The Fake Lonnie Finch

Skinny and tall, but not too fast. I'd redshirt him and move him to the slot or free safety. He's not big enough to withstand the hits QBs take in college and not fast enough to play outside as a wide receiver. In the slot, he'd match up well against smaller corners who normally play in nickel and dime packages, slower linebackers, or slower safeties. If he has some agility and aggressiveness, he could grow into the free safety position and be a playmaker there. Many high school QBs/Athletes make the switch to defensive back in college.

I'll second that. Way too skinny. You don't have to like 'em fat. But, there's got to be something there. As far as women on the conservative side of the ledger, give me Palin. She had some meat on the bone, but not too much. Enough up top for the men who look at the picture from an above the waistline perspective; solid enough down below for the leg men. Not that we're only judging these women on their looks or anything. I'm sure FFR appreciates Coulter more for her intellect. And, while I was appreciative of the camera angles of Palin during her debate with Biden, I really more interested in what she had to say. Or something like that. Biden playing pocket pool while Palin speaks

The special team unit will be better under Shelton Gandy. You can bank on that. Also, the front seven of the defense will be better because of the coaching combination of Mike Nelson and Gary DeLoach. You can bank on that. The secondary and offensive lines are more experienced as well and will be improved. The question marks are at the offensive playmaking positions, quarterback and wide receiver. Unfortunately, those position are mainly where the scoring is supposed to come from in this offense. And, again, I think that is where the weakness of the coaching staff is - offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Also, as posted yesterday, I don't think you mark improvement on this team based on what happens out of conference - unless those game include Rice 2008-type blowouts. Being competitive and having a winning record in the Sun Belt Conference will be proof enough of improvement.

I did consider that. However, our DL is not exactly experienced or intimidating. The new coach will help eventually. To me, though, the overriding factor is that many of our DLs will be playing their first game and its on the road against a team that's been pretty good over the past two seasons; and, a team that is well-coached on the offensive side of the ball. Ball State's coaching turnover didn't result in a change in offensive philosophy because they promoted their OC/QB coach. This is his sixth or seventh year there running his offense. So, all of the players replacing those gone have already been in the system for several seasons. Our DLs...the experience is just too thin. There are new players coming in, but in game one of their careers it's doubtful that they'll be able to do much. That will mean leaving the older guys in longer and getting them worn out on the road since Ball State offense is designed to get that tailback many yards. In fact, I'd say the two MAC games are going to be quite physical up front. To that end, if we do lose to Ball State, but hold their 1,700+ yard tailback under 100 yards, I think we will really have hope for the season against Sun Belt foes. By the end of the season, I fully expect Mike Nelson's charges to be the second best unit on the squad. I fully expect DeLoach to have the linebackers as the best, most consistent unit on the team for the season. Our front seven is now coached by two old pros and I expect that to really show once we get into our conference. Remember, I'm not someone who has said this thing rises and falls on out of conference. I've posted before that what I would consider a successful seasons is closer out of conference scores, even if there are no wins. Where I think Dodge and the team have to turn the corner and show improvement is in conference. To that end, I've already posted that a winning record in the Sun Belt, even if the overall record were a losing one, would be considered successful to me. I haven't raised the bar as far as some here have. In fact, it's not very far at all. In my estimation asking for four or five wins in this conference isn't an unrealistic expectation. But, seriously, no matter which side of the Dodge issue you come down on, if we don't win more than three games, it will be hard to say the program has really moved forward from the Dickey regime. At that point, it could be said that we are just spinning our wheels.

The issues raised here are too far reaching to simply blame Todd Dodge. He was only responsible for one of the four classes figured into the score - although that class is ever-shrinking as we saw again this week. The one constant between the Darrell Dickey and Todd Dodge eras is the leadership of the athletic department. But, because we are doing well in the sports no one watches and which never hope to gain a dime for the department, criticism of the man in charge is off limits. Some posters will blame the players. This, of course, is stupid because athletes are often let in under less stringent standards than the general student population. So, in many cases, they weren't academically prepared. Athletic departments look past this academic readiness issue, of course, because they believe in the upside of the gamble. It's part of the con game of college athletics - we pretend that because you can play a sport, you can also pass college level classes. We lower the bar, and if you become a superstar, we look like geniuses. So, across the country, North Texas included, there are these special academic programs, tutors, and watered-down degree programs designed to help these kids get by. But, the bottom line is simple: if a kid has no study skills by the time he or she is 18 or 19 years old, those skills are not going to magically appear overnight. And, if he or she doesn't see the value of it, no amount of "mentoring" or "tutoring" will change it. At our alma mater, this is compounded even moreso by the fact that we aren't getting the top athletes in the classroom or on the field. Because of our constant and long term disarray in the adminstration, Board, and athletic department regarding what to actually do with the football program (fund and support it fully or not?), we are reduced to taking flyers on coaches, who then must take flyers on many players In the end, there's no one to fire. The people at the top pf the food chain in Denton wouldn't hire quality replacements anyway. They never have. As alumni, we just simply live with the excuses we've come to know and despise pretty much from the day we set foot on campus. Wherever it is you're going, Go Mean Green...because we don't know, and we know you don't know. But, Go nonetheless.

Tanner Justice

Again, they can reassign him to a position anywhere in the department for less pay. They don't have to fire him outright. Re-read the contract.

If every recruit qualifies for every school (including us), and all returning starters from 2008 actually make their grades, stay out of jail, and return for all teams, here's how it will likely go against our out of conference foes in 2009: Ball State 42, North Texas 20 - Stan Parrish has tons of experience coaching and 3/4th of his skill set leaders returning on offense. They will be led by a fifth year senior at QB who has spent his entire career in Parrish's playbook. Ohio 37, North Texas 17 - The Bobcats almost knocked off Ohio State in Columbus last year. They led 7-6 at halftime and 14-12 after three quarters. Frank Solich has been in the business for decades, coaching in countless bowls and hostile road environments (Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, etc). It is doubtful he or his team will be overwhelmed by Fouts Field or the coaching staff on the Mean Green sideline. What is more likely is that they come in and ball control us to death. Bama 45, North Texas 10 - I think, based on what they did against Western Kentucky and Arkansas State last year, Bama will get up enough to satisfy Nick Saban by the early in the third quarter and will then begin to pull starters. Todd Dodge will see firshand what one of his former Southlake QBs is capable of when a real college coaching staff has tutored him for four years. And, it won't be pretty. Army 24, North Texas 21 - Both of these teams have been awful the past few years. Army, however, has an athletic department that doesn't accept failure for long; so, they cut loose Stan Brock after only two three-won seasons. That's how cut throat the college football world is outside of Denton - a man who won twice as many games as Todd Dodge in two years was fired. Yet, for the edification of who knows what, UNT has kept Dodge. The new Army coach, Rich Ellerson, is insanely experienced, with 32 years under his belt at the college or pro level. In his final three seasons at Cal Poly, his teams stayed within 10 of San Jose State, within seven of Idaho, took Wisconsin into overtime and lost by one point at Camp Randall, and beaten San Diego State - all on the road. Like Solich with the Bobcats, Ellerson will not come into Fouts Field wide-eyed. He's done very well at the FCS level on the road against FBS-level competition. There's no reason that will magically change once he's on the sideline for Army.

Good points. In addition, if his mom or dad were SMU Law grads, he'd have even more of an "in" and going to SMU as an undegrad would be even less important. To me, it's a flimsy excuse to leave, but...what can you do? He's gone.

Again (and again and again), people waving Confederate flags around may as well be waving Nazi flags or flags of the former Soviet Union. The United States, with its army, defeated both the Confederate uprising and the Nazis. The decision to outspend the the Soviets militarily helped implode the Soviet Union. All three lost to the United States. People who still insist on waving the flags of losers in America get what's coming to them.

I don't buy it. Law school admission is largely a matter of LSAT scores and undergraduate work, no matter where you attend. The vast majority of universities doesn't have a law school. That doesn't preclude its graduates from attending law school. Nor is attending one particular school a guarantee of getting into its law school. I'll just say this, with good grades, having been a college athlete, and having a decent LSAT score will get Russo into most law schools. In my class at Tulsa, we had six former football players (four of them linebackers...go figure), a couple of girls who played soccer, a gal who had been on a rowing squad, a track guy, a baseball player, and two softballers. Law schools like smart, competitive people. Russo's chances of getting into SMU Law wouldn't have been any less if he'd stayed here. The problem is, you never know what people are telling kid. Sounds like someone got in his ear and convinced him he'd be better off somewhere else. It's just not true. The majors that draw many law students - Business, English, History, and Political Science - are all strong at UNT. Anyway, good luck to Russo in all of his future endeavors.

They've already been capped here. That's why malpractice rates have dropped in Texas and more doctors are coming here. Damages should be capped and have been in states that have responsible legislatures.

My wife is from Mexico and shudders at the thought of a health care system in the socialists vein like the have in her home country. The problem is always the same, in health care or anything else, the only way to make all things equal is to dumb it down. Unfortunately, we are well into three generations of ingrates in this country. Every generation past those that fought in WWII is nothing but a bunch of snivelling "me, me, me" brats. The proof is our debt and how national leaders in both parties now simply ignore it and spend more. Because of the mass idiocy and helplessness shown my so many in our country, we will have to accept a lower standard of living in every area of life. We are truly rotting from within.

(1) Yes. But, at this point, it shouldn't be short anymore. I would expect it to have 20-25 FBS-level college coordinators on it. It should also include every former FBS-level head coach, whether or not they are coordinators (i.e., McCarney, DL coach at Florida). (2) Dodge doesn't have to be bought out, merely reassigned. (3) "REAL" fans demand better, they don't continually accept crap. (4) If we win three or fewer games in 2009 and RV doesn't think a change is needed, then he needs to be changed out as well to get someone with a firm grip on reality in the program.

How is it that he was "penalized" if other ran faster than him? I'm betting every cornerback in the NFL and almost all safeties run faster than 4.65. So, by not drafting or signing slower receivers, aren't the NFL teams just trying to stay competitive? It's one thing to love the players at your school, it's a completely different thing to understand whether or not they are currently NFL material. Here, again, is why I posted two or three years ago that we needed a new strength and conditioning coordinator. Those guys shouldn't just be having guys trying to increases their bench press and squat numbers. Anyone can do that. It's the conditioning, agility, and speed work that differentiates the great S&C coaches from the run-of-the-mill types who just get the guys bigger and stronger. Speed, agility, and conditioning are more important at many positions, namely receiver. I wasn't convinced that our S&C coach would have the team conditioned for the type of offense that Dodge has - i.e., the type that puts the defense back out on the field very quickly whether it's working well or not. They finally seem to have addressed this by hiring a football intensive S&C coach to help our original guy. But, the question remains - will the new guy help with anything other than strength. Let's hope not. As you can see, it matters not just on gameday, but in overall picture of NFL readiness for our players. From Gil Brandt's report: North Texas WR Casey Fitzgerald 5-9 5/8, 188 pounds 40 in a wind-aided 4.65 seconds, with a 4.74 time against the wind. 7.06 second cone drill. Northeast Oklahoma WR Jarrett Byers 5-10 1/2, 191 pounds 40 in a wind-aided 4.42 seconds, and a 4.47 against the wind 6.80 second cone drill

Sadly, I fear SMU will be like TCU if they also get better on the field. They will then feel like they have outgrown the need to schedule us as the Horned Frogs have. It's maddening but, at the same time, it's hard to blame them. TCU will host OU next season or the season after. Houston has UCLA and Mississippi State coming there over the next few seasons. Again (and again and again), programs that we used to think were on our downtrodden level are doing what is necessary to compete. If our stadium ever gets built, that will help some. But, really, we need better leadership all the way around, inside and outside of the athletic department. We need people who "see it" and "get it." We only have that sporadically, and seemingly never in tandem.

Ease up on Dodge a little, Lifer. The man's not Jesus.

Kenny Evans had a WR sign a free agent deal with the Rams: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/sports/loca..._119003524.html

Maybe the coaching staff a Cal Berkeley, eh?

Dude, all I can say is, I hope against all hope that conservative and moderate Democrats will step up to the plate and start blocking some of the spending. There is so much money being printed up now, it's just scary. Inflation can only be artifically contained for so long. It's still hard to believe we're going down the same failed road of dozens of socialist countries across the globe, but we are. Where, oh, where is our Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Lots of schools use limosines. A guy I know who played for UNLV a few years ago said he was most impressed with Air Force. He'd just met with Sonny Lubick from Colorado State when a limo with American flags adorning it pulled up and Fisher DeBerry stepped out. I don't think we have the recruiting budget for limosines yet. But, there's nothing illegal about it.

Looked him up on the Bengals website. He says there was a shoving match during a heated practice that ended up in a pile. This was in high school. He was suspended for his senior year. Also googled and found out that he's been working out with former Dallas Cowboy Randy White and some martial arts guy locally. My guess is Randy White put in a good word for him to scouts around the league.

We should try again. With former Big 12 assistant Kevin Sumlin (A&M/OU) and a new AD, they may be amenable. Although, they look like they'll be filled up for quite awhile: Texas Tech: Home in 2009, away 2010 UCLA: Home in 2011, away in 2010 and 2012 Navy: Home in 2010, away in 2011 Mississippi State: Home in 2010, away in 2009 Louisiana Tech: Home in 2012 and 2013, away in 2011 and 2014 Also, away against Oklahoma State this year, and away against LSU in 2011. The Oklahoma State game this year is that last of a 2 for 1, with the first game played in Houston in 2006 and this year and last year's game being played in Stillwater. They also had a home and home with Mississippi State in 2003 (Houston) and 2005 (Starkville). Cougar fans can't really complain about the scheduling while Maggard was there.

Yes, if he were a good accountant. Animal cruelty and dog fighting have nothing to do with accounting. Plus, if he's paid his due to society behind bars, he's paid his dues. I mean, Ricky Williams walked away because he wouldn't give up weed and they let him back in. He's any better character-wise than Vick? It's football, people.

Yes. They've let steroid and cocain users back into the league. This guy had dogfighting on one of his properies. Surely, the NFL wouldn't forgive drug use, but not dog fighting.