TheTastyGreek

Having a longer football history is pretty meaningless when the 30 years in between were spent in 1-AA hell or outright going backwards. I'm familiar with our teams of the 60's, thanks. But when Joe Greene started playing here: the Super Bowl I was still in the future, the ABA didn't exist yet, the Apollo program hadn't tried a launch yet, Elvis hadn't married Priscilla, the Constitution only had 24 amendments, England didn't have color TV, Walt Disney was making movies, the original Star Trek had yet to premiere on television, the Department of Transportation hadn't been created, John Lennon hadn't met Yoko, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. When Joe Greene retired from the NFL in 1981, this year's incoming freshmen were more than a decade away from being born. It's a rich and valuable history... But it's a distant one. In the post-Jimmy Carter era, we're (maybe) on equal footing with Central Florida. We have a one year D-1A head start, but they are in Orlando and had Daunte Culpepper and Assante Samuel. We did some very special things here at North Texas back before my 60-something retired father was old enough to vote or drink... But saying that we shouldn't have to play catch-up to UCF because of it is the same as saying Studebaker shouldn't be outsold by relative upstart automaker Lexus. It ignores some pretty important developments that happened in the intervening 30 years.

I'm sick of being a wannabe league bowler!

North Texas went back to 1-A in 1995. UCF went up to D-1A in 1996. We had a one year head start.

I gave up on listening to the Ticket a long time ago until they finally get serious and git sum pitchin'. I tune in once in a while when their ratings are particularly high, but I always know it's temporary and that they'll crater out again soon. Can't be taken seriously until they git that pitchin'.

Don't be a hater. I didn't minus any of you people when my Lehman Bros. securities vaporized. And gyros are delicious. I still hope to have that broiler for tailgating this year.

Michael McPherson, the guy from the Econ department, is a more than casual athletics fan. Not sure how much he follows NT sports, but he's a Michigan State alum and I remember that sports came up more than a few times in his classes. I'm glad to see that he's going to be a part of the process.

I'm sorry to see him land at Memphis, but I can't say I question the decision. If he's going to be a sub, I can't disagree that it's better to sub at Memphis (considering their incoming talent) than to sub for us. I don't know that we're going to get an immediate impact/contribution guy like Carmouche with this last ship, but I wouldn't be shocked if we land a nice late addition from the high school ranks. Either a late qualifier or one of the eligible HS guys who haven't committed yet.

I saw where things didn't work out at Marist and he left after a year... Glad he landed somewhere and hopefully we play UTSA in the next year or two so I can see him on court and dream of what might have been.

I thought Stanford was to mens tennis as UNC is to womens soccer.

Especially since they took lobster fondue off the menu. Whenever I'd get dragged there, lobster fondue was my only comfort. Since it got pulled, I've exercised the veto power. I'm not going to eat crappy flounder just because someone likes cheezy rolls. Not when there are two Flying Fish locations within 15 minutes of where we live.

Including the unfortunate lack of participation from 97and03.

I'll have to wait to check that out... I just heard today that there may be a conference realignment shift in the future.

Too much information, brah. No judgments or anything, but also no need to share.

Today is giving me an enthusiasm for GMG participation that I haven't felt since basketball season ended.

Here's the really fun part about a media personality getting fired over a twitter post... At many outlets (not the Ticket, as far as I know, though I assume it's encouraged) "social media" participation is a compelled part of the job. Some places force their talent to maintain a facebook and/or twitter presence, and interact with viewers and listeners. Other places strongly encourage it. I know of at least one place in town where management was openly asking why Talent X had so few followers on twitter compared to Talent Y from the same company. I'm not saying that it happened to Bacsik, and in fact there's no reason to interpret that his twitter activity was anything other than a personal hobby. But, it's only a matter of time before someone in a similar job gets fired over something they twitter, blog, or facebook update, even though they never wanted to use the utility that ultimately led to their firing. When that does happen, it should make for an interesting lawsuit.

Short story: Bacsik is out at a bar, drinking to excess (which is apparently out of character for him) and sharing this information on his Twitter page. After the game ends, he (apparently a longtime Mavs superfan) posts something congratulating 'all the dirty Mexicans in San Antonio' (Not a direct quote, I don't want to look it up and that's the gist of it). San Antonio is up in arms over it. Bacsik is suspended. Then, Bacsik is fired. The moral of the story is not to show sportsmanship to dirty people of any ethnicity. Only congratulate the clean ones. Or, better yet- Don't single out any specific ethnic group within a city for special congratulations. Just say "way to go!" to everyone, be they white, black, hispanic, asian, aboriginal, inuit, or anything else you can imagine. So if a Canadian team wins the Stanley Cup this year, don't congratulate all the dirty white people who live in that team's city. Because while fatties need love, too... People who don't adhere to modern standards of hygiene do not deserve specific congratulations. I'll miss Bacsik if for no other reason than I don't trust Sean Bass to explain what should be done about Chone Figgins whenever we have a series with the Mariners.

Greene's secretary was named McCoy, and McCoy's secretary is named Greene.

And now we know... The rest of the story. SMU got antsy, and inked a backup option. They still want him, but they have to clear a scholarship and he's not willing to take the risk. And if his story wasn't already sad enough... Since his brother was murdered on the eve of signing day, someone walked up and fatally shot his cousin in the head. And one of his best friend died in a gun fight with police. Crazy situation for that kid. I hope he comes through all this okay.

And... Now he's decommitted. Already gone to visit DePaul. Not sure what led him to bail out on SMU.

Yes... I'm sure the links will be forthcoming, but the arm injuries have turned him into a WR only from now on.

Chuck Cecil's memory will live forever.