Who Has Lost the Most Mojo?

[G_Funky]

Little of both but it mostly boils down to the fact the FCS is eroding and we rarely get FBS games. There was over 20k in Arizona. Until we move up, those games will be rare

Fans pay huge money for tickets and most games are over at half time. There only a few regular season games fans get truly excited for. Then you got the semis in the playoffs. This team, if they make the playoffs, will be on the road. But teams like Georgia Southern and James Madison have been replaced by something called Incarnate Word. Fans arent interested in the Word

The team simply doesnt have stars and great personalities, who help sell tickets. Then the stars leave early for the draft or transfer. Team isnt tough or physical. Where is Travis Beck flying through the air vs K-State who then dislocates his shoulder and tries to make a tackle with 1 arm. Then he pops it back into place. No Austin Kuhnert popping a dislocated elbow back into place so he doesnt miss a play. How about Grant Olson playing with Appendicitis? Or DeLuca playing injured for 4 games to preserve a year of eligibility. Or Jirek playing well with 2 bad shoulders that required surgery after the year. Or Wentz playiny a full game with a broken throwing hand. We dont have those kind of players

Games are closer not because the competition is better. We are worse

Then on top of it, marketing and bad decisions, has slowly eroded the experience.

1) Ruining tailgating by eliminating all GA spots on the west side pushed out some fans

2) Things like Fan Day being reduced to a high school level production is a huge failure

3) We lost our stud video guy but now they dont do any hype videos or pre game stuff

4) the tickets have no cheap options. Even the top row KK in the corner seats are $50 when the dome is empty. SDSU still has $22 options

Them you got the donors who have made some incredible gifts, only to see the team go backwards

Move up

One thing I'd like to add regarding the identity of our athletic department:

In 2008 NDSU was playing the Jacks in the dome on the final game of the season...playoff implications on the line. If the Bison won, they had a decent chance of making the playoffs at 7-4 (losses to FBS Wyoming, ranked Youngstown, ranked UNI, and ranked WIU - beat the eventual MVFC co-champs SIU). SDSU was also sort of in the talks at 6-5 and so a win in Fargo would put them in the playoff talk as well. This was the game when Ryan Berry got smoked, obviously concussed, and then came back in the game after their backup broke his hand. On SDSU's last drive, they had a nearly nonconvertible 3rd down...especially with an injured QB and a sold out Fargo Dome about ready to blow the roof off the place. Berry heaves some desperation throw down the middle of the field and NDSU safety Nick Schommer drilled the SDSU wide receiver as he was going up for the catch. Totally legal, albeit unnecessary, but legal nonetheless. One official felt like he needed to be part of the game so he threw a flag for a personal foul on Schomms. SDSU eventually went down and scored and tacked on a 2pt conversion to win the game 25-24.

Gene Taylor was on the sideline for the game and had to be physically grabbed and pulled back onto the sideline by support staff after that official made the call. He came totally unhinged.

Some may call that being unprofessional.

I viewed it as a man that passionately cared about the program, the vision, and the kids on the field.

Im not so sure that mentality or passion exists anymore in the athletic department...and it really is too bad.

[El_Chapo]

yes, Gene was at SDSU Basketball game in 2009 woodside year and was besides himself with the refs calling everyone on ndsu. Unbison and I were standing by him and just giggling, then he gave us that look like "can you guys harass this ref so i don't get thrown out"

so we took over..

Gene & Klieman would have us FBS TOP 25 like JMU already. man we messed up...

[TAILG8R]

Matt Larsen's "playbook" for the NDSU athletics department

[AlumniGreen]

Matt Larsen's "playbook" for the NDSU athletics department

If Gene Taylor were still here (understandably he was fabulous so was ripe for moving up), things would be vastly different. God, I miss his athletic expertise.

[THEsocalledfan]

The fans that are jumping ship never had any mojo of their own to begin with, they were just borrowing it, and now they're on to something else.

And that's OK. Going to Bison games isn't cheap. Now the people who were complaining about not being able to get season tickets can swoop in. That's the cycle of life.

I have no doubt that the team and coaches are giving it their all.

That issue went away in 2020. Now, they are pricing existing ticket holders out of the market as they can't embrace the new reality of 15k in the stands on a good day.

[TAILG8R]

That issue went away in 2020. Now, they are pricing existing ticket holders out of the market as they can't embrace the new reality of 15k in the stands on a good day.

Larsen has squeezed every last bit of juice out of the momentum we had and most of that came in the form of higher fees, ticket prices, tailgating costs, etc. He was so quick to stab us all in the back for a stick of gum he forgot to look into the future a couple years and ask "what if ...".

[BISONBRI53]

Larsen has squeezed every last bit of juice out of the momentum we had and most of that came in the form of higher fees, ticket prices, tailgating costs, etc. He was so quick to stab us all in the back for a stick of gum he forgot to look into the future a couple years and ask "what if ...".

Remember when he was saying that we are spoiled? That was cool.

[HerdBot]

One thing I'd like to add regarding the identity of our athletic department:

In 2008 NDSU was playing the Jacks in the dome on the final game of the season...playoff implications on the line. If the Bison won, they had a decent chance of making the playoffs at 7-4 (losses to FBS Wyoming, ranked Youngstown, ranked UNI, and ranked WIU - beat the eventual MVFC co-champs SIU). SDSU was also sort of in the talks at 6-5 and so a win in Fargo would put them in the playoff talk as well. This was the game when Ryan Berry got smoked, obviously concussed, and then came back in the game after their backup broke his hand. On SDSU's last drive, they had a nearly nonconvertible 3rd down...especially with an injured QB and a sold out Fargo Dome about ready to blow the roof off the place. Berry heaves some desperation throw down the middle of the field and NDSU safety Nick Schommer drilled the SDSU wide receiver as he was going up for the catch. Totally legal, albeit unnecessary, but legal nonetheless. One official felt like he needed to be part of the game so he threw a flag for a personal foul on Schomms. SDSU eventually went down and scored and tacked on a 2pt conversion to win the game 25-24.

Gene Taylor was on the sideline for the game and had to be physically grabbed and pulled back onto the sideline by support staff after that official made the call. He came totally unhinged.

Some may call that being unprofessional.

I viewed it as a man that passionately cared about the program, the vision, and the kids on the field.

Im not so sure that mentality or passion exists anymore in the athletic department...and it really is too bad.

Gene cared and was passionate. He was also paying close attention to details and listening. I emailed him about numerous things over the years. Topics ranged from taipgating at the spring game to yard signs to how crappy the Hall of Fame was. I emailed him about how crappy the Dacotah Field bleachers looked. He replied back every time and even put some things into motion

I emailed Larson and he never replied once, so I stopped emailing him

[KSBisonFan]

Gene cared and was passionate. He was also paying close attention to details and listening. I emailed him about numerous things over the years. Topics ranged from taipgating at the spring game to yard signs to how crappy the Hall of Fame was. I emailed him about how crappy the Dacotah Field bleachers looked. He replied back every time and even put some things into motion

I emailed Larson and he never replied once, so I stopped emailing him

I've also emailed Larson in the past, and never received one reply.

[TAILG8R]

ML is all about appearances and making connections. Probably why he’s been good at raising money.


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