Bison gonna Bison, FCS or FBS(tm)
An invaluable peace of info 4 this pie would b fer ML. To have a honest private conversation with klieman as to how he feels we would "stack up"-------having the "horses" to compete right away\keep the momentum would b crucial and ithink it's safe 2 say we have that in spades for the next few years but would hope klieman could confirm that after a full season against "the big boys"
I strongly suspect there is a plan in its very initial stage to build a new basketball arena on or near campus. This plan is just setting there until the time is right. I don't mean blueprints or a precise location or anything, but a document with wants/needs and a price range. I can't believe the NDSU AD admin honestly views the SHAC as a true long-term(30+ year) solution. I feel the SHAC was viewed as a necessary evil: there wasn't enough money available to truly do it right($70-90M), but the BSA needed to be updated yesterday. So you do what you can with what you have until you have more sometime in the future.
I think within 10 years, we'll see the public beginnings for fundraising for a new arena, and the SHAC arena will be lightly modified to be the home for wrestling and volleyball. The upper west side seating will be removed to make more space for support functions, and the main scoreboard will be removed and replaced so it doesn't interfere with volleyball. I also suspect they'll replace the seating risers at that time to give the proper leg room.
I still hope they can resurrect the Fargodome basketball addition plans; I think that was the perfect solution to everyone's problems. It gave the FD a nice sized venue for concerts too small for the main floor. It would make basketball tournaments far easier to run with an extra court. It would give a bunch of extra floor space for trade conventions. And it would be a perfect size for a successful NDSU basketball program, with plenty of premium seating. In a perfect world, the addition could be part of an overall expansion of the FD. I know I'm in the minority on this one, and that there would be no cost savings over building new, but I would rather see the FD be reconstructed than building a brand new facility. Mostly because where would you put the new one, and what would you do with the FD?
If you keep both operating, you'll probably go from a small profit at one, to losing money at both; there just aren't enough events to support two large facilities. So do you tear the FD down once the new place is built? If you do that, I hope you build the new one right next to the FD so you can reuse some of the infrastructure. In any case, the community(FM/NDSU) is either stuck paying for the ongoing operation costs for two facilities, or the demolition cost to tear down the FD. Both options suck a little. So how about a nearly complete rebuild from the ground up? If you do it right, I bet you could build the new concourses and roof structure while the FD was still in use. Then stage everything so that the FD is offline for no more than a year. If you plan very well with the football schedules, it's slightly possible you might not even lose a season(though it would mean giving up the chance of a season of home playoff games - of course if NDSU was FBS, this wouldn't be an issue ).
One of the bigger hurdles for the move to FBS is the lack of fan support from students. Bison crowds now are ages 1-10 and 40 plus. I watched a number of big college games on tv recently and paid attention to the crowds as national games are constantly panning the crowds. VERY few young kids and older adults, MANY, MANY students who are very loud and into the games. Unlike Bison 'sit on your hands nation' the past few years in games other than Playoffs. As a visiting team if you get thru the first drive or two the crowds are pretty subdued, To many Lolly Pops and Geritol's.
I am curious as to what it is these students are doing or why they are not going at all. Yes I fully realize alcohol is involved in a lot of cases. I thought college football game day was at the top of the list of things to do on a Saturday? Do the students have Bison Fatigue? Do they look down upon the football program for some reason? Does the student body in general have a bad view of the players (too cocky or rub them the wrong way with all of the attention)? It really is quite puzzling.
Run the damn ball!! PRO FBS
Unfortunately its not puzzling. you lose interest in your shiny new toy when its not so new anymore. The 7th national championship run in a row is inherently less interesting than the 1st.
Its not an excuse- but it is human nature. We are in the globetrotters stage of the program. There is little to no drama in virtually any of the games- students arent going to sit there and scream their asses off when we're up 42-7 at the half.
Before anyone accuses me of not being a fan, or my favorite, NOT HAVING A SOUL, I went to more games this year than any year previously, I am a TM and cheer like a psycho every game. So cut the "DONT YOU THINK THIS IS SPECIAL?!" bullishit. Of course its special and I am enjoying the hell out of it. But people who cant figure out why the rafters arenet 100% packed with foaming at the mouth students each week have their head in the sand.
1. The FCS was the Best option for NDSU for a very long time.
2. As a general rule- the FCS sucks at football and has proven that is not committed to football at all.
3. It's time to go FBS
this is it.
I don't even see students on the ndsu football fans pages, 25,000 followers and hardly any students. The BUZZ just isnt there. I actually sat in student section with my 4 year old at the game 2 weeks ago. All on thier phones, the only chatter was what house they were partying at for halftime and rest of the day.
NDSU winning and dominating has become routine , its hard for these kids to watch Alabama, Clemson, Wisconsin on tv with amazing student sections than walk into the fargodome and watch NDSU just obliterate subpar competition.
NDSU TO FBS. HAVEN'T WE WON ENOUGH?
So the same students have been at NDSU for this entire run? Would think there has been some turnover.
Also, not a fair comparison between NDSU and nationally televised FBS games, as the student body population is way larger.
How do we compare to say, SDSU, SIU, UNI, etc.?
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Bisonville: Making football coaches out of arm-chair-QB's and jock sniffers for years!
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Liberals of BV need not respond to my posts. I don’t need to get any more dumb.