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I think I can speak for everybody here when I say thank you for your time with the Mean Green. Although it may not have ended like we all would have hoped, you have many great days ahead of you and we can't wait to watch. We wish you all the best and Go Mean Green. http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/03/mitchell-is-gone.html/ This post has been promoted to an article

Real shame he was foiled by the worst thing to ever happen to UNT basketball.

Intimidation. Look at what we have. THOR, OPERATOR, COACH, RAGEMASTER5000 hate to break it to ya, but i'm a tall, lanky, white guy who drinks alot...i won't be dropping the hammer on anyone! hate to break it to ya, but i'm a tall, lanky, white guy who drinks alot...i won't be dropping the hammer on anyone!

The reason they're having this presser for him is because he deserves it. He's one of the best things that's ever happened to UNT basketball.

I thought it would be interesting (and needed) to look back at the excitement generated by Tony Mitchell's enrollment at UNT. EDIT: And interestingly enough, Skiver's posts are changed to Andrew. Hmmmmm...

The ultimate flag of surrender will come the day that no one publicly complains after a massively disappointing season. In fact, I'm already so dismayed by the complacency of many on here.

parked at alliance tonight...leaving at 3 am tuesday...thinking of going out there to see it take off...if you know planes...well, big ass cargo planes, this plane would intrigue you. it's not the 225, but the next biggest. totally massive cargo plane...really want to see it takeoff. also, while i was at alliance taking pics, the c130 that the blue angels use landed...such a cool ass sight! right as they got off the runway, an airman popped a hatch and displayed a large AMERICAN flag...so damn cool to see...not sure how long it will be here...but a great sight as well for americans...it does dwarf in size to the antonov. there were a couple of f18 hornets that were doing touch and go's while i was there today as well...so damn cool to see that... basically...planes are cool...loud...massive...and awesome...look to the skies and be amazed folks...that is all...

Not sure what you are going for here.

I have my doubt as to whether we can compete with Rice.

This needs to stop.

That's uh, that's a tough thing..but uh....

Hey, the NY Times pointed out that our absence from the tourney was a disappointment - along with the absence of Texas and the Aggies. I'll live in that company any day, even for the wrong reasons.

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/03/mac-spring-presser-tidbits.html/

I don't know if any of you ever had him as a professor, but he died this past weekend in a car wreck. I know he had been at the school for a while and I believe was a pretty big supporter of athletics

Not exactly...if this wasn't being held at a school in the district I teach at, I would be intoxicated while playing and have beer on the sidelines and during timeouts...

I promise Harry, I am in way better shape for the game this year than I was last year. I remember last year when 2 or 3 trips back and forth on the court and I'd be huffing and puffing pretty hard.

Sure, if screen names equal basketball talent.Having met some of these folks, and even played basketball in this game against them, not as intimidating as a name would imply.

Kaydon Kirby, hmmmmm interesting.

I know, what is financially realistic for Southern Miss and Houston just can't be done at UNT. Just like playing in the CIT the last 2 years wasn't "financially realistic" for UNT, yet is for UTA. It's always going to be like this at UNT, because people in key positions just don't care about athletics. Brandon Walton would not have averaged 14 rebounds per game and would not have kept this team from looking lost on defense for most of the year. Yes, losing him hurt the ability to stretch the defense, but injuries happen in college ball, and you pay your head coach a hefty sum of money to be able (theoretically) to adjust to the injuries that occur during the season, much like Utah St. did this year. All they did was win 19 games. Odoh would not have helped if he was here this year because he was not eligible. The culture at UNT, including its fan base, is that losing is acceptable and no big deal. The culture at North Texas allows a 1st year coach with "the most talented team in school history" to fail miserably and have no fear of being held accountable. So, what do we do at UNT? We cross our fingers, tell everybody to "get behind Coach Benford, because he isn't going anywhere!" and pray that somehow, someway, the seas part and a miracle happens next year and we finish above .500 in conference play. That is who we are. It just took me a while to figure it out. EDIT. Harry, do you really think UNT will bite the bullet and fire 2 head coaches with multiple years left on their contract in the same calendar year? What part of our history suggests that we would ever do something like that? If we can't afford to fire Benford now and pay out 4 years of his contract, what makes you think we will be willing to fire both Mac and Benford and pay out 5 years (2 to Mac, 3 to Benford) during the same fiscal year? With Mac's 2 years being an equal payout to Benford's 3 remaining years? And if this occurs, one would assume that we would be paying out the remainder of the contract for the AD that put us in that position (I said IF this occurs). So where would that money come from? In the end, it's all just a big excuse. We just don't care whether we win or lose in athletics, plain and simple.

Good take, but I will say, at least for myself, that I was very happy for JJ that the LSU job came available at a point where he could get hired by them. My disappointment in Benford, again for myself, wasn't from JJ leaving--at all. It was partly due to the fact that we could have gotten a more experienced coach, particularly one in Fraschilla that I believe would have been a great hire. It was also due to the fact that his team looked apathetic on the court, in part, because he implemented the line change on the court that the Dallas Stars would envy. I didn't like his dodging of the media after early season losses, either. Tony Mitchell regressed badly, but it was obvious that he had no respect for Benford's coaching style. Maybe you can put blame on Mitchell for that solely, but he is a young man that still needs solid leadership. When he had that, under JJ, he was a looming lottery pick. Now, he MIGHT go in the first round of the draft. I suspect that he will tell his side of the story very soon about all of this and there will be many folks around here who will get mad that he is airing his dirty laundry, but he's gonna need to do that to improve his draft stock again. Be prepared for this, gmg.com.

UNT basketball seemed on the verge of being something really special here. I didn't think we would necessarily become another Memphis in CUSA.. But, I certainly expected us to have a strong program moving forward and seriously contend in our new conference. How quickly fortunes can change. I honestly don't know who to blame for what happened. Obviously, Benford's system failed for the players we had on the floor this season. The real question is what do other potential recruits think of Benford now ? Perhaps our talent level was vastly overrated (plus injuries) and any coach might have struggled. But, even if that is the case, how many potential recruits and going to say "damn, that team failed even with Tony Mitchell on the roster". After all, its all about perception in the recruiting game. What to do now ? I have never in my life supported removing a coach after just one season. And, Benford may very well turn out to be a heck of a coach. But, too much is probably at stake here to let our program struggle for another season or two. Look how long it has taken our FB team to pull it self out of the cellar after consecutive years of losing. This is going to be one tough choice that our administration has to make. It may be better for everyone (including coach Benford) if we cleaned house. But, I just don't seem that happening. Such is the life of North Texas athletics. Just when it seems we are getting our share of the breaks, the bottom falls out.

It’s interesting because from what I understand he was the highest ranked recruit that Missouri ever had in the history of their basketball program. If this is true then regardless of what kind success the program may have in the future, there is a good chance that we will never see a player as talented as him again.

"I'll never join you!" "Come on, Anakin. Chicks dig it. And we know Jedi aren't into relationships." "Oh, okay then. You call Padme, I need to go lightsaber-apeshit on some alien Jedi kids." If you can get D-Mac into some black robes, I'll get my sweet baby to make the Denton run in as few parsecs as possible. ...I have no idea what any of that means. Please move on to the next post. These aren't the droids you're looking for.

Tulane has absolutely no ties to the NO Bowl.

That's the funny thing; if games sold themselves, then why would we waste money paying people to promote them? And whether the reference was to Emmitt or not, I would like to point out that even when he gets repetitive or overly angry or almost annoying with going to extremes (hey, I didn't say he was the only one so nobody has to point out that I've done the same), the fact is that as far as I'm aware, every time we've done Emmitt's ideas, they've worked. If I missed something, then please tell me when we've actually done (as a school, team, Athletic Department, etc.) what Emmitt came up with and it failed. Point being: Emmitt gets pissed, pessimistic, negative, or whatever, but he also provides valid ideas and solutions so as to move past current problems and get on with a better situation. I'm not saying we should fire any coach that he doesn't approve of, but since he's both realistic and idealistic (a rare combination), I like hearing his ideas in terms of actual planning for events, spirit, development, etc. Just because you don't like everything that someone has to say doesn't invalidate the substance of their argument. Let's stop griping for the sake of griping and be aware that great ideas can come from anywhere. It's a great thing when you realize that your verbal opponent could be your greatest asset, comrade, and partner under the right circumstances. Using the passion of opposing viewpoints for a common goal can lead to great achievements.

That big ass soviet freak... It was a sad day when they quit letting Fat Albert do the rocket aided take offs at air shows.

Very happy to be wrong.

I'm in. If it's anything like previous years, I'll do decent until the Sweet 16. Then all my Final Four picks will be gone before the Elite Eight.

Don't hold your breath.

Good. Good. Let the hate flow through you.

UTSWho? Screw this. I already hate them. Bring it!

Sad to see him go, sadder to see we wasted him.

Well, as long as Harry, Vito, and the Daily reporter know when it is, then everybody is pretty well covered.

And I'm the reason this isn't a fun place anymore? Really? It has nothing to do with the most disappointing basketball season in the history of this university? Come on... It's a fan board. Opinions are challenged all the time. That's what we do here. I always challenge them respectfully. If you think the board is bad now, wait until we are sitting at 5 wins in late January next year. I guess at least by then we will all see the need for a change. If you, Travis, or anyone else stops posting on here or coming to this site, I think we all know the real reason is that your sick and tired of losing and sick and tired of hearing about how the losing is most likely to continue.

This thread is silly. We can't possibly be expected to live up to the standards of a school like UT-Pan American.

^^This

Will there be live chat/play-by-play?

I know.....agree

these have been posted in another thread...

Good luck, Mr. Mitchell! Thanks for all you've done for the school/team!

They will make a big impact in terms of attendance. Their "signature" win was New Mexico State. Larry Coker will build a good program there but don't expect much coming out of the chute. At the risk of being a homer, I'll pick North Texas to lead the new arrivals. We have the best defense of the new teams and none of the newbies have much offense. Louisiana Tech lost everything but a very good running back. The defense has been decimated but maybe that's a good thing since they were the worst by far in the nation last year (gave up more than 525 yards per game). This time they won't have the #1 offense to outscore opponents. Scotty Young is going to have to learn their offense all over again. I see a fourth or fifth place finish in the West. Middle Tenn is fairly even with us on offense vs. last year's team but lost their scorers and a lot of their defense. I believe that they'll finish third or fourth in the East. FIU was better than their record last year but they've lost some players and I'm not sure how the returning players will perform with a new system and dealing with Cristobal's firing. Probably sixth in the East. FAU had a decent defense last year but their offense was weak and they've lost a good deal on both sides of the ball. Pellini probably doesn't have the talent to move them out of the East cellar. If UTSA can beat anyone, their best chance will be UTEP. The Miners lost heavily. They still have a very good running back but the rest is up for grabs.

Standards.

Hey, I'm just answering your question of: "Would anybody trade our facilities for Louisiana Tech's run the past few years" I think I'll take everything over at the village over LA Tech's records "the past few years". And by "the past few years" you mean 2 years of winning in football (they were 5-7 in 2010), and one year of a better record than us in basketball (they were 18-16 in 2011-12). Or, are we to include those middle-of-the-road records in our trade of Apogee and all of our other nice new facilities? I want UNT to win just as bad as the next guy. But winning comes and goes (as we've seen here in the 2000's). Apogee and everything else at the MG village are assets that will last much longer than winning/losing.

Thank you for letting me know about the inconveniences for ladies soccer and the swim team. Now, I feel so much better about all the losing in football and basketball lateley. You, know I have access to an excavator, maybe I should dig a new cement pond for the swim team.

Maybe GoMeanGreen is not the best place to be calling someone out on typos.

So what do we do about this? Do we just accept it and move forward? Do we accept it and move on? How do you make a university care about athletics when they obviously never have and their alums and the citizens around the unviersity make it very clear that they want little-to-no energy or funding to be spent on athletics? You will have the usual suspects saying, "Look we just built a stadium and we are paying more for our coaches than we ever have--what more proof do you need that we care about athletics?" But my answer to that is that we had to build a new stadium or our football program's future--Fouts couldn't function anymore, with all of the generators needed to even get the stadium up and functioning. And even that new stadium doesn't ensure our place at the FBS table in the years ahead. With our hires of McCarney and Benford, we simply paid what the market asks for at the time, so that doesn't really show me that much. You will never convince me that another FBS school that plays football would keep their AD if he had made hires like Todd Dodge, Shanice Stephens, and Tony Benford during his tenure. And even though it makes me frustrated with RV, I still wonder if this is because its really all the BOR will let him do--and the BOR does it because it knows that is what the majority of the administration, faculty, alumni, students, and citizenry of the town want. In the last few years, we have seen SMU and UTEP buy into conference tournaments. We are now watching freaking UTA do the same thing. Is there any doubt that Rice or UH would do the same thing? Why do those schools care about athletic spending, even in the sport that isn't the number one money maker to the AD, but we don't? Seriously, how can anyone expect for our programs to even compete with CUSA teams if we don't have (or much worse, won't spend) more money on athletics? If we can't--or won't--spend enough to compete with the CUSA schools, at the bare minimum, there is no way you can expect for your teams to do anything positive, record-wise. If all we want is to just spend on education, music, arts, and other ventures, that's fine. But tell us that--and get our teams in a conference that we can compete with. I think it is beyond embarrasing that a university of our size doesn't want to be the best they could be in athletics, but they make the decisions. It embarrassed me that we felt that the SBC was a solid barometer of who we could compete with, even though we are as big as we are. It would embarrass me if we had to play against Southland-type schools again, in part because our leadership funded the program that way, but at least it would tell the few fans around here that still do care that we have decided to play in a league with other schools that fund their program at a similar fashion. Right now, we are telling our fanbase that we are moving up in conference affiliation by going to CUSA. But our approach to athletics is telling us all that we our setting ourselves up for more poor performances on the football field and on the basketball court because we can't--or won't--support athletics like ALL of the other Texas schools do. Sadly, that list now includes a basketball-only school in the middle of the Metroplex, UTA. I realize that is their main $$$ sport, but seriously, if we cannot afford to support our basketball program at a similar level as freakin' UTA, why bother having a program here? Just be the best music and arts school in the country if that's what you want. But just tell us...for me, I'm giving this place 5 years to get this right. If this place doesn't care about sports, which means so much to me, then I need to give my fandom to other ventures that want it. It amazes me that there are some folks out there who have put up with this lack of support for athletics for 30 or more years. I've given this place 22+ years of following it, as a student and as an alum. If we don't see major changes in performance AND funding, there is just no way I can stick with this.

Ya. We were too poor to play in the CBI or CIT the last 2 years, but freaking UTA can do it? Just more proof that the powers that be only want athletic success at UNT if they can get it on their own terms (low cost). There is zero commitment to winning from the BOR or the chamcellor's office at UNT. And we wonder why most alums don't give 2 craps about their alma mater's athletic programs. Freaking UTA cares more than us. Amazing.

Here's the thing that bothers me the most, but is absolutely par for the course when it comes to UNT athletics. If we had performed up to expectations at the beginning of the year, could you imagine how much love we would get right now from all over the state for being the ONLY team in Texas to be going to the NCAAs, especailly with the potential draft lottery pick, Tony Mitchell? If you even win one game in the tournament, you become a darling in this state. Oh well, dreams are great, but reality often disappoints--in our case, for a suffering fanbase that rarely gets any attention in a state full of Longhorns, Aggies, Red Raiders, etc..., we blew our chance to finally show off one of our ATHLETIC teams to the rest of the state. Hell, even if had made the NIT, which would have been a disappointment to think about at the beginning of the year, we still would be playing in a tournament with Baylor and SFA...instead, I see where UTA is involved in a postseason tournament today. We have had teams in the apst that easily could've been in the CBI or CIT, but we never agreed to pay to get in. Now, we see UTA doing what SMU has done, pay to get their team a chance to win a few postseason games and maybe garner some more attention. Again, it just seems so typical to see this happen, both on our side of the aisle and the Metroplex's other schoolss.

Green Dozer, on 16 Mar 2013 - 11:24, said:

Just because you throw gmg after that shit doesn't make it ok. Take that to the tamu board.