CaribbeanGreen

the Hollywood Foreign Press thanks TTG for one of the top 3 burn-jobs in GMG history. Well played.

Okay, can I just say that I truly can't wait for this FFF feature you're planning to do??? I was a student at NT (the first time) when Mystery Men was in theaters, and excitedly went to see it opening weekend... dragging my then girlfriend to what I referred to as "a new Paul Reubens movie! And Ben Stiller and a bunch of other people are in it too!".... don't ask. I had/have a Reubens fascination, thought the cast was insanely good, and I actually bought a Smash Mouth CD... hey, I was young. Anyway, I remember being underwhelmed.... the impact was minimal, in my memory at least. Didn't hate it, got chewed out for forcing said gf to attend (there are reasons she's not around anymore), but quickly forgot about it. Now, I'm thinking I should revisit it after your post.. I'm totally shocked, but I think it's worth a trip... maybe a bit more awareness, a few more years, a little less cheap booze, and a lot less Golden Triangle I & II will help... ... oh, and how the F did the Michael Bay cameo fly under my shoddy little radar?!? That alone is worth the price of re-admission. BOOOOM!

Whatever happens, I just hope we're all in agreeance that what matters is that SPORTS is now posting here on gmg. Best news I've gotten in awhile. Oh well, time to go back to decommit to something.

Again, the whole "we weren't that good in 2000-04" thing, "the Belt was terrible, that team wouldn't do squat now" argument... I know this isn't what this thread is about, but minimizing those accomplishments burns me like no other. It's not like we have much positive football history to lean on around here, so belittling by far the most successful four year stretch we've had is an insult to some bad-ass players and teams... Yeah, the Belt wasn't very good. Guess what? It STILL isn't. Do you know how many TOTAL wins the Belt had this season over teams with winning records?? ALL season, the ENTIRE Belt?? TWO. That's right... TWO. If that had been the case from 2000-2004, people that make the anti-championship team arguments would be screaming it was proof of what a pathetic conference it was and how lucky we were to win it. Somehow, this year's Belt performed far worse than the Belt Dickey's teams thoroughly dominated for four years, yet these unfounded claims of how easy DD had it and how HARD Dodge has it now continue, despite evidence to the contrary like this and like that contained in Tasty's post on TY Sports. As for the two wins the belt notched this season, one of them was an in-conference win, ULM over Troy. By the way, this reinforces the fact that Belt champions continue to lose at least one conference game per year -- since NT dominated the Belt for four years, we've seen a series of co-champions and teams with conference losses going to New Orleans. These "weak" DD teams of the early 00's lost one conference game, @ULM, in the SBC opener... after that? Undefeated, four straight years, in a conference that has not gotten statistically more successful since - yet no other team can seem to go unblemished for one season, much less 3+. Yet somehow, some folks around here, who somehow consider themselves NT fans, feel the need to denigrate the achievements of the championship teams and tell us how much harder things are now for our 3-21 coach who has EVERY advantage (advantages that far outweigh any percieved challenges created by conference affiliation) -- facilities, future stadium, tailgating/game day atmosphere, AD support -- our previous staff didn't. Oh, and even when the previous staff was floundering in their first two seasons in the Big West, they were beating Texas Tech and Boise State.... not provisional 1-As. - The other of the SBC's two plus-.500 wins was MTSU over Maryland... a damn fine win, which leads me back to the point of this thread. MTSU, who cleaned our clocks, and who had the conference's best win this season -- STARTED MORE FRESHMEN THAN WE DID. As I said "From the SEC to our very own conference" teams are playing as many or more freshmen than we are. Why you chose to focus only on the SEC part is beyond me, as the point is simply that it's happening EVERYWHERE... we're not special. Stockstill at MTSU came in to a program saddled with issues and immediately turned the thing around, quickly taking the Raiders to a bowl game. This year, playing with more freshmen than any team in the Belt (and not as "highly rated" as Dodge's), he led MT to the best win in the Belt all season, and whipped Dodge's ass up and down the field. Why no excuses in Murfreesboro? Then, there's the curious case of FIU... Living in South Florida the past several years and being engaged to an FIU alum, I can tell you without hesitation this is a job that is more difficult than NT on almost each and every level. An infant program, a student body from all over the world that's more interested in that "other" kind of football or happen to be Canes fans, NO history, little alumni support, a claptrap stadium, ONE win in two seasons (over guess who), public interest that makes NT look like Ohio State, and NO discernible talent or solid upperclassmen. Yet in his two seasons, Cristobal (a UM assistant that somehow little ol' FIU easily convinced to come, as is the case in ANY FBS job) has taken FIU to nearly-.500, is undefeated against Todd Dodge, and has done it all with the help of his best player, TY Hilton.... a true freshman. Why no excuses in West Miami? I hope that somehow Dodge turns it around... that somehow these freshmen figure out how to play between this year and next, that past isn't prologue, and that a magic switch just flips.... you know, it's happened before here... Unbeaten, Others-recieving-votes MTSU rolled in here 5 or 6-0 (Hicks 4 Heisman!), to take on winless about-to-can-the-coach NT... and like magic, in a way that can't be explained, NT won that thing... and then didn't lose again in conference for four years. So, since some folks argue that things that team did weren't so great, and since that staff and that team had no promise of a future stadium, an INEPT AD, no tailgating, no support from the administration or student body (we voted "NO" back then), no shiny new offices, no big new weight rooms, and wasn't getting the "big time" recruits Dodge is getting.... then we can safely assume that Dodge, with infinitely greater resources far outweighing any increased challenges, should be able to easily come within HALF that success... right?

I hope you're right, Cr, but the spirit of this thread is simply the piling on of facts that refute the claim that we're a freakishly young team, and therefore it's okay that we're out of almost every game by the second quarter. Teams all over the country are playing and yes, starting (see GMG1999's post and all the other above links) freshmen and sophomores, some within our own conference, some in major BCS conferences... somehow, those teams are getting totally different results. Do I hope Dodge turns this thing around? Of course. Despite nothing but evidence to the contrary, I sure hope you're right on about next season.... but as for the part of the post belittling NT -- to say we're lucky Dodge took a chance on us is grade A hogwash, and I feel I don't really need to say why -And again, the weak Sun Belt in 2001 is also a myth, as Tasty debunked earlier this year... those early 2000's teams were ass-kicking forces to be reckoned with and they gave us the best 4-year run in our school's history, and a better run than most schools will ever have... and they'd still lay the lumber today. Again, not what this thread was about. It's been proven ad nauseum in multiple references, links, articles, etc. that there are many teams that play and start more freshmen and sophomores than we do, from the SEC to our own conference... don't expect the rats still on the ship to eat any crow, though.. they never do, time after time.

guys, he's amazing. Don't even bother. Mountains of evidence, proof that eugenics was a fraud, blah blah blah... doesn't matter. He's totally cool with it. But, not wanting to dredge up what total crap it is that we suck because we play so many freshmen, I'll give you at least this, which took all of 3 seconds to find. Notwithstanding the freshmen all over the field for TCU and Boise, of course. Oh, and don't forget that OU ALONE has four freshmen on the freshmen all-america team, not counting all that they've played. I guess it's good no one told THEM they should expect to be getting blown out by the second quarter every game. In the meantime, let's check out the most experienced conference in the nation, the hardest place for a freshmen to break though.... surely harder than the meager little Sun Belt... the SEC: Here are the SEC schools ranked in order of number of true freshmen impacting their team this season: 1. Alabama: There's not enough space in this column to list all the young players helping the Crimson Tide (6-0). Alabama has played 15 true freshmen, most notably wide receiver Julio Jones and linebacker Dont'a Hightower. Both have started all six games. UT fans know Hightower well. The Marshall County High School star from Lewisburg considered the Vols before committing to Alabama. Jones also considered UT briefly. 2. Florida: Cornerback Janoris Jenkins became just the second true freshman to start on opening day in Florida history. A full-time starter, Jenkins is considered one of the best cover corners on the team. Jenkins forced a fumble and intercepted a pass against the Vols. Speedster Jeff Demps, who chose Florida over UT, is averaging 10.3 yards per touch, has had a 62-yard kickoff return and has blocked a punt. Demps and fellow freshman Chris Rainey both rushed for more than 100 yards against Arkansas, becoming the first freshmen duo in school history to do so in the same game. 3. Georgia: Despite having an experienced team, the Bulldogs have been forced to play young pups in four positions. Injuries, especially on the offensive line, have contributed to the influx of young talent. Ben Jones is the starting center. Cordy Glenn has started three games at right guard. A.J. Green is starting at flanker. Blair Walsh is the starting placekicker. Georgia has also had significant contributions from Richard Samuel at tailback and Jamie Lindley, who is handling kickoffs. 4. Kentucky: The Wildcats have eight true freshmen playing. Former Alcoa star Randall Cobb was the talk of the 2008 class before suffering an ankle sprain on Sept. 13, which has sidelined him since. Cobb saw extensive action at receiver and quarterback. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Cobb could eventually unseat starting quarterback Mike Hartline. Cobb, who returns to action this week, strongly considered UT before committing to Kentucky. 5. Ole Miss: Ole Miss is playing seven true freshmen. Tailback Brandon Bolden leads the Rebels in rushing with 297 yards on 55 carries with a 5.4-yard average.

I like hockey quite a bit, have followed it pre-Norm Green's arrival, and thought the outdoor games were really cool to watch (if not entirely gimmicky in feel and less than great hockey).... that being said, I have no illusions about the ratings the NHL gets on TV in this country. As I said before, its all-star game was beaten head up by the WNBA. The Food Network has a better chance of out-rating New Year's bowl games. Not a knock at hockey, just a statement based on ratings and on what the sport is in this part of the world, which is a niche sport that you can actually find on TV.

We're talking about the sport whose all-star game on NBC drew lower ratings than the WNBA... so, uh... no.

I see what you're going for Dozer, and while technically all that is true, giving any kind of cause/effect ratio to George and Fitzgerald is, IMHO, misguided. Fitz was a holdover from Dickey's group, and was already far along enough in his development to the point that put in an offense that throws all the time, his success wasn't a surprise. I give Fitzgerald credit for Fitzgerald. The biggest reason for this belief, though, is the abject failure across the board at the WR position minus Fitzgerald (and B-Jax last year, another DD holdover) with George as the position coach. I'm not blaming Coach George here, not at all - it's very possible we've witnessed the most epic recruiting fail at one position in CFB history; that being said, considering this offense, what was here and what's been recruited and emphasized here, and all the poor performance, drama, defections, and outright failures that have occured, there is strong argument that the WR position as a whole is the biggest disappointment and failure in the two year disaster we've been onhand to witness. (again, given the emphasis placed on it)

Rick, I'm sure you have more info on this than I do, as my knowledge of the LEED building program at NT is basically limited to a conversation I had in the ESSC (first LEED certified building on campus, now 10 years old) with a Geography professor whose primary interest is Environmental Geography... but, based on my limited recollection of the conversation, to merely meet LEED certification is no longer a very difficult process, and there are many "above and beyond" standards being met by some newbuilds (not stadiums, just in general construction). He said it's still a very good thing to build LEED certified buildings (and was happy with the proactive role NT has taken), but perhaps the biggest benefits are PR/awareness and decreased long term operating costs (there are clearly environmental benefits, just the main two are above). He was of the belief that it is far cheaper to build LEED facilities now that it was in the past. I believe also that just about every new building on campus (post-ESSC) is LEED certified, is it not? Have LEED standards changed in the last decade since the ESSC was built? If not, I imagine it is far easier to meet those standards with advances in Green tech. Have you ever looked into some of the things that the ESSC does? That's a really amazing building on a lot of levels. Off-topic, sorry.

SERIOUSLY... did eulesseagle just post a link from a German website?!? Can comedy gold come this easily???

Veiled??? What's veiled???? what are you, Oriental or somethin'?

and what about ULL -- they have the best home attendance in the SBC to begin with, and the I-Bowl is in stinkin' Shreveport... something's rotten in Denmark.

Yep.. ULL got the short straw for sure... Ark State has a beef as well, but the cajuns must be none too pleased.

This is exactly what happened at San Diego State, resulting in the $1M buyout and firing of Chuck Long today after three seasons.

Yeah, the way Riley was handled at SLC really hurt that team.... what a disaster that was.

Lake Highlands here as well... first time back in since being perenially there in the 90's. Actually went to the game Friday night, since it was close by in Plano. Clark is still a great stadium.... Tyler John Tyler next! Oh, and for the record, John Shorter's little brother is a beast. The kid's name was called on seemingly every other tackle.

If you look at Mizzou and Tech, you'll see a lot of differences... snaps under center, true hurry-ups (no staring at the sideline in unison), a LOT more deep shots than we take (Tech especially), and heavy TE use/heavy sets (Mizzou)... ours, thus far, seems so much more plodding, simplistic, and locked into "system"... but I have hope, given that we have seen a TE wandering around here lately..

Not going to debate firing DD, hiring TD, etc., but I will say that 90%+ of the difference in fan support/game day had nothing to do with the coach and everything to do with tailgating/new game day experience. I WISH we'd had that during Dickey's championship run... hell, during Simon's run. That's been the single biggest improvement in the program. THAT is what spiked fan involvement.

And I don't think it's debatable Mario's cupboard was as bare as the pantry at Versaille in Litte Havana after the lunch rush.... especially compared to the returning starters/all-american candidates someone else inherited..

Tech runs a pretty wide variety from under center. No clue why Harrell's dad may have said that. Their first TD against Kansas was a 50 yard deep strike from under center, so it's not even exclusively a short yardage thing... this (among other reasons) is why Tech's spread is very different from ours. Also, I'm going to differ on the looking to the sidelines every play as being "part of the spread." Honest question here, as I don't claim to know for sure -- who else does that, especially as consistently as we do???

So Dodge did the right thing?? WHAT, pray tell, did Dodge.... do? Dibrell left the team shortly after the testing, reportedly on his own... so, he either left on his own (without penalty) or Dodge was covering up any underlying discipline related reason for his departure. One other player was reportedly suspended two games, and common assumption is that it was for an unrelated reason. That leaves two loose, unconfirmed reports of any disciplinary action and thirteen cases of.... nothing. Sure, you can assume all you want that very conveniently none of the 15 ever set foot on the field, that they were all Dickey recruits, that all discipline has been kept quiet and doesn't involve any suspensions, or any other of the number of laughable excuses I've read this week. Or, you can assume, based on the facts we have access to, that there has been no discipline whatsoever. None. Zip.... and the tests were done after the RICE GAME. Hey, I can drug test whoever the hell I want. Amounts to a hill of Ranch Style Beans if I don't do a damn thing about the results. Hell, it's not even like we're playing for anything -- Dodge has crafted quite possibly the most noncompetitive team in contemporary div.1/FBS history. Yet, here we are, half a season after the tests.... nothing. His hand has to be forced now, doesn't it? Maybe RV's will be? Dr. Bataille's? If it's college football related, Todd Dodge can F it up. So far, that's all we have to go on.

welp, helps explain the defense anyway.

We know Mizzou uses the heck out of the TE... and though we've heard how Mike Leach runs the shotgun even in goal line situations (like Dodge) and our spread is similiar to Tech's (minus all the sideline-staring), on the second play of the game AT Kansas (on KU's homecoming, packed, rowdy crowd) Leach ran a play-action fake from UNDER CENTER and Harrell hit a 50-yd TD, wide open on a simple post. When will we diversify? Is ANYONE else as one-dimensional formationally as we are?

Come on. Be fair. He needs at least 3 or 4 years to get used to the route to the pourhouse, to get his people in the crowd, and to adjust to the speed of AM radio.