NT80

I liked the movie but thought the storyline wasn't realistic. Willis' mission was to go get a female doctor and bring her to safety. He had her on the helicoptor; mission accomplished right? No, Willis, after feeling sorry for left-behind people, returns her, himself, and his squad to the jungle to try to walk out. He ends up getting several of his men killed for his romantic romp. Willis' military career would have been over had that happened in real life. 2 stars out of 5 stars for bad script.

You may know this already but Collin County Com. College (Plano) this week elimated it's baseball and softball programs. It's effective after this season to save budget $$. They may have some players that might help UNT's program. CCCC Softball web site

Won't happen; that would make them appear as though they are the Flagship of the Texas State University System, which they are not. SFA and other schools in that system will oppose the change, as well as other Texas schools. Look for maybe "Texas State Univ at San Marcos" or something like that instead.

Who said a $50 million athletic budget couldn't buy much?

Coach Deane couldn't have been happy when a former basketball coach like Tubbs became the AD. Now he's been replaced by him, even after he led Lamar to the Dance in 2000. Lamar Athletic Site article about Tubbs

Ethan B. Szatmary: Oh yeah, baby 03/19/2003 Ethan B. Szatmary As Dick Vitale would say, "Oh yeah, baby!" It’s tournament time, and my mind is racing faster than Dickey V’s mouth after a triple espresso. After suffering my first tournament pool loss in three years last season, I decided to go to a few experts to help with this year’s brackets — area coaches. What did I learn? Kentucky, Kentucky, Kentucky. The closest any Denton area team came to the tournament was a little dissing from Dickey V, but that doesn’t mean the Denton Record-Chronicle staff isn’t ready for some serious hoops starting Thursday morning. When attacking Auburn’s inclusion into the tourney over Boston College — the winner of the Big East, East Division regular season — Vitale said: "Auburn played a bunch of cupcakes in the early season schedule — Wofford, South Carolina State and North Texas State." After calling the Mean Green by its old moniker in the early Sunday SportsCenter, Vitale had his facts straight by the late night edition and was calling UNT a cupcake by its rightful name. While Vitale may have misnamed UNT, he still had the record straight, as the Mean Green’s 7-21 record qualifies for no postseason status other than patsy. While Vitale’s lack of faith in the Mean Green may have stung, it didn’t stop UNT head coach Johnny Jones from giving his two cents worth about the tournament. As an LSU and Southeastern Conference alum, Jones went with Kentucky (29-3). "Defense wins championships, and they’re playing as we well as any team in the country right now. I think they’ll be cutting down the nets." Jones added that he thinks Texas (22-6) can make a run to the Final Four, but only if they can get by his Tigers. "They [the Longhorns] have to go through LSU in the second round, and that won’t be easy," he said. "They’re a veteran team that shoots the ball well, and they beat Arizona (25-3) this year. If Texas can get past LSU, then I like them to get to the Final Four." Jones added that No. 5 seed Mississippi State is a dangerous sleeper in the East bracket. Not only did the Bulldogs (21-9) beat Oklahoma, 54-45, in the early season, but they’re playing their best basketball right now. Mississippi State was the first Southeastern Conference team to play Kentucky tough this season in losing the SEC title game, 64-57. While TWU head coach Devin Gabbard handles women’s basketball, he didn’t have any qualms weighing in on the men’s tournament. Like Jones, he picked Texas and Kentucky. "To be really honest with you, I think Texas has the easiest run at it," Gabbard said. "Whoever comes out of Arizona’s bracket [the West region] will be good and beat down, since that bracket has so many good teams with Illinois (24-6), Duke (24-6) and Kansas (25-7). Kentucky or Texas has the easiest route, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see either one of them win it all." As far as local high schools goes, it comes as no surprise that Calvary Academy is pulling for Kentucky, as well. After all, assistant coach Cameron Mills has two national championship rings he won with the Wildcats. Liberty Christian head coach Mark Knize has a personal reason for picking the Wildcats, too. He’s worked a couple of summer camps with Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith. "He gets the most out of his players," said Knize. "Plus, when we met, he wasn’t like a big time college coach. He was like a high school coach — humble and approachable." If these coaches are right, then Kentucky is the team to pick. The problem is, everyone is picking the Wildcats to win. So in order to win the tournament pool, one has to pick some sleepers in the rest of the brackets or hope the Wildcats get upset. Tip No. 1: Fill out more than one bracket. In one bracket, pick the favored team — in this case Kentucky. In the other bracket, pick a longer shot. Texas would be a good one, since Gabbard is probably right and they have the least competitive bracket. However, there are a lot of ‘Horns fans here about, so that’ll be the second most picked team this year. Tip No. 2: Pick some sleepers for first round upsets and one sleeper to the Final Four. Last year, both Indiana and Missouri were surprise Final Four participants. Two years ago, North Carolina did the same. Mississippi State is a good start. At No. 5, the Bulldogs didn’t get a very high seed but were playing better basketball than East Region No. 4 Louisville (24-6) or No. 2 Wake Forest (24-5) at the end of the season. Oklahoma (24-6) missed a lot of free throws and allowed Texas to come back and beat it in the regular season finale, then the Sooners almost coughed up big leads against Texas Tech and Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament. OU is definitely susceptible for an upset. East Region No. 3 Syracuse (24-5) is another team that would fit into this category. The Orangemen are young with three freshmen starters, but they can hoop. West No. 4 Illinois also factors in as a less likely Final Four entry. The Big Ten didn’t have a great year, but it didn’t last year either and Indiana made it all the way the national championship game. The Big Ten is usually the most physical major conference, and that rough play often translates to at least one battle-tested team. As far as early round sleepers go, West seed No. 6 Creighton isn’t exactly a true Cinderella, but the Jays are more than capable of knocking out Duke in the second round. Also, don’t be surprised to see South Region No. 13 San Diego (18-11) upset No. 4 Stanford (23-8). The Cardinal has a recent history of early season disappointment. The trendy upset picks are No. 11 Southern Illinois (24-6) over No. 6 Missouri (21-10) and No. 12 Weber State over No. 5 Wisconsin (22-7) in the Midwest Region, as well as UNC-Wilmington (24-6) over No. 6 Maryland (19-9). Southern Illinois and UNC-Wilmington both pulled off first round upsets last year. Whether that makes the Salukis and Seahawks more or less likely to do it again, who knows. Probably less. As far as Weber State goes, the Wildcats lost to North Texas — enough said. Tip No. 3: Never underestimate the heart of a champion. Maryland won the national title last year but comes into this season as a No. 6 seed. While the Terrapins will likely not repeat, they are a very dangerous team for No. 3 Xavier and No. 2 Florida in the South Region. Tip No. 4: If a team looks like it doesn’t belong in the tournament, then don’t ignore that team. This one is hard to follow. But, two years ago North Carolina squeaked into the tournament and Missouri did the same last season. They both made it to the Final Four. This year, all of the pundits are saying Auburn and Alabama (17-11) should not have gotten in over Boston College or Texas Tech. What does that mean? Either Auburn or Alabama will surprise some people.

When is the last time UNT played ND in sports? Were they ducking us?

Sounds like a good reason to go for a visit. As more new shops and restaurants spring up along I-35 in Denton, we need to encourage them to show some UNT spirit, and tell them when they do good!

Who are the top teams in the Sunbelt conference? Are there any Top 25 teams in this region, I believe Oklahoma State is?

Great! Thanks for the updates.

NOOOOOOooooo! Someone put a clamp on this rumor. Now is not the time for UNT to be losing one of it's version of the "triplets" (RV, Pohl, BOR). We are finally climbing out of our 20-year hole. RV would not just bail on us without a much better job lined up. As far as the Athletic Fee, the BOR corrected some of the loss and we managed to get 2/3 of it installed. Maybe tomorrow at the scrimmage and recruit-video meeting we can get the straight scoop.

North Texas wins second ICHL title UNT beats SMU, 9-4, in Sunday's postseason tournament final 02/26/2003 By STEVE GAMEL / The Dallas Morning News It was one of those surreal moments Chad Hubbard will never forget. The sophomore forward was playing in his first Intercollegiate Hockey League postseason tournament final Sunday, but he used his nervous energy to score four goals and lead North Texas past SMU, 9-4, for its second consecutive ICHL title. His parents, Terry and Beth, watched from the stands for the first time this season. "They've watched me before, just not this season," Hubbard said. "They flew in from North Carolina, and to do something like that [four goals] at that moment was pretty neat. I didn't think that could happen." The win capped a postseason in which UNT outscored two opponents, 18-10. Sophomore Jon-Michael Cook had four goals in a semifinal victory against Texas. For his parents' sake, Hubbard wished his goals were more impressive. The first two came after UNT built a 3-2 lead after the first period, and the puck was placed so perfectly to him in front of the goal, that he said all he had to do was turn and shoot. On the third, he and teammate Bryan Roos confused the goalie by skating around the back of the net. The keeper followed Roos, and Hubbard slipped it in. "The fourth was even more easy, because we were shorthanded and somehow the puck got cleared to me [on the opposite end of the ice]," Hubbard said. "The only other person down there was the goalie, and it happened so fast nobody knew what happened." Hubbard scored three times in the third period to build as much as a 9-3 lead. Cook added his fifth goal of the tournament with 8:33 remaining. SMU, which had beaten UNT, 6-5, early in the season, wasn't allowed more than one goal in each of the final two periods. "Everybody knew we could win, but we also knew this was the second-best team in the league and we couldn't take them for granted," Cook said. "We started sluggish, but once we got on a roll, we pretty much wore them down." Hubbard added the season for UNT (13-3) would have been wasted had they not won the tournament. Two of their losses were by forfeit, and they hoped to make a return trip to the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III National Championships after becoming the first Texas team to reach the tournament last year. However, the team didn't play enough ACHA games to qualify. Either way, the athletes marveled at how far the program has come. Two years ago, hockey wasn't a recognized club sport on the UNT campus. They went 14-1-1 last year, and between 75-100 fans showed up Sunday. The trick now, Hubbard said, is to give them a reason to come back. "It shows we have gotten everyone's attention, and hopefully we can keep it going," Hubbard said. "[sunday] will impact North Texas in a good way."

Ch.8's Wednesday evening 6pm news had a reporter in Denton live showing the I-35 traffic. He was near the Radisson with the camera looking over his shoulder, a nice view of Fouts! Earlier in the morning the Performing Arts Bldg was the background, plus they showed many UNT students enjoying the snow day off, including Clark Hall jazz musicians performing for students stuck inside. A lot of good UNT media for a slow news day.

What happened to UT-Reb that used to post on here? His daughter was a soccer player.

Ugly, ugly game. We need a big infusion of talent, plus the return of Hopkins for next season.

Any chance they will get to go to Nationals or has funding not been found?

Maybe she will give back to UNT....Norah Jones Stadium??

Norah Jones attended UNT from 1997-99.... Norah Jones at UNT

RE: One more hockey game! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's an email from Prof. Wilner, who is the Faculty advisor. He has the game time as Sunday at 1 p.m. He throws in some trash talking for good measure: Subject: Ice Cold Championship-Delegated Ice hockey fans who don't want to pay Dallas Stars like prices can see their own UNT team defend its' ICHL championship this Sunday, February 23 at 1:00 P.M for FREE . The game is at the Blueline Ice Complex in North Richland Hills. Blue Line Ice Complex 8851 Ice House Drive N. Richland Hills, TX 76180 Phone: (817) 788-5400 The opponent, the SMU Mustangs, is the only team that has beaten UNT this year. SMU avoids us in football but will not escape the Mean Green this Sunday. The UNT team plays under the auspices of Recreational Sports. It is high caliber club hockey, with expenses paid by the players. Last years team won the ICHL league championship after winning all but one regular season game. That team went to a national tournament in Atlanta and was competitive with clubs from throughout the U.S. They lost a hard fought 2-1 game against the eventual tournament winner, Robert Morris University from Pittsburgh Pa. This years team has one loss against SMU, with wins against Tech, A&M, Baylor, OSU, SMU, and 3 times against the Orangebloods. Let's build on the momentum created by the Mean Green football team in it's win last December in Louisiana. Come support the boys! Professor Neil Wilner Faculty Advisor

Also, Deg Erskin of UT was in the game late with Miller. Just think what might have been this year at NT with them plus Dex Tennell and Davis on the floor together. Oh well, if they didn't want to play for NT, who needs 'em?

Seniors could be sidelined for final home game Davis, J. Green don’t practice Friday 02/22/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer North Texas seniors Chris Davis and Jermaine Green sat out practice Friday — the eve of their final home game — because of illness and injury, respectively. Both players are questionable for Saturday night’s game against South Alabama at the Super Pit, though they both said they would attempt to play. Davis has felt ill all week and went to the hospital because of dehydration early Friday morning, hours after playing 36 minutes in a loss to New Orleans. "I’m going to drink a lot of fluids and get some rest," said Davis, who is 75 points shy of becoming the UNT’s all-time leading scorer. "I’ll be fine. But if the game was today [Friday], I couldn’t go." Green injured his with 5:14 remaining in the loss to New Orleans. He returned approximately one minute later but was ineffective down the stretch. Like Davis, Green said he expects to play, though he will be less than 100 percent. "I’ve got to play my last home game," Green said. Coach Johnny Jones said he wouldn’t know the status of Davis and Green — UNTs top two scorers and rebounders — until Saturday afternoon. "It’d be really tough if they couldn’t play for several reasons — Chris chasing the scoring record and it being Senior Night," Jones said. "You always want to see your seniors go out with a bang. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t had a winning season, but you want to draw something positive from every situation. Winning on Senior Night would be very positive." The Mean Green (7-17, 2-10), which has lost 10 of its last 11 games, will clinch sole possession of last place in the Sun Belt West Division with a loss. South Alabama (11-13, 5-8) is just above UNT in the standings. UNT suffered a 76-71 loss at South Alabama on Jan. 25 despite 29 points from Davis, who ranks second in the league in scoring at 19.0 points per game. The Jaguars benefited from a 48-17 advantage in free throws attempted.

All of the above are right on. It's been a combination of many things: injuries, shooting slumps, turnovers, opposition, refs, and basic bad luck. Hopefully next season will be a turn-around, again.

from the UNT website main page..... Norah Jones

I don't think the losses have been because of lack of effort, we just don't have the multiple shooters and overall talent yet that some of our opponents do.

Men's basketball: Rogers finds new way to score Guard turns down treys for baskets closer to hoop 02/09/2003 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer North Texas point guard Jerome Rogers’ jump shot still isn’t going down, but he found other ways to contribute Saturday night. Rogers scored 14 points in 31 minutes during the Mean Green’s 85-70 loss to Western Kentucky at the Super Pit. He averaged 3.1 points in the previous eight games. Rogers, whose has played the 3-point specialist role in the past, was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc against the Hilltoppers. However, he was able to drive to the basket and finish several times. He also got to the free-throw line eight times, making six. "I just played with confidence," said Rogers, who was 4-of-8 inside the arc. "I know that I can shoot the ball. It’s going to drop eventually." Added coach Johnny Jones: "I told him that if he has the open shot to knock it down, but at the same time try to create with his quickness. I have a great deal of confidence in Jerome and his ability." Smith sees significant playing time Forward/center Will Smith played 22 minutes, his first extended playing time since Dec. 30. Smith, who missed eight games with ankle and foot injuries before Thursday’s game at Middle Tennessee, had three points and five rebounds. Smith replaced center Unjel Masters in the rotation. Masters, who has started nine games this season, did not play. Trio takes off for tunnel early Three UNT players — Justin Barnett, Lee Green and Jerome Rogers — headed up the tunnel toward the locker room with 3.1 seconds remaining in the first half. The trio mistakenly thought the shot-clock buzzer signaled the end of the half, and Jermaine Green had to run up the tunnel to retrieve his teammates. Rogers made up for the gaffe by dribbling almost the entire length of the court to hit a running right-hander at the buzzer. "I was still focused," Rogers said. "I was trying to help my team cut into the lead going into the half." Briefly ... Power forward Adrian Awasom, a muscle-bound sophomore not known for his shooting touch, took a 3-pointer in the first half. He was soon substituted for and did not return to the game. ... The Mean Green exceeded its loss total of last season. ... The announced attendance was 4,212, the largest crowd of coach Johnny Jones’ tenure. The second-largest crowd — 4,129 against Louisiana-Lafayette last season — was also for a game that was regionally televised. ... Jones was called for the third technical of his tenure at UNT. He was also called for a technical last season against Western Kentucky. TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-566-6870. DAVIS COUNTDOWN Tracking North Texas senior swingman Chris Davis’ progress toward the all-time school scoring record: Points vs. Western Kentucky: 30 Season average: 18.8 Points this season: 413 Career points: 2,173 Points needed for record: 118