wardly

While I would not have hired a basketball coach with no head coaching experience, I don't think you can lay all the blame in his lap. We have no one who can hit an outside shot,no floor leader, and no passion. Since we can't shoot from outside, they pack in on Tony, who seems to have as many fouls as points. Sunday was the worst college basketball game this 70 year old has ever seen, and I don't know that its going to get much better. Right now we are a very bad team.

Tulsa's nearly new arena seats 7,000,same size as UTA's new $69 million venue. Not exactly tiny.

I am 70 years old, and this was the worst college basketball game I have ever seen.

Texas wants a 10 team conference and as long as the do thats whats its going to be. Regarding Big East, I read somewhere that both Boise and SDSU have free passes out if the tv money promised doesn't happen. I can see them returning to MWC, but I think SMU,Houston,Memphis,Tulane,UCF,ECU,and Navy will probably stay in Big East.Just a guess.

Does that mean that the Basketball schools get to take the name " Big East" with them? The remaining schools could then title their conference " Big Mess".

Reminds me of a story about the frog that wanted to get to the other side of the pond but was too tired to swim. A cotton mouth snake offered the frog a ride on his back but the frog initally resisted saying" you are a poisonous snake, and will bite and kill me". "No I won't ", said the snake. "I promise". So the frog got on the snake's back. Sure enough when they got to the middle of the pond the snake bit the frog. As he was dying,the frog said"but you promised". "Yes said the cotton mouth,but you knew I was a snake when you got on my back". The End.

I get a little tired of members of this board ragging R.V. about his coaching hires. When D.D. left, we had a budget of about $250,000 for a head football coach. Rick took a risk with T.D., and it didn't pay off. It happens to most of us in business as well as life. With the new student athletic fee, we are now able to be competative in the market place, and I feel that Coach Mac will turn out to be a good hire, just like Johnny Jones and our previous as well as current women's basketball coaches. I admit that the verdict is out on Bedford, and now it is not positive. However,there is a lot of basketball to be played, so lets reserve judgement until seasons end. I have said before,and feels it bares repeating,that only those who have never made hiring mistakes are those who have never hired. It's not an exact science,otherwise there wouldn't be such a head coaching turnover in colleges. You need only to look at Texas Tech as a recent example.I was in health care sales and distribution from 1968 thru 2003,and using the same profile hired some of the best and worst sales reps in my industry. I am not looking at R.V.'s hires with rose colored glasses. Personally,I would have hired an experienced men's head basketball coach. However, I feel Rick's positives out weigh his mistakes in hiring. On another note,I attended NTSU from 1961 thru 1966. Until Rick arrived, the only dedicated athletic facility was a football administration building built during Hayed Fry's era. You youngsters may remember it as our old ticket office. In my opinion,and no one is perfect[ except some of us who post on this board], Rick,despite some misfires,is the best Athletic Director in our history. So lets cut him a little slack,and look at our cup as half full instead of half empty.Just an old man's opinion.

plus 1

Don't you think his sideline incident with one of his assistants had something to do with it? After Leach,they must have a zero tolerance policy for legal reasons if nothing else.

Rick, nothing in my in box. think I checked my PM correctly, but who knows. Just email me :wardly1943@gmail.com, or call 214/417/9735. Thanks, and best to you and yours. Ward

UTEP has had several opportunities to move to MWC, and so far prefer to reach out to their fan base in DFW,S.A., and Houston over Albuquerque. I would be susprised if that changes. Tulsa, while unhappy with CUSA departures, especially Tulane, is smallest D1 school in NCAA, and has a very small fan base. While I would be susprised if they moved to MWC and different time zone,nothing would shock me after Tulane's move to Big Yeast.At the end of the day I think it would be logical for The Belt and CUSA to effect some type of merger that makes geographical sense and has the blessing of the t.v. GODS. Since it seems logical,it won't happen.

I do not claim to be a basketball x&o fan, but it looks like our new coach is trying to put a square peg in a round hole. The team does not like his style on play, and it shows on the court, both in play and attitude. If Tony Mitchell's apparent bad court attitude carries over into the classroom he will be gone by December.I would have thought we would have hired an experienced head coach whose style of play mirrored the existing team's ability. This reminds me of a football head coach installs a rushing offense with players recruted to pass. Nothing good will come of that until he flushes out existing team and replaces them with players suited to his style. I don't think anything good is going to come out of of our mens basketball team this year. Bedford may turn out to be a good long term hire, but not for the team he inherited.

I think he turned down a better job after he won the Belt a few years ago. FIU was picked to win the Belt again this year but had a terrible year,just like our basketball team YTD.

Problem with Liberty Bowl is they chose a rematch of earlier game this season in which Iowa St. beat Tulsa soundly.

I would rank Big EAST,MWC,MAC,CUSA,and SUN BELT in that order. What are your thoughts?

So. Miss hired a disgraced Iowa State basketball coach [whose name escapes me] a few years ago and I think that turned out ok.

As previously mentioned,you can't lose to a 1aa school and expect a bowl bid. Thats what kept W.K. out of a bowl last year. Plus, MTSU is leaving the Belt, W.K. is staying. I think the Belt only had 4 bowl opportunities,and the Commissioner and Conference Presidents pushed for W.K. over MTSU. Just a guess.

A friend of mine who says he is close to the Tulsa program thinks there is some talk them about moving to the MAC. They are really unhappy about the loss of Tulane, and not wild about addition of both F_U's.I personally just think its a knee jerk reaction, but truth is CUSA lost 6 programs to Big East which were replaced by 2 WAC and 4 Belt schools. We may have improved our ambitions for more reagionalization, but truth be told the new CUSA is not much better that the Belt and may not be as good as the MAC.Certainly not on a par at this point with MWC or Big East, which is o.k. for now.Just saying that its not over till its over.

He might have screwed himself. I am originaly from Arkansas, and appreciate his need to flee, but the only reason I would take the SPUD job was if I was in the witness protection program.No one would think to look for you there.

Most coaches want a bowl game for a number of reasons, a main one being the extra 2 to 4 weeks of practice. The A.D should be shot. I realize that La. Tech. despises ULM, but talking about cutting off your nose to spite your face.Plus it would have been a sell out and could of been a hell of a game.

My bad. Left the MWC out of 2nd tier.

I might have posted this before. If so, please indulge an old man's memory. What should happen is that the PAC 12,BIG 12,BIG 10,ACC,and SEC spin off into an 1a+ Division,CUSA,MAC,BIG EAST, and SUN BELT remain at 1aDivision, and those playing at the 1aa level remain there. This seperation would be just like high school, with its 5a,4a,ahd 3a divisions. I am 70,and not sure I will live to see it happen, but happen it will.

I don't disagree. The reality is that" UNT "and an eagle or reference to an eagle won't fly.[pun intended]. Rick is trying to create a brand name out of "Mean Green" with no reference to the Eagles. I don't know if any of you caught the MAC championship game Friday night, but did you get look at the Kent State Flashes helment? Talk about a mess. I couldn't figure out what it was,went on line and discovered that they are actually the Golden Eagles whose mascot is named Flash. So I guess it could be worse. How would "SCRAPPY "look ? '

To sell to R.V., the helmet must have "North Texas" on it,no exceptions. Assuming that , try hemets with "North Texas" on one side, and on the other a number,SOW,Talon,or "Mean Green". Rick wants to minimize references to "Eagles", and will not use "UNT",so your best bet in my opinion would be "Mean Green" on one side and "NORTH TEXAS" on the other.Put a few together and send to him, with the understanding that including "NORTH TEXAS " and excluding a references to "EAGLES" is non negotiable based upon conversations I have had with him on the subject. The golf team uses a " Talon" with "MEAN GREEN" in the middle, which I think looks good. However, big difference between the exposure of a school golf bag and university football helmet. Good luck, and don't give up. You have some great ideas and graphics.