The Fake Lonnie Finch

DallasGreen, 164%. Without our starting QB and banged up DL, they had trouble putting us away until late last year. Louisiana is no juggernaut. I extend Lousiana the courtesy of being called Louisiana now, since that's what they want to be called. That's just general respect. But...let's plug into reality when it comes to football - we'd have beaten them last year with even a hint of decent QB play, and we're likely to run roughshod over them this year if fully healthy.

Having seen "The Rock" in person, let me testify that it does indeed suck. Was it better than Fouts? Yes. But, it is way behind Apogee, and it isn't even close.

Thank, Harry! Thanks, Bro! It was the Patrick Cobbs birthday - #43!

I"m trying to remember which conferences were falling all over themselves to get Louisiana into the fold. Big East? They do fit into the the Big East's Continental North American footprint. On a side note, I'm wondering why the Big East hasn't invited the Canadian college football programs in the conference.

Nevada 1990s isn't Nevada 2012, coming off a 7th consecutive bowl trip. And, "hosting" at Texas Stadium? Kudos to Texas State's athletic department. I'd love to have Tech and Nevada at Apogee. Nevada would be an excellent gauge of where we are. Tech, of course, would mean a sell out, with the possibility of television.

"We're now the hunted"? Is this some kind of joke?

The season is less than 82 days away. Think about what you were doing 82 days ago...Wednesday, March 21, 2012. That's how close the taste is to New Season Flavor. Lament the past no longer, my friends, the future is ahead of us; it's always ahead of us.

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DeMarco was none to pleased to be asked about his injury. But, when you are injured five of the previous six years...you tend to get questioned about your health. Since he left high school, Murray's only played one injury-free season. Whether due to bad luck or overtraining, you feel bad for him. But, you do like the chances it may give Dunbar to shine.

SO, I'm still waiting on the phone call from the athletic department to help them produce the 2012 intro.

Steve Walsh looks like Adam Sandler in Miami's 2010 intro: This is a different take, featuring recent past players...not that Miami had much past before Jimmy Johnson got there, but...apologies to Ted Hendricks, Ottis Anderson, and Burgess Owens.

Bama selling Namath, Stabler, etc. along with Trent Richardson in their intros last year:

Look, here's an OU example. They don't care. They roll out the black and white stuff from the 1950s! Old men doing their thing in a modern intro. You think honeybadger gives a f*ck? Honeybadger don't care. He give you all he has until you are ground up in his belly...just like OU, Texas, etc. They will force feed their history to those who choose to enter their gates: We could make a hell of a 2 minute intro like this one with our history - from the MVC stars of the 50s - 70s, the wins over Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor, the four consective bowls and those players, and coaches like Rod Rust, Hayden Fry, and Dan McCarney. I'd fade in the first TD in Apogee versus Houston, the win over Indiana, the crushing of ULM, and the dismantling of MTSU. This can be done. Although I respect what UTSA is doing. They have no history at all. We have some stuff and some guys from the past. We have facilities and momentum for the future. Tie it all together in one big bundle and put it in the eyeballs and ear holes of everyone - friend and foe - who walks into Apogee Stadium for a game.

Listen, OU and Texas show themselves beating anyone. The people in the stands recognize the schools. Most of them have no idea whether Oklahoma State was good or bad in 1978, but they know they are good now. Only sports geeks like us know. In the law, you call it "puffing your wares." You have leeway to do it, you just can't cross the line into fraud. We've got to sell what we have. We have history. We've beaten schools people in the this area know. You're giving it 5-10 second on a big screen before a football game. Do it. Show people trying the product for the first time that the potential is here, and always has been. Show the people already on board that there is good reason to feel pride in staying on board. The folks down at UT don't care that they've had two sub-par (for them) seasons in a row. They're still going to show their players beating Baylor, even though the didn't do it last year. They're going to show Earl Campbell and James Street and Tommy Nobis, even though they haven't played a down in decades. You sell what you have. We have it. I sell commercial insurance. I'm going to sell you on the benefit of being covered by those I'm tied to - the Hartford, Travelers, Zurich, CNA., Texas Mutual, etc. I'm not going to dwell on Hanover, Republic Group and others I don't sell. You don't dwell on what you don't have. You run your flag up the pole and see who will salute it. The only way to not get it saluted is to run nothing up there. We don't have nothing. We have something. Sell it. Sell Fry, Rust, Odis, McCarney...famous players and games of the past, and the current stars tied to them.

Hey, kids...when you go to a road game - OU, Texas, Bama, whomever - they have these videos that show their history...Ken Stabler, Billy Sims, Earl Campbell...bowl wins, championship wins, plays from big games long past against rivals. See, we do have some of that history. And, contrary to what the young 'ens on board think, we need to exploit it the same way OU, Texas, and Bama, etc. do. We need video screenage of Mean Joe and Cedric Hardeman crushing QBs, Steve Ramsey throwing TDs, Abner Haynes running touchdowns, Beasley Reece and J.T. Smith intercepting passes. We need scoreboards and highlights of us beating Tennessee, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU...all of it. Hayden Fry and Rod Rust roaming the sidelines. We need it. If you are like many of us in the business world, you know that perception is often reality. That's marketing. We have stuff to market, we just have to do it.

It's little too soon for this type of article. He put a band aid on the wound. OU and Texas still get more share than the other schools, so he did nothing to change that. Texas will still jump when they want to jump. Ditto Oklahoma...and, denying that they are clinging to Texas' tail all the way. The Big 12 being alive has nothing to do with Neinas. It's solely a function of the Pac-12 telling Texas no dice on their own network if they switched conferences (the Big Ten negged Texas for the same reason). And, on that day, Oklahoma learned how little use the Pac-12 had for them without Texas in the package...and, on down the line to hangers on Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Texas A&M, win or lose on the field of play, will get a bigger payday in the SEC. Mizzou is the biggest winner of all. Decent occassionally in football, and more known for basketball, they got a miracle invite into the SEC, giving them more money and exposure than they could have ever dreamed of in the Big 12. A&M hosts Florida in September and LSU in October. They'll go to Auburn and Bama. Those are all potential national, and at minimum regional, pickups. That'd double what they'd have in the Big 12. Beyond OU and Texas, there is nothing worth watching in the Big 12 from a national TV audience standpoint. Mizzou really hit the jackpot. Home games with Georgia and Alabama, roadies with Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina. That's a ridiculously mammoth increase in exposure for Mizzou, who never in their Big 12 days had OU and Texas scheduled in the same season. If there was ever an absolute dumb luck winner in all the conference restructuring, it's Mizzou. They went overnight from getting a smaller share in the Big 12 to an bigger equal share in the SEC, plus better exposure. It's crazy what's happened to Mizzou. It doesn't matter who the commissioner of the Big 12 is. The Big 12 is only the Big 12 as long as Texas gets to call the shots, and they can keep getting OU to believe they are co-equals in taking more share than the other eight chumps they have clinging to their respective coattails. Texas will dump OU in a New York minute if the can as well. The potential biggest fool in all of it could be OU, who had first shot at Mizzou's slot in the SEC. If Texas bolts on them, they are stuck with what is basically a garbage conference. And, what a day that would be...OU left at the alter after sucking up to Texas in an effort to get into the Pac-12, then passing on the SEC for "equal" lording over of the Big 12.

Briles was an assistant at Texas Tech before Houston hired him. Parker and Dodge came straight from high school. Let's...let's keep reality in focus. Briles got to see firsthand from Mike Leach how to be a college head football coach. Parker, no. Dodge...well, he didn't have, per se, a "high school football plan, or a college football plans, but a football plan." Evidently, in college, you need one of them fancy college football plans.

The less smoking the better. Screw the Libertarians! Take that, Ron Paul, GOP imposter! Old, farty holocaust belittler! No smoking on the UNT campus! We will fight terrorism abroad and we will have smoke-free college campuses! Tyranny! Tyranny! The Constitution gone to hell!

This is well-covered territory,but we never should have dropped down. Kansas State and Northwestern were horrible for most ofthe 1970s and 1980s, the absolute doormats of the NCAA for many of those seasons. But, they never dropped down to I-AA like we did. Wewere actually competitive and winning the MVC from time to time. You look at the other school in that conference with us at one point or another - Houston, Louisville, Cincinnati, Tulsa, Memphis (State) - they all stuck out tough times as well. The decision to drop down was terrible. Former MVC conference mates Houston going to the SWC was surely a slap. We had beaten them 28-0 the year before the SWC took them for football (1976), and held an overall 7-3 lead in head-to-head games (we still lead 7-6). Even during the late 70s and throughout 80s we were competitive with some lower rung Big 8 and SWC schools, beating Oklahoma State (1978), Kansas State (1985), TCU (1986), Texas Tech and Rice...and Texas, truth be told (1988). When Corky Nelson left, he'd given us four winning season in his final five. What more could have been done? We all know the answer - the school could have gotten behind the program. In 1991, I was in my second year at UNT. The bottom fell out when we hired the first high school coach, Dennis Parker. A nice enough guy, but.... We had some occassional success after we returned to I-A under Simon and Dickey - wins over Oregon State (1995), Boise State (1996, 1998, 1999), Northern Illinois (1996), Texas Tech (1997 and 1999), Nevada (1998), and Baylor (2003). Former I-AA colleagues Northern Illinois, Nevada, and Boise State have become bowl regulars over the past decade during their return to I-A: Nevada - 10 since their return in 1992, including the last seven - YES, SEVEN - seasons in a row. Northern Illinois - 6 since their return in 1996, including the last four seasons in a row, and six in the last eight. Boise State - 12 since their elevation to I-A in 1996, including the last 10 seasons, and 12 of the past 13. Our past leadership - athletic directors, presidents, some coaches - did a horrible job of taking advantage of momentum. Then, the hiring of the second high school coach.... We now have some hope. Or, I should correctly say, we again have some hope. Will we squander it again? Will the team stand up and build on an unexpected 5-7 season? Will the coaching staff continue to grind out wins against even lower rung "big conference" schools when the opportunities arise? Will the administration continue to support what is happening? And, finally, will the non-gomeangreen.com alumni finally get on board and start coming to games and contributing? Ladies and Gentlemen, we stand at the precipice of something great? Again?

The guy has to say what he's said because, well, he's got to somehow defend the job he's doing of moving Louisiana along in the world...or, not. The thing is, the upside to UNT if we become a regular winner is higher than Louisiana because there are more people and media outlets in the area to take notice and participate. Louisiana, because of its location, is limited. That's not a knock on the program. You just have to face reality: (1) The traditional powers are going to get state and natoinal press, win, lose or draw (Alabama, Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, Southern Cal, etc.) (2) Those in conferences with the traditional powers are going to get noticed when they occassionally beat the them (Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Purdue, Illinois, Arizona, Ole Miss, etc.). They are probably always going to be a rung lower from a marketing standpoint; but, being in the same conference as traditional powers gives them a shot. Baylor beating OU and Texas meant the Heisman for Robert Griffin even though both had, for their programs, off years. Being in the aura of OU and Texas gives the Baylors of the world at least a chance to get into headlines every now and then. (3) The overacheivers are going to get notice because they do big things despite bigger obstacles. South Florida, for winning and getting into a BCS conference within five years of their first Division I game. Boise State, with a school in the middle of nowhere, beating OU in the Fiesta Bowl less than a decade after being in the Big West. That kind of thing. (4) Everyone else. Lousiana is in this category. We are currently in this categroy. These schools have been in conferences with the traditional powers. They haven't overachieved. The schools likely didn't put the emphasis on athletics in needed in order to keep up, then woke up in the 21st Century as afterthoughts in the money-chasing game. What separates us from Louisiana and like situated schools is DFW. Our proximity to it and numerous alumni in it give us a strong opportunity to gain recognition and media notice and dollars quicker. Louisiana would truly have to do it the way of Boise State...just decide to dedicate everything to it, and start winning big, big games against traditional powers. Is it fair? No. But, in 1952, 1962, 1972...no one could see what this could become. It took OU and Georgia in the early to mid 80s to recognize that programs could be branded and make a bunch of money from their own brands. In the 90s, the big bowls and conferences with traditional powers banded together to grow and spread the wealth...among themselves. We now have a situation so ridiculous that San Diego State might be in the same conference with Connecticut. Crazy. So, I see why the Louisiana AD says what he says. To him, I say, there is no rest day. Keep plowing ahead. Louisiana will get no breaks. UNT got virtually no breaks either. Our geography helped us to a degree in the minds of the decision makers. You will have to win crazy big and ridiculously often, like Boise State, to overcome the same odds we were fighting. Good luck.

Sun Belt will soon be the old Southland Conference? Waiting for Sam Houston, SFA, and Abilene Christian to join the Belt. It's like we drove away from the coast as the hurricane was on the horizon. Good-bye, Belt!

I don't even know or care what LEEDs is. As far as I'm concerned, it's a city in England or something. But, most of the time I "like" something on facebook, it's because a "friend" has asked me to on their behalf, i.e., their business. So...really, how much cache can you put into "likes"? That's the thing that will vex and keep big investers away...you can't really quantify well what is happening within facebook from an advertising standpoint.

Perhaps. But, I look at the start-from-scratch programs like South Florida. They had a coach with skins on the wall, but far fewer than Larry. But, he had support from the school, connections, and willing cash. UTSA has support from the school, Coker has connections, and they are getting cash. Remember, they were on Longhorn Network more than the Longhorns last year. I'm not saying I'm happy about UTSA being able to be in the same conference as us without "paying their dues." I am saying, when you have committed people and cash all up and down the line, good things will happen for you sooner rather than later. Look at their home schedule. They've got San Jose State and Utah State on back-to-back weekend. Yeah, it's not Notre Dame and Texas, but it ain't Texas Southern either. I'm just saying they have been getting some things done behind the scenes with an eye on "big" instead of just hoping for it. I realize their schedules will change due to realignment, but look at who they had home games from in the future - Oklahoma State, Arizona, Arizona State, Virginia, Baylor. As I've said before, like it or not, San Antonio is an attractive trip to people who haven't been there 100 times and don't already realize the Alamo ain't a big deal, and there is better Tex-Mex elsehwere in the state. To Virginia people, the Alamo will be exciting history, and the Tex-Mex more spicy and exciting than whatever crap passes for Mexican up there. They got decent programs to commit to go there before they've even played one down as an FBS school! Why? They know where they want to go, and they are going there. And, old man Larry Coker, well respected in the coaching community, is a big part of that. San Antonio is a natural tourist draw, and Coker is a nice guy who hasn't burned bridges along the way. We pooh-pooh UTSA at our own peril. Tulsa will die on the vine because their DFW recruiting will be diminished. The Roadrunners will be our rival. We need to realize it now, accept it, and most of all, prepare for it.

It's not that social media will go away. It will continue to evolve. AOL yesterday, google currently, next...the Moon! The thing is, two things: (1) Someone professional will build a better mousetrap, i.e., one without all of the privacy hangups of facebook, the seeming aloofness of the CEO, etc. Personally, I'm not excited about giving heaps and gobs of money to a kid who shows up at professional meetings in a hoodie. Consequently, I feel the same way when I go to meet a potential customer and they are in shorts, flip-flops, and a t-shirt. Very, very few successful people are slobs. (2) Internet advertising as your source of revenue is dicey. I'm not saying it's all bad. But, it's certainly hit and miss. And, can anyone really pinpoint a target audience among facebook's users? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...you go in and target it yourself. But really, people aren't going onto facebook to buy anything, so the advertising intake is not going to grow much beyond what is already there in it's current format.