KRAM1

Are you saying that only football and basketball scholarship athletes get stipends????? Really? If so, seems to be a tad bit of discrimination going on. If I am a soccer, tennis, golf, softball, swimming/diving, track, etc. athlete, I would feel a bit discriminated against, wouldn't you? You mean there are 1% athletes and the rest fall in the 99%???? I see an Occupy Victory Hall movement developing. HeHe.

But...but...but...remember UNT scholarship football players are undernourished and starving at the end of each month as we were told in a previous thread because their stipends are too low! How dare the Sunbelt even consider not going to the full allotment! OK...seriously, I hope the conference allows it's schools to go to the full $2000 increase if it is within their budgets to do so. But, I would hate to see a recruiting disadvantage occur to those schools who cannot go to the full amount. I am sure it happens already, but don't want it to get "worse" from a recruiting standpoint. These kids earn every dime they get in tuition and hosing/food/books assistance...every darn dime. But, they still have a pretty good deal...which they have earned...compared to other walk-on athletes who work just as hard and get ZERO, partial scholarship athletes (some getting only book money or some percentage of tuition) and the "regular" college student who pays a good portion of their own expenses or gets saddled with several thousand dollars in student loans upon graduation. BUT, who really believes that a "full scholarship" really means to cover ALL the costs of a college education? Come on folks. We see all the coaches and parents and players beaming at the press conferences on national signing day. Every one of them are really happy and seeing sugar plums dancing in their heads over all the cash they will save on "Johnny's" college education. I doubt many truly believe that they will not have to chip in a bit to cover extras and perhaps even some food and lodging assistance...gasp...how can that be...it was a "free ride"!!!! Really, really? So, should UNT go to the full $2000 additional, where will the extra funds come from? I doubt that the Athletic Dept. budget will be increased to cover this additional...remember, it is for all scholarship athletes not just football and basketball players, and the donor base is just now beginning to grow to any substantial level at all. Coaching salaries are way up, the department has several more development folks chasing those donor dollars, travel costs are up across the board, scholarship costs are up as tuition has risen in the last few years and will continue to do so and there are new athletic facilities to run and pay for on an on-going basis. I think someone mentioned that would be a $400,000 annual increase...not so fast there...that $400,000 only accounts for 200 scholarship athletes at $2,000 each per year...UNT carries more than 200 scholarship athletes as do most/all schools. While the $2000/yr. doesn't seem like much per person...it is a very large sum indeed when all eligible athletes are considered. So, where does it come from? I fully believe athletes earn every benefit they get, and am 100% in favor of an increased stipend, but just want to take all the "emotion" out of the discussion and see if there is some reality to the discussion and the situation. How does UNT "get there" for its well deserving athletes? Do we go back to "high school" level assistant coaches...or head coaches? Do we eliminate sports? Do we increase ticket prices? Do we charge students for game day tickets over the fees they already pay? Do we fire staffers? Increase parking and concession fees? Increase Mean Green Club level costs to the donors who are stepping up? Play more OCC "money games" against the likes of Alabama? Where do the funds come from? Sometimes ideas that are great on paper and beneficial, create some real challenges when folks try to put them into action. Suggestions and ideas welcome. Let's find a way to help these deserving athletes. Can we? Will we? Seriously ....really? Edit: I love this board...Really? Seriously? Let's have some discussion if you think what I have posted is so far off base as to warrant negative points...seriously?

And, folks, that's what Apogee should ,look like for EVERY home game. GREAT PHOTO!!!!

Well, I staying with the Green Kool-Aid and a newly positive team attitude...I'll say the Mean green pull off the upset of Arky State...close. but the Mean green get it done on the foot of none other than Zach Olen....beautiful drive late in the 4th by Thompson and Company, great snap by dependable #78, Troy Kokjohn, perfect catch and hold by Will Attaberry and Zach nails a 47 yard-er to seal the win for the Mean green. Yep, book it Danno...I've seen it in the tea leaves...green tea leaves that is. UNT: 27 Arky State: 24 The Mean Green fly back to Denton without the plane after this BIG win for the Good Guys!

Agree. I have chatted with Coach mac about this situation and he has made it clear to me that he really doesn't want to think about it, talk about it or anything else until it has healed. My son is an ophthalmology resident right now and tells me that what Coach mac has is serious...especially if the first procedure did not work as well as they expected. This type of situation will take some time. So, let's give Coach mac a "breather" on the "everyone wear sunglasses" thing...at least for awhile. Once his eye is doing better/fine I do think it would be a great thing to do and I'll join in the fun. Right now...not a good idea I would think.

THIS! Right you are, Sir.

Thanks for sharing with us RedWolfRunning. It will be a significant game for both teams. The Mean Green is trying to get that road win that can propel them to bowl eligibility with another couple of home wins, and you guys, like LaLa when we played them are looking for the magic number 6. The Mean Green has seen improvement every week (well, except for the total step back against Tulsa and the offensive letdown against LaLa),so a Mean Green win at Arky State is certainly a possibility. Look for the Mean green to try to get Dunbar some space within which to run and look for our QB, Derrick Thompson to play with renewed confidence after pretty much a break-out game against Monore last week at home. The D is looking good and we may have hard hitting linebacker Jeremy Phipps back from injury this week. Look for some pressure on your QB as our D-line has really been gearing it up a notch or two each week. Sorry i won't be in Jonesboro for all the fun this weekend, but let's look forward to a great game and an injury free game for both sides. GO MEAN GREEN!

This folks...read it and then read it again. If you, for even one second, think it is OK to use foul language while heckling the opposing teams and fans, then you have a serious and I mean serious personal problem. Heckling is great and it's part of college football. Ever been to Stillwater? The students are even closer to the opposing team than at Apogee. They give the opposing team all they want in noise ans heckling, but they do not have a reputation for using foul language and going out of their way to heckle the opposing fans...just the team. If you use foul language, I suggest you give it another thought. It reflects VERY poorly on you, your university and college sports in general. I cannot imagine that anyone would or could think they were helping by using foul language. It is in no way classy and, in fact, has low class written all over it. Again...read the above post, think about it, and read it again. Then go out at the next home game and heckle to opposing team, not their fans, without the foul language. If you don't think it can be done, you are sadly sadly mistaken. In fact, the reality of i is that you are making a fool of yourself and UNT by using that foul language. GROW UP and get some class...then heckle the heck out of the opposing team...really, give them all you want and get 'em rattled!

Proves that athletes can, indeed, set the pace in the academic world as well. Great job, but then we have come to expect very good things both on and off the field from Coach Hedlund's squads. Great job ladies. The Mean Green nation is VERY proud of you! BEAT DENVER!!!!!!!

Please do tell...which players are having trouble understanding and to which "other" schools are they comparing UNT with? You cannot bring up this stuff and then just run off saying I through posting. If you have some inside knowledge...spill it! If not, let us know it's your opinion like most of the postings on this board. Do the athletes in question understand athletic budgets at all? I doubt it as they are pretty busy being students and athletes. Lots of "holes" money needs to fill...do they realize what travel costs are to move a team to an away game? Do they know what the coaching salaries are across the entire athletic dept.? Do they know what the scholarship costs are for football players vs basketball players vs the other "Olympic" sports? Do they know what it takes to operate the entire range of athletic facilities on campus and pay the salaries of all the department staffers that support both football and the other sports in which UNT participates? What I am getting at here is that the athletes themselves probably have little to no "real" understanding or knowledge of the financial workings of an athletic department as big as UNT's. To see UNT gets a big payday from one game and then think there is "money to burn" and it should be passed out to the players or that UNT is "holding back" on its players while other schools lavish them with stipend dollars is just foolish and smacks of a lack of information. Speaking of choices....they could have played elsewhere I suppose...maybe those other Texas schools you refer to were also offering them a scholarship. Must have been some reason they chose UNT over all those other schools offering them a college education in return for their service as players. I'm glad they chose UNT, and I'll bet they are as well. Complaining is normal...perhaps you should not take it so serious.

Game tonight called due to weather...keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow (Thursday).

No to keeping the ticket office open to the 4th quarter. But, I do believe it should be open until at least half time...let's give students showing up a tad late the opportunity to come in and be counted in attendance. I don't think staying available until the end of the second should be the standard. In fact, I thought they were open until half-time. Can anyone verify this?

You guys are mean and you have hurt my feelings. I simply tried to point out that Coach Dodge may be seen on TV this evening. I need a puppy!

Let's find a Vegan from the opposing team's fans, bring 'em to mid-field and force them to eat a Big Mac! Now, THAT would be home field advantage UNT.....Or, if you don't like that one, we could rush the hill with the KA's just before game time, kidnap a KA and force them to sing "Glory Hallelujah" at mid-field during half-time. That'll do it.......HeHe!

If the World Series Game is played this evening (weather challenges it seems) you can catch UNT's former HC and current QB Coach, Todd Dodge, between innings on ESPN as his Pitt Panthers take on the UConn Huskies at 7:05 PM. Would be good to see Coach Dodge on the Pitt sidelines and check out how the Pitt QB's do in the game. Anyway, just in case anyone is interested you can probably see Coach Dodge a time or two on the Pitt sidelines during the game. Good luck Coach Dodge. I hope the Panthers beat the Huskies this evening....

I like! let's get him signed and then let's play some Mean green BB! Glad to see the fact that a big hole in next year's team may have just been filled. JJ is really doing a great job getting these kids to look at and sign with UNT. UNT seems to be on the verge of being a "place to be" for many years to come. GREAT STUFF!

Probably doesn't support the case much when one shows frat members actually in the stadium in support of their team if you are trying to "shout down" the idea that UNT frats party at tailgate but never make it in the stadium. Don't see the logic in that approach. Frats can be a fantastic support system for school spirit. I have seen it time and time again at numerous universities across the nation. They also, as members, do more public service work in their communities than many seem to realize. So, for all the "bad" some see, I can see just as much "good". That being said, UNT as a university administration has NEVER embraced the Greek System on campus and that has, in part, led us to where we are today with our Greek system. The Greeks have had to "fight" a complacent and often, hostile, administrative system at UNT. On the other hand, they often did everything they could to hurt their own cause. It has been a mutual "dislike" society for a long long time at UNT. The administration sees the Greeks as pests and trouble makers and the Greek see the administration as anti-Greek and go out of their way to make that perception a reality. Really, a no win situation for anyone. If the Greeks would decide as a whole to start supporting the administration and acting a bit more "responsible", the administration would soon enough come around and embrace the Greeks for the great benefit they can be for student life and what they definitely ARE at many of our university campuses around the country. Acting as they have the last game or two at Apogee and then not actually attending the games, does their image no good whatsoever. They probably know that, but also probably don't care. It's all about themselves and the fun of it, right? While many may come back the next morning to clean up the mess, that is done "after the fact" and after the image damage has been done...no one sees this side of the coin. Too bad, but as one other posted said...PERCEPTION IS REALITY. I am a big supporter of the Greek system and the benefits it can and does have within the life of a college campus. At this point, UNT's Greeks are still seen as immature college students just caring only about the next party and their next adventure giving no care whatsoever to those around them or the image they are creating or, in fact, their university. That's a shame. It would be pretty easy to change that perception, but it would take a concerted effort and some maturity to do so. It's a choice plain and simple. If you want respect, earn it. I hope UNT's Greek system grows stronger and stronger as it can only help...IF the Greeks themselves take it upon themselves to be part of the university and not "outsiders". I wish them well, and I hope to see even more Greeks having a great tailgate experience AND then marching into Apogee to support their team and their university. It's actually part of what the Greek system is supposed to be all about. I think some may have forgotten.

I agree with the comment regarding increasing stipends. The idea that you think crosswalks and turbines are in any way related gives me pause to wonder how much you know about funding in college athletics and what "pots" money comes from for what purpose. I believe upperclassmen choose to live off campus, correct? If they have trouble with rent/food, could they not stay in Victory and have that covered for them? I'm just asking as I do not know how that works for underclassmen vs upperclassmen. If it's a choice, then sometimes folks just have to find a way to deal with the choices they make. As hard as that seems as a concept for some folks to understand, it pretty much is what these young men will face the rest of their lives. You have the freedom to make choices...with that freedom comes the responsibility to live with the results of the choices one makes. Now, if the upperclassmen are REQUIRED to live off campus and the funds they receive for doing so are inadequate that, sir, is another matter entirely and should be addressed immediately!

The cost of meals at Victory is not $6.00 when the cost is figured through a meal plan...is it? And, can not the Victory students go through the line more than once or is it a one time through and done thing? I really am trying to get to the bottom of this "our athletes on scholarship don't have enough to eat thing"...as that seems to say that the non-scholarship athletes and partial-scholarship athletes somehow do have enough to eat. Something is out of whack here. How do players getting a stipend have fewer funds than those NOT getting a stipend for food? Seriously? Are we trying to say here that scholarship athletes are somehow missing meals that non-scholarship athletes seem to not miss? I see a good number of our football (and other athletes) on a fairly regular basis, and i don't recall any looking like thy are malnourished. If this is just an argument or an attempt at the justification for an increased stipend to scholarship athletes I think there is a very good case to be made for that, but to claim it is because scholarship athletes at UNT are underfed, losing weight and performing poorly because they don't have enough to seat, seems both silly and counterproductive. Having been the parent of a college player, I have some knowledge of the calorie content these kids consume and some small...yes, small idea of how the whole college athlete thing works, but for the life of me, I have never seen it purported that scholarship athletes are underfed and undernourished as a reason to support an increase in stipend. Silly. Maybe some need a Dave Ramsey course to go along with their math and science. Just sayin....still looking for the facts here as I do want to take this issue up with Department personnel at UNT. It is disgraceful if true that our scholarship athletes are going hungry. Please PM me with some specifics...names, etc. of athletes known to be undernourished and/or who lack adequate food. I will not give away the source, but if this is true...I am more than happy to see what the Athletic Dept. has to say about it. PM me with the info of how this is happening and to whom and you will have me like a "bull in a china cabinet" trying to find out why and what can be done about it. Seriously.

GrayEagle, I believe Coach Mac meant through the games played to date at Apogee vs those played in the first four of last season. I definitely could be wrong or Coach mac could be embellishing it a bit, but that's what he said. I don' think he was comparing our avg. attendance to date with a season's avg. attendance. "Through four games" does not a season make. Apples and oranges perhaps? Either way, I hope our last two home games have GREAT attendance and UNT does see more than a 20% increase in average attendance over last season. That would be good, no?

So, you are saying that UNT has scholarship athletes who are going hungry and not getting proper nutrition because they are scholarship athletes and their stipends are too low? Do the athletes not get weighed and checked on a regular basis by the strength coach? Are UNT athletes having their health put at risk because their stipends for food are not adequate? I find this an amazing situation if true. I cannot imagine that Coach McCarney is allowing this happen. Has anyone brought this to the attention of our HC and AD? I'm serious here folks...you can -1 me all you please...but I am asking a serious question here. If someone has this kind of claim to make against UNT than I want to get to the bottom of it. If it is more of what I was asking in my previous post, well, that's another matter all together. IF BDPG, or anyone else, believes our scholarship athletes are being abused I want to know and I want to be part of finding a solution. To not have adequate food is a much biggter problem than just not spending stipend money wisely or choosing to spend it elsewhere. I find this idea amazing and incredible on its face, but if true it is something we should all be working on to correct. Once again...I am in 100% agreement that stipends to scholarship (and non-scholarship) athletes should be increased.

How does this compare to other scholarship students at UNT? Are academic scholarship students afforded stipends for food and housing as well? What about the players in the sports such as volleyball, soccer, swimming, diving, track, tennis, softball, etc? Do they get meal plans and campus housing or stipends should they choose to live off campus? Do our walk-on athletes get meal plans and stipends like their scholarship teammates who "struggle" with the money they are given? How many of these "hardship" cases have no other source of income? Parents? Summer jobs? Just asking. Is any of this "hardship or struggle" a matter of choice such as choosing to live off campus and give up meal plans or choosing not to get a summer job and actually saving some money for the fall and spring? I am not saying our athletes do not need more funds...of course they do. I would certainly favor getting ALL our scholarship and non-scholarship athletes additional funds, but the idea of a "hardship" is an interesting concept for me when it comes to scholarship athletes...especially those in football and basketball. I recall that as a student i was quite resourceful when it came to food and such things. I also recall running low on cash when I used available cash for other things I thought at the time were very important. Again...agree 100% that our athletes...all of them...deserve more cash, but I am finding the "hardship and struggle" thing a bit hard to understand. I am more than willing to be further educated on the matter.

They now seem to be fighting over who will "control" and distribute that money. They have become a characterization of themselves! Too funny.

OK, seems attendance at Apogee is up 20% over prior years so far and that if UNT averages 15,000 in attendance for its last two home games, UNT will set an all-time attendance record! Heard Coach Mac say that at last evening's radio show live and in person from Rudy's BBQ. I had no idea that such was the case, nor did I realize that attendance was up 20%. I know the Houston game and the stadium opening crowd has a lot to do with that number, but looks better than I thought. I do, however, believe that UNT is more than capable of getting a minimum of 20,000 in attendance for each and every home game no matter who the opponent might be, and am still disappointed in crowds numbering in the 15,000-17,000 range. But, looks like a start to me, and a fairly decent one at that. Our naming rights partner, Apogee, will probably be pleased with these numbers should we get the 15,000+ for the final two home games. Win a road game or two, have some decent weather and it's probably a DONE DEAL. Good to hear, nice to know, but let's make 20,000 the "standard" next season. Thanks to all who are helping to make this happen for UNT.

Got to pick up a road win or two. Arky State game will be tough, but with the way the team seems to be buying into the Coach mac system now, and with Thompson "coming of age". almost anything is possible at this point, so WHY NOT NORTH TEXAS INDEED! I still think 5 wins is the "magic" number this season, but I would not faint dead away if I were wrong on the low side and UNT ends up with at least 6 wins. That would be some turn around in the first year.