Friday, September 06, 2013

Dave St. Peter: Renew the UND-NDSU football rivalry

If you haven’t seen this newspaper article it’s worth a look. I agree with what Mr. St. Peter is saying. I think it’s time to renew the rivalry, and he’s right, all of our other teams are already playing each other and they have been for a couple of years now. Looking backwards, Roger Thomas made a huge mistake by not playing NDSU during their transition. It’s time that both schools make this happen.
Dave St. Peter, Grand Forks Herald – As a UND alum and avid follower of all UND athletics, I’ve never been easily impressed by anything NDSU-related. But as a native of the great state of North Dakota, I couldn’t be more proud of what the NDSU football program has accomplished.

Congratulations to Coach Craig Bohl, the balance of the coaching and training staff and all of the players on their well-deserved victory. Best of luck throughout the 2013 football season.

Speaking of my boys, Friday night’s game sparked an interesting discussion within the St. Peter household. That dialogue focused on why NDSU and UND no longer play each other in football.

I shared many stories from my time in Grand Forks detailing personal experiences with the NDSU-UND rivalry — many of which were painful losses both at Dacotah Field and Memorial Stadium at the hands of Bison greats Jeff Bentrim, Tyrone Braxton, Chad Stark, Tony Satter and others.

Each story included the buildup, the pageantry and the legends that accompany one of America’s longest-standing college football rivalries.

In my professional career, I’ve been lucky enough to experience so many wonderful sporting events. Moreover, I’ve seen firsthand how those events have brought communities together — perhaps like nothing else can.
Oh yeah! To our friends to south that say that they would rather watch NDSU vs. Ferris State are delusional. No matter how you spin it, the game against FSU is probably at best a high intensity practice, and let’s not kid ourselves; the Bison would get a better look from their scout team than they will from the Division II version of Ferris State. .
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