ragpicker

Part of our problem may just be marketing and promotion. I don't ever recall seeing ads in either the DMN or Star telegram promoting or advertising our football or basketball games. There are UNT billboards around town from time to time, but they are generally lackluster and uninspiring, as are our pathetic promos during televised games. Other schools do a much better job in this area. (Texas State for one.) It has always seemed odd to me that North Texas was competing in sports long before such schools as Texas Tech, Houston and even SMU existed and yet, except for brief little periods of success every decade or so, we simply have not been consistently successful. We certainly have not developed the kind of fan base one would expect from the alumni we have in the Dallas- Ft worth area alone. I also think we missed a great opportunity for fan support by not even attempting promote and take advantage of the "A" Train inauguration when Apogee opened. More about that later.

Hey, What about the Optimist Bowl in Houston in 1946 when we beat the great Amos Alonzo Stagg's College of Pacific team in the final game of his illustrious career ?

Boosting attendance for any game would be possible if we did not ignore what is right in front of us- the A-Train. With proper promotion and marketing the DCTA could be a boon for attendance for Dallas alumni and fans. As it is, those of us who do take the train for night time events at UNT are left stranded after those events with no way back to town save for pedicabs and walking.(I have done both). Expect more from me on this subject in a future missive.

I am beginning to wonder if the goofy decision by Todd Dodge to waste an entire year of Thompson's eligibility on a single series that year will come back to haunt us. We will know more by mid-season, but this young man is looking pretty impressive both on and off the field.

The win over SMU in 1977 should be mentioned here because it probably meant we were the best football team in the metropolitan area that year. Except, perhaps, for the Tennessee win, I don't recall ever seeing Hayden Fry more ecstatic. After all SMU had fired him only a few years earlier. We had a very good team that year. (JT Smith etc.)

Disregard previous post, (If, indeed, it was posted). I am still trying to get the hang of this thing. What I meant to say was that although we did not win the game, we played the SMU reigning national champions in 1936 a very close game before losing 6-0. Although SMU had lost to Stanford in the Rose Bowl, this was back when the national champion was named before the bowl games were played. It is a least worth a mention for, after all, we were playing college football several years before SMU came into existence and in all those years only Rice and UNT, among Texas D-1 teams, have the distinction of never being punished for rules violations. Who knows what we could have accomplished if we had had the desire, or at least, the wherewithal to win at any cost.

Although it was not a win, the close game we played against SMU in 1935 when they played in the Rose Bowl for the national championship is worth a mention.

I was on I-30 somewhere around Sulphur Springs as that game ended. I believe they broke the nations longest losing streak that day by defeating us. We palyed SMU later that year at Ownby and the smut students chanted "Kansas St., Kansas St" at our bench throughout the game. (we lost). Both of those loses were hard to take because in the few years preceding 1989 we had defeated TCU, Texas Tech, Rice and had actually beaten Texas the year before. Of course, we know what happened there.

I was driving down I-30 somewhere around Sulphur Springs at the end of that game. By beating us that day Kansas State broke the nations longest losing streak and when we played SMU at Ownby later that year, (we lost) the SMU students kept chanting "Kansas St., Kansas St." at our players. ( Another reason to dislike the ponies). In the few years preceding that game we had beaten Rice, TCU, Texas Tech and had really beaten Texas. We all know that story, of course.

At the Plano meet the coaches event, Jimmerson was the player that Coach Mac said to keep an eye on for next season.

As a new blogger, I continue to make mistakes, but will correct them in time. ( I inadverdently posted my last post twice). Also, when I said we need to bring the old Scrappy back, I meant the old Scrappy icon.

I apologize. I meant to say in my post that we should return to the old Scrappy icon. Be patient with me as I am new to this blogging business and mistakenly sent my last post twice.

Actually, we did have a live eagle on campus many years ago who was kept in a cage by the old pro shop at Eagle Point. I am not sure what happened to him, but seem to recall that he came to a bad end either from neglect or from a prank gone awry. Speaking of eagles, we need to bring back the old Scrappy. For my take on this, see the fall 2003 issue of The North Texan. Ragpicker

Actually, we did have a live eagle on campus many years ago and he was kept in a big cage by the old the pro shop at Eagle Point. I don't recall what happened to him, but it seems he came to a bad end either from neglect or from a prank gone awry. Speaking of eagles, we need to bring back the original Scrappy. For my take on this subject, see my letter in the fall 2003 issue of the North Texan. Ragpicker.

I am Ragpicker, and this is my first reply. I will be brief with my first comment and just say that I think we can beat Houston. I believe the series with them is tied right now, so a win would put us ahead again. Go Mean. More to follow.