Fargo South to Field 2 Teams

Come the fall of 2010 Fargo South will field a pair of varsity teams in preparation for the opening of Davies High School which is slated to open its sports schedule in 2011.

It creates a bit of an interesting situation coming up for South, as I'm not exactly sure how the teams will be determined or things of that nature. Still, it is going to give kids more of a chance to play sports at the high school level and that is never a bad thing.

One issue created out of this is a possible ramification in which Davies (and/or South I suppose?) may not have the enrollment to warrant playing at the AAA level and may be moved to AA. Couple this with a request to move more sports to three or four divisions, and suddenly that is a whole big ball of wax that I thought was just voted down. Regardless, it appears as though more classes are still being debated.

Big E, Eric Peterson, is on the horn - you know the drill. Click here.

Joe Mays Gets Paid

There is nothing like picking up six figures to play a game, just ask former NDSU linebacker and current Philadelphia Eagle Joe Mays.

Mays signed his first pro contract that might be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.6 million over four years. Tremendous.

Great stuff from Mays, too. In Jeff Kolpack's story in the Forum, Mays was quoted as saying, "It was like signing the Declaration of Independence or something like that." Mays, who graduated from SU in the spring, is still my favorite player to come out of the Bison football program in case you were wondering.

Good stuff from Kolpack throughout. Click here to open the gateway.

On a Hot Day, Nothing is Better Than a Kolpack

Jeff Kolpack has one of the most busy, most fun jobs in the state - covering NDSU athletics. Still, even though he is pumping countless inches every day/week/month/etc., Kolpack continues to produce fine copy.

Case in point: Kolpack put together a tremendous feature on Bison Football over the weekend, taking a look at the work players put in each summer and how they make some coin to afford luxeries in life like a roof over the head and enough food to fuel a football-player body.

Kind of funny actually...how much work goes into those 60 minutes a week in the fall, barring overtime of course.

Anyway, catching up on some weekend stuff here, but I promise you - if you have not read it yet, it is well worth 5 minutes of your time. Click here.

Hotzler Examines State of Women's Golf

The Forum's Heath Hotzler put the magnifying glass on the state of women's golf in the area. It is interesting in that it reflects a trend that seems to be happening in all avenues of sports.

All in all, I don't know what to offer as a way to turn around participation in athletics. The world, it is a-changin' that is for certain. And basically, if I've learned anything, this too shall pass. Other than that, nothing is certain. Act accordingly.

If you want a pretty interesting read, give Hotzler's story a try.

East Region Tournaments Changing Locations

So you can pretty much plan on going to new locations during the 2009-10 tournament seasons if you are a fan of Class A's East Region.

Some 2009-10 changes include:

* Going to Fargo for the East Region Hockey Tournament
* Going to Grand Forks for boys' and girls' basketball tournaments

Some 2008-09 changes:

* Going to seperate sites in Fargo for boys' and girls' tournaments

The Forum's Kerry Collins is on the call, so for a full rundown of the changes and the reasoning behind them, give this a click.

Heinle Dismissed From KVRR

KVRR sports director Scott Heinle has been dismissed from KVRR apparently.

Heinle, with KVRR for four years, was apparently fired last Thursday, but no reason was given for the move.

Weekend sports guy Greg Enkers will act as the interum sports director until a successor is named.

The story is brief and doesn't give a whole lot of details, but for a little more info on the situation, click here.

Forum's Schnepf on Phil Boerger

Phil Boerger is one of the state's top soccer prospects and is off to play college ball at Evansville University next fall.

The Jamestown product was named the state's SPOY in this past season and is joining a team that I believe was ranked in the nation's Top 25 or right near the Top 25. So yeah, he's decent.

Anyway, Kevin Schnepf from the Forum put together a feature story on Boerger, who will be a backup initially to MLS prospect Alec Dufte in goal.

To give it a read, click here.

Dahl's NFL Future

I've always wondered how unsatisfying it would be to win a championship at any level, but to be injured and unable to play while your teammates win the team's season-ending game. I would think that it would put a fire in your gut and push you continuously through the offseason.

That was the situation facing former NDSU standout Craig Dahl last season, after he played in nine games for the New York Giants last season, but tore up his knee prior to the Giants defeating the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Dahl was released after the season ended and is rehabbing in hopes of latching on with the Giants again, or another of the league's teams. I would think as long as he can prove he has recovered from the knee injury, he should be A-OK. Not to downgrade his injury, certainly a torn ACL has ended many a career, but it seems like it isn't anywhere near the career-ender that it was 10 and 15 years ago. My gut tells me Dahl should be fine.

I'm guessing he would be an asset that most teams would like to have on their roster and basically I got that same impression from Jeff Kolpack's story today in the Forum. To give that story a read, click here.

McFeely take on RedHawks

The Forum's Mike McFeely put together a bit of an early-season column/story talking about RedHawks' manager Doug Simunic stating the state of the Fargo-Moorhead baseball team and the Northern League.

Sadly, I see the Northern League and the Dakota Athletic Conference as being in the same boat. Teams have left in recent years and there is some fear those losses will cause the end of the conference/league. The worst part about the situation facing both, is I enjoy the on-court product each provides. There is some talent there, some history, a lot of good times.

Personally, I agree with the take that you have to be completely honest about what is going on with the state of the conference/league or you are going to watch it crumble in front of our eyes while you wear a fake smile. To read McFeely's latest offering, give this a click.

Mary Names Thomas New AD

Roger Thomas, the former AD and football coach at the University of North Dakota, as well as commish of the NCC, is keeping his Division II roots intact, becoming the AD at the University of Mary.

For Cindy Peterson at the Trib, click here to read her submission.

The Forum's Heath Hotzler on the call. Click here to give it a read.

Nulph Said

I jumped on the Forum's web site and apparently their sports section is under new direction.

Scott Nulph, a Wahpeton native who grew up a fan of the Forum, took over recently. He wrote a column basically introducing himself here if you want to read it.

Best of luck.