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Lera and I are expecting twins this upcoming May.* Before anyone asks, yes I have called her OBGYN and verified that there are indeed two. While it was tempting to announce one of them then chastise any of you who didn't do your homework to find out about the other one...I decided against it. *This is NT football related because I'll need to purchase more season tickets soon

Weather looks to have improved. 20% on Weather Channel, most places have it from 20-40%. Also, UNT is really, really pushing to get students at the game. In addition to my campaign, they're giving away gift cards and shirts to people who pick up tickets...it's also Family Weekend. Crowd this weekend should be in the low/mid 20s depending on weather. Supposedly Rick is asking students for any and all suggestions for attendance improvement. Also, Cynthia Izaguire seemed to allude to me on Twitter she might give a shoutout to my #hit30k thing or just a shoutout about the game on TV. We'll see how this goes!

Do you really think this is anything more than coachspeak? A few weeks ago, he was saying he wanted our program to be like Ohio; the next weekend he was saying he wanted it to be like Ball State. For some reason, I doubt that the coaching staff has weekly meetings to assess whether they are getting closer to their goal of being more like Middle Tennessee State. I don't recall him saying that about Tulane, though.

Coach Mac is a good fit for our program and I wish all these barbs aimed at him for wanting a good North Texas crowd for "OUR's and "HIS" football team would stop. If he becomes a success at UNT (which I believe he will) don't think for a moment that he like any other NCAA FBS level coach would want to go where people support their team--win or lose. Hopefully, that school will be us after we tweak a few things to increase our attendance. As most on this board know, Coach Mac took over an Iowa State job that only Kansas State pre-Bill Snyder could have been considered worse. Still, he beat Iowa U 4 x's in a row and took the Cyclones to 6(?) bowl games. Some call what he did for the perennially losing ISU football program a near miracle. Even many of their fans have visited this board wishing him well with their still having good thoughts about what he did for their school. While Coach Mac was at Iowa State, they still had those 5K to 10K traveling fans from other Big 12 schools coming to their home games; that is, such fans that we don't get at North Texas with our opponents fans so guess what..............we need to do something that will most likely take much planning to get that shortfall and same number of new fans coupled with who we have already to Game Days at Apogee but in our case...all those extra new fans would all be wearing green--not our opponent's colors. Coach Mac is not responsible for our culture at North Texas...he inherited it. Why make him feel bad for wanting large croweds at that North Texas. Don't we have that in common? Why we hesitate in admitting our problem with small crowds using every excuse under the sun as to why yet with no attempts to fix any of this is why we (basically) outside of each years new freshmen class have the same old group we had when we watched our teams across the Interstate. Still, no reason to hold Coach Mac responsible for things that were already long set in place the same day North Texas announced him as our HFC. Game Day This Weekend? Coach Mac's team has its work cut out against Middle Tennessee as far as the Blue Raider team I saw last week against East Carolina. You can begin with a Blue Raider speed merchant of a RB who can score any time he touches the football. Couple that with a pretty good MTSU QB/Receiver tandem will give us a pretty big challenge. I marvel that the oddsmakers are making us the favorite in this game. Hopefully they know something we don't. North Texas is on the verge of being a good football team whose W/L record at this juncture could easily go north or south. . So it's tme to get our game faces (and raincoats) on, folks, because none of us are going to change 30 years of culture (created by too many losing seasons) just because we wish we could. What we need to do for new fans takes more than an overnight idea the week of the game. GMG!

Something tells me that 90 didn't really want to be reminded...

Congrats!! I'm currently in delivery room waiting on my next one

That crazy talk about us not accepting or deserving of a bowl game at 6-6 is just that- crazy talk. Don't wait to be perfect to seize an opportunity. Both Texas state and UTSA are gunning for bowl games in their first year of d1a. We must win and get to At Least 6-6. The dirty birds and bobcats are not concerned about looking pretty at their extra month of practice and with their newfound regional and national exposure. This is not politics this is a bloodbath for relevance in the state and on the national stage. GMG

I'm not disclosing anything yet until I have official word that it is cool to do so and when I have a more solid plan. So that people don't run with my idea and take it in places we don't want it to go, I am not going to completely disclose the details of the project until we've done it but I will keep people updated on what is going on. I'm just taking it slowly, carefully and professionally to make sure this doesn't fail or go in the wrong direction. If I can get divisions of UNT on board, this will be all the more successful. So just hang on. I will say our goal is likely the Rice or UTEP game, but we will continue to push & market to fill all the games. In other news, we have changed the twitter name to @FillApogee so it's more UNT related but the official campaign is still "#hit30k" and #fillapogee. This is going to be a student marketing thing likely though, my goal is to not just fold up camp if we fail or hit or goal, to keep going. I plan for Mythbusters to be only one part of the marketing campaign, for this year specifically.

Ok, that would be a pretty cool meeting . . .

I'd be all for busting out some alternates once and awhile, I figure it's not like we're going to abandon our permanent look (at least I hope not) so why not change it up on occasion for special games.

Yeah! Hope this keeps on rolling. Been getting a lot of huge tweets. Twitter makes a bigger impact than a lot of people think it does. This is great, love the publicity we've gotten off of this! Hope it translates well. Gonna keep this going even after this game. We'll see how it goes!

This...exactly this! Mac said this on the radio show the week we play the MUTS. Folks, you have all been around long enough to realize what this is and to take it for what it is...COACH SPEAK plain and simple. Have no clue why folks seem to always want to make something negative out of NOTHING.

Trying to find anything from Mac that isn't just coach speak. Trying real hard.

This. Mac laying out some flower petals for the guy. Nothing more.

This ^ It's just Mac doing his coachspeak bit. Nothing but lip service. Also I don't doubt that the homer writing the piece colored it to sound a little more ass-kissing than Mac meant it.

There are too many bowl games.

Congratulations to you as well!

Ask him what he thinks about Dodge®, Chrystler®, or Jeep®.

Worst look-a-like thread ever.

Probably gonna have to chat with Benford about working out a diaper-changing substitution pattern between you and Lera...

I don't think anyone has a problem with using black as an accent color as long as the predominate color is green. My fave uni's: This post has been promoted to an article

I guess that is what I'm trying to get through to you. Just because we are cautious and feel the need to take every opponent seriously doesn't mean we aren't pulling for the same thing. ...it doesn't even mean that we don't think the team can accomplish that goal. I certainly DO think this team can accomplish the goal of a bowl appearance. ...there will be no need to stick your tongue out at me - I never said it couldn't be done. ...but I am (as are countless others) cautioning against acting like it is a done deal. Enjoy the game this weekend.

Actually going back to the house at lunch to pick up our panchos before making the 250 mile trip to Denton this evening after work. Been to every home game the last few years - and loved the MTSU game in the rain!

We be tailgating Saturday! I will have my balls.

The same could be said about our fans when it comes to North Texas's unfamiliarity and poor name recognition. So... You're basically saying that nobody cares enough about your team to show up and watch them play? These "no name" teams have been beating you guys pretty consistently over the last few years, so I would at least start beating some of them before you start complaining about their name recognition and how it affects your attendance.

Picked this up today from a client of mine (null)

MTSU Mascot: I don't know who from what cartoon series:

Just FILL the place up until it is PACKed to the point where we HIT30K or more in attendance. If it is one or three separate hashtags that help get people there, then who cares which one it is. Three may be better than one. Also, if anyone has not done so, please go to the LivingSocial deal and share it on Facebook, tweet it, etc. It currently shows 97 have purchased.

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Maybe the Mean part is black.

It doesn't matter what formation you run if the QB can't read the progressions fast enough.

first come first serve but i recommend getting there early if you want a particular spot. my place has been stolen from me a couple times since the stadium opened. thankfully, the area is filled with awesome tailgate locations so you don't have to drive far to get a 2nd favorite.

No! Just find you a plot of grass (or parking lot) and setup. You'll need a parking pass to get into any of the lots by Apogee but Fouts is open for a nominal cost. Or, anywhere on campus is kosher. The best bet, though, is just to join one of the already existing tailgates and mooch off of their food. You're always welcome at ours.

What is there to be desperate about? I mean... Outside of actually winning games he's got a mega improved team on his hands!!

I know this infuriated a lot of the "MFers" on here, but I never had a problem with it as long as it led to wins. I won't care if Mac does this as long as it leads to wins either.

Nothing screams Mean Green like the color black!! I think a couple times a year we outta change scrappy from an eagle to a fish as well! Just mix things up!!

I was really hoping we would have landed him. JJ is recruiting well for LSU. Let's see how far they get though.

Way to dust off the cobwebs on a really, really old thread.

HSO alert, It's going to be an unpopular comment, but I don't think 6 wins gets us into a bowl. Nor do I think it should. I agree with oldguy here. Mediocrity should not be rewarded. I want us to be so much better than what we've shown. I think we have the talent to compete in the league as it currently stands, but depth seems to be lacking. I do think we may be better than what we've shown. So where or what is lacking? I don't know, but something isn't clicking.

I don't really want to see us going to a bowl if our only wins are at home. That, to me, isn't deserving of a post season reward, and is likely a setup for a post season embarrassment. Until this team can show that it can play anywhere, and come away with something more than a mere moral victory, then it doesn't deserve a December game with swag bags waiting in the locker room. I've already heard the husbands and fathers remark, verbatim, this season. If I start hearing that we graded out well, then I'm ruh-heally off the bowl game bus. There's still a shot, but I need to see wins at LA Tech and Southern Miss for me to believe.

Guys, eat a Snickers.

Well, I have shopped around at the weather Underground, the Weather Channel, and the National Weather Service. Some of the damn things are awful, but I'm going to take the NWS with high of 86 and 40% chance of rain. It hasn't gotten any worse since MeanMag started the thread, so maybe they've all been furloughed. Climate data has always been subject to local political pressure, so why not weather. I'm going to guess this is all some fast moving stuff with electrical activity, leading to extended time in the concessions area, where we may all get a chance to know each other better and buy more Mean Green gear. Then, we'll have the entire system move out of the area, and welcome the cooler temperatures and lowered humidity that will follow. Of course, the visiting team will suffer the greatest effects of the heat, humidity, and game delays, leading to that good old Apogee Advantage. Better now?

I'm writing up a proposal after a really good meeting today. Hopefully we can keep up this momentum this project has.

If it is black . . .

All black? Why? Lets focus on getting the correct color green first.

Maybe on The Fan.

I'm not at liberty to answer these questions.

Totally agree. Years ago it was evident that if the powers that be at UNT cared about winning, they would organize a campaign to raise the funds to hire a super coach and staff who could win and recruit despite our then humble facilities. They did not do that. Complaining about attendance is a smoke screen, and where there's smoke there's fire. It's plain: people do not want to come when there is a really big chance of seeing 'your' team lose. University of North Texas would be supported by the people of North Texas if those residents thought they would likely be on the winning side by affiliating themselves with the university. It is a classic chicken and egg problem and the only way for the cycle to be broken is for the university leadership to decide to be a winner and take charge of the situation. Instead they sort of keep expecting that some critical mass might rise on its own, and don't even seem to care whether it does or not. We could look at this coach and see that he was not of the caliber needed, and that is because the school raised money for other things. Stop being a loser North Texas, and don't ask me for more money or support. GO and get it from others who are not already contributing. Then use it to pay for a winner. $600K or whatever, I know was a big jump, but it needed to be a lot more. I said it before it was built: that stadium won't do anything without a great coach in it. And the stadium not only does not pay for a coach, it apparently used up all the fundraising mind power the university leadership could muster. ACCEPT the fact that college football is a big reason why colleges are so prominent now and so heavily attended and expensive, and get in the game!

Man, Harry, you really pulled this from the grave. Talk about a necro.