lets drop baseball and add hockey

[Notorious]

Drop this...

[bisonpride]

Lacrosse is getting big and is going overrtake most sports in popularity except for football and basketball in the next few years.. Our Rec department had about 150 kids last year signed up last year for lacrosse, ages 8-14 this year over 500 signed up. They plan to extend leagues for rec department to 18 year old as over 130 kids went out for the high school team

Just asking to see if it has hit the uppermidwest like the rest of the country and if potentially it could become a varsity sport.

That would be a resounding no! I dont think there is even a HS club team for boys or girls in ND. I know there is a small amount of youth players in town but it is VERY small. Minnesota has slightly more interest but it would be a horrible idea to add lacrosse.

[bisonpride]

They are adding 3 sheets of ice to the Scheels center.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! They are no where close to ever doing that. Pipe dream right now. They dont even have enough money to finish their parking lot. They got under $1 Mil from Scheels to name the arena. NDSU got $5 Mil from Scheels. They got under $1 Mil cuz they were desperate for money and took what they would give them.

[bisonpride]

Disclaimer: I love hockey and always will... I think it's one of the best sports in the world, and I truly enjoyed playing, coaching, reffing, ect.

The problem with hockey is it's a niche sport, and while it's niche is near ND (and you can very easily argue that ND is not a hockey state despite UND and it's bandwagon following) it doesn't mean hockey is a strategically correct move for NDSU. Arguments can also be made that while hockey is the golden calf at UND, it's also part of the millstone (*nickname*) around the mainstream sports' neck.

The NCAA is high on MBB and NDSU has decided to hitch it's pony to that ride, and rightly so. Title IX, eggs in the mainstream sports basket, and common sense have dictated NDSU move to not add hockey, and those will continue to weigh heavily on that decision in the future. The bottom line is, while any Hockey program in this area could be successful in a short time (location, location, location) what would NDSU really gain from that success? Nobody outside of hockey fans in hockey regions follow hockey, so adding the sport does nothing for NDSU in a long term scheme.

My 2 cents...

Great post! Agree completely including the part about myself enjoying hockey. However all it will do is be a major drag on the other sports right now. The requirement of adding womens hockey is the deal breaker period! Those small Minnesota schools make it work because hockey IS THE ONLY BIG SHOW in town. Its the only sport they get to compete against the Gophers on a regular basis if at all so it becomes a big deal. For us it is not as big a deal anymore after beating them in I think every sport but mens basketball and volleyball. They dont get that opportunity so they throw all their chips in the emotional basket when it comes to hockey.

[bisonpride]

St Cloud State Nebraska Omaha make a killing on hockey and lost money on football. Were in a unique position because we make a ton of money in football and when the BSA is done we will gave a money maker in basketball as well. Hockey is a guaranteed money maker if you can fund the athletic department. We have a great facility in the scheels center.

Why can't we do well with all 3 sports without cutting funding? We would have 3 great facilities and 3 great teams. That's a good D1 vision.

Remember how everyone thought we could never fund a D1 budget? I guess they were wrong. Let's at least have discussions. Who knows maybe there are big donors out there.

Will one of them write the check for Dean Blais's $250,000 contract because that is what it will take to become even close to a competitive team. As soon as Dean Blais leaves UNO their program will go in the crapper. Thats only $50,000 more then Bohl. Everyone needs to keep in mind it is not a $3 million addition. Its $6 Million YEARLY because women's hockey will require the same amount like it or not.

[bisonpride]

But, at least there would be a chance to be relevant in hockey. We aren't gonna be relevant in men's basketball, ever.

College hockey isnt even relevant to the rest of the country outside of Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts and a couple other isolated areas like Denver.

We could be relevant with basketball in a new arena in actually a relevant sport to the rest of the country.

[bisonpride]

I enjoy hockey a lot and would love to shove a hockey victory down the UND fans throat but it would kill everything else we have going for us now on a gamble in a money draining regional sport.

Why has softball done so well despite our climate? Because they have put the money into the program to allow Mueller to get the players he needs to win (ie. California).

Baseball is not allowed the same opportunity. If baseball was funded for recruiting like softball they would be able to get some difference maker players from Cali and Texas and would be challenging ORU for a conference title. They have a good core but are killed by arm injuries right now and when you are not fully funded and have your #1 starting pitcher out you have a good chunk of your scholarship money sitting on the bench. When they get funded at the top of the league then their can be some complaints but they didn't even have a full time HEAD COACH until coach Brown because they wouldn't fund the position. Its only the 4th year of a full time assistant coach I believe and the 1st year of a 2nd full time assistant coach. We are just finally funding one of our programs to at least a low respectable conference level and now want to add 6 million to our budget. If we were actually funding all of our programs fully right now I would say bring it on but we are severely lacking in several areas.

[abc123]

Pretty high price to pay to be relevant in a sport where there are a little more than a dozen Division 1 schools participating.

There were less that 4,000 fans watching the Regional Hockey Final in Green Bay. College women's basketball sold out the arena to watch Baylor and A&M play in a Regional Final. Triple the fans. For Women's basketball.

All last week, during the Women's Basketball regional Finals and during the Women's Final Four, ESPN pimped the Frozen Four in St. Paul. Guess what though: THEY NEVER ONCE MENTIONED THE TEAMS PLAYING.

Try find College hockey scores on the ESPN website. Once you find them, you better write some directions down so you don't waste a half hour the next time you look. That's how much the sports world cares about college hockey.

You own comment earlier says it ALL. BEMIDJI STATE is RELEVANT in hockey.

While not all the school's that play hockey are D-1 in more than just hockey, its somewhere around 37, just a few more than a dozen. It is a weak enough number without having to make something up.

And while it is women's basketball and that attendance is impressive, I don't think that 11,500 sells out the American Airline Center where the game was played (home of the Dallas Mavericks, it seats 21,000+). You also fail to mention that Baylor's campus is under 100 miles away and Texas A&M's campus is 200 miles away. A little closer than the 600 and 1100 miles away that UND and Denver were from Green Bay.

[lakesbison]

abc that makes zero sense, you got hit by a 24 year old canadian too many times.


If baseball was funded for recruiting like softball they would be able to get some difference maker players from Cali and Texas and would be challenging ORU for a conference title

^^^^^ because of LYNN DORN>?????????????????



there's about 10,000 hockey fans in minneapolis, 10,000 in ann arbor, 10,000 in madison. 7500 in stink forks. they are the same fans that goto every single game every week. anyone outside of these people dont give a fart crap about hockey and the rest of USA certainly doesnt care.

[Twentysix]

That would be a resounding no! I dont think there is even a HS club team for boys or girls in ND. I know there is a small amount of youth players in town but it is VERY small. Minnesota has slightly more interest but it would be a horrible idea to add lacrosse.

NDSU has a club lacrosse team. Im not advocating a "varsity" team or whatever the correct term is.