ADLER

What! All the crap that goes on in the SEC, and THIS is where the NCAA thinks there is need for enforcement. Sheeeesh!

There are two chances that the Athletic Department is going to let people have a party on the brand new Field Turf. Slim and None. The green synthetic grass blades and the little rubber bits would be far too enticing for many people to leave undisturbed.

And another idea...... Go to the STEVE and BARRY'S web site. Click on COMMUNITY, then click SUGGESTIONS. You can make whatever suggestions that you want, and you don't even have to furnish an email address.

I know some of you must be wondering why Adler keeps harping about emailing Steve & Barry's University Sportswear. Steve & Barry's is a national chain of sportswear stores that specializes in selling collegiate logo sportswear. They sell t-shirts, football jerseys, baseball jerseys, jackets, hats, kids clothing, and sweatshirts, all done in collegiate colors and logos. Their quality is outstanding, sweatshirts with stitched on lettering and embroidery which would cost $60 or more at other stores are less than $10 at Steve And Barry's. With 32,000 students and estimated 80,000 to 100,000 alumni in the D/FW metroplex, there is certainly a demand for North Texas merchandise if it can be sold at a reasonable price. We're just looking for a retailer that has the ability to meet that demand. Steve and Barrys fits that bill perfectly. Please take just a moment and write a quick note to Steve and Barry's. The more we're heard, the better our chances of getting their support. admin@steveandbarrys.com Thank you.

Everybody, please e-mail Steve and Barry's and let them know you want North Texas gear. admin@steveandbarrys.com Thank you.

In the spirit of competition, shouldn't Dickey let our opponents choose their destroyer?

Outlaws win TCL championship Kluber handcuffs Marshals with gem to lock up title 08:44 AM CDT on Monday, August 8, 2005 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer McKINNEY – What started out as a dream just a few months ago for a small group of baseball fanatics in Denton ended with an unlikely scene late Sunday night at Gabe Nesbitt Field. Pitcher Kurt Pessa pumped his fist, right fielder Kyle Jones squeezed one last pop fly and the Denton Outlaws capped their season with a 3-1 win over the McKinney Marshals in the final game of the Texas Collegiate League championship series. Denton hit the field for the first time this season, but managed to win a tight game against McKinney on their home field to capture the title. “When you spend every night for three months playing, you want to get something out of it,” Denton coach Derek Matlock said. “We fought all season long. It’s very rewarding.” No one had more to do with Denton winning the TCL title in the final game of the playoffs than starting pitcher Corey Kluber. The standout from Stetson took what appeared to be a pitching matchup stacked in McKinney’s favor and turned the tide against the Marshals. Kluber (4-0) carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and picked up the win after getting the better end of a showdown with Austin Creps. McKinney’s starter posted a 5-1 record during the regular season and was named the TCL’s Pitcher of the Year. Kluber was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship series after allowing one run on three hits in the championship game. Creps set a TCL record with 15 strikeouts, but took the loss. “I knew that their pitcher would hold us to just a few runs,” Kluber said. “I tried my best to match him and give us an opportunity to win.” Denton provided Kluber all the support he would need in the third inning when Jones came though in a clutch situation. Jones came to the plate with runners on second and third base and doubled down the left field line. The hit gave Denton a 2-0 lead and ended a slump that saw the Outlaws go 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position since the first game of the series. Jones later scored on a groundout by third baseman Brian Spear to give Denton a 3-0 lead. Kluber retired the first 13 batters he faced and made sure Denton would hang onto that lead. “It was one of those nights when everything seemed to be working my way,” Kluber said. That was especially true in the sixth inning when McKinney third baseman Scott Gaffney drew a one-out walk and moved to second when right fielder Blake Hurlbutt grounded a single to left. Denton got out of the jam when McKinney second baseman Matt Cavagnaro hit a roller to shortstop Philip Stringer. Stringer flipped the ball to second base where Brian McBryde recorded the out before throwing wildly to first while trying to avoid Hurlbutt. Hurlbutt was called out for interference to end the inning and erase what appeared to be McKinney’s first run of the game when Gaffney scampered home as the ball skipped away from Denton first baseman Andrew Brown. McKinney finally got on the board in the seventh inning when left fielder Trey Rachal hit a solo home run to left field. Kluber bounced back by retiring McKinney’s next three batters in order and didn’t come out of the game until giving up a leadoff single to Cavagnaro in the ninth inning. Pessa came on in relief and recorded the last two outs of the game for the save. The outcome was especially rewarding for the entire Denton franchise, which overcame a series of obstacles and a few bumps in the road to win the second TCL title. As a first-year franchise, Denton had to build its roster from scratch. The rest of the teams in the league had the right to retain players who were members of their roster the previous season. Denton ran through a series of personnel moves and went through a seven-game losing streak midway through the season before finally finding its rhythm late in the season. “It’s been a long summer, but we kept fighting the whole time,” Kluber said. “There were some down times, but we stuck with it and were able to pull it out in the end.” BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com Denton 003 000 000 — 3 7 0 McKinney 000 000 100 — 1 3 0 Corey Kluber, Kurt Pessa (9) and Brett Lewis.Austin Creps and C.J. Ebarb WP – Kluber. LP – Creps. 2B – D: Brian Spear, Kyle Jones Denton Record-Chronicle Sports

or I'm really not crazy about either, but the college kids just might love them.

We could certainly use a bowl game in our own market. The local media has to follow your success, and you have the fan presence to get home field advantage. Who thought of the Hurricanes as a national power before Miami upset the Cornhuskers in the 1982 Orange Bowl? Suddenly, some relatively unknown small private school which wasn't a member of any of the 'power' conferences was elevated to superpower status. They delivered a knockout punch in front of the right people. [ yes, I know that may be an extreme example, but it was to make the point clear] Yes, North Texas has been playing in a nice bowl in a fantastic destination, but to the local media and to the local sports fans, North Texas has still been toiling in relative obscurity. The North Texas students are from the Metroplex, the North Texas alumni live in the Metroplex, the North Texas ticket buying customers are in the Metroplex, the North Texas media is based in the Metroplex, and the North Texas recruiting base is in the Metroplex. Where would it be best to play a bowl game? You guessed it, in the Metroplex. *Please note that I am not excluding playing in other locals, but a bowl game in D/FW would do wonders for North Texas' perception.

I think that is because of the road blocks that North Texas has always thrown up to block vendors from manufacturing our merchandise. In a fare comparison, the sportwear section of the Wal-Mart in San Marcos is painted and carpeted in Texas State's colors, they carried a full line of TSU fan gear, and they had Texas State collectibles like pennants, signs, trash cans, shot glasses... The Wal-Mart in Denton carries squat for North Texas. Every single time you ask a retailer why they don't sell North Texas merchandise you get the same answer. "We can't get the licensing through the university." I don't like to point fingers, but I have no reason to doubt them. I guess we'll get a pretty good snapshot of the situation from Steve and Barry's. They have rushed into production of North Texas gear. To get access to the new branding (colors and logos) they will have to go through the university. It will be very obvious if they run into a brick wall.

They do have quite a selection for some non-BCS schools. Target Merchandise

QUOTE Question: How important is the home opener this year for the Blue Raiders football squad and Coach McCollum? Massaro Response: It is a very important game and one we are very This is the most important game of the season. If our "Sexy" and experienced excited about. North Texas has won 25 straight conference games and all four Sun team blows the North Texas game like they always have. It will be a longer year Belt Conference titles. We are hosting the best team in the Sun Belt. We have a than normal. But at least we will know in Week 2 that we will have a new head lot of experience on our football team with 17 starters returning and historically coach, so we can start searching for someone who is crazy enough to take over the game with North Texas has always been close. It should be a great game and this over-hyped, underachieving football team. If the outcome has been as it I hope we have a full house with an electric atmosphere. Buy your tickets NOW! It always has then our fans will know that will not have to worry about going to should be great! New Orleans. Buy your tickets NOW! Especially if you're a North Texas Fan! Brett, That is Classic! That is exactly what he's saying. They know their season is over and their coach is toast if they lose the North Texas game. Now, if they can catch North Texas having an off week after LSU and score a lucky knockout punch........

I would love to see the North Texas vs La Tech games become a rivalry. The die-hard fans of each school are well aware of the other school, but the more casual fans are not. Although both programs have had some success in the last few years, they are not considered to be 'name' teams in each other's market. Both schools face their own attendance challenges, but even more importantly, both student bodies are too unfamiliar with the other to truly establish a rivalry. Stebo promoted an idea that would help both North Texas and La Tech raise their attendances while building a stronger fan base by promoting this rivalry. Stebo, Sound Man and I had tried to put together a huge student bus trip for this game (Sound Man had gotten a great quote from a major charter service for 20 motor coaches that seat 54 each) and the travel costs per student could have been kept minimal ($12 to $14). Other cost savings that we were planning were having a BBQ tailgate party at Tech's stadium and seeing if Tech would allow visiting students in for free or for an extremely reduced rate with their student ID. We thought Tech would anxiously agree, especially if we could convince North Texas to commit to extending the same offer to Tech in 2006. At $15 round-trip including game admission we could have easily gotten 1000 or more signed up through student organizations alone. Unfortunately, Louisiana Tech's Athletic Department didn't share our enthusiasm and decided not to return emails. Plans simply couldn't be formed without their cooperation and hopes of a rivalry have been dismissed along with those emails.

Rick, please use that to purchase the seasoning and the KC Masterpiece sauce. At $9.00 a gallon, several of those can start to add up.

Is it possible for the athletic department to release the commercial in an attachment that can be emailed and/or posted on the internet message boards? It would be nice to be able to send the advertisement to everyone in the NT Exes, the Mean Green Club, .edu addresses, and to season ticket holders, and to let those people forward it on to other fans.

This is a great idea by FireFight'nRick to have a Greenbackers pre-season BBQ to display our appreciation to our football coaches and the team. I think it's an outstanding idea, and long overdue. The Greenbackers Cookout is to honor the Mean Green football coaches and the team, but everyone is welcome. John over at North Texas Foods has quoted us a $1.25 per pound price for the Iowa Beef Packers Grade (Premium) Brisket. I think that's an outstanding price, especially for that grade of beef. Since we'll be serving around 200 (coaches, players and their families, and fans), FFRick has concluded that we should probably be looking at smoking at least 200 lbs of brisket. 200 lbs at $1.25 per lb is $250.00. I'm in for $50.00 and am looking for 4 other people to contribute $50.00 each toward this cost. 1) Adler 2) JohnDenver 3) GreenBat 4) PHS Coach 5) MedPilot 6) Posies-n-Ivy Since we have 6 $50 donors, I'll raise the quantity to 240 lbs to insure that we have enough for everyone. Thanks to Stebo for supplying the plates, plasticware, and napkins, as well as his valuable restaurant expertise, and thank you to Pierow and $2Pistols for supplying the Bush's baked beans. The Athletic Department will be providing the seating and tables, and will probably have sufficient access to ice to be able to cover this event. Firefight'n Rick will be prepping and smoking all this brisket. That's a whole lot of work and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. A few people have listed other items that they would be able supply, but we're still needing Cokes, bottled water, and additional desert items. Please post replies on this thread if you'll be able to contribute. Very important - We need people to help set up, serve, and to help in cleaning up in order to make this event a success. Please post a response if you'll be able to help. Looking forward to an outstanding 2005 Mean Green Football Season, and this is a great way to get it started. Adler

from TexasHoops on Rivals.com Justin Butler Center Amarillo (TX) Palo Duro Height: 6-foot-7 Hasn't passed SAT "I think that UNT is scouting me pretty hard. They're a nice little team, but I don't have a favorite right now." -Cooley- I personally would not offer Butler -Adler- I hope the child gets banished to Ruston

Your title is: "Polls never perfect, but always relevant, Sun Belt Pre-Season Polls" If you think that polls can't be incredibly irrelevant, you haven't spent much time on gomeangreen.com the past couple of months.

But what if some of the vertically challenged alums on this board find it as their life calling to impersonate the Michelin Man. This Compression Gear could certainly come in handy for them.

No, this Scrappy has been available for a few years and is loosely based on the toothy 'Parrot Eagle' Scrappy. I've bought this one and another similar one with long 'arms' and velcro hands for my kids. The old stuffed animals modeled after the field mascot Scrappy, which was based on the Daffy design were far more distinctive. The white ridges coming off the back of their heads kind of gave them a Godzilla type look.

What kind of price could we get if we were to purchase a bunch of the 6x10 flags? It would be nice to see alumni donate a big flag to each of the campus organizations. I bet most of the Greek alumni on this board would buy one for their old chapters, and there are surely alumni of other organizations that would be interested. I personally would love to see North Texas flags flying everywhere during tailgating.

I too think that Wright Waters has done an outstanding job forming and running the SBC football conference. North Texas has benefitted greatly from the television exposure that we've received the past several years, and will also benefit from our conference rivals getting some exposure and becoming more familiar to college football fans. We're very fortunate to have Wright Waters running the league.

Sometimes stars are allowed to shine much brighter because of the misfortune of others. If Houston Rocket's forward Ralph Sampson had not had a series of knee injuries that quickly ended his career, Michael Jordan would never have played for an NBA champion. Because he would have played in an era so clearly dominated by the Houston Rockets and their string of championships, Jordan would only have been remembered as another great NBA scorer that was never able to win the big one.

The building seems structurally sound, but the hardwood floor is old and showing it's age. With the addition of the Student Rec Center, and all the courts in the PEB, there really is not an urgent need to keep a basketball court inside the old Snakepit. The gym could be used for an indoor tennis facility, but it would be so far removed from the new tennis facility that it would be worthless for competitions, and as a tennis practice facility, it could only be used by a couple of people per evening. The building could be turned into a weightroom and training facility for the men's basketball team. It's location between the Super Pit and the PEB would be ideal for both the North Texas teams and also for the summer Nike tournament. A short tunnel could even connect it with the Super Pit so duplicate locker rooms would not be needed and room in the Super Pit would be available for other uses. A basketball training center could also be extremely valuable as a recruiting tool. My ideal situation for the building is going to sound a little eccentric. Expand the ends of the building so that it is long enough to hold a regulation hockey court. The high seating on the sides would be perfect for hockey. Hockey is really becoming popular as a participation sport in the D/FW high schools, and it would probably be just as popular with the college kids. Most of the Division 1 schools in Texas including North Texas, already have University club teams. There is the possibility that their league could eventually become NCAA affiliated. Perhaps Stars Center which has built many ice facilities throughout the D/FW suburbs could be enticed into partnering in a facility on the North Texas campus. If not in the old Snake Pit, what about a new building on the south end of the Eagle Point Campus adjacent to the new tennis center. Wouldn't it be nice to have one of these on campus?

What is needed that is not already being planned? Don't most college teams, especially those in non-BCS leagues, play volleyball in some multi-use facility on a floor marked for basketball, volleyball, and other indoor sports? Do most have their own locker rooms? I think this is going to be a really special facility for our volleyball team once it is completed. On another note: A few years ago I watched North Carolina's womens soccer team play a national championship at their facility. Things have probably changed since then, but they played in an open field surrounded by oak trees with no seating. Our new stadium will not be huge but it will have the same seating capacity as Liberty Christian's former football stadium. The new soccer facility may never be as nice as the UT-Austin soccer stadium, but it is a huge step up from the currently used Peterbuilt field, and will not be a hindrance when recruiting athletes.