ADLER

The simple fact is that we're going to lose some people because of the scheduling. Many of the kids will be gone, and there is nothing that we can do about that. How about this as a promotion geared towards the adults. Reward the loyal fan base by sending 5 extra prime tickets to every season ticket holder. NOT WORTHLESS ENDZONE SEATS. Make sure that they're mailed early enough to give fans a chance to plan before the holidays. Sure many tickets will go unused, but it will insure that many season ticket holders will make the effort to show for the games, and they will have the ability to share the experience with friends and family for free. I would also work with the North Texas Exes. Sending 2 PRIME tickets to each member would possibly get a good return for next season. If nothing else, it would give Exes members the feeling that they are getting something for their annual contribution. This will be our last chance to expose the program to new fans before next season's ticket drive starts. We need to take full advantage of it. The 2006 schedule makes season tickets a sellable commodity, we just need people to become familiar with the North Texas game-day experience. It has changed, and our target audience is not yet familiar with the product.

The students will show if they think the tailgate parties will be worth the trip. If not, you can almost count on them being a non-factor. We should be offering dozens of free cases of beer to those groups to help them jump start their party efforts. Of course they should be reminded that the free beer is only intended for people 21 and over. Maybe a post-game concert by someone relatively popular would also help. (Maybe something like Beerman on a bigger stage)

True. Right now that is accurate. IF a change were made, North Texas would have to look for an aggressive assistant coach from another Div 1 program, a very successful coach at the Div 1AA or Div 2 level, or a high school coach with an incredible record and collegiate coaching experience.

Is anybody else not surprised that Baylor is involved? Lets see, where was Babacar Sy's next stop as an assistant coach going to be? Cheating is all fun and games until your activities get one of your players killed. Even then, you get to do pretend prayer vigils and Bill Cosby may even make an appearance.

I'm not wanting to throw fuel on the fire, but we are 1 and 3 against D-1AA programs during that period. We beat Nichols State, but lost to South Florida, Troy State, and Florida Atlantic. All three were provisional schools that had already announced their intentions to move to 1A the following year, but were still at the 1AA scholarship limit when they beat us.

Is Friday night or Saturday night better for Shreveport? The game starts at 3:00 on Saturday. That should give most fans ample time to drive to Shreveport on Saturday morning and get checked into their hotel room before proceding to the game in Ruston. There will be a big Greenbackers/Mean Green Club tailgate party at the game, so don't worry about getting lunch along the way. Then we should all meet after the game at whichever casino is in the Shreveport Riverwalk restaurant area because not all fans are old enough to get into gambling establishments.

Can we please quit all this nonsense. For a campus with such a relatively small greek community, those groups do compose a disproportionatly high percentage of the students that attend football games. Sure, there are a few that are there just for the tailgating, but it's those tailgate parties which lure many other members of their organization to the games, and help build the gameday atmosphere for the rest of us. To tell you the truth, I thought the greek participation at Tuesday's game was outstanding and I salute them for their involvement.

I inquired to PHSCoach in a previous post about an unpaid contribution commitment that he had made towards the Kickoff Barbeque for the football team this season. I was also passed a contribution through our board moderator from another gomeangreen.com poster that was then credited for making a contribution and listed as paid on this message board. This poster has also contributed to Greenbacker's tailgate parties in previous seasons. Unfortunately, I never made the connection that PHSCoach currently posts under two different screen names with the other screen name predominantly used by his bride on their home computer. Subsequently, I had an unpaid contribution commitment from one poster, and a paid contribution by another. Problem is, it was a duplication of the same commitment. PHSCoach, thank you for contacting me and clarifying this issue, and thank you for your continued support of Greenbacker's Tailgate Partys. I apologize for the confusion. Adler

They prefer the name 'tailgating professionals'. Look, I know everybody is just itching to dogpile an organiztion because some twit thought he was some party monster by making a stupid quote to the press, but the simple facts are that the overwhelming majority of those students at the tailgate parties do enter into the game. They might not stay too long if the game is dragging, but they do count towards attendance.

Please people, Do not try to FORCE anyone into the stadium. I would rather have them partying at the stadium making gameday AN EVENT that people don't want to miss than sitting back at their dorms, apartments, and frat houses. Getting people out to the stadium is 95% of the battle, and these tailgators are helping in that effort. We just need to work on making the product inside the gates enticing enough that they'll be anxious to participate in that also. Even if this whole season goes in the crapper, the tailgating will insure that many fans will still look forward to the games, this season and in the future.

I don't think the whole future is doomed because we have lost a few games to start this season. A lot has been accomplished in the past 5 years, and this rebuilding year won't affect the overall plans for the program.

I would love to see us run the table in the remaining Belt games. It would likely give North Texas a share of the conference championship, and it would be nice to keep that championship streak intact, even if it didn't guarantee a bowl berth this season.

Those are valid points, but the real issue is the lack of offensive production. We have not had more than 3 first downs in the first half of any of our games this season, and we're constantly giving the opposition the ball in the mid-field area. The system has to be adjusted to find some way to be somewhat productive. The team is not devoid of talent, we just need to find a way to utilize what we have because the current system clearly isn't working.

I would still love to be Sun Belt co-Champions even if it doesn't mean clinching a berth in the bowl game. Frankly, we don't look like a bowl team, at least so far, but it would still be nice to get a share of the title. In the event of a three way tie (MTSU beats Troy), the team with the most impressive OOC record will be the New Orleans Bowl representative. Barring an astronomically unlikely victory over LSU, that representative will not be North Texas. A victory over La Tech would certainly be nice, but it couldn't overshadow MTSU's win over a ranked Vanderbilt.

We've had an outstanding Sun Belt Conference run and your team came into our house and broke the 4 year winning streak. Best of luck the rest of this season. There's still a lot of SBC football left and I think it's going to get interesting.

Promote the tailgating and the pregame atmosphere, and the attendance issue will take care of itself.

Go Mean Green

One of the fraternities on campus used to run the ball down to TCU when we played against the Frogs in the 1980s. I think it was either the Sigma Nu chapter or the Kappa Sigmas. The runs raised thousands of dollars for children's charities.

Please, LET THIS THREAD DIE

Although time TBA is still posted on the North Texas Athletics site, LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman has gone ahead and scheduled this game for a 7:00 start to appease his bottle throwing drunken hordes. Sat, Oct 29 North Texas - - Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium) 7 p.m. Please note that the start times for all of LSU's remaining home SEC games are currently being evaluated (TBA). Because of obvious lack of institutional control regarding LSU's fans, North Texas and Appalachian St should also be moved to early afternoon starts. Sat, Oct 15 Florida - - Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium) TBA Sat, Oct 22 Auburn - - Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium) TBA Sat, Oct 29 North Texas - - Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium) 7 p.m. Sat, Nov 05 Appalachian St. - - Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium) 7 p.m. Fri, Nov 25 Arkansas - - Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium) 1:30 PM

Skip Bertman is full of horseshit. He has known that this type of behavior has been present at LSU for years, and not only has the LSU administration tolerated it, they have openly embraced it. The only thing Skip is sorry about is that the story made the news. If it hadn't involved the athletic director from Tennessee, the LSU administration would have simply laughed it off. Now that it's made the national press, they have to pretend that they're trying to do something about it. Bertman said the bottle throwers were not representative of all LSU fans. Yes they are Mr. Bertman, and they will continue to be until your school decides to do something about it. "We are working hard to address the problem presented by the small percentage of people who, by their actions, damage the reputation of an entire University," Bertman wrote. Untrue again, those people WERE living up to the reputation of the entire university.

Please, at least get the name right. They prefer to be called Denton's Wretched Chronic-Ill.

Last night was one of the few coaches shows that I have missed since Coach Dickey has been at North Texas. My absence wasn't in any kind of protest to recent events, it's just not sensible to attend the shows any more. The show's time has been moved from 7:00 to 6:30, and the location has been changed to Hooters where there is insufficient seating for this event. It's past 6:30 before I can even get to Hooters, and the show cannot be heard from the closest tables that are available by that time (usually the very back tables in the restaurant).

I just wanted to see ol' Grenade walk into a bar carrying a duck. Just think of the punchlines.

So Rick, are you gonna bring that duck to Hooters tonight?