North Dakota Preps

What do you think of the Alerus Center as a venue to hold the Boys State B?

Atmosphere? Size? Concessions concourse? Seating?

What's the best place to hold the Boys State B?
Minot's Dome? Bismarck Civic Center? Fargodome? Alerus Center?

Rank them 1 -4 and comment why or why not

I would put Bismarck Civic Center at #1 - plenty of good seating, good concessions that are easy to get to, plenty of parking, plenty of hotels & places to eat nearby and it is easy to get in and out of.
My 2nd choice would by the Dome in Minot because of the seating, but it is almost impossible to get hotel roooms in Minot and if you do they are incredibly expensive.
I would rate the ALerus Center over the Fargodome simply because I hated it in the Fargo Dome, to far away from the court, not a basketball venue. (I have not attended a tournament in the Alerus Center so this year will be my 1st - I have some reservations about it because it is a FB venue like the Fargo Dome - but we'll see.)

When was the last year it was held in the Alerus? 4-5 years ago now? I didn't go that year, but from what I heard it wasn't bad. I'd rank them as follows....Bismarck #1 with Minot 2. Since I haven't been to a basketball game in the Alerus, I don't know if I could rank it over the FargoDome, but I don't like it at the FargoDome either. But, its really all a moot point because as long as the boys tournament is scheduled on its current dates, it won't be held in Bismarck again because of the WDA. Its going to take Minot a couple years to catch up with the oil boom before they can hold a top notch state tourney again, too.

I would love to see the Ralph hold it one year and see how it goes. Jmo

ndfan wrote:I would love to see the Ralph hold it one year and see how it goes. Jmo

I was thinking that, too.

ndlionsfan wrote:

ndfan wrote:I would love to see the Ralph hold it one year and see how it goes. Jmo

I was thinking that, too.

Hard time seein it happen during hockey season...which is to bad its the nicest facility in the state.

i so wish they would move the boys B back in the yr again

Minot - best game atmophoere, fans basically on court. not the best town to host tho

biz - venue is decent, town is decent, i dont have a crush on it like everyone else does tho.

Grand Forks - havent been there for bball but i will this yr, like the town though

fargo - i for one love the town and didnt even mind bball there just cuz the dome is cool. also i thought it was better in 08 than it was in 04.

Too far away for most teams and their fans. Another huge disadvantage is the Red River Valley climate.

packers21 wrote:

ndlionsfan wrote:

ndfan wrote:I would love to see the Ralph hold it one year and see how it goes. Jmo

I was thinking that, too.

Hard time seein it happen during hockey season...which is to bad its the nicest facility in the state.

What's the capacity of the Ralph? Would it be able to support the venue?

SUFan wrote:

packers21 wrote:

ndlionsfan wrote:

ndfan wrote:I would love to see the Ralph hold it one year and see how it goes. Jmo

I was thinking that, too.

Hard time seein it happen during hockey season...which is to bad its the nicest facility in the state.

What's the capacity of the Ralph? Would it be able to support the venue?

I would guess around 12000, so ya it shouldnt have a problem.

SUFan wrote:

packers21 wrote:

ndlionsfan wrote:

ndfan wrote:I would love to see the Ralph hold it one year and see how it goes. Jmo

I was thinking that, too.

Hard time seein it happen during hockey season...which is to bad its the nicest facility in the state.

What's the capacity of the Ralph? Would it be able to support the venue?

I watched KU/UND there a few years back and it was pushing 13,000 for that game.

scruffy wrote:Too far away for most teams and their fans. Another huge disadvantage is the Red River Valley climate.

I'm really confused with the huge disadvantage with the RRV climate? Is it because your from the warmer part of the state and see only a few inches of snow and here its multiple feet of snow(on a normal year)? I'm having a tough time thinking of how any of this is a disadvantage for anyone...the games are played inside a climate controlled building.

On topic, I really wish they would have it in the Ralph, like mentioned above its during playoff hockey time, so we probably wont ever see it.

The Alerus is an awesome place for it(other than it not being centrally located). It's got tons of seating, i think they only use half of the seating. They bring in the bleachers so everyone is close and right up in the action. Hopefully this year they will make bigger railings off the back of the bleachers this year so nobody can jump over them. (A kid jumped after a national guard t shirt, not knowing there wasn't a safety platform and was severely injured, and if I'm not mistaken I believe he passed away just a few weeks later?)

legionball4life wrote:

scruffy wrote:Too far away for most teams and their fans. Another huge disadvantage is the Red River Valley climate.

I'm really confused with the huge disadvantage with the RRV climate? Is it because your from the warmer part of the state and see only a few inches of snow and here its multiple feet of snow(on a normal year)? I'm having a tough time thinking of how any of this is a disadvantage for anyone...the games are played inside a climate controlled building.

On topic, I really wish they would have it in the Ralph, like mentioned above its during playoff hockey time, so we probably wont ever see it.

The Alerus is an awesome place for it(other than it not being centrally located). It's got tons of seating, i think they only use half of the seating. They bring in the bleachers so everyone is close and right up in the action. Hopefully this year they will make bigger railings off the back of the bleachers this year so nobody can jump over them. (A kid jumped after a national guard t shirt, not knowing there wasn't a safety platform and was severely injured, and if I'm not mistaken I believe he passed away just a few weeks later?)

Its 36 above in the RR Valley.........But there's a Blizzard coming Oh NO!!.......Call off the tournament!!!

1) Bismarck and Minot - Bismarck is the better city but you just cant beat the game atmosphere at the MSU dome

2) GF or Fargo - dont really care for them it doesnt make much sense to have the B as far away from the center of ND on the Minnesota ND line

Bismarck is best, in my opinion
Minot a close second, but won't happen until the Motel situation improves
Never been to a tournament in G.F.
Didn't like Fargo very much, although they did a better job the second time I thought

ya the oil boom kind of killed minots hotel situation but it seems like everytime i go there they have 2 new hotels put up

The problem is that we will never see it in Bismarck again for State B Boys until the season's get switched back to boys being last.

legionball4life wrote:

scruffy wrote:Too far away for most teams and their fans. Another huge disadvantage is the Red River Valley climate.

I'm really confused with the huge disadvantage with the RRV climate? Is it because your from the warmer part of the state and see only a few inches of snow and here its multiple feet of snow(on a normal year)? I'm having a tough time thinking of how any of this is a disadvantage for anyone...the games are played inside a climate controlled building.

On topic, I really wish they would have it in the Ralph, like mentioned above its during playoff hockey time, so we probably wont ever see it.

The Alerus is an awesome place for it(other than it not being centrally located). It's got tons of seating, i think they only use half of the seating. They bring in the bleachers so everyone is close and right up in the action. Hopefully this year they will make bigger railings off the back of the bleachers this year so nobody can jump over them. (A kid jumped after a national guard t shirt, not knowing there wasn't a safety platform and was severely injured, and if I'm not mistaken I believe he passed away just a few weeks later?)

I could be wrong but at some point the scheels center in Fargo will be hosting the state hockey tournament also? If so maybe they could work something out then? Again I would just love to see the "B" done in the nicest facility North Dakota has to offer. Also it would be nice to see NDSU get rid of that dump they call the BSA and build something D-1 worthy and maybe play the "B" there also.

Run4Fun2009 wrote:The problem is that we will never see it in Bismarck again for State B Boys until the season's get switched back to boys being last.

IMO, I think Bismarck is the best venue. But like Run said, unless the boys go back to playing their state tourney last, we won't see it again, unless the WDA tourney goes elsewhere.

1. I have to say Minot. The game atmosphere is great. It has a lot of seating too. Only problem is the hotel and resturaunt situation.
2. Bismarck. Pretty good facility, and the town is big enough to hold it with hotels and eating.
3. Alerus- Haven't seen a game there yet, so this year might sway my mind. So far I've heard good things though.
4. Fargodome. It might be last, but I honestly don't mind it in the Fargodome at all. The town is great for it too.

Notice that nowhere in my logic was location of the city. It's a state tournament. You are going down to make a weekend out of it anyways. Location doesn't matter at all. If you have to drive 5 hours or 20 minutes, it's not that big of a deal.

Also 3 and 4 could switch depending on this weekend.

I thought Minot always did a great job of hosting it. Correct me if I'm mistaken but I thought I saw that it is switching between Minot and Grand Forks for the next couple years for sure.

I haven't been at a tournament in Bismarck or Fargo but it would be really nice to have it in Bismarck with the location of it and the size.

Did anyone else notice the seating chart for the tournament this year? I understand the logic of giving Region 1&2 more reserved seating than the other regions but it's State B's....the entire towns come out to cheer on their teams. I think it's only fair to give each region the same number of seats!

I would assume Region 1 and 2 got more seating since they are geographically not far away from GF - therefore, idea wise - they should have more fans. But I could be wrong - just a guess.
Back on topic
1. Bismarck - by far - not even close - atmosphere - seating - city atmosphere. They care about the hosting the tournament.
2. Minot - Decent - not great seating - good atmosphere - city gets into it.

3. GF - never been - but can not be worse than Fargo.

4. Fargo - terrible - last one was better than 04 - but if I was to give grades - this would be F-. Poor seating, Poor atmosphere - city could care less.

Central Cass (Region 1) got 125 tickets... same as everyone else as far as I know. The map is a little screwy, I think we only got 5 rows with 25 seats in each. I know it looks like more, but I don't think it is. There will be plenty of Central Cass fans throughout the Alerus Center - 125 doesn't cut it and lots of people reserved seats on their own.

ClassBEast wrote:Central Cass (Region 1) got 125 tickets... same as everyone else as far as I know. The map is a little screwy, I think we only got 5 rows with 25 seats in each. I know it looks like more, but I don't think it is. There will be plenty of Central Cass fans throughout the Alerus Center - 125 doesn't cut it and lots of people reserved seats on their own.

That would make sense. It said on the news North Star had 300 tickets. 125 doesn't seem like enough for any town.

legionball4life wrote:

scruffy wrote:

On topic, I really wish they would have it in the Ralph, like mentioned above its during playoff hockey time, so we probably wont ever see it.

Since HS hockey is done, you must be talking college. If they don't resolve the nickname thing, I wouldn't think we'd need to worry about that since all hockey games would be on the road.

Never been in the Ralph, but it sounds as if it would make a great venue.

Given the current state of affairs, the Alerus appears to be the best option. You do have to plan ahead for rooms in GF though. Lots of full weekends.