ADLER

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.

A new scoreboard is being installed into North Texas' new Volleyball facility. When complete, the arena will probably be one of the nicest pure volleyball venues around. (Do other colleges even have facilities strictly dedicated to volleyball?) New Athletic Facilities Being Built On Campus Follow the above link. There are construction photos of the new volleyball arena and locker rooms, tennis facility, soccer stadium, and pictures of the new Field Turf being installed at Fouts Field. Thank you to the Athletic Department for providing the Wednesday construction updates.

Is there anything at the UNT bookstore with the new logos? How about Voertman's?

None of the above. School pride.

Sound Man, please put me down for a $100 contribution. These smokers are flagships of our tailgating efforts, and pre-game activities are one of the barometers of a school's fan support. Anything that we can do to enhance the game-day activities is beneficial. The more that we do to make people feel as though they are included in those activities will help build a stable fan base.

It doesn't look great. But.... It is the first phase of what will eventually be North Texas' baseball stadium. It is approximately the most desirable 2500 to 3000 seats with the costs being covered by the Denton Outlaws. When the stadium is also used for NCAA baseball, the long-term completed design will be able to seat over 8000. The Athletic department will probably wait until the venue is used for Mean Green Baseball before adding a brick and stone facade to make it coordinate with all the other athletic facilities. Trust me on this. This thing, if built on the Frazer addition is going to have an extremely prominent position. It will clearly be a part of the university that will be on display to both I-35E and I-35W. Bobby Ray, Rick Villarreal, and Norval Pohl aren't going to position something there that looks unpresentable. It will look presentable, if not downright fantastic. If you can, go see the Outlaws game this Tuesday, 7/19/05, procedes from that night's game go towards Children's Cancer Research.

I'm assuming that you're referring to this video: New North Texas Stadium and Mean Green Athletic Village and to these illustrations: Facilities Under Construction and Planned Facilities Follow the Wedesday updates on the Mean Green Athletics Site to keep up with construction updates on all the new facilities. Wednesday Facility Construction Updates This site has additional links to planned facilities: Mean Green Athletics Facilities and I had to throw in these drawings of the North Texas Ballpark slated for completion this upcoming spring.

We were in the the Big West 5 years ago, and helping start Sun Belt Football was clearly a better alternative for us. What was the old WAC has largely become the Mountain West Conference, and what was the old Big West has largely become the Wester Athletic Conference. The WAC has some good programs, but the cost effective Sun Belt has enabled North Texas to build new facilities as well as regional rivalries. The former SWC schools that were not invited to join the Big 12, with the exception of TCU, are in Conference USA and would provide even closer regional rivals along with Tulsa. If another CUSA spot were to become available, North Texas would be a likely candidate to be invited to join. And if a CUSA invitation does not become available, North Texas has done just fine in the Sun Belt and will continue to build it's programs.

Thanks ipEAGLE. That makes a great background for my desktop.

This is really nice that the athletic department is now doing this weekly update and providing all the photographs. We renewed our Mean Green Club membership this week and I was able to show my wife a few of the outstanding improvements that are being made at the university. The new soccer facility is going to be incredible compared to where most colleges play. I can't think of any college that has built so many facilities in such a short period of time. Kudos to Dr Pohl, Rick V and our whole North Texas Athletic Department.