KRAM1

GREAT comeback by WKU last evening! Good news for the Hilltopper fans and good news for the SunBelt. Both Sunbelt teams in post-season play won opening round games last evening...good news for the SunBelt and all its members. Should be interesting to see how WKU does against "big brother" and in-state rival (can you call them rivals?) KU. Here's hoping WKU does get that opening tip, the shot clock stops and they can hold the ball! Ha! Great quote from the Coach...priceless! GO HILLTOPPERS...make the Sunbelt proud! Can it happen? YES! Will it happen? Odds say no...but I say this is March Madness and NCAA basketball...anything can happen. It ain't over for the Hilltoppers yet!

Good job by Middle...more money for the Mean Green???? Does the NIT dish $$$$ out to the conferences to split like the NCAA Tourney does? Just wondering. Either way...good to see the win for the Sunbelt. Keep it going Middle....

Appreciate the support...I'll send you a PM with the address where you can mail your donation...or you can just show up and give us the check or cash...cash is always good! Ha! Just let us know as soon as you know if you will be playing or not...hope you can play as well. Thanks again......

Thanks so much Green59...you were the first to call me and let me know you would be donating....really appreciate you and knew I could count on your support. Thanks so much.....again!

EXCELLENT...got you down...could you post a stat or two here and then let us have your T-shirt size as well for the player shirts? many thanks...glad to have you aboard.

Same time they have always said...around 2PM...or maybe 1PM...Ha! Just kidding, but I under5stand it will be in the 1PM to 2PM time frame for the kick-off! Is that confusing enough for ya??? Hope you can make it for the best game of the two that day...the GMG.COM Flag Football game...of course!

BREAKING NEWS...Just got the official word that we are GOOD TO GO with the next edition of the GMG.Com Flag Football Game being played before the Spring Game AT APOGEE this year!!!!! We will kick-off at 10:00AM to make sure all is clear for the spring game set-up!!!!! This is great news, and I really appreciate Rick Villarreal and the Athletic Dept. folks going to bat for us to make this happen. FIRST GMG.COM FLAG FOOTBALL GAME AT APOGEE!!!!!! Day of the Spring Game...how cool is that???? April 21st...10:00AM... As always, proceeds will benefit the Andrew Smith Memorial Scholarship fund through the UNT Athletic department. Player fee remains $25.00. YES, I know this comes right on the heels of our GMG.Com Basketball II Classic...and, yes, I know I'll be asking you guys to step up once again with donations, playing fees and auction items, but, hey...it's the GMG.Com Flag Football Game and it's at APOGEE no less! Who's in??????? Let get this thing rockin' May need some help in staging this one as it comes so close after the Basketball game and time is short, but, that's no hill for a climber and we can make this happen... THANKS RV and Company.... Come on folks...it's gonna be crazy and great! If you think you might could help with this event in some way just PM me....OK, lots more to follow, but wanted to get this great news out ASAP!!!!! Click here to view the article

Thanks for the link, Harry. Folks, just click on this link at 2PM this Sunday to "tune in" to the GMG.COM Basketball Classic II Player Draft... As always, it should yield some interesting results...it's gonna be fun folks...if you aren't playing...and want to have some fun...come out to the Volleyball gym at Mean green Village and watch the action.

Where you been Grand? Lots of folks were claiming that UNT, RV and others were just sitting on their hands while EVERYONE ELSE made moves to better their conference affiliations. No names will be provided for my own personal safety. I know what can happen when you disagree with some folks! Ha!

OK, good comments, but I'd also like to hear from some of our more "liberal" posters what they think is the challenge with the voter ID bill...agree 100% with the "10th Amendment" comment...the 10th is often ignored by the more liberal folks who want the federal govt. to have the say over every part of our lives. Any of our more liberal friends want to give some good reasons why the voter ID law is so bad? I keep looking for that one reason why this should be such an issue. Puzzling...very puzzling to me.

Me, my Mother, my wife, our son and daughter-in-law....to name just a few...not nearly as many as we used to now with bill pay and credit cards, etc., but sometimes there it's just nice to have the convenience of a check...but, I see your point. Check writing is falling in numbers yearly. Soon, checks will indeed be a thing of the past...then folks can start talking about how that hurts minorities and the elderly, etc.

Excellent piece in today's Wall Street Journal about this topic and how Bill Maher is "supporting" Limbaugh in this mess for "personal reasons" as he has been a big "offender" but doesn't get called out on it like conservative media folks do...gee, imagine that?

One needs a photo ID to use a check at Wl-Mart or Krogers or...well, just about everywhere, and often when using a credit card one is asked for a valid photo ID these days...you need a license to drive in Texas and to purchase auto insurance (legally anyway), right? I just don't get the angst over the Voter ID thing...even though stats show that voter fraud is very minimal overall...for the life of me, I don't get it. No one here has yet posted just how requiring a photo ID WOULD impact minority, elderly...or any other vote for that matter. Is there a valid reason or is this all just PC run amok once again?

As I understand it, that is the area designated for the new UNT track facility. Am sure there will be lots of green space around the stadium, but it will probably be "planned" green space and not just open fields.

Agree...should UNT have won the tournament, I would all but bet that UNT would, indeed, be playing in a play-in game. What do they call them now? The NCAA doesn't use the term "play-in"...what do they call it now? Whatever they call it, UNT would be in it! Agree with Mo Green here.

WOW...that's some serious change compared to what it costs to field men's soccer...especially since UNT already has a stadium...anyway...the point is...it costs a bunch of money to run a baseball program. So, since baseball is "next up" it appears...good deal there for lots of folks...it's time to start increasing those Mean green Club donations and memberships...especially from the folks who have been clamoring for and posting about baseball at UNT for so long. I increased my donation level and will do so even more once there is an "official" stadium and/or program announcement (no way some rich dude funds the continued operation of this program all by him or herself)...hopefully in the soon to be set "podcast with RV"...one never knows where a podcast will go...

Just another indication that "good things" are happening for UNT and that UNT's staff are INDEED very much involved in the whole conference realignment "mess". Wow...amazing confirmation that, indeed, RV, Lane Rawlins and many others have certainly NOT just been sitting on their hands. Hard to imagine, right? Sometimes this stuff is just too funny...got to love it all. This is GREAT news regarding UNT...sure it's from a "news source" and not some "official UNT announcement", but it's pretty solid evidence that UNT has been very much involved in this process. Imagine that.....

That would be cool as well, but I am hearing there are other plans for Fouts once the new track facility is built...like a new parking garage...also badly needed at UNT. I'm thinking the baseball field will be across 35 from Fouts near Apogee. But, I still like the idea...I also think it can be built a lot sooner if UNT uses the open area across from Apogee...sooner the better, right?

OK, serious discussion here...I have been scratching my head for some time now to try to figure out just what is wrong with Voter ID laws. While there really isn't much voter fraud if you really look at it on a national basis, even a small amount here and there, seems to me to be wrong. The U.S. Justice Dept. yesterday blocked Texas from the new Texas Voter ID Law that requires all voters to show a state issued ID in order to vote. We have all heard how these voter ID laws make it harder for minorities and the elderly to vote. Really? How? You have to have a valid ID to drive, to open a bank account, to apply for social security, to be employed, to travel...even many bus companies require valid ID now, to apply for any government assistance programs, to qualify for federal-assisted low-income housing, and on and on and on. So, and I am dead serious here, just how do these voter ID laws make it harder for anyone to vote? I may be naive here, but I seriously do not get it. I do not see this as a racial, minority or senior citizen issue AT ALL. State issued ID's can be obtained from the Dept. of Motor Vehicles...same place one gets a valid driver's license...our "mentally handicapped son" has a state issued Texas ID card which he needs all the time in dealing with his support programs...he got it at the Dept. of Public Safety...and yes, he can use it to vote...if he so chooses to do. My Mom is 86 (I'd call that elderly) and her challenge in voting is to get to the polls (yes, she wants to actually go to the polling place to vote) and then actually walking in the place...and she has a valid ID and has no problem showing it to anyone. heck, students at UNT have to have valid student ID's...do they have photos on them by the way/ I really don't know these days...my UNT student ID did not back in the "dark ages". So, call me naive or just "uniformed" on this issue, but I don't get it. Let's take the "emotion" out of this and try to discuss it with our brains....this is not a democrat or Republican issue....even though the Republicans tend to support Voter ID laws and the democrats tend to oppose voter ID laws. Both sides want to make it some emotional issue...R's...voter fraud by the bums those dems, and the dems doing their usual thing of calling the R's racists and hating minorities and the elderly. Stupid on both sides... But, back to the question...so, what's the big deal anyway? Just looking for some rational thought on the matter without the emotions and perhaps some open minds...Hey, I'm an optimist...it could happen here on the board.

BUMP

You guys may need more than three seats before the stadium gets here....Hmmmmm...just sayin....We want tickets next to you guys so my bride can play with "you know who" during the games!

Anyone want to guess how long it will take some folks to start complaining about the new baseball stadium once the plans are made public? I'm going to start the guessing at a nanosecond! Traffic, parking, site, construction firm, why it isn't named as yet, who will get first pick at season ticket locations and how the seat assignments will be handled, the color scheme, the seating set up (bleachers or individual seats), grass or turf and on and on and on.....for me, I'll just realize that a dream for a lot of folks is coming to reality and be more than happy to see the thing built. Just getting on record early about the fun that we will all have here on GMG.Com regarding the new baseball program and stadium when all the official announcements are made...hopefully, SOON!

OK, I don't think anyone here has been living in some cave in Siberia for the last 10-20 year, right? This is NOT news. Every program, at every level does this stuff....they do it in HS, they do it in college, they do it in the pros. I don't like it as I think the numbers that should be reported are the "rears in the seats" come game day and that's it, but that's not the way it is. These folks count every possible ticket used, sold, given away, etc., etc. in the attendance numbers. Look, FC Dallas reported a sellout crowd yesterday for their home opener win against the Red Bulls...I was at the park yesterday as part of my work with the FC Dallas Showcase for the US Merchant Marine Academy...as a result I was provided a free ticket to the game...way cool. There were plenty of empty seats...a very nice crowd indeed and probably all tickets were sold (or given away), but the stadium was not full. That's what happens....we just all need to understand it...or maybe push to get the rules changed on how attendance is counted...but, until then...really nothing to get overly worked up about in my opinion. As for UNT, we just all need to do what we can to help REAL attendance numbers climb. The rest will take care of itself.

Some really nice stadiums...I wonder what the budget requires to build and maintain these stadiums? Is there a spot where one can find that info? Would also make for interesting comparisons and would give us a feel for what UNT must allocate to baseball. We'll definitely need more Mean Green Club Members and some increased donations from existing members to do this right. I hope everyone doesn't just sit back and say..."well there is some big rich guy that wants to fund the whole thing"...not going to happen. It will take $$$$ on an on-going basis to make this happen and to be competitive. I'm on board for increasing my donation level as best I can to help...even if it isn't men's soccer....which, by the way, would be way less expensive...just saying..... :-). But, count me in for an bit of an increase...who else?