PlummMeanGreen

....and his credentials look great! Come on, folks, he was on the staff of one of the NCAA's premier basekball schools and that being Marquette. I do hope RV created a nice, hefty buy-out clause for Coach Benford, though, because one day SMU may have to pay it. Welcome to the land of milk and honey, Coach B! GMG!

Such a flag football game(s) could for damn sure be played in 2 of the finest on campus college football stadiums in the USA. I'd be a volunteer referee, but hurry up before I get any older, even crank'ier, end up in a wheel chair or my cararacts get worse. The game would draw a good crowd and for the first 30 minutes of pre-game fans/alums from both schools could spend in one hellacious staring contest. And On Re-alignment? We need to hurry up and get an invite if we 're going to get one is my honest-to-goodness opinion on that subject because......the NCAA presidents could all have a mass group brain fart and turn all this topsy-turvy and inside out once again. SMU? Some of the finest people I've met since moving from the Houston area to Denton/DFW have been SMU alums. Hey! We've all had our moments of disenchantment with our respective schools, but put us all in a room together and I'd bet it would end up being a friendly environment because being from Texas we'd find we have more in common than not. GMG!

From all acounts (and not CNN polls) I think the beginning of the resolving of this problem will begin after this November when Shellacking II takes place. And It will not have come at a better time. Much in the USA needs an over-haul and education would be a good place to start; that is, what all our "broken home" generation kids are receiving there with all the revisionists and rubber back-boned types who dont' have the gonads to stand up for anything moral would be a good place to begin this over-haul. I've seen this coming for decades having lived with a teacher (a wife) for about 10 years was where the biggest clue started for me. Hell, on trips out of the country we'd be apologizing for America, too, if we had been taught the crock of revised U.S. history BS they are getting in some of their textbooks across this great country. And some by teachers who can't even pass basic tests to continue to be teachers. GMG!

Too long.....don't read any of this. You've been forewarned. Well there goes the "non religious university" or "no beer advertising" theories of the 100.7 FM Christian radio station because LSU famously (and allegedly) has the biggest collective number of drunks among their stadium fans and alumnus numbers than just about any other FBS school. In fact, LSU and their minions would make our group look like a chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers comparatively. As GreenBat posted and he's probably spot on (again), "it's all about the Benjamin$, and L$U brings in more of the presidents." So just maybe UNT should just ask KCBI if they'd be interested in broadcasting our games. For newbies the "CBI" part of that station's call letters stands for Criswell Bible Institute named after Dallas' First Baptist Church icon, the late Dr. W.A. Criswell. (I'd bet a DJ gig that Baylor would probably have first dibs on that station, though). Only At North Texas could we expect to be knudged out of our own media market by a school 8 freakin' hours away from DFW and a school from another freakin' state to boot and that state being, uh......... freakin' LOUISIANA? (Come on Dawg GMG.com posters--give me some red numbers on that one). Yet have we droppped the ball on this one as we continue to bask in the glory of Apogee Stadium which for all practical purposes is still our present groups greatest acommplishment albeit one that had to happen because of it (basically) keeping us in the college football business in Denton? (By the way, a special thanks to UNT students for passing the referendum which allowed all this to happen in the first place). Has Interstate Batteries and the UNT alum who runs that company (and others similar with UNT connections) ever been asked to buy advertising time on the MGRN or are we just going to hang in there with the local ice cream shoppe in Denton, ie Beths, whose marketing budget could not possibly be as much? (Thanks, Beths, you are still appreciated and you do have great ice cream). To The UNT Board of Regents: Please do not allow Apogee Stadium to become the NCAA's version of the best double-wide in the trailer park. OOC scheduling beginning with Texas Southern this Fall should be a big hint of that possibly happening early on even as the most novice of all the novice of your group who would be NCAA D1 enthusiasts should readily see. And yes, Alliance membership will also be nice if we make the cut, but if our school and its athletic program were located in outposts like Natchitoches, LA, or a Lufkin, Texas or Monroe, LA. even our greenest of greenest kool-ade drinkers would know what our chances would really be to get in such a conference based on our athletic program's roller coster ride performance for most of the last 15-20 plus years. So please....... UNT BOR's............ identify and diffuse potential mine fields now and save us from having to go thru another of whatever you want call what we have experienced the last 15-20 plus years with Mean Green athletics and that includes not having even......... "1"........... UNT Head Football Coach with an above .500 W/L record which very well may have been toward the top of the list of reasons that kept North Texas out of CUSA back in 2004. Seems we have met the enemy once again in good ol' Denton town and we all know who it always seems to be.

Harry, I just wanted to double emphasize the message of your post and just hit the wrong size number. But....its just more of the 3 giant steps forward 4 backward mentality some of us have seen for way too long at North Texas. Listen to me now: Apogee Stadium had to be built or we were going to pretty well (and very soon) be out of the NCAA D1 football business in Denton; but there are some on our campus who better by God be glad it was built because it just gave them yet another pass to sit back, relax and add a few more years to a few careers that before Apogee was built could not seem to get better jobs elsewhere. Just sayin' what I've heard said many times by numerous fans and alums...that's all. GMG!

This sounds more like a "good ol' boy" network move than one that would actually benefit our alma mater long term and as far as maximum fan coverage is concerned. If there are around 7,000,000 citizens in our metro area as estimated, why is a station that might cover 1/4'th of that (give or take) such a hot item even if they can promote wet T-shirt night or not? I really liked this online publication from the MG website when it was actually what we had going for us, but with this new arrangement this write-up will have to change some coverage numbers dramatically from 10,000,000 all the way down to ______________ ? http://www.meangreen...00&ATCLID=68062 To those on campus: We actually read and comprehend all that you post but for the life of me, for the last 1 or 2 decades this is what North Texas does best: Goes 3 giant steps forward and then 4 back. Can we freakin' break this cycle before some of us go into eternity? Like it or or not, we are still at the mercy of those in higher education who make decisions (many good/many bad) for our alma mater. Somewhat like we are at the mercy of those in Washington D.C. who spend our tax monies (that is, for those who work and pay taxes) for whatever their whim of the day is or political philosophy thats going to fix all which ultimately proves to really not be broken and this from both sides of the aisle I will add. We need more far-reaching North Texas Metroplex coverage because that is where most of our constituency live and work. Adding another station or 2 would probably fix that. GMG!

Upon further review................we still need clear channel coverage north, south, east and west of Dallas and Fort Worth and in at least a 50 mile radius outside of both of those cities and that for the casual fan to be able to pick up Mean Green sports. The casual fans of the DFW Metroplex are not going to bother with logging onto the internet to pick up Mean Green football and basketball.....uh, duh? With Apogee, now is the time to expand our wings--not draw them in because that is what the old Fouts Field'esque North Texas would have the tendency to do. Plus.....all are moving to the 'burbs if not there already and this new station cannot be picked up in a large portion of those from reading this thread.. Also, you didn't have to be a Christian or concur with Christian values to enjoy the good coverage we got from that 100.7 FM station in Dallas. Was really surprised that we ever got that station and kept it as long as we did with our tendency to want to advertise beer, though. It was a sad day when we lost the Tyler/Longview coverage that that Christian station had out in east Texas as a sister station and who also broadcated Mean Green football. GMG!

Great photos! And still.... photos of Apogee do not do it justice. An in-person visit is dramatically different than anything you can see from just about any picture or interstate drive-by. I was getting ready to DJ/Emcee a wedding out here in Weatherford about Game Time for the Annual Green/White Game. GMG! PS: The Bill Mercer Press Club Dedication Ceremony pics just made me want to cry. And yall just wait, Young Gun Alums, the older you get the more emotional you'll get, too. Of course, that's the Irish blood in me that makes the emotional part happen. I have a fellow McDonalds coffee club'ber in his early 60's who simply worships Bill Mercer from the Saturday Night Wrestling Days, but he also knows about the North Texas Mean Green because of Bill Mercer and keeps up with our program because of it. For certain, Bill Mercer has been a good ambassador for UNT. NOTE: Was Fred Graham at that ceremony, anyone? GMG!!

That's OK, Stebo, the older I get the more confused I seem to be. At least I'm still not getting lost shopping in a 7/11 yet. Thanks for letting me know more about the background of the writers (or bloggers) of that online publication, though.. Seems to me, though, the Bleacher Report folks put a lot of money into their website to not expect more accurate vetting from any of their bloggers,. The one who did the stadium survey ripped his britches big time with his ranking of Apogee Stadium, though. Perhaps a better idea for that poll would have been to rank stadiums by size; for instance, All Stadiums With Capacities of 40,000 and Less; ;and then........... All Stadiums With Capacities of 40,001 And More? GMG!

Then for the promotions aspect that would make it a good choice for a radio station. Yet I did like this MGRN write-up when it said our coverage radar covered 10 million citizens, but I guess we;ll have to sacrifice a few fans with this new station? http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=68062 GMG!

I cannot get a good reception out here in Parker County and I thought I would have been able to. Maybe night reception is better? Did the decision-makers on this simply make a long drive around the the peripheal parts of all the North Texas Metroplex before they decided on this FM station might be a good question. If it can be picked up in Fort Worth and Dallas I suppose that is all we need. Religious station or not, I could pick up 100.7 FM just fine out here and that was all that mattered to me. We also had a 2'nd station at one time out in Longview/Tyler. That disappeared at some point, but it could not have hurt our east Texas presence at all. So.....maybe add another FM station or 2 like we have done before? GMG!

OK, Stebo, so our stadium sucks, deserves its Bleacher Report ranking and you're defending a blogger for reporting that? How balanced have most of your posts been on GMG.com? Did that blogger give UNT a balanced critique on our new stadium? And balance is in the eyes of the beholder (and reader). I post on Huffington Post but their idea of balance is a far left agenda. Actually, stebo, I have enjoyed reading most of your posts--didn't always agree but agreed with many of your thoughts. Yet you have an opinion--I have an opinion..Hark! We both have opinions. Almost American of us to agree to disagree at times, eh?. I got my buns burned for posting that we should go another route and not hire yet another assistant football coach this time around after Todd Dodge was fired. Merely opinionated on that because the last 5 or 6 assistant coach project hires to be the UNT HFC left Denton under .500. (Maybe time to try another direction was the opinion of many and to go the route of a former FBS HFC from a major conference was at the top of most our list). Yet last HFC hiring go aorund you would have thought that I was suggesting a "take from the rich--give to the poor" mode of pure communism for the USA with all the red number responses. (Although I can't recall that all those red numbers stopped me from still posting my opinions). GMG!

Way to go and congrats, Emmitt. Time flies by so fast as I can remember first meeting you & some of your friends when you all were teens over near Fouts Field. SUMG did the introductions as I recall. Main question I have for you, though, is: Are you happy with the department's branding and logo?

Only reason merger sounded good to some of us was if it got North Texas admitted and better TV revenues for all than the 2 leagues previously received as separate conferences . If UNT gets into CUSA the merger sounds kind of like some kind of quasi-security blanket but moreso security for 2 conference commissioners than the schools themselves seems to me. Not really sure about this delay in announcing some of the schools who will be getting in if not all, though. Sure didn't take the Big East any time in doing so and if AQ is taken off the table (which it should) then their stock will have gone a bit south while CUSA and the MWC will have gone, uh, north. GMG!

I'm sorry but I see San Anton' much differently than a few of my fellow Mean Green elect. I've lived in Honolulu, visited San Francisco when my sister and late brother-in law lived there, been to New Orleans (but couldn't be there on a NO's Bowl weeknight because of the nature of the sector of education I was in at the time, the day of the week of the game and the time of year it took place plus.......I am a non-flyer of airlines after a turbulent trip from DFW to Hobby many years ago)...... ......but IMO San Antonio fits in with the 3 aforementioned locales as far as what some call one of the USA's mystique cities and that is probably because of the Alamo, other area Spanish missions, the Riverwalk with all the mariachi bands on the barges that troll that waterway coupled with all of the colorful display of lights at night (& doesn't matter to me what color the water of the SA river is--it was flowing there even when Travis, Crockett, Bowie and Company were walking the streets of SA ). Also, the Institue of Texas Culture museum located in Hemisfair Park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjijoMMMadU&NR=1&feature=endscreen > > > >John Wayne's youngest daughter and a grandchild talk bout SA and the Alamo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Texan_Cultures (Institute of Texas Culture; also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Affiliates program http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/lkh01. (1968 Texas Hemisfair) _______________________________________________________________ Still not sure all my SA Chamber of Commerce'esque bit above is reason for a one year start-up program to get into the Alliance at this time, but honest to goodness I would not complain if they got in. And we've all stated our likes/dislikes for La Tech, but I would not have a problem being conference-mates with them, too--ever heard of the concept of... instant rivalry? The Alliance presidents do have some tough decisions to make, but having a 24 team Alliance would probably solve 99% of them. Just sayin'... GMG!

Comparing UNT with LaTech's attitude of undying, passionate (but probably moreso a bit false one might say) sense of entitlement for CUSA membership yall have us beat 100 to 1 in that department, but even La Tech's most passionate would probably admit that LTU is at this time in their athletic history more at a crossroads conference -wise than UNT. If we didn't get in the Alliance although I think the concensus says we're in, at least we're not mixed up in all the present WAC turmoil). Yet a bit of history (or legacy if you will) which I think this time around has been working to our advantage, but North Texas has been applying for other "major" conference memberships much longer than La Tech beginning with Hayden Fry's (when he was AD/HFC at North Texas) quest for SWC membership in the mid 1970's. (I'm stretching my baby boomer memory bank here but I am really trying with great difficulty to remember what La Tech was doing in that same era and at what NCAA classification)? Of course, we didn't get in the SWC because of all the usual "private school" reasons, but during that era we were busy beating the Tennessee Vols, Houston Coogs, SMU, Miss. St. plus a Top 20 ranked San Diego St. Aztec football team and even got a Mean Green football team Top 20 ranking of our own couple of times. (We were hardly chopped liver as a football progam during the Fry Era in other words). More History............. North Texas had already been in a conference with Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Tulsa, Cincy' ,etc, in the Missouri Valley Conference so for us all this of late has just been a matter of North Texas getting back to where we should have stayed with similar schools or merely advanced back to a few decades back. What kicked out butt were those 12 unglorious years in NCAA 1-AA albeit in one of those football seasons we had wins over Rice, Texas Tech and a win literally snatched away from us by extremely SWC-biased referees in our game against the Texas Longhorns (as linked below for those who never knew about this biggest homer call of all time or had forgotten). And back to UNT's Missouri Valley Conference days (and some of us would prefer a non smack response from a La Tech'ster) but at what level was La Tech competing during UNT"s MVC era, too)? So over a period of a half century, one might make a case for North Texas that it is our time to advance compared to any school that has in that same 50 year timeline had what some might describe a small handful of flash in the pan successes (albeit a small handful of impressive ones ever so often). Now back to that UT/North Texas link of which most Texas Exes after that game even said we got screwed out of a win along with classy Longhorn fans similar comments they made as they left what is now DKR Memorial Stadium that night as both of our school's fans walked back to the stadium parking lots and to our cars. In the link I just love the UT TV Broadcasters saying: "Uh, oh..." http://www.youtube.c...h?v=fPcZN6adx7U GMG!

techdawg88, I don't think it's a matter of hate but moreso a matter of some of your fellow alums condescending arrogance from BB&B toward all the rest of us through the years. For certain we've all done our share of smack from time to time, but some of your fellow Dawg' compadres in the opinion of many (even beyond our elect) were going a bit over the top. Yet.............if ever there was a new conference rivalry that started from 2 college-based message boards it would be both of our schools because we have ourselves (admittedly) counter-pointed many of BB&B's posters points for darn sure. GMG!

I think the last time we beat Tulsa U in football I was a HS senior in the Fall of 1968 and I saw that North Texas/Tulsa game televised on Houston's ABC TV affiliate, Channel 13, as ABC's regional game of that week. Not bad for a non-SWC school to get a regional TV game back in the day but I also think we had about 3 #1 NFL draft choices on that team as well as several other NFL draft choices-to-be, too. Anyone from down in the H-town area remember Kiterik, ie, local kids show on Channel 13 with a lady dressed up as a cat? She was Houston's female version of Captain Kangaroo as far as kids shows goes.. I think you'd have to be over 50 years of age to remember her. GMG! Trivia question: How many present non-California Alliance school based states would it take for their combined state populations to equal that of the state of Texas? The answer to that question might be a hint as to why Tulsa (and others) want more of a Texas-based presence in this Alliance. No Texas brag'n here but...just sayin' GMG ! !

Not very trendy here, I still have clip-on ties and mix stripes with plaids ; but I do like the trend and the pool we seem to be drawing from to hire major varsity sports head coaches of late in Denton. It will eventually pay off. Some call this shooting for the moon and I would bet it we only hit the barn it would still be higher than we've been most decades with project hires. Now onward we go to find a new men's BB coach. Can UNT steal one from one of the Big Boys ...because we, ie, Rick V did for WBB. GMG! PS: Do trends start with 3?

Ditto... The Apogee Experience will grow right along with our school and our school's locations growth. We would have to be extremely poor marketeers in Denton for it not to. My own personal experience at Apogee was almost surreal. Nothing that happened at Fouts Field since my first game as a student there in September of 1973 could compare to the full package Game Day experience at Apogee Stadium. Quite frankly...............I was completely blown away with the games I was able to attend last season. Like many of you I also predicted Apogee's accoustics would be one of the first things we would all notice. (Seems Texas A& M's new coach but then UH Coog's HFC Kevin Sumlin noticed and commented on it, too). GMG!

We used to call it "let them pay their dues." All this will have become too easy for UTSA and TSU even with their getting in the Sun Belt Conference (which is expected)--yet --both athletic programs who have yet to play one game as an FBS classified school. It's for damn sure La Tech and UNT have had to pay their dues and probably even moreso for UNT since we were playing at what was called the NCAA's highest level in the 1950's and even with UNT's Times' All American Abner Hayne-led Sun Bowl team in that decade. Post-Hayden Fry Era, I wouldn't wish on our worst enemy (if we had one) the roller coaster ride our athletic program has been on tagging onto that 12 humiliating "de-frocked" years as the NCAA's version of the red-headed step-child--that is, 1-AA classification. Our Young Gun Alums will never meet many of the alums who threw their hands up with our school when we went down a classification level; that is, those now lost alums who gave up on the non-direction our then UNT administration gave us. We did receive much in the area of lip-service, though. During our walk in the wildnerness of (uninterested in athletics) UNT leadership plus the non-stop comedy of athletic department hiring errors none of whom our major varsity sports coaches left Denton with over .500 won/loss records. Then too many of our alums began to accept mediocrity and competing "only" in the Bottom 25 with a few successful years at that level as the expected norm in Denton and quite frankly...... if not for the booster shot that Apogee Stadium gave us I'm not sure we would still be operating in that mode of accepting just about anything dished out to us. Apogee Stadium is a true, legitimate NCAA D1 facility, but North Texas powers that be will still need to hire more legit D1 personnel (with a D1 mind-set) from top to bottom in the athletic department to keep Apogee from becoming a Hollywood'esque mansion inhibited by the equivalent of the Beverly HIllbillies (w/o the Texas tea). Just sayin' ... GMG!

Heard just yesterday on WBAP how TxDOT was (as I recall the short snippet) trying to get funding for I-35E all the way from Dallas to Denton. What a project that will be that some of you Young Gun Alums will probably be grandpas before that project is finished. GMG!

And maybe that kind of an "assistant hire" would work; who knows. Another poster mentioned the Tulsa model. I would North Texas have that model over hiring someone who stays way too long and establishes absolutely nothing but we did hear from such past hires (and even comments from posters on this forum) still how "loyal" they were to stay? LOL!. That's like saying that lemon of an auto that some dude purchased yet it cost him dearly each year in repairs was still so very special because he kept it for 10 years? This below happened to Tulsa U in the past but (at least) most of these hires left a baskeball legacy behind for the Golden Hurricane. And even in football, Boise at one point had about 10 HFC's leave in the space of about 12 years but they still (amazingly) maintained a Top 25 program thru most of that time. Nolan Richardson (1980–1985) J. D. Barnett (1985–1991) Tubby Smith (1991–1995) Steve Robinson (1995–1997) Bill Self (1997–2000) Buzz Peterson (2000–2001) John Phillips (2001–2004) GMG!

I cannot remember any assistant coach North Texas ever hired for any varsity program who was successful (except for JJ--see next paragraph); especially when we hired from within. Maybe there was one the last 50 or so years, but I don't know who that would have been. I like the Fry and McCarney hiring models even for MG basketball. Such higher profile hires can move things along so much faster than the project hire IMO and with Alliance membership within reach, we don't have time to do what has mostly been the norm in Denton, save Johnny Jones who was not the usual assistant coach hire we had become accustomed before him. I thought JJ was on the eve of taking our program to the next level that would have included NCAA berths and moving past the 1'st round of the Big Dance. Folks, we are hardly a basketball school steeped in tradition and that is why this next hire is so important. If there were ever a time in our basketball history for an impact hire I think that time would be now. GMG!

Yeah, and it's a black hole with an SMU'esque lilly white surrounding. Stay in Denton, Coach Jones, you will get much better offers than SMU and offers from schools in better conferences, too. More telling red flag: Where have all the most recent SMU BB coaches gone to better themselves? Case closed. GMG! PS SMU is just not getting enough local publicity about their Big East move compared to another school in DFW that might take their place in CUSA, ya' think? And when many from CUSA are now saying that UNT's DFW upside is much better than SMU's then the Stang's have to make their presence known by flashing the check book in all our faces--so "blankety'blanked" typical of that school the 40 years I've been around these parts. NOTE: Rick V, please, please, please start raising the buyout clauses for future new UNT coaches because we will lose others to the UT's and others who can and will afford any buyout clause we would have in Denton. Thanks in advance. GMG!!