UNTLifer

The students should come to watch North Texas and not care who we play. The statement above is what pisses me off the most.

How can you rate our current classes when most of those kids haven't been on the field yet. If you look at the current, or last few issues, DCTF you will notice that most of NT's recruiting classes have been poorly rated at the time the class was signed, but turned out to be pretty good classes once the kids matured. I agree with most of your post, but I just can't see criticizing a class before they hit the field. Are our classes of the caliber that we will challenge for the BcS Championship in 4 years? Probably not, but they aren't going to until we move up in conference, build a new stadium, see some support of the program as a whole from the administration, and increase season ticket sales and MG Club members.

More seats in the upper deck than close to the field.

That's what I thought. If you are unhappy with the direction of our university, contact the BOR. Then again, you can obtain just about anyone's email address through unt.edu except for the BOR.

Exactly my point, plus I read the article from the Houston Chronicle this morning, live in Houston, that NT80 posted above.

NM

I read the article and I don't take it as a slap at NT. TCU brought a good crowd to Houston last year and are a perenial Top 20 team from the state, CUSA is a conference with much more cred. than the Sun Belt. I guarantee you that if NT were a consistent Top 25 team, instead of a 65+ team (100+ last year), and from a strong conference with national appeal that NT would have been included. When NT becomes consistently successful, try in our OOC games and either join a new conference or see the Sun Belt improve by leaps and bounds we can expect to be treated in this manner.

Salery/salary their/there/they're loose/lose

You all need to wake up and read the article. The Sun Belt Conference was ommitted, not North Texas.

Nothing reported here in Houston

You mean all college students don't have Plasma screen televisions?

I don't know if the "old nestors" are still to blame. They may have created this attitude, but that was 30 or 40 years ago, and most of them should be retired by this point. We need to change the attitude of the entire faculty, staff, administration, etc... that are currently on campus to have some pride in their university whether it be the quality of education NT offers or the product NT puts on the athletic field/court.

Good idea.

Mr. Chopsticks is moving on 07:34 AM CDT on Thursday, August 10, 2006 By Dawn Cobb / Business Editor Last Saturday was one of the worst days Numchai Tamprateep can remember. The owner of Mr. Chopsticks, a longtime favorite among Denton residents, will soon be closing its doors on Hickory Street and moving temporarily to another location on Scripture Street. The move follows an eviction notice received by fax last Thursday and by certified letter on Saturday detailing the need to vacate the 1120 W. Hickory St. location in 30 days, Tamprateep said. “I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It was the worst day of my life.” DRC/Al Key Mr. Chopsticks owner Numchai Tamprateep says his business will soon be closing its doors on Hickory Street and moving temporarily to Scripture Street. The eviction notice was one of two sent by Houston-area developer Buster Freed­man in a move to start on the project for the property he bought in early May. “It is correct that we are moving forward with our project and have asked Cool Beans and Mr. Chopsticks to vacate their premises so that we may gather additional construction and engineering data necessary to move forward with our plans,” Freedman wrote in an e-mail response to a telephone query. Part of Cool Beans at 1210 W. Hickory St. will need to be closed within a 30-day period. Half of the nightclub’s building was part of the recent purchase by Freedman. The remaining half will stay under current ownership and remain open, the owners have said. “While it may not [be] obvious to the public, the fact is that we only purchased a portion of the Cool Beans building and they still have a lease on the majority of the space they currently occupy,” Freedman wrote. “In conversations with their landlord, we were informed they have many years remaining on their lease and intend to stay open for business. We also understand that they own businesses and property across the street that they may relocate to in the future. “We are continuing to work with the remaining tenants with the intention of offering them the opportunity to stay on Fry Street in a new or renovated facility and bring other retailers that will benefit their business and the neighborhood,” Freedman wrote. The last taste of Asian cuisine at Mr. Chopsticks’ current Hickory Street location will be on Sept. 1 before Tamprateep closes it to make the move in time. “I don’t know how you can do it in 30 days,” Tamprateep said. “If you live in a house or apartment, it’s OK, but a business? I don’t know how it’s going to happen.” Tamprateep said he believed he had until Sept. 5 to vacate the premises, though he is asking for an extension to Sept. 15. Tamprateep talked with Freedman several times, asking for suggested rent costs, he said. He was told it would be about $7,300 per month or so at the proposed new development once it was completed. “But I can’t see $7,300 a month. That’s a $6,000 increase over what I’m doing now. I can see two or three times [the current rate],” Tamprateep said. He plans to relocate Mr. Chopsticks inside of his second restaurant, Quick Stir, at 1633 Scripture St. for a while before readying a new location for his restaurant at the property he bought at 1115-1117 W. Hickory St. — almost directly across from his current location. Tamprateep bought the older three-bedroom, two-bath house and adjacent residential lot about a month ago to have something near the University of North Texas campus, he said. The price of the house was not disclosed, though Denton Central Appraisal District listed a 2006 total assessed value for the property at $96,538. “Our hope was to keep Mr. Chopsticks as a tenant in our project and have had numerous conversations with Mr. Tamprateep in an attempt to keep him open and relocate him to a renovated building within our project,” Freedman wrote. “We were disappointed to learn last month that he purchased another restaurant in the area and he informed us that he was going to relocate his business to that property.” Margaret Johnston, who owns Elm Street Antiques, is the current resident of the house. She said she was approached by Tamprateep last month to buy her home. “He knocked on my door and told me, ‘I want to buy your house,’” she said. Johnston said the home was her mother’s home for a number of years. “I cried a lot and prayed a lot,” she said. “I believe if we give things a little time, we’re guided in the direction we ought to go and that’s what happened to me.” Since the sale, Johnston said she has felt good about her decision though saddened by the prospect of leaving memories. “A lot more people than I realize say Mr. Chopsticks is a good place to eat,” she said. The sale was made with a few conditions, she said, adding that she is in the process of finding another place to live with the help of her business partners, Mike Pennington and John Bennett. “I’ve lived there since 1974,” she said. “I like the old house, liked the idea of students walking back and forth. You don’t really feel alone out there.” She plans to move in early November, leaving behind the large oak tree in the front yard where her mother had a photograph portrait made and the remains of a beloved dog, Lucy. Keeping both areas intact is part of the conditions of the sale, she said. Since her home was bought, Johnston said she has come to know Tamprateep better. “Mr. Chopsticks” — as she refers to Tamprateep — “is very concerned about my wellbeing and feelings,” she said. “I feel like he is very fair and very honest with me.” Asked if she had been to the restaurant, Johnston said the cuisine had actually come to her. Last weekend, during an estate sale at her mother’s former home, she was surprised with a special delivery — tea and an array of fresh entrees free from Mr. Chopsticks across the street.

Question: When bringing a trailer, thus utilizing two parking spots, do they charge double for parking?

Former Ohio State RB Clarett arrested for concealed weapon August 9, 2006 COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) - Maurice Clarett cannot stay out of trouble. The former Ohio State star running back was arrested in Columbus early Wednesday for carrying a concealed weapon in his sport-utility vehicle after leading police on a high-speed chase. Clarett was spotted "weaving back and forth on Brice Road" in the state capital, officer Betty Schwab said. Officers attempted to pull him over, but he refused to stop and "took off" eastbound on Interstate 70, where police kept track of him with a helicopter. ADVERTISEMENT Clarett made a U-turn on the median and headed westbound before police successfully spiked his tires. After the Youngstown native pulled into a parking lot, officers pulled up behind him and ordered him out of his vehicle, but he was non-compliant. "They tried to tase him ... but found out he was wearing a bulletproof vest," Schwab said. After finally subduing him, officers found four guns in his vehicle, including "an assault weapon on the floorboard, passenger side." According to the arrest report, Clarett had a loaded 9-millimeter handgun concealed under his legs on the driver's seat of his silver 2002 Hyundai, a fourth-degree felony. He also was charged with failing to maintain a continuous lane for his erratic driving. Clarett was in Franklin County Jail late Wednesday morning and will be arraigned on Thursday. On February 10, Clarett was indicted on two counts of aggravated robbery and a concealed weapon charge stemming from a January 1 incident in which he allegedly held up two people at gunpoint in an alley behind a bar. Clarett, 22, led Ohio State to a national championship during his freshman year by rushing for 1,266 yards and 16 touchdowns. He scored the winning TD in double overtime in the championship game victory against Miami but never again played for the Buckeyes. In September 2003, Clarett was charged with misdemeanor falsification for reporting that more than $10,000 in clothing and equipment were stolen from a car that he had borrowed. Later that month, Clarett was suspended for a game for receiving special benefits from a family friend and misleading investigators. In January 2004, Clarett pleaded guilty to failing to aid a law enforcement officer. Clarett challenged an NFL ruling that a player had to wait three years after his high school class had graduated to play in the NFL and was granted eligibility for the draft. However, the decision was appealed and overturned. Once eligible for the NFL, Clarett did not last long. He was a surprise third-round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2005 but was released after battling a groin injury in the preseason and failed to hook up with another team.

Let's not overreact. The above reasons are why this kid thinks he's above it all. Everyone caters to him, and he doesn't even get a slap on the wrist.

I agree with everything you said. I also agree with NT80 in that he has shown no remorse. He stuck his hand out, accepted something illegal and wants to move on without even an apology or admittance for being in the wrong. Enjoy Commerce, TX and all that it offers.

Richard Justice wrote this column on Graham in this morning's Chronicle: Graham puts some pep into Rice's step By RICHARD JUSTICE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Todd Graham didn't see Rice Stadium for the sad sight it had become. He saw it for what it could still be. He saw potential. To Graham, Rice Stadium was symbolic of everything that had happened to Rice football. So that first day when he interviewed for the job, when he toured the offices, when he saw how rundown the facilities had become, when he realized that the business and public relations operations had fallen three decades behind the times, he was struck with an odd thought. A master painter Others who interviewed for the job didn't see what he saw. Indeed, had he not come from Tulsa, had he not been at programs where the stone is constantly being rolled up the mountain, he might not have seen it the way he did. Yet on that first day, before he was even offered the job, before he knew all the negatives, before he had peers tell him he was going to ruin a promising career, he saw a Rice no one else saw. "I saw a blank canvas," he said. That's the analogy he used Monday morning as he described his first nine months as the new head football coach at Rice. He's 41 years old, a bundle of energy and edge and optimism. He's convinced he can do for Rice football what Wayne Graham has done for Rice baseball. "We have excellence in engineering, excellence in architecture, excellence in baseball and volleyball," Todd Graham said. "Why can't we have excellence in football?" Go ahead and laugh at him. Tell him you've read the same story a dozen times before. Remind him Rice hasn't been to a bowl game since the Kennedy administration. Just don't expect him to buy in. In these first nine months, he has changed, well, everything. Beginning with a mindset. $5.5 million and counting To help that new mindset along, personnel in the athletic department have been changed. In nine months, Graham has done things no Rice football coach has ever done. Like convince the administration to allow him to do his own fundraising. "I've raised around $5.5 million," he said. "I've spent all of that and maybe then some. I wanted people to see a visual change. I didn't want to tell a recruit, 'Son, it's going to get done in three years.' I wanted it done now. I want people to walk in that stadium and say, 'Wow.' We're well on our way." He found there were people associated with Rice who still cared about football. He found there might still be an opportunity to do something. "I had grown men get tears in their eyes," he said. "They'd tell me they wouldn't be where they are today without the Rice education. Rice people are passionate." He constantly reminds visitors that the Owls still haven't won a game and that making progress in the office is not making progress on the field. That said, the progress off the field has been stunning. He has taken a program that had come to accept losing, that had embraced the idea football at Rice was a hopeless cause, and at least changed the way things look. Here's what $5.5 million buys: a spiffed-up stadium, complete with new turf, new seats and a giant video screen; a state-of-the-art weight room; a refurbished locker room; and digital technology in the staff offices. "It's like we've finally arrived," offensive lineman Lute Barber said. "It's big-time college football." Tight end Will Moss added: "We came here to play Division I football. Now this is Division I football." The changes go deeper than brick and mortar. He put his players through a grueling weight-training program. For the first time, players remained on campus this summer to work on conditioning and basic football drills. He installed a pass-happy offense and a blitz-first defense. "It's been physically demanding," Moss said. "It's been mentally demanding. Everyday, you're going to be challenged in a way you haven't been challenged before." Graham believes he has a recruiting class capable of contributing immediately. "We're going to be able to recruit," he said. "You can see that already. Everyone wants to make excuses for us for the schedule or whatever. I make no excuses. I'm not going to accept any from anyone else. We're going to build a winner." As for academics, he intends to embrace them. He wants kids who understand what a Rice degree is all about. He wants to take advantage of their brains by running a system that's more complicated, more demanding. He looked at last season's films and said: "You have smart kids, but you run a simple offense and a simple defense." Sobering times are ahead. Rice plays a ridiculous schedule. After opening the season with Houston, Rice plays UCLA on the road, Texas at Reliant Stadium and Florida State on the road. The Owls play just four games at Rice Stadium. Graham talks to his players constantly about mental toughness. He'll find out early if they've got it. Yet it's a beginning. It feels different. After years of accepting defeat, Graham is at least trying. His success may determine whether Rice continues to play Division I football. He doesn't believe he'll fail. "There's no secret formula," he said. "It's the passion you have. It's the grind. I like the grind. ... I've worked hard to drive expectations up. If you keep expectations low, you have no chance." richard.justice@chron.com

And to think that the "loose/lose" fiasco of 05'/06' just concluded.

While his physical skills are impressive, his character leaves a lot to be desired. I would advise him to move on.

That would be Harrell's brother.

Hawaii: Ian Sample Receives More Eligibility RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com Tuesday, August 8, 2006 Update: Sample was granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. Recommendation: Sample missed one year to take care of his ill mother, and then wrecked his knee early last season and was granted a retroactive medical redshirt. He'll compete with Ross Dickerson for a starting job.

DRC.com Men's basketball: Steadman interviews for McNeese job 06:48 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer North Texas assistant men’s basketball coach Jai Steadman felt like his interview at McNeese State for the Cowboys opening for a head coach went well on Monday. Steadman will find out how well today. McNeese interviewed three other candidates along with Steadman for the opening that was created when Tic Price was fired and will announce its decision today. Dave Simmons, an assistant coach at Northwestern State, has been mentioned as a front-runner. Mississippi State assistant coach Robert Kirby and Charlie Fenske, who last coached as an assistant at Texas State, also interviewed. “I thought the interview went really well,” Steadman said Monday following his visit to the Lake Charles, La., school. “I am up against three really good coaches. At my age and for what I have been through, to be able to interview for a Division I job is a great honor.” Steadman graduated from Nebraska in 1997 and took his first job as an assistant at Tyler Junior College later that year. He made a stop at TCU before spending a year at McNeese in 2004-05. He then joined Johnny Jones’ staff at UNT before last season. Steadman took over as the Mean Green’s recruiting coordinator earlier this year and has helped land a series of transfers who are expected to be impact players at UNT, including forwards Curtis Muse of Mineral Area (Mo.) Community College and Roderick Flemings, a transfer from Oklahoma State. “It would be a great step in my career,” Steadman said. “To be a head coach on the collegiate level is something I have prepared for. I know I am ready.” Steadman credited Jones for preparing him for the opportunity to interview for the McNeese job. Jones already lost one of his assistants this offseason when Fred Rike left to become the head coach at Angelo State, a Division II school in the Lone Star Conference.