SilverEagle

"(front)I'm in the band... (back)and I still like NT! " or (front) I'm in the band... (back) "And I still wear green". or (front) I'm in the band... (back) Kick me if I'm NOT wearing green. Seriously, and this is not directed at you bandgeek. How many other Universities that have exsisted for 112 years, and have had a football team for almost 90 years, have to struggle with the issue of school spirit and flying the school colors. (sigh)

MGF, I'm not sure what it means either, but I suspect that it might mean that someone (yet again) just doesn't "get it" about our concerns. If I had to guess about the "reaction" that we will get from the music department, I would speculate that it will be something along the lines of "why are those people trying to meddle in things that they obviously know nothing about?". People at Universities can get real territorial, especially when they've been left alone to do whatever they please for decades. This is not a "school of music vs the athletic dept. issue", and this is not a "winds studies vs the meddling masses issue". It is an issue of "school pride" and "school spirit", and the symbolism thereof. As intelligent and talented as the students and staff are in the school of music, it just blows me away that they don't understand (or worse, are indifferent to) such a basic concept. We have been struggling with the issue of "school pride" and "school spirit" for decades. The Band (for whatever reason) has taken upon itself to fly flags on a regular basis that are NOT the North Texas school colors. At every game that I have attended, both home and away, I have noticed that THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT EVER DO THAT. It doesn't look "cool" to the North Texas fans. It looks like the Band could care less about school pride, and it also conveys a certain amount of arrogance on the part of the school of music. The same message gets conveyed to every new student that comes to a North Texas game for the first time, and the second time etc etc.......... If displaying the school colors is not important, then why wear green and white uniforms? Why wear uniforms at all? Why not just show-up in whatever happens to be clean in the band members closets on any given game day. Mean Green Fanatic, I see you and Bandgeek as some of the best fans from the school of music that I have seen in years.....possibly ever. This years Green Brigade is one of the most spirited ever. I just wish the "symbolism" matched the "enthusiasm".

A friend of mine who was in the Marine artillery in Viet Nam, voted for "Full Metal Jacket" as the most realistic depiction of Marine boot camp. He thought that the depiction of the actual war in Full Metal Jacket was pretty accurate, but Platoon was just a little better. If you want to see Mel Gibson in a completely different role, I highly recommend "Signs".

Shaneb, I agree that "imbecile" and other negative words are an inappropriate reaction to the article. I understand the frustration behind those comments however. Ever since Hayden Fry left, I have watched North Texas be ignored, misrepresented, trivialized, and just generally made the butt of the local media's jokes....... with no one holding them accountable for it. I understand completely what this young man was doing. He was writing what he thought was a fair analytical piece that will go in his portfolio. He will show this to some editor where he is applying for a job, to demonstrate how truely "professional" and "balanced" he is. I think that his timing was not exactly ideal, but again, I do understand his motivation. Now. Having said all that, I will also say that there are more than enough "media" people, both paid, and on staff at the UT paper, that will fall all over themselves to "fawn" and "pander" to the mighty UT sports ego that Chris Simms represents. I hope that the young man writing the article isn't fooling himself into thinking that all the Texas fans out there are taking his analysis to heart, or even care about his opinion for that matter. His writing about what he considers to be an unfair reaction by the Texas fans to Chris Simm's performance, only serves to (once again) trivialize our team's efforts. I don't think you have a clue about how frustrating that situation is to us long standing (and long suffering) North Texas fans. Schools like Texas and Oklahoma, Notre Dame etc. etc. etc. adnauseam, have media people writing an article, or putting a "note" in the sports section of every newspaper, any time some athlete on those above mentioned schools so much as gets a hangnail, or passes gas. It distresses me when our (alleged) "professionals in training" at the Daily choose to join that common herd of media people. "However, I am sick of trying to explain it. " Shaneb, don't give up. Just try to be less condescending in your explainations.

"It's a shame there is not any way to punish someone like that, but perhaps being like that is its own punishment." Only if you possess even the smallest amount of "insight" Reb. Need I say more?

I re-visited this issue with my wife (a TWU Graduate). She said that TWU referred to A&M as "our brother school", and they were encouraged to fraternize with A&M students, both that was just about it. She said that as far as she knew they were never part of the A&M system, they just shared a common tradition of gender-specific enrollment. TWU's school colors are also the same as A&M's. I would think that if the numbers mentioned earlier about North Texas being 125% booked on class-room space and TWU being 68% are accurate, it wouldn't take much of a push to merge these schools. Besides, I anticipate that this is going to be a very tight legislative session coming up, and merging TWU and UNT would be the perfect solution to funding the continued North Texas growth.

"TWU has been talking to A&M about absorbing them. A&M wants them, and they do share a history. " As I mentioned earlier, my wife is a TWU graduate. The only history between TWU and A&M that she shared with me was the tradition of selecting the A&M homecoming queen from TWU. That stopped after A&M went co-ed. Other than their traditions of having a male-only and female-only student body (which no longer exsist), I am not aware of any other "history" between them. I don't know it for sure, but I got the feeling that TWU felt rather spurned when A&M stopped selecting the homecoming queen from TWU. I don't know of any benefit to TWU in merging with A&M. In either case (merging with A&M or merging with UNT) they would eventually lose their name identity. They would lose it much faster with A&M. Just like ETSU, WTSU, and Texas A&I did. North Texas might be more flexible on that issue.

Reb, to present a calmer response to your question. It was pointed out many years ago that the "rationale" for an all-female state-supported school has become outdated. That issue was dealt with loooong ago with A&M. TWU alums are very passonate about their school, and would strongly resist merging it with North Texas. My wife is a TWU alum, and she has been very passonate about her school for years. She became less so in recent years when it became known to her several years ago that one of the editors of the school newspaper was a male. It's a pretty touchy issue with TWU alums, especially since there has been some less than kind comments exchanged between the students of UNT and TWU through the years. I admire the "passion" and "devotion" that TWU graduates have for their Alma Mater. A quality that I wished more UNT alums had. As you know, the bottom line on that issue is how much political clout the TWU alums continue to have in the legislature.

Sorry Ironman. I don't own a scanner. The only "scrappy" sticker that I have is the one that I used to make a wall clock. I could take it out to be scanned, but I don't know anyone that has a scanner. Surely there is a web-site that has those "classic" images.

"Does someone have a graphic or icon of this 60's Scrappy? " I believe that the "barrel chested Scrappy" was used on NT gear all the way through the 80's. I have a insulated beer mug with that image on it, and I took a window sticker with that image on it, and made a very nice wall clock for my office. They put that image on 16oz. drink cups all the way through the 80's. I haven't seen the image in recent years. Someone once said that the image is actually a "stock" Eagle cartoon image that was adjusted (green and white with NT on the chest) for our use. The only 60's scrappy image that I have ever seen was a less muscular "scrappy" that had the same fierce expression as the one described above. The 60's scrappy that I remember was always looking toward your right as you faced the image, and it was just standing. The "barrel-chested Scrappy" was always looking (and walking) toward your left as you faced the image. I always liked both images. I like the new one as well. I just don't like "daffy Eagle".

Not bad! It certainly looks better than "Daffy Eagle". I would still like to see the "Scrappy" of the early 60's made available for either a T-shirt or window sticker.

Do the student ID's have a bar code on them? I would think that scanning a bar code would be faster than going to a ticket booth. It would also have more meaning than just "flashing" an ID. The University could also track "student participation" with that method. I agree that we need to have students show-up and the University doesn't need to put up barriers (minor as they may be) to their participation. However, I strongly agree with reb70, that we should not "trivialize" the value of the event. If the University doesn't appear to put much value on the event, then why should the students? I think that something more "significant" than "flashing your ID" should take place.

h82lose, you have a couple of options. You can call Lara Watkins at the athletic department at North Texas. It is my understanding that they have flags that have the "UNT" in the star. You can also call American Dream Flags and Banner at (817) 221-5490 and ask for Carol. American Dream Flags will make any size flag for you. They will also make antenna or car-window flags for you. So far, they have been making the green and white Texas flags that you often see posted on this board. If you want anything "extra" on the flag like "Mean Green", or "North Texas", then the cost will be higher, and it will take longer.