Smitty

I did not know that term. Thanks. No roller coasters, but I like to think Mean Green World is an E-ticket attraction.

Open to everyone. No log-in. No passwords. No secret handshakes. All graphics are free, just as they currently are on Mean Green Graphics.

Since the reaction to Mean Green Graphics has been so positive, I have decided to move the wallpapers and avatars from their temporary, sub-domain home to a new website called Mean Green World, located at www.meangreenworld.com. Mean Green World will launch on August 26, 2007, (the Sunday before the first game) and, to mark the occasion, the site will unveil more than 100 new graphics. As always, all the graphics are free. Among the new materials are: Computer wallpapers – seven new wallpapers, including Daniel Meager, Jamario Thomas, the new North Texas football helmet, and the North Texas battleflag. Avatars – sixty new avatars, including the new helmet, the battleflag, Daniel Meager, Jamario Thomas, Woody Wilson, Todd Dodge, Hayden Fry, Abner Haynes, Joe Greene, softball, cross country, and basketball. Cell phone wallpapers! – my first effort at backgrounds for cell phones and other wireless handheld devices. The initial batch has thirty backgrounds. Screensavers! – six North Texas Mean Green screensavers, including the new helmet, the Eagle, Mean Green, and Forever Green (featuring vintage North Texas photos). Each screensaver has its own installation program that will automatically load it onto your computer and, if you chose, will put a shortcut on your desktop with a custom-made Mean Green icon for easy quick launch. Horizontal bars! - no, not that kind of bar. Graphic bars like the one in my signature below. And finally… The Return of The Flying Worm. Flying Worm wallpapers, Flying Worm avatars, a special Flash revealing the top-secret story of the Worm's return, and the triumphant debut of the Flying Worm screensaver. I'll post again when Mean Green World is launched.

Correct. Gary Payne is the photographer who took that photo of Dodge. His name is listed on the byline under the photo. Tim MacMahon wrote the article.

Actually, the story is by Tim MacMahon. Gary Payne is the photographer who took the photo of Dodge that accompanies the story. Here is a link to the article: Dodge needs to play nice at North Texas I understand Tim's argument, and it has some validity. But Dodge is installing his system for the first time, and this season he has the advantage of opponents having limited scouting information. He's trying to make use of that the best he can, by closing practice and reducing the number of eyes watching the Mean Green. It's one of the oldest conflicts in sports - sportswriters' need for information vs. coaches' reluctance to release information.

I attended games in the old Pit, and it was great.

That's a visual I didn't need this early in the morning.

Here's a good reason not to throw things: if it reaches the field, the home team can be penalized. Tech got warned about that a few years ago. And yes, it's a long throw right now, but it won't be such a long throw in the new stadium. And I guarantee you, the first time North Texas gets hit with a penalty because an idiot threw something on the field, Todd Dodge will put a stop that nonsense. How do you celebrate a touchdown? Are you kidding? You yell! You holler! You applaud! You know, the "traditional" way to celebrate a touchdown. How difficult is this? Make noise! The term "new tradition" is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as a "new" tradition. Traditions are built over time - lots of time. Boomer is a tradition. The fight song is a tradition. But if you want to start something that can become a tradition, then how about making Fouts Field and its eventual successor so loud that the opposition needs hearing aids to hear their snap count? So loud that the NT players have no doubt of the passion of their fans? So loud that North Texas becomes known as a tough place to play? A decade from now, there are only two traditions we need to add - winning and noise. And you're wrong, Playmaker. No one has been injured, but people have been hit in the face with those damn things and it does hurt. People pick them up off the ground and throw them at each other. Is that what you call watching football? Paying attention to the game? You want to throw tortillas? The tortilla field is over there. We're here for football. FOOTBALL, DAMN IT!

Unless you're related to or friends with Vizza or Meager or Tune or Phillips or Wilson, why do you care who wins the job? As a North Texas fan, I want the best quarterback on the field. The coaches are the only ones qualified to make that judgment, not us, so I'm happy to leave that decision to them. I'm going to cheer for whoever is under center, regardless of his name or past experiences or fans' expectations.

Give me the dimensions

New wallpapers and much, much more. Coming soon.

It would also be really sweet for any opposing coaches needing some scouting material.

That's by far the best yet.

After SMU got the death penalty, somebody made bumper stickers that played on the MUSTANG MANIA slogan. It seems appropriate again: PONY PANIC

There was no mention of helmet stickers.

According to ESPN.com, Michael Strahan did not report to the Giants camp and is considering retirement. Good news all around. Good for Dallas if Strahan quits, and good news for Adrian Awasom, who might see more playing time. Strahan fails to report to Giants camp, considering retirement ALBANY, N.Y. -- Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan failed to report to the New York Giants training camp on Friday, and he is mulling retirement, his agent told the team. "He is not here," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said after Strahan failed to report with veterans and rookies to the University at Albany. "Last night I talked to his agent [Tony Agnone] and his agent said to me at seven o'clock last night that he is contemplating retirement. That's all I know right now." Neither Reese nor coach Tom Coughlin has been able to contact Strahan, although the 35-year-old who holds the NFL single-season record for sacks (22½) left a message for Coughlin around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night. Coughlin did not see the message until Friday morning. He left a telephone message for Strahan, but it was not immediately returned. "Obviously I am disappointed that he is not here," said Coughlin, who said that Strahan left no message other than to call him. "He is a very important part of our team as we have talked all along. We are just going to have to wait for more information. Angone did not immediately return a telephone message left at his office by The Associated Press. Strahan, whose 132½ sacks are tops among active players, was not immediately available for comment. The Giants placed Strahan on their reserve-did not report to camp list, Reese said, adding that Agnone did not say why Strahan was considering retirement. Neither Coughlin nor Reese would say whether Strahan would be fined for missing camp until they spoke with him. Coughlin hoped the incident would not distract the team with its first practices scheduled for Saturday. "We've had enough of those," Coughlin said of distractions which plagued the Giants during an 8-8 campaign in 2006. "At least we've dealt with it. Put it that way." There have been recent reports that Strahan, who was scheduled to make $4 million this season, was going to hold out because he felt he was being underpaid. However, many felt that Strahan was looking for more money after losing a bitter divorce this past summer to his former wife, Jean. She was awarded $15.3 million along with child support for their twin daughters at $18,000 a month. Agnone did not talk about renegotiating Strahan's contract with Reese, who added that Strahan might be tired after 14 seasons. "I thought it was a little bit of a late notice but that's the way the National Football League works some times," Reese said. "I just told him (Agnone) that if he's ready to retire we wish him God's speed. Tony said he might wake up in the morning and say 'I want to play.'" Strahan, who missed half of last season with a foot injury, took part in the Giants offseason training program and minicamp. Despite his second major injury in three years, Strahan believed then that he was the NFL's best defensive end. "I can still pop on the film and show you I am still the best at what I do," Strahan said in June. "I mean that's my opinion." If Strahan does retire, the Giants may consider moving second-year pro Mathias Kiwanuka back to defensive end. He played well there last year as a rookie but the Giants moved the first-round draft choice to strongside linebacker in April in an attempt to get him more playing time. Reese said the team will have to move on if Strahan walks away. "I think he is a Hall of Fame football player, so obviously it's a big void," Reese said. "But we don't know anything yet. When we talk to him and get more information you'll know." Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Because Arlington ponied up $325 million and Dallas did not.

Huge news. That would be a major step in the development of the conference.

?

NCAA: Oklahoma must forfeit 2005 season Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma football program must forfeit its wins from the 2005 season and will lose two scholarships for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. The penalties, announced Wednesday by the NCAA, stem from a case involving two players, including the Sooners' starting quarterback, who were kicked off the team for being paid for work they had not performed at a Norman car dealership. The Sooners went 8-4 and beat Oregon in the Holiday Bowl to end the 2005 season. Records from that season involving quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn must be vacated, the NCAA said, and coach Bob Stoops' career record will be amended to reflect the forfeitures, dropping it from 86-19 in eight seasons to 78-27. Oklahoma also will have two years of probation added to an earlier penalty, extending the Sooners' probation to May 23, 2010. Those sanctions are in addition to those already self-imposed by Oklahoma, which has banned athletes from working at the car dealership until at least the 2008-09 academic year and has moved to prevent the athletes' supervisor at the dealership, Brad McRae, from being involved with the university's athletics program until at least August 2011. Oklahoma also will reduce the number of football coaches who are allowed to recruit off campus this fall. The Sooners also dismissed Bomar, Quinn and walk-on Jermaine Hardison from the team. "Although this case centered on a few violations involving three student-athletes, the committee finds this case to be significant and serious for several reasons," the NCAA report said, noting the length of time of the violations and the fact that Oklahoma had appeared before the committee in April 2006 regarding violations in its men's basketball program. On Aug. 3, the day before the Sooners began preseason practice, Stoops dismissed Bomar and Quinn from the team after the university determined they had been paid for work not performed at Big Red Sports and Imports. That led to a subsequent NCAA investigation. The committee found that Oklahoma "demonstrated a failure to monitor" the employment of several athletes, including some football players who worked during the academic year. The NCAA said that failure led to the university not detecting NCAA rules violations. During the investigation, the university disputed that allegation, arguing that the NCAA should applaud, not penalize, its efforts to root out violations and noted that NCAA president Myles Brand told one news outlet that the university "acted with integrity in taking swift and decisive action" in the case. Both Bomar and Quinn lost a season of eligibility. Bomar has been ordered by the NCAA to pay back more than $7,400 in extra benefits to charity, while Quinn was told to pay back more than $8,100. Both players transferred to Division I-AA schools -- Bomar to Sam Houston State and Quinn to Montana -- where they can resume their careers this season. Oklahoma officials also appeared before the Committee on Infractions in April 2006 following an investigation into hundreds of improper recruiting phone calls by former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson's staff. Oklahoma escaped major sanctions in that case, as the NCAA Committee on Infractions found the university guilty of a "failure to monitor," a less severe ruling than "lack of institutional control," which had been recommended by the NCAA's enforcement staff. The committee moved Oklahoma's self-imposed probation so it would begin in May 2006 and end in May 2008. The NCAA also issued a public reprimand and censure but otherwise accepted the university's self-imposed sanctions, which included reductions in scholarships, recruiting calls and trips and visits to the school by prospective recruits. Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

They would care, but none of us passed the credit check. SMU doesn't hate just anyone, you know.

That was the stealth offense that went with the stealth recruiting.

COMPLETE AGREEMENT. Good post.

If I heard correctly, I believe Channel 11 said that Riley will graduate from Southlake this December and begin attending North Texas in January.

Highlights of Riley throwing up! Quotes from this board (including me!) Cool! (it was on the 6:00 newscast.)