Bison Illustrated July 2016

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

July 2016

DR. ANDREA TRAVNICEK • BOB BACKLUND • TAYLOR UNGRICHT • STEVE NELSON • LAMAR GORDONBISO

N ILLU

STRATED

JULY 20

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Isreal Moses

Snuffy Byers

Mike Favor

One UniversityOne School District

One BondThe Story of

Bison BrotherhoodPage 22

BISON BROTHERHOODMike Favor, Snuffy Byers and Isreal Moses have been away from the football field for over 20 years. But these former Bison bruisers are still honoring the Bison Pride attitude they had at NDSU. The only difference is today they’re reflecting their Bison Pride at District 281.

Senior policy advisor Dr. Andrea Travnicek played on her share of great Bison soccer teams. Today, she’s applying that hard work by helping the state of North Dakota be the best it can be.

Todd and Darci Wash have five national championships between them. Today, they are hoping to bring their success to the NFL in Jacksonville.

Bob Backlund used to be one of the baddest professional wrestlers in the WWF. But before that, he was a national championship wrestler and football player during his two years at NDSU.

FEATURE

Taylor Ungricht

Tom Stock

Amanda Anderson

Nancy Holovnia

Taylor Cavanagh

Steve Nelson

Lamar Gordon

Andre Smith

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48

60

76

80

84

Nadine Schmidt

Hall of Fame

Twins Game

Spot the Differences

Word Search

Team Makers

Swany Says

Pop Quiz

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WHAT’S INSIDE

FOLLOW US

DR. ANDREA TRAVNICEK

BOB BACKLUND

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TODD & DARCI WASH

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12 B I S O N I L L U S T R AT E D • JULY 2016

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EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

EDITOR

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CONTRIBUTORS

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GENERAL MANAGER

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PHOTOGRAPHY

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SPECIAL THANKS

DELIVERY

Spotlight Media

Mike Dragosavich

Paul Bougie

Andrew Jason

Joe Kerlin

Ryan Koehler, Sarah Geiger, Brittney Richter

Josh Swanson, Joe Kerlin, Paul Bougie

Erica Rapp, Lauren Wilson

Brent Tehven

Tracy Nicholson, Paul Hoefer, Paul Bougie, Tank McNamara, Jenny Johnson

J. Alan Paul Photography, NDSU Athletics, Joe Kerlin

Heather Hemingway

Ryan Perreault, Wes Offerman, Ryan Anderson, Jeff Schwartz, Colleen Heimstead, NDSU Athletics

Mitch Rapp, Hal Ecker, Nolan Kaml

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EDITORIALS

EDITOR’S NOTE

CLIFFNOTES

FROM JOE KERLIN

here are 16 stories about 16 former NDSU student-athletes in this magazine. Here are six cliff notes from the various stories you’re about to read.

Bison BrotherhoodDid you know All-Americans Mike Favor and Yorrick “Snuffy” Byers are still playing their football positions still to this day? The only difference is they’re disguised in collared shirts and slacks. They both work at District 281 in Minneapolis and have brought on board former Bison Isreal Moses. The story of how these three came together is incredible and a prime example of “Once A Bison, Always A Bison.” Politically CorrectI’m never surprised when I hear about a former Bison student-athlete doing remarkable things in the community. But Andrea Travnicek may have topped them all. She tells us her incredible journey from Nebraska to Fargo, to Washington DC, back to North Dakota and working in the

Governor’s office. She’s making more tangible changes in North Dakota than anyone in this magazine. Keeping Up with the WashesYou all know Todd Wash is a former Bison defensive lineman and assistant coach. Today, he’s working with another former Bison, Gus Bradley, in Jacksonville. But what about Darci (Steere) Wash? Todd’s wife, Darci, won THREE national championships while on the basketball team. Now, that’s a fun talking point whenever they go to a social gathering. Bob Backlund!Even if you’re not a big professional wrestling fan, Bob Backlund had some interesting things to say about his time at NDSU. The retired (at least we think) WWF superstar was gracious enough to give us his time to talk about life in the professional ring, lessons from his life and his new book that came out this winter, “Backlund: From All-American Boy to Professional Wrestling’s World Champion.” Here’s what one reviewer said about the book: “One of the most inspirational books I have read in a long time. Unlike many autobiographies written by

current and former professional athletes, “Backlund: From All American Boy to Professional Wrestling’s Champion” is neither pretentious nor boring.” Old FriendsNDSU’s career rushing champion Lamar Gordon gave us a call from Atlanta, Ga., to catch us up on his life. I have to give Gordon credit for his honesty about his pro career. It was refreshing to hear, especially in an era of bland athlete interviews. Also, Gordon spent some time in Philadelphia, so he gave us some insight into what Carson Wentz will go through with the Eagles fan base. Everything ElseTaylor Lynn, Tom Stock, Andre Smith, Nadine Schmidt, Amanda Anderson, Nancy Holovnia and Taylor Cavanagh are all worth the read as well. Huge thank you to them for making our second installment of the “Where Are They Now” issue possible.

SINCERELY,

Joe Kerlin

* * *

[email protected] bisonillustrated @bisonmag @joebisonmag

TT


AN ODE TO NOSTALGIA

BOUGIE’S NOTE

FROM PAUL BOUGIE

As we get older, there are points in our lives that we look forward to as a right of passage. When you’re a child, you look forward to that moment

when you are finally tall enough to ride the rollercoaster all the teenagers at school talk about. When you’re a preteen receiving your driver’s license for the first time, you gain a sense of independence. (Although it may have been earlier than that for those of you who grew up on the farm.) And how could I forget about the adult table during holidays? Finally receiving access to that was a sign of acceptance into the adult world. Then there are the moments where you feel like father time is finally catching up with you. Maybe you’re out enjoying the nightlife and the kid across the street from your old neighborhood approaches you to say, “Hey, you used to babysit me!” Or when you hear a song and say, “That’s not music, just a lot of bass kicks. What we listen to is music.”

But there are some that fall on both sides of the fence, and this issue of Bison Illustrated is just that. We remember going to NDSU with some of these student-athletes, sitting on a friend’s couch watching them play on a regular definition television, and at that moment you don’t feel that old. But all of a sudden, someone younger points out that you are that old because you remember having a science lecture with a former Bison star back in your college days. Young or old, Snorty Bison logo or the new one, we are all Bison. Plus, it’s fun to see how we all turned out in the real world. Enjoy this issue for the memories. There are some people I went to college with in here. And for a couple of moments, I felt like I was back at NDSU in the ‘80s watching football at Dacotah Field. After all that, I guess it’s time to crank up some Prince and Huey Lewis, put on a T-shirt that has not seen the light of day for over 30 years and catch up with Bison Nation!

SINCERELY,

Paul Bougie

Editor’s Note: Turn on AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” while reading to properly set the mood.

A

Three-time Pro Bowler Steve Nelson was a linebacker

for the New England Patriots for 14 years. His Patriot Hall of Fame career was highlighted by his unofficial franchise-record of 207 tackles in 1984. Nelson still calls Massachusetts home, and with a little help from Team Makers executive director Pat Simmers, he remains up-to-date on the latest Bison football news.

BISONSHOTS

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DID WE MISS SOMETHING?

Photo Courtesy of the New England Patriots

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

T he crux of Bison Pride is a foundation that’s created legions of championship winning attitudes across Bison Nation. Sixteen of the numerous NDSU student-athletes that have helped develop that foundation answer the question, “Where Are They Now?”


WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

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By Joe Kerlin

snuffy Byers, Mike Favor and Isreal Moses don’t know they have a story to tell. These three former Bison not only represent a couple different generations of football at NDSU but are the emblem of what it means to play and live with Bison Pride.

Time is starting to catch up with Mike Favor. It’s not represented by the layer of salt and pepper hair on his head or the stoic way he maneuvers his retired football player body around the offices of District 281 in Minneapolis. It’s not even his health, which is presumably fine, or his mind that remains as sharp as the tacks that hold the various Aristotle quotes on the wall around his office clock. The subtleties of time

MIKE FAVOR, SNUFFY BYERS AND ISREAL MOSES

Bison BrotherhoodFrom left to right, Snuffy Byers, Isreal Moses and Mike Favor


waning appear throughout his day-to-day life. It was time for the former All-American center’s annual checkup and physical with his doctor. When Favor walked into Dr. Bryan Post’s office, it was the first time they’d seen each other in years. Favor didn’t recognize him, but Dr. Post was looking at one of his former heroes on the Bison football team. “Do you remember me?” asked the doctor. “No,” responded Favor. “I’m Bryan Post. I was Josh’s friend and you used to play football with us before Bison games.”

It was a tradition for Favor to run around the bright green artificial turf on Dacotah Field with the kids before Bison football games in the 80s. Dr. Post was one of Rocky Hager’s son Josh’s best friends and fellow ball boy. Favor

“Bison Pride is about sacrifice for everybody

in the room for the success of all.”

– Mike Favor

was in shock that his past was starting to catch up with him. This random encounter with a former admirer is just a glimpse of what life is now like for Favor. The three-time national champion finds himself rubbing elbows with people connected with NDSU in one way or another more than ever before. Even his dissertation advisor is a Bison. Over the past handful of years, Favor has been taking steps to becoming Dr. Favor, through the doctorate program at St. Cloud State. Dr. Roger Worner is the one responsible for guiding “Spank,” Favor’s popular nickname given to him by teammates, through the doctoral process. “These people, NDSU people, have been instrumental in my life,” Favor said. “Bruce Saum, who was my line coach in college. To this day, I still call him when I’m making decisions. He’s still my



BISON BROTHERHOOD with

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coach.” “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” – Aristotle Favor was a four-year starter on the Bison offensive line from 1985-88. He won three national championships, earned two first-team All-American selections and was inducted to into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. But the most impactful attribute Favor possesses goes widely unnoticed to people outside of NDSU football. The influence he’s had on generations of players that have come after him makes Favor one of the most prominent football alum of the 1980s. “We talk about NDSU for me, there’s this standard of excellence,” Favor said. “Winning those championships really was a training ground for life, and what you do in life. You don’t to it half way. You’re there early, and you stay late, that’s the Bison Way.” Favor is now living the Bison

Way as an executive director for District 281 in Minneapolis. His best friend Yorrick “Snuffy” Byers, an All-American linebacker for the Bison during the 80s dynasty, has joined forces at the district with his former NDSU teammate. The two have helped carry the Bison Pride tradition since graduating and it all started when they were both at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Minneapolis in the early 1990s. In spring of 1992, Snuffy and Favor had been away from the football team for three years. One day, head coach Hager gave Favor a call. He needed the former All-American’s help. At the time, the Bison had this safety. He was tall, long, athletic, but causing headaches for the coaching staff during his first couple of semesters at NDSU. So, Hager called Favor to see if he’d meet with this player during Spring Ball, to help get the Bison football message across to this talented individual. Favor figured he needed his friend’s help. Bringing Snuffy into a situation to provide a little muscle was the idea. Again, this was a guy who almost killed Chad Stark in practice his freshman year, ultimately giving him the starting outside linebacker position as a true freshman.

So Snuffy and Favor made the trip to Fargo. They met with a 19-year-old Isreal Moses after practice. Moses spent his four years of high school in Minneapolis but grew up in Harlem, New York. This task wasn’t going to be easy for the former Bison. “I’ll never forget it,” Moses said. “I didn’t know who he (Favor) was. I had heard about him. He took me out, just to meet. We talked for hours.” “We explained the Bison Way and what we expect of him and he’s not going to embarrass us,” Favor said. “I think we may have scared Isreal a little bit because I was about to turn Snuffy loose on him. But we had to explain to him that we care about you, and this is a wonderful opportunity and it’s bigger than just football. “We played in different generations, but the core of who we are lies within that Bison expectations,” Favor said. “I had a duty to come back and make sure Isreal was doing well.” Moses would go on to fulfill the expectations of a Bison football player. He continued the legacy established by Todd DeBates, Casey Bradley, Ken Clark, Todd Zabel and so many of the safeties that came before him. By his senior year, Moses was voted second-team All-American and first-team all-North Central Conference. Snuffy and Favor’s time with Moses wasn’t a one-off. Their relationship continued after Moses’s graduation in the spring of 1996. Favor was in the graduate program at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., and inspired Moses to join him. Favor took two years to graduate, it took Moses one, and

“I had a duty to come back and make sure Isreal was doing well.” – Mike Favor

Mike Favor’s NDSU Career (1984-88)2011: College Football Hall of Fame Inductee2003: Bison Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee1997: NCAA Division II Football Team of the Quarter Century1987, 1988: First-team Division II All-American1987, 1988: First-team All-North Central Conference1988: North Central Conference Most valuable Offensive Lineman1985, 1986, 1988: Division II National Champion1985-88: 51 consecutive games started



they graduated together in 1999 with education leadership master’s degrees. “We forged this relationship and he’s been an older brother for me,” Moses said. “I have two older sisters, but he’s been that older brother, to be that voice of reason and guidance. It all started out of some of my struggles and having the coaches who believed in me and saw the potential, then contacting someone who they knew had a strong influence.” Moses has been an educator for over 16 years. He’s spent time as high school assistant principal, principal and administrator. He can track everything, including his principal and superintendent license back to a relationship that formed during one of the most tumultuous times of his life. “It’s been a great career, but it started with that influence from Mike Favor,” Moses said. “His caring heart morphed into mine.” Today, Moses is officially working under Favor for the first time. He came to District 281 this year as an academic dean. “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.” Snuffy and Favor’s journey to working together is a little more complicated. The two went throughout high school playing against each other, Snuffy at Roosevelt High School and Favor at North Minneapolis. The two had epic battles on the high school gridiron. Favor, a year older, was already at NDSU when the highly-sought-after Snuffy was being recruited by every big school in the surrounding states. What ultimately led Snuffy to choose NDSU when he met the green and yellow plaid dressed Earle Solomonson was the opportunity to play from day one. But he had

to start at the bottom of the totem pole and make his way up. “We had some outstanding teams, but Snuffy never redshirted. He competed from day one,” Favor said. “He was on the meat squad because he was going against the varsity, and I remember I thought he was going to kill Chad Stark. He hit Chad so hard. I never seen anyone hit Chad Stark that hard. After that practice, he got promoted because Chad was incredible. Snuffy bent him straight backward. I thought he killed Chad. I’m serious. All you heard was BOOM.” Snuffy and Favor were roommates for three years at NDSU. Favor laughs when he claims, “Because I was the only one who could tolerate him.” Snuffy spent a year playing semi-professional football while Favor worked in Fargo at Luther Hall after graduation. The two went to St. Joseph’s hospital together for some time before Snuffy moved to Duluth, Minn. with his wife and five kids. Snuffy worked in a mental hospital in Duluth, in the psych ward. “He was a linebacker so he was probably in the psych ward,” laughs Favor. The two still bust each other’s chops like they live in a college dorm room together. Favor returned to Minneapolis to further his education and work in the city he calls home. He was an assistant principal and dean of students at St. Louis Park High School, and he served as principal at North Community High School. In 2007, he became the principal at Cooper High School. In July 2013, he left to become the District 281 executive director of student services and secondary schools. He currently oversees staff and student functions and monitors student behavior in the district, including the Alternative Learning Center.

Before receiving his position, it was Favor’s turn to put in a call for help. He rung his old friend Snuffy up in Duluth, telling him it was time he come home, and help, not only Favor, but the kids living in the community that raised him. “Snuff has a gift,” Favor said. “Snuff has a unique gift to engage and move people from their thinking to getting people in the right direction.” Snuffy has served for four years at District 281 as an education assistant. He’s in the school throughout the day, mentoring

Snuffy Byers’ NDSU Career (1985-88)2003: Bison Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee1988: First-team Division II All-American1988: First-team All-North Central Conference1985, 1986, 1988: Division II National ChampionGames Played – 40Tackles – 259Sacks – 1Forced Fumbles – 3Pass Breakups – 9Interceptions – 2


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kids and putting them in situations to succeed. “When I was working at St. Joe’s, and even some of the schools I’ve worked in, there are some intense and sometimes scary situations, and there’s nobody better than Snuffy in a situation when you need your back watched,” Favor said. “Everything from diffusing to going to homes where parents are on drugs or going to a gang leaders place, and confronting a gang leader and telling them that they’re not going to operate out of their school anymore. Taking Snuffy with you is wise and nobody does it better.”

Favor sees his executive director position in the same way he saw his job on Dacotah Field. He was the offensive lineman. His role is to move the defenders out of the way. Today, the only difference is that the ball carriers are the children of District 281, and it’s Favor’s responsibility to open holes for student success. With Favor creating space for opportunity, Snuffy bringing the muscle and compassion, and Moses as a mentor for students, District 281 is in as good of hands as it’s ever been.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” Snuffy, Favor and Moses’s relationship epitomizes the Bison Way and the sense of pride embedded in student-athletes at NDSU. Although neither of the three played with him, Favor is quick to reference Mike Whetstone while talking about the character development at NDSU. Whetstone was a first-team All-American offensive guard for the Bison from 1980-83. In 1988, he discovered he had cancer. Six months later, as he lay in his hospital bed awaiting his inevitable demise, the Bison were in the 1988 Division II championship game against Portland State. He sent a taped message to the team and the Bison played it before taking the field. It was going to be Snuffy and Favor’s last game in the green and yellow. “Anyone who has been a Bison or will be a Bison will some day relate to what I’m saying,” Whetstone began. “Deep down, Bison Pride is the love we have for each other. I have noticed over the years that my true friends, my true life, everything evolves around Bison players and Bison people. I have friends outside of football, but for the most part, everything comes back to football, Bison football.” The Bison would defeat Portland State 35-21 for their fourth title of the decade. Three days later, Whetstone died. “Bison Pride is about sacrifice for everybody in the room for the success of all. That sacrifice, when your Bison brother loses his mother or his father, and you get in the car, and you drive 300 miles because they can’t and will not be alone because they are one of your teammates, that’s sacrifice,

“His caring heart morphed into mine.” – Isreal Moses

Isreal Moses’s NDSU Career (1991-95)1995: Second-team Division II All-American1995: First-team All-North Central ConferenceGames Played – 38Tackles – 228Sacks – 4Interception – 5Pass Breakups – 21Fumble Returns – 1Blocked Kicks – 2Return Yards – 371



that’s expected. The Bison Way,” Favor said. “Winning the national championship my senior year, getting off the plane and going to see Mike in the Hospice long enough for him to wake up and recognize I was there, and he was proud of me. That’s the Bison Way.” Moses says he still applies it in his everyday life. When Favor suggests he takes a new job or to go back to school, he knows Favor has his best interest at heart. Moses also uses the principles he learned at NDSU with his family. He teaches his three kids that Bison Time means getting somewhere 15 minutes beforehand and to never be underprepared for class or a task at work. “It’s important for my children to see dad’s success there and how he’s still connected,” Moses said. “The opportunity to go to college and get an academic enrichment

coupled with football or a sport, that’s a tremendous honor.” Moses, Snuffy and Favor are still close with the football team. Before last season, head coach Chris Klieman gave Snuffy and Favor the opportunity to speak to the football team on the eve of their five-peat campaign. “We told them what tradition is about,” Snuffy said. “What it meant to us and where we were in our lives and how we got there. Letting these guys know that they have a standard to uphold and to stay together and you’ll be fine. You have to be upfront,

you have to be a leader and a role model because everybody is watching you.” Snuffy and Moses have made a pack to drive to Fargo at least once a year to watch the Bison. Last season, they came to watch the UND game, and they’ll be back this season, hopefully in September. As for Favor, time is the issue. Soon he’ll begin the final stages of his doctoral degree and this summer he’ll begin his plans to further enhance the education process for the students of District 281. But as he sits back in his corner office at Winnetka Ave. in Minneapolis, he can look above his computer, at the wall near the door and see the seconds hand tick, and know deep down, he’s lived the words on the wall, and he will continue living that way until there’s no time left.

* * *

By Joe Kerlin

senior policy advisor Andrea Travnicek got into politics six years ago to make a difference. This former natural resources management and zoology NDSU graduate is helping make a strong statement for North Dakota’s environment, and do you know what the exciting part is? She’s just getting started.

To fully understand Andrea Travnicek, you first have to understand where she comes from. This July will mark her sixth year as a senior policy advisor for the Governor of North Dakota. With her long list of academic degrees, laundry list of experience on her resume and energetic youth, she has been able to bring a fresh perspective to the Governor’s office.

ANDREA TRAVNICEK

Photo By J. Alan Paul Photography


DR. ANDREA TRAVNICEK

Travnicek’s parents were from Northern Minnesota, but her upbringing was different than most. She graduated from Papillion La-Vista High School in Omaha, Neb. although, Nebraska isn’t necessarily home for this product of a military family. The daughter of a B-52 pilot bounced around from California to Texas during her childhood, and when it came to going away for college, she didn’t know where she’d see her parents next. But Travnicek knew there was a 50 percent chance they’d end up in Minot, N.D., or Louisiana. Soccer was Travnicek’s first passion as a child. She’d been playing since she was 5, but realized in the college selection process that academics were at the top of her priority list. Unlike the millions of students about to graduate high school in 1997, Travnicek knew natural resources management would be her declared major. The college decision came down to University of Nebraska-Omaha, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Iowa State and NDSU. “For some reason I came and toured the NDSU campus and it just felt like home,” Travnicek

“Some of those impacts that you have, thinking worldly and

broadly, having a little bit of a pulse on an opportunity by being

involved with meetings that benefit North Dakota is what

makes the job worthwhile.” - Andrea Travnicek

said. “I grew up going to the lake a lot, being outside, being by the water. I knew I wanted to get into that type of field. The fact that they had that natural resources program and a soccer program it just felt right.” Travnicek got involved immediately at NDSU. She found herself in the student-athlete advisory council, the natural resources management club, Blue Key Honor Society and even coached two years of soccer for the Fargo Shanley junior varsity team. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2001, Travnicek pursued her master’s in natural resources management with an emphasis in plant sciences. Following the completion of her master’s in 2004, Travnicek got the opportunity to move to Washington DC and intern at Ducks Unlimited. DC proved to be too opulent for an intern, so Travnicek moved to Bismarck to begin working at an environmental consulting firm. But the time spent in DC, albeit short, was impactful in shaping Travnicek’s presumable career path.

POLITICALLY CORRECT

with

ANDREA TRAVNICEK

29

“After being in DC and realizing that besides the hard sciences, there’s this whole communication policy world that’s out there that helps drive a lot of the decisions,” Travnicek said. She referenced a new drive in her to go back to school to take her degree one step further. Travnicek returned to NDSU to become the first doctoral student to achieve a Ph.D. in environmental communication. From there, she spent the next year putting her degree to use with the Army Corps of Engineers in Sacramento, Calif., getting reps with environmental impact statements and getting her hands wet in other environmental projects. Soon after bolstering her resume even further, she decided to test the waters in policy making. So she applied for a position with then North Dakota Governor John Hoeven. She was hired as the senior policy advisor of natural resources and has advised the Governor on issues related to water, energy development, land management, emergency services, trade and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) over the past six years.

“I knew that I wanted to do something like this position I have today,” Travnicek said. “It was an opportunity I had to take. Although, I thought it would come later in life.”

Travnicek started working for Governor Hoeven in July 2010. She was barely 30. “It’s one of those deals where the opportunity is there and you have to take a risk and jump. They pick you for a reason,” Travnicek said. “I could bring a lot of different backgrounds to the office because I had already worked for a nonprofit, worked for a private consulting firm, worked for the federal government and having a Ph.D.” Those skills and experiences were put to the test less than a year after coming to office. Newly elected Governor Jack Dalrymple and the state of North Dakota underwent some of the biggest natural disasters in the summer of 2011. The Missouri River and Mouse River floods affected thousands of people in the Bismarck, Mandan and Minot region. Travnicek advised the Governor during that time.

“I was with the Governor traveling with him for 30 days in a row in the Blackhawk,” Travnicek said. “Here’s a community that was inundated with water, and I’m making sure that the Governor and the officials have the most up-to-date information so they can get that information out to the citizens that have been impacted.” Not only was the disaster a major concern for Travnicek’s work life, it was becoming a personal struggle as well. The flood affected her parents and sister’s family in Minot. Today, because the 2011 floods continue to affect the citizens in the flooded cities, Travnicek continues to work with the Army Corps of Engineers, local officials, and water managers to create policies for future flood protection in the area. Travnicek’s role extends beyond the North Dakota border. Since becoming a senior policy advisor, she’s had the opportunity to go to China twice, Singapore and Norway. Recently, Travnicek traveled to Israel with Lieutenant Governor Drew Wrigley to partner with Elbit Systems Ltd. and NDSU Extension Service together, to provide an UAS for agricultural research.

ANDREA TRAVNICEK


This summer, a UAS named Hermes 450 will collect imagery for a four-by-40-mile corridor in east-central North Dakota every two weeks during the growing season. “The fact that we were able to meet with Elbit and now they’re coming over to North Dakota and doing a pilot study is huge.” Travnicek said. “Some of those impacts that you have, thinking worldly and broadly, having a little bit of a pulse on an opportunity by being involved with meetings that benefit North Dakota is what makes the job worthwhile.” Benefiting the state by creating policies has satisfied Travnicek’s taste for making a difference in the community. Working in the public sector and being an appointed advisor for the Governor requires a lot of research, communication and relationship building. In order to identify solutions to complicated issues and to stay current on changing needs, Travnicek has had to rely on her Bison experiences to help her through complex situations and decision making processes.

Travnicek played for four seasons on the NDSU women’s soccer team. “Park”, short for “Park Ranger,” as she was nicknamed by her teammates, played outside midfield for the Bison and logged

numerous minutes on the field while she battled through three surgeries during her career. She tore her ACL her freshman season, was sidelined with a breathing disorder that restricted her lung capacity which required surgery, and had another knee surgery her junior year. Her love of the game and her teammates is what drove her to return to the pitch after each setback. “I think what was big for me was to be able to get through all those (injuries). You have this adversity that is there from having these surgeries and overcoming them and still being a part of the team,” Travnicek said. “You’re trying to balance all of it, the academics, the soccer, then going through some of these life changes and different perspectives on things. I’d say those four years taught me about perseverance, drive, working together as a team, building other people up and support systems.”

Some of Travnicek’s fondest memories from her time spent on the field with her Bison teammates includes qualifying for the Division II NCAA Tournament in Kentucky in 1999. Travnicek also played her last collegiate game in the North Central Conference tournament in Omaha, Neb. where she grew up playing in junior high and high school.

With the gubernatorial election this November, there will be a newly elected leader in the state of North Dakota. The six-year advisor can’t say right now what that means for her future. The question now is if Travnicek will continue to serve at the hands of the Governor or explore her options in and around the private and public sectors. “It’s hard to answer that, because how can you know? I am in an appointed position and I don’t know what people they are going to surround themselves with in the next administration,” Travnicek said. “That’s one of the—I don’t want to call it a risk with this job but you know going in that you’re not going to do this for the next 30 years, but hopefully I can say my time in this position has benefited people and the state of North Dakota. “When I look at it, would I want to run for something some day? Maybe. Possibly. Most likely. Do I want to get involved in the private sector, do I want to get involved as a lobbyist, or live back in DC? That’s the tough part, those questions remain and they may all eventually happen at some point in my life. My time as a Bison has laid the foundation for those opportunities.”

Travnicek continues to be involved at NDSU through the NDSU Alumni Association Board of Directors. She has served on the board for the last three years and will serve another three-year term. Travnicek will have a big decision to make in the coming months. In the meantime, she will continue working on whatever issue comes her way in the Governor’s office and serve the state of North Dakota to the best of her ability, knowing her drive, and the commitment that was instilled during her time at NDSU will always push her in the best possible direction.

ANDREA TRAVNICEK

* * *

Andrea Travnicek and Governor Jack Dalrymple at the US-Austalia soccer match in Canada during the 2015 Women’s World Cup. They were in Canada to discuss on-going water policies.


By Joe Kerlin

Taylor (Lynn) Ungricht once soared around the base paths for the Bison and helped solidify NDSU as the best softball program in the Summit League. Today, she’s not only training the Stanford women’s volleyball team behind the scenes, she’s busy creating a strong and fit family of her own.

It’s been a very “Stanford life” for 27-year-old Taylor Ungricht. Six years ago, the San Mateo, Calif. native began her postgraduate life with an opportunity in Palo Alto, Calif. What was supposed to be a three-month internship at Stanford turned into something she would never have imagined after her softball career at North Dakota State was over.

TAYLOR UNGRICHT


TAYLOR UNGRICHT

Ungricht knew right when she got to college in Fargo that she wanted to pursue a career in athletic training. Growing up, she stayed active, played sports and was always on the move. Physical education class just wasn’t a break from the math and history textbooks, she was truly passionate about fitness. From day one at NDSU, she used to pander strength and conditioning coach Adam Hermann. “I used to joke with him that I was going to take his job from him,” Ungricht said. “He kind of helped guide me along and as soon as I stepped foot onto campus that this is what I wanted to do.” Prior to her graduation from NDSU, Ungricht’s fitness experience came from the hours in the weight room as a Bison athlete. She was on the softball team from 2007 to 2010 and patrolled centerfield. Ungricht was an elite defender in college and only committed two errors throughout her career. She started all 57 games during the historic 2009 Bison softball season when they won the Summit League tournament for the first time and advance to the school’s only Super Regional.

During the summer after the 2009 season, Ungricht worked at the Fargo YMCA. She managed and supervised the weight room and taught specialty group exercise classes. Her exercise science degree didn’t recognize her work at the YMCA as intern hours to fulfill her degree so she looked back home, in California. Over winter break before her final season at NDSU, Ungricht and her father, Craig Lynn, did something unusual for their father-daughter relationship. They went to a Stanford women’s basketball game, just 20 minutes away from their home in San Mateo. “We randomly go to a women’s basketball game and we’re sitting next to one of the ADs that my dad knows,” remembers Ungricht. “And he (Ray Purpur) went to school at UND. So we have this strange North Dakota tie. He mentioned that they had an internship program at Stanford and that I should apply for it. It was so strange but it was so meant to be.” The plan was for Ungricht to move home after her senior season, commute 20 minutes to

THE STANFORD LIFE

OF

TAYLOR UNGRICHT

“

“

Bison Career (2007-10)Games Played – 202Games Started – 168Batting Average – .238Runs – 67Stolen Bases – 26Errors – 2Field Percentage – .991

“It gets me emotional thinking about my time at NDSU. I had

such a wonderful four years there. The hard work that I

learned and just what it meant to be a teammate, and everything

that I took away from NDSU, I carried into coaching.”

- Taylor Ungricht

35

Stanford every day, survive an unpaid internship to meet her undergraduate requirement at NDSU, and move to Boise State that fall to began her master’s pursuit. But like any 22-year old’s plan, it quickly changed course. As a result, Boise State fell through the cracks. “I actually had everything moved there and I was enrolled and ready to go,” Ungricht said. “The Director of Sports Performance at Stanford, he was like, ‘You should consider

staying, and we’re considering starting up a grad assistant program.’” The problem was Stanford couldn’t guarantee the grad program would ever materialize. Ungricht made the risk and decided to stay on a volunteer basis through the 2010-11 academic year. Her patience paid off and Stanford implemented a graduate path for students looking for an exercise physiology degree. Ungricht

eventually earned her master’s a San Jose State, who had a close work relationship at Stanford so she could work at Stanford and attend graduate courses at San Jose State, in 2013. But while Ungricht pursued her master’s, a position at Stanford became available. The women’s volleyball team’s full-time sports performance coach left the university during Ungricht’s first year of grad school. The opportunity to land a job before earning her master’s was right in front of her. “I had a really good relationship with the coaches, and the coaching staff on the women’s volleyball team is awesome. They’re just incredible and I think they do a great job of creating this awesome team atmosphere and they appreciate the work I put into it, and they also wanted me to stick around so that helped,” Ungricht said. “I told my boss that I wanted the job because I had been working with them and I felt like I was capable, so it took some convincing. They ended up hiring me full-time after my first year of grad school thank goodness.” Since becoming the volleyball team’s sports performance coach in 2012, Ungricht has been a part of head coach John Dunning’s staff that has led the Cardinal to four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, one NCAA semifinal and a record of 113-19.

Bison Accolades2010 All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year2009 All-Summit League second team2009 Summit League All-Tournament team2009 NFCA Scholar Athlete2008, 2009 Summit League Winter/Spring All-Academic team2008, 2009 Summit League Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence

“They’re just incredible and I think they do a great job of creating this awesome team atmosphere and they appreciate the work I put into it.”- Taylor Ungricht

TAYLOR UNGRICHT


Ungricht’s responsibilities reach further than the volleyball court. With Stanford having 36 NCAA sanctioned programs, Ungricht is utilized as the sports performance coach for men’s tennis and beach volleyball teams, too. She was also given the opportunity this year to go back to her roots and help with the softball team. Handling multiple sports, which can be challenging for sports performances coaches, is nothing new. NDSU lists four strength and conditioning coaches on its website for its 14 programs, while Stanford lists 14 coaches for its 36 programs. Ungricht’s main sport, the volleyball team, also allows her to travel with the team, something only a few sports get to do at NDSU. “I don’t think a lot of other programs across the country travel,” Ungricht said. “It’s tough because you have a number of sports and, how do you prioritize most of our strength coaches travel with the priority teams? You feel a lot more a part of the staff if that makes sense. You’re not just strength coach that they see when they’re back on campus. You’re with them all the time, so there’s this cohesiveness between the staff and the program.”

Coming to Stanford was a life changing internship opportunity for Ungricht in more ways than one. Not only did she carve out a successful sports performance coaching career, she found the love her life. Brock Ungricht arrived at Stanford the same year as Ungricht. He was a volunteer assistant for the Cardinal baseball program for four years, before being named an assistant prior to the 2015 season. The “Stanford Life” had begun for the Ungrichts. The two married in July 2013 at Memorial Church on campus. The reception was at Stanford Stadium, where the football team plays. And the two brought a daughter, Ava, into the world on April 6 at Stanford. Of the hundreds of friends Taylor Ungricht reached out to with a baby photo of Ava, a few among them are tied back to her NDSU days. She said she still considers former teammate Melissa Chmielewski a close friend. Head coach Darren Mueller and former co-head coach Jamie Trachsel were also sent a photo. “I have such a wonderful relationship with Jamie and Darren,” Taylor Ungricht said. “It gets me emotional thinking about my time at NDSU. I had such a wonderful four years there. The hard work that I learned and just what it meant to be a teammate, and everything that I took away from NDSU, I carried into coaching.” Ungricht will continue her life back on campus at Stanford in the beginning of August when the volleyball team reports. For now, Stanford is home for her and Brock, but with the fluidity and uncertainty in coaching, the Ungricht family doesn’t know what the future holds. Wherever they end up, in Palo Alto or elsewhere, the Ungrichts will be ready for the challenge.

* * *

TOM STOCK

TOM STOCK S'

Interview and Photos by Joe Kerlin

RULE OF TEN


THE RULE OF TEN

TOM STOCK

tom Stock was the director of athletics at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., for 10 years. The list of accomplishments extends further than this page, so, like Stock’s AD tenure at St. John’s, we kept the list to 10. The list consists of excerpts from our interview with Stock three weeks before he left his

chair as athletic director to become a Senior Development Officer. He will retain his athletic marketing job, a position he learned all about during his time at NDSU.

NDSU Career “I was a student-athlete at NDSU, four years in baseball, one year in track and field. I was coached by Jim Peterson and George Ellis, they were my baseball coaches, and Don Larson in track. I was never a great spear chucker. I threw the javelin. I would starve if I had to feed myself with that thing. But it was fun.”

NDSU Experience“I look back on my NDSU time. I had a great college experience. I double majored. I got that sales experience. I was a grad assistantship that paid for grad school. I worked on commission in the summer selling ads. I made great money. I just look back on it, and so much of it that got me where I am today, came from a good solid foundation from NDSU.”

NDSU Legacy“The first thing I took away and the things I find myself talking to my interns about all the time is the way George Ellis talked to me. For George, being the best was the minimum requirement. High expectations, high expectations, and if you don’t want to do the hard work and the heavy lifting to achieve those expectations, then I don’t want you on my team. That was George’s line.”

10

9

8

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Forming a Career Path“When I was at NDSU, we won all kind of publication awards. I learned about his stuff, and I learned how to do it, now we’ve carried it on. George worked hard and he was a great mentor and he set a high-bar that was probably the number one takeaway I had. This is just how we do business.”

Legends of St. John’s“Hard work, challenges, and problems and I’m grateful for the opportunity. To be an athletic director at St. John’s as a non-alum, is very rare. Just very rare. John Gagliardi and Jim Smith, the legends that were here, were not alums but they didn’t’ t get there overnight. John worked here for 60 some years, and Jim 50 some years. I was with the most mature coaching staff in the history of the NCAA, right here”

Learning Along the Way“My dream job was sports information until I got in it and did it. Then I realized I’m more into sales and marketing. And yet, you have to do some of this stuff to know and I tell students that all the time. You don’t really know until you get into it.”

Becoming the AD“The athletic director job, I really loved. Everybody thinks we have such glamorous jobs. There is not much glamour. It’s a lot of work. You’re dealing with problems from all over. Problems from a budget standpoint, problems with compliance, problems with NCAA reporting, and all the work that’s involved with that, you’re dealing with your league and all that reporting. You got student athletes and parents, and it’s a job with a lot of challenges.”

7

4

6

5

TOM STOCK

“For George, being the best

was the minimum requirement. High expectations, high

expectations, and if you don’t want to do the hard work

and the heavy lifting to achieve those

expectations, then I don’t want you on my

team.”


What Stock Accomplished“We just built a brand new, all-turf baseball stadium, Becker Park. We have a brand new soccer facility. It’s, arguably, our baseball facility is number one in all of Division III athletics. Our soccer facility is number one in all of Division III athletics. New outdoor tennis courts are coming down the line this fall. They’ll be beautiful. They’re beyond the left field fence. We just put a plaza in, which is storage, restrooms, and concession area. Lynch Plaza. We’re building Gagliardi Field. We’re going to have a seasonal dome, going up over that.”

Why 10 Years?“I wanted to pour my heart and soul into it (athletic director). I wanted to give it everything I had, and I did. And I’m glad I did. If I’m proud of one thing, it’s the effort I put into it. ... We’ve had a full succession plan for the department. A lot of work got done here in the last 10 years. And it’s not just me, collectively a large group of people, but it’s tangible. Why 10 years? That’s why. Ten years is long enough and I’m ready to move into something else.”

New Opportunity “Thank god for 25 years at St. John’s. I’m pretty well connected to these people. I worked in that (development) office before I got into the athletic department. I did marketing out of the development office. I know what I’m walking into. It’ll be exciting and you know I look at this whole change, Bob Alpers has been here for 30 years, he’s going to take the reigns. He’s so excited to take over. He’s been an assistant AD for eight years.”

3 12

TOM STOCK

41

By Joe Kerlin

amanda (Murphy) Anderson has been an assistant volleyball coach at Saint Benedict’s for 13 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in human performance and fitness from NDSU in 2003, and thought becoming a personal trainer was where life was going. She found coaching and fell in love. Today, she’s dabbling in both interests as an assistant volleyball coach and assistant

campus recreation director, where she supervises group exercises and intramural sports at St. Ben’s.

Bison Illustrated – Not only are you the assistant volleyball coach, you’re the assistant campus recreation director. What type of challenge is that?

Amanda Anderson – Yeah, what’s really common in Division III is that you wear multiple hats so it’s funny that you say that. Our AD (Glen Werner), he used to come in and say, “What hat do you have on? Do you have your campus rec hat or your volleyball

AMANDA ANDERSON


AMANDA ANDERSON

hat?” He used to joke about that all the time. It gets challenging at times, usually when I’m on the road for volleyball. Especially when you make deep runs in the tournament like you have been the last few years.Yeah, we’ve made eight out of the last 10 NCAA tournaments. We had an Elite Eight run in 2008, won the conference in 2009 and then, on top of that, we travel abroad every three years. I want to talk about that, but first, I want to touch on the dynamic with Nicole Hess because she became the head volleyball coach a couple years after you’ve been the assistant.I put my application in for the head job, and it was a hard decision because I didn’t know. This job is amazing. I love it. And it was a hard decision because it would’ve been more nights on the road recruiting away from my family, and at that time, I’d just had my first daughter (Josie). I knew Coach Hess because she was the head coach at the time for St. Kate’s so we had competed against each other. We actually started talking to each other on

“It’s been very humbling to work under the coaches I’ve worked under, and to know

what I was taught as a player and what I was taught as a

coach is really relevant and it’s efficient and what works.”

- Amanda Anderson

the phone throughout the entire process and I just got to know her and who she was. We bonded quickly, so I knew that we were going to gel well and we had the same coaching philosophy and she is a road warrior. So I decided to pull my application out and I kind of talked to the AD like, “As long as it’s her, I’m fine. If it’s someone else I might need to put my app back in there.” What’s the hardest part of recruiting at the Division III level?Not only do they have to excel athletically, but they need to excel academically. That’s a big thing here because, to get the academic scholarships, they have to get high merits. High ACT scores, high GPAs. It’s a big deal. Is that one of the biggest differences between Division III and where NDSU was when you played?Yeah, academically, it’s big. The game itself is definitely different. I would say Division III draws smaller players. They jump high, a lot of them are coming in with 23-inch, 24-inch verticals, but a lot of the players here could

WEARINGwith

AMANDA ANDERSON

MULTIPLE HATS

43

play Division II, they just choose the academic experience over the athletics. So you’re saying athletically there’s no real difference?The size is different but they play just as high. The big difference is in the spring we only get seven practices here, where Division II, Division I you start up right when you come back from Christmas break. We encourage all of our players to go abroad, which is not something that’s highly encouraged in Division II

or Division I. And we also really encourage our players to play two sports if they want. What’s been the biggest learning experience for you in kind of developing as a coach?It’s been very humbling to work under the coaches I’ve worked under, and to know what I was taught as a player and what I was taught as a coach is really relevant and it’s efficient and what works. Even what I was doing back in the early 2000s, what Zaundra (Bina) was teaching us back then,

it’s still what our philosophy is here. And it still keeps us going with our core philosophies as a team, which surprised me. I didn’t realize how lucky I was to be coached by someone like Zaundra and Jim (Kramer). It’s fun, because it’s still today, we’ll go to the gym and do drills that I was doing back at NDSU, so I really feel like our team has kind of molded into what my team was at NDSU, which I really like, and then Nicole is able to bring in some stuff from St. Olaf and now we just hired another Bison alum that’ll be joining us in the fall, Mattie Parsons. She played at NDSU under Erich (Hinterstocker) and Kari (Thompson), so it’s exciting. How do you apply Bison Pride to what you do now?Well coaching-wise, it’s come in huge because there’s so much of what I did as a player that I like to implement here now as a coach and we have Blazer Time which is, if you’re five minutes early, you’re late. It’s kind of what it was like at NDSU and Bison Time. I felt like respect was big at NDSU. You respect each other, you respect your teammates, you respect yourself and you respect your opponents, and we’ve really brought that in here. Especially with the Me generation, I find that we’re teaching some manners like saying please and saying thank you and having face-to-face conversations versus getting text messages about playing time. And then with the Me generation parents, not only are we recruiting the player, we’re recruiting the parents and we have to set rules and boundaries with, if you email us about playing time, it’s going to go to your daughter, whether you write that in the email or not. But, I feel like, just NDSU and Bison, in general, have such a top-notch, respected program around the country and I’m proud to say that we have implemented a lot of those values into our program here and I really like that. You’re doing the coaching year-round and sprinkling in the campus recreation job. Why

AMANDA ANDERSON


do you love being the assistant campus recreation director?Well, I just love sports in general, and I love that people have the opportunity to be active, no matter what athletic level they are. So our recreation club, which is our biggest league on campus, we get around 40 teams, which is crazy for as small of a school that we are. They do silly things. We had one team that, every time someone made a mistake, they had to take off an article of clothing and we had to set some boundaries there (laughs). So I mean they just come in to have a good time and they meet people and I love seeing that side of it. And again, the teaching how to be healthy and have an active lifestyle is really important for me and watch my students, make sure they’re continuing down that path too. So 12 years here, going on a 13th, will there be a 15th? 20?I hope so. If I could be here forever, I would be. I love it. It’s perfect. I love the flexibility, working with women. We kind of get the best of both worlds. It’s an all women’s college but yet we get the co-

academic experience. Parents love it because their daughters live on our campus, there’s no glass ceiling here. We want them to be doctors, CEOs, CFOs. We want them to be as successful as they can be. We want them to travel the world. We want to open their eyes to new experiences. It’s women-first here all the time, in every program that we do, which is really exciting. I joke that we have the best-smelling training room in the conference, other than maybe St. Kate’s cause there’s no guys in there. Women’s volleyball and women’s basketball, we don’t have to get men’s basketball in there, in the mix. And any men team’s that contact us for space here, they have to stand behind all the women’s teams here. I love it. Which is to your advantage because sadly I think there are some places where that’s not the case.There are. Even when we go to our national recreation conference, it’s amazing how many people have difficulties getting all women’s intramural programs going at their institutions and here we don’t

have that problem. We do coed too, but we get all women’s three-on-three basketball leagues, four-on-four volleyball leagues. Is that a big selling point for you when you’re on the road recruiting?Absolutely. Having our own facilities and the women-first mentality is big. Now, however, all women’s colleges do sometimes deter, but with us having that partnership with St. John’s, you could walk around, you would

never know this is an all women’s college. When they come on their visit, they have no idea. So where have you all been as a team?Ireland, Italy, Spain and I’ve also had the opportunity to do a short-term study abroad experience to London in 2012, so I also have gotten to go to London. How does that help the team?Well I think it’s good bonding experience for us to get to know

the parents, and then also just creating a–in every college setting, getting a donor base is important so it’s nice to get to know the parents if we want to talk to them about why it’s important to give back and so we do some of that. A lot of our parents are alumni, and they want to come with and just watch and cheer. So we invite them with, too. This year, our head softball coach came with (to Ireland), sports information director got to come with us, so it was nice having her along so she could update our blog and do all that stuff. We played three matches while we were there. You had some time to get out there, see what you’ve got. And then the years we go abroad, we get 10 extra practices. Not only is going abroad valuable because we’ll have maybe, I mean we had three players this year who didn’t even get on the court, where over there they got significant playing time. You were talking about your three kids earlier…Yep, so I have Josie who’s 7. I have Hattie who’s 3 ½ and then Lyla who’s 2. She’s named after her grandpa Lyle (Anderson) since we didn’t have any boys. Do they ever come by to watch you coach?Oh yeah, they love it. My 3-year-old Hattie calls it volley games, “I’m ready to come to the volley games.” Don’t change that. Someone will down the road but it can always be volley games to you.Yeah, she is probably the most competitive. She right now gets upset if her older sister gets dressed faster than she does. So you’ve found the competitive one?Yeah, at 3. So if they don’t go to NDSU and play volleyball, I would love for them to come to St. Ben’s.

* * *

NDSU Career Stats (1999-2002)Games Played – 319Matches Played – 110Kills – 524Assists – 62Digs – 842Blocks – 57Points – 592

AMANDA ANDERSON


By Joe Kerlin

Nancy (Dietman) Holovnia’s records at NDSU have survived, for now. The St. Cloud, Minn., native now lives in the Twin Cities and with her kids out of the house, she has more time than ever to exercise, give back to the community and continue to not worry about whether or not she’s still the best distance runner in NDSU history.

Not many distance records were left standing after NDSU’s Erin Teschuk concluded her career at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championship meet. The seven-time first-team All-American broke eight Bison running records in cross-country and track and field during her illustrious career. The only survivor from the Teschuk wave is Nancy (Dietman) Holovnia. But there are two caveats to the

NANCY HOLOVNIA


survival of her 3,000-meter and 10,000-meter records. The outdoor 3,000-meter is no longer a recognized event by the Summit League or NCAA. The 10,000-meter is still run to this day, but Teschuk never participated. The only student-athlete to come close to Holovnia’s 10K record was Brecca Wahlund when she won the 2013 Summit League title with a time of 35:35.27, 23 seconds slower than Holovnia. “I never keep track of it,” said Holovnia. When her two records are reported back to her, she can’t help but sarcastically “oo” and “ahh.” Although she’s proud of Teschuk’s accomplishments, she could care less that her name remains in the NDSU record book. “Not that I didn’t appreciate the awards and things I got. To me, there’s a place in life for everything. If I was still living my glory days then that wouldn’t be good. I’ve really moved on from those days.” Fitness is still at the core of who Holovnia is today. Whether it’s her weekly runs with her cousin, who also went to NDSU, or biking centuries with the Twin Cities Bike Club, Holovnia estimates she gets active at least five days out of the week.

“Not that I didn’t appreciate the awards

and things I got. To me, there’s a place in life for everything. If I was still

living my glory days then that wouldn’t be good.”

– Nancy Holovnia

“I wanted to make sure I could run until I was old and gray, so I cross train,” Holovnia said. “I’m looking into thinking like, ‘How can I serve my neighbor, get exercise and be outside?’ So I signed up for the Habitat 500, which is a bike ride in July. I’m going to go Wednesday through Saturday, and I think it’s 300 miles.” The 1985 NCAA 3,000-meter indoor champion still finds joy in her running. Now living in Plymouth, Minn. with three children out of the house, she’s found more time to feed her active lifestyle, which in turn gives her a boost professionally.

“I just read something yesterday. If you reduce your goal, you diminish your effort,” Holovnia said. “I’ve been told that my standards at work are up here (raises hand). If you look at that, your performance is going to possibly be a little less from the rest of your staff. But if your standard is here (lowers hand), it’s probably going to be a little less than that. If you look at it from that perspective, and I’ll be the first to say, I hold myself to the top standard.” Holovnia is a director of information services, which she admits sounds dated. Holovnia

NANCY HOLOVNIA

NANCY HOLOVNIA

DOUBLE CHECKING THE RECORD BOOK

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works at REM MN, Inc., in Edina, Minn. She just celebrated her 25th anniversary. REM was purchased by the MENTOR Network in 2003 and now expands over 36 states. The MENTOR Network’s mission is to provide services to adults and children with developmental disabilities or acquired brain injuries, children with emotional, behavioral and medical complexities and elders in need of home care. Holovnia manages

a team of 10 in the regional office to offer billing assistance to individuals that are served through REM. “I don’t directly serve them in the program or operation side and I really respect the work that the people who do do that,” Holovnia explains. “But from a financial side of it, we try to make sure that the individuals get the funding they’re supposed to be receiving to pay the bills so that they can be taken care of financially, as

well as programmatically. I take pride in that and understanding all the state and federal and local policies.” Holovnia ran the Twin Cities marathon after having the second of her three children in 1991. She ran it in three hours on her first attempt. To put this amazing feat in perspective, 1,490 people ran the Fargo Marathon this spring, only 17 finished under three hours.

NDSU Records3,000-Meter Outdoor (9:27.53)10,000-Meter Outdoor (35:11.87)

NDSU Career2001: Bison Athletic Hall of Fame inductee

1985-86: North Central Conference Triple Crown Winner

1985, 1986: 3,000-meter NCC Indoor and Outdoor Champion

1985, 1986: 5,000-meter NCC Indoor and Outdoor Champion

1985: Indoor 3,000-meter NCAA Champion

1985: Cross Country NCAA Championships Runner-Up

1985: 3,000-meter NCC Indoor Track and Field Champion

1984, 1985: NCC Cross Country Championships

1984, 1986: 1,000-meter NCC Indoor Track and Field Champion

1984-86: 1,500-meter NCC Indoor Track and Field Champion

1984: Indoor 3,000-meter NCAA Championships Runner-Up

NANCY HOLOVNIA


A pro running career never crossed the mind of the eight-time All-American Holovnia. After her career at NDSU, she got engaged and moved to St. Could, Minn., with her husband in 1987. Holovnia has three children who are all over the U.S. and she would rather talk about them than her track and field career at NDSU. Her oldest is Amanda, who lives in Minneapolis. Kayla lives in Hawaii and Andrew, a University of Minnesota graduate is pursuing a dental career at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Holovnia spent the first half of her summer traveling to Hawaii and Florida to see her kids. In July, she’ll attempt to ride 300 miles in four days

and continue to reach out to her community any way she can. Once the track season begins, her records will be the least of her worries. She did offer a piece of insight into how anyone could beat her 10K record that’s still within grasp at NDSU. And it’s not about how to properly fuel before races or how many miles you run in training. “I think it’s what’s inside a person that drives them. Someone can have the ultimate nutrition, the ultimate workout, but if they don’t have the heart to win, they’re not going to win,” Holovnia said. “I can’t imagine my record will stay for too long.”

* * *

By Joe Kerlin

Who has five national championships, nine years of experience in the NFL, one kid playing college softball and two more kids not far behind? The Washes. Darci and Todd are living in Jacksonville, Fla., for now, and couldn’t be prouder of NDSU’s success as they watch from afar. Darci just hopes not

too many Bison fans have left the Jacksonville Jaguars bandwagon for Carson Wentz’s in Philadelphia.

Her husband may have been hired as the new Jacksonville Jaguar defensive coordinator this January, but Darci (Steere) Wash still enjoys one-upping him when the topic of national championships arises. Darci Wash, a member of three (yes three) national championship teams at North Dakota State in the early 1990s, doesn’t have to say anything at this point. Her husband, Todd,

DARCI AND TODD WASH


THE WASHES

beats her to the punch around friends, mentioning his two championships are nothing compared to his wife’s three. “He humbly takes the steam off a little bit,” chuckles Darci. Todd, a member of the 1988 and 1990 national championship football teams, and Darci are proud NDSU Bison alumni that haven’t forgotten their roots in Fargo. No matter where the unpredictable NFL coaching carousel drops Todd, this Bison couple is proud of their NDSU roots. It started in 1990 when Darci arrived in Fargo around the same time Amy Ruley and the women’s basketball program were ready to stake dominance in Division II. Darci played a significant role her freshman season. She scored over 11 points per game as the Bison went on to win its first of five national championships in six seasons. The 2012 Bison Athletic Hall of Fame inductee isn’t one to relive the past. But Darci has seen “When They Were Kings,” the documentary produced by Prairie Public Broadcasting about the tense NDSU-UND rivalry in the 1990s, and is grateful for her

“They work in an environment where you have

every resource you need to win. That was a good reason

to go back every time.”- Todd Wash

experiences. “We were blessed all my four years with such a great team,” Darci said. “We all had pretty good careers there and all of us can look back on the great memories, not just with the personal accolades, because nobody was concerned about that, how they did personally, it was all about the one goal.” Darci won a national championship her first year at NDSU, and she also caught the attention of senior defensive lineman Todd Wash. The football team was riding high after an undefeated 1990 season and were becoming somewhat of celebrities around campus. “I knew who he was, Todd Wash the football player, but I wouldn’t have been able to recognize him until I met him,” Darci said. “I met him at Paul Schaffner’s house at a–let’s call it a social gathering.” But it could’ve been before that when Todd first noticed Darci grinding away at her callouses on the bottom of her feet inside the training room at the Bison Sports Arena. “Work hard, play hard, get

KEEPING UP

with

DARCI AND TODD WASH

55

callouses, right?” laughs Darci. Long story short, Darci capped her senior year in 1994 with her third national championship and Todd was back on campus pursuing his master’s and assisting the football team. The two got engaged during Darci’s senior year and were ready to begin a life together, as their very own little team. In 1996, Todd landed his first coaching job at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. As Todd prepared to coach the defensive line, Darci put her physical therapy school dreams on hold and became officially certified as a dental assistant. She also wanted to bridge the transition from being a collegiate athlete and joined the women’s basketball coaching staff at Fort Lewis. One year later, Darci put down the clipboard and remained in the dental office while she was pregnant with their first daughter, Alyssa. Meanwhile, Todd was promoted to head coach and defensive coordinator at Fort Lewis. After the 1999 season, Todd took the defensive coordinator position at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Thus began the ever-changing journey of a college

coach. Todd and Darci moved their family — now of five — to four schools over the next half-decade. “First of all, we’ve never known anything else. We’ve lived it from the start. Todd and I prepared that coaching isn’t for long. We’re not going to be spending more than five to seven years in one spot. We haven’t even done that yet,” Darci said. “I think the key is, especially when you look at family and stuff, is your kids feed off of you, and if you’re negative about it, and you’re not excited about it, if you don’t treat it as an adventure, then they’re going to reflect those same attitudes and those same feelings. You have to be positive about it and look at it as an adventure. We have friends all over the country, that’s a part of it. That’s pretty great.” After two years at Kearney, Todd made his way back to NDSU to become an assistant under Bob Babich in 2002. It was his first time back at his alma mater since the end of the Rocky Hager regime. “NDSU is so special to myself and my wife and the people that were always there,” Todd said. “Gene (Taylor) was there the whole time

I was there as a coach. Lynn Dorn was there, and it’s really just such good people, and they work in an environment where you have every resource you need to win. That was a good reason to go back every time.” After one year at Missouri Southern State in 2004, Todd returned to NDSU again and was under the tutelage of head coach Craig Bohl and defensive

Todd’s NDSU Stats (1988-91)Games – 38Tackles – 163Tackles for Loss – 39Sacks – 22 (8th All-Time)Fumbles Forced – 4Fumble Recoveries – 3Interceptions – 1

Todd Wash Coaching Timeline1994-95 – North Dakota State (graduate assistant)1996 – Fort Lewis College (defensive line coach)1997-99 – Fort Lewis College (head coach)2000-01 – Nebraska-Kearney (defensive coordinator)2002-03 – North Dakota State (defensive line)2004 – Missouri Southern State (defensive coordinator/linebackers coach)2005-06 – North Dakota State (defensive line coach)2007-10 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (defensive line coach)2011-12 – Seattle Seahawks (defensive line coach)2013-15 – Jacksonville Jaguars (defensive line coach/running game coordinator)Present – Jacksonville Jaguars (defensive coordinator)

Todd’s NDSU Accolades1992: NFL Camp with Houston Oilers1988,1990: Division II National Champion1990, 1991: First-team All-North Central Conference

DARCI AND TODD WASH


coordinator Casey “Gus” Bradley, who was a graduate assistant at NDSU when Todd was playing. Todd said he and Bradley have known each other since 1987. Todd’s relationship with Bradley proved valuable after Bradley left for the NFL in 2006. According to the Fargo Forum, Bradley brought Todd’s name to the table in Tampa Bay when they were looking for an assistant in 2007. Todd went down to interview and came back two days later as the defensive quality control coach for the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin also had a connection with NDSU’s Bohl back from his Nebraska days. “That’s the Cadillac of coaching,” Todd told the Forum after he announced he was leaving NDSU for the final time. Bradley and Todd stayed together in Tampa Bay until 2009 when Bradley was hired as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. In 2011, Bradley hired Todd as Seattle’s defensive line coach. In 2013, the Jacksonville

Jaguars hired Bradley to be the head coach and he brought his colleague, Todd, with him as the defensive line coach. “We know our ins and outs and how to push each other’s buttons, and it’s a business, we both understand that. But at the same time, it’s good to work with good people that you know,” Todd said. “Yeah, you know Gus and I, seems like we’ve stayed together for a couple years. This is the longest stint we’ve had together and usually, we get fed up with each other and one of us moves on (laughs). It’s special.” Adjusted Line Yards (ALY) is a metric created by Football Outsiders to gauge how well a team’s defensive line performs. It takes into account “all running back carries and assigns responsibility to the line based on” four percentages. The goal is to “separate the effect that the running back has on a particular play from the effect of the offensive line (and other offensive blockers) and the effect of the defense.”

Essentially, through the ALY, the Jaguars defensive line has improved every season since Todd’s arrival. In 2012, Jacksonville ranked 26th. After last season, they were eighth. As a result, Todd was promoted to defensive coordinator this January. It’s his first coordinator job in the NFL. “I’m very proud of him. His efforts are starting to pay off,” Darci said. For now, Darci is busy being a full-time mom after 15 years in the dental industry. Her and Todd’s oldest, Alyssa Wash, just completed her freshman season of softball at Saint Leo, a Division II school north of Tampa Bay. Jenae Wash, the middle child, will be a sophomore in high school and shares her sister’s passion for softball. She may also have an interest in following in Darci and Todd’s footsteps. The youngest, Marcus, a fourth grader, is staying busy with baseball this summer and will play football in the fall. Bison Pride was an important concept Darci and Todd learned at NDSU. Today, they want to implement that attitude in their children. “Being prideful in everything you do. It does carry over into the real world. I try to, especially in athletics,” Darci said. “They know what Bison Pride is. They’ve heard it many times. They know what Bison Time is. They know to be 10 minutes early.” As for Todd, he’s living and working with Bison Pride every day in the office and on the practice field. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a couple former Bison like Gus Bradley and Scottie Hazelton in the office with him. “Everybody busts me and Gus’s chops about it,” Todd said. “Anytime something happens at North Dakota State, we make sure we tell everybody in our building.”

* * *

Darci’s NDSU Stats (1990-94)Games – 122Points – 1,585 (5th All-Time)Field Goal Percentage – 52.5 (3rd All-Time)Rebounds – 873 (6th All-Time)Free Throws Made – 361 (2nd All-Time)

Darci’s NDSU Accolades1991, 1993, 1994: Division II National Champion1994: Kodak Division II All-American1994: Kodak Division II All-District team1994: Women’s Division II Bulletin and Basketball Gazette’s Player of the Year1994: North Central Conference Player of the Year1994: NCAA All-Regional and NCAA Championship All-Tourney MVP1993, 1994: First-team All-North Central Conference 1993: Fourth-team AWSF All-American1992: Division II Nation Runner-Up

DARCI AND TODD WASH


Interview By Joe Kerlin

Country Financial’s financial representative Taylor Cavanagh graduated from NDSU just over five years ago. He represents one of the many former Bison student-athletes that remained in Fargo after their playing career to transition into the professional “real world.” We asked him why that is and what makes Fargo such an attractive place for his generation, the millennials.

Bison Illustrated – Let’s get to know you better. How did your journey from Perham, Minn. to NDSU unfold?

Taylor Cavanagh – My brother (Lee) went. He was asked to play college golf at NDSU and I liked the coach (Billy Iverson), liked the fit. I’m a big outdoorsman, so I didn’t want to be too far away from that. It was a good fit for me. Went there, loved it, it was a great four and a half years.

TAYLOR CAVANAGH

Photo By J. Alan Paul Photography


Was the opportunity to golf the biggest factor for you choosing a college?For sure. I wanted to play golf. One thing about NDSU is they didn’t have any scholarships at that time, but their schedule definitely helped with recruiting. The first tournament of the year was out in Annapolis, Md., at the Naval Academy. In the spring, we’d either go to Hawaii or Southern California, which is an absolute blast. In February, we always went to San Diego, and then if we didn’t go to Hawaii that year, we’d go somewhere not in Southern California, but somewhere around San Francisco. It was a really good schedule. Which trip was the best?The trip to Kauai was the best because that was the first time I’d ever been to Hawaii and it’s a tiny little island, not very commercialized. The golf course was phenomenal, and we got to play some other really good golf courses on the island and it was a lot of fun. It was a two- or three-day tournament so we were there for four, five days. We definitely had a lot of fun. You want to know the worst one? It’s Western Illinois.

“I really do enjoy Fargo. I play golf out at Oxbow so that’s one

big tie I really like. I like going out there with the guys.”

– Taylor Cavanagh

Yes, and why was that?The worst is the drive. I’ll never forget. We had to leave Fargo on April 7 and we got a blizzard the night before we left. I’ll never forget, Billy and I are driving down the road and we hit a patch of ice, and we weren’t out of Fargo and the van was sideways. We’re like, “This could be a bad trip.” The place where we stayed, which was like their best hotel, it was not clean. We’ll put it that way. And the golf course, the problem is too, you never really give it a fair assessment because you’re playing golf April 7, and it’s 45 degrees and, well, we drove that far so we’re going to play. Who wants to go out and play when it’s blowing sideways? I always bring this up with golfers, your schedule is weird in that you’re always gone in the beginning of the week and how that must throw off your schedules so much…Yep. It’s always Mondays and Tuesdays. And you’re missing class…Yup, you get back and you’re a little tired from the whole trip and everything, but you have to catch up. You know what, every other athlete that we would talk

TAYLOR CAVANAGH

TAYLOR CAVANAGH

DRIVING RANGE

with

61

to at workouts and stuff would say, “You guys have it so good. You get to go on these trips,” and they’re right. We didn’t get beat-up physically. I mean, if you can’t walk 36 holes as an athlete, if that’s going to take too much out of you, then wow. We were very spoiled. We had it the best. The only thing, like you said, was being gone the Mondays and Tuesdays. It was challenging with some professors to get caught up and everything. But other than that, it was awesome. What was the most challenging part of trying to keep up when you were gone?“Missing tests. When you miss

a test, that was the worst. Just because most of the time, they’d let you take it again or take it at a different time, before or after. Most of the time, before. I had one professor that you had the opportunity to drop one test throughout the semester and she just said, that’s the test you’re dropping. Didn’t your finance degree require an internship, too? When did you find time for that?It does now, but not when I went to school. It was so weird because there was an internship requirement and then I think that was getting abused by people just working as a bank teller or

something so they dropped that, then I know they added it back again after I graduated. So what was your plan after your golf eligibility was up and you were getting ready to graduate the following December?That fall, I did as much hunting as I could to get it out of my system because I knew the glory days were coming to an end. I ran into an old friend of mine, he actually babysat us when I was a kid, and he was the manager at Country Financial at the time, Phil Haug, and he was like, “Hey, you should come work for me.” I’m like, “Sure.” I said, “Yes I’ll take the job, I would love to start my career here.” You never know being in your first job, and surprisingly nothing is different after five years. I’m very happy. It’s been very good. We’ve grown quite fast so that’s good. It was so weird running into him, I haven’t seen him in years. How did you bump into Phil?We both golf and I just ran into him at the golf course, and he was like, “Hey, I want to talk to you about something.” That’s textbook networking.Yeah, networking on the golf course. Did you always want to get into the insurance industry?No, I really didn’t have anything in mind. I wanted to do something in the business finance world, not exactly sure what exactly it was, though. Was that common for business students?I wouldn’t say that. I had a general interest in it because my dad was a banker and I had worked at the bank growing up. I’m not a huge fan of science or anything like that. Do you feel like you’re in the minority that you are still working at the same place as your first job?Yeah, for sure (laughs). I remember when I first started, the

NDSU Stats – 2006-10Years Played – 4Rounds – 85Avg./Round – 77.5Win-Loss – 1,028-814Best Round – 64 (Erv Kaiser Invitational, 9/2008)Top 10 Finishes – 7

TAYLOR CAVANAGH


hours I would work, for just the fewest amount of clients and stuff. I ‘d get there at 7:30, leave at 9, four nights a week. It was a grind. Now that I’ve met more people, business comes a lot quicker. You don’t have to work those hours. Do you feel fortunate you stayed in Fargo after college?I love it in Fargo right now, but ask me January 1 and I always ask myself why I live here (laughs). No, I really do love living here in Fargo. It’s a great town. It’s fun to see how fast the community is growing, especially business wise and housing wise. It’s crazy. Overall, the people here are generally the nicest. If I would’ve gone anywhere else, it would’ve been West. But I’m very happy with my decision to stay here. I really do enjoy Fargo. I play golf

out at Oxbow so that’s one big tie I really like. I like going out there with the guys. You’re still close in age to the golfers at NDSU. Do they ever reach out and ask for advice on life after school?A couple guys have come to me looking for advice. If I had to do it again, I would do some sort of sales job before, get to know a few more people just to make the transition easier. I knew nobody. I wasn’t from Fargo, so it just took a little while to build my roots, for the most part. I’ve got a couple guys, one guy, really, that was good for me was Steve Walker because he worked at Country at the time when I first started. He and I are friends and he’s a great guy.

If you had to stand in front of a college class with a bunch of business students, what would you tell them about the “real world?”The biggest thing is having an understanding, make sure you know what your expenses are, and make sure you’re putting away money each month. Make sure you’re not spending more than you make. Real life stuff, just wake up, this whole thing, living off dad’s credit card or all these student loans, be smart about that. That money is really expensive down the road, later on in life. I saw so many people, and granted they had a hard degree that would not work during the school year and they would have to take out loans to live on. And I understood that if they wanted to focus on their degree, I understand that. It’s crazy how much debt you can be in. I can’t believe how much more expensive it’s gotten since I graduated. How has the industry changed since you arrived five years ago?Not a ton of changes. Dealing with the millennials, the people my age, that’s the biggest thing to overcome right now. Just the different types of communications that they like. I’m unlike my generation in that I like face-to-face meetings. A handshake means a lot more than a signature. Through all this, are you still keeping tabs on the old team?I follow the Bison, football and basketball. I still follow golf. I come in and have my coffee in the morning and see if they have a tournament. I know a couple guys that are still on the team, just from playing a few rounds with them and it’s just fun to follow them and see how they’re doing. I’m really excited they are fully funded now, which is awesome. I’m excited to see what Steve Kennedy can do with that. He’s a really good guy.

TAYLOR CAVANAGH

* * *


Interview by Joe Kerlin

Many professional wrestling fans remember Mister Bob Backlund as the All-American wrestler, turned heel, turned 1995 Presidential nominee. But

people forget his illustrious and short-lived wrestling and football career at North Dakota State. We put Backlund in a crossface chickenwing (not literally) and had him answer some questions Bison fans and wrestling fans have been dying to ask the current author and motivational speaker.

BOB BACKLUND

ACCOLADES2013: WWE Hall of Fame1983: North Dakota State Hall of Fame1972: NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships fifth-place finisher heavyweight1972: Third place North Central Conference finisher1971: NCAA Division II Wrestling National Champion 190 pounds1971: Second place North Central Conference finisher1970: Camellia Bowl winner1969-70: Junior College Wrestling All-American1969: Junior College Football All-American

Bison Football Stats (1970-71)Years Played – 2Tackles – 136Forced Fumbles – 2Fumble Recoveries – 1

Bison Wrestling Stats (1971-72)Dual Meet Career Record – 16-4-1

BOB BACKLUND

PINNING DOWN


22YEARS PRO

Bison Illustrated – You’ve said before that every step in your life has evolved you into the man you are today. How did NDSU help shape Bob Backlund?

Bob Backlund – In high school, I played football, I wrestled, I was in track. My father wasn’t a very good drinker, and I went out for sports so I wouldn’t have to go home. But through the process of amateur wrestling in junior high and high school, I learned six principles that I lived by from the time I was

a senior for the rest of my life. I went to Waldorf

Junior College first. I played football

and I wrestled. I was in track there. I left a big mark there, bigger than I did in high school. Then I transferred to North Dakota

State. I was testing these

principles to see if they’d work in life.

And I used them there, and I did pretty darn well

at North Dakota State also. Then in 1973, I was ready to go on the road in the wrestling business and everybody in my hometown said I’d never get ahead. I would never get anyplace. I’m not Mad Dog. I’m not The Butcher. I was just a kid. I didn’t believe any of that. I believed in these principles. I didn’t listen to them. I didn’t wonder. I knew I was going to succeed because of the things I learned in amateur wrestling. How did your relationship start with legendary Bison wrestling coach Bucky Maughan?Bucky Maughan knew me

THE CONVERSATION

better than a lot of people. He knew me better than Ron Erhardt. His wife was from Princeton, Minn., which is my hometown. She had a brother that was on the wrestling team when I was there. Bucky Maughan came down to help his wife’s brother. He wrestled me when I was in 10th grade. He beat me up pretty bad. The next year, he came back and he saw how hard I worked. He said, “Who is that guy over in the corner there?” But because of the hard work that I was doing, and he saw I was working–and he saw the improvements–he wanted that guy on his wrestling team. When I got ready to get out of high school, he didn’t have much history at North Dakota State University, couldn’t talk Ron Erhardt to giving me a dual scholarship, so I ended up going to Waldorf Junior College in Forest City, Iowa. What kind of impact did Bucky make in your life?He worked hard to get me in. It wasn’t easy. He just knew how dedicated I was. You didn’t have to tell me, you didn’t have to tell me to do something after practice. I was already doing it. When I was a kid, I wanted to lift weights. My parents didn’t have any money. I got two five-gallon pails and I got a pipe that was six feet long and two inches in diameter. I put cement in the pails and put the pipe inside the pail in the cement. I came home from school and did the same thing. My first weight-machine was two five-gallon pails with a pipe between it. I couldn’t get it off the ground. But I was going after things without being told. And he liked that. You didn’t have to preach to me. You didn’t have to tell me anytime. I was running around for an hour after practice at North Dakota

“I walk the walk. I don’t say one thing and go out and do another. I don’t cheat. There’s a lot of athletes who say one thing and they don’t back it up at all.”

-Bob Backlund

BOB BACKLUND

69

State University. I was very into it and I was driven to out work everybody and that’s what made me win in the wrestling business. How did the level of expectations at North Dakota State help you in your professional career and your life outside the ring?I’m more driven right now than ever. I did okay in life. At one time, I was on the path, rather than the future. What am I going to do after I got the championship in the WWF for six years? My life is better now than it ever was. I have a book. I’m out inspiring people, trying to get them to understand the principles and get them to utilize them in their life and, to me, that’s the most important thing I’ve ever done. What’s you book, “Backlund: From All American Boy to Pro-fessional Wrestling’s Champion” about?I go through my whole life story. Basically, it’s about the six principles that I learned from high school and junior high school and how I utilize them through two

colleges and how I went out into the world and climbed the ladder of success in a situation that was almost impossible for me to do that. I believe in this book. I signed autographs at the Madison Square Garden at the NCAA Tournament. A young man came over to buy a book and he looked at his dad, and his dad asked, “Are you going to read it?” And I looked at him and said, “I don’t want you to buy it if you’re just going to read it. If you’re not going to study it, just leave it here. You need to study it, you need to learn it and you need to do whatever it says in the book.”

He bought the book. I have his voicemail on the phone here about a month later he called and said, “I read the book. I’m definitely going to study it.” He called me back again and asked me a question about something and I told him, “Stick to your guns. Don’t change.” He didn’t have a problem, his brother did. He told his brother that. He called back about a month later after that and said, “It worked. He stuck to his guns and he got what he wanted.”

Are stories like this why you felt compelled to write a book?I wanted to get my story of my life, out to the world, in my words. Not anybody else telling me, “You can’t say that. You can’t say this.” That happened to me. “You can’t say that because it will hurt this guy.” That’s why when we were writing the book, Rob Miller, he wasn’t going to put the high school days in, but I told him, if I can’t put that in, I’m not going to do it because that’s where this book could help other people. The story of my life; what’s that going to do? The principles to put in somebody’s mind will work. How does a national champion college wrestler become a professional wrestler?I knew this guy, his name was Ross Johnson, and he was like the perfect kid. Perfect person. The only time we hung out together was when we were training together, but it was good. Anyway, he got leukemia and died before we got to high school. He became a good friend and I lost him. He wanted to play professional

Professional Career (1973-84; 1992-97; 1999-00; 2007; 2012)WWE Champion; World Tag Team Champion;1994: WWF Championship Belt Holder1980: WWF World Tag Team Champion1978-83: WWF Championship Belt Holder

BOB BACKLUND


Bob’s BookBacklund: From All–American Boy to Professional Wrestling’s World Champion

• (2015) Sports Publishing, an Imprint of Skyhorse

• 485 pages

• Order your signed copy for $35 at bobbacklundnow.com/shop-now

football, he had goals and everything, and I knew nothing about that. I wanted to obtain his goals.

I went to Mundelein (Illinois) and played one year of semipro football for the Chicago Bears. On my way home, I’d been there for a season, there had been guys that have been there for 10 years and they’re still there. I didn’t believe it was going to work. And I don’t know if you know this, but I met Billy “Superstar” Graham at the YMCA in 1971 in Fargo, North Dakota. I thought about that a little bit and said, “You know what? I’m going to try wrestling.”

By the time I got home from Illinois – I got to Princeton (Minn.) – I had my mind set. I had a gym I was going to go to in Minneapolis. It was called the 7th Street Gym

and that’s where a lot of the wrestlers worked out. So I got a membership and started training there. There was a day there I was down doing bench presses and the guy who ran the gym, his name was Eddie Sharkley – he’s still living in Minnesota now – and I saw him at Verne Gagne’s funeral. He said, “Geez, you ever think about getting in the business?” And that was the dream come true, because that’s what I wanted to have happen when I got a membership at that club, to get into professional wrestling. You’re still involved in professional wrestling as Darren Young’s “life coach.” Do you still have an itch to get back in the ring?No, I have the itch to motivate people. I have an itch to send a message to people and inspire

them, through a book. He’s just a part of it. I’m trying to mentor him and get him on a strong road. He’s a great person. He got a little down mentally, as far as some things happening to him, but he’s fighting back now and he’s going to come back bigger than ever. It’s just part of my life, and part of what I’m doing. I’m mirroring what Jack LaLanne used to do with fitness and training. He had a blender and some vitamins. I got a book and a lot of willpower. That’s my goal. To get to that level, as far as a motivational person. I walk the walk. I don’t say one thing and go out and do another. I don’t cheat. There’s a lot of athletes who say one thing and they don’t back it up at all. Last question has to be the toughest. Greater accomplishment: NCAA champion or WWF Champion?Boy, that’s a tough one. I wasn’t seeded at all (in college). That year, we played a Bowl game, and we played it late in the year, it was January 9, I think. Half the (wrestling) season was over. They went to seed me, I was the bottom guy and I beat the champion. That was a moment in my life that it was almost like a professional wrestling story. I remember walking off the mat, and Bucky Maughan coming toward me and I caught him under the armpits and I threw him up in the air.

I also met Billy “Superstar” Graham in Fargo, North Dakota and he asked me about training and asked me about getting in the business, I did it. A few years later, I’m standing in Madison Square Garden looking across at my opponent and he’s got the WWF Championship belt around his waist and I’m going to get it from him, and it’s Billy “Superstar” Graham, the guy I met in Fargo, North Dakota. It doesn’t get much bigger than that, either. I got to rank them both high in my totem poll in terms of best ever thing happening to me.

* * *

BOB BACKLUND



It’s not every day you find yourself on the other side of the phone with former WWF and Bison star Bob Backlund. We followed up after our interview with some questions from you, the fans.

Fans – What’s the secret to the crossface chicken wing?

Bob Backlund – Facial expressions. They (the crowd) don’t look at the hold, they look at your face. I go nuts when I put it on somebody. That’s what makes it successful. Kurt Angle used to try to use it, it didn’t work at all. He only tried twice. I don’t think he understood about entertaining people. The hold is put in, that move will do damage if you want it to, but again, with the business, it was more about the face. Has anyone ever hit you for real in the ring?I don’t know if you remember Harley Race. He was one of the tougher guys in the business and I had a lot of matches with him. In the book, he said, “You know, there are a lot of people that tried to take Bob Backlund on and nobody ever tried twice.” Well, I was in such good shape. My upper body was so stiff. I didn’t even realize they were trying to do that. My upper body, you couldn’t move it with a truck. So these guys were going after you, but it still took a lot to bring you down?They tried to take me on, but I just thought they were messing with me. I didn’t even realize it. Harley Race says that in the book. So I couldn’t tell you who it was because I didn’t realize it. I thought they were all the same. What is your worst botched experience in the ring?That never happened. Well, when I first got in the ring, I was going to jump over the top rope and I jumped

FAN QUESTIONS

over the top rope and I just spun around it. That was sort of embarrassing. When I got done with the match, I couldn’t find the dressing room. Everything gets turned upside down. Every corner looks the same. I was walking around all over and I couldn’t find the dressing room. (Laughs) All the guys knew it was my first or second match and they were all back there laughing. What was the greatest ven-ue you ever wrestled in?Back then, and it still is, Madison Square Garden rules. That’s where everybody wanted to get. I wrestled in the Tokyo Dome and there were 60,000 people there. But the Madison Square Garden rules. Is there someone now that you would’ve had a lot of fun with in the ring?Oh yeah, There’s quite a few of them. I would’ve loved to wrestle Brock Lesnar. With what he did in high school, college and wrestling and all that, it would be a pleasure. That would’ve been a big challenge. Where are you now?South Glastonbury, Conn., with my wife. She’s from North Dakota State also. I met her there, she was a cheerleader for the football team and I met her during the football season. We’ve been together for 42 years. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we said, “Till death do us part.” And we meant it.

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BOB BACKLUND

BOB BACKLUND

takes on the fans



Before North Dakota State could claim Carson Wentz as one of its own and even before Joe Mays, Lamar Gordon and Phil Hansen, one former Bison represented the talent Fargo could produce in the NFL. Steve

Nelson played for NDSU in the early 1970s and by the late 80s, he was one of the best Patriots linebackers to ever play the game. His plaque is in the Bison and Patriot Hall of Fame and his No. 57 is retired along with the other Patriot greats. Now living in Massachusetts, Nelson catches up with us to talk about his time at NDSU, in the NFL, what he thinks of Wentz and tries to explain what’s in the water at NDSU that’s creating a flood of talent in the NFL.

TACKLING HISTORY

steve nelson

with

ACCOLADES1993: New England Patriots Hall of Fame1993: New England Patriots No. 57 Retired1980, 1984, 1985: Pro Bowler1984: Unofficial Patriot single-season record-207 tackles1974: 2nd Round, 34th Overall Draft Pick by New England Patriots1988: North Dakota State Hall of Fame1972, 1973: Second-team All-American1972: North Central Conference Most Valuable Defensive Lineman

Bison Stats (1971-73)Games – 29Tackles – 337Tackles for Loss (N/A thru ’72) – 14Sacks (N/A thru ’72) – 4Interceptions – 2Fumbles Forced – 9Fumble Recoveries – 4Blocked Kicks – 3

STEVE NELSON


14YEARS PRO

Bison Illustrated – When you came to NDSU, they had won three national championships in five years. What was the culture like for a young kid like yourself?

Steve Nelson – My freshman year, my first year at North Dakota State, they were undefeated and a great team. I practiced against the varsity. I was one of the practice squad guys. Even though I was an outsider, so to speak, being a freshman and not playing, I could tell just how important football was to the players

and how important it was to the college

and area. It really kind of reinforced

why I wanted to go to North Dakota State because those things were important. Football was

important.

I get a chance to follow them

now. I could not be more proud of the recent

success they’ve had. It’s a great thing, but it doesn’t just happen. It takes a lot of work. I think it’s a tradition that my class came into with. We were expected to win. We’re always expected to win. That’s the ultimate type of feeling a team should have. You should win every game and at North Dakota State, you have an opportunity to do that. You went on to have a long career in the NFL. How did NDSU prepare you to become a professional football player?

It was a big jump. I had a couple tests, though. I played in the All-American game. My team was Lynn Swann and Mike Webster, and a lot of guys that were first

THE CONVERSATION

round draft choices so I got to compare myself to them before I even went to an NFL camp.

The one thing I realized was how the coaching I had was, not only in high school, but in college, and how technique-wise, I was probably more advanced than the guys from Nebraska or any place else. That was a real tribute to the coaching at North Dakota State. It goes back to when you do things right, every part of the team is exceptional and the coaching was just exceptional. When I went in there (NFL), I knew how to play and I knew how to cover players and knew how to take on blocks, tackle and everything else as well as anybody so that gave me some confidence going into my rookie season.

That year happened to be a strike year (1974) so I got a chance to play right away because the veterans weren’t in camp. That gave me more confidence. Football is such a confidence game. You gotta have confidence that you can do the job and I think with all that opportunity to play, it really gave me the confidence that I belonged, even though I came from a Division II school.

I don’t really consider North Dakota State a Division II school at that time or now, it’s 1-AA (FCS) now, but it’s a great program and it happens to be in a conference that isn’t a Division I-level. I was ready to go and I got the opportunity and it was a team, which was just starting up. Coach (Chuck) Fairbanks came from Oklahoma and he was a great coach and Coach (Ron) Erhardt who was my college coach was the running back coach, so I had somebody that

“The one thing I realized was how the coaching I had was, not only in high school, but in college, and how technique-wise, I was probably more advanced than the guys from Nebraska or any place else. That was a real tribute to the coaching at North Dakota State.”

-Steve Nelson

STEVE NELSON

Ph

oto Cou

rtesy of the New

England Patriots

77

I knew so that helped. I could have somebody I could talk to. Football is football, you just go out there and compete and get yourself ready to practice every day, make it the best practice of your life. If you have that type of attitude, you’re going to improve. Are there similarities with the relationship between the fan base and the team in New England and NDSU?Absolutely. I think that’s something every successful program has. The great thing about football is that the team is always greater than the individual and I think when you get a chance to play at North Dakota State, the town supports you so much and you play for more than just yourself or teammates. You play for the state, the city, the university, you play for your teammates, your coaches and you have more invested. You want to do better.

I think the more investment you have, the more you can lose but the more you can win and it’s up to the talent on the team to decide if you’re going to be winners or losers. The team I played on my senior year, we had really great

players. Pat Simmers was a great player. Probably the best player on defense was Jerry Dahl. He was drafted the next year. Guys like Greg Bentson, Sanford Qvale, Lee Gunlikson, I still think Lee, Stanford and Pat will be friends for life because of football at North Dakota State. You know, I tell you what, the Patriots are a lot like the Bison. The Patriots have only done it over the past 12 years, but the combination of coaching and great players and they go on the field and win by a lot of different ways. They might win on defense, they win on special teams. Obviously, they have the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, but they go out there and they’re supposed to win every game. And if they don’t win every game, something is wrong. You know you were the highest Bison to ever be drafted until someone named Carson Wentz came along.I was. Carson blew me out of the water (laughs). There’s only one spot now that Carson can get beat at. He had a great career, great player. He’s a great ambassador for the university. He’s a smart, nice,

humble kid and he’s just awesome. He’ll be successful. It’s not going to be easy and the town he plays in demands that you win, but he’ll do fine because he’s got a lot of talent and he’s really, although I’ve never met him, he seems like a really well-rounded kid and knows what’s important and he’ll do fine. He’s going to have a lot on his plate in terms of expectations. How did you handle that going to the professional level?You’re still representing the university, even though you’re playing professional football and what you do on the field and off the field is a reflection of the university. I think you can get good publicity or bad publicity, and you look at the schools who have had a lot of guys who had character issues, a lot of them went to the same program and people look at that program differently.

North Dakota State is a program that didn’t have a lot of players in the league so I was one of the few and then Phil Hansen played and we got some other guys. Absolutely, you play and I think your program is just fine, not only what you do on the field but how you relate to the community, how you volunteer with things in the community and I’m sure, Carson–just reading about him–I have some people that I know that are around him and they say that he’ll be a great ambassador for the Eagles and North Dakota State. How do you feel when you see these former Bison excelling at the pro level?It gives me bragging rights. It’s funny, one of my best friends playing, and I still see him every year, is John Hannah. John went to the University of Alabama and he was the best offensive lineman I’d ever seen in my life. He’s so Bear Bryant and University of Alabama and rightfully so. They have an incredible tradition and history and he’ll always say, “You and I understand things more than all these other players because of where we came from.

NFL Stats (1974-87)Games – 174Games Started – 171Tackles – 1,776Sacks (N/A thru ‘82) – 8Interceptions – 17Forced Fumbles (N/A thru ‘81) – 11Fumble Recoveries – 16

STEVE NELSON



North Dakota State almost demands that you win, as Alabama does. Again, it’s not the size of the program. It’s the commitment and the size of the character of the players and coaches in the division you play in. I brag about it. (Billy) Turner is a starting guard for the Dolphins and it’s awesome. The corner that played for Denver (Tyrone Braxton), he had a great run. Phil Hansen was obviously an important player for the Buffalo Bills. I brag about it. There’s a lot of really great football players that go to that program. Like I said before, Jerry Dahl was the best defensive player I ever saw in college. For whatever reason, he got drafted by San Diego and decided not to play, but he was a little older and all that stuff, but he was unblockable. Are you still following the Bison in Massachusetts?I do through Pat Simmers. Again, Pat Simmers is one of my buddies and I keep up with him and we talk every couple months. We talk about things and, obviously, he’s been around North Dakota State and the football program and how they’re doing on a national

basis or how they’re recruiting or whatever. Right now, because of the technology, people know about North Dakota State. Plus the success they’ve had against Big 12 teams, Big 10 teams, people know North Dakota State and they don’t want to play them. I think even the casual college fan has an idea of what a program North Dakota State has. You have to be something special when you win five times in a row. That’s nuts. It’s a tribute to the players. I coached college football and it’s like that old saying: a horse never rides a jockey across the finish line. A football player is never on top of a coach. Coaches are always on top of the players. The players are the foundation of whatever you have that’s special and I think with all the success that North Dakota State has, it fuels the fire.

People want to go to winning programs. People want to play for championships, that’s what you play football for–to play in a championship. It was my 12th year in the League when I finally went to the Super Bowl (1985) and when I played, I realized, how much I had missed by not play-ing in a game that was going to

decide who was the best football team on the planet. It was just so cool. I’m glad I had the experience because I know how it feels to go out on the field and if you won the game, you’re absolutely the best. We didn’t win, but I had that experience and I think if you go to North Dakota State, you go to win championships. How are you staying busy in Massachusetts?Right now, I work for a company called Lighthouse Computer Services and we’re business partner of IBM. We’re a 100-person company. We’re a combined Microsoft, business analytics and an IBM software, middleware, hardware, services company. What’s your role?I’m a business development and public relations. It’s a great job and great company. I’m asked to do things through the Patriots so it’s a good conduit to meet people who are involved in different businesses. When’s the last time you made it back to Fargo to watch the Bison?I went there about three years ago, they played Northern Iowa. It was a really good game. We had a little reunion of our 1973 team. I think it was 2013. The 40th anniversary. Are you going to bring me back there, is that why you’re asking me? (Laughs) I’d love to come back again. Pat needs to be in the Hall of Fame. The next time I go back to North Dakota State is when Pat gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. It’s a long ways. Three years ago, it was great. Went up there, Greg Bentson, who just passed away, I sat with Greg at the game. A lot of great memories came back. I loved it. It’s what all the good things about football, you know? It’s the friendships, it’s the relationships, the support, the winning, the losing, the crying, the laughing all that stuff.

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STEVE NELSON


79

RUNNING DOWN

LAMAR GORDON


ACCOLADES2002: 3rd Round, 84th Overall Draft Pick by St. Louis Rams2002: Senior Bowl2002: NFL Combine2000: First-team All-American2000: Harlon Hill Award Finalist1999: Second-team All-American2001: Honorable Mention All-American1999, 2000, 2001: First-team All-North Central Conference

Bison Stats (1998-2001)Games – 41Rushing attempts – 782Rushing yards – 4,696Yards/Carry – 6.01Rushing touchdowns – 62Receptions – 44Receiving yards – 462Receiving touchdowns – 2All-purpose yards – 5,251

LAMAR GORDON

The last half-decade has produced timeless performances from Bison football players. The national

championships, winning streaks and record-breaking moments have been scattered along the timeline of the greatest five-year run of success in Bison football history. But one record still stands. We talked to the NDSU career rushing leader about his NFL career and his time as a Bison.

Photo by Drew Hallowell/Philadelphia Eagles


5YEARS PRO

Bison Illustrated – The NFL Draft dominated much of our coverage this spring, so I wanted to ask about your experience. You went through the similar process as Carson Wentz, right?

Lamar Gordon – Yeah, I went to the Senior Bowl. I went to the combine. I went through all that, but you still didn’t really know. You just tried to stay even-keeled because you don’t want to get too excited about it. I was at home, I worked out and I knew I was going anywhere from the second to fifth round, and I

was really hoping it was on the first day because,

back then, the first day was the first

three rounds, and I couldn’t imagine sleeping on it again. Seriously. I was just at my

grandmother’s house, and it

wasn’t supposed to be a party.

Just a couple family members that were

going to come over, but it turned into a big party. The first round, back then, was like eight hours, so I went to sleep and then I resumed into through the second round, and I was like, “Uh-oh, am I going to the next day?” All of a sudden, I was called and it was one of those things where I was like, “Here we go.” What are your emotions like after receiving the most important call of your life?It was one of those things I’ll never forget. I got a call, I really wasn’t expecting it because I was sitting there getting tired and it was actually Mike Martz on the

THE CONVERSATION

phone, and I was like, “Uh-oh,” And he was like, “We’re just calling to let you know we drafted you.” I looked at everybody and they’re looking at me and I was like ”Ah, it’s the Rams!” And everybody started hollering. The first thing they asked me was what number I wanted. I was like, I can’t pick 28 because that’s Marshall Faulk’s and he was pretty much my idol growing up. That’s 28. It was one of those things that the experience was, now I’m going to his team. I was in awe of the situation. I just told them to give me 34. I can’t take 28 so just give me a number. What did you learn behind the running back you idolized?Pretty much everything. That dude was the smartest football player I’d ever been around. He just really took me under his wing, and it surprised him how much I knew about football. It was one of those things that, a lot of my coaches used to pull me to the side and they thought that me playing with him hampered me a little bit. They thought I was too nice of a guy. They wanted me to go in there and take his spot. To me, I was just playing. I didn’t think I was nice, but I don’t know, but that was the thing they always said. When I got mad, they saw the best was coming out of me. I can’t make myself play mad. Something had to bother me to play mad. It was one of those things that, outside looking in, a lot of people said. They didn’t really want me to play with somebody I looked up to because it changed how I interacted a little. To me, it wasn’t a big deal. How do you adjust going from Division II to the NFL?It was the speed. It’s not necessarily how fast

“My thing was I didn’t take it as a business. I just took (the NFL) as, it was still football, coming from school, but after a couple years, like, the last time I really had fun playing football was in college. Once it becomes your job, you’re pretty much, your own company.”

-Lamar Gordon

LAMAR GORDON

81

people ran. It was the speed of everything. How quick linebackers read steps, how quick the holes opened and closed, that was the thing. They actually had to slow me down because I was so used to our playbook with powers and all that stuff, hitting the hole right away. When you get to the NFL, it’s a lot of zone reads. A lot of stuff you had to be slow to the hole and explode through. To me, that was the troubling thing.

I was just so fast, I wasn’t giving any time for things to set up. They had to actually slow me down, deepen my stance. They tried to tweak all different stuff to get me under control. My thing was, I didn’t take it as a business. I just took it as, it was still football. After a couple years, like, the last time I really had fun playing football was in college. Once it becomes your

job, you’re pretty much, your own company. I’m going to play hurt if I feel like it, but sometimes you shouldn’t, you should take the day off or take a game off. I didn’t have that mindset. I was just a football player and had fun playing football. You were the first player since Phil Hansen to be drafted out of NDSU. Do you feel you started a trend with the seven guys that have been drafted since 2002?I mean, my measurables measured up to make people want to come get you and give me a shot. When they actually see you at the Senior Bowl and see you around the guys and see you on Saturdays on ESPN, they really realize. You can pretty much play with anybody if you can play football (at NDSU). As far as NDSU as a winning program, especially now, I mean, they’re going crazy with the championships. It just puts a smile on my face every time I see it because it’s funny to me thinking that we were D-II back then. It makes me feel old, but now I’m looking at us kicking everybody’s tail and it’s funny. I just think it’s about the League looking for who they need. Looking for players, they’re so cocky in their own right, they feel like they can get a steal somewhere. They don’t care where you’re from. They just want to make sure that you can play football and you can fit their system and they give you a shot. They’ve given all these other players shots, so why not go to a winning program up north to find some talent? It’s good that it got opened up, but now, I just sit back and I want anyone who plays football to feel that feeling I felt on draft night. Are you still watching the Bison on Saturdays?Oh yeah. I’ll always follow it. I’m in a group chat with Shep (Mike Shepperd) and Marques (Johnson), so we talk every day. I’m down here in Atlanta. I work for Delta. I’ve been here about six years, so we talk everyday. It’s always

LAMAR GORDON

NFL Stats (2002-06)Games played – 41Games started – 15Rushing attempts – 226Rushing yards – 774Yards/carry – 3.4Rushing touchdowns – 3Receptions – 62Receiving yards – 490Receiving touchdowns – 2All-purpose yards – 1,264


the “I might come this year to homecoming,” but then it comes up on me and I have to work or something. I haven’t really been back up there. I still talk to my college dudes like everyday. We need to get you back up, man.I know, man. I’ve been talking about it forever and now it’s what, 14, 15 years since? So now it’s been such a long time, I just sit back and enjoy it from afar. Maybe I do need to get back up there to see it. It’s not a pressing need for me, but it would be nice to go. I feel like I am a part of everything. How has Bison Pride stuck with you in real life, away from football and NDSU?That’s a tough one. You don’t necessarily apply it, but it’s just something that, after you’re done and after you’re out of it – because you don’t realize how unique it is when you’re in it. It’s just when you start being around other situations. I was blessed enough to play beyond NDSU, so different locker rooms and different situations you just know, that’s not just normal.

You have to understand, when I’m doing something for the first time, I’m just thinking that it’s the norm of everything. The level of how teams are, how people click, how prideful a program is, I’m thinking that’s just how every program is. When I went to St. Louis, it was pretty much a business and I was like, “Okay, it’s not about” – because it was about your brothers (at NDSU). The people you see every day at work, you build a relationship, but it’s still not the same as how being a Bison was. Every day, even outside of work, I still talk to people that I met in college. That’s pretty much who I talk to every day. Those were my buddies. We try to plan and do stuff. It’s people from college that goes right to Bison Pride. Those are the reasons why you’re close with those guys out of all the years and all the people I’ve been around, it always comes

back to my guys I went to college with. Those are the people that you feel like you grew up with, you turn into a man with. That’s never going to leave you. You can call it Bison Pride, you can call it whatever you want. But, at that time I was 18-22, I was in Fargo, North Dakota, and I was around the dudes I’m always going to be around my whole life. That’s

pretty much what it was for me. Everyday life, I just go about the lessons of it. I go about the lessons of what it meant. The highs and lows and where it took me, the things I get to see from it. I just live. I live with those experiences, those life lessons and keep living.

* * *

LAMAR GORDON

*Playoff TotalsGames – 3 (2000)Rushing attempts – 91Rushing yards – 401Yards/carry – 4.41Rushing touchdowns – 5Receptions – 3Receiving yards – 87Receiving touchdowns – 1All-purpose yards – 488*Playoff totals were not counted toward season or career stats at NDSU until 2006.

83


Former Bison power forward Andre Smith has been living his dream as a European and Asian basketball nomad over the last 10 years. His talents

have taken him from Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Russia and just about everywhere else in between. Today, he’s in Nebraska with his wife (former NDSU women’s basketball player Emily Moran) and twin sons, getting ready to play for whoever calls next.

CROSSING UP ANDRE SMITH

ACCOLADES2007: All-Independent Player of the Year2009: British BBL Cup Winner2009: British BBL Cup MVP2009: British BBL Regular Season Runner-Up2011: Eurobasket.com All-EuroChallenge 3rd Team2011: EuroChallenge Quarterfinals2011: Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League Forward of the Year2011: Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League Import Player of the Year2011: Eurobasket.com All-Turkish League 1st Team2011: Eurobasket.com Turkish League All-Imports Team2012: Italian SerieA All-Star Game2012, 2014: Eurobasket.com All-Italian SerieA 2nd Team2013: Eurobasket.com All-EuroChallenge 2nd Team2013: Eurobasket.com EuroChallenge All-Imports Team2013: EuroChallenge Champion2013: VTB United League Quarterfinals

ANDRE SMITH


10YEARS PRO

Bison Illustrated – What were the steps out of college to becoming a pro?

Andre Smith – After Senior Night, actually, I got a bunch of emails and a bunch of packets with player-agent agreements, papers in them, and phone calls. It was kind of like the process of choosing to go to school at NDSU over another school. I returned phone calls, met with people, listened to people. I narrowed it down, talked some more and signed with a guy out of San Francisco who was just getting

started. I felt the most comfortable with him.

There were a couple other bigger

named agents, but they had a puffiness-feel to it, like, there were more important guys than me.

I’m coming from a small

school, unknown, I’m just trying to get

somebody who’s going to work as hard for me as

I am for myself. I felt like Ben Pensack out of San Francisco, and we grew up together, him as an agent and me and my career. What’s the process after you sign with an agent? Are you working out hoping the NBA maybe calls?No, at that point in time I knew I definitely had no chance of playing in the states, for significant money. Yeah, I had a pretty good season and pretty good two years at NDSU, and we won some games, but I was still small potatoes. I was very underdeveloped. I still had some things I needed to do better in order to really succeed as a pro.

THE CONVERSATION

So the first time you left, you went to Germany.Yeah, I went to Germany with a two-year contract there but I was on a tryout period. I didn’t pass the tryout period at that time. It was a whirlwind, man. It all happened so quick. I got my first contract offer, I signed it, I liked it and I left August 10. Here I am, this kid that’s never been out the states. Well, I’ve been to Canada. I went to Canada with NDSU my junior year to play some game. Other than that, it was wherever NDSU took me, is the only places I’ve been to in the states. So I get on this plane, I show up in Germany and I have everything I own in two bags. I don’t own a laptop yet. I have maybe $300 in my pocket because I haven’t made any money yet. I don’t know who is supposed to be picking me up or what. Some guy who doesn’t speak English picks me up. Points at me, says my name, shows me some document with my name on it from the team, drops one of my bags, motions for me to come in the car. We ride to this small village. They drop me off, get me an apartment, give me a car. It’s like a Friday night, give me some Euros and tell me practice is Monday. They gave me a note from the coach and groceries. Tells me practice is Monday, let’s get started. There I am. It was unbelievable. That’s kind of how it started. I went through the tryout period and I played well. But I also didn’t understand what it took to be a pro. I never had my own apartment, car, some money. And in Europe, I’m by myself so I did quite a bit of partying, the first couple months I was there. The coach was on the hot seat and he had told me, “Yeah, you’re going to be a good player, but I can’t take a chance on you

“I’m used to showing up five minutes before practice with just finishing off some French fries, and walk out on the court and I’m ready to go. You got 30-year olds, and I understand now, they’re there 30-45 minutes early, getting loose. Father time is only taking things from you. You need to start adding more things, that aspect of professionalism.”

-Andre Smith

ANDRE SMITH

85

right now.” I got released after a couple months there. It happened quick. The next day, my agent was like, here’s a ticket to go to Poland, try out for this team. I went to Poland for a week or 10 days, hated it, and I ended up leaving to go to Switzerland, and I played there for what, I want to say four months. The team folded, ran out of money and I came home for a couple weeks, worked out at NDSU around Christmas time and a few weeks later I got the call and finished the season in Japan. That’s how my first year went. You talk about the transition into becoming a pro. On the basketball court, was the transition difficult to make?There were some aspects on the

court that were different, but not many. Basketball is basketball, no matter where you are in the world. They call it a little differently, but that’s easy to adjust to. I mean, being a pro, like, I’m 22 years old, and I’m used to showing up five minutes before practice with just finishing off some French fries, and walk out on the court and I’m ready to go. You got 30-year olds, and I understand now, they’re there 30-45 minutes early, getting loose. Father time is only taking things from you. You need to start adding more things, that aspect of professionalism. What was your favorite place to play?Turkey hands down, man, it

would be Turkey. I was fortunate enough to be in a couple good cities, all it takes is the wrong city and your experience is completely different. I was in Izmir, Turkey for two years and Bursa, Turkey for a year. The competitiveness of the league. Obviously, the money. We play the game for money now, and just the culture and lifestyle we lived there. You had a great year in England. Why not go back?It’s a terrible league, man. It was a bad league. I wasn’t making any money. I was at a point where, it was either my career was going to blossom or it was going to go the other way, and whither. If that’s where you have to go to continue your dream, that’s where you go.

NDSU Stats (2005-07)Games Played – 55Games Started – 55Points – 839Rebounds – 472Assists – 79Blocks – 72Steals – 72Minutes/Game – 30.1Field Goal Percent – 51.8

Career Timeline2003-05 – NDSCS

2005-07 – NDSU

2007 – TBB Trier (Germany-1.Bundesliga)

2007 – SKS Polpharma-Pa-kmet Starogard Gd. (Po-land-DBE)

2007 – Sion Herens Basket (Switzerland-LNA)

2008 – Niigata Albirex BB (Japan-BJ League

2008-09 – Everton Tigers (United Kingdom-BBL)

2009-11 – Pinar Karsiyaka SK Izmir (Turkey-TBL)

2011 – EuroChallenge

2011-12 – Otto Caserta (Ita-ly-SerieA)

2012 – NBA Pro Summer League in Las Vegas (Golden State Warriors)

2012-13 – Krasnie Krilya Samara (Russia-PBL)

2013-14 – Umana Reyer Vene-zia (Italy-SerieA)

2013 – EuroChallenge

2014-2015 – Tofas Bursa (Tur-key-TBL)

2015-16 – Inchon ET Land Ele-phants (South Korea-KBL)

2016 – Byblos Sporting Club (Lebanon-Pepsi LBL)

ANDRE SMITH


When I was 28, I wasn’t looking to play in places like that. There’s not a lot of money, not a lot of quality. You were in your prime at that point, so no one can blame you for leaving.Right, I was trying to build my resume and potentially my value, and all that. I was trying to build my value and market myself so I could take another step to a league to continue to go up that ladder. At that time, I was aspiring to play in the NBA. Have you had any chances to play with or against guys that have moved on to the NBA?I’ve played with and against some really good guys in my career. I haven’t had anybody that’s gone on to be a high draft pick. I played with half a dozen or so

second round guys. One of my last teammates just finished the season with the Hawks, this was his second year as a pro, Lamar Patterson. Those fringe guys. I’ve had teammates like an Italian guy who was an Olympic silver medalist. I played with NCAA Champions. Sasha Vujacic was my teammate for half a season. I played against all those NBA guys during the lockout. Charlie Bell, I think he played in the League for quite some time. I play with a lot of rising European stars. So you never had a run in with a guy like Kristaps Porzingis?No, I never played with a guy like Porzingis. (Ben) Woodside was his teammate last year in Spain. Do you stay in contact with the other NDSU guys over in Europe?

There’s a few now with Lawrence Alexander, Taylor Braun, TrayVonn Wright and Woody.TrayVonn just signed to play over in Sweden for his third year of his professional career. He’s finally getting it going. What’s your plan for next season?Play ball, wait and see who calls. To be honest, in December, I was thinking about retiring. I went to South Korea, and it was my first job back after my injury and I wasn’t having a lot of fun, I wasn’t enjoying it. It was a little harder coming off an injury and I was almost done. I sat back and talked to the wife and I fired the engines up again and got into a little bit of shape and went and played in Lebanon for a couple months. I played decent. I had a really great start, and then, I struggled at the end, sitting on the couch for four or five months caught up with me skill-wise. Are you going to keep playing until they tell you “you can’t”?No, man. I don’t want to play that long. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a wide variety of professionals, guys that played too long, left too soon, played for the wrong reason. I maybe have one, maybe two more in me before I want to be done. Any careers you’d like to pursue after you’re done playing?I’m going to do some work with the youth. I currently do a few things for a couple nonprofits in Omaha when I have time, which isn’t often. Do something with kids and have some kind of business. How’s your Bison Pride been lately?Once a Bison, always a Bison, right? The strength of the Bison is the Herd, the strength of the Herd is the Bison. It’s just in me now. I love everything Bison. It was a big part of my life, and I have nothing but love for them. I’m always reppin’.

Professional Stats (2007-2016)Games – 235Points – 4,110Rebounds – 1,851Assists – 353Blocks (N/A until 2009)– 70Steals (N/A until 2009) – 226

ANDRE SMITH

* * *


NADINE SCHMIDT


Nadine Schmidt was known for her uncanny ability to shine when the lights on the stage were at its brightest. Today, she’s still on the stage, only this time as a

professional bodybuilder. Although she may be over 40, Schmidt still yearns for competition and nothing is stopping her from taking pro bodybuilding to the next level.

ACCOLADES2008: Bison Athletic Hall of Fame inductee2000: 35th on Sports Illustrated’s “50 Greatest Sports Figures in North Dakota”1991, 1993: NCAA Tournament MVP1991-93: NCAA and Regional All-Tournament team1991-93: First-team All-North Central Conference1992, 1993: Division II All-American

NDSU Career (1989-93)Games Played – 126 (4th All-Time)Points – 1,558 (7)Field Goals Made – 624 (5)Rebounds – 787 (9)Assists – 546 (9)Steals – 196 (T9)

NADINE SCHMIDT

FEELING THE PUMP

with


NADINE SCHMIDT

Bison Illustrated – You came to NDSU right before the women’s basketball team took off. What was the attitude of that team to make it so successful?

Nadine Schmidt We had a lot of fighters on our team and we didn’t have any preconceived notions that we couldn’t do it. We just felt like this was something we wanted to do. We wanted to win the national championship game and just went after it. There was a lot of fight in us, and the

team that we had fit very well together. We

probably didn’t have the most

talented team, but we had probably one of the most hardworking teams. Where does

that stem from? Where

do you guys find that fight and that

drive and desire?Most of us had successful

high school careers, and Coach (Amy) Ruley is probably one of the winningest coaches in North Dakota State’s history and for women’s basketball in the nation. So she doesn’t stand for mediocrity, and I think her drive and her work ethic was just a perfect fit for our team. You know we all wanted to live up to her expectations; success breeds success. You went 113-13 in your career at NDSU. With so much success to look back on, what sticks out to you during your time at NDSU?It’s a whole lot of pride. Bison Pride runs deep. Pride in the University, pride in North Dakota period. I’m a

THE CONVERSATION

homegrown girl there, too (Braddock). Just the work ethic I think most athletes bring when you become a North Dakota State University Bison, that’s a lot of, I think, blue collar-type work that you have to put in. Where did you go after leaving North Dakota State?I initially got a coaching job in Texas, and taught physical education and middle school softball and track, and I did also a little bit of college coaching. Then I moved back to Minnesota in 1999. I’m program management specialist. I jumped around with jobs in this company but I’ve been with this company since 1999. I work for a company called CompuCom Systems Inc., it’s an IT company. I also am a professional national bodybuilder, so I compete in national bodybuilding competitions. I just had two that I won both in May. I will be competing again in October and November, hopefully if my body builds up. What made you want to be a bodybuilder?Well, after basketball and not having any real competition in my life, I was like, lost. You know the, “Oh I’m missing something.” And softball wasn’t doing it for me. Bodybuilding for me and muscular physique has always interested me so when I turned 40 I was like, “I’m tired of not doing what I wanna do,” so I was a novice and I did pretty well. I competed in those events in 2012 so I kept doing it. That year I actually got my professional status, and I’ve been competing since then as a pro and trying to improve. I’m probably gonna compete in the world championship, in November.

“It’s the most challenging thing I have ever done mentally and physically. The mental toll is just crazy because not only is it what you’re doing in the weight room but how you’re handling your diet, what you’re doing at home in your kitchen.”

-Nadine Schmidt

5YEARS PRO

91

How did you get your fix in between your basketball playing career and bodybuilding career?I still played some amateur basketball for a while, also softball, but my body started to give out on the basketball court so that wasn’t doing it for me, so I started to spend a lot of time in the weight room. So how much time?Oh, I’m in the gym probably at least three hours a day. Wow. That’s over 20 hours a week. That’s more than some people work, you know that?

Yeah, yeah. I call it my passion, my hobby, my stress release. It covers a lot of areas for me. And you can work full time too, with it?Yep. Yep sometimes I’ll have to go a couple times a day back to the gym, but I get it done. What does it take to get your professional certification?You have to compete in a competition that offers a professional qualification, so there are only certain competitions you can enter that will offer that “pro card,” so to speak. You have to place in the top, I think two of that

competition. So I actually got my pro card in the second competition I competed in, Elk River, Minn. My first pro show then was in 2013. I’ve now competed in seven professional competitions and have won three. Are they all pro meets or are you doing smaller competitions, too?In 2015, I didn’t compete. I just needed to work on some weaknesses so I took the whole year just to focus on my body and to get some growth. My quads, specifically, my legs. So this year constituted of two in May, I won both of those, and I plan on doing two or three more in October and November depending on how my body and my mind hold up. It’s a mental thing, too. Are there different categories that you compete in or is there just one specific category that you are just focused in on?Since I am competing on the professional level, I can only compete as a professional women’s body builder. And then women’s bodybuilding – in the current federations that I’m doing – we’re all in the same categories. It’s not broken down into weight classes or height classes. Usually, there’s only 15 competitors so it’s not bad. So I could be going up against any age. You have to be 18 to get your professional status, but anywhere between that and a 100-year-old. I’ve been up against some women in their 50’s who were just frickin’ amazing. Does that kind of inspire you a bit that you could be hanging with this for another 10 years?Oh yeah for sure. I started late and I plan on doing it for a while. What piece of advice would you give someone who is interested in pursuing bodybuilding?I would just let them know that you have to enjoy the journey. It’s the most challenging thing I have ever done mentally and physically. The mental toll is just crazy because, not only is it what you’re doing in the weight room, but how you’re handling your

NADINE SCHMIDT


diet, what you’re doing at home in your kitchen. You know you can work your ass off in the gym for three hours a day, but if you come home and lose it in the kitchen, you’re not gonna get the gains you need. It’s very strict. You have to have everything planned out. I usually cook my food a week in advance. You know you’re gonna have some ups and downs, you’re not going to be perfect every day, but it’s how you bounce back. The challenge is to stay focused. Are there any similarities between preparing yourself for this and being a college athlete?One of the things Coach Ruley instilled in us is mental toughness. You know you have to be mentally tough. With basketball just having a turnover every possession, you’re probably not mentally into the game. Your head is probably not in it. You need to be mentally tough. I completely commit myself to this. You know everything starts with how you feel about yourself, how you perceive yourself if you believe in yourself. So there’s definitely connections there. You know visualization was

huge in basketball for us, and I still use that. You visualize yourself being a winner. You know going out and competing and when you’re on stage, I’m competing, and I do whatever I can to bring it. You’re just coming off a couple competitions, but have a few coming up. What stages of prep are you in for those?For my May competition, I started my diet, started depleting food or taking food away slowly in September. So it’s about 26 to 32-week preparation before going on stage. So are you getting into that new prep right now for this fall?Yeah. We’ve added a little bit of food back in because I want to maintain. I don’t want to lose muscle mass in the next five months. So I’m eating a little bit more than I was right before the last competition, but I’m not going back to that “super bulk mode” because I have to take anything off that I put back on. Yeah, so I’m adding, getting my body back a little bit of strength and stuff so I can get really good workouts

in, but it’s not like overboard. I track all of my intake, my food and everything daily. Preparation is about 32 weeks before I get on stage. The less time you take the more you have to rush. Let’s talk NDSU women’s basketball. Are you staying up-to-date?Oh yeah. Any takeaways from last season?I’m waiting for us to get back on the winning track. That was one of the difficult seasons and I think Maren Walseth felt that. I think we’re kind of moving back in the right direction. She’s, I believe, finally getting her own recruits now. I don’t want to say anything bad about any of the players she had on her team, but, as a coach, she’s bringing in her recruiting, her style and her type of athlete. She’s working on her system and I’m guessing that once she gets everything in place – that takes time – that we’ll be moving in the right direction again.

* * *

NADINE SCHMIDT

Photo Courtesy of WNBF


BISON ATHLETICBOB BACKLUND

STEVE NELSON

NANCY HOLOVNIA

MIKE FAVOR

YORRICK “SNUFFY” BYERS

NADINE SCHMIDT

DARCI WASHBy Joe Kerlin

YEAR INDUCTED

1983

1988

2001

2003

2003

2008

2012

The Bison Athletic Hall of Fame was created in 1972 and now has 269 members. Ten teams have been inducted into the Hall of Fame,

but we’re here to celebrate the special individuals in this month’s magazine that have been enshrined into NDSU Athletics’ highest honor.

BISON ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

Photo Courtesy of the New England

Patriots


1970-72 FOOTBALL, WRESTLING

1971 (WRESTLING) 68

Having an exciting professional career after NDSU would have been enough to get Backlund into the Hall of Fame alone, but he’s also a national champion.

1971-73 FOOTBALL N/A 76Sure, Carson Wentz and Marcus Williams are just getting started, but the most successful Bison football player in the NFL is Nelson, hands down.

1983-86 CROSS COUNTRY, TRACK AND FIELD 1985 48

Holovnia never pursued a pro running career after her decorated career, but it would have been fun to watch if she had.

1985-88 FOOTBALL 1985, 86, 88 22“The Rams” have a storied history at NDSU. And one of the best to ever play for the Bison is now helping to provide kids education in Minneapolis.

1985-88 FOOTBALL 1985, 86, 88 22With a nickname like “Snuffy” you better be able to bring the pain on the football gridiron. That’s exactly what Byers did during his four years at NDSU.

1989-93 BASKETBALL 1991, 93 90If you had to choose three players that sparked the 1990s basketball dynasty at NDSU, it’s impossible to leave Schmidt off the list.

1990-94 BASKETBALL 1991, 93, 94 54Wash was a good player, but her Lawrence Alexander-like rise during her senior season solidified her spot in NDSU women’s basketball legend.

YEARS PLAYED BIOPAGENATIONAL CHAMPIONSPORT

BISON ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

97

BISON FOOTBALL Plays Ball!Photos by Joe Kerlin

Saturday, June 4, the Minnesota Twins welcomed the Bison football team to the beautiful Target Field. Head coach Chris Klieman had the distinguished honor

of throwing out the first pitch. Klieman, a St. Louis Cardinals fan, donned a personalized Twins jersey as he delivered a fastball across the plate to outfielder Darin Mastroianni.

Zach Vraa, Nate Tanguay, Zack Johnson, Easton Stick and King Frazier proudly held the five FCS national championship trophies to watch their head coach deliver the first pitch. Around 50 other Bison football players made the trip to watch their coach and to be honored before the Twins played the Tampa Bay Rays.

BISON FOOTBALL PLAYS BALL


BISON FOOTBALL Plays Ball!

BISON FOOTBALL PLAYS BALL

99

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES5

ANSWERS: 1. Missing outfield Minnesota sign 2. Anniversary logo removed from wall 3. NDSU logo on player’s visor 4. Missing gold #45 shirt number 5. Missing US Bank logo on billboard

101

MIKE FAVORSNUFFYISREAL MOSESDARCI STEERETODD WASH

ANDREA TRAVNICEKNANCY DIETMANBOB BACKLUNDAMANDA MURPHYANDRE SMITH

WORD SEARCH

LAMAR GORDONNADINE SCHMIDTSTEVE NELSONTAYLOR LYNNTAYLOR CAVANAGH

BISON WORD SEARCH

WORDS

TO FIND

103

TEAMMAKERSTEAM

With football season fast approaching, I am reminded of the giving my family contributes

to North Dakota State University’s Endowment Fund. This endowment fund is what helps provide the athletic scholarships needed to attract talented student-athletes to our community. After a tax credit, the donation our family makes takes very little out of our pocket and gives us the satisfaction of knowing we have helped a student-athlete’s dream of college sports and academics become a reality. Some of our past and present student-athletes may never have had the opportunity to attend college without a partial or full scholarship offer. There are countless stories of former athletes, like Mike Favor and Joe Mays, on how attending NDSU gave them a fresh start and helped shape them into great adults. Much of this had to do with the support and mentoring they received from the outstanding coaching staff here at NDSU. And then there are those student-athletes who come to Fargo from all

over the country to get their college degrees and stay in our community. These people include the likes of Steve Walker and Chad Stark. There are countless other student-athletes just like them who stay here to raise their families and continue to give back to our community and to NDSU. Here is how the endowment works...

In August 2015, NDSU Athletics made the decision to include cost-of-attendance in student-athlete scholarships. It was a decision based on providing students with a first-rate experience and to help them succeed in the classroom and in competitions. The funding of cost of attendance will also help the coaches recruit the best and brightest and continue to build on the successes of all programs. To fund this aggressive initiative, the Bison Pride Fund was established. Simultaneously, the NDSU Athletic Fund was started to provide a comprehensive giving-model for every element the athletic department raises private dollars for, and to provide all of the options for support.

The NDSU Athletic Fund is the comprehensive fund that supports all of the athletic initiatives. The fund includes specific gifts for Team Makers, Bison Pride, Bison

Athletic Excellence and Legacy giving. Team Makers does fall under the umbrella of the NDSU Athletic Fund but in no way diminishes the importance or distinction as the lifeblood of the athletic department. The Bison Pride Fund will support the cost-of-attendance and program excellence and the Bison Athletic Excellence Fund will provide sport specific assistance. Legacy giving is the opportunity to provide support through capital gifts, endowments and planned giving.

Bison Nation has been incredibly supportive since 1950 when the Team Makers Club was established. The funds provided by the friends, fans and alumni have always been at the highest levels in both NCAA Division II and NCAA (FCS) Division I. This support allows the student-athletes to continue to succeed academically, athletically and graduate to be future leaders in their communities. It provides the resources to win conference and national championships.

If giving is something you find your family would like to start, there are many ways to do it. 2016 could be the year you start your endowment and make a difference in the life of our young student athletes.

For further information regarding athletic funding and how to support, please visit NDSUAthleticFund.com.

By Chris Haugrud

* * *

TEAM MAKERS $

$FUNDINGTHE FUTURE

105

@swany8FOLLOW

swany says

SWANY SAYS

BY JOSHUA A. SWANSON

ON THE HORIZON

“THE ONLY LIMITS WE HAVE ON OUR FUTURE ARE THE ONES WE IMPOSE OURSELVES. IF YOU DARE THINK OTHERWISE, LOOK AT AN AERIAL PHOTO OF CAMPUS FROM JUNE 1996 AND COMPARE IT TO TODAY. THEN ASK YOURSELF THIS: WHY NOT HERE, WHY NOT US, WHY NOT NOW?”

*Swanson is a native of Maddock, N.D., a proud NDSU alum and a life-long Bison fan.

t was a primitive time. Okay, primitive isn’t a fair way to describe it, but to say the least, it was a different time, a different

era, and although only 20 years ago it was far, far removed from where North Dakota State is today. Let me set the stage. I grew up a Bison-homer, through and through. I may not have been destined to be a lawyer, but there was definitely a future in store for me writing columns for a magazine called Bison Illustrated, even if this publication was still a decade and some change away from existence. How deep is my homer-ism? On rainy days at Devils Lake in the summer, where my parents have a place, my brother and I will throw in VHS tapes of old Bison games we recorded as kids and enjoy the punishing option attack that grounded opponents into the dirt. My favorite is the 1990 Division II national championship where NDSU pounded Frank Cignetti’s Indiana (PA) squad 51-11. At halftime it was a tossup, the Bison leading 14-11. The commercials for a Teddy Roosevelt-inspired “Rough Rider Beer,” Site on Sound and Happy Harry’s are comically vintage. Sidebar, pretty sure we’ve watched that tape so many times I can sing the “Rough Rider Beer” song by heart … an adventurous spirit, unique and tough

to tame, rugged and individual, Rough Rider was the name … go the lyrics. Anyway, the third quarter was arguably the best single-quarter performance in Bison history as the Herd outscored IUP 30-0, scoring on all five possessions in the quarter, including touchdowns runs of 44 and 66 yards, and touchdown passes of 75 and 57 yards. In 2010, I visited with Rocky Hager, NDSU’s legendary head coach from 1987 to 1996, about that game. Hager led the Bison to undefeated seasons and national championships in 1988 and 1990, and was the defensive coordinator on the teams that won the 1985 and 1986 national titles. I asked Rocky what he remembered most about that game. You might guess it was the dominating third quarter. Or, how about that Bison defense, which limited IUP to only 143 total yards, including 10 sacks. What about Tony Satter running for 174 yards on 12 carries, setting a then-postseason record with 619 rushing yards in four playoff games. No, it had to have been the fact it was the fifth national championship in eight years for the Bison. Nope, none of the above. What Rocky remembered most, he said with only a slight hint of humor in his voice, was that NDSU missed all six – all six! – of its extra points in the second half. We just couldn’t make one of those darn things, Hager related. Of course, Hager shared many fond memories of that game, that team, and all of his teams

II


* * *

SWANY SAYS

at NDSU, but to delve into the specifics of that game and missed extra points is, well, that’s just Bison football and the standard those teams had. Fast-forward a few years from that December 1990 national championship game. The Fargodome opened for the 1993 season. There was no talk of Division I national championships, of beating Kansas State, Minnesota, or Iowa State, of the Dome’s parking lots filled every week with thousands of fans converging on a nationally-renowned tailgating scene. Coincidentally, 1993 was also the first year ESPN’s College GameDay began live broadcasting with a trip to Notre Dame. The thought of ESPN beaming an HD broadcast of College GameDay worldwide from a packed Downtown Fargo, in the same category of Notre Dame, exactly twenty years later with the streets overflowing in green and yellow, Bison banners hanging from buildings and crowded rooftops would have seemed alien to our state, community and university leaders. The idea of a Bison quarterback being the second-overall pick in the NFL Draft would have been scoffed at. Frisco, Texas was as hopping as Esmond, N.D. in those days when there were little fields north of campus. Heck, the thought of the Bison running an offense other than the option would have considered blasphemy – an unpardonable sin – when a guy named Clinton was just replacing a guy named Bush in the Oval Office. Comparing aerial photos of NDSU during the 1990s with campus today, in 2016, you literally get the picture of how things were versus how they are now. Who could have imagined it? I remember going to football camp at North Dakota State in the late 1990s, practicing and playing seven-on-seven games on Dacotah Field. By that point, it had a playing surface that was little more than a concrete slab with a stretch of

badly worn carpet covering it. I recall laying out trying to catch an overthrown pass on that old carpet – which is probably more accurately characterized as a ball my short 5’8” legs couldn’t quite catch up with – and getting a turf burn that scraped me like a cheese grader all the way up the side of my torso to my shoulder. It was a night that would stick with me, though, and not because of the turf burn. That Fargodome, man, it towered over the horizon. The horizon. That night, in June 1996, as the sun was setting right behind our football game, on that same horizon, it happened to be the first-ever RedHawks game played at Newman Outdoor Field. As a history major, a North Dakotan, a sports nut and lifelong Bison acolyte, it was the coolest thing ever. History was unfolding before my eyes. What an unlimited horizon. North Dakota State, the Fargodome, a professional baseball team in a ballpark like Newman, being in Fargo – all that energy and possibilities – while we played a game on Dacotah Field, under the lights. Who could have dreamed that all happening in Fargo, in North Dakota, at NDSU? Who could have dreamed, who dare would have dreamed, that 20 years from that June night in 1996, another brand new arena, the Sanford Health Athletics

Complex, would be opening on that same horizon? Who would have guessed that our soccer team would be playing on new turf and calling Dacotah Field their home? That the Bison would be aiming for a sixth straight FCS national championship? That men’s basketball would be setting its sights on another March Madness? That wrestling would be a Top 25 Division I program? That baseball, softball, and volleyball would all have notched NCAA Tournament appearances? That track and field would have a brand new facility with Division I All-Americans and NCAA Tournament qualifiers and an Olympian in tot? Indeed, who could have imagined that horizon? It reminds me of a quote often attributed to Robert Kennedy. “There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask, why not?” Like 1996, our horizons in 2016 are open for big dreams, for the big dreamers, for the audacious goals, for whatever we decide our future holds. The only limits we have on our future are the ones we impose ourselves. If you dare think otherwise, look at an aerial photo of campus from June 1996 and compare it to today. Then ask yourself this: Why not here, why not us, why not now? Everybody up for the kickoff, the march is on!

Photo by NDSU Archives

107

Nadine SchmidtNadine Schmidt won two national championships with the Bison women’s basketball team in 1991 and 1993. She was the tournament MVP both seasons and was inducted into the Bison Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.

Taylor CavanaghTaylor Cavanagh was on the men’s golf team as recently as 2010. He’s since graduated and still lives in Fargo as an agent at Country Financial. He shot a career-best 64 his junior year during the Erv Kaiser Invitational at Moorhead’s Village Green.

GOLF

BASKETBALL

SOCCER

VOLLEYBALL

Amanda AndersonAmanda Anderson played on the Bison volleyball team from 1999-2002. Today, she’s an assistant volleyball coach at Saint Benedict’s. This fall will be her 13th year on the sidelines for the Blazers.

Andrea Travnicek Andrea Travnicek played on the Bison soccer team in the late 1990s. She received three degrees from NDSU and is now working as a senior policy advisor for North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple.

Who’s your favorite superhero?

Which teammate do you stay in contact

with the most?

Which logo do you prefer: Snorty or the current logo?

Wonder Woman

Tiger Woods, if that counts

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman

Jody Buck Stefonowicz/Jen Rademacher

Brandon Hallquist

We have multiple “Bison Weekends”

throughout the year. So I could name several!

Becky (Ruebke) Aman and Julie (Anderson)

Macejkovic, I see a little more often and golf together quite a bit.

Jess (Bowar) Kelm, she was my stretching

partner on the team and Renee (Hawkins) Sanden, she was my

roommate on the road for the away games.

Snorty

Snorty

Snorty

Snorty remains my favorite!

POPQUIZ WITH FORMER NDSU ATHLETES

POP QUIZ


Who was your favorite team to play

against and why?

Outside of NDSU, what do you miss most

about Fargo?

UND – because of the rivalry and the

atmosphere – which is only created when NDSU & UND battle! Go Bison!

SDSU, because of the rivalry

UND of course. It never gets old watching them

lose!

Northern Colorado and Mankato, the games against those teams

always seemed to be a bit more physical, which always made the games

more fun!

It is like my second hometown, so I miss the camaraderie, pride and

friendliness that is Fargo!

I’m still in Fargo and really enjoy living here.

The restaurant options. So many to choose from!

The Turf and Pizza Patrol

Documents

Bison Illustrated July 2016