FirefightnRick

There's that Paul Johnson fellow again? To me DD has outperformed all of these people because of what he's had to work with budget and facility wise. Rick

Thanks for the pictures and for the help as well Queen. Awesome day. Rick

Today's annual GMG.com kickoff BBQ was a hit. We got just the weather I was hoping for, clear but hotter-n-crap! and the facilities were perfect for such an event. I am very thankful our program allows it's fans to help and be a part of a championship team. We owe a lot of thanks to one of our own Mean Green warriors from the Simmon era, Mike Berella for helping us set up the event. As for the rest of the Mean Green Naiton, there are many people to thank who made today's BBQ event happen. It was amazing to see the teamwork from everyone. I want to give a special shout out to all of you who showed up early and skipped the scrimmage to help slice brisket and prepare the food. SoundMan, Zeke, SilverEagle, Brad, Mark, BabyArm, MeanGreenQueen, untgirl and family, MeanGreenFreak(damn near a professional with a knife) and several other names I'm sure I'm leaving off and apologize for: YOU PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS! Incredible work folks and a great time as well. I look forward to seeing you all very soon, and thanks again, Rick

untgirl, That's a pretty good size batch, if you can bring more do it. Keep in mind we are trying to feed at least 200 or so people to make sure we have enough. I think with everyone pitching in together we will have it more than covered. It's hard to say. I'm going to try and bring at least one large homemade cobbler if I get time after wrapping up the second batch of briskets tonight. The first set that I cooked yesterday turned out very juicy. I couldn't hardly pick them up out of the pans without falling apart so that's a good sign and what we want. If anyone can think of something else we might bring call me as I don't have too much time to check the sight at this time. I'll be out wrapping up this second set of briskets to bake at about 6 p.m. Rick '''''''''''''''''''''''';'''''''''''

Someone dropped this hat off for me to post and let me say, this is the true KELLY green that we all wore back in the 80's. As you can see it's bright and I like it. A few things I would improve upon with this hat design is to eliminate the lightning bolt since MTSU's horse uses that, have it with black top button and vent holes and I would outline all the white lettering with black or use a combination of both black and white. Thoughts? Rick

Ditto NT91. American Dream Flag is good people. Rick

I'll see you there. Rick

Hmm, not sure about that. Even though they have won 4 conference championships in a row his assistant coaches are the lowest paid in the conference. Amazingly, one of them has turned down offers from Ok State and two belt schools in the recent past to stay here. And as for the facilities, not sure about FIU or FAU but the rest of the school's football stadiums puts Fouts to shame. We are catching up with the new stuff(AC center etc), but you can only count that for the past year or so. And DD's been outperforming them 4 years running. Actually longer. We have owned ULL and New Mexico State and both programs have MUCH better facilities than us. To me, DD and Kenny Evans has smoked the competition in recruiting considering with what they have had to work with. It's been an amazing ride to see this program outperform other schools that are on our level. Rick

If anyone coming has an ice chest to store ice please bring it. The first round of brisket is cooking as I type. All is going great. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me. Rick

Flags are gone. Rick

"They" aint running the show! By the way, if you go by and see the new turf, let the guys out there know you appreciate their work. It's truly a tedious job at hand now and the new black and white letters in the endzones look damn nice. I didn't realize it but the field starts out as a solid green field(after they connect all the sections together). Then for every white spot you will see a section of green must be cut out and replaced with the white or black mark to be glued in. This is true for EVERYTHING including each hash mark. There's hundreds of hashmarks let alone all the lines and sidelines and all. I now understand why it takes so long to install. I spoke to one of the workers and he was dripping wet with sweat. He said they were not used to this type of weather because they are from Denver. I placed my hand down into the blades of fake grass and I bet it was 140 degrees at 12:30 today. The workers are using pheumatic shears to cut out the sections of green and then replace it with the appropriate color. I believe they are also working at night under the lights. If the rain lays off they will be done pretty soon. They definately lowered the crown a bit out of the playing surface, but that's not going to help the sightlines much. Also, out of curiosity I measured the exact distance from the front row 50 yard line bench to sideline. Comes out to be 94 1/2 feet. Nearly 1/3 the length of a football field. Add that plus the 165 feet for the width of the field and you have 354 feet between the two front row seats. Just 3 feet on each side from being able to fit a full Football field in between. Rick

I ordered myself one 4x6 and have two extra 3x5. If you want one send me a P.M. They are $20 each plus $2 s&h. The NT Bookstore has them for $42. Rick

I visited with department officials today and went over where we will set up. We will set up the pit and supplies right in front of the AC center cafeteria. AD dept will have four tables for us to use to serve on. There is also access to electrical outlets from that point. I'm thinking about bringing extension cords and a fan because it's suppose to be around 100 saturday. It was very warm and humid today, hopefully some of the humidity will burn off by saturday. I picked up the meat from the suppliers today, 250 lbs total. I'll start cooking tomorrow at work and cook half tomorrow and half friday. Everything looks good from here. Rick

It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see them turn it around after finally agreeing to play us all this time. They will probably end up top 25 this season or pre season for next year? Rick

Last year in only their 4th year of football existence Howie took the owls on the road in 6 of their first 7 games and won 6 of them. The first three were on the road wins against 1-A teams Hawaii, North Texas and Middle Ten. That was an impressive example of what he can do. This year we will see how he does having to replace most of last years talent? Here's what ESPN has on their front college football page concerning LSU. http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/preview05/n...%3fid%3d2133234 Rick

I understand that other stadiums have tracks, and I have been to both Kyle and Memorial, before and since they removed their tracks. Neither of them came close to having the distance from the 50 yard line seat to the edge of the field, let alone have such a low angled sightline. Not even close. Fouts' 90 feet of space between seat and field even includes the long jump pit between the seats and the track. I would guess there is 10 to 12 yards between railing and track. I have never seen that before in any other stadium. And what makes it worse is the front row seat is very close to the ground and the crown of the entire surface begins at that point so that your nearly looking up at the players standing on the sideline. No way you can see the field of play, which is why no one sits there during a game. Rick

Hopefully we get them before we leave for Baton Rouge? Rick

ADLER The Black and Yellow Sunbelt logos that were painted on the field two years ago were nothing other than water based house paint. They were still painting them the night we had our BBQ camp out for the Baylor game and it rained several day's that week. We went over to talk to the guys doing the painting and they ended up having to cover them with little tents and place carpet dryers on them to compensate for the humidity. They never dried in time for the game and many of the players had it all over their uni's. But once dried it's good for a long time. But can be powerwashed off at any time. Rick

Rick

SoundMan we are bringing 10 gallons of sweet tea and cups. We will fill the cups with ice then fill them with the tea. If someone wants to bring water as well we can do both. I wanted to reiterate what SilverEagle has said about arriving before 11:30. If you can't get there before 11:30, which is the approximate time that we were given for this to start, then get there as soon as you can. But if you are going to be late let someone know or arrange for someone else to bring what your bringing. I will be arriving at the AC center early saturday morning, possibly 8 a.m. For those who plan on coming early to slice brisket, say around 9 or earlier I plan on cooking buttermilk pancakes for you for breakfast. I have a homemade recipe I make at the firehall I think you will like. If you are coming to slice brisket I suggest you bring two things. An apron and a cheap pair of leather gloves. They have them at Home Depot or Wal Mart for around $3 a pair. The brisket is very hot coming out of the pit and you will need the gloves for protection. If you happen to have a sharp carving knife that you prefer to use bring it as well. Any questions call me at 817-999-9335 Rick

What are the odds the display includes info on research survey's and cost? Rick

Here's what I would like to know: How many college stadiums can even come close to matching the distance between the front row seat at the 50 yard line and the edge of the playing surface that Fouts(90 feet/30 yards) currently has? THINK ABOUT THAT: The best seat in the house(or at least what is usually consdidered the best seat) is NINETY FEET from the field!....And your eye level is "jersey name" level at best. Also, what is the exact degree of angle of of the seats in Fouts and is there another college stadium out there with a lower one? I mean, if we are looking for something unique to hang our marketing hats on, then why not promote the stadium with the greatest chance to host the next national pumpkin chunkin contest in like they show on the Discovery Channel? Make it a challenge? I doubt there's another college stadium out there that could nearly take their entire 120 yard playing surface and spin it perpendicular(Fouts playing surface would run East/West instead of North/South) and it fit between the 50 yard line front row seats? The corners of the endzones might touch, but it could be done at Fouts with very little construction work with the seats. That is how damn far the person with the supposedly BEST seat in the house is from the field, and he/she couldn't see anything other than the back of the players standing on the sideline and plays that go to the right or left of the 30's. Sitting anywhere down low at Fouts, thus sitting closest to the action to watch a game is like trying to spot the third sandbar from the beach? Crazy! Rick

I asked our engine crew to stop by 7 eleven to pick me up a copy. This is just amazing, simply amazing. Daily National Hype! And a dead on accurate report on all accounts. I love the part where DD responds to the criticism concerning the level of play in mentioning the Colorado game. Now the team has to live up to this year's hype. The pressure is on to repeat as well as get some OOC wins to finalize the deal. Rick

Time is still the same. Approximately 11:30 a.m. Stebo, are you still bringing the paper towels? Rick

The guy running the flag on the sidelines during the season is Talon named Dr. Chris Chaney of Granbury. He and I also fire "Boomer" the Cannon at the start of the movie. Chris took over as Historian Chair for me after I graduated. That turf in the movie was replaced in the mid 90's with the carpet they just replaced this summer. And as bad as this most recent-replaced turf had become it was not nearly as horrible as that crap they played on in the late 80's to early 90's. In many places the plastic tips of the blades of synthetic grass had melted from the years of exposure to the Texas heat and bonded together much like what happens when you burn the ends together of a piece of nylon rope. This left clumps the size of a softball that were as hard as the face of a rubber malet. You couldn't walk on it in the summer in your bare feet for any length of time due to the heat and any sliding on it with exposed skin took the skin right off. Rick