PlummMeanGreen

CONFERENCE! __________________________________ USA ! Sorry, I totally misunderstood the objective of this thread.

If anyone who has lived in Texas long enough said that you'd know it was time for the men in their white suits to come pay them a visit.

Beggin' your pardon but that kind of coach talk always seemed to work with me. First time I ever heard my Texas HS coach ever come close to cussin' was when I messed up on a receiver's route in a practice and after throwing his clip board on the ground just take one wild guess what he said? HELLSBELLS ! (our school colors were black & gold).

(1) Play hard (2) Stay healthy; in fact, play a bunch of players in this one to keep em' fresh because it will be hot and humid in Athens. (3) Post game.....take the $1 million and haul tail back to the Lone Star State. North Texas...... 21 Georgia..............14 Same identical score of a U of North Texas Mean Green win over another Southeast Conference team back in the day. GMG!

They are Texas Aggies...why wasn't it over $1 billion?

Mr "T"....I don't think 6 will get a G5 team a bowl game. If we were to hit "your" magic 7, then we would get that bowl game. Then.........HIT 7 ? GMG!

I think Coach McCarney would be the first to tell us all that this team is still a work in progress. This Mean Green football team could get to be pretty salty if they keep developing in some key and strategic areas. IMHO, we would not be ready to take on the Rice Owls or maybe even Tulsa if we played either this weekend, though. Down the timeline, yes, but not now. We open conference play against the MUTS in a few weeks, I hope everyone has circled this (somewhat) historic event on their calendars because it will be our first game as a new Conference-USA member. This conference is the best thing to happen to North Texas since Apogee Stadium sprung up on that sprawling, rolling Texas prairie land in west Denton.

tcat75: GMG.com posters are a plethora of totally useful Mean Green information and data, although some of our posters tend to get a bit long-winded with some of their manifestos and epistles. GMG! PS: I remember when longtime Dallas Morning News sportswriter David Moore had the NT Daily Sports Editor role. A suggestion: GMG.com poster Gray Eagle has watched North Texas football since our football stadium was located where the Willis Library now stands. He is an active poster even now. He'd be a great feature story in your sports section at some point in time and I hope he doesn't mind me saying it.

Will say it once again since that is what us older folks specializing in doing but........... ...........if North Texas can get its Wing Zone filled with ticket purchasers and/or freebies for the kids, the only tickets that would be left to sell on Game Day or "walk up" sales would be sideline seats. The Wing Zone is crucial to our future attendance numbers whether we want to admit it or not. It was empty last Saturday except for a few curiosity seekers and it did not look good on Fox Sports SW. The Wing Zone is ugly on Game Days when empty, if and when full it will be one priceless piece of art. Again, we know the problem, but lets very soon get some well thought out answers to it. UNT Athletics cannot be expected to do all this on their own since (again) they do not have the manpower to do such. This will truly take a community effort from all of our UNT constiuencies for us to make head-way and to have eventual success, but I really think this attendance thing can be fixed and I say that after years of seeing it. GMG!

Now that's thinking outside the casket, errrrr, I mean box, Adler. The Meatloat idea is SUPER, but isn't it a bit too late to pull this off now as to get it promoted to where enough people would even know about it? Unfortunately for us now here in mid September, I think effective large group promotional ideas should have been planned as far back as last Spring as for them them to have any chance for success. Doesn't that really make cents? In fact, what you do for athletic promotions for any Fall should even be already planned so a Spring or Summer edition of the North Texan alumnus magazine can tout the promo...that's how early I'm talking about here. Remember the "free tickets give away" for UNT great now Dallas Cowboy Lance Dunbar's last game? How many of those really got distributed? Furthermore, who did all the mass distributing of such free tickets that would have given that idea any semblance of chance for success? We remember the crowd that showed up that day, now don't we? It seems to me serious "get butts in seats" athletic promotional ideas are something you cannot do on a whim or as an overnight idea, especially when you didn't budget them in or have the volunteer manpower to make them work. Upon Further Review and an all fairness, UNT athletics does not have the manpower on their present staff to make what we want to happen....happen, What do we do, ask Coach Mac's Coke Carrying Guy go out and become a "Super Promoter of Marketeer" overnight? Also, do we really ever want our HFC to have to beg our alums to support our team again? That should have been an embarrassment to us all that he'd have to on that Summer Caravan deal last year. And no, he probably shouldn't have made that passionate plea or sermonette with all the very ones who show up at Apogee, but hand it to Coach Mac, he has a passion for the same thing we have a passion about wanting more fans to see his ever-improving football product. Can you really blame him for wanting fans out on Game Day at "OUR" alma mater's football palace? NOTE: We will without a doubt have a great crowd for our first CUSA conference game (versus MUTS) in a few weeks, but we should not let that take us off topic of the real need for a "butts in seats" promotion program anyway. We know there are most always 2 games per year at Apogee where we of the entire UNT constituency get very embarrassed by a low turout or attendance...always at least 2 of those...anyway concur? The first and last Bands Over Texas (Band Day) of which I served on its planning committee began its planning the Spring before the very Fall that this event would occur I suggested it would have to to have time to effectively plan it and for it have a chance to make it worthwhile event. It turned out more than OK according to many of you who were around back then. (Heck, we got Highland Park HS's band up to little ol' Denton to participate so we did something right, eh)? Late GB Marching Band Director Dr. Robert A. Winslow a great guy and nice person (God rest his soul) just didn't want to have 2'nd Annual Bands Over Texas because Band Days just weren't his thing; didn't make him a bad guy, just one who didn't get into Band Days, that's all. And his fine assistant many of you know today, Dennis Fisher did exactly what Dr. Winslow wanted (or did not want) since he "understandably" sorta' wanted to be a future MG Brigade Director if Winslow ever left town--which he did. Ladies & Gentlemen, as if you didn't know already, so-ooooooo much politics in public university beaurocracies that one has to deal with to get anything done I assure you but still.............THINGS CAN GET DONE UP THERE WITH A LITTLE CO-OPERATION. I will say what many of you already know: They do "NOT" want us telling them what to do. Honestly, would you if you were in their shoes, too? When we (including me) suggest all these ideas it's sorta' telling them we don't think they are doing their jobs and that alone can be argued since I think their main problem is lack of promotions budget and a promotions department manpower to pull off "large group promotions." Still, more outside the usual pay scale projects such as a, "Band Day", Scout Day, Pee Wee Football Day, Vets Day, etc, etc, ect would benefit our school and its athletic program immensely, especially in the turnstiles area. Mustang Mania: When SMU's former promtions guy Brad Thomas (under then SMU AD Russ Potts) had it going on over on the HIlltop that guy had a literal army of volunteers who helped him with distributions of schedule posters, schedule cards, bumper stickers (of which Russ Potts called "mini billboards" ,etc, etc, etc, You coudn't take a whiz at a local service station bathroom without seeing a "Mustang Mania" bumper sticker plastered on a wall...and I mean it! LOL! This? I don't think we have the manpower within the UNT Athletic Department to do most all the above, but neither did SMU thus the Brad Thomas Volunteer Army which made SMU promotions happen. And The Last Game At UNT For Dunbar? Lets say you had several thousand ticket to give-away (and not sure we did) but who out there is giving them away in enough numbers as to even make a small dent in attendance that Game Day versus the MTSU? My bet is that many of those free tickets stayed inside a few desk drawers collecting dust; heck, they may still be there! LOL! Again, UNT Athletics does not have the manpower to make a UTSA type promotions program work and that has always been my take on this subject. I think UTSA took out a page from the Mustang Mania promotions book and is why they have had a great jump start with citizens of San Antonio. Hey! Give the Road Runners a solid "A" for the effort and their pro-activity. ODU and Charlotte are kicking butt in season ticket sales. We do not want UNT to be eating those 3 aforementioned schools dust, especially since our stadium may be a long time for them to duplcate or have anything close to it for the price. This attendance thing at North Texas many of us feel can be solved, but we just have to take a Big Step One to get the ball rolling, that's all. GMG!

Addendum: All in all, this attendance thing is (IMHO) more than just a UNT Athletic Department thing. TCU and their Committee of 100 a few years back would tell us all that in a heart beat. TCU did not solve their attendance woes all by themselves at all. GMG!

Solving our attendance shortages should be a campus, city of Denton, DFW alums and Denton County challenge with all the selected powers that be forming a "Git Er' Done" committee and maybe even having an initial meeting in the Hurley Adminstration Building? Being Redundant All Over Again With A New Wrinkle: As posted by 2 or 3 on this board, TCU and the city of Fort Worth got together on the Horned Frogs football attendance problems post-SWC implosion after TCU suddenly woke up one morning and noticed they were having way too many empty seats at ACS; that is, when UT, TAMU, Texas Tech and Baylor with their thousands of traveling fans were no longer coming to Fort Worth. Can you imagine the fan base we could have built at North Texas had we had all those school's fans coming to Denton for about a century? Do We Have Movers and Shakers? I Think We Do For A Fact ! Question is can we ever get them all on the same page to utilize their talents before Armageddon? The Deception of It All & When This Topic Will Suddenly Disappear From This Forum--not that it should be forgotten because we all know quite well how this could easily repeat itself (again) a la Ball State and even as it did in Lance Dunbars last game at Apogee versus the MUTS . Lets face a basic fact here: What happened at the Ball State game at Apogee will happen time and time again next season and the next season if we don't attack our attendance woes. A few good crowds during conference will not solve the problems we see at least with 1 or 2 games per year, now will it? Will This Topic Disappear After This? That is, after the first big CUSA Apogee home crowd with a good number of traveling fans along with a conference game that means something will undoubtedly (for the most part) get our attendance back in some semblance of sync; especially when the UNT students come back en mass, but this...........WE STILL NEED AN AGGRESSIVE 'butts in seats" promotions and marketing program each Fall because of our Metroplex location with so many other R & R choices for our students and alums Why Not This Meeting of Minds If We're Serious About Apogee Attendance (and how it made our school and Denton look downright terrible on Fox Sports SW the other day)? The Meeting of the Minds? UNT Prez' Lane Rawlins, the UNT Board of Regents, UNT AD/Rick V, the Denton Mayor, the Denton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director should all get together, hold hands, sing "We Are The Word" and do just like TCU and form a "Committee of however many it takes" to attack this attendance thing head-on with solving the problem as the main objective--not merely discussing it because we do that enough on GMG.com. SMU stopped promoting and look what happened to them at Ford Stadium even while they were winning? I used to laugh at all that, but I don't any more. We don't have room to laugh at North Texas. For our school, "butts in seats" sports marketing & promotions are not something you create to make work, it is something you do to make your program work period; that is, if you want to keep up with how successful other CUSA schools are doing at the turnstiles. North Texas can ill afford to fail with this venture and create a scenario where other CUSA schools are going......"Beep! Beep!" GMG!

Some of your NT Daily Sports Editor predecessors have done quite well in the sports journalism world. Good luck to you! GMG!

So eloquently said....it would have taken me 3 pages to say the same thing! GMG!

I think football promotions planning that are aimed to bring out a significant number of fans happens in the Spring at most colleges and universities. Since the opening of Apogee I always thought that all sales should be focussed to fill the Upper Wing Zone and just let the alumnus and student sides take care of themselves. If the Wing Zone is filled others will want to jump on this Mean Green Bandwagon and then buy sidelines seats (since those are the only seats that would be available) but that...........IMO. Without a winning program at a DFW area NCAA football program its probably all a moot point truth be told, but winning programs in the DFW area still need promotions, too; and that to put the icing on the cake (or in our case to fill up the rest of a 31,000 seat stadium). Other than lack of wins (which I think is now changing for the good) what keeps our program barefoot and pregnant are those empty seats and that just seems to not be high on our priority list at UNT and hasn't been for well over 30 plus years. I do not understand that at all. I think we may also be leaning too heavily on our C-USA West Division schools maybe bringing more fans tp Apogee they they may actually bring, too. Fact is, we need "fill the butts with seats" promotions no matter our W/L records or who our opponent will be, too. Anyone else notice that Ohio U had a Band Day even at their season home opening game against you know who? I don't think UNT will ever have a Band Day knowing the politics of something as simple as that. What McAdow did annually as the UNT Marching Band Director seems to have become a mountain not worth climbing for others last few decades. I mean why have something that would put more fans into our stadium and what our fans would enjoy seeing come back as an annual tradition in the first place? Tradition? GMG!

HoustonEagle, the UNT BOR's recently approved a budget to where we will be just fine in CUSA; matter of fact, so much better off than other newbies; furthermore, maybe even better off than at least one of its charter members. North Texas had a T Boone Pickens type with Robert Randall Onstead (who almost outbid Drayton McClane for the Astros) but we didn't "develop" him early enough to get the big bucks, but our Library esplanade (sp?) mall did fine from the Robert Randall Onstead family. UNT alum, the late R.R Onstead? How's 'bout Randalls Food Stores down there where you live and in my old neck of the woods as well? Hint: We have other Onstead-types out there who are still living, but our UNT officials need to get them while they're young. GMG!

(1) 8 losing seasons in a row and this early in the season our borderliners and casual fans still believe we have a losing program. Folks, after 8 losing seasons in a row its still going to take more than a "1 and 1" season record before we start turning them away at the Apogee turnstiles. After all, our W/L record was 1 and 1 at kick-off last Saturday and on the other side of the coin, who of all this group who didn't show are going to even know that? (2) 3 PM kick-off in September? I recall one September afternoon kick-off during the Fry Era. Even AD Fry quickly moved them to night games. We are not Texas or A&M and we did not play Alabama at Apogee last Saturday afternoon. North Texas might as well have had a kick-off in July because it was almost as hot. (Did anyone else see the Ball State players wilting in the 2'nd half)? Coach Mac has our team in "heat" shape and in Texas that is a good thing. (3) You who don't think a DFW and statewide TV broadcast of this game didn't affect our turnstiles count all speak up? Uh, huh! I can't hear you? If I had one 1 tell me I could have had 100 tell me we would not have a good crowd Saturday afternoon due to all the things listed above. Isn't the most surprising part of this discussion is how surprised some are acting here? We all probably ought to move on from this after today. You who want to keep fanning the flames just to keep fanning the flames just keep doing what you feel you need to do with that which is still mostly all about........burning the whole damn barn down to kill a mouse and to further announce to all how "the freakin' sky is falling and Armegeddon is at hand." GMG!

Mean Joe had several TV camera photo opps on our Fox Sports SW broadcast which I watched the full repeat of it last night at midnight till 3:00 AM. The broadcast team seemed to be "in awe" of Joe, too. Many still consider him the greatest at his position in NFL history. Last Saturday, I also saw many other North Texas greats and lettermen from the past at Apogee Stadium which included Chuck "Hatchet" Beatty from the Joe Greene Era at UNT and Chuck was briefly a Pittsburgh Steeler as I recollect. Chuck introduced me to Mean Joe's grandson. GMG

I will worry about each CUSA road game no matter who our opponent is. We win those then we know what we have on our hands with this Mean Green football team. GMG!.

Back in the day, so few could resist Linda! LOL You have to be at least in your 40's or 50's to know who she was, of course. GMG

Indeed, a tough loss. Hope his injury heals quickly. GMG!

Yes and was a most active one until one day she actually choked to death on a hot dog. Yes, another celebrity choking even like Mama Cass of the Mamas & Papas who choked on a roast beef sandwhich. Just don't know what it is about these celebrity chokings. GMG!

I Think I Know The Answer But I'm Not Sure & I Don't Know Why I Can't Be Briefer (except for all I want to say on this subject). Be nice to change that attitude as posted above by EagleGreen but we probably have so many more who don't have that attitude and it will be from that reservoir of UNT students who will one day start filling the east side of Apogee Stadium and coming back as alums. THIS: It has always been my opinion that North Texas is choking on a gnat with this attendance thing and not from any one particular regime who just happens to be on our UNT payroll. THAR'S GOLD OVER 'DERE ON DAT' BIG OL' MOUNTAIN! ? With us is it a matter like the man who owned a mountain of gold who just didn't have the first idea as to where to put his pic axe in the ground first to begin step #1 to mine all the gold he knew was already there? I love my school....you love our school....but the inactions of our "would be" gold miner as stated above is what I've always thought was our attitude and subsequent problem at UNT almost since my first game as a UNT student in September of 1973. Perhaps at times we might think......WALA!.......the heavens above will open and all our UNT constituency will simultaneously finally "get it" about supporting theirs/ours alma mater's football team and they will all just suddenly appear out of the blue at Apogee Stadium? Someone please call me when this happens, OK? BASIC FACT #1 : Our school is located in the DFW Metroplex. There are 1,000 other things a UNT student or UNT alum can do on Game Days and we only have to look at empty seats to know that fact is true. Unfortunatley (or fortunately); you know, sorta' like one of those half full or half empty deals, we of North Texas are going to have to work our butts off to get our students and home fan base of Denton County out to Apogee on Game Days because in the DFW Metroplex it is no longer a case of...we may have a good team this Fall so YALL COME OUT NOW, YA' HEAR? Because of our school's prime location in the Land of a 1,000 Dances as well as 1,000 other things our UNT students can do on Game Days, we of North Texas are just going to have face the fact that none of our past formulas to get the students or general populous out to Game Days have worked and 14,000 plus at Apogee last Saturday is proof. Then is it also a matter that we merely have to admit there is a problem with our attendance and to quit acting as if it doesn't exist? (Almost like an alcoholic has to eventually 'fess up and start solving his own problem) and then we may have to start doing things we see other schools (successfully) doing then swallow a little pride and just downright copy-cat how their success at the turnstiles to get larger groups to a very deserving Mean Green football team. And yes, maybe even copy-cat UH and Ohio U and have a Band Day would be one of those kind of promotions but most likely that will "ONLY" happen if our Green Brigade Marching Band Director decides its' going to happen but................see the below incentives to help him make it happen. FINALLY....IN CLOSING....Well, Kinda' Sorta'......! Would 2,000 more non-traditional UNT fans attending one Game Day each football season really be worth the trouble? Would We Have Had Room For Another 2,000 Fans Inside Apogee @ Our Ball State Game on Saturday With TV Cameras All Over The Place? If so........maybe this? The UNT adminstration (Lane Rawlins & Company) or UNT athletics (Rick V & Company) or "BOTH?" could go to the GB Marching Band Director and offer to help fund much of an annual Band Day promotion as to encourage it to happen again at North Texas--Silver Eagle will tell you this was an annual event at UNT even in the 60's). Might they even offer the Green Brigade Marching Band Director an extra in$entive to pull off this promotion, too, that is, to have our 2'nd Bands Over Texas At Apogee (Band Day) or whatever the heck they want to call it...the name doesn't matter, but the effort to make it happen again at North Texas does. Other schools are still doing Band Days, why North Texas is not one of them doesn't make cents). After my own 40 years of following much of this at North Texas, I still believe in my heart of hearts that this whole attendance thing is fixable North Texas being in the CUSA West Division is one heckuva place for us to start fixin' it since we know traveling fans will soon be coming to Apogee from most our West Division foes BUT FOR ALL OUR OTHER GAMES (?)....... ............ maybe even form a Denton-based and.or Denton Mayor led "Group of 100" committee as untjim1995 posted about when Texas Christian University formed theirs with many of the City of Fort Worth movers/shakers after the SWC disbanded and how TCU'ers everywhere all noticed this.... ........that without UT, TAMU, Texas Tech and Baylor's traveling fans coming to Amon Carter Stadium they, too, suddenly had their own attendance problems on Game Days but fact remains.......... .................at North Texas, we just need to have a hired gun (whether one officed at the UNT admininstration bldg or housed at the UNT athletics dept. under AD/Rick V's umbrella) and the right one who'll take the ball and run with it....wouldn't all agree if this were done right that it's really a full time job...............(or)... ........maybe even a Denton-based "Committee of 50 or 100" who could & would do the same ); that is, those who are going put the pic axe deep into that mountain of gold and for our school to finally get a serious "significantly more butts in seats" promotions program. GMG!