PlummMeanGreen

Bump for Vito thread... Great photos and even some new quote from Hayden Fry which I'd never heard about our "bowl'less" Mean Green football teams. How many bowls were there in the 70's? Anyone know? I know they've almost tripled the number of bowls since then for sure.

For certain how many Texas high school boys have moved across (sometimes even just a street) to live with Aunt Mary so they could play for..........We Got It Goin' On High School--Future Texas State High School Champions (again). GMG!

That logo warms my heart, especially after our string of hot Texas 100+ degree days! (Can you believe 89 for a high today in DFW)?

Jack, you sound like Moses in Cecil B. De Mille's "Ten Commandments" with your last sentence. As I recall that movie it was Moses before the Pharoah saying: "Thus it is said--thus it is written", right? Seriously, I think you are (unfortunately for us at this moment in time) correct in your assessment; yet as we should all know by now...things don't stay the same in the NCAA. If UHouston goes MWC, I don't think CUSA expands with either La Tech or us. Wouldn't CUSA want a southeastern footprint school with some semblance of a TV market instead of a hard to get to frontier outpost? I don't think SMU's one vote will be the deal-maker, either, with whichever school they would expand CUSA. No matter what league UNT is in & with our new stadium at the Mean Green Village, SMU will be eating our dust--even if we never play them again in this century. SMU doesn't define what we of UNT want to do longterm with our football program anyway. They use no logic in their scheduling and I guess Calif-Northridge-types will really create interest and pull em' into Ford from University Park, Texas--SMU's actual & real home city. But can most all of us agree with: "Just Take Care of Business, North Texas...Good Things Will Come?" (especially in the ever-changing re-alignment climate of the NCAA). This new stadium at the Mean Green Village will (amazingly) help us lose our "cooties" overnight and so I suppose all our astute critics (especially in DFW) will have to go back to their other old urban (and tired) tale of us being a commuter school? Hellsbells! We have more dorms than SMU has students! .........Thus, it has been written (again)! GMG!

Thanks for the rundown of all the stadia. I think SMU's stadium seats 32,000, though. I've made only one Grand Opening of a new stadium and that was the *Houston Astrodome on April 9, 1965. Am looking forward to making my 2'nd stadium grand opening in September, 2011, in Denton, Texas, when upwards to 35,000 (Standing Room Only) Mean Green & UH Cougar fans enter the turnstile of the New Stadium At The Mean Green Village (as it is presently called in Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine). (I'll be in Denton later this morning with SUMG & Rick Spears to take a firsthand look at our new football palace as it rises like the Phoenix on the rolling prairies of North Texas). * Got to see Mickey Mantle hit the first home run in the 'Dome (albeit was in an exhibition game that night). * Got to see my first U.S President (LBJ and Ladybird who were sitting in Roy Hofeinz's (the Astrodome's brainchild) luxury box. * Got to see the first official luxury box in a U.S. stadium (which belonged to Roy Hofeinz--a former mayor of Houston) * Got to see the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees in extra innings won by a Texas League single by veteran baseballer Nellie Fox for the winning run. (Yes, his left jaw was full of his trademark tobacco & many of us still think he should be in Cooperstown. * Got to see "THE" 1965 version of the New York Yankees of which most of that team are now in Baseball's Hall of Fame. GMG!

Great stuff, Vito! I'll pick up my copy tomorrow morning when I re-unite in Denton with SUMG and Rick Spears. I'm getting a tour of our new palace on the rolling North Texas prairie tomorrow and can't wait. GMG!

Amen! Now is not the time for UNT to start doing the kum-bah-yah thing with lesser programs. We need to do like every other NCAA big time aspiring school is doing and that is--take care of North Texas. Cold, cruel, calculating as this may sound, but we don't help ourselves by helping others who have not had to go thru their own 40 years of wandering in the wildnerness to get where I believe UNT is on the verge of getting and that means we will somehow have to change neighborhoods in the next re-alignment. It may happen with UNT and 2 or 3 more schools from the Sun Belt, too. We just have to remove ourselves from many of the kinds of schools we have too many times gotten way too comfy' with which is just one of the kinds of attitudes necessary in Denton that will get us to the next level. Some well placed politikin' & having a new friend (sponsor) from the kind of leagues that would raise our stock would really help right now. The new stadium should help but that is just a new "most impressive" vehicle for us to put on the table. With this new vehicle, we still have to pave new high roads for ourselves and that is what we all hope the Big 3 athletic movers & shakers on our campus will help us do sooner than later. The windows of opportunity may be getting smaller and we may have no options, but we have to excercise all "upwardly bound" options that we believe works longterm (if there is still such a thing in the NCAA) for the University of North Texas. Just my .02.... GMG!

And have you seen the Fort Worth Star Telegram lately? It looks like they're the product of some kind of paper shortage as thin as their daily has become (at $1.00 per paper to boot). They must have a minimal staff and I suppose is the reason UNT doesn't have its own FWST beat reporter (which we've had most of my years up here which began in the Spring semester of 1972).

I suppose an approx $100,000,000.00 brand new football stadium investment in Denton even impresses Johnny Jones BB blue chip prospects coming to our campus for visits. (Our ageless SuperPit is still a very impressive Big Time on-campus basketball venue, too). Very impressive, Coach Jones. GMG!

I know with the name "Dasher" there is a joke in this somehow. SUMG? Got one? Part of me wants him to be innocent while the devil'ish part of me wants him to be guilty as hell. (Don't ask me for an explanation on that). OK, back to the meds now....

Just how many NT Exes are there in the Metroplex now compared to Texas Exes & "Former" TAMU students? Are there any stats on this? I know we have more but just how many more than the orange-bloods and maroon-ites? Our new football palace will give our program a super booster shot that I believe will bring back older alums (at least those who don't have to work on Saturdays) and............. those who have had to stare at their shoes when talking about the Mean Green's football aspirations for Big Time yet were continuously shot down through the decades by our fellow DFW co-workers responding with: "Yeah, but what about that Fouts Field piece of crap yall have "not working" for those Big Time aspirations?" "What big time conference would want "THAT" venue in their conference media guides' roster of 'our members home stadiums?" Those of you who have worked in DFW decade after decade know exactly what I'm saying here but "thank God Almighty" that era of Fouts Field being our eternal albatros is coming to a most welcome end. Great Stadium + Great Top 50 Mean Green Football + Texas' Future 2'nd Largest Enrollment University ='s our alma mater flexing its long dormant muscle as the collegiate football ratings drawing darling in the North Texas Metroplex. Our UNT consituency & community numbers will insure it. It's a no brainer that even the poorest mathmatician would be able to figure out, too. HINT: It's all about numbers--always has been and we have them in larger portions. It's All Good & It's All Green....(right FFR)?

After what some might agree was a bit of a shake'y start at UNT, I really believe Rick V has found his nitch in Denton. Even where we are right now in light of recent losing seasons, I think our future is very much more interesting than some of those schools now in CUSA who will never compete with our enrollment/alumnus numbers (and yes) still our unlimited potential. Folks, we can't change our past (of which we can learn much from I hope) but I think the University of North Texas has one helluva' future which can now be jumpstarted and all but put in warp speed because of a new Mean Green football palace presently being built between those 2 major Texas Interstates in the northern part of the (almost) 8 million populated Metroplex. What a location for a college football stadium! GMG!

It has always been my hope that all our dramatic new growth of the past decade and happening even now would squeeze out the old culture. It has to an exent but still has a little ways to go. I'm not sure I can think of any NCAA school at any division that has experienced what our dear ol' alma mater has the last 30 plus years,ie, the Roller Coaster Ride with revolving door hirings of many who had no business being at an aspiring BCS school. Moving to a BCS type stadium may reflect that some others may be out of their element from our "Fouts Field" era at UNT. If your top dog in the trailor park, you might only be able to be a butler or a maid in Highland Park? Thankfully, we have 3 movers and shakers on campus who I believe can move our ship into waters many of us on this board have long aspired and truly thought we deserved And on the subject of Southern Miss, I think we all know of at least 1 around our campus who would disagree with some of the semi-negative things said in posts above about the Golden Eagles last 30 plus years. Personally, I have admired all the schools we were once at the same level "aspiration-wise" who went upward while we tended to stay downward with old school Denton teacher's college types having way too much influence with our future and with that group who never shared any of Hayden Fry's dreams for NT and all but poked fun at ol' Hay-Boy for having the audacity to dream forward. GMG!

If we go by past history, UNT will get black-balled (once again) and maybe La Tech gets in, but if they don't it won't be because we were in their way. Sometimes past history sucks and I don't see certain schools ever changing their stripes when it comes to us. Sad--but true. Fact is, there are probably bigger fish for us to fry down the road because none of these leagues are ever content with each other and a school with our numbers, location PLUS NOW........a new football stadium will further enhance our future--few (if any) other schools in our division can say the same and mean it. GMG!

F-r-e-s-h-m-a-n ? If he's done it before chances are once he gets through his personal "twilight zone" he will do it again. GMG!

It's still there & we're fortunate (especially now) to have that holy trinity on our campus...Forgive me, I'm just going thru the old "if only we had done this 25 years ago" pity-party crapola again that a few of us older f@rts tend to do at times. BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENT: Oh God! I turn 60 this November 24'th and I'll be gol'darned that this snuck up on me much too fast. But from my perspective and the era I attended NT, ie, The Fry Era, I have just always thought UNT should have progressed a bit more quicker than we did the last 30 plus years post-Fry and it was probably our 1975 Mean Green football season (I was a Junior) that spoiled me way too much as to make me think the (immediate) future looked very bright for North Texas. (I just never dreamed we'd be in the NCAA football wilderness as long as we have been). My "ONLY" complaint with the Athletic Director part of my hero Hayden Fry's job in Denton was that he didn't lead the way (and fund-raising efforts since he knew almost every Fat Cat in Dallas back in that day); anyway, that he didn't lead efforts in having Fouts demolished back then while having a new football palace built nearby. Even after my moving from Denton & moving to Dallas/Fort Worth, I never thought the Cotton Bowl or Texas Stadium would ever be the answer for our "Denton-based" university. NOTE: I'll check with Nurse Ratchitt about having my meds changed now!

1990 SMU @ UNT (Fouts Field) approx 22,000 in a (then) 20K seat Fouts Field. (The game was even televised locally and people still came out to venerable, ol' Fouts Field (as Bill Mercer used to describe our soon-to-be demolished ol Lady). The shame of all this is that our Texas-based sister schools don't presently share the same perspective we do with our green tinted "local rivalries gets em' in the seats" theme is concerned but.....one day I believe most of them will. As we should all know by now....nothing stays the same.

Karl Benson might want to defer to the old Kenny Rogers, ie, "The Gambler" hit song that includes the lyrics (and I liberally paraphrase) you need to know when to hold them--when to fold them. KB, it may be coming close to "fold em' " time, ol' pod'nuh.

No, what it means is that we go Indy' in football, set up a national TV network for Mean Green football (a la Notre Dame) and tell the rest of the NCAA to kiss our lilly white/black/brown/red/yellow ar$e! (Have to be PC here and keep the ACLU at bay, too) Seriously, no matter how you slice it we are a day late dollar short with our timing in Denton I'm a-feared. I know woulda'/coulda'and all that but damn if we would have had this football palace post Fry we would not be concerned with all the things we have to be concerned with today. (OK, Nurse, bring me my meds now).

Priceless, Phil!

So a nice trip to "snow'y" Philly' and Bill Cosby's alma mater for CUSA members? The geographical footprints of some of these leagues continue to amaze. I think we all know a CUSA-aspiring school in Louisiana who might get left out in the cold once again if this were to really happen. I suppose there are just some in the NCAA who have to play the collegiate version of the old Biblical "kicked around at every turn" character Job.

Nashville/Murfreesboro TV market is ranked #30 in the USA; The D-FW TV market is ranked #6 and Catha Harasta formerly of the Dallas Morning News once reported after an ABC-TV game in a blurb she thought worth writing that the North Texas vs and old SLC opponent I cannot recall (senior moment)?; anyway, she reported that particular North Texas Mean Green football game had some very, very nice ratings for that time slot. So I guess the aforementioned thoughts of the above paragraph might even suggest that UT and TAMU don't completely have the DFW TV market sewed up as some on this board have posted? As GrayEagle posted yesterday that it is still UNT who has more alums in this DFW Metroplex than any one single Texas university--a number that is growing by the year. So for a hardy handful on this forum who don't think a winning UNT football program can't pull its weight in the nation's 6'th ranked TV market I defer to Cathy Harasta's blurb in the Dallas Morning News from a UNT televised football game yester-year. (SUMG showed that blurb to me since I missed reading it in the DMN the day it appeared) By the way those Mean Green TV ratings took place long, long before Denton, Denton County and UNT had their most recent growth spurt so I guess all we need to do in Mean Green Country is........start winnning again? TV ratings with our present day UNT constituency will never be a problem in this the nation's 6'th largest ranked TV market.

I agree...TCU is presently the chairman of the board as far as football goes in the Mountain West Conference and whoever they sponsor would mostl likely get the nod from MWC members & that would probably be U of Houston. As has been said in other threads, TCU seems to not want to be in any league with SMU and with the Horned Frogs football successes of late, that seems to have paid off (that is, not being in a league with SMU). In another thread on GMG.com a few were gently ribbing some of us posters who speculated weeks ago about the possibility of UNT being in the WAC, but I think such "speculation" was accompanied with the idea that that may have been a worthwhile venture only if there were an eastern division of the WAC. A WAC Eastern Division which would include UNT, LaTech, ArkSt and you fill in the blanks for another eastern school or 2. The apparent implosion of the WAC obviously makes it easy for UNT to drop any future speculations for such a move.

PS I might add in giant, colored letters that having people like Rick Villarreal & Chuck Neinas in our corner will never be a hindrance in UNT moving up the food chain. It was amazing to many of us back in the day what AD Hayden Fry could do with just a few well placed phone calls so it really was (still is) a matter of..........not what you know but ...........who you know.

Painfully, in the upper echelon of the NCAA you are known by the company you've kept and for the last 30 or so years with the Southland, Big West and present company, those affiliations alone are probably the main reasons we are a non-factor; of course, coupled with the roller coaster ride we've had beginning with a well known (to some of us on this board) hastily thrown to-gether 1981 meeting in the old athletic dept. building with some UNT administrators passing the plate asking us if we wanted to keep football alive at NTSU (then our 7'th of 8 name changes which has further (somewhat) added to what some might see as instability). . A new stadium on campus in the early 80's such as the one we will have in 2011 would have probably taken us out of this "non factor" category, but for what its worth...it is what it is and we are who we are. YET.....the other side of the coin with the instability of the entire NCAA and all this constant, non-stop "we want to be in bed with someone other than the ones we're in bed with" conference re-alignment talk, who knows where UNT stands or how it will affect our future. NO BOUT' A'DOUBT IT IS THIS FACT.......Our numbers in the market we're located with a new stadium will never be a hindrance to UNT if we can just start winning (again) against a few known schools and then going to bowls as a Top 40 ranked program (rather than Bottom 25). Of all the schools at our level, I think UNT still stands a good chance to eventually move up long term even over a Troy or MTSU--schools I'd never even heard back in my era as a student when UNT truly had a real leader with higher aspirations to improve our athletic neighborhood status and seemed to be on the way to getting it until the Big 10 & Iowa (indirectly) stole that dream away. GMG!