SUMG

UNT alum, Thomas Haden Church has been nominated for an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor) for his role in the movie, Sideways. Church's competition for this award: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby Alan Alda, The Aviator, Jamie Foxx, Collateral Clive Owen, Closer I doubt that a UNT alum has ever won an acting Oscar....not sure though. I would think Church's biggest competition would be either Freeman or Alda (because the Academy always likes to give awards to older guys; not that those two aren't deserving, btw). Jamie Foxx, I don't think will win this one....because I think he will receive Best Actor for Ray. And I have no idea who Clive is.....must be some British dude.

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Carson, so public each night on "The Tonight Show," was intensely private off screen. But former sidekick Ed McMahon knows why Americans still felt close to him. "When you tuned in, you got what you were looking for," McMahon told The Associated Press on Monday, a day after Carson died at age 79. "Nailing someone in the political world, doing a funny joke ... You were looking for that at the close of the day." "How many women came up to him, giggling, and said, `I go to bed with you every night,'" McMahon recalled. "They thought it was for the first time. It was for the first one-millionth time." There will be no memorial service, which McMahon finds unsurprising. The way Carson left "Tonight," slipping quietly away into retirement, is how he's leaving now. "The final arrangements are: You put on your hat, the door closes, it's over," McMahon said. NBC and "Tonight" host Jay Leno planned a tribute to Carson on Monday's show, with McMahon, who remains active in entertainment, among the guests. McMahon, who introduced Carson with the trademark "Heeeeere's Johnny!" and serving as erstwhile foil for three decades, said he was shocked when his wife, Pam, took the sad call Sunday morning. "I saw the blood leave her face. It was the same look you get when a relative dies," said McMahon, who said Carson was "like a brother to me." The rest of Sunday swung from "tears to laughter," he said. "Every time I saw something (on TV) we did and remembered how good it was and how much better it looks now," McMahon said, he felt proud. He treasures memories of meeting Carson's high standards for "Tonight," the show which became the focus of all Carson's energies and talents from 1962 to 1992. McMahon painted a picture of one such moment: Carson is doing his monologue and it isn't going over with the audience. For the first and only time in the show's history, McMahon says, he walks over to interrupt. "I give him a spin like I'm a coach and say, 'You're better than this. Don't let the audience get to you,'" McMahon said - followed by a slap that parodied a popular commercial. "Thanks, I needed that," Carson replied, in perfect synch with McMahon for the unrehearsed moment. The joy was doing "something that helped the show," which was what mattered to Carson, McMahon said. He seemed fine when they last spoke, a phone call about three weeks ago, McMahon said. "I thought they were treating the emphysema problem with medication. It was a total shock and surprise to me," he said. Emphysema, a respiratory disease, has been linked to smoking. Carson, who had heart bypass surgery in 1999, was a heavy smoker during his "Tonight" days, wielding a cigarette as a prop on air until smoking on TV passed out of favor. Despite the tobacco habit, Carson was "always a health nut, very proud of his body," said McMahon. He got a kick out of doing the Tarzan sketches where he was in a nude-to-the-waist costume that showed off his fit form. He didn't kick cigarettes until after his retirement, and with difficulty. "We'd be out to dinner somewhere and afterward he'd light up. Halfway through he'd crush it out and say, `I gotta stop this,'" McMahon recalled. Carson satisfied his creative urges by writing humor essays for The New Yorker magazine and shooting off occasional jokes to David Letterman for his "Late Show" monologue. He never lost his edge, McMahon said. When he called Carson in October to wish him a happy birthday, the two started bantering like old times. "We could have gone on (television) that night and done a 'Carnac' skit. We were that crisp and hot."

Here's a story on it: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legendary television entertainer Johnny Carson has died of emphysema at age 79, the NBC television network reported on its Web site on Sunday. Carson hosted NBC's popular "The Tonight Show" for nearly 30 years, long dominating late-night television with an estimated 12 million viewers each night. He did his final show on Friday, May 22, 1992, seen by 55 million, and was replaced the next Monday by the current host, Jay Leno. Sidekick Ed McMahon introduced him nightly with the rallying cry of "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!" Carson's blend of humor, music and conversation was the last thing millions of Americans heard before drifting off to sleep. "I am one of the lucky people in the world. I have found something I liked to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it," a teary-eyed Carson said as he closed the show for the last time. "I bid you a very heartfelt goodnight." In later years, Carson became something of a recluse in his Malibu, California, home, rarely venturing into the public eye. After a 1999 quadruple bypass heart operation, Carson cut back on his tennis and discontinued his annual treks to Africa, the French Riviera and the Wimbledon tennis tournament. He had battled emphysema for years.

Johnny Carson, the all time greatest late night talk show host, has passed away, at age 79. I can't believe it........in shock. Just last week it was reported that Johnny had been sending Letterman jokes for his monologue. He was the king of talk show hosts .....all others pale in comparison. RIP, Johnny

That is true....that the tournament is what counts. But, if there are 11 teams in the tourney.....there will have to be some byes to make that number work. The only way I can figure it out: 5 teams would get byes 6 would play......leaving three winners....... that 3 + 5 bye teams would equal 8. Those final eight would then be pitted against one another to determine the tourney champ. If that's the case....it is imperative to get a bye....otherwise you're having to play 4 games to win the tourney, instead of just three. One encouraging note from the past: When we went to the NCAA tourney in 1988, we were 5-12 at one point in the season....before going on a 12 game winning streak and getting into The Big Dance. So, even though things look bleak right now....we can turn it around.

Fading fast. Now 2-3, and going on the road.....things aren't looking very good. I guess those wins we were racking up in the first half of the year, were over bigger cupcakes than we realized. Because now that we're into conference.....we haven't really played a good game yet.

That's great news. Justin had that great game against UTPA, and then got hurt....hopefully he'll bounce back strong. One other thing: We have so few guys who are over 6' 6"....that there'll be times when we get some of our big guys in foul trouble, and I worry who we'll have at center, if say Quincy and Simpson were to both foul out. (which has come close to happening). Anyway, with JB in there, that gives us another big guy for depth purposes. BTW......at one point in one of our recent games (maybe NMSU), JJ had both Simpson and Quincy in the lineup at the same time.

We beat FIU the other night, a team which earlier in the season defeated Florida State. Well, just the other night, Florida State knocked off 3rd ranked Wake Forest. Also, we went to Tuscaloosa earlier this season, and lost to Bama by 14. Well, just the other night 17th ranked Mississippi State went to Tuscaloosa and lost to the Crimson Tide by 49 (98-49). Beat UALR and ASU!

I think the folks who work in the Sports Department at the DMN, think that the only Division 1 basketball conference in our state is the Big 12. Every day, they have Big 12 coverage, with rarely any coverage of the Belt, the WAC, CUSA, or the Southland. When was the last time you even saw those last four leagues standings in the paper? And used to, the paper would have capsules of area college teams' games. They never have those any more. If you want to find out that UNT is playing....you might see in the list of games or maybe in the Radio section, but that's about it. What was once a great Sports section in a great paper........is now PATHETIC.

Well if you think about it.....the "Glory Years" of the Jones regime, were when the team was being coached by a Texan (Jimmy Johnson). And from what I understand Jimmy made a lot of those draft decisions back in those days. Also, even though Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl in Dallas, he was just winning off the talent and momentum which Jimmy had created here.

Good points, drex. You know it's very possible that our school would make more money from an NCAA tourney appearance than we do from the NO Bowl. The reason I say that: In his latest "Ask The Commish", Wright Waters implies that bowl guarantees aren't mandatory--he says that the league just makes sure that our SBC rep doesn't lose any money by going to the bowl. (At least that's the way I read it). But, I do know that schools get a significant check for a NCAA tourney appearance. (And the expenses are a lot less; transporting 4 coaches and 13 players, as opposed to 12-15 coaches and 100 players). One more thing: Not only should those who have never been.....go and experience a men's game.....our women are playing great right now, and deserve your support, as well.

In an article today in the DMN, they stated that last season, Parcells questioned the mental toughness of Billy Cundiff (the kicker) and Matt McBriar (the punter). Statistically, both of those guys had excellent years. And for the life of me, I can't ever remember a coach questioning the mental toughness of a kicker or punter. Hey it's a kicker or punter. You don't expect 'em to be freaking Ray Lewis, do ya? Ask any mermaid you happen to see........what's the best tuna......it sure ain't Bill P.

I really don't think canning the kicking coach is going to solve all of your problems with the Cowboys. As a matter of fact, I think the kicking coach (Steve Hoffman) has proven year in and year out, that he can develop kickers and punters. (See Austrailian Matt McBriar, who was a pretty good punter, this year, IMHO). I'll say this......if Tony Romo and Drew Henson aren't ready to play a game after almost two full seasons and one full season respectively.......as you deemed neither to be, during the last games of this year.......well, then maybe your QB coach might need to be changed. Of course that won't happen. As we all know, if you're one of Bill's Boys, you get treated differently than the rest of the staff.

UNT 68 FIU 60 An ugly, ugly game.....but a win is a win. We come home for two tough games on Thursday and Saturday....... GO MEAN GREEN!

8 of 33 from the field.......6 of 11 from the line........too many turnovers........and yet we lead by 1.......25-24. Maybe we'll get hot in the 2nd half. If we had hit even 40% of our shots, we'd probably be up by 15-20 right now. GO MEAN GREEN!

There will a lot of action for us Mean Green basketball fans this week. Tomorrow (Monday 1/17), our guys play at FIU. FIU is 7-9, so that is a winnable game. (They did give Denver a much better game that we did , but that game was in Miami). After that, two tougher games, UALR (11-5) and Arkansas State (10-6). Both of those are in Denton, next Thursday and Saturday, respectively. One thing going in our favor: Both of those teams are winless on the road (UALR is 0-5; Ark. State is 0-4). The women's team has two road games: @ Ark. State and @ UALR. Both of those games are very winnable.

Joe.......as you know they have a Denton Chamber "mixer" every year at the Super Pit (on a game night). Most of those people don't even stick around for the game. Want to hear a really bad one? One year, during the Helwig regime.....they didn't induct the new Hall of Fame members during a football game, they inducted them during a basketball game (an afternoon game against Bama; it was in December of that year). Anyway, they had seated the new inductees in the basketball floor seats for that game---I had tickets there that year, too. After being inducted at half-time, several of the old farts that they inducted that day---left our basketball game to go home and watch The Big 12 Championship football game. Only at North Texas..... One more.....funny show biz story. Doug Kenney was a great writer.....one of the brains behind National Lampoon magazine. He also helped write the classic movie, "Animal House". (He has a part in the movie; he's the dorky Delta guy; the one who pushes the marching band director down, and takes over leading the marching band into an alley). Anyway.....years ago (the 70s) Kenney had three ring side tickets to one of the greatest boxing matches ever......it was one of the Ali-Frazier fights. (I think it was at Madison Square Garden). Anyway, Kenney takes his girlfriend and a male friend. They watch the preliminary fights.......and the much anticipated Ali-Frazier fight is about to begin, when Kenney looks at his watch and says, "Let's go. I want to beat the traffic." They left.

Buzz......I guess you missed the words "just kidding" after the rant about officiating.

DENTON (1/13/05) - Junior Kennethia Wilson scored a career-high 19 points to lead the North Texas women’s basketball team to a 69-58 victory against Denver on Thursday night in the Super Pit. The Mean Green (7-7, 2-0 Sun Belt) takes a 5-4 advantage in the series with Denver (2-12, 0-2 Sun Belt) and is off to its first 2-0 start in the Sun Belt Conference since joining the league in 2000. Wilson was 8-for-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range in the victory. She also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. The junior scored eight points in a 15-4 run by the Mean Green at the start of the second half. Wilson made a layup and then connected on back-to-back threes to give North Texas its largest lead of the second half, 44-32, with 13:54 left in the game. Denver cut the lead to three, 57-54, after a jumper by Venice Adams who led the Pioneers with a personal-best 21 points. North Texas responded with eight unanswered points and a 12-4 run to hold onto the win. Junior Erika Bobo was 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final five minutes of the game. She scored 16 points in the game and has recorded double figures in 12-of-14 games this season. North Texas jumped out to an early 14-0 lead to start the game before Denver’s Tasha Jones hit a three-pointer with 14:32 left in the first half. Jones scored 12 points in the first half and finished with 18. The Pioneers took its first and only lead, 21-20, after a jumper by Sara Benham with 6:33 on the clock. The Mean Green held onto a one-point advantage at the half, 29-28. North Texas recorded a season-high 16 steals, including five by sophomore Mia Ajekwu. She finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in the game. Freshman Talicia Sanders tied a career high with 12 points, 10 of which were in the second half. The Mean Green ends its three-game homestand with a Saturday night matchup against Florida International at 7 pm in the Super Pit.

The refereeing was awful tonight. I would say that bad calls tonight easily cost us 30 points. Easy. Just kidding. No we were terrible tonight. Actually had a 6-2 lead, they went on a 17-0 run to go up 19-6......and we never were really in it, from that point on. (trailed by 12 at the half). Not a good game, at all. But, UALR I think beat Western Kentucky tonight. If so, that is the same UALR that was hammered by MTSU by 35...... so hopefully we'll have a similar type turn-around against FIU on Monday.

MP.......if you re-read all the above posts.....no one said that they were a huge Randy Moss fan. As a matter of fact, most (like Coach and myself) who defended him on this one incident.....said he was a punk. I think the incident the week before (where he walked out before game time had expired) was inexcusable. The only reason I started this thread......was that I was po'ed about Moss doing the fake moon....just like you......UNTIL I read about the Green Bay tradition of mooning the opposing team's bus. Is that true? I don't know......but when I started this thread....it was under the assumption that it was/is a Green Bay tradition. One more thing: I think Moss is a punk.......but after seeing both of their careers.....the Cowboys would have still gotten more value out of the punk than they have out of Greg Ellis.

A fake mooning is the same as flipping someone off? Gimme a break. What is evident to me, Monkey Pox, is that you are a huge Packers fan. Would that be correct? Because for the life of me, I can't figure out why 4 days after the game, you're still going on and on about this........... btw.....One gesture means "f you".......the other just is simulating the dropping and baring of one's rear end: If you think they're both equal..........then I'll stop mooning you when I read one of your posts, and switch to gesture #2.

No, but I think we can all agree, that if Randy Moss did ever try to eat someone's baby.........that is going way over the line. Way over. Can we agree?

Well, if you remember, Tony Dungy was the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for many seasons. And those seasons when he was the Bucs' coach........they were in the NFC Central with Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota and yes, Green Bay. So Coach Dungy may know what the heck he's talking about it. BTW.........after I finish typing this, I'm going to bend over and moon Monkey Pox (wherever he is). It's a tradition I just started.

I was surprised by how badly MTSU beat UALR last night....85-50. Yikes. BTW, Eagle 08.......one team that you didn't mention, that scares me.......New Orleans. They have been playing very well, of late. I think they will be our toughest competition in the West Division......moreso than ULL.