Showing posts with label Missouri Valley Conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missouri Valley Conference. Show all posts

Sunday, September 23, 2012

I wonder if Bill Bradley still wants the BSC to drop UND



One of my facebook friends pinged me today and asked me if I had the link to the Sacramento State blog post that Bill Bradley of the Sac State Sports wrote that said that the Big Sky Conference should kick UND out of the Big Sky Conference because of the school's Fighting Sioux Nickname.

This was before UND has finished their transition period where they became an official member of the BSC. Apparently, the said author didn't think UND was worthy of being in the Big Sky Conference based our nickname.

Obviously, getting kicked out of the Big Sky Conference was a concern around the UND athletic department this past spring before the June 12th vote on the measure 4 nickname referendum was voted down.

That being said, it was interesting to re-read what this beat writer from had said.
Bill Bradley, SacStateSports.com Editor --- UND is joining the league next season as part of a Big Sky expansion to 13 teams that includes Southern Utah and UC Davis and Cal Poly in football only. If only it were that easy.

The problem is UND’s entry to the Big Sky hasn’t gone as planned – at all. From its botched entry in the league to its continued controversy over the Fighting Sioux nickname, UND has transitioned into the Big Sky like a child going kicking and screaming.

Which is why the Big Sky Conference needs to say, “No thanks. We made a mistake. Thanks for playing. Go find another conference.” The premier league in the Football Championship Subdivision and a competitive mid-major group in basketball doesn’t need the long road trips and headaches UND will bring.North Dakota was supposed to join with South Dakota as a package deal. It was all set to make the Big Sky a 14-team league, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said this fall. However, at the last minute South Dakota got a better offer from a more geographic-friendly league, the Missouri Valley Conference.
After re-reading that article, I guess I am going to enjoy UND's first official Big Sky Conference win in football against Sac State, even a little more. I wonder if the writer of said article would still write his blog post, more specifically I wonder if he still wants to see UND get booted from the Big Sky Conference.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Opinion: Big Sky Should Admit North Dakota Mistake, Let Fighting Sioux Go

Big Sky Conference logoImage via WikipediaIf you haven't seen this, it's worth a read.
Bill Bradley, SacStateSports.com ---- The problem is UND’s entry to the Big Sky hasn’t gone as planned – at all. From its botched entry in the league to its continued controversy over the Fighting Sioux nickname, UND has transitioned into the Big Sky like a child going kicking and screaming.

Which is why the Big Sky Conference needs to say, “No thanks. We made a mistake. Thanks for playing. Go find another conference.” The premier league in the Football Championship Subdivision and a competitive mid-major group in basketball doesn’t need the long road trips and headaches UND will bring.North Dakota was supposed to join with South Dakota as a package deal. It was all set to make the Big Sky a 14-team league, Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton said this fall. However, at the last minute South Dakota got a better offer from a more geographic-friendly league, the Missouri Valley Conference.

That made sense, but the Big Sky, which also wanted UND because of its reputation as a research institute, didn’t withdraw the invite to the Fighting Sioux, which were making the transition from Division II to Division I FCS. The UND regents accepted, making UND the only member of the Big Sky in the Central time zone.
I posted his on Sioux Sports. I love the Fighting Sioux nickname, and there is no way that the school will ever be able to replace the Fighting Sioux nickname with anything that I consider to be acceptable, but I don't see any way UND can keep the name "unless" the Spirit Lake Tribe wins it's law suit against the NCAA. I also would love nothing more than to see the NCAA lose their law suit, I think they deserved to have that happen to them because I think they are a bunch of hypocrites. I am not holding my breath but I hope the Tribe wins. That being said I think it's time to move on before we end up on the outside looking in. Do we really want to call the Big Sky's bluff?
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