ragpicker

The first amendment guarantees the right of free speech and press - even stupid, misinformed, ignorant, asinine, boorish,really crummy, goofy, weird, convoluted and silly speech and press.

I am as upset at our Rivals rating as anyone, but as for as conferences are concerned we have not had in state conference rivals since the early fifties and that has been a huge detriment to this program. We HAVE those rivals now both in state and regional. As Steve Allen put it, "THIS COULD BE THE START OF SOMETHING BIG".

Phillips was Fry's def. Coordinator at SMU and would have followed him to UNT, had it not have been for the Houston job. (If I remember correctly, but where is Bill Snyder?

A good time to get people up here on the "A" Train as well as getting people off of the hill and into the stadium. A small crowd on a hot sunny day is depressing. WE simply must win this game.

Thats my point. We are both Texas schools, we were once in the same conference and yet North Texas was founded long before they were. Why are they at the high end of the recruiting spectrum (Non AQ) while we are at the bottom end? What is WRONG with us? Do we suffer from a tragic form of atavism? Do we subconsciously fear success? WHAT IS THE DEAL?

If we are thinking about booze we had better start thinking of ways of utilizing DCTA and the A-Train, including transportation to and from town to campus after six PM. We do not want a terrible wreck on 1-35 involving someone who has been drinking at one of our ball games (or other events). Promoting and marketing the DCTA could be a boon for all UNT events as well as for downtown businesses. That this has not been more effectively pursued looks like just another countless example of lost opportunity we have come to expect around here. Would promotional ads in the DMN or on the radio (the Ticket for example) be that expensive? With a hundred thousand alumni in the DFW area should we not be trying to get some of them up here and back home safely from time to time? Just a thought.

Very good post. The observation that we are due some luck brings some hope for we are certainly due some luck. If fate is ,indeed, the hunter, it is about time he finds our elusive ass.

I am no as distressed at our Rivals ranking as I am perplexed. Can anyone explain to me why so many higher rated athletes are finding such schools as UTSA, Texas State, Louisiana whatever and many others more appealing than UNT? For heaven's sake, we are a century and a quarter old university that has been playing football for almost one hundred years with almost half of those years as a 1-A program. Can this problem be explained logically, empirically? If not, perhaps we need to delve into this phenomenon metaphysically. Are we jinxed? Cursed? Something is wrong,werdly wrong and we can't argue with the law of averages. Weak recruiting classes statistically result in poor results. If we do not approach at least a middle of the pack recruiting rating in the next year or two, we really should take a very serious look at continuing this program.

I like the O-Line. I hope our recruiting news tomorrow doesn't send me back to doom and gloom. I'm predicting seven wins next season. I'm optimistic too(up to a point.)

Can someone enlighten me when our first game was played and against whom? I have always thought our first official intercollegiate game was against TCU in 1914. If this year marks our century mark then what are we going to do in lieu of celebration and promotion? Anything? UT put"100" on its helmets a several years years ago. Are we planning thing like that?

I agree. I have stopped even listening to the games at this point, but I am wondering what my friends are thinking about all the excitement and promotion I was showing for this team at the first of the season. I am sure they are very confused about it all. I know I am.

I see kids eating gummy, gross, chemically based looking candy and realize that, except for our uniforms,it is the only time I ever even see that color. We have old uniform designs that would be a big improvement. If we want tradition we sometimes have to go back and rediscover it.(Like the original Scrappy, for example).

Look at other teams green uniforms (Baylor, Michigan State, Marshall, The Jets,Philadelphia etc.) and you realize they all look better than ours. There is nothing mean about our weird shade of green.

Speaking of NTSU, everyone I hear these days under the age of thirty refers to us as UNT. The name comes naturally and almost "trippingly on the tongue". As an old North Texas guy I am always a bit surprised (and pleased) to see how well our name has been accepted by young people, including high school kids. We are UNT and the old crowd from my day needs to get used to it. Incidentally, does anyone know if we plan to put a "100" on the sides of our helmets in 2014 when we enter our century mark of intercollegiate football? UNT with a "100" below it would make neat helmet year after next. It would also be fun to remind SMU that we were were playing football before they were founded.

A Highland Park High School assistant football coach told me the other day that in thirty two years of coaching in the Dallas area this the first year a North Texas football coach has ever visited him about a football player and possible recruit. He seemed both genuinely surprised and quite pleased. I don't know if this means anything, but is so frustrating to see so few UNT commitments on the list of top one hundred recruits in the Dallas - Fort Worth area year after year.

I remember beating Tulsa in 1967 by a big score, but some of the luster of that victory was tarnished when Houston beat them by 100 points or so that same year. I believe that Dr Phil might have been on that Tulasa team.

I will admit to gloom and doom from time to time, but I have always been a North Texas fan through thin and thin. (The new schedule is exciting).

Neon is back and can be very classy if done tastefully. I say incorporate a neon Scrappy on the north side and I mean the REAL Scrappy. The skinny, traditional Scrappy Scrappy. He is our only real icon and his image is both currently appropriate as a fighting underdog and ,for our older alumni, a nice remembrance of things past. We have traditions if we would just USE them.

A lot will depend on our recruiting class, including junior college transfers. We have the coaches, facilities, fan base etc. We need athletes. I am going for 7-5, but that is prompted by a feeling that we are overdue for a little good luckfinally coming our way.

Great schedule and our recruiting efforts are looking good at this point. I'm starting to get excited, cautiously excited, but excited. New Orleans is gong to be fun with Tulsa and La Tech being just far enough away to be really neat road trips.

I am not gloomy or doomy, its just that private schools like Tulane and Tulsa do lend a kind of prestige to a conference and would be fun to travel to. I also think we will become competitive with both of those schools very soon. It is just disappointing that so many of our old conference mates have moved on without us.(Louisville, Cincinnati,Tulsa,Memphis(etc.)

It is sad about Tulsa. We played them for many years in the old Missouri Valley and I believe they were the closest thing we had as rivalry back then. The CUSA we thought we were joining has become a bubble burst indeed. We must learn to win if we expect to become attractive to other conferences. Schools running away from us hurts more than being rejected in the first place.

It is financially irresponsible for UNT, SMU,and TCU (as well UTA in basketball) not to play each other on an annual round robin basis. SMU's attendance numbers are pathetic (and likely to get worse), while TCU's aren't that great for the success they have had. If the writer had done his research, he would not only have discovered that we are, in fact, a quite large public university, but that our first intercollegiate football game was against TCU. Whatever those schools decide to do with their programs, however, I think our future looks encouraging with or without them.

I used to think that introducing the fans to the players was a funny joke and a witty observation, but in SMU's case it could very well become quite literally true.

Although we may be guilty of drinking too much green Cool-Aid around here, I have always thought SMU's decision to join the Big East was the result of drinking way too much Peruna.* * Peruna: A heavily alcohol base elixir popular during prohibition for which the mascot is named.(She will be coming around the mountain when she comes, she will be loaded with Peruna when she comes...)