ADLER

Yeah, that Tulsa idea looks like student work, from a student that wasn't a college football fan. Under certain circumstances there is nothing wrong with upper deck (third class) seating, but not at the cost of eliminating the premier seating. Upper decks should only be added when all the desirable seating areas can no longer be expanded. What I can't figure is why people continue to be enamored by an incredibly crappy stadium design. Folks, North Texas is starting with a blank slate, it should be built right. And, if it's not the crappiest design ever, I challenge anyone to find a division 1 stadium that is worse, or has as few premium seats.

Well, Sparks has removed the abomination from their website. I suppose that the shortcomings of the design were probably damaging their reputation and that the concept was removed. Either that, or the whole thing was just an elaborate April Fools joke. I find it difficult to believe that anyone could seriously consider that design. Sparks Architecture

Well anything is better than the Make You Vomit stadium concept that the Sparks group of Tulsa tried to push on North Texas in 2003. The Sparks group design did virtually everything wrong that could be done. After a 60 year wait, we were presented with something that was actually worse than Fouts. One poster dubbed the abomination as "Craptacular" and that was putting it mildly. Thank goodness that the horrific design was scrapped before the new Stadium Campaign was started.

nice

That is what makes these message boards so much fun. There is always wild speculation, off the wall opinions, and knee jerk reactions. We are all guilty of it.

Of our opponents in the New Orleans Bowl, Memphis was the only one that even contributed to the New Orleans economy. Colorado State and Cincinatti both brought few fans, and Southern Miss had the majority of it's fans drive in the day of the game and go home that night. Personally, I would love to see the size of the crowds that North Texas could bring to either Shreveport or even to the Fort Worth Bowl. North Texas may not book a lot of Fort Worth hotel rooms, but it would sell a shipload of tickets. In Shreveport I think we would likely outsell many of the Big 12 and SEC schools. Many of their fans view that bowl as unworthy of their presence and don't bother to attend.

I agree. The stands should descend all the way to he field level and the endzone seating should be aligned with the back of the endzone. Utah built their's correctly.

Rice Coach Todd "Flimflam" Graham Stings Owls With Lies And Deception By JOHN P. LOPEZ Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle The day Todd Graham was announced as the savior of the Rice football program, a longtime Owls supporter waved from across a bustling and happy gymnasium where Graham was working the room. Amid all the toasts and back-slapping over the Owls finally getting a coach seemingly committed to turning around the program, this was the sole word of warning, at least the only one I heard. "I have my doubts about this Graham," I was told. Why? Graham was working the room and everyone figured this, finally, would be the key to a legitimate turnaround. Everyone was optimistic. But this alumnus did his homework about Graham. Say it ain't so He was told Graham was more bluster than sincerity. He was told Graham possessed a considerable knack for tossing others under the proverbial team bus if it could make him look better. I shrugged. I filed it away. Nothing I saw seemed to indicate Graham was anything of the sort. But then came another call Thursday night from an Owls player. The player wanted to know if what he heard was true. It can't be true, can it? Just Sunday afternoon, Graham stood in front of the team and announced with all the conviction and believability of a pregame speech, and we paraphrase: Don't worry about me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be coaching the Owls until 2010 at least. Words mean little Graham also joked in the team meeting that it would take $10 million for him to leave. But now we know the room wasn't the only thing Graham worked. Graham told his players he would not leave and then he did, never sharing the news with players that he would leave for Tulsa until after it had been reported in print and on television. He duped everyone. He lied to Rice alumni and supporters who believed in him. He sucked Rice fans of some $5 million worth of financial commitments for stadium and facility upgrades. When offensive coordinator Major Applewhite was fielding job opportunities at Southeastern Conference schools Alabama and LSU, stealing headlines, Graham back-handed his former assistant. Major blow to school Graham, a former defensive coordinator at Tulsa, told an Austin television station: "We run Rice's offense, not Major Applewhite's offense. That was my offense." He played athletic director Chris Del Conte like a fool, too, leaving Del Conte searching for ways to put a spin on the program being left in disarray. Recruits are rethinking commitments, and several players recruited by Graham are contemplating transfers. Del Conte said Friday was, "A great day to be a Rice Owl," adding that the template for winning won't depart to Oklahoma with Graham. But these, in truth, are some of the darkest days for Rice, thanks to the latest act of maybe the game's biggest coaching serpent. It's one thing for Nick Saban to ditch the Dolphins for Alabama. The Dolphins will survive. The Owls had little on which to cling before Graham's arrival and have less now. In one year's time, despite seven wins and a bowl berth, Graham did more damage than good. Broken trust That one skeptical voice who rose a year ago could not have spoken more profound words. Now we know Rice has further to go than before, if only because Graham took away all the good things that were in place when he arrived. The Owls might not have always had a winning record before Graham, but there always was a sense of family and love for the university from those at the core of the program. Thanks to Graham flimflamming an entire university community, gaining free rein to gut the football operation when he was hired, the Owls must find not just a coach but people who genuinely care. Graham drove a stake into the ground and into the heart of the Owls community early, pushing aside a number of longtime and committed Rice athletic department personnel along the way. He surrounded himself with yes men and youngsters too giddy to be in the college game to express a contrary opinion. Lots of new faces Respected athletic trainer Allen Eggert, who had served the athletic department since 1968, was forced out. He was replaced by a 26-year-old kid who was happy to do anything Graham asked. Others who departed included marketing director Mike Pede, longtime sports information director Bill Cousins, support personnel, even secretaries. He was pompous and, word was, at some point found a way to criticize virtually everyone in the department. Worst of all, he told a bunch of college kids to plant their feet firmly on the ground and join him in committing to Rice for the long haul. But as they stood there shoulder-to-shoulder Sunday, the only thing Graham forgot to tell his players about was the snake in the grass. Listen to John P. Lopez weekdays from noon-3 p.m. on 790 AM. john.lopez@chron.com

I don't think you'll find anyone that's opposed to upper decks. That is the only way to expand a stadium once the whole lower bowl is completed. What I think people on this board are opposed to is building upper decks instead of buildlng suitable seating in desirable locations. Sparks Designs of Tulsa had released some virtual scenes of such a design a couple of years ago. The majority of seating was actually on the roof of the press box or in terrible upper deck end zone seating. At Kyle Field, there was a concerted effort to make sure that all fans felt involved in the pagentry of the games. That is why the side decks are built so close together, to give the feeling that it's a single tier. And, yes, those new upper deck end zone seats are horrible, but when there is demand for 100,000 seats like there is in Aggieland, fans will sit anywhere just to get inside the stadium. Here's a few examples of the greatest of college stadiums. NFL stadiums are typically built differently. The NFL teams place little importance on the pagentry of the game and concentrate predominantly on getting as many people as possible into the stadium. Decks are utilized because clear views of things like bands, cheerleaders, and student sections aren't necessary.

It is a nice stadium design, especially if you were to get rid of that useless upper deck. The sideline seating can be built higher and the whole stadium could be bowled for expansion. Then, if necessary, upper decks should be considered.

Actually the WAC would look very attractive if you could convince those schools to move closer to Texas. Until then, I wouldn't be interested.

You mean that there may actually be a long term advantage to selling seats that people may actually want to sit in to watch a football game? Fans, media, and luxury boxes each where they belong. Oh, the novelty of the concept. Or, we can build another stadium with seating that's so bad that attendance issues will continue to plague the program. It's no big deal if we do, we can possibly replace it in another 60 years. Of course Division 1 will just be a distant memory by then, but a few people got to get excited at one time because it was NEW! I really hope we dont build anything until we have the ability to build it right.

Yet, FOX SW has Southland games on every week. I think their airtime is open to the highest bidder. We would probably have to guarantee advertising revenue, I don't know. Who on this board knows better how media contracts work? ....and it would also be beneficial to have the Todd Dodge Coaches show on that same station.

On a related note, what would it take to get all of our games televised on FoxSW? Nothing builds a fan following and recruiting advantage like television exposure.

I thought you had to win a Heisman at LSU to get busted for that.

We also need a nice photographer that doesn't say mean things to the players. Haven't you noticed how unhappy some of the players look in their pictures. There has to be some reason.

He's an excellent coach and I wish that he'd been coaching at North Texas the past nine years (Thanks Dr Hurley). I hope Tulsa finds a way to keep him. The Tulsa fans are a classy bunch, and they have endured losing many coaches to big schools because they cant match resources with schools which get the television revenue.

Wow, I never thought I would see that pizza again. In the future, please give fair warning when invoking the name Tommy Newman.

USC kicker found dead at bottom of cliff 1/6/2007, 11:49 p.m. CT The Associated Press SAN PEDRO, Calif. (AP) — Southern California kicker Mario Danelo was found dead Saturday about 120 feet down a rocky cliff near Point Fermin lighthouse. The body was reported by a passer-by at about 4:30 p.m., said Martha Garcia of the Los Angeles Police Department. Danelo, the 21-year-old son of former NFL kicker Joe Danelo, made 15 of 16 field goals this season and led the Trojans in scoring with 89 points. The junior made two field goals in the Rose Bowl on Monday to help USC beat Michigan 32-18. Speaking on behalf of Trojans coach Pete Carroll, USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said: "We were stunned to hear about this tragedy. This is a great loss. Mario was a wonderful young man of high character. "He was one heck of a kicker. He was a key ingredient in our success the past two years. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Trojan family go out to the Danelo family on this sad, sad day." The family declined to comment. A former San Pedro High School linebacker and soccer player, Danelo made the Trojans as a walk-on in 2003. In 2005, he received a scholarship and earned the starting kicking job. He only missed two field goals in his career, going 26-for-28, and was 127-of-134 on extra points. In 2005, he set NCAA single-season records with 83 extra points and 86 attempts.

I guess Mitch Maher is pretty good about keeping in touch with football buddies. I know he has remained close friends with Coach Dodge throughout the years, and then I saw this from the Tulsa World: Maybe Coaches Dodge and Kragthorpe run in some of the same social circles. If they are fairly close friends, could that affect future scheduling between the two schools?

I would sure like to see this guy considered for the staff. Let's see, former Austin Westlake star that walked on and became a starter and four year letterman at linebacker for North Texas while continuously making academic honor roll, coached as a graduate assistant at North Texas and as an assistant at Arizona, and has spent the past couple of years as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers. Oh, and his father Randy also happens to be one of the foremost recruiting experts in the state and covers all recruiting for a magazine called Dave Campbell's Texas Football that a few recruits may be prone to read.

Athletics to use $1.5 million gift for planning new stadium By: Michelle Hale Denton County residents Shirley and Al Goldfield recently gave the Athletics Department $1.5 million — the largest monetary contribution the department has ever received. The gift will be used primarily to develop a plan for a proposed stadium adjacent to the current Mean Green Athletics Center on the Eagle Point campus, according to Rick Villarreal, director of athletics. The Goldfields are longtime Denton County residents and UNT supporters. Al Goldfield is the founder and former chairman of the board and chief executive officer for CellStar Corporation, a leader in the wireless communication industry. “Shirley and I have been impressed with the improvements that have been made with the athletic programs and facilities at North Texas and felt that it was time for us to get involved with our time and resources,” says Al Goldfield. “We admire the clear vision of Rick Villarreal and President Gretchen Bataille and believe in their direction for North Texas athletics. We are confident that our commitment will encourage others to join the effort and be involved.” Villarreal says the donation endorses the direction of the athletics program and speaks about the high caliber of people the Goldfields are. “It is a remarkable compliment to the type of people that Al and Shirley are when they make such a generous donation to this university and this athletics department,” Villarreal says. “It is a validation to the direction of this program and it will benefit the interests of our student-athletes and the entire Mean Green community for generations.”

Good recollection Cowtown: A conference has to retain 6 same members for the preceding 5 years to get an autobid to the NCAA basketball tournament and for their conference to receive the tournament payout. If BSU were to leave, Nevada's recent earnings would bypass the WAC offices and be sent directly to Nevada. Other WAC members would not receive anything. Of the 7 remaining schools, NMSU, Utah State, and Idaho have not been members the required period.

I'm not so much asking what people would like to have, I'm asking "what can we possibly attain?" What do we NEED to do in what timeframe to optimize our chances of obtaining our goal?

I don't think anyone is considering going to the WAC, especially a watered dow version of the current WAC. The WAC could lose more than BSU in the shuffle.