Huff

It tells me how low we have sunk when we are encouraged by a game in which our team lost by almost 30 points.

I talked with Rick V and Hank about this very thing last summer. They said that they felt like the home and home series that we have coming up with the two MAC schools gave us a great chance to win some games. They had no real interest in playing a 1-AA school in the immediate future at the time that I talked to them.

I suspect that we have all said things that we wish that we had not said - or that we had said with different words. I know that is true in my life. When that happens, you tell folks that you are sorry and move forward. That is what has happened here. It is done. People who are your friends will not worry about it. People who are not your friends will use try to use it against you in the future. That is the way life is. All you can do is to try to be more careful next time.

Eulesseagle I agree with you that Todd Dodge is a fine man who is an excellent representative for The University of North Texas. I have not heard anyone doubt that. However, if you are in the coaching business you know that at some point in time you have to win games or you will have the opportunity to move on to another location. I hope that he is successful at turning this program in the right direction but it needs to happen soon or we are going to lose any ground that we might have gained.

This weekend will be like one of my old girl friends - low and ugly. Attendance will be LOW and the score will be UGLY

Damn...... I am sorry to say that I have been around for all but the 1927 season on that list. I was a student during the 1960 and 1964 seasons then bought our first season tickets just in time for the 1972 season. What great timing. It is interesting to note that based on the information that was posted, the most games we have lost over a two year period is 18. Anyone want to make a wager on us being better/worse than that at the end of the 2007-2008 period?

Grey, I agree with you that the team looked dead for most of the game. Very early in the game they seemed to play with a lot of emotion and enthusiasm but once that punt got blocked for a touchdown the wind seemed to go out of their sails. To be honest, it went out of mine, too. Having said that, I really do not think we can make a coaching change until the end of the season next year. We have to let this thing run its course and two years just is not long enough. I do think that we need to evaluate things at the end of next season and take a long hard look at our situation. If we have not made progress we might want to terminate this coaching experiment and the athletic director who conducted it.

Based on comments that I have read on this board I think if you put Mandy in the dunking booth you might have folks lined up around the block to pay their money and have a shot at her.

The saddest thing for me was watching us lose to Rice (on TV) and to Florida International (in person) and realizing that it no longer made me mad. I did not foam at the mouth, or curse, or throw things as I would have done previously. I just sat and watched us lose yet another game to yet another team. In the years since Hayden Fry left for Iowa we have had seven head coaches. Not a single one of them left Denton with a winning record. In the last sixteen years (including this year) we will have had four winning seasons. Only the last Southland Conference team coached by Matt Simon and Darrell Dickey's Sun Belt Champion teams of 2002, 2003 and 2004 had winning years. That is really sad. Even sadder is that I do not see any change in the immediate future. We might be a little better next year - but that is what I thought about this year and we are seeing how that is working out. The 2010 season might be better but don't count on it if we have the current coaching staff. At this point I no longer look forward to attending North Texas football games and Fouts Field has nothing to do with it. The stadiums at Austin, College Station, and Ft. Worth were all built long before Fouts Field. The problem seems to be that the university and its fans at North Texas have not been willing - or able - to properly finance an athletic program. Let's hope that a change in the right direction starts with the students approving an increase in the fees for athletics later this month. I will be there again next Saturday with my family - as we have been since 1972 - but I cannot say that I am looking forward to it.

Wow, guys what a surprise. I just knew that I would read where Rick said "Damn, folks, I just screwed up didn't I? I hired a head coach with just about no experience at the college level. I let him bring several high school level coaches with him. I am really sorry. Can we have a do over?" That is about the only thing Rick could have said. """

I vote for Smitty's comment as Post Of The Year.

I thought it was a mistake to hire Todd Dodge in the first place. While he was a VERY successful coach at the high school level, I did not feel that he had the experience at the college level that it takes to be successful there. I have seen nothing that would change my mind. Having said that, I think we have no choice but to wait out this year and next year before we make any decision about a change in head coaches. That is only fair to the man and to the program. I expected us to win three games this year. At this point I am not sure where those three wins are going to come from, but I have found that the time to evaluate the season is at the end of the season. Right now I see little in the way of progress but I hope that changes before the season ends. We REALLY need to win one on Saturday.

A lot of those conference championships were in the distant past. In the last fifteen years we have only had four winning seasons. By the time this season is over I believe that it will be four out of the last sixteen years - or roughly twenty five per cent. That is just not okay. It is certainly nothing to be proud of.

This story would lead a reader to believe that the North Texas football program was in shambles when Todd Dodge arrived and that he is the shining knight on a white horse that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. To that I would reply "Bullfeathers". Was our program in great shape when Coach Dodge arrived? No, it was not but we had posted winning seasons in three of the previous five years. Has Coach Dodge's arrival helped the situation? In my opinion, No, it has not. Has Coach Dodge's time here made the situation better? In my opinion the answer is No, it has not. It has gotten worse. This is what you get when you hire a high school coach with almost no experience at the college level to be your head football coach at a Division I school. Now, at this point our options are very limited. It is a little like some of the stocks that some of us bought a while ago. We can sell now and take some pretty big losses or hang on and hope for a recovery.

Rice 35 North Texas 17

Dickey is the only coach in the history of the school to win four consecutive conference championships and take us to four consecutive bowl games. That should break the JINX for him.

This summer I heard Rick V say that he was going to contact Tennessee to see if he could get them to renegotiate the contract for our game with them to the million dollar level. I did not hear him say the year for that game or the original amount of the guarantee.

Today's Ft. Worth Star-Telegram had a story about the Houston Texans next home game. It said that the game might be played in Reliant Stadium with the top open or in Rice Stadium. That would indicate to me that the stadium there should be okay for next Saturday.

Grey Eagle One asked about coverage in the Star-Telegram. They did not send a writer to the game. They took the story from one of the writers from Associated Press. It was a small story but it covered the basics.

......the check arrives in Denton very quickly. Please remember that we are not going to LSU to win the game.....we are going there to get the money.

I believe the original plan had the team flying back home after the game on Saturday night. It sounds like they are trying to find a place to stay on Saturday tnen fly back later. That is smart and the safest thing to do. I hope it can be made to work.

I don't think the weather will be a factor in the game but getting the team and officials home after the game might be interesting. By that time, Ike will probably be in our area. I do not want to be on an airplane heading for DFW at that time.

TCU has also changed its game time. Instead of kicking off at six PM they are now starting at Noon.

I just look at some of the pictures posted by SUMG. That sure does it for me.

Channel Five had a brief story about this on their six o'clock news. The LSU athletic director mentioned Dallas, Shreveport, and Atlanta. He pretty much ruled out New Orleans as a site. I guess Atlanta is far enough east that it would escape any problems with Ike. I am not sure which is closer to the Tiger fans, though.