Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[SW_Mustang]

Haha, I misread this at first thinking you were a freshman for 3 years. I've know some people that took 7 years to to get their undergrad, but the extra years usually come on the back end not the front.

It took me 7 start to finish, but I wasn't attending full time for the first several years, and had a semester off in there. Did it this way to manage debt load. Not sure if I regret it or not - I never felt like a real college student only going part time, and when I transitioned I felt like I was much older than everyone else.

Having less than a quarter of the debt though has been pretty awesome... so I guess I picked my sacrifice.

Crazy thing is, I knew other students doing similar and some who wished they would have. That debt can be crippling if not properly managed. I know I could have done some things differently to shave a year or so off of the total, but it is what it is at this point.

[NorthDakotaDragon]

Wayne went to the Mineral Water Bowl in 2007, the NCAA playoffs in 2008, and went 8-3 in 2009.

I agree with your overall point though that schools like Bemidji and Wayne can overcome their funding/location disparities and compete with the right hires and players.

Northern went to the MWB is 2004 and MSUM in 2018.. if that's our measuring stick for teams that are or are not forever bottom feeders.

Side note - is the Mineral Water Bowl dead for good?

[zimmy21]

I've always thought of SCSU as more of a baseball school sans football, but wrestling is probably more accurate. Crookston is definitely baseball.

Winona seems to be in the middle of the road on a lot of things. Football is usually competent, basketball, baseball is decent-ish, volleyball can spoil someone else's day - but they don't seem to be "great" at anything.

Mary is actually quite competent at club hockey, fwiw.

I had a hard time with SCSU as well, I consider them a baseball school but I don't pay much attention to wrestling. I do know however that they are a great wrestling program so I went with that.

[zimmy21]

Northern went to the MWB is 2004 and MSUM in 2018.. if that's our measuring stick for teams that are or are not forever bottom feeders.

Side note - is the Mineral Water Bowl dead for good?

That's a great question, I had not paid attention to that. When was the last Mineral Water Bowl?

[Purple Mav Man]

Northern went to the MWB is 2004 and MSUM in 2018.. if that's our measuring stick for teams that are or are not forever bottom feeders.

Side note - is the Mineral Water Bowl dead for good?

I would guess so. Once it’s gone for a few years, it would be very difficult to resurrect. But that’s a guess

[SW_Mustang]

The MWB is unfortunately dead. It was last played in 2019.

It was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic. Attempts were made to resurrect it, but they had trouble finding sponsors and more-or-less pulled the plug on a return in 2022.

[wscsuperfan]

That's exactly right, it's a sad truth. It feels often that schools throw a program out there sometimes. Every School has it's focuses, I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks the remaining 14 schools have as their primary focus athletically.

Augustana - Hockey / Basketball for NSIC sports
Bemidji - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Concordia - Volleyball
Mary - Cross Country?
Crookston - Baseball?
Duluth - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Mankato - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Moorhead - Basketball
Minot - Baseball? Maybe Soccer? Moreso Club Hockey
Northern - Basketball
Sioux Falls - Football
Southwest - Volleyball
St. Cloud - Hockey / Wrestling for NSIC sports
Wayne - Volleyball
Winona - Track? Baseball? Do they even care about Basketball anymore?

I still love the pipe dream of the NSIC sponsoring D1 hockey if we could get Minot to make the jump, or Moorehead who was looking into it years ago.

Interesting list for sure. Yes, WSC puts a lot of stock into volleyball. The school does care quite a bit about hoops as well.

[SW_Mustang]

I had a hard time with SCSU as well, I consider them a baseball school but I don't pay much attention to wrestling. I do know however that they are a great wrestling program so I went with that.

Wrestling is probably the correct answer, but I agree - I don't follow college wrestling so it's not the first that comes to mind for any school.

Also, I'd give Minot baseball. They seem to have a core of dedicated fans. Whether or not that translates to success, I'm not sure - but I've always thought of them as a "baseball" school. Wish they'd add a D1 hockey team though.

[Stanger86]

That's exactly right, it's a sad truth. It feels often that schools throw a program out there sometimes. Every School has it's focuses, I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks the remaining 14 schools have as their primary focus athletically.

Augustana - Hockey / Basketball for NSIC sports
Bemidji - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Concordia - Volleyball
Mary - Cross Country?
Crookston - Baseball?
Duluth - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Mankato - Hockey / Football for NSIC sports
Moorhead - Basketball
Minot - Baseball? Maybe Soccer? Moreso Club Hockey
Northern - Basketball
Sioux Falls - Football
Southwest - Volleyball
St. Cloud - Hockey / Wrestling for NSIC sports
Wayne - Volleyball
Winona - Track? Baseball? Do they even care about Basketball anymore?

I still love the pipe dream of the NSIC sponsoring D1 hockey if we could get Minot to make the jump, or Moorehead who was looking into it years ago.

But yet you don't seem to accept this fact when it comes to Jamestown?

[Purple Mav Man]

But yet you don't seem to accept this fact when it comes to Jamestown?

He did say ‘sad truth’ in the first line. But also, Jamestown is not in the conference. They are looking to join, those listed are current members and not trying to receive an invitation or in need of proving anything.

Jamestown is trying to join a group/conference/club. For better or worse, they have to put together a resume to prove they are a worthy add. So again, what is their resume? If making the conference an even number is their strongest argument….pass. Or if they are a small private school similar to 3-4 others….pass. What do they bring to the table?

MrMustang is the only one to attempt to answer this so far, and it was more of an indictment of SCSU and Crookston than a pro-Jamestown piece.

[Stanger86]

Jamestown is trying to join a group/conference/club. For better or worse, they have to put together a resume to prove they are a worthy add. So again, what is their resume? If making the conference an even number is their strongest argument….pass. Or if they are a small private school similar to 3-4 others….pass. What do they bring to the table?

As that list shows, they have a lot in common with most of the league. Specializing in a sport or two is celebrated in the league, and that's what Jamestown does. Judging Jamestown solely based on its football program is akin to judging Bemidji solely on its baseball program or judging Sioux Falls on its volleyball program or the Mavericks on their wrestling program. Throwing their NAIA volleyball championship or basketball success out of the discussion would be like not including football in the decision-making process when Sioux Falls was added.

Infrastructure matters. As a whole, facilities are middle-of-the-pack in the NSIC at worst. Football stadium would rank in the top half of the league. The basketball/volleyball arena would be among the best in the league as well. These are NEW investments that the school and its alumni have made to athletics. They didn't let their football press box rot like some schools have...

Geography also matters. Jamestown is about as perfect a geographical/travel fit as is possible.

Overall, I'd argue they may have more in common with the bulk of the NSIC at its core than Mankato does.

[Purple Mav Man]

As that list shows, they have a lot in common with most of the league. Specializing in a sport or two is celebrated in the league, and that's what Jamestown does. Judging Jamestown solely based on its football program is akin to judging Bemidji solely on its baseball program or judging Sioux Falls on its volleyball program or the Mavericks on their wrestling program. Throwing their NAIA volleyball championship or basketball success out of the discussion would be like not including football in the decision-making process when Sioux Falls was added.

Infrastructure matters. As a whole, facilities are middle-of-the-pack in the NSIC at worst. Football stadium would rank in the top half of the league. The basketball/volleyball arena would be among the best in the league as well. These are NEW investments that the school and its alumni have made to athletics. They didn't let their football press box rot like some schools have...

Geography also matters. Jamestown is about as perfect a geographical/travel fit as is possible.

Overall, I'd argue they may have more in common with the bulk of the NSIC at its core than Mankato does.

Some teams let their press box rot, some teams don’t finish their field projects and have a glorified grandstand while fielding a high school team. This is fun :)

This isn’t all about football, never has been other than we’re in the football forum. I posted Jamestown’s finishes in the GPAC - 7th out of 12 is their best. Here it is again: https://gpacsports.com/All_Sports_Trophy_End

That doesn’t read like an overall program ready to come in and compete, even with their commitments. And when I say compete, I don’t mean compete for titles by any means, people like to overreact to that statement. I mean not be a Crookston and actually field a competitive team.

So they bring average facilities and a somewhat geographic fit, and an overall program in the bottom half of their current conference?

I appreciate you replying at least. But that still doesn’t make a convincing argument at all though. They probably aren’t going to include us in on the vote anyway! :)

Perhaps the best and smartest move for the NSIC is to boot MSU then!

[Stanger86]

This isn’t all about football, never has been other than we’re in the football forum. I posted Jamestown’s finishes in the GPAC - 7th out of 12 is their best. Here it is again: https://gpacsports.com/All_Sports_Trophy_End

That doesn’t read like an overall program ready to come in and compete, even with their commitments. And when I say compete, I don’t mean compete for titles by any means, people like to overreact to that statement. I mean not be a Crookston and actually field a competitive team.

Bemidji placed 13th in all-sports standings last year, are they "a Crookston"? Should they be kicked out of the NSIC for a failure to field competitive teams?

[Stanger86]

I posted that . UMC has 4 men's sports. That's a joke and unacceptable.

Bemidji also has four. Saint Cloud has THREE!

[Stanger86]

Mary leaving is probably a done deal. They're tired of sucking at athletic endeavors.

Interesting statement, considering they finished fourth in all-sports standings last year. But unfortunately, football is the determining factor for if you deserve to be among the elitists from Mankato and Augustana.