NT Drummer

It should be an NCAA rule that for non-conference games, the officiating crew is provided by the visiting team's conference. Yes, I know that in the short term, the argument from the "big six" would be that the crews from the SBC, CUSA, etc. wouldn't be as qualified as theirs, but in the long run, I think it would not only ensure fairness, but also improve the quality of officiating.

I'm spending the weekend in Addison - I made reservations at the beginning of the week when there was talk of the game being moved to Texas Stadium, and didn't cancel it "just in case". When the storm track didn't change as of yesterday morning, and I saw the highways were moving, I decided to go ahead and get out of town, mainly because of a 50+ year-old Cottonwood tree in my neighbor's yard that has gone from slowly dying to completely dead in the last 2 weeks - and that tree is less than 15 feet from my house. A friend called me "chicken", but I'll take his abuse like a man. I talked with a friend who only lives 2 miles away from me (who stayed) on the phone about an hour ago, and he says he doesn't appear to have any damage - certainly no broken windows. He doesn't have power, but his land-line phone is working. Eventually he's going to go check out my house. I'm crossing my fingers. Since 2.1 million out of 2.26 million Centerpoint Energy customers are without power, I doubt that anyone who stayed in Houston has an internet connection up to be able to read the board. Most likely Lifer, Eagle1855, etc. are OK, it's IslandEagle I'd worry about. Hopefully he evacuated. We (my wife & I) are going to try to make it to the PourHouse tonight, but we have our two cats with us, and we have to be sure they're not going to freak out and destroy the hotel room before we leave them alone for several hours. If I make it, I'll be the one in the "Marching Band Reunion" T-Shirt. Edit... not more than 5 minutes after posting, got a call from my friend (from my phone) - the cottonwood didn't fall or drop limbs, no damage to the house, only a few minor limbs dropped from some other trees. The neighbor with the cottonwood had a tree in their front yard fall, but missed their house. Apparently my neighborhood has a lot of trees down, while my friend's neighborhood doesn't - the difference between a 25 year-old neighborhood & a 10 year-old neighborhood, I guess.

For two days now, I've had a tab open for the NHC, 3 tabs for WUnderground, and a tab for stormpulse. Not to mention the local tv weather pages...

Now that LSU made the decision not to move the game, Ike will head north... Actually, I don't wish that on them (or our team), but I really don't want Ike to hit Houston!

I hate it when work gets in the way of life! I apologize to those in the Houston area, I intended to keep you informed of Exes Gulf Coast Chapter activity, and I just haven't found the time to do more than just quick posts here & there. Besides the postcard I previously mentioned (which I haven't had time to scan yet), there will also be a postcard sent specifically to Exes members in the Houston area about the Rice game events, and announcing a "Happy Hour" on November 6th so members can meet Derrick Morgan and Rob McKinney, who will come down from Denton. The concert by Gustavo Romero was already planned (it might not have even been planned by the School of Music, but by Rice), but the reception was added once the Alumni Association and the Office of Advancement realized it was the same weekend as the game. Yes, it does appeal to a different crowd than the Pep Rally, except for a few people like myself. I think I'll be at the Pep Rally since I can't be at both. There will be a Gulf Coast chapter board meeting either next week or the week after - I need to double-check and get back to y'all as soon as possible. George French

I expected this to be a link to the Bottom 10. A day reprieve, maybe?

I thought the vote was going to be during homecoming week (homecoming is Oct. 25)? I thought the idea was to have it at the same time as the homcoming queen/king election, to boost the vote. Is this a change?

There will be an official tailgating area, co-sponsored by the Exes, the Athletic Department, and the Office of Advancement, like at the SMU game last year (I wasn't there, but I hear it was well-run and well-attended). There will also be a reception/pep rally Friday night at the team hotel, the Westin Galleria. There will be postcards mailed out to alumni & Mean Green Club members - a few of the postcards were on the table with the stadium model on Saturday, and I picked one up. I'll scan it and upload it tonight (I guess it's time to set up a flickr account for myself!). I'll have a party of 8 at the game, including a friend who is a UT alum & season-ticket-holder who went to her first Mean Green game on Saturday, and wants to come back!

What did the alumni side look like by the middle of the 1st quarter? The student side was pretty empty until after the pregame, and then it started to fill in, but it didn't get filled until mid-way through the first quarter either.

While sitting on the alumni side it was hard to tell just how full it was. I know there were empty seats, and it probably looked like swiss cheese, but it looked like every section was mostly filled, probably 2/3 to 3/4. It also looked like most on the alumni side stayed until close to the end of the game. As usual, it looked like the deck was pretty full, accounting for some of the empty seats. There are way more green chairbacks than last year, and last year had way more chairbacks than the year before, so season ticket sales must be steadily increasing. I would guess that actual attendence by alumni and students was about equal - thanks to all who came. For the announced attendence to be 22,000+, all season tickets must have been counted, regardless. The main stadium holds 20,000 - were there actually 2,000 in the end zones? And thanks to the 3,000 or so Tulsa fans who came!

I had the same "This is a private party - go away" experience. Maybe the Pourhouse could contribute to the Greenbackers tailgate at the next home game to make up for it?

I thought they were spelling "Amen". But that would be breaking the separation between church and state!

In your honor, AstroMike: William Shatner - Rocket Man

From the Tulsa Game Notes, and I think it was also in the e-mail sent to Mean Green Club members: Hall of Fame Dedication – The North Texas athletics department will host a reception and dedication ceremony Saturday afternoon, to officially unveil the T.D. Parks Hall of Fame that is housed in the lobby of the Mean Green Athletic Center. The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the athletic center with the opening remarks from C. Dan Smith, who is a former North Texas football letterman and current member of the University’s Board of Regents. Smith was instrumental in the completion of the project, which was named for his late friend and teammate Terry Don Parks. Smith and Parks played football for North Texas in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, leading a team that played in the 1959 Sun Bowl and was ranked as high as No. 16 in the Associated Press college football poll. I remember a thread about the donation for the Hall of Fame, but I don't remember anyone else mentioning the dedication ceremony. I'm not sure if I'll make it up to Denton in time, but I'm going to try - I haven't had an opportunity to go inside the Athletic Center yet.

Most of what is in this column was in the president's email newsletter, but the paragraphs about the stadium are new. This could be the beginning... I hope!

I'm amazed that AP actually called them anarchists.

Well, playmaker has a reputation to uphold!

It wasn't the o.c. that was the problem last year, it was the d.c. Todge recognized the problem, and not only made a change, he got the best person for the job.

TEXAS

Why stop at just the SOW, the shirt could have all of the "spirit marks" on it - the eagle head, the claw, "North Texas", "Mean Green"...

I want one too!

25+ years ago: $3.00 pitchers of Old Milwaukee at the Rock Bottom Lounge, shared with a friend - $1.50 each! 12 years ago: Wednesday $1.00 pint night at Waterloo Brewing Company in Austin Now: whatever decent beer is on sale at Kroger - Shiner, Corona, St. Arnolds, Heineken, etc.

Yes, because of cars, although I think one or two oblivious pedestrians (probably using Ipods) have been hit by trains as well since the train was put into service. To be honest, there are a lot fewer accidents these days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_Light_Rail

Ah yes, the danger train! A word of warning - if you drive on Main St., DON'T make any left turns. It's illegal for a reason - you might get hit by the train. If you need to make a left, make 3 right turns instead.

Assuming that the ticket office sends me the correct tickets, I'm now in section E, rows 23 & 24, seats 9 & 10 in each row (4 seats total).