Leaderboard

Dear Matt, If you're a boy and she's a girl, you might be able to seduce her and then convince her later, over pillow talk, to give UNT athletics a chance. Sometimes, women just need to be tickled in the right areas to understand the importance of it all. If she's not hot enough to seduce, why do you want her at the games anyway? Am I 21st Century enough in my thinking? Love, The Fake Lonnie Finch

I disagree that Coach Mac holds any responsibility for the low student turnout. He worked his tail off to try to get students out to games. As apathetic as UNT students have been over the years, apathy appears to be higher among students now than at any time the past decade.

Matching someone description of a raving old coot alumni, I actually got other things accomplished last weekend; but had a big dose of MG sports. Went to MT/NT football, saw 2 and a half MBB games on the Internet and fit in about two halves of the WBB girls radio broadcast. Obvious observations of one of the best NT sport weekends: 1. The big three sports excelled 2. Give a shout out also to an apparent excellent performance by the swim and dive team in Missouri 3. Unbelievable turnaround by the WBB continued, congrats to coach Aston and the players who have obviously bought into what she is selling 4. JJ's team continues to gel 5. Biggest win of the weekend, WBB defeat of undefeated PAC 12 Oregon State 6. Worst luck of weekend, MBB running into an unbelievable three shooting Columbia team 7. Individual basketball kudos to Chris Jones and Jordan Williams who continue to get better, Edwards who showing great tenacity, the usual Torru, Hudson and tourney MVP Goldbolt in WBB, emergence of Sara Stanley in her come out game against A&MCC 8, Most complete game by the football team in ages, complete domination in all phases of the game 9. Most enjoyable fb rout since the Baylor stomp 10. Glad MTSU player survived Brown's hit 11. Hope MTSU game is the start of something special at NT, like the 2001 victory; the first of 26 straight conference wins 12. The few thousand fans in attendance were very adequately rewarded with a special NT historic win 13. Farewell to a lot of long suffering fb players, your efforts were appreciated, glad to see you go out with a big bang 14. Lance Dunbar took all suspense out of record performances, great game and a career as one of the best fb players in NT history; aside if it weren't for the slippery field it probably would have been 400 yards gained 15. Great week for NT players, coaches and fans

Nope. That's not it. There are many students who have never played sports or who didn't grow up with a culture of sports who get caught up in the college atmosphere. The operative word here is atmosphere. Winning is great, yes, but that's not really what brings people to games. During the early 2000s, we had the longest conference winning streak in the nation, and attendance wasn't horrible, but it wasn't as good as this year. What got people starting to come out was the atmosphere. I was president of Clark Hall during those years, and we consistently brought 30-40 residents per game (those are just the ones who sat with us). We didn't start out with that number initially, but we hung out in the entry way and common rooms before the games, offering to paint students up, loan a t-shirt, and just become involved. Many of the students had never really been interested in sports, but they became some of the most rabid fans. Yes, they were music majors, art majors, or other majors you think are the "weirdos" who don't care about sports. Rather than ostracize what you perceive as the super majority of students on campus, maybe you could focus your efforts on finding ways to help those students connect to sports.

I thing Coach and RV both did very well this year. Yes, there are things that could have been done better, but this was probably the best overall year since I started as a Freshman back in 1976. I first heard that attendance will pick up if we get into the Southwest Conference. Then it was if we could just go back to being 1A. Then it was getting out of the Big West. Now it's getting out of the Sun Belt. At some point, it becomes the responsibility of alumni and students to JUST SHOW UP no matter who we are playing.

I just wanted to mention what i thought was a very nice gesture from Coach Mac last evening at the final Coach Mac Radio Show of the year...Coach Mac personally bought a drink (beer, soda, etc.) for everyone in attendance as a token of his thanks for our attendance during the year. He has consistently called us the "few, the proud" and stuff like that during the year and has thanked everyone on several occasions, so we pretty much knew how he felt about our attendance, so this gesture was really unexpected and heartfelt. I truly believe that Coach Mac is the right guy at the right time for UNT. Thanks Coach mac for helping to re-establish UNT on the road to being a winning program once again. I did feel a touch of frustration on Coach Mac's part last evening when he talked about attendance and specifically student attendance. he made the comment that he felt like he had done everything he could to engage the student body and to help get them interested in attending games. I sensed a bit of frustration on his part with the results and payback from the students for his and his team's efforts. He said it made a big difference to recruits when they visit to see a full stadium...it said it matters and while UNT set an all-time attendance record this season, he was hopeful that the UNT fan base and the student body would get behind the program and turn out in bigger and bigger numbers in the future. It was a very positive and very enjoyable show to attend last evening. Coach Mac talked about players he discussed for all conference on the coach call in recently...Lance Dunbar,Will Atterberry, AK, Zach Orr. He also mentioned Lemon as freshman of the year and Lance as Offensive player of the year. Interesting also that he mentioned that not all the SunBelt coaches attended that conference call...several SunBelt Coaches on the call were not at all happy about that...even mentioned the possibility of future fines for non-attendance. Hmmmmm...interesting. He also talked about several red shirt freshmen that he feels will have impact next season, how our O-line will immediately be in better shape across the board. Some of you folks who also attended help me out with some names here for those who couldn't attend or listen in on the radio. Anyway, it was a nice last show, and I was happy I got to be part of it. Next season is looking even better... This post has been promoted to an article

VIA ESPN BSU, SDSU, UH, SMU, and UCF are all headed to the big east in the 2013. this brings us one step closer to getting out of the sunbelt if MWC or CUSA decides to expand.

Hopefully you kicked this broad in the ovaries so she cannot reproduce.

The over-riding point here is had the UNT administration done it's job this would't be a UNT issue. The Administration made a MASSIVE mistake by allowing this on campus. OUR CAMPUS. ...and now UNT, the students and alumni get to pay the price for this error in judgement. It IS a shame this young man died, no matter the circumstances or his political slant. ...but it shouldn't have happened on our University's Campus.

But we won't fill Apogee if we get drilled 50 - 3 the week before we have our 1st home game of the year. The casual fan , who may have interest in coming to a game , sees in the paper/tv/internet that UNT gets drilled & says " same ol unt " and decides not to attend On the flip side , if we beat one of these body bag games the casual fan and many others will fill up Apogee

The boys are thirsty in Atlanta, and there's beer in Texarkana. Besides, that Peterbilt on your back bumper might've been driven by Keenan Flax. How cool would that be?

Like my heart.

The name's more than that. It's the regional cohesion and well-established reputation of a 32-year old conference that got AQ status because of the caliber of the football it was playing. Making a joke out of their name by adding far-west teams just serves as a constant reminder that the Big East isn't what it used to be. When these new schools join, every school but one in the Big East joined in 1995 or later.

Now you're talking! Dan certainly has a right to complain. His team and recruits looked directly across into a student section of what?...300-500 plus the band. God bless those students in attendance but they're far from enough to attract the caliber of players that we need to maintain a FBS university. Coach Mac is off of his butt doing what he can to garner support but he needs a lot of help. The administration and the faculty need to be behind this program big-time. We have made a significant investment and we need to promote it. Everyone in the AD needs to be selling students and alumni, but especially students, on the merits of all of the programs of this university. I remember Firefighting Rick leading a group of us over to the student side of Fouts after they had approved the athletic fee which allowed the building of Apogee. We thanked them and called them the greatest generation. Where are they now? What does the University of North Texas want to be? Do they want to be a complete university such as UT, A&M, Tech, Houston, and the like or do we want to be UT-Dallas, where little goes on beyond classes? No knock on UTD; they are highly rated and give their students a good education...and little else. Hell, UTEP puts us to shame when it comes to attending athletic events with little more than half our student enrollment. I hope that Dan, the athletic department, the administration, the faculty and alumni that get what the value of spirit, loyalty, and pride can do for a university are successful.

Didn't you hear his big idea? We should put poor kids to work cleaning their own schools...you know, give them a taste of what their future career will be? I didn't hear him make an such suggestion for kids in the suburbs, so all our kids should be safe.

What big ideas does Gingrich have? People keep saying this, but all I've heard from him is the same stuff the republican party has been saying for years, for the most part he just totes the party line. Ron Paul has ideas, most of them crazy, but he has ideas!

TCU does have history, but 1 Heisman for them, 7 Bowl games for us, and I sure hope that we don't have 30,000 weirdos on campus. Geez....we got enough putdowns as it is.

I'm not going to TOTALLY base student involvement this season on that last pathetic turnout, but I do think it has gotten to the point that Rawlins and the administration need to seriously get involved somehow in the attendance issue. I don't know: memo the prof''s, call an emergency meeting, involve all levels in formulating a strategy, just figure out something new and creative. I really don't think we can expect Coach Mac to be in charge of marketing. He has plenty on his plate as it is.

We set an attendance record and Lance set several rushing records and DMac can only complain about attendance?!!! (tongue firmly in cheek) Translation: "I feel like you're talking directly to me when you say people can't be bothered to support this team so I'll get defensive. I'll mask my defensiveness by blaming a "lack of winning" and "unknown opponents" instead of just coming out and saying I'm not committed to seeing MY university six times a season."

September 1, at FIU – The team comes out for the first time under new coach Dan McCarney with much fanfare, and falls flat on its face. I’m in class during this game, check the score during a break, see 28-0, and think to myself it’s going to be more of the same ole’ UNT football. Loss 41-16. Sept 10, Houston – After decades of waiting, the new stadium is here and ready to go! We’re uncertain where to park, or how to tailgate. A bunch of people come to check out the new digs, but the place doesn’t quite sell out. Andrew McNulty scores the first touchdown at Apogee Stadium, and UNT hangs tough with Houston for the first half, only to fall apart in the second half. We see Case Keenum light up the field between rounds of filling out his AARP membership applications on the sidelines. Loss 48-23 Sept 17, at Alabama – Our annual foray into body bag games. UNT doesn’t even show up to this game. Fans start to question the new coaching staff. The UNT Athletic Department cashes its check and licks it wounds. Loss 41-0 Sept 24, Indiana – UNT’s first win at Apogee Stadium, and first win under Coach MCarney. UNT controls the game completely until the fourth quarter, in which Indiana mounts a furious comeback, but ultimately comes up short. Students rush the field after the victory, much to the dismay of some, the delight of others. The Mean Green Brigade is shamed into wearing pants for the remainder of the season. Win 24-21 Oct 1, at Tulsa – Fresh off its first win of the season, against AQ Indiana, UNT heads on up to Tulsa with great optimism, only to run straight into a golden hurricane. Starting quarterback Derek Thompson it out for this game, replaced by backup Anrew McNulty, who proves ineffective against a swarming Tulsa defense. Mean Green Nation gnashes its collective teeth. Loss 41-24 Oct 8, Florida Atlantic – Legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger returns to Denton for the last time. With Thompson back under center, UNT controls this game from start to finish including two pick sixes on defense. The fourth quarter is questionable once again as FAU scores twice, but UNT holds on. Talk of bowl eligibility begins among the fan base. Win 31-17 Oct 15, at Lousiana Lafayette – UNT goes into the half down only 3, and looking like they have a legitimate shot for the victory, only to suffer yet another fourth quarter meltdown. Somebody needs to send a memo to the locker room that the game continues after the 45 minute mark. Some wonder if the relationship between the McCarney and McNulty families is kosher. Loss 30-10. Oct 22, Louisiana Monroe – Homecoming. The tailgating is going fast and furious, although some missed it because of a 2-hour change in game time. ULM returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Meen Green Nation groans, but UNT gets up, dusts itself off, and controls the game for the duration, the outcome never in question. Greek letters are seen on the hill by the fans. The university, and possibly the TABC are notified. Oct 29, at Arkansas St – A straight up beating handed to UNT by a very good Arkansas St. team. McNulty spends most of the game under center, and isn’t very effective. Lance Dunbar runs for only 90 yards. Mean Green Nation questions McCarney’s dedication to road games vis a vis the window dressing of home victories against bad teams. Loss 37-14 Nov 12, at Troy – Oh no! Another road game! This time to five-time conference champion Troy. But with Thompson back in the game, UNT goes the passing route for 331 yards, and a much diminished Troy squad falls. On its last chance to do so, UNT gets its elusive road victory, but Dunbar isn’t looking so good right about now. Win 38-33 Nov 19, Western Kentucky – The hill is mysteriously empty prior to this game before president Lane Rawlins comes marching triumphantly into town with several thousand students in his wake. We still question what the heck a Hilltopper actually is, but Western Kentucky shows us what’s what in coaching improvement and sticks it to us after a questionable call on UNT’s part to go for it on 4th and 1 while in easy field goal range. Lance Dunbar is out for all but one play, in which the SBC refs are unable to discern what exactly constitutes the plane of the endzone. The entire team seems to have slathered their hands in butter prior to the game as nobody can hold on to the ball under any circumstances. Mean Green Nation discusses the ability to make quick decisions and close out games, our bowl game hopes and dreams dashed for the season. Loss 31-21 Dec 3, Middle Tennessee – Had this game been at Fouts Field, we could have made endless jokes about hearing crickets in the stands. A cold, rainy afternoon brought out Patrick Cobbs, the Mean Green Brigade, and well, pretty much nobody else. Even the cannon was afraid of the rain. A home field winning record, a rushing record, an attendance record all on the line, UNT runs this game like its own personal body bag. Dunbar gets 313 yards and crushes just about every record ever written, UNT scores eight touchdowns before finally turning off the jets in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Brett Vito just can’t help himself in the in-game blog, refusing to acknowledge that UNT had ramped up for this game, instead choosing to state that MTSU is “Bad, very very bad.” Poncho sales were at an all time high in the UNT shop. Final record – 5-7 for a .417 winning pct, a 198% increase over the previous four years, as many home wins as 2007-2010 combined, five wins over bad teams, seven losses to good teams. Several key seniors depart, leaving us with ample opportunity to discuss what ifs and how’s its for the next nine months and where Coach McCarney and staff is going to take this much improved program.

With the addition of the Feldt brothers and a year of working out and experience under the youngsters belts on the O-line, I think the offensive line will be one of our better units. We could definitely use some defensive lineman though, defensive end specifically.

Echo everything, we HAVE to get rid of that LSU game. It will add nothing for the season. Replace it with a winnable game. I know a lot of people are on two different sides on the fence in regards to this but I would like to see us play Texas State or UTSA at home (replacing Texas Southern). For a few reasons. Mainly I have a lot of friends and family who go to both schools but also that way we can put to rest doubt from anyone who thinks these programs will pass us (I would like to see us beat these schools like we did MTSU Saturday). Dream world scenario would be to play a school like Baylor or Tech at home.

NO BODY BAG GAMES!!!!!

I am ready for this game! It will be my first home game to attend this year and I just know by next Saturday the team will be clicking on all cylinders.

Skipping over all the jackassery going on here....that is one sweet looking gym. Nice job by UTA.

Richard "Big Country" Abbe: 7 total tackles, 1/2 sack, & an interception returned for 19 yards for the big fella!

Game tips at 7pm. If we can get enough committed I'll have a tailgate set up by 5. I figure a small grill, some brats and a bunch of beer? One tent affair or two?

Gingirich a serious candidate? He was kicked out of congress for a laundry list of ethics violations, that's not exactly easy to do, usually they just publicly scorn you and send you on your way. Ginigrich is joke, I think he's even shocked he's getting this much air time! He's not serious about winning, he's just trying to sell books. Most serious candidates don't leave the middle of a campaign to go on a pleasure cruise of the Greek islands. Really all of these people are a joke except Romney (who will end up winning the nom), and Huntsman. And c'mon Obama would run circles around newt, that ridiculous to say otherwise. I can see how that will start, Newt: I'm obviously the best option, I'm not a Washington insider, I'll fight for the middle class of America. Obama: ummmmm seriously? This is what I'm going against?

....and he'll be in a better position to intercept if the QB is making an ill-advised hurried throw, because he is being chased by a DT/DE that looks like this guy....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDARauimgmM

I worry that the lack of attendance at UNT games is a problem that may never be solved. It has been an issue as long as I can remember. There is certainly more that the administration could do to promote the program. However, I wonder if the lack of effort might have some relation to the continued failure of previous attempts to promote the team. I can't imagine the administration would want to spend much money to promote a product if they don't believe in it, and don't have confidence that the promotions would have much impact. Perhaps the greater issue with UNT attendance springs from the flooded football market of the metroplex. Denton and the surrounding areas have high quality high school football, and the Dallas Cowboys dominate the market. SMU and TCU (until recently) have struggled with the same attendance problems, and both programs have a successful history. Many of the football programs that have outstanding attendance, also benefit from not sharing a market with a professional team (or pre-date the dominance of the NFL). It seems like UNT will struggle with attendance until we have a team that wins consistently. Hopefully, we are well on our way after this season.

For the first time since its inception, I doubt I'll even watch the BCS title game. Because, regardless of who wins, the answer is, "Who cares?" LSU already beat Bama once; if they beat them again it only shows what has already been proven on the field. If Bama wins, they'll still need another game for best two out of three.

really and you have proof that it was the police? I have heard conflicting stories on the Oakland debacle, but I also assume you believe the UC-Davis Students were not blocking the police as well.

I just don't get UTA was labeled as a 'lower' university.

Somewhere, I imagine a sad, bitter old man yelling "throw the ball, McCarney!"

Rick: Just to clarify...I was quoting Bowler's post. I take issue with his statement that "lower schools are doing more to garner donations from their alumni" in regards to your post about UTA's donation (which is great for them by the way, kudos to UTA) when UNT has experienced the best fundraising year in University history. Just this semester, UNT has announced an 8 million dollar gift, a $22.5 million dollar gift and the $20 million dollar Apogee Stadium naming rights agreement. I'll throw out the naming rights, and that's still over $30 million dollars in alumni giving between two individuals (over 4 times the UTA gift). Those two gifts may not be Athletics specific, but they sure impact UNT in significant ways.

Board not capable of discussing sports ever. No one here understands it. Quoner's fault.

After reading all 6 pages of this thread, God help us, it will be a long off season.

Dr. Suess is right. After finding teams that are bowl eligible, the most critical thing bowl promoters are looking for is attendance. they look at attendence numbers and how likely those fans are to travel to the bowl game. When North Texas fans stay home, they hurt the Mean Green. Some fans complain about the Sun Belt Conference. NT must win, dominate the Sun Belt first, but North Texas fans must show up to watch North Texas regardless of who the opponent is. Thanks for a great first year Coach MaC GO MEAN GREEN

To clarify my point of position prior to my response. I grew up in Denton, child of a professor, been attending games since I was too little to remember, graduate that now lives over 350 miles away, but makes the trip for games at every opportunity. I agree with a lot of your points, but the above is just ridiculous. A student that has to be told what to do, how to do it and where to do it before they will attempt anything on their own is in for a rude awakening in the real world. You mean you knew it was raining, but didn't think to buy a poncho in advance and you wouldn't go to the stadium gift shop to see if they sold them? Wow. I guess you were told where Sack N Save is located and were presented with a shopping list prior to buying your groceries. Don't give me the "students can't afford it arguement either. Most of them will drop $4.95 on over priced beer every weekend at some bar, yet won't attend a game that is basically free and have the sense to stop by the stadium shop for a rain poncho. PM me you phone number and I'll give you a call next year before each game and bring you a poncho if needed. Do your professors call you in the morning to inform you of the weather forecast and to tell you what would be proper attire for the day? Don't blame the AD for the ban on umbrellas. Watch any game on television that has rain and name one where umbrellas are allowed. I can just imagine the nightmare of umbrellas opening in the row in front of me, behind me and then trying to open mine, much less, watch the game through all of that. By the way, 61 and rain is far from cold. Pristine conditions? Nope, but far from conditions indicative of leading to a bad case of pneumonia or shrunken penis. Guess I am starting to sound like an "old-timer," but these comments about they didn't do this or that for me is clearly indicative of the attitude of many of today's youth that are entering the workforce. I interview many people for positions within the organization that I'm am employed by and it is amazing how many have this attitude, lack of work ethic or a general understanding of personal responsibility. The athletic department and university has a long way to go in properly marketing the sports programs, but they are light years ahead of where they were during my days as a student. Every year, I took it upon myself to walk over to the athletic office and pick up a schedule so that I would know when the games were scheduled. I even travelled to many road games during my years as a student, and not once did the athletic department, or any other university department, call me to tell me attend, what to wear, where to purchase souveniers/concessions/etc... Nope, I did it on my own. I state this not to pat myself on the back, but to draw attention to how helpless you seem for a junior level student. Now, considering the level of improvement from the team this year and the amount of knowledge you have gained from attending this year, I hope to some day meet you in the future at a North Texas football game, rain or shine.

Let's just shutdown gmg for awhile

I don't see what everyone is complaining about. Conditions were great up in the club level.

Great game and great atmosphere. It was my first endeavor to Apogee this year for a game and what a palace it is. Luckily next year work won't be as nutty so I'll make every game with my season tickets. The buddy I took (who's also a UNT alum and first time at Apogee) said he loved the game and the stadium and he didn't realize just how affordable season tickets were and he was utterly shocked. He already told me he's definitely going to buy season tickets for next season and get as many people as possible to come as well and enjoy the game with some tailgating action. Folks this is a work in progress and it will take time but the arrow is definitely pointing up. Just keep the faith and things will fall into place. This post has been promoted to an article

Yes, but only if we take it apart and move it to a campus with a decent fanbase.

Couldn't agree more! It was a great time to say the least and, as odd as it may seem, I think the rain and terrible weather conditions made it even more memorable!

the weather sucked, but the tailgating and game were great...one of the most enjoyable i've had...there's something about standing in the rain for 3 hours watching your school kick ass that makes me happy!

I take offense to this as a UNT faculty member that attends football games. Our preferred pejorative is "self serving psuedo intellectual eggheads. Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Thanks for the negative votes on the picture, guys, but chill out it was just a joke.

It was a great game – third CH playoff game in a row that has come down to the last minute or so. As I said before, I am hoping that the adversity faced in all three of these games works to CH's advantage in the state championship game. UNT Chapel Hill Commits Against West Columbia (along with a bit of Friday night game info): Sir Calvin Wallace – DT – Sir Calvin played the first two series of the game, and then had a leg injury. He was out a series and then returned for another series before leaving the game for, basically, the next three quarters. He came in and played the final two defensive series of the game. CH was down 16 – 14, WC had the ball twice and were stopped twice because of the leadership and play of Wallace and Colton Moorehead, along with a swarming CH defense. The first of those last two series CH got the ball back, the QB threw an interception with about 3 – 4 minutes left in the game. Enter Sir Calvin once again and he was a monster – he and the defense held WC to a four-and-out (with CH calling a timeout after plays 1 – 3 and holding on a 4th down and 2-yards to go). CH took over on their own 29 yard line with 2:10 remaining and no timeouts. CH did nothing the first three plays and faced a 4th and 7. The QB was flushed from the pocket, scrambled to the right and found a receiver for a 43-yard play to the WC 25 yard line. CH then converted a 12 yard pass to the 13 – missed a receiver in the end zone – and then with 8-seconds left CH hit a 13-yard TD pass to win the game. Rex Rollin – 10 carries for 88-yards – Rollins is feeling good again and running hard – been injured so much of the season. Andrew Tucker – 3 carries for 11 yards. Tucker was injured in the first half of last week’s game against Navasota and played only 3 – 4 plays the whole game against WC. Given everything I have been able to find out; I think he will be quite ready to go in the state championship game next week. Chapel Hill (14 – 0) vs. Alvarado (14 – 0) will play this coming Friday night, 7:30, for the 3-A Division 1 State Championship at Jerry Jones' Cowboy Stadium. I hope that some of you can make it to the game – last year CH and Henderson managed to draw in excess of 20,000 to the game – not bad for a 3-A game. I expect CH to have all of its starters healthy for this game (at least as healthy as a high school team can be 15 games into a season). I will give one final report on the Mean Green CH commits after the state championship game – and then TylerMeanGreen will retire and leave the sports reporting to the professionals. BTW, my wife, daughter and I sat in the big middle of the rain yesterday and loved every minute of the UNT/MTSU game (well, my wife and daughter loved it a bit less than I did given the miserable conditions). What a way to end the season! GMG

I like the cut of your jib.