drex

The fun thing about going to a TSU game is the fact that if the game gets dull, there is always the excitement of a train ramblling down the tracks about 50 feet from the stadium. It's first and ten and your team has the ball on the five at the end of the field by the railroad tracks and just as the quarterback gets the ball, here comes the ole Santa Fe Chief roaring by...man, that's college football at its best.

Earth to SMU...the real interest in college football will be in Denton this season. TCU will draw well, but the real turnaround will be in Denton at little ole NTSU.

Anyone think that there will be any surprise announcements at the basketball banquet Wednesday night? Johnny's contract, future scheduling, signings, etc. Maybe they will use this crowd to make some updates.

Here is a very small element of the day, but it is rather significant. At the beginning of the game the public address announcer said, 'The City of Denton, Chancellor Lee Jackson, President Gretchen Battille, etc. welcome you to the Green and White scrimmage, etc. I thought it was significant that the City of Denton was mentioned as a host....I hope this translates into more Denton participation.

A really nice trip down memory lane. Back then, there was very little promotion for the games and the attendance was not what it should have been. Since the fan base was low, there were very little bowls interested in us. One debate that will never be settled is the attendance for the '67 championship game vs. Tulsa. I was there and I thought it was a sellout. The athletic department did not agree and listed the attendance in the 18,000 range. The North Texas community was spoiled rotten by these magnificent athletes and many never came to realize the level of athletes that it had the opportunity to come watch. Back then many campus organizations had spirit signs located across from the administration building for each home game and there were a lot of pep rallies.

Since, apparently, the administration and Johnny (and his agent) are involved in a 'dance of scorpions', it is not surprising that there has been disappointing recruiting. How sad, but this is North Texas and it is 'only basketball.'

Since the Midland Juco kid verbally committed, I assume that we are safe with Johnny to stay, but has anyone heard that he finalized his extension?

Should be interesting to see the fate of A&M basketball now that Gillispie has left. Was their recent success just a flash in the pan, or will the Aggies be smart enough to find a suitable replacement.

I am impressed that Watson put in a good word for this program. Players talking to players is a potent recruiting tool.

To he best of my knowledge, no Naval Academy ship is in harm's way and you can bet that they sure will be trying to sink us. Lighten up and give the Exes some credit for trying to contribute to school spirit.

Take it from an old timer, when the phrase Mean Green first made its appearance, the football team was wearing white helmets with a green stripe down the middle and the letters NT on the side of the helmet. If white was good enough for the original Mean Green, maybe we can muddle through using white again.

Dickey had an agent, too. Hope Johnny fares better.

The thrill of professional sports held on college campuses.

Good luck getting any response from the athletic department. They should have had the common courtesy of informing the 'hard core' season ticket holders about the change so the 'hard core' could move over behind the NT bench. Oh well, as Joliet Jake said in the "Blues Brothers"...."these are just requests, they don't mean nothin'."

Slinker is just like Dickey. Both stood by while the rest of the conference got better and passed them by. She's a nice person, but can't coach a lick. If we were serious about women's basketball she should have been shown the door by now.

I have visited several times with Rick while in San Antonio...he is a friend of one of my fraternity brothers who lives in San Antonio. His restaurant is LaFonda, 6402 N. New Braunfels, telephone 210-824-4231. Good mexican food.

Booker Woodfox's dad played football for North Texas.

We lost because Memphis is a better program...they have worked hard to become a good program and have succeeded. Now, we must make the decision to take the next step and move on up or just let this year be another anomaly that we visit again 19 years later when we go back to the dance. I hope every decision maker at NT understood the impact of this visit to the big dance. Let's not wait another 19 years.

The firing of Craig Helwig by Dr. Pohl. Without this move, no New Orleans Bowl teams, no Todd Dodge, no Johnny Jones, etc.

If they stick to the current system, they must require the school and site of the tournament to guarantee sales of 5,000 tickets. If the host team goes out early then they play Santa Claus with the tickets and let some kids, charities, etc. use the tickets. You should never be allowed to host without the participation of the local chamber of commerce and city government. The host community should be held more accountable for game attendance.

The article would have more punch if I could be assured that the Daily staff went to the games. Did the writer even go to the games? Doubtful. As to the millions on promotion, until the athletic department figures out that they are dealing with human beings and treat them as such all the promotions ( I really think they meant advertising) will not help. The athletic staff roams around the basketball games with a scowl on their faces like they don't even want to be there or too important to be there and the athletic director sits down on the floor and visits with about 15 people....he never comes into the stands to thank the people for being at the game. Until this is a people friendly athletic department the only thing that will get the people out is to have a really outstanding product. Even then, the majority of the people won't embrace the success until they feel like they are wanted and are a part of the athletic family.

I hope they do this thing right. First in line should be Mean Green Club members, basketball season ticket holders and students. I have already heard from some 'stiffs in the community' who say they are going to go to the tournament. They were not donors, season ticket holders or even went to a single game this year. They should be at the back of the line. The bandwagon needs to run over these 'stiffs.'

I was at the pep rally and made a point to see if Tina Slinker and her basketball marvels showed up to support the men's team. Surprise, surprise, she was nowhere to be found.

How ironic it would be if we play A&M or Kansas. In A&M you have the head coach who did not get the North Texas job, and in Kansas you have an assistant coach who Helwig ran off from NT.

This team got precious little respect or support from faculty, staff, students and alumni this season. If we win tonight, I hope Johnny steps to the mike and says 'this championship is for the team and the 500 hard core fans.' It is not surprising that they are getting little official attention from the university. Does Villareal have any idea how big this is? We are a whisper away from some serious national attention. At some point the 'it's only basketball' mentality must give way to reality.