rcade

I am proud of having graduated from UNT and served as the school paper's editor. I bring my kids back to campus each summer I visit to restock on UNT gear. But I can support the school without living out the definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results -- with the football program. I have never threatened to quit before, in all the years I've been posting here. But I need wins like Paris Hilton needs cocaine.

A bit tough? We're still waiting for Dodge to equal the 3-win season that got Dickey fired! I stuck with UNT during the I-AA and Big West years. Maybe it's not a flaw in personal character to eventually give up on a team that sucks in the worst conference in major college football. Supporting UNT is like going to the same restaurant for year after year hoping the food will get better. At a certain point, the problem's not with the restaurant. It's with you for being stupid enough not to demand any better.

I can't answer for Emmitt, but I'm a 1991 UNT graduate who has followed the program since 1987. I tried to give up for good in the off season, decided to give Dodge one last chance to produce some wins this year, and am near quitting. I don't feel like spending the next 20 years rooting for a lousy program with low resources that produces excuses instead of wins. Living in Florida, I see what it would be like to follow programs that aren't permanently mired in mediocrity. Even newer programs like USF and UCF have been head and shoulders above UNT. The way the school got rid of Bataille -- and she gutlessly refused to explain her ouster -- didn't help matters. Maybe the stadium will change things, but I'm just not seeing it. This is a win-or-else year for me as a UNT fan.

In order for UNT to have fair weather fans, the team has to experience fair weather. We haven't had a winning season since 2003.

Good column. I think the main factor in the loss was atrocious special teams.

I'd love to eavesdrop on that conversation. What rule do you think he broke by yelling at the coach and RV on the sideline?

Speak for yourself. If RV can't handle a fan's opinion of the sorry-ass product he's put on display at Fouts, he should find another line of work. Bob didn't embarrass me by yelling about poor coaching to the person who thought we needed another high school coach to run a college program. He was telling the truth. Fun fact: Since 1980, only three high school coaches have been hired to run Division I-A (now FBS) schools. Two of them were at North Texas -- Dennis Parker and Dodge. RV bet the bank on a non-traditional hire and he busted.

So we're supposed to feel sorry for college football coaches now? Sheesh. Does Coach Dodge's job involve carrying people out of burning buildings? Doing life saving operations on kids? Flying a fighter jet? No. There are plenty of jobs more difficult than teaching college students to throw a ball around while thousands of people second guess you.

Keep saying it. It gets funnier each time you do. Yelling at the game seemed to get RV's attention pretty good about how much the coaching sucks. Score one for that a-hole fan.

The game isn't the proper place to yell about the game? Hilarious.

Work out a deal with them. You go to the same school. Those print journalists need broadcast experience because print is dying. I was Daily editor back in the '80s. I don't know how the departments are today, but back then it would have been useful to collaborate.

Those rationalizations are weak. This is Dodge's fourth season. Wins are all that matters.

If they're just doing rip and read AP stories, why not work a deal with the NT Daily and base some news on what the paper is reporting?

I see no reason to believe that Dodge has UNT ready to beat anybody outside of a few Sun Belt dregs.

We don't need to tap the brakes -- North Texas isn't going anywhere until Todd Dodge is fired.

Then why isn't Dodge off the ground in his fourth year?

The new stadium will bring people back no matter what happens this year, and there will be a whole new group of fans who are drawn by it. That's what happened in Orlando at UCF.

I'm positive that North Texas will never win with this head coach.

It's amazing how much mediocrity some North Texas fans are willing to accept.

Troy nearly beat Oklahoma State last night. They're a strong team.

What's truly embarrassing is for some North Texas fans to accept "we actually competed tonight" as good enough in a coach's fourth year. Close losses are not improvement. There are no more moral victories. If Dodge can't put together a winning season this season, we can't let him open up the new stadium. We're still waiting for the first Dodge season that's better than the 3-9 season that got Dickey fired.

You don't even know what the guy in Section C was yelling. How do you know it was classless? I'll have what he's drinking.

There's no way UNT should be bottom 10 after the way we played Clemson and Rice. I'm not happy to lose to Rice, but let's not pretend it's the same as losing to the worst of the Belt.

That's always a good sign, innit?

I think it's sad that sending an email is portrayed as an incredible burden.