Alerus - Best facility in DII or D1AA

[SiouxperMan]

It is according to the UNA coach:

North Alabama held a one-hour workout in the Alerus Center on Friday. The Lions were impressed with the indoor facility.

"When our players walked into the facility, their eyes got as big as saucers," UNA coach Mark Hudspeth said. "This is probably the best Division II or Division I-AA facility in the nation."




http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/7427625.htm

[IowaBison]

That's because UNA hasn't been out of the South too often in the last few years, though the Alerus is definitely top notch and the complement is good for the City and University.

Of course UNA would think that it could be a good DIAA field, because UND just like NDSU should have been DIAA twenty years ago. I hope you enjoy impressing the little fish in your little pond with the Alerus.

Compare the Alerus to FargoDome, at worst it's a toss up. Compare it to Pittsburg State's field it's probably a toss-up though outdoors. Compare it to Washington-Grizzly Field in Montana, the Alerus or Dome are not that great. But I don't think that the Lions have been there or to that many DIAA fields.

[Bisonguy]

He must be sharing drugs with his players.

Check this thread out from the AnyGivenSaturday board-I-AA football stadiums (http://www.anygivensaturday.org/cgi-bin/board/cutecast.pl?session=Lfo86WFHEjOesS3XwAcSVvVOCH&for um=4&thread=14)

The stadiums at Montana, McNeeese, Delaware, Harvard, Eastern Kentucky, Gerogia Southern, Hofstra, Northwestern State, Penn, Princeton, Tennessee State (they play in Adelphia Coliseum), Yale and Youngstown are head and shoulders above the Alerus. Notice I didn't even mention the Fargodome, which is also better than the Alerus (more seating, better sight lines, more amenities, newer turf, bigger and more video boards, adequate parking, better scoreboards, a roof that actually accomodates collegiate level punts, the list keeps going).

Read the quote again and actually comprehend it this time- *"This is probably the best Division II or Division I-AA facility in the nation."


Notice he did not use "definitely" or just "is"? It's just a visiting coach being courteous and complimentary. Chalk it up to southern hospitality, nothing more, nothing less.

[WYOBISONMAN]

What a joke......he has never been to Washington Griz....or the Fargodome.

[IowaBison]

I forgot about the punts hitting the ceiling, that makes any outdoor stadium at least as good as the Alerus. The building can't interfere with normal play to even be considered a quality place to play.

[ndsubison]

Did anybody notice when UNA kicked an extra point mid 4th qtr? The ball sailed through the uprights and into the corrugated tin AND IT LEFT A DENT!!!! I swear to God! My friend saw it also and we were laughing our @sses off. If anybody did not see it or doesn't believe me, try to get your hands on a game tape or hopefully you can catch it during the highlights on the news. I told my buddy that it's probably cheaper for GF to replace the occassional panel of corrugated tin than it is to invest in a net to catch the ball :o ;D :o ;D

[somebison]

Did anybody notice when UNA kicked an extra point mid 4th qtr? *The ball sailed through the uprights and into the corrugated tin AND IT LEFT A DENT!!!! *I swear to God! *My friend saw it also and we were laughing our @sses off. *If anybody did not see it or doesn't believe me, try to get your hands on a game tape or hopefully you can catch it during the highlights on the news. *I told my buddy that it's probably cheaper for GF to replace the occassional panel of corrugated tin than it is to invest in a net to catch the ball :o ;D :o ;D

Saw it and laughed.. the kick went up.. no net... a big dent in Sam's club

I noticed a few punts were lost by TV cameras in the rafters as well... punting in the alerus is like a city-rec volleyball game... you just have play the bounces when it hits the ceiling

[GFBison]

I saw it too. It looked like it hit tin foil.

They have a net. UNA lined up for two, a time out was called and they came back with the kicking team. They didn't have enough time to raise the net or weren't paying attention.

[met1990]

I can see this thread is getting way off topic but I've been to every NCC stadium more than once and I have to say I prefer UN-O's Al Caniglia field. The turf is in great shape, the press area is hands-down the best, the setting is pretty good and No. 1- it's outside.

[JBB]

I been to caniglia and I didnt like the bleacher seats. I was on the turf too, and it seemed hard. The stadium is in a beautiful setting though. In fact, for the fan I would have to say the Fabulous Fargo Dome is best. Ive never been to Greelye or Alrius. Ive been to all the others. I like the Dakota Dome too.

[WYOBISONMAN]

If USD were to move up do you think the Dakota Dome would be an adequated D1AA facility? I would think that it would work, but would not be great. They could use more seating.

[JBB]

I dont know what they seat, I would guess about 9,000. It would be just fine in DI-AA. Its a comfortable stadium to watch a game with good sight lines, comfortable seats and the concourse flows nicely. Parking is good too.

[Bison_Kent]

JBB,

I agree. The DakataDome would be about in the middle of all I-AA teams for capacity. Many of the mid-major I-AA schools have far less capacity stadiums.

I have been at the DakotaDome for a Bison game in the mid-90s and it was far better then St. Cloud's or Mankato's stadiums.

[insane_ponderer]

i also heard that the UNA team had problems finding hotel accomidations and getting their flights set up because most of them havent even been on a plane before.

[Bison7925]

Has anyone been to the Dakota Dome recently?

Someone mentioned the seats, the basketball bleachers on the visitors side are lousy and the access and restrooms are poor.

They replaced the inflatible roof with corrugated tin panels. It is now the most obnoxiously loud stadium even with only 1500 people. The capacity for football is not near 9000.

USD needs to do some work if they think this is a DIaa facility.

[roadwarrior]

Last I heard was USD has no interest in D1-AA, so the Dakotadome discussion is meaningless.

[JBB]

I sure hope I didnt overinflate my opinion of the Dakota Dome, but the last time I was their the BISON did something like score 21 in the 4th qtr to win the game. I have fond memories of the place and am really not that critical of it. The visitors side is really nothing. For a while that was the USD student section but it got too rowdy. Sit in the seats on the other side. They are blue. You will liike it a lot better.

[C-Student]

1. Greeley...outside, nice weather, great fans.
2. FargoDome...best facility, but football inside ??
3. Brookings....college atmosphere...grass....old-school
4. UNO....decent, far from the best.
5. Alerus.....nice turf, decent facility, but cheap??
6. DakotaDome.....like a basketball arena...no room b/w sideline and wall....like a golf bubble.
7. Mankato....ok
7. St. Cloud...terrible.
8. Auggie....sucks.

[Bisonfan1234]

In my opinion all football should be indoors and on fieldturf.

That way we can level the playing field throughout the country, like basketball.

[BisonInTexas]

In my opinion all football should be indoors and on fieldturf.

That way we can level the playing field throughout the country, like basketball.

I take it you have never played on turf or indoors then. :)

It simply shouldn't be allowed.

Long live Dacotah Field!

Craig

[somebison]

Looks like football operations may be moved to Fargodome

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=46252

[BisonInTexas]

Looks like football operations may be moved to Fargodome

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=46252


Looks like a long walk to practice everyday, but it is probably the best solution.

Craig

[Bisonfan1234]

Unless they plan to practice inside (where they should be).

It's too bad we had to tax the poor people of fargo to build this thing. If we had raised the money ourselves, we could do whatever we wanted with it (including selling the naming rights...big bucks there).

[Bisonfan1234]

I take it you have never played on turf or indoors then. :)

It simply shouldn't be allowed.

Long live Dacotah Field!

Craig


Basketball is the fastest growing sport around the world for a reason: you can play anywhere, anytime and the game conditions never change.

Football should be the same.

[NDSU_grad]

We'll always need an outdoor playing surface to practice on. I would rather see the money go to renovating Dacotah Field/BSA (maybe make it one big complex) than the Fargodome. But this is probably more feasible.

[BisonInTexas]

Unless they plan to practice inside (where they should be).



We have gone over this before - you can't prepare a team to play outdoors on grass by practicing indoors on turf, not to mention the fact that you can't have 90+ players running around on one football field for practice, and not to mention the wear and tear on the players from practicing on turf 5 days a week. As I said before you have obviously never played or practiced on turf.

If the Bison did this (practiced full time in the Fargodome on turf) they would be the only team in the nation, from professional to peewee to do so. I don't know if you hold stock in FieldTurf or what, but it is the most ridiculous idea that I have heard in some time.

Next year, mosey on down to the Bison practice field and see how a practice is run and explain how you could do the same thing effectively on one field indoors.

Craig

[NDSU_grad]

BisonInTexas,
You would probably know the answer to this. How much room does a team need to have an effective indoor practice facility. Would they just need enough to run drills and such, or would they need as much space as the outdoor fields. Iowa State just completed an indoor practice facility, and I'm surprised at how small it is.

[BisonInTexas]

BisonInTexas,
You would probably know the answer to this. How much room does a team need to have an effective indoor practice facility. Would they just need enough to run drills and such, or would they need as much space as the outdoor fields. Iowa State just completed an indoor practice facility, and I'm surprised at how small it is.

Well, it depends on what point in the season you are planning on using the indoor facility. If you are using it for bad weather days late in the season (which is probably what Iowa State has built their facility for), you can get away with a smaller facility and cut back on the special teams drills and such for that day or days as well as living with fewer reps for the offense and defense due to the smaller practice area.

If you are practicing at the beginning of the season, where reps are the most important thing, I can't see getting by without at least two full practice fields - one for offense and one for defense, with the kicking games practicing at one end of one of those fields. Ideally, you would like to have 2 and 1/2 fields with the placekickers kicking on the half field during practices.

An indoor practice facility is useful, but it can never be the sole practice facility for a team.

Craig

[Bisonfan1234]

Answer me this, oh wise one: how could the bison have possibly practiced so much in the fargodome this season and have done so well?

Obviously there is plenty of room on one football field plus the endzones for 110+ players.

I hope they wear out the stupid "magic" carpet! On with the fieldturf!

[mojobison]

Bisonfan1234, what do you mean? Did the Bison really practice a lot in the FargoDome this year? Thought they practiced on grass on south of the BSA myself.

[Bisonfan1234]

Well i know they had to practice in the dome sometimes.

I know they practice outside on the grass south of the BSA as well.

I think the 3 fields they have are simply because it doesn't take much before the grass is all torn up and useless. So they simply rotate the 3 fields to keep them somewhat useable.

IMO they should just have an outside field turf and use the otehr 2 fields for new dorms...or soemthing.

[NDSU_grad]

If I recall, they only used the Fargodome maybe 2 or 3 times all year, and that was toward the end of the season. BisonInTexas, I guess what I was getting at is this, could Dacotah Field be enclosed and used as an indoor practice facility?

[BisonInTexas]

Well i know they had to practice in the dome sometimes.

I know they practice outside on the grass south of the BSA as well.

I think the 3 fields they have are simply because it doesn't take much before the grass is all torn up and useless. So they simply rotate the 3 fields to keep them somewhat useable.

IMO they should just have an outside field turf and use the otehr 2 fields for new dorms...or soemthing.

I doubt that they used the Fargodome as a practice facility much at all. Can you give me any firm numbers on how many practices were held there? Or are you just speculating? Seems like the latter to me.

Like I said before - go to practice and see for yourself - at least two of the fields are used at all times, one for defense against the scout team and one for offense against the scout team. Football staffs are fanatical about productivity, and for maximum productivity at practice, all positions need to be able to do their thing at the same time without having to wait on another drill to finish before they can start.

Signed,
Oh Wise One. ;D

[BisonInTexas]

If I recall, they only used the Fargodome maybe 2 or 3 times all year, and that was toward the end of the season. BisonInTexas, I guess what I was getting at is this, could Dacotah Field be enclosed and used as an indoor practice facility?

Thanks for the confirmation that the Fargodome was not utilized much as a practice facility. I definitely think that Dacotah Field could be enclosed and used as a practice facility. In fact with the south stands being gone, they could put down some more turf to expand the space under the bubble or they could even tear down the north stands and do the same.

Do any high school teams still play at Dacotah?

Craig

[Bisonguy]

I thought they had the Friday walkthrough at the Fargodome. ??? Other than that, there was only a couple practices in the Fargodome. They do use all three fields during practice, or at least two normally.

[BisonInTexas]

I thought they had the Friday walkthrough at the Fargodome. ??? Other than that, there was only a couple practices in the Fargodome. They do use all three fields during practice, or at least two normally.

Yes, the Friday walkthrough was always held at Dacotah Field when I was at school as well. I would expect that the Fargodome be used for that too (when it is available).

Craig

[Former_Hitman]

Fargodome was used for Friday walk thru by the Babich coaching staff.

I don't know what Coach Bohl uses.

[Bisonfan1234]

Ok, you're right, i'm just speculating.

I'm telling you that you can run a good, solid practice inside the dome with all 110+ players fully utilized.

Just for the fact that they had to practice indoors during the Concordia week tells me that they found a way to do such a thing and do it well. Look at the result. Killed concordia.

I'm not for totally getting rid of the fields...but those 3 grass fields are prime real estate for new dorms.

[IowaBison]

I don't think we're short of any flat land around NDSU that could be used for either a dorm or a practice field.

[roadwarrior]

I get home from work, log onto the message board to see whats new, and what do I find? Another one of 1234's crazy ideas. Get rid of the grass practice fields? What next?

[roadwarrior]

Also, can we start a new thread? I'm getting sick of seeing the "Hilarious" center thread getting new posts. As if we are even discussing such a stupid idea as that tin can being the best facility.

[Bison7925]

I agree that 1234 has some crazy ideas when it comes to practicing on the turf.

Back in the mid 80's the U of Ralph lost their practice fields to the Columbia Street overpass. They talked the state DOT into buying artificial turf for Memorial stadium, so they could practice and play there.

They did this for a few years until they realized how tough it was on the players.

You cannot practice on turf day in and day out, it is too hard on the legs. The other reason for practicing on grass and playing on turf is that when you get on the turf, you feel faster.

[Bisonfan1234]

When you say "turf" you mean astroturf.

NEWSFLASH, astroturf is obsolete crap!

New, padded, synthetic grass with rubber infill is here now. It's got everything good that grass has (better in most cases) and nothing bad grass has.

That's what i'm suggesting be practiced on.