gangrene

Couldn't agree with you more. Those are my thoughts exactly. Beggars can't be greedy and, at this point, it looks like we'll be lucky to raise enough money to start that 30K stadium. Would I love to have a 45K stadium? Of course! Is it thinking "small time" to be happy with a new, state-of-the-art facility that will makes things more than comfortable for our 20K average attendance (I'm being generous)? Well, obviously, we each have our own opinion on that. I can dream about a UNT drive to the national championship, selling out an 80K stadium, just as easily as the rest of you but, at the end of the day, I have to turn off my PS3 and get back to reality. We don't have the luxury of a Boone Pickens or a Gerald J. Ford donor. In all honestly, we don't even have the need for a 45K stadium yet. Yet is the big key word for most of us. I still don't buy the argument that we need to have a stadium large enough to accommodate our student enrollment. Or that we'll sell it out for big schools to play in Denton. Did we ever have more than 30K for our games in Texas Stadium?? No - Texas Tech 42, North Texas 14, 9/22/01 Att.20,852 or Texas Tech 30, North Texas 0 9/13/98 Att.21,496 Wait...hold everything....I just found one!!! Texas A & M 36, North Texas 10 09/27/97 Att. 42,224 Other games we played at Texas Stadium include Army in 1996, Kansas in 1995, Oklahoma State and UTA in 1981. I can't find attendance records for those but I'm pretty sure we didn't sell out for any of those games. So, in conclusion, if one "home" game attendance of 42K+ in the past 30 years justifies building a stadium of 45K then let's do it. Maybe we can get A & M or UT to come to Denton once every 10 to 15 years? Never mind the fact that they both already play one game in the DFW area. I'm sure they'd enjoy Denton more than Dallas and Arlington anyway. So let's do it!!! 45K or Fouts!!!

My thoughts exactly, but why would anyone leave a 16-16 championship game at the start of the fourth quarter? ACC Championship Game The oranges were everywhere, outnumbered only by the smiles. On the field, the final seconds of No. 6 Virginia Tech's 30-16 victory over No. 12 Boston College in the ACC championship ticked away, the Hokies' bid in the Orange Bowl secure. Before 53,212 fans and more than 20,000 empty seats at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Virginia Tech exacted revenge for its heart-wrenching loss to the Eagles in October and claimed dominance in a league it has won twice since joining four years ago. Maybe the were using SMU's attendance formula?

Just to show what a nice stadium looks like when it's not close to full, here's a picture from last year's ACC championship game from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The stadium capacity is 75,000 but the reported attendance was 53,212. That's about the equivalent to having 32,000 in a 45,000 seat stadium (71% occupancy).

Maybe I should go ahead and build those additional 6 bedrooms onto my house now....just in case my wife has sextuplets in the future? I don't really have the money for the renovation, but I'm sure it would be cheaper to build it now than it would be in the future.

I think I have the perfect solution to seat 60K+. First, let's build the new 30K stadium. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis with 100% of the tickets being sold at full price (no free student tickets and no discounts). Here's where we have to get creative...if we actually sell 30K tickets and need more seats, then we turn to Fouts. All students can get in free or with student discounts. And, to further entice student attendence (because I've had a hard time finding much more than 5K students at most games), we will enact a BYOB policy at Fouts. Students will be encouraged to bring the tailgating inside, kegs, open flames, ice chests...virtually anything goes. Now, you may be asking yourself...how would this work. Two stadiums filled to capacity to watch ONE game. Well, it's quite simple actually. The first half would be played in the new facility, while the live telecast played on the Jumbotron in Fouts, and the second half would be played in Fouts (because this would allow sufficient time for all of the students to exit the parking lot) and broadcast on the new state-of-the-art Jumbotrom in the new stadium. Teams would head to locker rooms for the halftime and then be bussed over to Fouts for the second half. We would be considered the most innovative school in the country and the media coverage would be astounding!!! This sounds ridiculous??? Well, so does this argument of how many seats our proposed new stadium will contain. Fouts is worse than playing in the Roman Coloseum. High school teams even complain when they play there for playoff games. If we get a new stadium that only seats 30K how would we be worse off then we are with Fouts? If it sells out the first two years, how is that a problem? That would signify ticket demand and we'd be generating revenue that could pay for the expansion. Let's face it, it's going to take some serious swaying to get our BOR to jump on the athletics bandwagon. UT didn't expand their stadium for the hell of it. They've continuously sold out game after game and the demand dictated the need for the expansion. If we could do the same it would be obvious to all involved parties that an expanision was necessary. Now I wouldn't complain if we had a bigger stadium, but it seems a little silly to me to build a 45K stadium when we only average 15-20K in any given season. If we were filthy rich I guess that wouldn't be a big problem but we're having a hell of a time raising enough money to even break ground. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll even be able to afford a 20K seat stadium.

dallasnews.com Division II teams agree to series at Cotton Bowl 09:25 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News bgeorge@dallasnews.com Two NCAA Division II football teams have agreed to play at the renovated Cotton Bowl stadium this fall, State Fair of Texas president Errol McKoy said Tuesday. Texas A&M-Commerce will play East Central University of Ada, Okla., on Oct. 18 – a week after the Texas-Oklahoma game – at a time to be announced. McKoy said the two Lone Star Conference teams haven't signed a contract yet but have agreed to terms of a three-year deal. McKoy said he's hopeful that the A&M-Commerce-ECU game can have the same success as the annual Grambling-Prairie View rivalry. ECU finished 2-9 last season, and A&M-Commerce went 5-6. "When we first went into Grambling-Prairie View, it was filling about 18,000, and that's what we're projecting for this game," McKoy said. "It grew to 65,000 last year, and we think the long-term potential is there for this game, too." Stadium officials' hopes were that the $50 million renovations being done to the 77-year-old facility would not only keep the Texas-OU game in Fair Park but also attract new, high-profile tenants. But that simply hasn't come to fruition. The Cowboys' new $1.1 billion stadium in Arlington that is set to open in 2009 will host a series between Texas A&M and Arkansas beginning in 2009, the AT&T Cotton Bowl starting in January 2010 and a game between Notre Dame and Arizona State in 2013. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have agreed to move their annual Big 12 game to North Texas beginning in 2009 but have yet to choose between the Cotton Bowl and the Cowboys' new stadium. McKoy said he's still in conversations with 12 NCAA Division I football programs, mostly from the SEC and Big 12, about playing at the Cotton Bowl. He added he's also been in talks with other small-college teams and said there is a possibility of hosting doubleheaders. ******End of article****** I know we ALL want a new stadium and I know most are opposed to playing some place off campus for a "home" game...but IMHO the media coverage for UNT was pretty good when we hosted the likes of Texas A & M and Texas Tech at Texas Stadium. I wonder how we'd draw for a game at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair?

Back to the stadium plans... As I understand it, this is the original design that was presented (notice the hotel in the background): However, since we are short on money, they revised the plans to this: Even with the reduced size, that stadium just wouldn't fit our budget, so the current artist rendition we are considering is this:

Speaking of UNT-Dallas, there was an interesting editorial by Shawn Williams in today's DMN. Here's the link and here's the story: Shawn Williams: The case for UNT-Dallas 06:02 PM CDT on Thursday, May 29, 2008 The University of North Texas at Dallas deserves more support from our city and more attention from its citizens than it has received thus far. Dallas has a chance to address a shameful civic designation – the title of largest city in America without a four-year public institution of higher learning. We can erase that label by ensuring that UNT-Dallas becomes that first free-standing school as soon as possible. A new college is not as flashy as a football stadium or a gigantic outlet mall, but its impact would be far greater. We draft ex-athletes and celebrities to help spread good news and drum up support for those arenas and malls, so I propose we do the same for UNT-Dallas. For starters, why not identify and recruit a local personality who can partner with the campus' CEO, John Ellis Price, to raise community awareness about the school? Certainly, this school still faces enormous challenges. It was recently announced that UNT-Dallas will not even become a stand-alone campus, independent of the main Denton campus and offering its own degrees, until fall 2010 – at the earliest. The school was originally set to open in 2007; that date was moved to 2009 when enrollment did not pick up as fast as officials had hoped. Current enrollment stands at 766 full-time students. While this delay is a prudent move by Mr. Price and North Texas Chancellor Lee Jackson, every effort must be made to ensure that the opening date doesn't slip further. I can't help but wonder if the school's southern Dallas location has affected its ability to reach its goal of 1,000 full-time-equivalent students. The Houston School Road campus is situated in one of the most scenic parts of Dallas, with great access to Interstates 20 and 35E. Yet this area of southeast Oak Cliff is also one of the most forgotten sections of our city. In reality, the school's location presents an opportunity, not a negative, when you consider its proximity to many DISD schools. The state's Closing the Gap plan calls for getting an additional 500,000 students to participate in higher education. According to the report, "reaching the goal will require increasing participation from every population group, but especially Hispanics and blacks." Those two groups make up 90 percent of the DISD student population and would make a solid base for the burgeoning campus. A public school here would help cut down on the expenses of moving away for college or the commuting costs for those looking at Arlington, Denton or Commerce. Additionally, UNT-Dallas is offering scholarships of up to $2,500 to students who take on a full load of daytime classes. I'd like to see the city match that scholarship for DISD graduates who meet university's scholarship requirements. Given that finances are generally the major factor for students who are trying to decide between colleges, such aid could be another way to help reach that 1,000-student goal. The time is now for the people of Dallas to stand behind the University of North Texas at Dallas. State Sen. Royce West mustn't be the only person in town championing the university. Let's not squander this opportunity to achieve something so great. Shawn Williams is a community advocate and writer who publishes the Dallas South blog. His e-mail address is shawn@dallassouthblog.com.

Removed...LOL...you mean sort of like when you have a wart removed??

Will it be the the gold, silver or bronze medal that will adorn the outside of the new stadium?

Wow, that one surprises me. I don't know GJ personally, but I did know his father and grandfather and I was pretty sure he'd head to California to be closer to his dad. Shows you what I know.

Yes, I overlooked those two (MSU and GaTec). Those are some nice home games.

Provided this is accurate and doesn't change (both big assumptions I know), several of our SBC mates have lined up some interesting home games. Schedules found on NCAA future schedules Florida Atlantic Michigan State in 2010 UAB in 2011 Florida International Toledo in 2009 Western Kentucky Bowling Green and Indiana in 2010 Miami, OH in 2011 Navy in 2013 Army in 2014 Iowa State in 2015 Troy UAB in 2009 and 2011 Bowling Green in 2010 Middle Tennessee Memphis (ok, this one doesn't really count because they play each other every year) in 2009, 2011 and 2013 Vanderbilt in 2015 and 2017 While I think the competition level between SBC and the MAC schools align somewhat, having home games against the likes of Toledo, Miami, OH and Bowling Green don't really interest me much. However, I would love to see a Big 10 school or an SEC school (even if it is Vandy) visit Denton in the future and I like the atmosphere the service schools bring. I'm looking forward to hosting Kansas State but I hope that we can pull in some more high profile schools in the future. I am most impressed with what Western Kentucky has already done with their future schedules. ***Apologies...when I posted this I was unaware that there was another thread that basically discusses this same topic.***

Oh we are desperate for good news in regards to a new stadium. Which one you made that entry??

Huh?? I don't believe I ever insinuated that Willis would start over Kinne....don't know where you got that idea. I was just answering two different questions in one post...doesn't mean the answers were related. I didn't even suggest that Willis would start over SMU's current roster of QBs.

I wouldn't be surprised to see GJ go to Fresno State. His dad, who was released from Baylor when Art Briles was hired, recently took a HS HC job in Fresno. Regarding Justin Willis, I recently read that June Jones was happy with his progress and expects him to return to the team (no timeframe was given).

I'd really like to have one winning season with a good record (7-5 doesn't count)....10-2 or 9-3 before we start talking about Dodge leaving little ole North Texas for a BCS school. How long was June Jones at Hawaii before he got that awesome opportunity (insert sarcastic look here) to coach at SMU??

I think we could easily come up with $300. 2008 Greenville Ave Parade Info St Patrick's Day Parade information: A St. Patrick's Day Parade float application form is on page 3 in this Newsletter and available on line at www.greenvilleavenue.org: Please fill it out and return it today. Remember, by joining GAABA now, you can reduce your St. Patrick's Day Parade float application fee from $600 to just $150, (there is a $50 late fee after March 3rd). So, by joining GAABA with your $150 annual membership fee, you will save $300. Applications are also posted on the Dallas Observer web site at www.dallasobserver.com. If you have any questions call John Brumit @ 214-874-7500 for more information.

I'd like to add that I saw a Stephen F. Austin float and a Notre Dame float as well. I also wondered why we did not take advantage of this great opportunity.

I don't think that comment was intended as a compliment to us.

Wait...who's executing who?? Huh??

From UA's website "press release" page. Doesn't seem like they are as proud of the agreement with us (whatever that agreement may be)?? UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT AND UNDER ARMOUR REACH OUTFITTER AGREEMENT FOR UH FOOTBALL Under Armour Designated as Outfitter for UH Football Baltimore, MD (February 25, 2008) – Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:UA) The University of Hawaii and Under Armour, Inc. today announced a multi-faceted eight-year partnership that designates Under Armour as the performance apparel and footwear outfitter for the University of Hawaii Warrior football team. In addition to providing technologically advanced performance apparel and footwear, the partnership includes Under Armour marketing rights. The partnership, slated to begin in July 2008, deepens Under Armour's on-field presence in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). In addition to the Warriors, the brand has official outfitter relationships in The Atlantic Coast Conference, The Big 12, and The Southeastern Conference, including agreements with The University of South Carolina and Auburn University. "We're thrilled to add Hawaii to the very select list of football programs we're outfitting," said Kevin Plank, Under Armour Chairman and CEO. "We identified UH as a team we wanted to outfit with our state-of-the-art performance apparel, uniforms and footwear, and we look forward to giving their student-athletes an advantage on field while also using the relationship to showcase our latest innovations in footwear, uniform designs, fabrics and textiles." A rising national powerhouse in the FBS, the 2007 WAC Champions will aim to build on the best season in the history of the tradition-rich program. Under Armour's superior quality performance apparel and footwear will help UH players take their program to new heights. The Warriors will debut their new uniforms when they take on the University of Florida in their season opener on August 30, 2008. "Under Armour offers a quality line of football products and our players will be thrilled to wear its apparel," Greg McMackin, head coach, said. "Additionally, they have successfully positioned themselves as the aggressive new brand in this field, so we will benefit from having them as an apparel and footwear supplier as well as a marketing partner." Under Armour has incorporated coaches, facilities and former players from some of its other partnerships in its previous marketing and advertising campaigns, including "Protect This House™" and "Click-Clack™." Past commercials have featured coaches Steve Spurrier (University of South Carolina), Ralph Friedgen (University of Maryland) and Tommy Tuberville (Auburn University). "This is certainly a landmark deal for UH Athletics," said Carl Clapp, interim athletic director. "It will provide our football student-athletes with quality game and practice products, while also providing UH with an outstanding marketing partner. The revenue that Under Armour has committed will enhance our financial situation and we are thrilled to be aligned with such an exciting and progressive company." Under Armour, the originators of performance apparel, has transitioned athletes into moisture-wicking apparel since 1996. About Under Armour, Inc. Under Armour® (NYSE: UA) is a leading developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. The brand's moisture-wicking synthetic fabrications are engineered in many different designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional natural fiber products. The Company's products are sold worldwide and worn by athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, on playing fields around the globe. The Under Armour global headquarters is in Baltimore, Maryland, with European headquarters in Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium, and additional offices in Denver, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Guangzhou, China. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.underarmour.com.

This must have been one hell of party. I drove by TJ Hartfords today and I guess you guys that attended the mixer "closed down the house"....permanently.

I hear ya Rick. I can't speak for everyone else on that "rumor" thread, but I know that my problem was the sensationalism that a particular poster obviously seeks. It's not whether or not he was accurate that a player he couldn't name was indeed injured that bothered me. It's the fact that he is obviously trying to use the shock factor to entice readers to read his so-called scoop on his "inside" information. If he would have left out his opinion of what qualifies (in his mind) as a "Big time player" and let each of us decide the value of said player on our own, then I wouldn't have had a problem with it. So, yes, I agree with you in the sense that when I think of a "Big time player" my thoughts focus on one of about 5 players. No offense to Drake but he doesn't fit my definition of a "Big time player".