MeanGreen61

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who , under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either. He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you thenomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away ' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great- grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood. And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so. Please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan , sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those in Iraq . Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Coastguardsman, Marine, or Airman, prayer is the very best one.

Official site. NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl announced today the signing of a one year contract extension that will allow a Sun Belt institution to continue playing in the annual bowl game through the 2009 football season. The one year contract extension will allow the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl’s other contracted party, to be on the same timeframe for contract negotiations. The Sun Belt Conference’s newly signed agreement will expire at the same time as Conference USA’s current agreement with the bowl game. Both parties will be allowed to renegotiate with the bowl game at the conclusion of the contracted terms. FULL ARTICLE http://www.sunbeltsports.org/ViewArticle.d...;ATCLID=1623287

West Division 1. North Texas Strengths: Start with shooting, particularly in the backcourt. Returning guards Josh White and Collin Dennis combined for 27.5 ppg and 100 3-pointers. What's more, they teamed to hit nearly 44 percent from the bonus arc, an indication that they just weren't heaving up any shot that came to mind. Thanks in large part to White and Dennis, North Texas shot 39.8 percent from the 3-point line -- 12th in Division I. It also converted acceptably from the field (46 percent) and the foul line (71.9), an indication it knows something about shot selection. The Mean Green were solid on the boards, too, outrebounding opponents by more than six per game. While the top two rebounders graduated, the transfers and 6-10 freshman center Ben Knox give them a good chance to be a glass-eating squad again. Weaknesses: No proven inside scorers, at least at the season's outset, mean White and Dennis will probably have a tougher time shaking free for clean looks against defenses that are aimed to contain them. If someone on the roster doesn't develop as a decent option in the lane, it will be hard for White and Dennis to duplicate last year's efficiency. Another task for White and Dennis is to improve their ball-handling. The duo combined for 75 assists and 121 turnovers, which was a main reason the team finished with 466 turnovers and just 336 assists. And the leading assist man from last year, Ben Bell, is no longer around to get them the ball. North Texas must also get tougher away from the Super Pit. It was 15-2 at home, 5-9 in road or neutral-site games. Scouting the newcomers: Four players could offer some kind of immediate help. Point guard Dominique Johnson transferred in from Arkansas-Fort Smith, where he averaged 9.4 points and 5.1 assists as the Lions won 28 games. In keeping with the Mean Green's strength, Johnson canned nearly 40 percent of his 3s last year. He has a good chance to play right away, even though it means the team could start three guards 6-2 or smaller. Eric Tramiel scored 15.9 points and averaged 8.6 rebounds at Paris (Texas) Junior College last year. The 6-7, 225-pound power forward could fit right into the lineup as North Texas lost its top rebounders to graduation and has no proven scoring underneath. Ben Knox is thin and raw, but at 6-10 and 215 pounds, has the height and athleticism to possibly get minutes if he can progress enough in preseason. Knox hit for 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots per game for Grace Prep in Arlington, Texas. Finally, George Odufuwa becomes eligible after sitting out last season following his transfer from Arizona State, where he played sparingly in 13 games as a freshman. At 6-8 and 240 pounds, Odufuwa could give the Mean Green a physical presence inside SUN BELT PREVIEW http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/11087730

USN - Radioman 2nd - Korea, the forgotten war.

Central Florida taking heat over player's death. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-...,0,608161.story http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-...0,812892.column

For once it wasn't UNT giving up a record number of points in a game this season. The 51 that UNT scored on WKU was their highest total surrendered this year. Previous high vs FBS teams was 41 vs Bama & Kentucky. Not happy with the 40 points & 500 plus yards we gave up, but the Green hung in there and came home with a W. Actually it's the record for points they have given up since starting their transition in 2007. 41 Bama 41 Kentucky 31 Indiana 27 Va. Tech 24 Ball State 24 FAU http://www.mratings.com/team.php?t=8765&s=85513 2007 49 Florida 41 Bowling Green 35 Ball State 27 UNT 21 Troy 17 Muts

3 Belt teams http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=869629

Ra Ra, hang in there, keep the faith, etc. OK, I guess, but I'd rather seen some positive results on the field or some positive news about the team.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...w.aspx?id=21316

How do we know that action hasn't been or isn't being taken ? Can anyone here say that they really know the whole story ?

Troy board comments http://www.gotroytrojans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11545 Arkansas State board comments http://www.arkst.com/board/index.php?topic=39191.0 Muts get their licks in http://middletennessee.rivals.com/showmsg....142&style=2

Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:15 pm EDT At least we know what illicit substances North Texas players haven't been testing positive for By Matt Hinton In case you were wondering, yes, this is the same place where assistant coaches got into a fistfight at halftime of a late season game in 2006. ARTICLE http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog...rn=ncaaf,117930

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/....152ecdaef.html "Don't tell me about your problems, you get paid to produce results"

Was the MSC called the Student Union at one time ? I stayed at the A&M hotel for six weeks in 1963 while attending a specialized police science course. Remembering back 45 years, believe the hotel was in the Student Union Bldg.

Bower was discussed, but South Alabama hired a coach several months ago.

NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/sports/2...amp;oref=slogin

http://media.www.ntdaily.com/media/storage...s-3498866.shtml

Where do UNT students live?The University of North Texas is the largest residential campus, public or private, in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. About 6,000 students live in campus residence halls, which are often full to capacity. Of the more than 34,000 students attending UNT, about 27,000 commute, with more than 17,000 of those commuting from outside Denton County. UNT.EDU http://www.unt.edu/pais/insert/uohou.htm

E-mail text Dear ---, This evening, we released the results of a Student Government Association referendum for a new fee that would provide dedicated funding to our athletics program. I wanted to be the first to tell you that our students voted yes, endorsing our commitment to strengthen the program. A significant portion of the new fee will help build a new stadium and entertainment venue on our campus. I invite you to learn more about our plans. You’ve heard me say before that our nation’s great universities strive to be great in everything they do. UNT is no different. With this endorsement, our students have done their part to help make our vision for a stronger UNT a reality. Having a football stadium that matches UNT’s stature as a renowned student-centered public research university will shine a light on all of our areas of excellence and heighten our national visibility. We now will move forward with the next steps to realizing our plans of building a venue that is as up to date as Fouts Field was when it opened in 1952. Our vision is to build a new facility that will include an entertainment complex possibly with a hotel and convention space adjacent to our Athletic Center that would serve as an important attraction for our university family and the greater Denton community. The stadium also will be built on green principles, giving us an opportunity to become the first in the nation to have a LEED-certified collegiate football stadium. Our athletics programs give our student-athletes an opportunity to excel on the field, bring our campus community together, connect our alumni to their alma mater and serve as a rallying point for all our supporters. Thanks to our students we are off to an excellent start for a brighter future, but we still must rely on our alumni, our supporters and the community to make our vision a reality. Texas law does not allow state funds to support athletic construction, so a new stadium can only be built with funds raised by private donors and student fees. The student portion can only fund up to 50 percent of the cost. I encourage you to come out and cheer on the Mean Green at Homecoming Saturday (Oct. 25). With green pride, Gretchen M. Bataille President

The current quality (?) of NT football defies description.

I'm sure the "pity party" will be in full swing by mid-week. Lots of hand wringing about slanted coverage by the DRC, numerous analysis/comments on what ails NT athletics, more commentary on why NT is being passed by, along with other predictions of doom and gloom.

Thursday, 9/18/08, 5:25PM. NT Daily poll shows 74% for a new stadium 26% against. http://www.ntdaily.com/poll/index.cfm?even...playPollResults

From the comments section of an NT Daily article on the stadium. Jacqueline Giroir posted 9/17/08 @ 3:27 PM CST I am the College of Music representative in the SGA Student Senate and last week we got the privilege of hearing a presentation on the stadium made by Mr. Villareal. There were a few things that I wanted to add and reiterate that we learned in the presentation... - We would be the first collegiate "green" stadium which would give us some national recognition on the science front, etc... - it seems as if people who are against the stadium are forgetting that this stadium is not just for the football team. It can be used as a venue for on-campus organizations' events and also it could be a stadium where high school marching band competitions are held...therefore attracting younger people to UNT before they are even applying to college...it's all about getting UNT's name out there - A&M, for example, always has prominent people (state political figures, donors, etc) coming to their games and sitting with the President in the box...with a new and nicer stadium Gretchen Bataille and UNT could feel proud about showing off our school to people... if we can entertain these people and show them how nice and how much spirit UNT has then we have the possibility to receive more donations and to leave a lasting impression on people who can possibly help us (financially or any way) in the future - many high school football stadiums nowadays are quite beautiful and new (especially in the football state of Texas) . How are we going to recruit good players who are coming from playing in these facilities to Fouts Field? They will not want to come here and play. We have the right coach now all we need is the right facility and other great players. -most colleges' athletic fees are between $10-$12 per semester credit hour and some of these schools don't even have a football team... right now UNT's is $3 per semester credit hour... that is incredibly meager for a school with a Division 1-A football team - Fouts is deteriorating... it will not be functional much longer. It is not ADA approved and takes almost 20 generators to be up and running. Last week UNT was to play LSU in LA however with the hurricane LSU had asked to play here.. however we could physically not have the game at Fouts because we could not get the generators up and working and get Fouts ready for a game that quickly. I urge you all to learn more about the issue and ask any questions. I believe that the new stadium is something that could be really beneficial for UNT. It is so much more than a facility for our football team to play in... it is a stepping stone in getting UNT the recognition it deserves as a prestigious university.

Posted on the muts board by SpaceRaider excerpt from Orlando Sentinel: ...Florida Atlantic received $900,000 to open the season at Texas, its biggest payday ever. Florida International turned down an offer of $1.2 million to play at an SEC team next year. And Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters told the conference's athletic directors not to even consider an offer to play a road game against a BCS conference team for less than $1 million. "A million is cheap to those guys," Waters said. "They ought to be paying us $2 million." While the overall economy is in tatters, it hasn't affected the price of so-called "money games" in college football, where teams from non-BCS conferences are brought in to fill out the nonconference schedules of teams from the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big East and Pac-10. For FAU, the price hike is good news, because now the Owls will need to play two games to get enough money to help cover expenses, rather than the three or four they used to play. "We are in a good position," FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos said. "It is a seller's market. We are in demand, and that helps drive up the price."...... ARTICLE http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/college...0,5818159.story

November 24th. I will be in attendance TAMU CC schedule http://www.caller.com/news/2008/sep/02/isl...08-09-schedule/