NDSU Spectrum Story on Division I

[kchats]

Attached is an article from a NDSU student that writes for the Spectrum. I don't agree with most of what he says and I especially think he is way off base when talking about the women's basketball team. Amy has been winning for a long time and she will continue to win. As I stated in a post on the basketball page, BSA isn't too far off from the Hammons Student Center on Missouri State University's campus so that shouldn't affect recruiting. I guess far too many people do not understand the division I transition process. The NCAA makes it very difficult for teams moving up to division I to prevent schools that don't belong there from moving up. NDSU has always had a very good athletic department with successful programs. This move to division I isn't going to change that.



http://www.ndsuspectrum.com/sports/s-0408-division1.htm

[roadwarrior]

The continued bashing of the BSA is getting me irritated. Yes, we need to do a major upgrade of the BSA. That I will not disagree with.

But to refer to it as probably the poorest basketball facility in the NCC has me laughing. I wonder how many of the NCC basketball arenas Swanson actually watched a game. I have been to all of them. St Cloud, Omaha, Augustana, Northern Colorado, USD and former member Morningside do not have a basketball facility that would beat the BSA.

Mankato and UND have new arenas, and Frost Arena at SDSU is better than the BSA. Thats it.

[BisonMav]

The continued bashing of the BSA is getting me irritated. *Yes, we need to do a major upgrade of the BSA. *That I will not disagree with. *

But to refer to it as probably the poorest basketball facility in the NCC has me laughing. *I wonder how many of the NCC basketball arenas Swanson actually watched a game. *I have been to all of them. *St Cloud, Omaha, Augustana, Northern Colorado, USD and former member Morningside do not have a basketball facility that would beat the BSA.

Mankato and UND have new arenas, and Frost Arena at SDSU is better than the BSA. *Thats it.

I agree roadwarrior.

[sambini]

i agree roadwarrior. they will get a better place to play in the future.

[Rodentia]

The volleyball team went 13-20. He acts like this is a bad thing. For the first year in D-I, 13-20 is pretty encouraging.

He seems to be going out of his way to discount the success that NDSU has had in women's sports. He says that the women's basketball team playing "only three quality D-I teams", but neglects to mention that they won two out of those three games and finished the season 25-1.

He mentions that soccer, volleyball and softball have had only a total of 6 home games. First of all, this is the first year in D-I, the home games are coming next year. Secondly, softball, despite playing all these road games, is 16-17 thus far - that's got to be counted as a success. Soccer was 5-11-1 this last season, which is not bad at all for a team in its first year of D-I, especially considering that they were on the road a lot.

[Big_BisonFan]

I read the column as Swanson not calling any teams' years successes or failures. He is stating that all teams will have a tough road ahead. A road that will be much longer than most of us "Fans" expected. *He is also just pointing out that NDSU's strongest most storied sport (football) will be leading the way for the near future. Swanson is more than likely one of the most understanding non-athlete students about the process and journey NDSU athletics is undertaking.

As far as bashing the BSA, I agree he was a little out of line when calling it the poorest facility in the NCC. But we have all agreed that it *needs to be updated. *

This is a sports opinion column, and, from what I read, the column reflects the reality of the situation. The journey is not going to be easy and there are many challenges to overcome now and in the future for all teams.

[Bison_Dan]

I read the column as Swanson not calling any teams' years successes or failures. He is stating that all teams will have a tough road ahead. A road that will be much longer than most of us "Fans" expected. *He is also just pointing out that NDSU's strongest most storied sport (football) will be leading the way for the near future. Swanson is more than likely one of the most understanding non-athlete students about the process and journey NDSU athletics is undertaking.

As far as bashing the BSA, I agree he was a little out of line when calling it the poorest facility in the NCC. But we have all agreed that it *needs to be updated. *

This is a sports opinion column, and, from what I read, the column reflects the reality of the situation. The journey is not going to be easy and there are many challenges to overcome now and in the future for all teams.

I agree with you - but we've all heard the same thing for the last 2 years. There's nothing new in the article. It seems every couple of months McFeely or someone will write a column saying the same thing. No one ever said it was going to be easy.