Monkeypox

Well, this year, Houston and Troy are 2 of those losses. It wasn't a body bag game that kept us from starting 2-2. It was Troy. And then Houston. 2011 - Last year, we opened with FIU and got blown out. If we'd have won that game... 2-2. Ignoring those "predetermined losses", we're talking about Tulsa and FIU. 2010 - Rice, Army, ULL - Which of these were the body bag games or predetermined losses? 2009 - Ball State, Ohio, Middle Tennessee, UL Lafayette... Those were 4 of our first 5 games. So much is being made of those body bag games, but there seems to be an outright denial of the absolute truth... we've gotten beaten down by EVERYONE in recent years, with regularity. Body bag games aren't killing us - everyone is.

Phases of North Texas Football: 1) Fire losing coach 2) Hire new coach 3) Claim new coach is great hire 4) Build expectations for new coach 5) New coach loses 6) Call for "Patience" 7) New coach continues to lose 8) Reference "bare cupboard" 9) New coach continues to lose 10) Blame angry fans for holding to expectations created for/by new coach in Phase 4 11) New coach continues to lose 12) Fire coach (SEE Phase 1)

Josh Hamilton doesn't study pitchers or sequences. He also did most of his damage for about 2 months this season, and most of his late season production was due simply to SLG. He's simply not the player people think he is. For $20-25 million, you'd better get some consistency. Even his defense started to suffer late in the season. Wash won't sit a veteran, even if that veteran is one of the worst full-time players in the league... at an offense-only position. He rode MY for months when he was playing like an absolute zero. This team, as a whole, simply wasn't among the top 5 in the league after May-June. They started off the season super-hot, and treaded along at slightly above average while others made adjustments. Losing the pitchers they did hurt, but in the end, it wasn't the pitching that failed them. It was veteran hitters crapping the bed. The team still needs a TORP, a #1-3. I think you've got 2 for those spots in Harrison and Yu, but it's time to stop thinking of Holland and his potential. I'm not saying to ship him out, but he's not somebody you want to count on. Ogando is a pie-thrower. You don't want him in the rotation long-term, unless you're a fan of slagging important arms. SO... gotta look for a pitcher and gotta look for a corner OF producer to replace Josh. I think you're still going to be hamstrung by MY and Nellie another year. Gotta hope for a dead cat bounce with one or both of them next year.

Do you mean this year? Or since 2003?

Except you didn't actually address my point at all. So I'd say "nice try," but it wasn't.

Actually, ALL of their classes count as university credit, because they're actually taking university courses. They don't have to take AP tests. That, and they can transfer from North Texas to another university before they actually complete TAMS. Once you're in TAMS, you're in college.

Not to mention that they're actually technically university students and not high school students. TAMS has a TEA exemption so you don't have to take courses like Health, etc. as the normal state requirements go. Also, once you're in TAMS, you aren't required to graduate from high school to get a college degree. After your first year, you could transfer to another University or simply "drop out" of TAMS and continue taking courses at North Texas (as you're already enrolled there). Regardless, they are residents on campus at the University of North Texas. But, it's no surprise he doesn't want to count them. Gotta keep that target moving once you've been demonstrated to be a fraud. Heck, he can't even count the number of residents halls on campus.

They're university students, actually. You should get your facts straight. And you're still wrong on the numbers.

Just so I get this straight, thinking like a winner means assuming you'll lose against good teams and thusly scheduling as weak a competition as you can?

They're North Texas students living on campus. That is a fact. Also, you are wrong about the number of residence halls and capacity.

On the positive side, it's not looking like we'll have to worry much about a long Texas Rangers playoff run to keep people away from our football games.

Not nearly as many violent clashes over turf.

I have yet to see a single story about UTSA in the national media... well, not including the "Where are they now?" type segments on Coker. Casual fans might have gotten excited about the Texas Southern win (none that I know of), but there weren't any stories about it around the metromess, much less nationally, and unlike the K-State and LSU games, nobody was on the radio talking about how we looked and what was happening up here. You know, there was a time when North Texas won a bunch of easy games, and outside of this board, nobody cared. Because people aren't stupid. If anyone brings up that UTSA record, the first thing out of someone's mouth is "yeah, but who did they play?" People who've been around here should know this. People talking about Boise State should know this, because they (Boise fans) had to hear it every year, even once they started winning against ranked opponents... until such time as they did it regularly. I think it's a great strategy for UTSA. As said before, they've little competition in their market, and it's a football hungry one. They don't have to sell a product as "really good" yet. They only have to sell it as new. If we had a TRULY had a market and an established conference home like UTSA when we started up again in Div. 1A, I think we could've had that same strategy. But we didn't and we couldn't. Right now, I'm hoping the increased revenue from being in CUSA and the new stadium will help to eliminate some of the body bag games and give us more home and homes and some easier early season opponents. I don't have any problem scheduling tough teams, however, because you never know when you might catch them in a down year or surprise them, or, heck, maybe some day you'll actually have a good football team. It's not stopped several of our conference mates from taking on (and beating) some of the big boys. We seem to be the only ones who consider them automatic losses.

Greenberry is 4 star on ESPN. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/113322/deontay-greenberry He's a 5 star on Scout, but they're notorious for being generous with the 5 stars. Rivals and Scout are generally pretty close together, with Rivals having better coastal/southern scouting, but Scout actually has better scouts in the midwest. Still, Rivals is better than Scout which is better than ESPN. Regardless, 2 of 3 have the guy as a 4 star, which still means he's a top tier prospect. But everybody is guilty of the same thing... they use the scouting service report that ranks their particular guy higher, and not the same one for every prospect.

He played last year at WVU. http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/stats/_/id/514477/vernard-roberts

Not enough to offset those paydays. I'd say attendance in the 20s, but probably not for ULL, even at 6-0. And that's what people fail to see. We don't have anyone in conference that will draw fans, so playing a craptastic nonconference along with being in a no-name conference will get you absolutely zero press. Outside of this board, I've not heard a single mention of UTSA this year. I do think it's a good way to build a program when you're not having to compete for attention locally and you can count on fans. I see them as necessary evils, and that's unfortunate.

We don't play the big boys for respect. We play them for a paycheck.

It's a borrowed "tradition," which renders it meaningless an ineffective. I think the overwhelmingly negative response to the idea has less to do with Dickey than it does the fact that it's not original and actually has the potential to alienate alumni and fans who believe that, despite the fact it's been a different shade of green every few years, we're the MEAN GREEN. The idea has been discussed ad nauseum in our yearly 300 uniform threads. North Texas needs its own tradition, not something taken from other schools. And, as said before, it's a promotion. Your suggestion goes in the "promotions" basket. It is a one game promotion. It's once a year. It won't change the culture of North Texas in any tangible way. Your basically hoping for a short term attendance boost. We already have promotions (though not enough, and not enough good ones). What we don't have are unique traditions. At least if you'd said "everybody wear a fake eagle on their head" game, then it would be fairly original. The schools that have the best traditions built those traditions organically. You're confusing promotions with traditions.

In the end, what you're suggesting doesn't do anything to change the culture. It's a single game promotion that's not going to change anyone's opinion. Those sorts of things work once you already have a product. If you're just looking to fill the stadium, you do what UTSA did and give tickets away with chicken, or chicken away with tickets, or something where people get free sh*t because the economy sucks and students will do anything for free sh*t.

Masterdating is one word.

3rd local pit bull attack that I know of within the last week or so.

Yep, once a guy runs in with a gun and threatens me with it, I have the belief that he intends to use it on me. I continue to have that belief until he's 6 ft under.

Too bad he's a crappy shot. And he didn't stop a massacre. If those guys' intent was to massacre, they wouldn't have come in with a baseball bat and a handgun, and those people would all be dead, starting with the old guy who drew a gun from a few feet away and missed the target repeatedly. If your plan is to stop massacres, you'd have to do more than superficially wound people, because those crazy birds aren't gonna go running for their lives. That's why silhouette targets don't have arms and legs and thighs and buttocks.

Not even close. As much as I despise NASCAR, the Texas Motor Speedway and the races it holds are at the highest level of that game. It's not women's soccer, AA baseball, etc.

Yeah, so nothing.