Three-ring frenzy (and more)
UND Athletics keeps busy, and smiling, with three appearances on the national stage this weekend in volleyball, football and men’s hockey
More than a year ago, when it was first announced that two of college hockey’s biggest names — UND and Boston College — would meet on one of sport’s most famous stages, Madison Square Garden, it was an easy call for UND Athletic Director Brian Faison as to where he would be when the two teams faced off.
Faison, many on his staff, and thousands of members of the Fighting Hawks’ nation had New York City on their minds.
Fast-forward 15 months and the decisions got a lot more difficult. That’s because, at almost the same time that the men’s hockey team was scheduled to play on Saturday, Dec. 3, in the “College Hockey Showdown at Madison Square Garden,” UND’s football team was set to play host to its first-ever Division I Football Championship Series playoff game in the Alerus Center. On top of that, the UND volleyball squad was slated to play for the first time ever in the NCAA Division I tournament in Minneapolis on the Friday before the hockey and football games.
There was no way to anticipate such an embarrassment of post-season riches when the College Hockey Showdown with Boston College was first brought up publicly on Sept. 24, 2015.
“What a great problem to have, needing and wanting to be in three places at the same time,” Faison said. “Three exceptional moments for UND Athletics in three different places on the same weekend were going to be quite the challenge …the good news is I knew that we are blessed at UND with a great staff that would go out and do an incredible job handling all manner of responsibilities stretching from New York City to Minneapolis to Grand Forks. And, with UND Pride that’s exactly what they did.”
That meant Faison was present for the UND’s second-round appearance in the NCAA FCS football playoff game against the University of Richmond Spiders at the Alerus Center. As the host institution for UND’s first Division I football game, Faison decided to stay in Grand Forks.
UND President Mark Kennedy did some schedule juggling of his own to be in as many places as he could. Kennedy made it to New York City in time to spend time with the hockey team on Friday when the squad visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. Later the same day, he attended a UND alumni reception in NYC and chatted with the likes of UND basketball and baseball legend Phil Jackson, the NBA Hall of Famer who now works for the New York Knicks.
Kennedy then quickly jetted back to Grand Forks in time for the UND-Richmond football game.
As far as wins and losses go, the weekend produced a mixed bag with the volleyball and football teams falling to their opponents and men’s hockey defeating the Boston College Eagles 4-3 in thrilling fashion.
Through it all, according to Doperalski, UND Athletic Department staff members had everything covered across the country.
If volleyball, football and hockey on the national stage weren’t enough to handle, UND Athletics also had many of its other programs competing this past weekend, including women’s basketball at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, women’s hockey at Ohio State, swimming and diving in Pennsylvania and track and field in Brookings, S.D.
Doperalski said that the UND sports information directors did a nice job keeping track of their primary tasks of the weekend, and also in lending public information support to the other programs as well.
“We have some experience with busy weekends here at UND; it’s not something new for any of us,” Doperalski said. “We have a high quality staff — there’s no doubt about it. I would put our external information team up against anyone in the country, regardless of the size of the program or school.”
Doperalski said the busy sports weekend definitely tested the staff’s logistics and time-management skills, but the UND crew knocked it out of the park, as usual.
“I would do it again every weekend if it meant having three of our teams in a national tournament or on a national stage,” he said.
