CaribbeanGreen

His name, apparently, is JoJo... HOWEVER, he was originally known as "Spin Man".... in the 90's, he underwent a makeover to a more stylized modern look (with no face!) and changed his name to "Pizza Man"..... recently, however, Pizza Inn has rebranded and brought back "SPIN MAN" in his original identical form...except now, he's named "JOJO"... and he loves Fouts. And eulesseagle. Sounds shady to me.... all these aliases... what are you up to, SPIN MAN?? Oh, and once upon a time, statues of Spin Man/JoJo adorned Pizza Inn signs and apparently there was a Spin Man telephone that is now a collector's items. These things are all true, by the way. Carry On.

that's what's happening here.... the sign by the Corkscrew is still defaced and still there.

thread has taken an underrated turn. Play on.

Again, I don't want to put it out there that this is rampant behavior or indicative of the entire campus, just sharing one experience I had. The signs issue is the most blatant violation to me. I just walked again by the sign on Oak (near the Corkscrew/North side of Cool Beans lot) and it's still there, big blue NO marked across it. The incident in Wooten was obviously highly unorganized and brief. I wouldn't expect that to be a consistent problem, though it could have an affect on voting to a marginal extent. I'll report it, but doubt anything can be done unless it's witnessed "in the act." Then, of course, the Daily takes another shot today via cartoon, despite having nothing else of note about the stadium.... the only interesting thing in there today was learning that the Pizza Inn Mascot is gonna jump over 50 pizzas on a motorcycle this Saturday.

Just FYI, make of it what you will.... This morning (Wed 10/15), I observed three of the "YES!" yard signs Flyer showed us here have been vandalized. Two signs, located on the north periphery of campus (think along Oak) Have NO in large blue letters painted (drawn?) across the face of the YES! sign. Another sign, near the union, has been broken off it's mount and is either gone or tossed somewhere nearby. Don't know if there's anything that can be done re: enforcing the rules against this, but if nothing else it illustrates the kind of person we're working with. On perhaps a more disturbing note, I was leaving Wooten Hall yesterday around 4:30-5pm, when I came across two people (male & female) who looked basically exactly how you'd expect someone adamantly against the referendum to look. They were in the lobby of Wooten (by the snack cart) rounding up herds of students VERY aggressively and leading them to the wall of computer terminals just feet away to get them to vote NO. I spoke to as many of the students I can to try and dissuade them from doing so, but was grossly outnumbered and couldn't stay all day. In case some of you aren't aware, the majority of freshman-level History and PolySci classes (which everyone has to take) are in WH, so we were dealing, most likely, with herds of freshman who are generally impressionable and maybe, at times, less informed. These two agitators were completely overwhelming and hyper-aggressive, and I saw at least 8-10 people vote NO in the 5 minutes I was there without having a clue what they were doing or what the real issues were. Again, talked to as many as I could, but sentiment was grossly against me and some people just caught up in groupthink didn't care to hear the facts. Plus, I had a midterm review 10 minutes later across campus. Anyway, I hope it's a tangent representation of a small fragment of the campus population, but I wanted to share some cases of what we're up against, and what the administration is essentially supporting with their beyond laissez-faire approach to an issue they clearly have deemed completely unimportant. Keep encouraging whoever you can to vote YES -- but pick your targets wisely.

Good to hear it. At this point, no harm in as massive a social networking presence as possible. Any ideas on potential "YES" demos left untapped?

heretic.

Well played. Jesus couldn't help our secondary, though.

Whew... good deal. Maybe we can go a thrift store sometime.

Oh, I'm worse. Much, much worse. I'm not indicting these folks personally. Not at all. I have no problem if anyone does ANY of the above things.... well, except for the Mac sticker, but that's another story.... I just find it funny that there's such a standard issue uniform with certain groups on campus, and I get driven bonkers by people who use causes as a trendy social tool and not because it's what they really believe or are informed about, but beacuse it's "cool" to believe.... all while they scream "individuality!" I have any friends who fit ALL of the above categories. I've just been forced to hear a LOT of strong NO drivel from these folks lately. A LOT. Yeah, it may be profiling to presume how certain groups will generally vote on an issue... but that doesn't mean it ain't accurate. Trust me, on this vote, "Eat Local" guy (who wants you to KNOW he eats local - just look at his shirt!) is NOT our friend. What can I say -- I'm stressed right now. Didn't mean to offend anyone. I have no problem with any of the above beliefs, fashion choices, or desperate needs for attention -- I'm just talking about THIS VOTE - That's it. As for the wars based on religion stuff, I could spend the next hour responding to that (just got out of a Sociology of Religion midterm), but then the ladies wouldn't keep their hands off me, so I'll hold off.... Love you all. Vote Yes please.

That's why I said not all. You're the rare YES in that group. All of those things on their own -- fine. I just giggle that it's become a uniform.... and yeah, safe bit of profiling that they're 90%+ NO.

It's a very large, vocal group that wants the NO side to win. I hesitate to say just how big, because they're by FAR the most vocal and "showy" in their "beliefs"... i use quotes there because they all seem to have the same beliefs, adopted, quite simply, because it makes them feel "cool". I don't think the majority of the YES crowd is as showy and vocal. Just my opinion. As for the NOs, my girlfriend and I call a central block of them (mockingly) the "free thinkers".... standard issue items include black plastic-rim glasses, Mac laptop, eco-friendly items somehow in plain view, car featuring at least one (or possibly both if you hit the jackpot) Apple and Obama sticker, or possibly some snarky "cause" sticker or a reminder to "Eat Local". Anything relating to Austin or Anti-Religion (especially protestantism - not acceptable to bash trendy eastern religions) is also very acceptable. They revel in being anti-establishment, think they're unique & smarter than neanderthal sports fan, yet they all believe the same thing and look the same way. Look, I'm not saying all NO voters feel this way - not at all. But among this large, visible group at NT, there ain't many yesses... and they're loud about it. Oh, and 9 times out of 10, you'll never see them on this campus again after graduation, much less expect a check.

My impression from weeks of listening and talking is that if every student was forced to vote, we'd lose... yet the YES group is clearly more organized, the vote is MUCH more under the radar than it was last time (was also on campus then), and general apathy and lack of information will do us good. That being said, i'd be willing to bet that we have a relatively fat lead today, the biggest we'll ever have. The longer the polls stay open, the better for the NO side. All the YES folks excitedly voted today... the NOs have all week to hear about this and play catch up... I think we're playing four corners now... let's run the ball.

Voted Yes + One. 2 Yesses in this house.

Between "What Will Do You Do?" and "Black is not our colors", this has been a big weekend for the Brief Holt Handbook.

Just let him go. If you were JesseGoldberg, i'd worry... but JesseMartin, you're cool. The blanket insults will get him run outta here soon enough... we hope.

Look, everyone that's read my posts knows how I feel about things... I'll preface with my usual statements: 1) We're young by choice, and even where we ARE young, it's zero excuse. 2) The cupboard was hardly as "bare" as apologists claim it was, and it was a bounty of riches compared to what Mario Cristobal was saddled with at FIU. 3) The "learning curve" excuse for the staff makes me want to laugh, cry, vomit, or all three - regardless, don't want to hear it. 4) The dissension in the ranks, players leaving the program, lack of a "pipeline", recruiting focus, and total lack of discipline/unity I've seen is my greatest concern, and is inexcusable. 5) I have wavering faith that a career 10 plus games UNDER .500 high school coach pre-SLC can turn a desperately sinking FBS program around. That being said.... ...had fun tonight. I admit that my expectations may be Dead Sea-Low and I saw this through Cousteau-depth goggles tonight, but Aqualung and French accent or otherwise, I didn't sense the "quit" and defeatist attitude as quickly tonight as I have all season long. Had a good time.. the crowd around me was well aware of the meager expectations, but seemed to really enjoy this one... Offense made too many mistakes, but showed some life. Has to learn to finish drives.... Montgomery looked great in the first half. UL made some adjustments on the run in the 2nd, but still felt like we gave that up too quickly. Vizza made some nice throws and some good plays on the run, but for some reason it still seems like his ball tends to "float" quite a bit. Still hate going from the gun inside the 1 yd line, but I get that that's the offense. Fitz was awesome... Johnson played well for the most part, though his early fumble was a KILLER. Defense is terrible, but obviously reveled in the few bright spots they had. Knott was much better tonight, return game didn't mess anything up too badly, yet the KO ret TD was disgraceful.... as was letting Cherry get 5 TDs in the first half. Royce Hill isn't ready - I don't know how much "experience" like this will help. We did a decent job on Fenroy, but ANYONE can flat LIGHT US UP through the air. Basically, I'm still not sold that this staff can turn things around, though i sure as hell hope they do... that being said, tonight I saw a team that WANTS to be better than they are. I saw a team that needs the ball to bounce their way a few times -- that needs to feel what it's like to get some breaks and have some momentum. It was a C- or D+, which is by far our best grade of the year. Take it for what it's worth. Decent crowd, at least.... I'll echo what I heard in a conversation with a player this week... "We've got some really good players individually... you should see one-on-one drills... we just can't put anything together as a team. We don't click." At least tonight, it felt more like a team with a common goal, as short as they may have fallen. See you all at Troy. I need to try and find some of you guys pre-game next time. XXOO.

I said it way back when.... fear the Florida schools. Also, I root for them too... Cristobal inherited significantly longer odds and a worse "cupboard" situation than Dodge did.. proof that it can be done.

not bad. I was impressed. pre-game tailgating scene seemed a bit thinner than usual. but I was pleasantly surprised inside.

We couldn't come within 4 TDs last week... at home... to the previous perennially worst team in the conference, and the current worst offense in the country.... so i don't understand your point.

Okay, now that our resident Desert Fox is done, I'll respond to the claim that none of us who dare criticize Dodge have any facts. Yes, he actually said that. Said it was a preschool debate. Apparently the worst start in Sun Belt conference history by any coach EVER isn't good enough for the Red Baron.... that's just straight Ws and Ls, by the way, not even taking into account the humiliating, unprepared, submissive BS way we've lost most of those. Apparently no red flags are raised by defections, cover-ups, discipine issues, a "pipeline" that never developed, staff changes, mistakes galore, and the fact that we have a high school coach with a career record more than ten games below .500 prior to arriving at SLC, where even a Frenchman could win. The losingest coach in SLC history is 12 games over .500, and Dodge's huge streak there isn't even the biggest at that stinking school in the last 20 years, Ledbetter's from 86-93 was longer. Good grief. Oh... that's right... he took over a program "in the abyss"... the cupboard was SOOOO bare... per Tina: "Dodge inherited a former NCAA leading running back, a wide receiver who would become an honorable mention All-American, another wide receiver who very nearly became a member of the San Diego Chargers, and a Quarterback who would set multiple school single-game records before getting benched." Yeah. Sucks, man. A lot worse than what most coaches take over in new positions (where they almost always do MUCH better.). Mario Cristobal took over a winless FIU program whose only notoriety came from a nationally televised brawl. Cristobal's team was maligned at every position, had no depth, worse fan support than at UNT, and a AD under NCAA sanctions. Dodge had all the above players, several starters he quickly benched, and was three years removed from a 26-game conference winning streak, which most schools will NEVER sniff. So, any reasonable person would assume that naturally, Cristobal owns the small of Dodge's back. Hard. That's fine, though. None of it's Dodge's fault... until you can provide ONE compelling reason this thing is going to turn around in its present incarnation, I hope these facts are enough for you. Oh, and until then, come on out to Fouts this Saturday... I think it will be right up Rommel's alley -- It's gonna be alot like Kristallnacht, and we ain't the Germans.

you're a foot from me.

What he inherited was a hell of a lot more than Mario Cristobal did.

That's fine, except we weren't REMOTELY in as bad of shape as you're claiming, EE. We had some players here. Some have plenty of research and evidence to back that up. We had more than Cristobal got at FIU. At least as much as Stockstill at MTSU. Next excuse?

It turns my stomach to admit so quickly that it is inarguably a valid question at least. Things are unlike we -- or just about ANYONE -- has ever seen. And as I said in my other post, it's hard to look in the background, resume, or performance of this staff and have the slightest inkling they can turn this around without an element of delusion. 0-12 is unacceptable, but even that wouldn't normally warrant a firing in this case. Being noncompetitive, falling apart at the seams, shattering every conceivable record for futility, and blunder after humiliating blunder, however... that MUST STOP NOW for this era to continue. We have to consider the fact that if you, I, Dexter Tennell, Mandy McKinley, Sean Johnson, or Bea Arthur had been given this job, we literally could not have done worse than this staff this season. That, amazingly, is just about fact. We can't afford for this performance to continue. It would be unforgivable almost anywhere else in year two... why should our standards be lower?? I agree... it's unthinkable. Yet completely legitimate.