Good article in the GF Herald.....

[WYOBISONMAN]

The GF Herald is continuing to turn out a few pieces that are very positive for NDSU. I like what this Dave Nilles is writing....

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Posted on Fri, Sep. 12, 2003

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: A shot in the arm
Victory over Montana provides boost for Bison

By Dave Nilles
Special to the Herald

FARGO - It didn't take long for the news to spread once the North Dakota State football team defeated Division I-AA Montana last Saturday.

The impact is still being felt at NDSU.

Many teams nationally took notice of the loss that dropped Montana out of the top 10 in the Division I-AA poll for the first time in 60 games. The Bison, of course, rebounded from a 24-2 halftime deficit to stun the Grizzlies 25-24 in Missoula.

"I've received a few calls from South Dakota State, Western Illinois and Montana State, all congratulating us," NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor said.

The last few minutes of the game were broadcast on big screens in front of several thousand Montana State fans in Bozeman after the Montana State game had concluded. Montana State is Montana's top rival.

"We're very popular in Bozeman right now," Taylor said.

Phones rang with fans looking for season tickets Monday. Due to the high demand for football tickets, NDSU has reopened and prorated season-ticket packages for the remaining five home games.

The Bison host UC Davis on Saturday night.

"We've been receiving a high volume of calls due to interest," assistant athletic director for marketing Troy Goergen said. "We're expecting a good crowd for the Cal Davis game."

NDSU is expecting such a large student turnout that the top halves of two additional sections in the Fargodome are being opened. As many as 3,000 students could be on hand for the Davis game.

"We knew that if we even showed well against Montana, it would be a good turnout for the Cal Davis game," Goergen said.

Season tickets have been a hot commodity. Before the season, NDSU sold 4,300 tickets - down from the 4,700 sold last year. As of Thursday morning, the number was up to 4,600. Goergen said about 200 season tickets have been sold this week.

With the second straight Division I-AA team on the schedule and a renewed interest in Bison football, Goergen expects that number to increase.

Goergen and Taylor also took advantage of the Montana trip as a learning experience. The two took note of the marketing Montana provides its fans.

"You always borrow ideas," Goergen said. "The whole state has a passion for the Griz. They call it the greatest show in Montana."

NDSU already has implemented tailgating activities and pregame festivities to rival many I-AA schools.

"We want to change the whole atmosphere of the game," Goergen said. "Fans come for the experience, not just the game."

Despite the recent popularity boost, it isn't known whether the win will help NDSU's chances of entering the Big Sky Conference. The Montana schools both are members of that conference.

The Big Sky and Mid-Continent conferences remain the most appealing to NDSU.

"Expansion is always on the agenda. It's the same as every conference in the country," Taylor said. "We certainly hope this win will help them think of us again. It shows what kind of a program we are."

NDSU would like to play Montana again. With the move to Division I-AA next season, the Bison will play about a 50-50 mix of Division II and I-AA teams, Taylor said. In 2005, NDSU must field a predominantly I-AA schedule.

NDSU has had talks with several I-AA schools, including Georgia Southern. Bison head coach Craig Bohl also expressed interest in starting a rivalry with the Grizzlies.

While the victory over Montana has made waves nationally, the biggest impact may be in the Bison ticket offices. It's the shot in the arm they were looking for.

[tony]

Dave Nilles has to be the guy who writes for the Spectrum.

Hats off to the Herald, not only for publishing three decent articles in one season about NDSU, but also for giving an NDSU student a chance to write for them.

[Schemer]

This guy isn't the first NDSU student to write for the Forum. Neil Coolong (former Spectrum Editor) wrote for the Herald just last year, on a regular basis, before accepting a job in Iowa.

[ncoolong]

Dave Nilles is the sports editor at The Spectrum (NDSU's student newspaper) currently, and looks to be doing a helluva job for The Herald.
I had his position at The Herald last year, and they do make a strong effort to get as much NDSU stuff in as possible.
Obviously, it's Sioux-country up there, and they aren't going to have nearly as much Bison information as they do Sioux.
However, I do know, firsthand, they edit stories to look as pro-UND as possible.
I cite, for example, my story last year on NDSU's football recruit class - the first as a Division I-AA program.
My story is obviously going to be slanted toward NDSU, as that's the market I'm writing for. I focused on two things; 1. recruits from Pennsylvania and Chicago proving that NDSU is becoming more of a national recruiting school instead of just Minnesota, ND/SD and some Wisconsin and Iowa. 2. How much more interest has come to the football program from a recruit's perspective since the decision to move to D-IAA was announced.

I don't see anything wrong with this angle. However, my story ran next to Wayne Nelson (the GF version of the great Jeff Kolpack), and mine had been chopped more than a liver at a Chinese restaurant, with Wayne's focusing on how UND KILLED the Bison in recruiting the state of North Dakota (UND had something like 13, NDSU had 2). Mine all of a sudden focused on how NDSU failed to recruit within the state.

While the fact that UND did have more recruits from N.D. is obvious, the point I was making is NDSU has the ability to go after more talent in bigger areas, and they more or less left N.D. to the Sioux (I had a quote from Babich saying just about exactly that, but it was mysteriously removed).

The printed version of what I wrote might as well not have had my name on it, as they rewrote the whole thing. I got emails up the ass from Bison fans everywhere screaming at me about how biased I was toward the Sioux. Nothing makes me angrier than being blamed for something that isn't my fault, but it was right there in black and white; My story completely missed the point of the 2002 recruiting class. And I didn't write any of it.

I do respect GF Herald sports editor Kevin Fee and I appreciate the opportunity he gave me. But after reading that paper next to The Forum for the last four years, the indesputable fact I learned is The Forum will be even in their reporting of both schools (columns aside), but The Herald will go to great lengths to make the Sioux look better.

NEAL COOLONG
Sports Editor
Charles City Press
801 Riverside Dr.
Charles City, IA 50616
www.charlescitypress.com

[WYOBISONMAN]

Interesting information....thanks Neal!

[met1990]

Thanks for the info Cowboy,
You must have been fun to work with at the Spectrum.

[tony]

Thanks for the insight, Neal. At least we didn't rip you a new one on the boards last February.