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Conference re-alignments are much like all the wives who just keep having to move the furniture around to get that "new" look. Same funiture--new look? And thanks, Eagle1855, for the oil derrick symbol of the Oilers for those of us who grew up in the Houston area with many of us remembering names like those listed below: George Blanda Charlie Hennigan Charlie Tolar Scott Appleton Ken Houston (got lucky and was traded to the Redskins--way to go, Bud Adams) Don Trull (short career) Lawrence Elkins (even shorter career) Bob Talamini Pete Beathard Willie Parker Elvin Beathea Sid Blanks Charlie Frazier Willard Deuvall Pat Holmes Hoyle Granger Ernie Ladd (very brief career with Oilers) ...and way too many more names I've forgotten at the moment

One other thing that merits mention in response to Mo's original post is the RPI of our opponents this year. The conference RPI is pretty terrible this season, it's true. But a conference's RPI is defined by performance in OOC games, and this was a very bad year for our strongest conference mates in OOC games. Middle Tennessee is leading the entire league right now, but during the OOC schedule, they played most of their games without Desmond Yates. Yates, for anyone who doesn't follow our conference mates closely, is arguably (or, maybe not) the single most dominant player in the league. He's a forward with the size and interior game of an Odufuwa or a Tramiel, and the outside shooting of a Tristan Thompson. And for the first 8 games (all non-conference) of the season, MTSU didn't have him due to injury. Unfortunately, those 8 games were more than 60% of MTSU's OOC schedule, and the primary determinant in their (and, by extension, 1/13th of the Sun Belt's) RPI. If Yates is healthy and available, I think that MTSU's 1 point loss to UAB (current RPI: 33) swings to a win. They probably don't lose to Marshall, NC A&T... All in all, their OOC performance is probably a lot more in line with their SBC performance if they aren't playing without their all-time leading scorer for most of the non-conference slate. FAU is playing a roster of almost entirely sophomores and freshmen. A slow start (again, almost entirely in the OOC calendar) isn't unexpected from them. But since New Year's, they're 8-4 with one of those losses a 3 point OT loss to South Alabama a week after USA beat Florida. Once their team finally gelled, FAU is a damn good team. But by the time it came together for them (New Year's, almost to the day), all their OOC games were behind them. Western's RPI is lower than usual because they played a godawful schedule in January. WKU just had a tough run in a short period of time, and wound up in a 5 game losing streak. 5 straight losses in 5 games played in 10 days. Two of them against the top team in the SBC East, one of them a 1 point loss on the road. A one point loss to us, in overtime. Lost on the road to a good but not great Southern Illinois team. Lost on the road at Troy in what was their 3rd game in 5 days. If you look at that run of losses and the two games that led into it, WKU played 7 games in 14 days. Effectively, a game every other day, and they had to do it without their second best player because Sergio Kerusch was out injured. Otherwise, considering their OOC wins against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, and a loss-that-shouldn't-have-been against Houston in one of the most disgusting cases of referee incompetence you'll ever see (seriously... a foul AND a technical on a loose ball in a tie game with 0.2 seconds remaining??)... I think they'd be a top 100 RPI team without question. I'm not saying this is a banner year for the Belt or anything, but I'm saying that pointing to opponent RPI when so many of our conference opponents fought through injuries, youth, godawful officiating, or some combination of those and other factors during the stretch of schedule that truly determines RPI is somewhat unfair. As to our non-conference schedule, I was one of the most vocal critics during the offseason. But it's hard as hell to get games when you're a school that's as successful as we have been lately, unless you're willing to go on the road and play for a paycheck instead of a return game. We did that twice this year, and we lost them both. But pointing to those games as a failure of coaching is like calling a street whore a failure as a woman because she can't get her tricks to marry her before the hour is up. In both cases, the transaction doesn't generally happen if the party with an open wallet thinks their desired outcome appears doubtful in the slightest. Larger conference teams just don't want to come here while we're so dangerous. Frankly, I'm amazed and I tip my hat to the folks in the Athletics Department for managing to get Texas Tech and LSU to agree to home-and-home deals with us over the next two years. Our home OOC schedule sucked. Our road OOC schedule included two paycheck/no return games. We lost them both. We lost on the road the day after Thanksgiving in freaking Idaho, we lost to the #13 RPI team, we lost to the #37 RPI team. And those are our only non-conference losses. All in all, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I wish our other 8 OOC games were against teams that had better seasons this year or more respectable names... But it's exceptionally difficult for any team to beat a school that isn't playing against them. To that OOC scheduling point... There's not much we can do to predict how well or poorly an opponent will do in a given year that we're scheduled to play them. A good example of that is a look back at last year's schedule, which some folks have been pointing to this year as an example of cupcake scheduling that gets us to 20 easy wins. Last year, we played Indiana State, Sam Houston State (twice, home and away) and New Mexico State. We won all of them. If we had those four games on our schedule this year, we'd have 4 more games (and 4 wins) against top 100 RPI opponents. SHSU is 74, New Mexico State is 76, and Indiana State is 89. Rice hasn't had a good year. Jackson State played their OOC at Memphis, at Alabama, at Tulsa, at Baylor, at Nebraska... A schedule designed to pay bills, not rack up the sort of wins that lead to quality RPI rankings. SE Louisiana hasn't been as good as expected, and that hurts us, too. I wish we had the "signature win" that some of our fans want to point to, like our Oklahoma State win in 07/08. I still see the WKU win as a big statement and a huge victory, but I can understand how someone could chip away at it. But the fact that we didn't come through in either of our two chances to get a "signature win" this year doesn't mean that the season is a failure. The fact that our strongest conference opponents didn't get their legs under them until OOC play was almost over doesn't make them any less talented or formidable today.

It would be nice if folks would kinda stop looking for something to bitch about and pull together occasionally. A lotta folks would like to have a team to back that is doing as good as this one. Look at how the other teams in the metroplex are doing. TCU,SMU and UTA are in UNTs rear view mirror. This team is definately in the hunt for a berth in the Dance and on the way to their best conference record since being in the Belt.

I see where you are trying to go with this, but I'm more than a little leary of any article that labels everything bad "Clinton's fault" and everything good "Bush's accomplishments", just as I am extremely leary of the whole "it's all Bush's fault" and "Clinton was the best economic President ever!!", Both just seem to go back to that 2nd grade arguement "I didn't do it, you did", "did not", "did, too", "did not", "did, too", etc...

One thing I'll say, respectfully, is that I don't know if there's a worse time to accuse us of playing poor defense than right after the game we just played vs. Denver. Denver plays the Princeton offense, and the primary goal of that scheme is to use frequent passes and off-ball movement to open up lanes for wide open layups. It's an odd offense that can be difficult to defend because it's so different than what teams generally see (for you football fans, think of it as a triple option offense for the basketball court). Denver only hit a total of 8 2-point baskets all night. That's four baskets per half, one every five minutes of game time. So basically, we avoided the Princeton offense trap, and we almost completely shut down the primary component of their offensive game. I can only remember them hitting one layup that looked like a defensive breakdown in the whole game. The backup plan for the Princeton offense, the way to keep opponents from just clogging the lane to shut you down, is the 3 point shot. Denver hit 11 of them, and that's the only reason they were able to stay close with us. 3 of them came from guys who were 6'9", taller than anyone we have except for Ben Knox. We also completely shut down one of the frontrunners for Sun Belt Player of the Year, Nate Rohnert. He averages 15 per game on a team that averages in the mid 60's. Last night, he had 3 points. Basically, we went into last night planning on shutting down the layup lanes and locking down one of the best players in our league. We did that to near perfection. The risk of that approach is that you're leaving tall guys open on the perimeter, and we were daring Denver to beat us by having tall, gangly white guys (but not their best white guy) jack up 3's. They did a pretty amazing job of it, all things considered... Hit 11 of them, shot 55% from 3 point land... But they still lost by 5. We took away their high percentage shots. We shut down their all star. They still managed to shoot a ridiculous percentage from the outside, but it wasn't enough. It was a good defensive strategy, it worked, and if we face them again in the tournament, I hope we do it again.

Hey, we are going to win 20 games this year....ask SMU,TCU and UTA what it feels like to win 20 games back to back. They have no clue. We might just go to the big dance again. Ask SMU and TCU what that feels like. They have no clue. We are getting our bang for the buck with Johnny Jones. Those of you in distress, go shoot a few hoops in your drive way and calm down.

Looking at your number of post per day some of you need to seriously consider moving out of your parent's house!

I love it. Is Rodge Kirk Cameron?

if you haven't seen jub jub's ticketstock performance of "party in the usa", here you go. i pretty sure our guys would be ready to play if this were pumped through the stadium speakers as they ran onto the field.

Shuke-D = Mike Seaver

Any chance we could compromise and have Dunham sing Thunderstruck with some "seriously hot chicks"? Isn't the new stadium supposed to double as a concert venue? Looks like we have our first performer!

$459 billion. Obama's first deficit was $1.2 trillion. What does it matter what it is spent on? No, sir, you can't use that "one-off" argument when Bush's deficit spending was caused by 9/11 and the War in Iraq, not by attempting to increase the size and scope of government. That's like a fat guy saying, "I'll go on a diet after this pie-eating contest." Show me where economists agree to a consensus on ANYTHING? We can look at history and see that government spending did nothing to get us out of the Great Depression. Creating "make work" jobs and bloating GDP numbers with unsustainable government spending is not how you avoid a Depression scenario, but we seem to following the same FDR policies which wound up making the Depression even worse. It took a 4-year war where rationing and sacrifice and jubilation of winning spurred an economic boom. I don't need any talking points, sir. I am an educated man and can think for myself.

HUH?! You're "not even a Republican" and you are ashamed of what "republicans" have done to higher education? Shocking. Did not a republican legislature just vote for (and a Republican governor sign): an athletic fee for UNT, a new law school for UNT-Dallas, increased research funding to elevate universities to Tier 1 status, increase state financial aid, and eliminated the 10% rule? And how exactly is the governor be held "held responsible" for his appointments? They are not appointed solely at the governor's will, they have to be approved by the Senate. And once they are in place, they cannot be removed without cause. BTW, I looked up Dr. Charles Mitchell (appointed by Perry) on Open Secrets, and guess what? He's a Democrat! All of his donations have been to the campaigns of black Democrats (Ron Kirk, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and James Sweatt). I'm no fan of Perry, but geez... put that boogeyman back in the closet, will ya?

I should give u a -1 for your laziness

They should be better. Plain and simple.

Blatant attempt to garnish +1 votes. We barley beat that crappy Denver team because of a terrible coaching performance and you know it.

Oh sweetheart...don't worry, I know that success in life is really measured by the amount of money I have in the bank and the number and cost of all the shiny things in and around my house...I was just pointing out the inevitable humor of the backlash from the reasonible fans of this basketball program when someone fires off so douche-ily right after a damned big night that has this perpetually under-acheiving basketball team and their mediocre coach still very much in the hunt for a conference title. And now the rule is to simply reply to the threads with which we agree...biting our collective tongues in all other cases? Should make for a great discussion board.

Please give me a football schedule that would be considered "easy" for our football team and tell me which games would be sure wins.

I think it's a little misleading to simply state that we're 0-2 vs. top 100 RPI teams. We lost after very respectable efforts on the road against the #14 (Texas A&M) and #37 (Oklahoma State) teams. I tend to think that either game could have (with a little luck) gone our way if it was played at home, but that's perhaps just my overly optimistic opinion. Also, we played six teams (not three) with an RPI between 101-200, compiling a 4-3 record.

me...becuase mine isnt some source...i see it with my own eyes every day!

Classic, is this the article you first referenced? Cheney's Revenge in the WSJ. My linkhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704022804575042112185849380.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

I was thinking the same thing. Not sure why Clemson is so much more. Not to mention you will more than likely be paying for a car rental with extra miles, as the campus is pretty far from the airport.

Again "facts" with no context. What was the deficit when the President took office? Of the additions to that dept how much was one-off(hopefully)spending to stimulate our economy and bail-out our banks? What is the general consensus amongst top economist on what a country should do when faced with a Depression scenario? Would you say that Summers, Volker and Bernake are top economist? Has the administration at least made a commitment to address deficit spending after it is clear that we are out of the woods? What party was in control of Government when PayGo was allowed to expire in 2002? What party was in control of government when we took on two wars but did not ask our citizens to sacrifice to pay for these wars? What Vice President said "deficits don't matter"? How much did the Medicare drug benefit cost? How did we pay for it? Why is it called the Laffer "curve" and not the Laffer diagonal line? I am not completely happy with all aspects of the Obama Presidency but his critics should be fair. At the end of his term you may have a true argument about increased deficits, we shall see. At this point I think it rings hollow and reeks of Hannity, Palin, Beck and Limbaugh talking points.

---You are right... but Gov. Perry is claiming credit for lowering property taxes. Surely he is being truthful in his comments.. That is the complaint I have about him. --The community college I work for is expecting even less state money ... after all the cuts lately ... leaner is not exactly possible. Perry even vetoed our state health insurance a couple of years ago which forced the local to find money to fund them... It came from more local taxes and cancelling our raises. He is not loved or respected here at all. --While it is true he has cut the state budget... it has been education that has taken a beating as a result. In many case locals needed to raise taxes [and raise tuition if community colleges] to offset his cuts.

He did say the SOW would be on the field yes , but there are NCAA rules that they have to look at first to determine where it would be placed and how big it could be. NCAA doesn't allow things to be in certain places , can't be too big , can't interfer with yardlines etc Also it should be noted. George Dunham has been in Miami all week with 1310 covering the SuperBowl. He flew back in just for the day to help out and witness this event. He flew back late Wed night.

Also SUMG asked TD if we would have any extra ships available incase someone slipped thru the cracks again this year ( like Flax , KC Obi last year). Dodge is holding on to 1 ship incase someone comes along that we can't pass up.

It was awesome. Crowd was slow to come in I guess due to the weather , but there was free food and by the end it was standing room only. All the coaches were in attendance and I got to meet new OC Mike Canales , very nice man RV said that the endzones will probably be black with green lettering and outlined in white for the new stadium

China and India have better outcomes... Are you kidding us...If so why are so many of them trying to come here??? You may be right on Japan.. but the other two are foolish conclusions. Yep you are right about 2010...but why..?? The present Administration inherited the highest unemployment in 25 years. You do realize who you are blaming for the social security problem and this mess now don't you? It started in in late 2006 and became very noticable in 2007 and really went to hell in 2008.. It is tough to stop a free-fall in the economy but at least the stock market stopped dropping and has climbed 3000 since then. This will not be solved quickly..... nor will the damage in Haiti... but you seem to think it should be.... ---Interesting...You are right .. and California problems is long term and began to really occur about 30-40 years ago... and has steadily gotten worse... and who was their governor then?? --The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, California didn't (stupid) . I'm afraid Medina's plan would really mess things up. I too would like like property taxes reduced ..just not eliminated..... Perry has caused them to rise by funding education less on state level...so local units had to raise local property taxes just to function. I really hate to admit it but long term Perry looks better than Medina to me. She is a big risk.

---Perry keeps bragging about cutting state taxes....and wanting to cut them more... good grief... only Mississippi has a less state taxes per-capita now. His cuts have hurt education in the state. I don't think Mississippi is known for educational excellence either. ---Medina seems a bit radical to me wants to completely eliminate property tax.... that is related to THE big problem in California now...no or little property tax ....and when the economy drops they get in serious trouble because their revenues are based on income tax and sales tax.... both of which are very economy driven and their revenue falls greatly. ....This is a bad idea and really hurts those with very limited resourses...especially large sales tax increases.It is also not good because people living our borders will go to other states to buy ...which not good for our economy or jobs or tax-revenue. That leaves KBH..

Just a quick recap : Orr was pretty much the key to the class. TD expects him to play as a freshman. Hawkins could see time at TE until he fully develops into a LT. JUCO WR Chris Bynes , has been committed since last summer , TD was scared he wasn't going to hold on to him. JUCO S Jamison Hughes committed to Ole Miss coming out of high school. Last sign of the day JUCO DB D'Andre Wood , signed with UNC out of HS

My Top 5 Favorite Captians : 1> Lou Albano 2> Morgan 3> Kangaroo 4> Tasty 5> Crunch You are in good company my friend

I think your right. +1 for your 5,000 post !!

I'll be there. I'll be the guy trying to control a 16 month little monster

http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=50450&st=0&p=467129&hl=clemson&fromsearch=1&#entry467129

Any particular reason or is it just the change?

I wish I could

Kram1 how do you miss this stuff it was talked to death, the last Pod cast had the words coming out of RV's mouth. He said 6-6 will not be good enough. By God we better hold him to it.

Great, could we be bigger losers? Yeah we have this great coach he is entering his 5th season. Yeah I know TD has never had a winning season but he came close last year, he had three more wins then the year before. Hell he is 10 - 38 he is rocking! Don't you want to buy season tickets? Just think if he has nearly 2 and quarter perfect seasons after 7 years he may reach .500 but it will probably take 10 if we are lucky. But we really think he will do it this year, well if the stars and the moon align just right. For goodness sake you gave TD a mark to reach next season and that was why he was retained if he does not make it he is done simple as that. Sorry folks anything else is pitiful, severely pitiful. And I really can not believe people are even suggesting that 5-7 or 6-6 is good enough. Have some self respect, people are acting as if Dodge was mentally handicapped and we should give a trophy for trying. 5-7 or 6-6 just means a much better coach will be hired, and we can put his disaster behind us. If he hits 7-5 then he has turned the corner and we had a winning season lets see what he can do in season 5.

Sacrilege, I say. Screw the improvement, TD needs to hit 7-5 period we are talking about a 4th year coach. Sacrilege is anything less then 7-5! Don't go soft expect nothing less.

Student housing planned for Fry This would suck but serves Denton right, what a bunch of jerk-offs in that city council.

Man I can't believe you guys dildoed up this thread, I am so disillusioned.

So the giants beat us twice this year, this would seem to be a reflection of how bad we are.

That web-site leaves a lot to be desired UNT plates

Merry Christmas Mean Green Nation

It would work great if they did a mixed use with retail on the bottom and apartments on top. Great for staggering home drunk. But I doubt they will give them the multi-family zoning either.

I am sure we can find someone much better, Mandy in my opinion caused more problems then she solved. I feel this is a great move for fund raising.

I just don't understand why so many on this board are butt buddies with Vito. He's a journalist; who cares? Why would you chose to support a journalist over a head coach? Why can no one respect Dodge for cleaning up this mess and trusting that while it may take a couple years to flush the crap down the toilet, when it's out the bathroom will start smelling better? Instead some turn on our coach and back a sports writer. I just don't get it.

Too many people on this board pretend to know more about football than coach Dodge. I'd like to see the playbook for the last GMG game or whatever you guys call that stupid flag football game yall play. I'm sure Dodge could use your advice.

I'm not talking about the drug story. I understand that this needed to be reported. I'm talking about the attitude most people have on this board. Everyone acts like they could make better decisions than our athletic director and head coach. The fact is you are not an AD, have never been an AD, and will never be an AD. The fact is you are not a head coach, have never been a head coach, and will never be a head coach. So, how do you know what this team and program needs to do? Yes, we're taking our licks right now. But less than two years ago everyone was excited about Dodge and where he was going to take our program. Now, because we have undiciplined and untalented upperclassmen and are experiencing growing pains we stop supporting our leaders? I'm just as frustrated by this season but can we wait for Dodge's first class to graduate before we evaluate the job he's done with our program?