PlummMeanGreen

More Dark Days Ahead For A Program That's Already Been Wandering in the Wilderness For Way Too Long? :hair: I will also suggest that some of you guys on this board want yet another former Southland Conference school (TSU-SM) and ex conference-mate of ours to come to Denton to kick our butts with all their 3 star recruits (more than we have) just like UTA did in basketball last night at "OUR" house? Some of you are genuine gluttons for punishment as our athletic program still suffers from its dummication downward that its so-called leadership and ancillary staff have annually given us. After Apogee Stadium had its ribbon cutting, our main campus President along with his BOR's should have told this present group... "Thanks for all you've done & now with this new stadium (which we all know should have actually been built at least 25 years ago) but now we need to go to the next level with Mean Green athletics of which your hiring practices, lack of season ticket sales in light of dramatic UNT constituency growth and (still) lagging booster club memberships of the last 10 years here at UNT suggests that it will have to be many, many fresh new faces & hires that will be need to be the ones to take us to that next level. And we feel we have given you more than ample time to show growth commissurate with the dramatic growth our region and school have had but the record of the last 10 years indicate we need to make some changes now." (Can even 1 of you hear something like this coming from the mouths of Dr. Lane Rawlins or any of his present BOR's based on what we've seen the last decade? I cannot). Why do goverment influenced businesses like UNT operate as if non-growth and operating mostly in the red is the norm? And now worse, we have some on this board who used to think our school to be exceptional with so much potential seemedly no longer believe in any of his any longer from all that I read on GMG.com the last few days. Could it be we have those now who are just not capable of tapping into this potential? This is NOT the same North Texas many of us used to know as our alums now seeem to genuflect to anything dished down from our athletic leaders high above with NT Exes who now will seem to accept any school CUSA asks to join in this glorified cluster muck of a conference which once had such promise but now it's all about..................local or state rivaries? Hell, if that's the case lets just throw in the names of Midwestern State or Austin College of Sherman, Texas, in the fray (and that school where the great Bill Snyder once coached before Fry hired him at North Texas). Bigger The UNT Constituency Gets--The Smaller We Think & Get With No Marked Changes In Attendance Figures From Even 15 Years Ago I actually wonder if Denton County's population miraculously grew by 1 million new citizens over night if our attendance figures would change at all and remain forever stagnant? Growth at UNT's home base and home county the last 15 years have not made any noticeable difference whatsoever even compared to the year we met attendance criteria to regain our NCAA D1-A classification, circa 1995. With 700,000 in Denton County, 110,000 in Denton, UNT closing in on (sometimes in the sweet by and by) 40,000 students with even one UNT publication suggesting that we actually have over 200,000 NT DFW area alums, why do we have a Mean Green head football coach on a summer DFW caravan or tour of alumnus chapters having to beg our regulars to do "THEIR" part to get new fans? I actually felt sorry for Coach McCarney when I first heard this story (while others of you were understandably pissed at him during that moment) because I know the ones responsible for growing our attendance would continue to set on their butts in lazy little ol' Denton waiting for their State of Texas retiremenst and first SSI benefits checks. Seems no one answers to anyone at North Texas while this group sits around not setting goals which they know if they set them based on their past in Denton they wouldn't meet. Still Way Too Many Empty Seats At UNT While Upstart UTSA Kicks A$$ At The Turnstiles: In a perfect Mean Green World we really shouldn't have any seats left for any of our visitors to purchase--regional rivalry or not. Approx. 8,000,000 in the DFW Metroplex and we cannot find 30,850 out of that number to fill Apogee? Wonder if the staff at UTSA would have any problems filling Apogee no matter how they had to fill it? Even fill Apogee just one time like in its debut game versus UH should have been that first time? (Medium well on those burgers, Coach) Enuf' of this rant, I will now take my meds and go outside to kick the family dog! But still...GMG!

Once all is done it may be said that we really never left the Sun Belt. The MWC is our last chance to become exclusive & remove ourselves from what could eventually look like a way too heavily based bunch of Texas schools that could look like a combo Lone Star Conference/Southland Conference. Sorta' like the USA which is now being told from some quarters that we are no longer an exceptional nation. Look how many have dummied down to believing that as our Founding Fathers continue to turn cylinders in their graves wondering what the hell happened to the Republic which most of whom left England to establish. So now we all just lay back enjoying the inevitable while some try to spin all this as good? Yet when you spend 30 years fiddle-fartin' your athletic program away with mediocre leadership who've juked & jived our "always believing" UNT alumnus body (of which I plead guilty to that, too) with how great a job they are doing and all that coupled with non-stop ridiculous hires who stay much too long what more could we really expect for our alma mater? In our last 30 plus years we should have spent more time hiring difference-makers while our school moved up the NCAA totem pole. Also establishing ourselves with a plan to advance just like many of our former Mo' Valley mates did beginning with Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Tulsa, Cincinatti, etc, etc, etc. Now as I read this board some are on the cusp of wondering how badly UTSA might beat us on the football field first time we meet as we already wave our white flags toward the Road Runner Nation conceeding the home stadium turnstiles battle. How long can all this possibly continue in Denton and how long will we accept this as the continued business as usual "normal" at UNT? GMG!

Just add Lamar, Sam Houston and SFA for our traveling buds' and we can dominate all of that with the likes of those schools just like we did NCAA D1-AA and the Southland! (Of course we didn't do any of that and we never dominated anything at that level or in the SLC for that matter except in our dreams). The last 10 years in Denton have eaten our proverbial Mean Green athletic lunch (so to speak) and had UNT along with our Mean Green athletic program not been located in DFW we would have never been in the first group of CUSA invitees (based on our last 10 years of dismal performances across the board). At some point in Denton, winning has to be more than just a long lost friend or ours from decades past and she just needs to give us a return visit and very soon. And is it time for more pay raises for all of this, too? We all know what the real problems are up there except the BOR's and apparently our Prez. GMG!

Lets put the microscope on SMU and UH: In a nutshell, both schools are still very, very bitter that they both got jump-kicked out of the SWC, did not get invites to the Big 12 (while TCU did) and will do all they can to be with schools they perceive were just as jump-kicked out of prime time as they were and guess which school(s) do not fit their criteria? It's fugly' out there, folks, and it ain't going to get any prettier. The shame in all this is our athletic record of the last 10 years and the fact that we really haven't grown with too many more significant new fans even in a new stadium; of course, non-stop losing has not helped but you have to look at that, too. I think we're fine with our head coaches in football and basketball for the time being, but not so sure about other areas of athletics. Many on this board I really feel know what the problems are in Denton, but North Texas and its BOR's sometimes reminds some of us the way the U.S. federal goverment does business with too many times too many non-business types in charge as in--------------they don't do new business at all but in Denton rely on "must have" facilities to persevere some retirement plans in Denton. Anyone knocking their doors down to hire them? That is usually a good barometer to go by for those who choose to look at barometers. It will take North Texas leaders the next 5 years to figure out what has happened the last 10 years in athletics and then add another 5 years to that to (maybe) make changes. Just sayin' what I'm seein' from a distance. GMG!

Yeah, but what about UNT's athletic department of the future that actually sets goals, reaches goals and markets more than just each incoming freshman class to get significantly new faces and fans at Apogee Stadium? Yes, UTSA gave tickets away but we have not shown we can even do that in a successful manner and for what it's worth...........it takes a real organization juggernaut to even give the kind of tickets away that UTSA did. (And no, I don't think any of us advocate mass free ticket give-aways, either). If North Texas gets in a conglomeration of Sun Belt and old Southland Conference type schools we will have regressed from even the present Sun Belt and that will have the same effect on North Texas alums the day we were told we would be going down a classification to NCAA 1-AA back in 1982. It's still like Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy told his 2 sons...."its what people perceive that counts." Why do so many present schools in CUSA want to leave the new CUSA as it is? Perhaps............P-E-R-C-E-P-T-I-O-N? TCU became exclusive from the rest of Texas-based FBS schools when they left SMU and CUSA to go to the Mountatin West--it seems to have paid off quite well for the Frogs even while they were in the MWC having no idea that the Big 12 was in their future. And yes, I know they have great endowment coffers but they were pro-active enough to dare to be different and to remove themselves from who they knew they had to remove themselves from--all of which seemed to be Texas-based schools. I still like the TCU model for UNT from a MWC point of view. A MWC division with 3 Texas schools would be most ideal. GMG!

FroggieBoy, with the way conferences change and members leave 100 years traditions behind (a la Texas A & M) you sure seem a bit arrogant and sure of yourself. How you going to feel if UT and OU like what TAMU has done by leaving the Big 12 and those 2 vault too? Won't be the same conference yall joined, now would it? In fact, even stranger that you are on little ol' North Texas message board in the first place. GMG!

Post Katrina, there are approx. 400,000 (maybe) living in New Orleans. Denton County is approaching 700,000 population if not there already. GMG!

I believe there are 2 private schools heading to the Big East who seem to be playing NCAA FBS level football because their older alums (some of whom now deceased) are wanting to sustain such programs at that level, but just not sure the present student bodies at those 2 respective schools give one hoot or a hollar about their having a football program at all. Still damn funny to me how these 2 school can draw flies at home even during winning seasons but still rely on their glory years of over 60 years to get what I think are underserved conference advances today with some running these conferences (such as in the Big East) who were not even alive during those 2 schools best decades making the decisions on who goes forward and those who remain where they are. Schools like Southern Miss are the biggest losers in these kind of scenarios. Keep in mind, mere speculation with the aforementioned thoughts. GMG!

Damn good idea, UNTLifer, wish I'd thought of it first albeit I notice our posts were only 1 minute apart! LOL! At this rate, all we're going to end up in is a more regionalized Sun Belt Conference; who knows, maybe it would work but I have been a fan of the MWC for longer than just today, too. With more expected CUSA membership losses (and didn't we see this coming) I hope Dr. Rawlins would be making some very strategic phone calls because we cannot afford to be in a Sun Belt/Southland mixture of a conference IMHO because that would have the same effect of the day we were told we had to go down to NCAA D1-AA. It's still all about perception, folks, and in all of your hearts you know that to be true, especially in the Lone Star State. GMG!

Hell, I thought Tulane might announce they are dropping down to FCS level football which would better suit the 25,000 seat stadium-to-be which to me has been quite under-whelming as far as renderings go. All this is getting to be worse than a bad TV soap opera truth be known. Everyone wants to be where they ain't! LOL!. So while on that subject, why don't we be pro-active and tell the MWC we'd make one helluva of DFW based school entry for their league? Even better than then one which still thrives on long past football history that won an colege football N.C back in the late 1930's. Yet for the most part and even in our 8'th losing season we probaby still draw more actual butts in seats than Doak's alma mater. Do we all need a new score card for all of our favorite off season subject, ie, conference re-alignment?

:goodjob: :goodjob:

As I recall a hand full of us last Summer suggested Coach Mac might have a 2'nd year let-down in Denton with wins/losses. Its happened before in Denton for another coach who our present HFC emulates with even a photo of that coach on his office wall. Recruiting? If we are not recruiting 3 or 4 star recruits we need to make darn sure those we are recruiting have FBS level speed and for linemen some quicker than hell feet with growth potential in the weight room. Texas has more kids who play Texas HS football than any state in the USA. That is a plus for a coaching staff who can evaluate talent and I believe that is what Coach Mac is shooting for as he will probably continue to tweak his staff. Recruiting Gems: UNT has a most diversified ethnic student body & have since the school first integrated traditional caucasian colleges in the South and Southwest in the mid 1950's. Denton has more co-eds than any university town in Texas combining co-eds from UNT and TWU and say what you say, that is a plus among Texas HS football players when they visit a college town and.........what the heck, Rand-McNally just named Denton, Texas, American, the most fun small city in the USA. (Not sure a city of close to 120,000 should be called a "small city" though). NT academically is no Harvard but neither are most other school in the Lone Star State (including a handful who think they are) but what we do have is the most comprehensive university with its more graduate and undergraduate programs than any school this side of Austin, Texas. And with all that happenign at a campus that most of us older alums all but need maps to get around where new mega-million facilities abound. So we really do have selling points at UNT for those who do the selling and anyone who takes a walking tour of our campus who is affiliated with UNT can see and feel the synergy themselves. At some point, the benefits of UNT, Denton & Denton Country's growth will be seen by all once the winning begins again and we all know that that cycle will return. GMG! PS: From a handful of you, thanks for the PM's. My DJ business is going strong as I've been booked 14 of the last 18 Saturdays. www.soundworksdeejay.com

LOL! I know you jest about C.K, but I don't see any place on that bridge that anyone could contort their bodies to make any kind of jump onto I-35E............just sayin'. GMG!

Present and future CUSA schools, that is. Yes, there is room for improvement for all. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rankings/bcs

Or...............somethng like this? http://www.yardbarke..._photo/11721169 GMG!

Last time I stepped on a horned frog it went...........SQUISH! Blood and guts went everywhere, especially on my, uh, Nikes. UNT is doing just fine, Froggy Boy. And just how is that "TCU System" coming along of late? Have you been on Camp Bowie Blvd/ lately and checked out our UNT Health Science Center? Its more than just impressive and even a TCU alum would probably "privately" admit that when no one was watching. http://untsystem.edu/ Many of us did a Joe Biden'esque type of laugh when it took TCU only 2 weeks after our UNT BOR"s announcement that our new football palace would be built for your school (who I suppose couldn't stand the limelight UNT was getting with its new stadium announcement) to announce TCU's stadium would be re-built all over again. Nice, TCU, real........real...........nice.

We're all, uh......in, Cougar Red! Because you are so convincing, as of today North Texas Exes everywhere will start mailing back our University of North Texas degrees and in lock-step immediately cast all our support for that academic powerhouse located in the nicest ward of the Bayou City and one that is now on the cusp (so much for the Big Least) of an apparent Ivy League invite. So does that make you happy now? If so, then get on back to CoogFans.com where I suppose you'd be much happier; that is, if in your world of sarcasm and finger-pointing and in other fan's message board living rooms that is at all possible. So to quote Agent Starling talking to all the police officers at the funeral home...................'go on now, we can handle it from here' Get em' while they're young!

OK..........TXST'ers...........we can fully understand your attitude toward North Texas and your apparent need to (perhaps) aggrivate some on GMG.com and that because.........yall just basically took our place in a league we've been trying to get out of since we joined it and that mostly so we could be in a more regional division and have those "close by" rivalry conference games. Honest to goodness, few on this board really have anything against the SBC at all but many times praise that league much of the time, but (once again) we just wanted some local or adjacent to our state conference rivalries and now we suddenly have 3 conference rivals from the Lone Star State beginning in 2013. We also now have one who will be in our West Division that has an AP poll #23 ranking in La Tech and I hope they keep it up. It's for darn sure that it will be more fun to have ranked conference rivals coming into our fabulous Apogee Stadium than what we've had forever. (The last ranked team who came to Denton was 1974 when a #19 ranked San Diego St came to Fouts and we upset the Aztecs in that game). Ironically, that win took place in Hayden Fry's 2'nd season when our win over the Aztecs were part of 2 total wins that season! It's more fun for all concerned when the opposing team travels well.................Ask U of Houston how well UNT fans travel even after having had several losing seasons in a row and also ask them about our Green Brigade marching band who duly impressed many Coog fans. It was another era, but many of us on this board were actually part of approx. 19,000 traveling Mean Green fans back in the day when we played an OOC game against a school located not too far from San Marcos. Admittedly, some years there is not much difference between CUSA or the SBC's top teams in regular season play, but in past years when CUSA would rise above the SBC in quality with its better teams (several of whom will still be members in CUSA) those teams have received AP poll Top 25 rankings. Being redundant all over again on the subject, but the SBC has yet to have any team ranked in the Top 25 since the football part of the league began play years ago. There were probably a few of us on this forum who thought a Troy U team for a couple of seasons should have gotten such a ranking but they only received votes as I recall. It is all our hope to rise with the tide that almost everyone on GoMeanGreen.com to the person feels CUSA membership will help us attain. Most non-CUSA'ers would probably even admit that at least CUSA does have a bevy of sportswriters and poll voters who will vote for its better teams for Top 25 rankings and I for one am excited that our football program will be in such a group that that will be most of their goals to attain. GMG!

I thought (and I think may have even posted) early on long before 2 a days that this season had the potential of being one that could be the equivalent of a sophmore jinx of a season for Coach McCarney. If so, it would be similar to Fry's 2'nd year at UNT when his team won only 2 games. It was Fry's 3'rd season in Mean Green Country when he started making hay. This season is still re-cycle'able and hope it is but I hope we don't take off some redshirts of young players for this season that is mostly likely not going to produce a bowl team. We really do have bigger fish to fry in CUSA and hope our powers that be are staffing for it across the board accordingly. We cannot operate like we did at the NCAA 1-AA or even to a great extent Sun Belt Conference level since the last 8 years football-wise have not been one that would add to the best times of our history or legacy by any means. First thing we need to do at North Texas is start out-recruiting #23 ranked La Tech (and others) who will also have its debut CUSA season next Fall, too. GMG!

And that is how you eventually get a ranked football team. Hope I don't lose my native Texan citzenship with this, but I hope our future conference-mate La Tech beats TAMU and goes higher up in the polls. North Texas needs Top 25 teams coming into Apogee Stadium in the near future no matter what CUSA school that would be. GMG!

I think our North Texas vs. U of Louisiana nationally televised game will also dramatically outdraw the Maryland/Boston College game with their crowd(?) seen in the linked photo below. http://sports.yahoo....eXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3 GMG! PS: North Texas officials for this one game should go to all of Denton Counties elementary and/or middle schools and just give tickets away. IT'S NATIONAL TV, FOLKS! Remember when former SMU AD Russ Pott's used to say back in their Mustang Mania era how "an empty seat will not buy a souvenir program, a hot dog, a coke, a T-shirt, etc, etc, etc? (And no, I don't think freeby tickets should become a regular occurence at North Texas, either, because our on the field product will "believe it or not"....improve). Contact UTSA'smarketing staff to see how they've succuessfully done theirs because even giving away free tickets takes a very large staff with evangelistic fervor to get out in the public to insure that the jobs gets done. Just sayin'...

I think we will dramatically outdraw what the below linked photo of a recent Miami Hurricanes home game drew. Photo in link below. http://www.democrati...d.com/120419900 GMG! PS: IMHO, NCAA FBS football is getting dangerously close to over-exposing its product with way too many televised games during the week.

U of North Texas grad Dr. Phil might say you are either trying to drum up more ticket sales with such lagniape and tommyrot or you have an extreme inferiority complex as you continually use negative phrases aimed at our elect which actually describe yourself. Nevertheless... BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THOSE.... HOUSTON COUGARS ! ! ! GMG!

Just 2 straight seasons of success still a bit premature for La Tech to be "doing Dallas" for a game that would draw more in Shreveport. DFW is getting inundated with way too many out of state schools playing in our venues, but many will still play before many empty seats unless they are of Big 12 or SEC pedigree I am not sure the Bulldogs keep their coach after this season, but I do think they should be in the Top 25 now or soon beings that Baylor was ranked #25 the week after they squeaked by ULM and then fell out of the rankings after their West Virginia loss. IMO, we future CUSA'ers need to pull for all our present and future conference mates to get Top 25 rankings because that will mean we will have to work harder to get more recruits who can get us our first Top 25 ranking since the late 70's. GMG! PS: I am not worried one iota about our recruiting against La Tech. We have things with our campus and athletic venues that they don't have and most likely won't have for quite awhile. Not at the top of the list but how many realize Denton has almost 28,000 co-eds who attend both of its universities? GMG !!