gangrene

LOL...Being in the advertising business, I know how difficult it is to get just two or three clients to agree on every aspect of an ad. Giving an entire forum the opportunity to provide feedback is just funny to me.

The biggest difference I see between UNT and other FBS schools is this - when Texas A&M or UT or even SMU start doing poorly in sports, football in particular, the alumni, students and entire base of people associated with that school come together to attempt to resolve that problem....usually by investing more money...whether that be in the form of coaches salaries or facilities. When UNT is doing poorly, the vast majority of alumni (I'm not talking to most on this board), students and faculty would rather turn their backs on the program and ignore the problems that exist rather than face them and do it whatever it takes to correct them.

Excluding the poll, this is actually one of the better articles I've seen from the NT Daily regarding the stadium. But I'm left wondering...has the cost already increased by $7 million?? Student government discusses new stadium Student government discusses new stadium Taylor Short Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: NEWS Student Government Association members and NT athletics director Rick Villarreal met Thursday to discuss how to inform students about the proposed $7 athletic fee increase that would help fund the new stadium. Some ideas were to disperse flyers by mail or to insert them into each North Texas Daily newspaper. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Sen. Derrick Murray suggested placing the information on the sides of campus buses and hiring "street preachers or troubadours." Other students said the effectiveness of the Internet should be used. As of press time, the "Students for a New Stadium" Facebook group had 1,899 members, while the "Students against a New Stadium" had 225. The Daily polled 300 random students and asked, "Do you support increasing student fees by $7 per credit hour to pay for a new football stadium?" Results show 29 percent, or 87 students, said "yes," while 67 percent, or 201 students, said "no." Four percent, or 12 students, said they had no opinion. "When you talk to students about something over and over, it gets repetitive, the message gets blurred and they're just turned off to it completely," SGA director of communications Brandon Reynolds said. "This is probably the biggest vote to be put in front of the students in the history of the university." Reynolds said many students are still confused about the proposed athletics fee, which, if passed, would raise the fee from $3 per semester credit hour to $10 per semester credit hour upon completion of the stadium in fall 2011. The fee would be capped at 15 credit hours. Villarreal answered questions and spoke about how the new stadium was a part of his plan when he started in 2001 and would alleviate many problems with Fouts Field. "What we told [football coach Todd] Dodge is that it was our intention to build a stadium," Villarreal said. "I think he took the job with the understanding that part of his role and deal would be a new stadium." Villarreal said Fouts Field has buckling concrete, power problems and no accessibility for the disabled. The proposed stadium would be the first football stadium in the nation to be built using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, featuring recycled materials and solar panels to assist with power. The stadium would also provide opportunities for student employment. The athletics fee, if passed, could only account for half of the $60 million venue, according to state law. The remaining money must come from private donors or sponsors. "We know we're still going to have to raise about $37 million ourselves," Villarreal said. "Right now, we're out raising private dollars; we know we're probably going to have some corporate partnerships." Villarreal said there would be a tour of Fouts Field today at 6:30 p.m. for anyone who wants more information. He also emphasized the importance of the proposed stadium to the future of the university and the football program. "If the decision is not to build a stadium, the football program will no longer be able to compete. It will continue to get worse and just become more of a detriment than a plus," he said. "When you're investing a penny and everyone else is investing a dollar, you're going to get what you get. That's just the reality of our program." Hmmm...something is fishy with that math. One half of 60 equals 30, plus 37 equals 67.

Is it too late to get any of these teams on this year's schedule? I think that last team there could help keep our attendance up.

I've got a novel idea. How about winning?? Since that's a very remote possibility, how about free tickets, free booze and free limo rides to/from the games?

I think he needs to be on the field in some capacity.

When I first heard this story last night by Dale Hansen, I got this sick feeling in my stomach that the ineligible player was, in fact, Daniel Mayberry. I mean with all the other bad news we've heard recently that just seemed to be the logical assumption. I am very glad to know that Daniel was not the player that caused the team to forfeit all of their 2008 victories. So, I'm sorry for the team but happy that it wasn't Daniel. Since district play just started they still have an excellent chance of making the playoffs. I don't fault Brett for mentioning the tie to UNT because I was aware that we have a commit from Lincoln and I was very interested in who that ineligible player was only because of my interest in UNT.

Same result for me...stadium video (and that doesn't work) and stadium flyer pdf, which I've already seen. Are these the HKS drawings?

Care to define what constitutes defensive improvement? As of today, we're giving up an average of 54.75 points per game. If we lower our ppg to 38 (what Rice was giving up prior to playing us and still considered one of the worst defenses in the country), is that enough of a change to warrant some satisfaction?? To me, that would definitely be an improvement but is still unsatisfactory, considering we only have SBC games left.

LOL, no...that just makes watching the games a little less painful. It's kind of like when you do stupid things while you're drunk and then, the next day, all these thoughts are flashing through your head and you wonder....did I really do all those things??? That's pretty much how I feel about UNT football on Sundays. Did we really lose 77-20 to Rice?? And, all I have to do is look to the paper and read Vito's story on how bad we really are. You know...things like how that's the second worst loss in our history, etc....Brett really knows how to put all of our bad news into historical perspective, but I digress.

Wow, how our expectations have sunk. However, right now...that would probably appease me too...at least play some football that has some semblance of competitiveness.

Then why not join his facebook??

Ok, since my signature states that I need to see some improvement, I'll go ahead and outline what I'd define as progress and encouragement that this current staff is going in the right direction with this football program. 1. 3-4 wins - 4 wins doubles last year's output and, right now, I'm having a hard time believing we'll get 2 wins this season 2. defensive improvement - I know this DL was crippled before the season even began, but we've got to have some players step up and produce. Preventing any of our remaining opponents from scoring 50+ points should be an achievable and realistic goal. 3. offensive improvement - the offense has taken a couple of steps backward IMHO. I don't know why we're not firing on all cylinders right now, but anything less than 500 total yards of offense and 28 points should be a disappointment for this team (keep in mind we had 400+ total offensive yards against Tulsa and Rice and still lost the games). 4. Determination - this team seems to lack the fire, that killer instinct, win-at-all-costs, fight-till-the-death attitude. I'd like to see some spark, some leader emerge that can motivate these kids to a new level. I know it's hard to be motivated when you're constantly getting your ass handed to you, but someone's got to step up and be that leader that invokes fear into his own teammates as well as the opponent....a Ray Lewis type (for the record, I can't stand Ray Lewis as a person, but he's got the football mentality our defense is lacking). 5. Stadium - this is pretty much out of our hands right now, but it would be a nice consolation to an otherwise disappointing season to know that our stadium funding and construction will occur on X date. Then, our coaching staff wouldn't be giving false, or at least unsubstantiated, promises to future recruits who are told of new stadium plans and feel like the transition from their high school stadium to Fouts is a step in the wrong direction. This would also give our current players (Freshman at least) something to look forward to in their Senior years (2011) if they don't have the vision to see a winning season in their future. 6. Recruiting - we absolutely HAVE to recruit some top notch defensive lineman. I keep hearing about how Todd Dodge needs his players in place. Never mind the fact that Todd Graham went to Rice and converted Ken Hatfield's wishbone players into spread offense experts and a winning season in his first year. If Dodge needs his players in place than damnit let's go out and get 'em. I'm tired of the excuses...let's get what we need and start seeing the results. In addition to defensive needs, we obviously have holes everywhere. We need to get some (more) quality talent in Mean Green uniforms. We need depth at every position...I'm not excluding WR either. Ok, I think I'm done with my rant for now.

I'm glad you stopped right there. There's enough pressure on everyone without the rest of that song: There's a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down On second thought, maybe we could use a little more motivation???

I'm on bad news overload. If you know of any good news regarding UNT football I'd love to hear it.

Frankly, I don't really care who plays QB if it translates to WINS. I'd be happy with Gabe Hollivay lining up behind center if it meant we'd win the rest of our games this season.

Don't forget Marcus King. I agree with your philosophy and I've been thinking that from the day since Dodge made that declaration...hoping I'd be wrong. Most of the kids have lost more games in a season and a half of college than they lost in their entire high school careers. Now, we're seeing what they are made of, how they respond and what motivates them.

Actually, I think "It's wide open" was a reference to our defense. And I think that description still fits our style of play perfectly.

I don't disagree with you but what is the solution? Start recruiting from the projects in Harlem?? Sounds to me like we have a bunch of babies on the team who'd rather lie down and quit than fight the adversity that faces them. When the going gets tough, run to Mommy and Daddy...is that our new team motto?? I know these few can't be representative of the entire team but one bad apple spoils the whole barrel. We've had more than a couple of bad apples. I fear there may be a more serious problem here. While I agree that most of Dodge's recruits are not used to losing and some can't seem to hack it, I'm afraid they aren't buying into Todd Dodge and don't believe this big green ship can be righted. Because, if losing was the problem and you believed that problem would be alleviated within the next two or three years, why would you give and quit now...when those future victories would be so much sweeter after this bitter taste of losing??? Maybe the tunnel is too long and too dark to see the light at the end??

Unfortunately, a 2-14 record, with many blowout losses, will begin to wear down a player's will to play the game. Losing isn't fun. Getting humiliated is even worse. Most of Dodge's recruits came from winning high school programs and all this losing is new to them. I'm just guessing, but maybe some can't hack it and have decided it's no longer worth their time and effort.

Gotta love those nooners!

I just got a call from the manager. He's really concerned about a couple of hot dog stands that are opening in our area soon and he seems to think they are going to take all of our customers away and bump us out of the new restaurant review guide.

It is waterless urinals but we need generators to make them function.

I heard no one was practicing dishwashing. If we don't practice dishwashing then the dishes will just pile up in the sink and we'll have 502 dirty dishes before too long. It is totally unheard of and unacceptable to not practice washing dishes. How can we ever expect the rest of the office to join us if we have a bunch of crappy dishwashers?

If we don't eat lunch now, I'm not ever going to eat lunch again. Besides, some FCS schools might be watching to see what we eat for lunch and hoping that it gives us upset stomachs and/or diarrhea.