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Matt - do you know that SNL skit - "Debbie Downer"? You should try out for "Davey Downer" or something - you are really starting to turn into a bitter guy and at such a young age. Matt as Davey Downer: "Well, I would love to watch the game, if only I didn't have cancer" (insert noise - Wonk, Wonggggggggggg). Well, I would love to see ASU win but unfortunately they suck so bad (Wonk, Wongggggggg). Well, it is a good thing the Sun Belt sucks so bad, at least we were able to win 2 games by default alone, Wonk, Wongggggg)..." Cheer up dude, you have the rest of your life to be bitter - if you are this bitter your Junior year at NT, you are gonna get REAL bitter after you are out of school for about 10-15 years.

The correct name is Texas State AT San Marcos.

Just curious, but where is La Tech going for a bowl? The WAC has 2 bowl games left - Boise has accepted the Boise Bowl as part of their tri-champ deal... La Tech and Nevada are tied for the other tri-WAC; but Nevada owns the tie-breaker - thus they should be going to the other WAC bowl game - Hawaii. So where is La Tech going? Someone pick them up as an at large team?

What is with all of this "Be Quiet" stuff? Everytime someone threatens to stop buying their season tickets - people on this board rant and rave about how you should continue to buy tickets and show up at games - even if it is to just boo the coach. This guy is a loud guy, he has sat behind our group for a couple of years. We laugh at him most of the time - but it can be annoying... still, he is at every single game supporting the team... which is more than I can say for myself this year (pesky work). I could never imagine a cuss word coming out of this guy's mouth - he is just really loud, obnoxious, and up until this point - I thought he was a little retarded (seriously)... but he is a very good fan - very persistent - and we need 30K more of him for every single home game, even if we have to bus them in from the State School.

Zero interest in the idea huh? That is very sad - The ASU Red Wolves has a great ring to it. Any school that doesn't have the type of blessing that FSU has is likely going to lose their appeal.... ASU should see that writing on the wall and voluntarily move forward with a new name - even if they do not like the fans trying to fix the problem on their own.

I like that - How would it be said - The Arkansas State Red Wolfpack? Or just the ASU Wolfpack? Or simply the ASU Red Wolves? I think that using the word "red" in the name would keep the indian name alive in a small way - even if it is derrogatory in nature... eventially only the older fans would get the butt of that...

It is well over $4 million in the last year... with an additional $1.3 to come in every year after - pretty much forever. Like I said Plumm, I won't get into the silly arguement about firing Dickey - and NO - having him show up at a freaking flag football game didn't "win" me over. I was won over about the 4th time I passed out in New Orleans... maybe if you had ever actually gone to one of our bowl games then you would have been won over as well. Chastise Bobby Ray all you want on this board - all it will do is alienate one of the best guys that has ever come along for NT. We have already allowed Jackson to run off our beloved Dr Pohl - lose Bobby Ray and we are SCREWED. Do you hear me on that? We lose Bobby Ray - and we are S-C-R-E-W-E-D. So watch your words about him, he is the glue that is holding us together at this point. RV and DD barely talk as it is, we need Ray to act as an in-between for them.

I know that the bowl game is not officially affected by the NCAA rule change but in your banner it shows - a wolf, a vaery small mention of an indian, and a picture of the team. Kind of strange not to have your team name prominent on the banner ad for your bowl game appearance, wouldn't you say? Could Arkansas State be testing out the waters for a new nickname/logo in case they get turned down by the appeal committee to keep the Indian name? Just curious. BTW, that wolf looks sharp:

Plumm, it was that same Bobby Ray that "loaned" the Athletic Department (through the BOR) - $1.3 million bucks to START the athletic center... and then when we came up short - went BACK to the board - and sold them on a second "loan" for another $1.7 million just to finish it out. The to top it off - he somehow talked the board into "loaning" us yet another $1.1 million bucks to put new turf on the field (how soon we forget) and to refinish the track. Do you think that we refinished the track so that the track team had a nicer surface to run on? Hell no - we did it because it looks better on TV with a brand new track when the football team is playing. That man which you seem to hate simply because he goes hunting with DD has been responsible for getting us about $4.1 million bucks in the last 12 months in loans that never have to be paid back. When you think about it, he really is responsible for raising even more... He also approved the student service fee raise AFTER it had been voted down in a referendum election, charging the kiddos anyways. What BOR Prez would have ever done that in the past? I mean - we had this huge campaign - the students showed up in RECORD numbers to vote on the fee (either for or against it).. and it was defeated - but Bobby Ray just had SGA write up another referendum to pass in SGA regular session - then had the BOR approve it - and BAM - we have an extra $1.3 million bucks a year in student service fees. Sure, it wasn't the $2.7 million that RV had been seeking - but it was (and still is) a good chunk of change - and it never ends, it will continue to come in as income for years to come. You take the good with the bad. I will take Bobby Ray and Dickey being buddies as long as he keeps the support coming. We need everyone on the same page and working TOGETHER to achieve the ultimate goal. In order to have that kind of group muster, they have to like each other. Would you rather the two of them hate each other? Because I can guarantee you that BR would not have put his butt out on a limb to get Dickey a brand spanking new athletic center, new turf, higher salaries for all of the staff, a higher operating budget, and new practice fields if the two didn't get along. I will take the fact that they like to go shoot some guns together - no problem there - just keep that money rolling in under the carpet the way that it has been and I will keep my mouth shut... and I would hope that you would too.

That guy sits about 10-15 rows behind us and has been like that for 3 or 4 years now. There were just less people to mask his boisterous voice this last week, that's all.

Plumm, it was that same Bobby Ray that "loaned" the Athletic Department (through the BOR) - $1.3 million bucks to START the athletic center... and then when we came up short - went BACK to the board - and sold them on a second "loan" for another $1.7 million just to finish it out. The to top it off - he somehow talked the board into "loaning" us yet another $1.1 million bucks to put new turf on the field (how soon we forget) and to refinish the track. Do you think that we refinished the track so that the track team had a nicer surface to run on? Hell no - we did it because it looks better on TV with a brand new track when the football team is playing. That man which you seem to hate simply because he goes hunting with DD has been responsible for getting us about $4.1 million bucks in the last 12 months in loans that never have to be paid back. When you think about it, he really is responsible for raising even more... He also approved the student service fee raise AFTER it had been voted down in a referendum election, charging the kiddos anyways. What BOR Prez would have ever done that in the past? I mean - we had this huge campaign - the students showed up in RECORD numbers to vote on the fee (either for or against it).. and it was defeated - but Bobby Ray just had SGA write up another referendum to pass in SGA regular session - then had the BOR approve it - and BAM - we have an extra $1.3 million bucks a year in student service fees. Sure, it wasn't the $2.7 million that RV had been seeking - but it was (and still is) a good chunk of change - and it never ends, it will continue to come in as income for years to come. You take the good with the bad. I will take Bobby Ray and Dickey being buddies as long as he keeps the support coming. We need everyone on the same page and working TOGETHER to achieve the ultimate goal. In order to have that kind of group muster, they have to like each other. Would you rather the two of them hate each other? Because I can guarantee you that BR would not have put his butt out on a limb to get Dickey a brand spanking new athletic center, new turf, higher salaries for all of the staff, a higher operating budget, and new practice fields if the two didn't get along. I will take the fact that they like to go shoot some guns together - no problem there - just keep that money rolling in under the carpet the way that it has been and I will keep my mouth shut... and I would hope that you would too.

I have become very unpopular with my buddies on this whole subject of Dickey. Since I was the one leading the charge to get rid of him back in 2001 - you would think that I would be right back on board with the new group effort... but I just am not. Sure he has pissed me off in every single possible way over the years... by talking down to the fans, playing up shitty competition like they were freaking Notre Dame after we lost to them by 50+ points, and he cannot win a freaking OOC game to save his life... but firing him this year would be bad for the program. There is no other way to say it. Nebraska can get away with firing a 7-4 coach... but barely.... and that is only because of the money that they bring in... NT cannot afford to fire Dickey this year - politically or financially. We simply don't have the money or clout to pull it out. Should he be fired? Well - I will leave that up to the board to argue over. I see the points - Coming in last place in the Sun Belt (yep, we came in LAST PLACE in the Belt) would merit the firing of most coaches - but not if they had gone undefeated in the same league for four straight years leading up to it. It is too tricky. And Dickey IS North Texas - he gives us an identity. Hell, I can't imagine having anyone else as coach. I know that sounds wierd - -but I have grown to love my "love/hate" relationship with Dickey's coaching philosophies. I have accepted that he will not adapt/change - and I think I know why - he doesn't know how to coach any other way. So it either works or it doesn't.... It has worked for awhile and now it doesn't - You just have to wait until next year. If this happens again next year then Dickey will be gone, I have faith in that. So why sweat it? Just enjoy the bowl season, cheer on the ASU Indians in the Lafayette Bowl, and lay off the Mean Green Kool Aid until after SMU. Come to think of it, I believe that Gak told me something about a basketball team that we have, maybe I will go see them a little bit this year. See, I told you Gak, the only thing that you needed to get people out to basketball game would be a losing football season. You watch, people will show up this year. They still need their fix.

Yep, he is definitely the silent type - we need a vocal leader like Scott and Booger... that is what we are missing this year the most.

Hall at DE would have been a waste.... kind of like Phillips sitting on the bench. Time to start Matt.

Now that we have officially burned Philiip's Red Shirt - I think he should get the rest of the year's starts. Meager had ample opportunity to show us his leadership skills and they are non-existent. Everyone atributes the turn-around to Dickey in 2001 - but the real reason we turned this baby around was because of Scott Hall. He led on and off the field. He was the teams' biggest cheerleader and pumped them up when they needed it. He also had the confidence to believe that we could come back from any deficit. I don't see that fire in Meager. I have been waiting for it all year and it just isn't in him. I see that confidence... that extra step... in Phillips. Even a casual observer from Florida remarked that Meager just hung his head on the sidelines and sulked in the corner while Phillips was energizing the whole team into coming back at the FAU game. Phillips is our future - he is a lot like Scott in his demeanor. He was recruited last minute and has something to prove like Scott did (Scott was recruited as a DE with the promise to be given a "shot" at playing QB if he outshined the rest of the QB's in practice)... I say that we start Phillips the rest of the way this season so that we have an adequate foundation of knowledge to draw from come spring ball. Right now we know that he can bring us back from a deficit - we just don't know if he can do that consistently. Who knows, Meager might turn out to be the better of the two when it comes to game-day QB's but we have to play Phillips the rest of the year to find out. This isn't about hurting someone's feelings or punishing a guy for having a bad season-it is about finding the best man for the job next year... and that starts with giving Phillips a shot at a full week of practice with the starters, a full start with no questions marks or asterisks by it, and a full game o see if he can establish the pass to set up the run. I know that Meager is fast as hell and would be a SPECTACULAR option type of QB - but I honestly do not believe that Dickey will ever change his game play calling - so we need the best fit for his system out on the field. Next year we will not have to worry about making two RB's happy with PT and our OL should be able to get in a better groove - it has got to be a hinderance blocking for two drastically different runners. JaMo in a dasher and Pat is a power runner - they both require different types of blocking assignments. If we can pull through the 05 season with a new QB to look towards the future then i think next year will be a very special year. But we can't wait until Spring ball to let the QB's battle it out, Meager has shown what he can do, now it is time to give Matt a chance to show his stuff.

Well, there are less fans in Buffalo to pick fights with... and they are even worse then the Mean Green right now - so he should fit right in.

Plumm, don't try to pass that title off on me - you are the man - we all know it. Just because I got my drink on ONE NIGHT and posted some rather lenghthy suckers does not replace YEARS of long ass Plummy posts... and now the beatings on us with the overuse of the emoticons and the overuse of changing font sizes/colors.... dude - that is such a whip. I will admit to a lot of things, but I am not the king of the obnoxious post, that would be your title my friend.

The new helmet is absolutely terrible. The ugliest in IA. I know that it was forced on the team and the department - but my god, I wish that they would have put up a harder fight. There are non scholarship Div III schools that have better uniforms then we do. The Block lettering looks quite good in the end zones but it does not translate well onto a curved surface for the helmet. For all those that complained about the script - don't you miss it now? We never lost when we had th script - coincidence? Of course... but I am superstitious when it comes to uniforms. Uniform changes should be to begin fresh and this year we needed to continue moving forward. Now we have a suck ass helmet and a losing record. I know it is a stupid correlation but it exists none the less.

Agreed - he has been nursing that thing all year - why screw it up (potentially permanently) for what is nothing more then a few "pride" games. Let Patrick rack up some yards so that he can have some sort of chance at the NFL and let JaMo heal up for next year. You know that old saying about having two great QB's is like having no QB at all... with our offense, having two great RB's with two different styles is like having no RB at all. Once JaMo came out of the game on Saturday - Patrick was able to get into a groove for the first time all year. The OL could stick to blocking for one style of running rather then adjusting every other set of downs and Pat had his first really good game of the year.

Well - I will not advocate breaking the law - but does anyone have some land? Surely a loophole could be found to let the tradition go on; even if it wasn't a gigantic stack of wood... but rather a smaller fire. Bonfire has been cancelled in the past from what I understand... but has always "taken place" in some form or fashion - on private property... even if only 50 or so people witnessed it. Like the aTm bonfire, this could be done privately - and then the tradition would stand - and many of the members of this board could attend. I know that the burn ban is for the county - but exceptions can probably be made as long as adequate fire support is around. I think that the University probably doesn't want the liability; but maybe someone with some land doesn't worry too much about it. Just a thought. If this is already being planned, please PM me, if I am not working then I would like to attend.

Well, I guess you are right - but Lafayette only has 1 loss - and a couple of patsies on the schedule - they look to be the front runner with ASU slightly behind (would take a win at Army most likely)... Here is a pretty good summation off the Belt board, the only thing that they got wrong is that MTSU could theoretically go 7-4 (not 6-5 as they projectd) if they win out. All other potential champs would be 6 win champs... Post from SBC board: So, as it stands right now: UL-M: is at 3-5 needing to win out to have six wins against MTSU, NT, and UL-L. (That lose to NWS really has come back to haunt them!) ASU: sits pretty at 4-4 needing only 2 wins out of three against Troy, Army, and NT. (and the only team that need not win out to have 6 wins). UL-L: at 4-5 needs to win against FIU and UL-M to get 6wins Troy: also at 4-5 needs wins against ASU and MTSU MTSU: at 3-4 needs to win out against UL-M, NCState, Troy, and FIU So, from a non-partisan view, the best way for the SBC to get the most 6 win teams is: (4 total) ASU wins against Troy and Army Troy Beats ASU and MTSU UL-M wins out against MTSU, NT and UL-L; FIU wins out* If UL-F wins against FIU and UL-M that'll give us (ASU, Troy and ULL at 6wins) * Theoretically, FIU could get 6 wins by beating UL-L, WKU, FAU, and MTSU. Unfortunately, that would include 2 wins against 1AA, FIU is out of the SBC race (best they can fininsh in 4-3), and as a 2nd year transitional FIU is not allowed post season play. (still, I'll be cheering my ass off for them)

Yes, like I said - it could happen - IN THEORY - but it would take some crazy losses - ULL to FIU, etc... and what that would ensure is that NT would be in a 3 way hunt for the bid - in which all of the others factors would come up - the fact that we have been 4 years in a row (bad, bad, bad) - the fact that the game would be in Lafayette and Lafayette would be eligible (they will secure that with one more win and they will win one more game)... there are just too many things going against us to get picked for the actual BOWL GAME - but on a POSITIVE note, lol, we would be the co or tri-champions and the team would all get a ring for this year, even though they would likely NOT play in a bowl game (much like MTSU did in 2001).. and we could THEORETICALLY say that we were the 5 time defending champions, but I wouldn't be able to say it with a straight face.

Wrong, we PAY for that slot. We own the freaking bowl. Heck, it is being held on the campus of UL in Lafayette. On paper the entities are separate but they are one in the same. Our conference UNDERWRITES that game, we all pay for it and we sure as hell aren't going to pay out of our small budgets to have another school from another conference play in our game - embarrasing or not. There will be a champion for the Belt - there might be co-champs, there might be tri-champs - there are rules set up for all 3 situations and EITHER WAY IT ENDS UP, no matter the record, the Sun Belt WILL have a rep in the bowl (even with a losing record if need be) - unless the NCAA turns down the waiver - which they cannot do - they guarantee that all conference champions are eligible to play in their appointed championship team bowl regardless of final record. If this was a SECOND Sun Belt Bowl, which would not include the champ - your arguement would be true and we would have to EAT the costs - and hope to sell the spot out to the highest bidder to recoup our investment... but since we only have ONE bowl, we WILL have a Sun Belt rep in the game, regardless of final record.

The Sun Belt champ is guaranteed the spot unless they have a losing record AND there is a TIE for the Championship - in which the runner-up would go - only and ONLY if they have a winning record. In the case of a three way tie (regardless of record) - the Bowl Committee would choose the team (probably based on a number of things - how many people they could bring, their record, etc...) In other words - if ULM and ULL both win the conf championship but ULL owns the head to head (and they are the ONLY two teams winning the championship) - then the committee will look at the other school to see if their record is any better. If it isn't, they will let the head to head champ go - even with a losing record. If it was a case like 2001, they would take a team with the better record. In the case of a three way tie - which is very possible - the committee has complete control to pick whomever they want on whatever they think is better for the bowl. Lets say that ULL, ULM, and FIU tie for 1st place somehow - the comittee wil most likely look at OVERALL record - in which none would have the six wins. So they would factor in probable attendance - in which FIU would be knocked out of consideration most likely. Finally, they would see that the game is IN Lafayette this year (not New Orleans) and that there would be more Ragin Cajun fans that would likely show up then Indian fans and choose the home team. But if ULM came to the committee and guaranteed 20K tickets up front (something financially impossible for their program - but who knows, maybe it would be worth it for them... and the Cajuns will only guarantee the minimum of 7500, then the committee might choose to give ULM the slot - for monetary reasons alone. I don't think it is anything to worry about, worst case scenario, one of our teams goes to the bowl with a losing record. Didn't end the world of football in 2001, and hey - they might win the damn game - so you never know till they play it. Best case scenario, ULL and ULM both hold their own destiny at this point, so that will be one hell of a game. It shows parity in the league and that is a good thing.. and a bad thing... Finally - in summary - a team from the Belt WILL go to the New Orleans/Lafayette game - which team??? That has yet to be decided. It won't be North Texas, we are mathematically eliminated for a 2 way tie - there is an OUTSIDE CHANCE that we could find ourselves in a 3 way tie at the end - and we would be ELIGIBLE to be picked - but since we have been 4 years straight, most likely we wouldn't get picked. NOW - if the three way tie way between NT, FIU, and FAU - then we might have a chance, but that is mathematically impossible at this time.... so we would be fighting it out with ASU, ULM, ULL, MTSU, Troy, etc... all teams that could bring just as many people as us.... some of them (in state schools - ULL and ULM) could bring more, so they would get picked given the history. At a three way tie it is all subjective, and our odds are about 1% that we would get picked - unless the other schools somehow DECIDED that they didn't want to play in the bowl game with a losing record, but i don't think any SBC team would be that high and mighty - they will take a bowl game for a little money, a little exposure, extra practice time, and a chance for one last game of REDEMPTION against a CUSA opponent. Sorry for so long winded - but it is a complex issue that has complex answers and I wanted to make sure that I covered everything

As soon as we strapped on the helmets with the script, we started winning... Logo gate brought us that crappy ass block letter font (I think it looks TERRIBLE on the helmet)... lets strip the helmets and bring back the script! Bring back the script and we will find our winning ways ... by the way, make sure that we bring it back AFTER the LSU game