New Swany Says - A "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" Moment

[99Bison]

The headline should have read: South Dakota dumps Big Sky Conference for prettier, and jealous, Missouri Valley Football Conference after only one date. Said Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fulerton: “We really thought they liked us, we really did. They seemed so nice and even gave us their class ring and asked us to Prom. How could we be so stupid?”

http://www.bisonillustrated.com/s.php?s=381

Oh, those admin players at USD... lucky ones too if you ask me :)

[BadlandsBison]

The headline should have read: South Dakota dumps Big Sky Conference for prettier, and jealous, Missouri Valley Football Conference after only one date. Said Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fulerton: “We really thought they liked us, we really did. They seemed so nice and even gave us their class ring and asked us to Prom. How could we be so stupid?”

http://www.bisonillustrated.com/s.php?s=381

Oh, those admin players at USD... lucky ones too if you ask me :)

Good article. UND's head is still spinning!

[cbline]

The headline should have read: South Dakota dumps Big Sky Conference for prettier, and jealous, Missouri Valley Football Conference after only one date. Said Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fulerton: “We really thought they liked us, we really did. They seemed so nice and even gave us their class ring and asked us to Prom. How could we be so stupid?”

http://www.bisonillustrated.com/s.php?s=381

Oh, those admin players at USD... lucky ones too if you ask me :)

Good read!! Thanks for the article!!

[siouxdgj]

The headline should have read: South Dakota dumps Big Sky Conference for prettier, and jealous, Missouri Valley Football Conference after only one date. Said Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fulerton: “We really thought they liked us, we really did. They seemed so nice and even gave us their class ring and asked us to Prom. How could we be so stupid?”

http://www.bisonillustrated.com/s.php?s=381

Oh, those admin players at USD... lucky ones too if you ask me :)

A very apt assessment and extremely well written article. Leads me to believe more than ever that the Summit/MVFC never had any intention of inviting UND to the dance. UND knew that, hence did the right thing by not wasting the Summit's time regarding an on-site visit. But when USD appeared on the verge of leaving as well, the Summit/MVFC woke up and decided to drive a wedge between UND and USD. In all honesty I can't fault USD for doing what was best for its institution. Another situation where money talks.

[Tatanka]

A very apt assessment and extremely well written article. Leads me to believe more than ever that the Summit/MVFC never had any intention of inviting UND to the dance. UND knew that, hence did the right thing by not wasting the Summit's time regarding an on-site visit. But when USD appeared on the verge of leaving as well, the Summit/MVFC woke up and decided to drive a wedge between UND and USD. In all honesty I can't fault USD for doing what was best for its institution. Another situation where money talks.

:rofl: Seriously. R O F L

[TransAmBison]

A very apt assessment and extremely well written article. Leads me to believe more than ever that the Summit/MVFC never had any intention of inviting UND to the dance. UND knew that, hence did the right thing by not wasting the Summit's time regarding an on-site visit. But when USD appeared on the verge of leaving as well, the Summit/MVFC woke up and decided to drive a wedge between UND and USD. In all honesty I can't fault USD for doing what was best for its institution. Another situation where money talks.
Taking both schools was not optimal...but I believe they would have done it because it was better than not taking either. UND just decided to show their hand before the betting was done and made the ideal option available.

[siouxdgj]

Taking both schools was not optimal...but I believe they would have done it because it was better than not taking either. UND just decided to show their hand before the betting was done and made the ideal option available.

Maybe. On the other hand, not taking the Big Sky option might have screwed us out of both the Big Sky as well as the Summit/MVFC combo. That would have been worse for us. I'm still convinced that maybe for geographic reasons as well as others UND was never in serious consideration for the MVFC at this time. Summit who knows. But we needed a football home. And the Summit does not have football. This oft-stated crap about 9 being the perfect number for the MVFC is just that--crap. I tend to agree with your opening statement about "Taking both schools was not optimal."

[99Bison]

Yea it kind of went down ideally from MVFC perspective (whom had the power here). In the end UND had to take Big Sky and not wait on MVFC. Summit would certainly have invited eventually but MVFC doesn't have any near term motivation to add yet another school. The MVFC got the closest of the two and solidified it's already stable conference two fold by virtually locking up xDSU's (stabilizing summit) and providing a replacement for YSU if they were to leave.

[BisonCardinal]

Location, location, location. UND is considered an "outlier" for both conferences. I, too, think that the MVFC had no intention of adding both UND and USD. You have to give credit to USD for using the old "gotta talk to the wife first" tactic. Worked beautifully.

You also can't blame UND for accepting the Big Sky offer without USD. Refer to first three words. In hind sight, I am thinking that the BSC probably wished it had made it a condition, but the BSC assumed, like everybody else, that the MVFC was not thinking expansion and that USD was a done deal. The way it is worked out, UND can think they did okay. With the MVFC at 10 now, it could lose a team (YSU) and still not be in an expansion mood.

[KC Bison]

The point is that we'll never know if the MVC or the Summit would have taken the suzies. The suzies were so eager to grab the Big Fluffy ring that they cancelled all further interviews and appoints. I personally can't see that a school 70 miles north of Fargo couldn't work into the footprint of any conference that already has three other Dakota schools. This is a classic example of why you need to be careful of what you wish for or why you should look before you leap.