NT80

Timing is everything, and I'm not getting any younger! Build it!! Outside winning ALOT, nothing stirs a fanbase ($) and earns a program attention more than the prospect of a new venue. I've heard estimates from $30 mil to 60 mil for our new stadium. I would like to examine what we already have for the new stadium, what is necessary and what is excessive (could wait till later). I propose a 40,000 seat stadium for now. 40K will allow us to host ANY 1-A program in the country. It should be stressed to be expandable (upper deck on top of the suite level) if a future need arises. 30,000 sideline seats (15K on each sideline) plus a total of only 10K endzone seats = 40K total. We use/move our existing 10,000 aluminium seats and make a completed horseshoe on the north endzone, estimated 7,000 seats. Put a brick facade around the exterior to give it a finished look and hide the support structures and then you also have underneath space/rooms for an opponent locker room and refs lockers. Then use the remaining 3,000 seats to fill in the open space on either side of the AC players exit, but not taller than the AC deck, to complete a bowl look (again with a finished exterior). The other very IMPORTANT feature is for the field-level to be dug out as deep as possible to allow for the 15,000 seats on each sideline to be a Single Level, the top as close to ground-level as possible. This is very do-able with 15,000 seats per sideline and the natural slope already of Eagle Point; Fouts now has 10,000 seats per sideline. Then a concourse level (suites/pressbox) starting near ground level and above all stands seating. It would look something like the lower level plus first suites level of Texas Stadium, without the upper bowl and higher suites. You walk off the street down into the stands or up to the suites/pressbox, club level. This would allow for minimum concrete/steel structure to be needed as ground/earthen support would be used as much as possible. Think like Grand Prairie's Gopher Bowl but on a larger scale. We already have: - the new stadium land/site, paid for, zoned, and demolition-free. - parking available at Fouts, the AC, and at other Eagle Point dorms/facilities. - a moveable video board and two (2) scoreboards. - home locker room, training room, meeting/press rooms, laundry facility. - 10,000 aluminum endzone bench seats and support structures. - upgraded stadium lighting (and poles if needed). - environmental, traffic, noise, drainage and soil studies previously completed What is necessary (estimated costs, guessing; no I'm not an engineer): - final architects/engineering plans, permits and inspections (500K?). - site grading, utilities, foundation and pilings (3 mil.?). - steel and concrete supports and structure for 15,000 sideline seats per side and moving/re-installing the aluminum bleachers (7 mil.?). - pressbox and suite level shell structure between the 20 yard lines each sideline to start, expandable as needed, suites finished out as paid for by donors (5 mil.?). - opponents and ref locker rooms (under north endzone stands?), concession stands, rest rooms, other infrastructures as needed (5 mil.?). - new turf and subsurface (1 mil.). - finish out, exterior solid facade, 30K bench seating, landscaping/paving as needed (8 mil.?). - Total = $29.5 mil., just a guess. What is excessive: - upper decks, expensive and not wanted by fans - permanent chairback seats ( this could be paid for by a season ticket holder/donor fee later in special prime sections, say rows at a time). - more than 40K seating, for now - more parking, see most on-campus stadiums - more concrete/steel, dirt support is cheaper Time is limited before the next round of conference reshuffling. It will be on a smaller scale and be more competative between the have-nots to move up. The fight for spots in a better conference (CUSA, WAC, MWC) will come down to location, facilities, and support ($ and attendance). What we really need for football and the overall program to advance: - A 40K seat venue that has modern conveniences, sight-lines, and says 1-A. - Better home OOC opponents to spur attendance and revenue $upport. - A better conference (CUSA, MWC, etc.) to host known conference opponents. A new Stadium is not a want, but a NEED, for the fans and for the program's future. Now....how do we finance it and when do we really start asking for the $$ ?

Very well said.

UCF ties up O'Leary through 2015 By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The University of Central Florida extended football coach George O'Leary's contract through 2015 Thursday. In two years, O'Leary has helped transform UCF from one of the country's worst NCAA Division I-A programs to one of its most promising. The Golden Knights carried the nation's longest losing streak into last season, but ended up playing in the school's first conference championship and bowl games on the way to an 8-5 record. The deal delivers $1 million in the first year, with gradual increases to $1.55 million in 2015 and $500,000 in possible incentives each season. It also includes a buyout capped at $5 million, or $1 million for each remaining year on the contract, if O'Leary or UCF breaks it. "Believe me, we have a lot of work to do. Every dollar will be surely worked," O'Leary said. O'Leary returned to college football at UCF in December 2003 after two years as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. He made national headlines in 2001 after resigning the head coaching job at Notre Dame when it was discovered parts of his resume, compiled long ago, had been falsified. O'Leary was head coach at Georgia Tech from 1994 to 2001, amassing a 52-33 record and earning 2000's national coach of the year award. He was nominated for the award again after UCF's finish last season. UCF president John Hitt and new athletic director Keith Tribble envisions the school as a perennial Top 10 team on par with the state's Big Three -- Florida, Florida State and the University of Miami. They and others acknowledge the school has a long way to go, but hope O'Leary's extension and a new 45,000-seat on-campus stadium opening in fall 2007 will help draw blue chip recruits and bigger Saturday crowds to make it happen.

I feel like we're floundering now with the loss of Dr. Pohl and the continuation of some to-be-nameless contracts. The momentum of opening the new AC and Eagle Point and winning the New Orleans Bowl in 2002 seems a distant memory. I know a lot of alums have given up the fight, and many of us are tired of waiting, wanting to be like other schools on the move up. When is our time and when will the "other" Administration ever get a clue about Athletics and Marketing?

Just wait. They will soon add 1-A football, build an on-campus 50K stadium, and be invited to join CUSA along with Texas State and UTSA; all while we wait for the "Game of our History: Smut".

from DMN: North Texas receivers coach Rick Gailey is leaving to become an assistant at Liberty Christian, his alma mater. Gailey spent six seasons at UNT and worked as the receivers coach the last two years. ....................................................................... College assistant to high school assistant? What is going on?

I agree on the need for another Quarterly Meeting ASAP. It's time to get everyone on the same page and in the same direction focused again; and maybe a little spirit-raising too with some good news, any good news?

Ouch! I can't say I can argue with their summary. We are in a terrible league. Note where the WAC is on their list? We should have taken the WAC bid. The Sunbelt is costing us $ in negative perception. We need out ASAP!

That article is from last Wednesday and Jackson has already rebuffed it. Jackson response to DRC

A pitiful showing (again) from the SBC. The NFL thinks the WAC and MAC are better, maybe they're right. NFL Draft by Conference; from the DMN: ACC = 51 Big10 = 41 SEC = 37 PAC10 = 32 Big12 = 29 MWC = 12 Big East = 11 CUSA = 7 MAC = 6 WAC = 5 A-10 = 3 Indep. = 3 Southland = 2 SWAC = 2 Big Sky = 2 Great West = 2 Mid-Am. = 2 Gateway = 1 Ivy = 1 Lone Star = 1 Mid-Eastern = 1 Nor Central = 1 Ohio Val. = 1 Penn St. Ath. = 1 Southern = 1 SUNBELT = 0

Plano Senior High School Wildcats- Class of 1976 Home of the 2005-06 State 5A boys basketball champs and 7-time Texas State champs in football Plano Senior High School Football State Championship Games Year Winning Team Losing Team Location (all in Texas) 1965 Plano 20 Edna 17 Nelson Field, Austin 1967 Plano 27 Randolph Field 8 Baylor Stadium, Waco 1971 Plano 21 Gregory-Portland 20 Memorial Stadium, Austin *1977 Plano 13 Port Neches Grove 10 Texas Stadium, Irving 1978 Houston Stratford 29 Plano 13 Astrodome, Houston 1986 Plano 24 La Marque 7 Kyle Field, College Station 1987 Plano 28 Houston Stratford 21 Memorial Stadium, Austin 1993 Converse Judson 36 Plano 13 Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco 1994 Plano 28 Katy 7 Kyle Field, College Station * Texas state record for a high school football game attendance = 49,950

Soccer: UNT men’s alumni game today at Mean Green Soccer Complex 09:39 AM CDT on Saturday, April 8, 2006 Former members of the North Texas men’s soccer team will host an alumni game at 4 p.m. today at the Mean Green Soccer Complex across from the Mean Green Athletic Center. Several players from the program that is no longer a part of UNT’s lineup of athletic teams are expected to play in the game. The team is hosting a reunion in Denton this weekend. —Staff report

Rubber Bowl info exterior Stadium view inside Stadium view; note light poles between stands and field

We have NO winnable nonconference games until we actually WIN one! What's negative about asking what happened to Air Force, Virginia, and BYU? Maybe you should set your sights a little higher.

from the M&G board. Another loss for NT Athletics as I think he was a promotor of Eagle Point and an administrative friend of Athletics. Date Posted: Tue, April 04 2006, 20:03:47 Author: Wing Man Subject: Rafes Leaves UNT ADA — Dr. Richard Rafes, a long-time university attorney, administrator and educator, was named president of East Central University by the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges on Monday. Rafes, 54, senior vice president for administration at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, will become president of ECU on July 1. He will succeed Dr. Bill S. Cole, who is retiring after 17 years of leading the 4,400 student university in Ada. “Dr. Rafes has dedicated his career to higher education. We were impressed by his experience, enthusiasm and commitment, both in academics and in external affairs. We are confident that he will provide outstanding leadership to East Central University for many years to come,” said Ann Holloway, chair of the board. “Dr. Rafes was one of four tremendous candidates. We were looking for the best balance of experience and ability for the university.” Regents approved an annual salary of $160,000, a $12,000 housing allowance and moving expenses for Rafes. “I am absolutely thrilled and excited to get to work,” Rafes said. “East Central University is an outstanding educational institution led by a distinguished president. I am honored to be selected to follow him.” “There are many options for the university to advance,” he added. “ECU has an outstanding faculty, staff and students, and Ada is a wonderful community. The individuals I met were very interested in economic development and supportive of the university.” Rafes said he is impressed with the regents and the board’s executive director, Sheridan McCaffree. Before being named senior vice president for administration at UNT, Rafes previously was the university’s interim vice president/vice chancellor for administrative affairs and was chief legal counsel for the University of North Texas System which includes the University of North Texas, University of North Texas Health Sciences Center at Fort Worth and University of North Texas at Dallas. His previous employment included serving as general counsel for the Texas State University System in Austin and as an assistant attorney general of Texas. Rafes received a bachelor’s degree in government from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. He earned a doctor of jurisprudence degree at the University of Houston and a doctor of philosophy degree in higher education administration at the University of North Texas. In addition to his career achievements, Rafes has received numerous honors and awards including the College of Education Honors Day Outstanding Alumni Award, the Honors Day President’s Special Recognition Award, Administrator of the Year award and the Top Professor award from the Mortar Board National Honor Society. The University of North Texas Urban Astronomy Center was named the Richard and Tommye Rafes Urban Astronomy Center in 2005. Rafes also has served on numerous boards and committees, including the United States All Star Federation Special Needs Committee, North Texas Community Clinics, YMCA Executive Committee and Fort Worth Regional Science Fair at the University of North Texas. Rafes and his wife, Tommye, have three daughters. Holloway said the regents had completed their most thorough process of any presidential search. Each candidate visited Ada and the campus to allow faculty, students and staff and community residents to meet them and ask them questions. “It was a very beneficial process and we received very important feedback for the board,” she said. “We wanted to do everything possible to ensure we made the right choice

I'm still wondering what happened to future Air Force and Virginia games, and will this bring more revenue than a BYU deal would have?

Geez, you guys. In 2000, or whenever SBC football was first conceived, there were far more opportunities for at-large bowl berths than today where even the 7th place Big 12 team has a guaranteed spot. It wasn't like that back then. But the SBC powers-to-be then didn't want to take that chance so they invented a Bowl in a convenient location to ensure a spot for their champ. The conversation was something like this: "What if our champ isn't invited to a Bowl, we'll look foolish? Well, then we'll start our own Bowl to "make sure". Brilliant!". OK, so it's a stretch, but you get the idea. Last year when the hurricane washed out the New Orleans Bowl location, who wanted it? Lafayette...and maybe, maybe Shreveport? I'm sure Atlanta outbid many locations for the Sugar Bowl because of the potential big $$, but the SBC Bowl...? If all Conference Champs today were available to all Bowls for bid, would any outside the New Orleans Bowl dare bid for the SBC champ?? I think not. It's a fine Bowl, that serves it's purpose, to host the SBC champ (because nobody else would want them). The main point is that all those who say DD is a coaching-God because he took UNT to 4 Bowl games in the past 50 years is skewing the facts. UNT would have been in 2-3 Southland Bowls, nearly went (by 2 points) to the Boise Bowl in the BWC with a 3-8 record (the media would have loved that!), and it's best teams 9-2, 10-1 never went Bowling because it wasn't in a guaranteed bowl conference.

I first misread the title and thought South Carolina was having "Pita" Trouble, like fans throwing pita bread at games or something; like our tortillas.

It's not the $. The New Orleans Bowl is what it is. It was invented to allow the newly formed SBC football conference to have an "automatic" place for it's champion to attend a post season game. It was insulting first to fans to imply that a champion going to a built-for Bowl is the same as an existing Bowl initiated invite to host a conference's champ. One is bought, the other earned and invited. It's also insulting for the league to infer that it's own SBC champ couldn't compete with other conference teams for an at-large existing Bowl berth. As for the second part of your post, I have no idea what your trying to compare.

If you look at his so-called Big-win games against Texas Tech, Cincy, Baylor, et al, you'll find those were not very good teams at those times. They were nice wins over good programs but they were not Top 25 teams as some would imply. That's not even mentioning the losses to provisional 1-AA teams and programs less than 5 years old.

Akron is one.... ticket orders

Agree, you could just take committments to buy and pre-reserve seat locations now, then bill when the schedule is known later. There has to be better ways to get potential fans connected sooner with ticket committments but it never happens. So much potential; to think what could be. It burns me out.

From a look at Akron's current OOC schedule probably at Akron (if that is the team): ......................................................... University of Akron Future Football Schedules 2006 (12) Sept. 2 at Penn State Sept. 9 at North Carolina State Oct. 7 at Cincinnati TBA TBA 2007 (12) Sept. 15 Indiana Sept. 8 at Ohio State Sept. 29 at Army TBA TBA

Some interesting news/banter by Arkstfan and other posters on the SBC board earlier this month about possible NCAA name changes to Divisions 1-A(BCS) and 1-AA(PCS)..... » » » There is a lot of talk going on that the extra A in I-AA will be removed this spring by the NCAA. Will be two sub divsions in DI: BCS and PCS (Playoff Champioship Series). Also some additional enhancement and toughing of eligability criteria (scholarships) for the PCS level. I think schools like Georgia Southern, WKU, APP State might be waiting to see how this shakes out. » » They may drop the names I-A and I-AA and replace them with Division I PCS and BCS but the underlying differences will remain the same. » » If all that changes is the name I will be surprised and disappointed. >>Prepare to be suprised and disappointed because the NCAA Board of Directors has only asked the NCAA staff to investigate changing every reference to I-A football to BCS football and every I-AA reference to PCS football. The only other I-AA "reforms" that were considered was the I-A schedule change allowing I-A schools to play more I-AA and that was approved.

Rumor is Akron.