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It's not often that I comment on sports related subjects on this board from a "professional" perspective but this TCU story just kinda begs for commentary. Feel free to move this to another board as I'm sure the responses will be heated (though not necessarily correct). Let's examine the prevailing thoughts on this story: 1)It's just weed. This one should be pretty simple for most but somehow it isn't. The question "Is it illegal?" should pretty much sum it up but still people want to argue to merits of marijuana's illegality as if that could somehow retroactively make it all ok. These were student-athletes, on scholarship, who were perfectly aware that what they were doing was illegal...and did it anyway. We could devote pages upon pages to the relative harms of marijuana or how helpful decriminalization could be. I could also ask every "legalize it" person where the big lobby to do just that is. If it's so simple then let's just write our congressman and push it on through, right? Decriminalization should be that simple...so why hasn't congress done it? Could it be that elected officials realize that it's political suicide because their voting base would be against it? Hmmm, and I thought it was so simple. 2)The cops should be chasing real criminals. If you own a store and I come in and steal a candy bar I'm a criminal. If I steal a flatscreen TV I'm a criminal. If I get a speeding ticket...criminal. If I'm DWI and kill a family of four...criminal. If the law is on the books it's the job of our men and women in law enforcement to enforce it. We don't get the luxury of picking and choosing which laws we want to see as "big" or "small" that day. The TCU and FW police were responding to student and citizen complaints...that part of this story seems to get conveniently forgotten. They didn't just walk into detail and say "What should be do today? We haven't picked on TCU lately, let's do that." And I've executed one too many search warrants at weed houses (you know, small time crime) only to find AK-47's and body armor inside. Am I saying Tanner Brock and his cohorts are Tony Montana? Nope...but how do you think we get to the Tony Montanas? Yep, we flip the rich white kids who use them as a connect. And this argument has always been comical to me because it assumes that "chasing small crime" and "chasing big crime" are mutually exclusive. As if any police officer has even been flagged down by a rape victim and said "I'm sorry maam, I'd love to help but that guy just ran a red light." Ted Bundy didn't elude authorities because all police resources were being funneled to a jaywalking initiative. 3)They're ruining these kids' lives by busting them for misdemeanors. First, let's have a little legal lesson. Delivery of marijuana in an amount over seven grams is a FELONY. I could walk into any neighborhood in Texas and pull this off...it only takes $40. Yep, two dub sacks. Tanner Brock sold the undercover officer two hundred dollars worth. Unless he's selling some killer strain or is ripping his clientele off he's making felony deliveries. (Again, the question of legality is a moot point) But let's frame the debate in a different manner. If I'm inside a dope house, let's just say a crack house, and I find $5,000 lying in a kitchen drawer I'm supposed to seize it and turn it in as evidence of proceeds of drug sales. But let's just imagine I haven't paid my MGC dues yet. I'm not a major donor, I only give at the $500 level. Why not just take $500 from the %5000 I found and turn in $4500? Not one of you could argue that it's not going to a good cause and I'm taking it from one of those "real criminals" afterall. Can't we let this particular felony slide? And if we can agree that we can couldn't we allow me to help fund $50,000 of a new baseball stadium at NT if I don't take it all from the same dope dealer? Spare me the rhetoric about how I'm an officer of the law and shouldn't steal...if I can give some nebulous argument about how taking from felons shouldn't be illegal then I'm justified, right? And if you indict me aren't you ruining my life over something small time...just like people are claiming about these TCU players? Think about my family!!! 4)The media and the police are picking on TCU. Apparently there's a contingent of TCU fans (and some nationwide if you read the ESPN comments) who think this should have been kept in house and quiet. When Terrell Pryor sold his football jersey it was national news. When Adrian Peterson drove a Lexus for six months without making payments it was national news. And these weren't criminal allegations. When a portion of our football team failed a drug test it was newsworthy...and, no, Vito wasn't the bad guy for reporting the news. TCU's story involves SEVENTEEN people arrested THUS FAR for marijuana...and cocaine, and ecstasy, and pills. Just how do you justify burying this story? I'm at a loss. Fire away potheads.

Wow...it has already begun...there is one guy who has now said he is "done" with UNT...no more BB games this year, no hot springs trip and it's looking like no more season football tickets as well because of this announcement. Really? Seriously? Might want to relax a little and think about that threat before you get to deep into it. I realize some folks would like to see a new AD for UNT...no, as everyone knows, I am not one of those folks...that's no secret, and I respect the other sides opinion, I just happen to think they are misguided. But a threat such as the above in actuality does no harm to the AD, his staff or his programs, but it hurts UNT and it certainly smacks of one "cutting their own nose off to spite his face". We have all "sat through", cheered through and suffered through the trails and tribulations that is UNT athletics through the years, some for many more years that I have...right, Rick Spears? But, we all have very very fond memories of our times sitting in those seats, standing and yelling, enjoying Mean green victories and suffering through the losses together. I would hate to lose a friend and a long-time supporter of the Mean green over a personnel decision that none of us have any control over whatsoever. The greatness that is the Mean Green is much bigger than that and much bigger than any one person...no matter what position they hold. We can agree to disagree on the situation involving our AD, but what i don't think we would ever disagree on is our love for all that is the Mean green. UNT is OUR school, not the AD's or any one other person's...it is OUR school. Why not take a moment and think about that before making such a flat statement that one is "done with it"! Once you let this genie out of the bottle it's tough to put it back inside. Seriously....is it really worth losing all that over...all the years...all the memories ...all the friendships and acquaintances made through supporting the Mean Green, all the wins and all the losses....

Johnny Jones in the house watching Odoh.

Does he look like an academic risk?

Emmitt, I get into these discussions from time to time with friends of mine who went on to become defense attorneys (i.e., those who didn't have grades good enough to get jobs at law firms and who didn't have the discipline or humility to work in a district attorney's office...legal slackers, if you will). As long as a drug is illegal, it's illegal. That mean, it's not legal. For lack of better words, it is not legal. Marijuana, is not legal in Texas. It doesn't matter what a pothead or casual user thinks the law should be or might be in the future. It's not legal. It is not legal. Defense attorneys who give me the "it wastes time" - "there are bigger criminals" - "you ruin people's lives with these charges." Baloney. People involved in small time crime more often than not graduate up to bigger crimes if they get away with their small crimes. And, even if they don't get away with them, they go up anyway. As for ruining their lives, these kids at TCU...give me a break. The majority of them are going to be upper middle class or wealthy. I doubt very much they don't somehow land on their feet, thanks to the attorneys daddy's money will buy. But, for arguments sake, let's say they were poor and downtrodden. It's not, in my mind, a bad thing to catch them early and give them an opportunity to straighten out and become a more productive member of society. Doesn't mean they will; but, here's a chance. Further, a bunch of rich, white kids at an expensive private university - and athletes whose way is being paid by the university and grants - are not good examples of pitiable victims. They are, at minimum, the following: (1) Insolent, (2) Disrespectful, (3) Haughty, and (4) Wasteful To whom? Everyone. Their parents who provided them the opportunity to learn at a private school, gave them nice cars, pay for their rent at decent houses while in college. For the athletes, the school and its donors do not work and contribute annually with the hopes that they will turn out drug dealers into society. A free ride not good enough? Meals, housing, books, and tuition paid for isn't enough? Give me a damn break with these kids. I went to North Texas working two jobs, sometimes going part time when I couldn't afford to go full time, driving old, used cars, rooming with two other people in the same situation, sweating out rent and utilities every month, shopping at Sack-N-Save, with our parents contributing only when they could. And, I'm supposed to have some sort of pity for these dope-smoking, drug-dealing ingrates? F*ck the lot of them. Many of us came from far worse circumstances in life than those kids have ever faced and didn't turn to dealing dope, coke, and pills on the side. I'm guilty as hell for walking from our apartment over to Rick's, Otay's, the Flying Tomato, and/or Riprock's (sometimes all in the same evening), drinking heavily, and getting laid. I broke no earthly law. I besmirched nobody's name but my own. I wasted no one else's time and money but my own...and, whichever young lass fell prey to my Mean Green charm for the evening. Feel sorry for these schmucks at TCU? No way. I hope they learn a lesson and straighten up, of course. But, to me, these aren't kids dealing to survive like maybe a kid in broken down south Dallas would. These are spoiled, insolent brats trying to get over on everyone who has worked hard to give them a break in life and hold the door open for them to walk into a comfortable adulthood. All they have to do is go to school and stay out of trouble, spending daddy's or TCU's money along the way? Man, what a life. These plastic duckfart lickers get what they deserve...a little shame before daddy hires an attorney to sweep it all under the rug for them.

Well, you just hit on a sure fire way to make our position even worse than it is now. Unless you have a very well established program and name ala Notre Dame or a service academy, independence does not work. First off, your minor sports will deteriorate quickly. They get little recognition now and if you take away the conference races and honors, you are going diminish interest even more. Fry had some luck with it but those were different times, and he ultimately flamed out. Even though Blakeley success was as an independent, I think it helped destroy his basketball program. The class he lived on was recruited when NT was a member of the MVC and he never could come close to replacing those players. Scheduling would be a nightmare in all sports unless you can park your minor sports in a suitable conference which is not likely. Your scheduling dreams are just that, with conferences getting larger the need for OC games is going down not up. Why would anyone want a 10 year scheduling deal with an independent NT, answer; they would not. I agree with the logic, these nation wide conferences make little sense but that does not mean that gong independent does. You think NT gets scant coverage now and the Belt tv contacts are lacking, how does no coverage sound? Fry went independent because he thought it was an important step to getting into the SWC and the MVC was quickly dissolving as a football conference, not a big risk for football but it was deadly to other sports. NT going independent now doesn't help anything including chances to move up in the athletic world.

What does this have to do with the Merger? Can we please move this thread off the realignment board get back on topic?

Having been there, I'll tell you that very few if any students in TAMS have a desire or interest to go to North Texas and stay there. You consider it another high school, a stepping stone on the way to something greater. I remember my first week there WAS a concerted effort to get us all to Fouts for the home opener. I went to every game there for the remainder of my studies. BUT, you're effectively sequestered in McConnell Hall, you're not socializing with regular University students for legal and age-related reasons, and you're taking between 15-18 hours of advanced classes at the ages of 15-18. Quite simply, you're not easily part of the greater university in a lot of respects. I had 6 schools on my list and North Texas wasn't one of them. However, after being there and in Denton, and really learning more about myself than I could in a regular high school, I rejected 2 top offers and stayed at UNT. It happens, but it's EXTREMELY rare. I was always one to march to the beat of my own drummer. Quite frankly, at TAMS, you're in the top fraction of a percent academically. If given the option of those schools that are also in that top percent, that's who you will choose. If you want more students to stay from TAMS, you have to convince them (and in many cases, THEIR PARENTS) that the school they've been planning on since the 5th grade isn't the best fit for them. You don't sit there when taking the ACT in the 7th grade and think "SOME DAY, I HOPE TO GO TO NORTH TEXAS!" You don't look at Stanford and MIT's rankings in Engineering and arbitrarily include an unranked program at North Texas. On top of that, at least when I was there, as a TAMS student, you're automatically qualified for the scholarship that A&M and UT Austin provide to those that finish in the top 10% of their class. Which means if you include one of those schools in your application process, you're guaranteed acceptance and an academic scholarship. Both of those schools at the time were higher ranked in my chosen fields of study (and likely still are). This is just the reality - what the University is up against when it comes to getting TAMS students to stay. Just appreciate what they can accomplish in their time here, and hope for more oddballs like me.

I give up. How many?

Watching Odoh in warms ups with FFR. Walked right by him and would put his actual size at about 6'8" or 6'9". Typical collegiate athletics false advertising on measurables.

Wow, JJ's kids look nothing like him. Can you still get milk delivered to your house in Denton?

If you read Emmitt's post you saw where he said the cops didn't just show up for detail one morning and decide to jack with TCU. They received complaints. I'm hearing some of the complaints came from parents of recruits, who were coming back from their visits with bad reports of drug abuse. This isn't an occupy the tent drug usage event or kids going to class high the morning after the party, event, this was scholarship athletes running a delivery system on and near campus. I don't understand how you cannot see the difference? Rick

I kinda get the Catholic church logic. Why take away from the sensation and pleasure of sex considering its difficult, if not impossible, to get an 8-year old boy pregnant?

Another bucket on a nice post move

Oh, and a lefty

Even if he looks average , lie to us. We need all the good news we can get

I am surprised Vito didn't note that RV got the new deal in spite of hiring Dodge.

Way to prove you're above all that "liberal headstrong namecalling" BS you just posted in the last page. You're confusing forcing views upon with not giving special privileged to. Who said I did? I believe god is not mentioned in the Constitution (it isn't), and that religion doesn't have a place in public policy decisions. No, I'm quite consistent. I don't want yours, nor anyone else's religious beliefs interfering with the law of the land. You are conflating the two as some sort of government interference when it is not.

With 6 minutes to play in the SECOND HALF, SMU has SEVENTEEN POINTS!!! Against 10-14 UAB...AT HOME!!! HAHAHA

Lots of words, little sense. Not surprising. You want to argue what the state may do (a candidate that hasn't even won his party's nomination), but ignore what the federal government IS doing in forcing it's views on a church. Why do you believe that it is the most egregious crime when you perceive even a hint of church involvement with government, yet you go out of your way to justify Government dictating what a church can and cannot do? That, my friend, is the definition of hypocrisy. Something you haven't, and can't, answer.

Originally, my studies were in Zoology/Biology (this is where I was focused at TAMS). I studied Psychology and Cognitive Science early Post-TAMS while I burnt out. My FINAL degree was in Art/Computer Graphics and English/Creative Writing. I graduated with such exciting and useless electives as Calculus 2 and Physics: Electricity and Magnetism. I have worked as an: Information Broker, Library Technician, Environmental Management Technical Writer, Screenwriter, Actor, Script Supervisor, Script Doctor, Graphic Artist, Managing Director of Medicare Billing, and this one time I helped roof my brother's house. They don't put me in the TAMS brochure.

The counter argument would be that Pres. Rawlins got us in CUSA. Let the fun begin.

Does this mean he got us into CUSA/MWC alliance?

Home with OU would certainly beat LSU on the road. I sure hope 2012 isn't yet etched in stone, because that schedule is as bad as we've had in a long time.

Emmitt is 100% correct. Great post...however, one small point...it was not "just" marijuana that the cops found and were sold by these TCU kids....I tried like crazy to point this legal vs illegal stuff to all three of our kids as they were growing up, and stressed how just one little "incident" could change the course of their entire lives and they needed to think long and hard about their choices. They are choices and one can CHOOSE to obey the law and avoid the penalties or they can choose for whatever reason to "take their chances". Our youngest is now a Navy Physician after having attended a US Federal military academy and medical school at USUHS (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences) in Washington, DC...actually Bethesda. He has now served proudly as a flight surgeon in Iraq and is currently in residency in San Diego, CA. His wife is also a Navy Doc...my point...NONE OF THIS would have been available to him should he have made the choices these TCU kids did. His life would have been entirely different...and it's a cinch he would not have had the opportunity to meet the "love of his life" while in med school. The "costs" in this sort of thing go way beyond the legal coasts and they impact so many people. Think of what this is doing to a fine university in Ft. Worth and all the people who have worked so hard to help TCU through the years. Think about the progress that football program has made in recent years...this could end up costing a pretty darn good coach his job when all is said and done...what about the assistant coaches and their families should something happen to Patterson and on and on and on. Think of the recruits that will no longer visit TCU and the donors who might just cut back or withhold donations in the near term? What about the families of these kids who will suffer emotionally and financially because of the selfish actions (and that's exactly what it is...selfish) of these kids. This is a mess and it will get a bunch worse before it gets better. At this point it appears that TCU (unlike Penn State) is handling this mess head on with no excuses...we'll all see how it unfolds going forward. Personally, I feel very poorly for TCU as a university right now, it's students, alums, faculty and staff. They all deserve better than what these kids did.... GREAT post Emmitt! And, from a guy whio is on the front lines with this stuff every day and knows exactly what he is talking about. People...listen up here to what Emmitt is saying.

You're probably right, and that still doesn't make it right. Drugs were available at North Texas when I was a student. Guess what, I chose not to partake.

---I pretty sure that any hospital with a religious name collects a lot MORE money from the Federal government than than do from their "supporting" church in donations..... They take medicare and insurance from federal employees... that is federal money.. If they only serve Catholics and take no federal money then they should entirely be able to make their own rules.... but they don't. If they take federal money, even medicare, especailly from non-Catholic patients....then the government has a voice in the matter.....can't have it both ways.... Can't take the money but give them no voice..... ---They even sell bonds to build or upgrade them....and they are sold to the PUBLIC not just people who are members of their faith.. Taking Federal money plus serving the general public makes any institution a public one to some extent... even if the name involves a religion. ---The same for schools...the government has no say unless they are paying money to the school.... which is exactly what happen at churches.. no federal/state support...but if they take government grants and even tuition from government sourses... the rules change. ..

Some, to be unnamed here, kind person offered me a quarter...but only after he first swallowed it and got in back in a day or two! So, OK by me...if it's a quarter and that's what you want to donate then I'll be happy to accept it...I'll be in the Mean Green Room this evening...you can easily find me there, or you can find me in my regular seat at the game...you know where it is....and I'll happily accept your quarter...and in the spirit in which you have offered it. You know how the saying goes...with friends like these....... Pretty funny, but I do accept your generous offer and will be happy to present it along with all the other donations and monies we receive through this effort to the Cheer Squad at the end of the event...I will, of course, wash that quarter first! Here's to "enabling" the Cheer Squad to have a little support. Appreciate your help and support.....no matter what amount...even that quarter or any quarter.

It seems Temple U was actually kicked out of the Big East or were asked to leave, but maybe they were asked to come back? I guess I should Google it. And left out WAC'ster not getting in the Sun Belt maybe? Well, some of us know that feeling when we were (for all practical purposes ) left out of D1-A in the early 80's because we (and many others) didn't meet their newly created criteria (which was our fault). And is it really true that we had a UNT AD back then who only had to send a fee to the NCAA offices in Shawnee Mission, KS, for us to have bought more time in D1-A to fix our criteria short-comings and it slipped his mind in sending that fee? On Another Front: To 1 or 2 young guns who think we've only been seroius about being FBS for only the last 10 years, please get and read a copy of Dr. James Rogers "The History of North Texas" which will prove we have been serious about FBS (NCAA D1-A) much longer than 10 years. GMG!

I don't. I'm sure there are some frog fans who would excuse murder to win a big game, but the majority would not. We have some of those fans as well, but they aren't the majority here either. "You can't win with choirboys" statements used to be a common excuse to cover any type of behavior. I do think there should be a scale, that some things that are illegal or just wrong are not as bad as others. But this goes beyond hat. The DMN had several articles today about how TCU acted correctly in both going public and acting immediately. In similar circumstances, I would hope NT would do the same thing. There are a lot of things far more important than winning football games.

Oh, kinda hard to rate him defensively. Hill started out in man, but quickly switched to a 2-3 zone for some reason (not because Weatherford was hitting the 3). The interior defense at this level was not nearly as physical as it is in the Belt. He has the size, and more importantly, the footwork to be a good interior defender. Being from Nigeria, I wonder if he has a soccer background. That would explain his footwork being far better than it should be for a guy who just stated playing 4 years ago.

Smut will truly elevate Big East basketball to new heights.

I wonder what happened to our frequent SMU visitor who was not only an expert on SMU bb but the whole college basketball scene. I guess it is easier to comment in the off season. It does look like that great SMU class is having a little trouble getting up to speed.

Whoa, Nellie! You're totally wrong about that. Being in the heart of the metro can have little to do with being in the heart of a TV market. For example, the Dallas Fort-Worth TV market covers more than 30 counties in north Texas. They are the #5 market in the U.S. with 2,571,310 TV homes. Houston is America's 10th largest market, covering more than 20 counties with 2,185,260 TV households. That's their respective markets. Not that being in the center would be an advantage but UNT is near the center of the metro area (now the 4th largest in the U.S.) because the population of Denton County and the counties that abut it is 5.777 million. The entire DFW Metroplex is only 6.4 million. I'm not as familiar with the Nashville area but their TV market has more than a million households while Memphis has less than 700 thousand. So MTSU has the same possibility for exposure as Vanderbilt and the SEC technically but in no market is the SBC going to get as many viewers as the SEC unless everyone is watching both. With the influx of cable and satellites telecasting sports networks it's no longer important to be located where there is a strong signal. One slight advantage that UNT and MTSU might have is that each has double the college enrollment of the FBS teams in their respective areas.

I don't think I remember somebody scoring less than 30 points in a game. I hope the 25 people at the game got a refund.

What happened to that overachieving team from earlier in the year. Fourth straight loss with very sloppy play.

UAB 47 SMU 28 F

A tip in by Odoh on a terrible, late pick and roll pass. He now ha 15 points

5 points in the first 3 minutes of the second half, including an offensive rebound followed by a 3 point play. And add another bucket on a nice turnaround. Offensive outburst in the early second half. Did Odoh read this board at the half? No visitor stats guy that I could find at the hapf. Got his rebound total at 7 very unofficially. 15:00 left second hapf. Odoh playe every minute

Again, listed at 6'11", but actually 6'8" or 6'9"

4 points, 6 or 7 rebounds in the 1st half. Going up against a 6'11" Serbian who has a nice outside touch. Has got a long way to go offensively, but we don't need that from him.

Odoh can get up. A little clumsy on offense so far, but that's expected. Strong rebounder

Has a good frame for an inside player in the Belt. It's early, but a little worried about his athleticism

Not exactly a leap in logic, but there is no evidence that the Belt is going to do anything with the WAC. Why should they, unless it is to replace teams? I think most in the Belt don't want any part of the West. The Belt is spread out enough as is. La Tech is in the Belt footprint but there are a lot of fences to mend. The Belt could have the Texas Twins at any time, don't know why they would look more appealing now.

Bob, could you elaborate or provide a source? If not please don't post stuff like this.

I remember hearing the great news back in 2003 that Krum Middle School visited Fouts. So many reasons to see that wonderful place. That anyone wanted to see my Fall second home, whatever their motive, is good news in itself. GMG

I partly agree, but the upside of CUSA/MWC membership is going to Houston, Rice U and Rice Stadium every other year (our Gulf Coast recruiting will be dramatically enhanced); think of going to Tulane U and New Orleans every other year (while continuing to think state of Louisiana recruiting which we've been known to do more often than not); think of re-newing a conference rivalry with Tulsa U (while we try to figure out a way of beating those 'Canes); but also think of having many (not all) CUSA/MWC schools opponent's fans showing up at Apogee Stadium on Game Day because a large number of them live and work in the North Texas Metroplex and can probably get to Apogee Stadium in less than 30-60 minutes. The upside of joining this consortium of schools is beyond remarkable . GMG!

Methuselah? Welcome aboard.

Add LT, NMSU, and Texas State and I'll be content should we get passed up. I'm sorry but I think UTSA has to earn their stripes and go through several struggles and lots of pain before going to the perfect situation for them so quickly.