Sit Down and Cheer Podcast

It’s THAT week. UND/NDSU football happens Saturday and we get you prepped with former UND linebacker and current defensive coordinator Eric Schmidt. He’ll give us the insight on THE game, his memories of the series as a player, some breakdown from the first-week rout of Drake and much more. He says it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard says as long as its UND in front, but we challenge him on that based on a 2001 playoff game vs. UC Davis. We also caught up with new UND head track and field and cross country coach Christine Engel to get her thoughts on their opening meet down in Fargo last week and a host of other topics to include: North Dakota topography, weather, jogging (it might be soft J), and if it’s Clem-son or Clem-zon. All that on the fifth season’s first episode of Sit Down and Cheer. Oh yeah, and we got a new co-host (Darrin Looker). You know him as the public address announcer at UND hockey games, you know, HEEEEERRRRRRRRE’S your University of North Dakota SCOOOOOOOOORING guy.

The search for a new co-host continues as Mitch brings UND Sports Radio man Paul Ralston on to the pod. Mitch and Paul talk about the 2019 UND Sports Hall of Fame inductees including Lee Davidson, Jessica (Neva) Gardner, Gene Roebuck, Robert Toftey, Tisha (Yantzer) Lezer, and the 1998-99 national championship women's basketball team. Additionally, current Minnesota State Moorhead head women's basketball coach Karla Nelson will receive the Tom Clifford Award, while longtime UND superfan Loyall Jahnke will be recognized with the Honorary Letterwinner Award.

With Jayson gone, Mitch starts his search for a new co-host. This week, he sits down with UND Hockey public address announcer Darrin Looker.

Its the final part of the trilogy of farewell podcasts (See Bill Chaves Podcasts for parts I & II) as Jayson spends one of his final days with Mitch and special guest Brad Schlossman at Buffalo Wild Wings reminiscing about his career at North Dakota.

Paul Ralston sits down with members from the 1997, 1998, and 1999 women's basketball teams that each claimed a NCAA Division II National Championship.

In his 34th and final season at North Dakota, cross country coach Dick Clay reflects on his career as the longest-tenured coach in the history of UND Athletics. He discusses what went into his decision to retire, why his one and only season in The Summit League holds special meaning to him, what drives his former runners to give back to the program, what has changed for student-athletes since his career started, his fondest road trip memories, the innocuous conversation that sparked his team at the NCAA DII Championship, and so much more. Join us for this trip down memory lane with a UND coaching legend. Presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

Presented by Buffalo Wild Wings The guys return from summer hiatus to say farewell to associate media relations director Ryan Powell, who is leaving his post in the athletics department after being named assistant commissioner with The Summit League. The Three Best Friends That Anybody Could Have reflect on Ryan’s decade-long tenure and the memorable teams and student-athletes he worked with along the way. They also discuss his path to UND, working with coach George O’Leary at Central Florida, and the Heisman Trophy campaign he put together for Kevin Smith. Finally, Ryan shares some insight into his early to-do list for UND’s new conference home. Also, tales of Ryan’s legendarily tightwad ways! A fun farewell, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

PRESENTED BY BUFFALO WILD WINGS Molli Detloff and Christian Wolanin, UND’s 2017-18 Female and Male Athletes of the Year, join the unofficial “year-end” podcast for a wide-ranging discussion. We learn from both that neither of them were highly-recruited by schools other than North Dakota, how they use that to fuel their competitive fire, what challenges the modern student-athlete faces, which teammates they lean on the most, which teammates drive them nuts, how they find middle ground with coaches regarding differences of opinion, why UND is so important to them both, and much more! Special mention to Jeff Groven and his staff at Buffalo Wild Wings for hosting the show.

PRESENTED BY BUFFALO WILD WINGS New UND Director of Athletics Bill Chaves returns to the pod for his first lengthy sit-down with the guys. After obliging Mitch and Jayson with some baseball geek talk (Doug Mirabelli??), Bill gets into some of the things that make him tick, both at the office and away from it, including his upbringing in Connecticut, life as a Red Sox and Whalers(!) fan, the bottle of champagne he finally got to uncork in 2004, what led him down his career path, what he sees as the biggest challenge facing the modern student-athlete, what he’s identified as some of his priority projects at UND, his relationship with his predecessor Brian Faison, and a whole lot more! As always, a big thank-you to Jeff Groven and our friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for hosting the show!

PRESENTED BY BUFFALO WILD WINGS. UND associate head soccer coach Chris Citowicki joins the guys for a conversation unlike any other they’ve had. Born in Poland, Chris’ fascinating journey to the United States started with his family defecting from their native country and included stops in Italy, South Africa and Australia. His story was often fraught with peril, with true tales of murder, ocean voyages and even pirates. Chris also tells us how his life experiences have shaped his coaching philosophy, why hockey coaching legend Herb Brooks was such a profound influence on him, how a fateful recruiting trip landed him his job at UND, and how the Fighting Hawks were able to put together their best-ever Big Sky season in the first year of a new coaching regime.

The guys (finally) reunite and take a deep dive into spring football with receivers coach Danny Freund and safeties coach Joel Schwenzfeier. They’ll talk position battles, the magnitude of Deion Harris’ return to health, what the staff reevaluated after a spate of injuries in 2017, players learning new positions, the difficulties of evaluating quarterbacks during non-contact practices, a renewed emphasis on recruiting quality depth, why they loved spring football as players, why they hated spring football as players, why recruits and their families are excited for the move to the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and even some recruiting stories from their own playing days.

It’s time for one final Road to Reno as the Big Sky Basketball Tournaments are upon us. Mitch Wigness and Ryan Powell cornered Paul Ralston, the radio voice of UND’s men’s team, and Jon Oglesby, who will be handling webcasts for the first three days on both sides for Pluto TV, and we break it all down. Who is the toughest out? Current format— goods and bads? Best matchups for UND? Least ideal matchup? Who is the next NBA guy in the Big Sky? What did Powell get his kids on a 12-day road trip? Paul’s favorite road stop? Answers to all these questions and much, much more on this basketball-bloated pod.

Last week, Grand Forks Herald hockey writer Brad Schlossman attended Super Bowl Media Day last week and ended up breaking NFL MVP news, sending the sports Twitter world into a tizzy. This week, he joins the guy to discuss how it all went down, how Twitter may have literally broken his phone, what the Super Bowl Media Day experience was like, why entertainment reporters are the worst, and which donuts are (or aren’t?) Justin Timberlake’s favorite. The conversation then switches to hockey and Schlossman assesses the stretch run for North Dakota and discusses several UND alums doing their thing in the NHL. As a bonus, he also gives us his prediction on who will be the starting quarterback in 2018 for his beloved Minnesota Vikings.

On this episode of Sit Down and Cheer, Junior Varsity fill-ins Ryan Powell and Kyle Doperalski fill in for Jayson and Mitch as they sat down with newly-hired athletics director Bill Chaves. The J.V.-squad touched on a number of topics with their new boss ranging from what made him a sports junkie to how his time at Eastern Washington is going to help keep the UND athletic department moving forward. Chaves also discusses how a kid who grew up with an affinity for most New England professional teams wound up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and who he thinks will take home the championships in the five major sports.

Part two (Fais 2?) of our conversation with retiring UND Athletics Director Brian Faison, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. We go in depth on the recent sport cuts at UND, what went on behind the scenes and what was reassessed in the aftermath of those announcements. The guys touch on a number of topics from there, including the opening of the High Performance Center, the future of Memorial Stadium, the move from the Big Sky to The Summit League, Cost of Attendance for student-athletes and whether it impacted the sport cuts, the most challenging and rewarding moments of Faison’s tenure, and even his latest book recommendations. An episode UND fans will not want to miss!

Finally reunited after a hectic fall schedule, Mitch and Jayson sit down with UND Athletics Director Brian Faison, who announced his impending retirement in October. In Part I of their conversation, Faison discusses the early challenges he faced at UND, why former UND President Robert Kelley was so instrumental in those first days, the future landscape of conference affiliation and how it may affect UND, what drove him to create the NCHC, the secret hotel meeting that got the NCHC ball rolling, why he made the volleyball program one of his top priorities, behind the scenes of the Dave Hakstol-to-Brad Berry transition and so much more. An insightful conversation that just begins to scratch the surface of Faison’s decade-long tenure in Grand Forks.

With Mitch on the road again, Jayson goes it alone with UND Athletics’ version of the Most Interesting Man in the World, Mark Poolman. The longtime athletic trainer and strength coach for the men’s hockey program, Poolman is also father to Colton and Tucker Poolman, both of whom developed into standout defenseman at North Dakota. We ask Mark about his new life as an NHL dad, how Tucker almost gave up the hockey dream along the way, and how he separates “Dad” from “Coach” around the rink. We also discuss his own collegiate career as a receiver for the UND football team, how he accidentally got recruited, the downtown brawl between the hockey and football teams that led to his first job as a Zamboni driver, and why he wanted Coach Roger Thomas to be meaner – and why he was wrong about that. Finally, Mark talks about his career as an athletic trainer, the evolution of treating head injuries, the situations involving Travis Roy, Robbie Bina, Chay Genoway, and the relationship between trainer and coach. A fascinating conversation that just might require a follow-up visit from the trainer!

We’re talkin’ hockey this week with venerable UND radio voice Tim Hennessy. The 1986-87 NCAA championship team will be honored on Saturday night and Tim shares his many memories of that history-making squad. Hear his tales of future NHLers Ed Belfour and Tony Hrkac, Murray Baron’s appetite, Brent Bobyck’s grooming habits(?), which UND coaches he had to once step between on the racquetball court, the time Cary Eades received a bill from Wisconsin, and so much more. He also recaps last weekend’s road trip to Alaska, looks ahead to the upcoming visits from St. Lawrence and Minnesota and talks about Tucker Poolman’s NHL debut.

Legendary college hockey writer Virg Foss joins the pod and we try to cram an entire 50-year career into one episode. Find out who converted Virg from a Minnesota fan to a North Dakota fan, the college hockey record Virg may or may or may not own from his playing days, which UND hockey coach he lived with while on the beat, the time Dean Blais blew up at him, which player he covered seemed destined to become a coach, the infamous “Water Bottle Incident,” which recruit changed the program forever, and so darn much more!

Football season is upon us and we preview the UND football season and the upcoming tilt with Utah with Midco Sports Network play-by-play man Alex Heinert. We get into the position battles, who has looked good in fall camp, some of the personalities on the team, and how the schedule shapes up for UND and the rest of the Big Sky Conference. We also chat about Alex's second year behind the mic calling UND games, some advice he got from savvy broadcast veteran Jake Brandt, why Ryan Kasowski needed to shut his mouth, how Alex prepped to call hockey games and some of the guys' favorite broadcasters. It's all in this here episode.