true that people get their news less and less from television and the morning news paper we shouldn't forget what the people want reported (and what television and newspapers have to offer). While all of the scores would be available fairly soon after the game is over, any articles and or television highlights would have to wait til the next day. I want to see the highlights and read the local angle and I don't want to wait til day 2..... The score is really a secondary thing.

[GeauxSioux]

One additional point about the time zone... While it is true that people get their news less and less from television and the morning news paper we shouldn't forget what the people want reported (and what television and newspapers have to offer). While all of the scores would be available fairly soon after the game is over, any articles and or television highlights would have to wait til the next day. I want to see the highlights and read the local angle and I don't want to wait til day 2..... The score is really a secondary thing.

I haven't lived in GF since 1993, so I'm not sure about the coverage the local media is providing. On the away games are they currently showing the game highlights that same night? With advances in broadcasting and video streaming that will become reality. Star2City knows more about the media packages available with the Big Sky, but I believe that the Altitude Network has teamed up with the Big Sky in a television package.

I would hope that the Herald would be sending a reporter with the team on road trips and with the technologies available today, I can see no reason why they can't get the story in the paper for the next morning, at the very least in the online version.