2013-14 State Tourney

[B-oldtimer]

Grand Forks a little better than Fargo on covering class b sports. Also to fairness to GF Herald they are really stretched quite thin right now in sports department. They have East Grand Forks in the State Hockey tournament and also Roseau team is in the State tournament in double AA. They have Minnesota basketball tournaments going. They have state class b tournament for basketball in town. Also Und womens and mens basketball is in stretch run Big Sky Conference where women can win conference and host the tournament and men could finish second in Big Sky. Then Und is playing for conference title for Mens hockey this weekend and Women Hockey is playing in conference tournament. The Fourum communications needs to step up and use some of its Fargo resources to help cover class b better I think. The Fargo media cares very little about covering class b sports they cover NDSU and professional sports and little of local Fargo schools.

[Sticks11]

I will always believe that the State Class B BB tourneys belong in Minot or Bismarck. The Alerus Center and the Fargodome are horrible places to watch a BB game and neither town appreciates the Class B fans and all the money they bring in for the weekend. Bismarck and Minot have always welcomed the people from the small towns and seem to enjoy hosting the tournaments, Fargo and Grand Forks act like they are doing us a favor by "allowing" us to come to their city for the weekend. JMO.

I'm in full agreement with you. Personally, I like the MSU Dome the best as the venue, but the town of Bismarck as a location. Like you said though, either one does a great job of hosting the tournament and welcoming fans from all over.

I like the dome because it just has more of a "class B" feel to me. The bleachers are a little closer to the floor. It seems like the crowds are able to be a little louder.

[Big Blue]

Give Flasher all the credit in the world. They have showed a lot of heart in this second half!

[ndlionsfan]

What a game! Down 20 to a chance to win it at the end. Wish they would've tried to take a better shot in that final half court set. Great way to start the tourney!

[sportsphenom]

Great first game, great comeback by Flasher. The thing that hurt Flasher the most was giving Oak Grove so many offensive rebounds. Oak Grove didn't manage the clock very well towards the end and put up some quick shots. Hope all the games are as exciting as this one, going to make for a great tournament.

[KG4MVP]

Great first game, great comeback by Flasher. The thing that hurt Flasher the most was giving Oak Grove so many offensive rebounds. Oak Grove didn't manage the clock very well towards the end and put up some quick shots. Hope all the games are as exciting as this one, going to make for a great tournament.

Agreed..way too many offensive boards. Hard to rebound out of a zone, should have switched to man way earlier.

[TheOneTheOnly]

Winnerwithin was Robbins off tonight or is that how he usually plays?

[Sportsknowledge]

Clear charge with the push off on that game winner.

[westriver bison]

Clear charge with the push off on that game winner.

and the foul call on Hettich's steal was pure anticipation.

[east sider]

Clear charge with the push off on that game winner.

I thought so too, but it's kind of an unwritten rule for the refs not to decide the last play of a close game. Besides Walcker was able to reposition on defense as if it didn't happen. Perhaps you should focus on the multiple TO's Beulah had in the last 4 minutes. There were a number of rebounds and errant throws that NS got away with simply because the two bigs would snatch the ball up. Like a wise BB man once said "you can't teach height".

[east sider]

Clear charge with the push off on that game winner.

and the foul call on Hettich's steal was pure anticipation.

Agreed. Terrible call.

[4mrnative]

It's always the same at the height of passion...Ref's blew the call...frankly...I love the fact that the refs let the players make the plays! Bounce, bang, bank...done!

[westriver bison]

But, if they don't blow the call on Hettichs steal Beulah wins. Then it matters.

[jimthometwins]

Might be three refs at the state tournament who actually call a good, fair game..

[westriver bison]

Might be three refs at the state tournament who actually call a good, fair game..

Might be one of the three anticipates a call?

[Indy5]

What a game! Down 20 to a chance to win it at the end. Wish they would've tried to take a better shot in that final half court set. Great way to start the tourney!

Maybe they could have got a better shot, but I think that's about as good as it gets. Your leading score gets a clean look at a 3 for the win. For some reason the Oak Grove kid never even put a hand up. And let's be fair, hoisting threes brought them back, might as well be how they try to win.

Agreed on a great comeback and an awesome first day of games, though.

[leroybla]

Clear charge with the push off on that game winner.

and the foul call on Hettich's steal was pure anticipation.

Agreed. Terrible call.

It was telling that the WDAY announcer, Dave Nelson, who is a fine ref, showed discretion in not commenting on the non-call against Kvilvang (arm-bar push-off) in the final seconds of Beulah-North Star. He would have made a call there, I think, especially with the camera's vantage point and the advantage to the offensive player.

[ndlionsfan]

Does Dave ref now since giving up coaching?

[justplayalready]

That is a big, wide open venue...& I do think it effected play that first day, but it is the same for everyone.

I also noticed the NBA three point line coming into play...I think the numerous calls of guys stepping out of bounds in almost the same spot were caused by this...I guess they are so used to spotting up behind the three line and the room they used to have. Also I saw a few shots taken from behind that deep arc that I doubt were intended.

To me the day session lacked a electricity, until Flasher got back in it...didn't get much of a vibe from the Cav/L HMB game either. It seemed really wide open and fans seemed distant...Night was a bit better, looked like a lot more fans. I was also more personally vested into the outcomes of the night games, so that could be why it was more electric.
And yes the B should not be played there until they get a scoreboard over the court.

[momofathletes]

Does Dave ref now since giving up coaching?

yes

[B-oldtimer]

Grand Forks Herald was criticized yesterday but I have been just looking at their on line coverage of Class B tournament and I have to say they have done pretty good job of covering tournament. The games were covered and photos of game are present plus box score. I did look at Bismarck and Minot on line coverage and they only covered their regional teams. Also few side stories as well. They also had coverage of UND basketball, MN State Hockey Tournaments, MN high school basketball so they have been busy. I was surprised by Minot site they usually cover the State b for entire state they were covering it like Herald does when tournament is held out west. I guess media doesn't realize that interest in class b is more state wide than they believe for a lot of fans.

[Hinsa]

Print media coverage, or lack thereof, is a pure matter of dollars and cents. Print media is losing more and more subscribers all the time and they don't have near the staff they used to. The actual size of the paper has also decreased over the years. Minot can no longer afford to send someone to Forks to cover the tourney.

What I wish the dailies would do is sell online subscriptions to their websites. The technology to do so has been around for several years now. If they don't want to make the whole website restricted to subscribers only, then have a free site that gives headlines and an opening paragraph, then to see the rest of the story you would need a subscription. ESPN does it with their "IN" content where premium content is only visible to subscribers.

Seems to me that this would add revenue for the dailies and they might be able to add some staff to get the kind of coverage we all would like to see.

[go maji]

Grand Forks Herald was criticized yesterday but I have been just looking at their on line coverage of Class B tournament and I have to say they have done pretty good job of covering tournament. The games were covered and photos of game are present plus box score. I did look at Bismarck and Minot on line coverage and they only covered their regional teams. Also few side stories as well. They also had coverage of UND basketball, MN State Hockey Tournaments, MN high school basketball so they have been busy. I was surprised by Minot site they usually cover the State b for entire state they were covering it like Herald does when tournament is held out west. I guess media doesn't realize that interest in class b is more state wide than they believe for a lot of fans.

Minot had coverage of the Rugby game (top story), and the North Star game.(With pictures)

And minor stories of the Oak Grove and Linton games. (Without pictures)

[MTfan4life]

That is a big, wide open venue...& I do think it effected play that first day, but it is the same for everyone.

I also noticed the NBA three point line coming into play...I think the numerous calls of guys stepping out of bounds in almost the same spot were caused by this...I guess they are so used to spotting up behind the three line and the room they used to have. Also I saw a few shots taken from behind that deep arc that I doubt were intended.

To me the day session lacked a electricity, until Flasher got back in it...didn't get much of a vibe from the Cav/L HMB game either. It seemed really wide open and fans seemed distant...Night was a bit better, looked like a lot more fans. I was also more personally vested into the outcomes of the night games, so that could be why it was more electric.
And yes the B should not be played there until they get a scoreboard over the court.

Thank you for mentioning the issue with the three point line. I also noticed that too. You get used to specific visual peripherals in basketball and it throws you off when it changes. I remember a couple years ago Beach's girls team got upset in the first round because they couldn't stop launching NBA 3s as if they thought the NBA 3 line was the right line.

I'm surprised no one mentioned, or maybe I missed it, the interesting rebound call against New Town when Rugby was down two with 40 seconds left. The Rugby player looked out of position and was jumping backwards and the foul was called on the guy behind him. I thought it was a definite no call and when I heard the whistle I figured that was a good guy for Rugby to foul. It was a definite surprise to me that it was reversed.

Plus, the North Star no call didn't need to be a charge. The refs blow the whistle on that play about 30 percent of the time. Yes, the Hettich reach was called wrong, though, but as someone mentioned, Beulah definitely didn't help their case of winning the game with all the turnovers late.

[Indy5]

Print media coverage, or lack thereof, is a pure matter of dollars and cents. Print media is losing more and more subscribers all the time and they don't have near the staff they used to. The actual size of the paper has also decreased over the years. Minot can no longer afford to send someone to Forks to cover the tourney.

What I wish the dailies would do is sell online subscriptions to their websites. The technology to do so has been around for several years now. If they don't want to make the whole website restricted to subscribers only, then have a free site that gives headlines and an opening paragraph, then to see the rest of the story you would need a subscription. ESPN does it with their "IN" content where premium content is only visible to subscribers.

Seems to me that this would add revenue for the dailies and they might be able to add some staff to get the kind of coverage we all would like to see.

I believe Dickinson does this. I could be wrong though. I can see how its good for the paper, but I'm not a fan when I want to look something up in a paper across the state and can't read it because I need to subscribe. Just my selfish opinion though.