Side Show Joe

All of my family is down in my home town of Dickinson. Everyone of them is stranded where they are, but they are all okay. If Harvey gets back to the gulf and follows the predicted path, things will probably get much worse. Thank you to everyone praying for those down on the coast.

I still have concerns about our punting.... This off season, I have yet to see us really show the ability to flip the field with punting.

Aesthetically, these are the best uniforms North Texas has donned since the days of the old flying worm. These colors work together in all three uniforms, and this overall design and color scheme needs to stay and over time become our traditional look. Thank you to the Lovelace family for stepping up and helping to make this happen.

I want to see our offense and defense dominate Lamar, while keeping everything vanilla. Hopefully, we don't have to show SMU too much of our playbook. If we can easily control and win this game, we could be in for a special season.

Here is my bold prediction... The extra weight Fine has added in the off season helps him stay healthy for the entire year. Mason Fine throws for 2,700 yards and 20 touchdowns, against fewer then 10 picks and we win the HOD, ...beating SMU and UTSA along the way. Fine is selected to the All-C-USA 2nd team.

After a quick glance... A home and home series could be filled by either Miami (FL) or Cal. Both are open on 9-14-2019, and need another home game. And both have openings for away games in 2022, on either 9-3 or 9-24. I'd love to see either Miami or Cal face the Mean Green at Apogee in 2022. Please no more South Alabama type series.

The forthcoming Stadium online channel will stream 15 live C-USA football games on PlutoTV this year. This is about as good as it gets in the age of no real TV deal. Unfortunately, no North Texas game made the schedule. Southern Miss, UTEP, LA Tech, UAB, and UTSA will represent C-USA West in games. North Texas and Rice are the only two western division team not to get a game on the schedule. I hope this means Mr. Baker has secured something better. If you have not watched PlutoTV, you should check it out. It is a much better set up then espn3. The Big Sky is currently running two channels on PlutoTV. Here is a link to the story and scheduled football games. http://awfulannouncing.com/online-outlets/new-sports-network-stadium-unveils-2017-college-football-schedule.html

I like to think long term. I understand the that SMU is local, we hate them., and they have tried to hold us back for forever. But... Here is my opinion, and why a win over UTSA is more important. Long term, UTSA will pass SMU. If we can focus on the larger picture, we can pass SMU too. UTSA has the entire San Antonio market. There is no other FBS football program in the 7th largest city in America. San Antonio is also one of the fasting growing cities in America. They don't have to share San Antonio with an NFL team either. UTSA has almost nothing right now. As they develop their infrastructure and build their programs, They will eclipse SMU. It is just a matter of how soon. We do not have the community advantages UTSA does. But, by focusing on developing a Mean Green program that can out recruit and out play UTSA, we can elevate our athletics. As both programs rise through the college football pecking order, our fan base will grow and become more engaged. Lets face it. SMU has maxed out their potential. They are what they are. We need to focus on developing a program that consistently beats UTSA. If we do that we will be in a better place. And, we will be waving to SMU in our rear view mirror. I believe this is the best path for North Texas.

We have lost many games to SMU over the years. We can't afford to have similar results against UTSA. I've said it before,... I will never give our coaches a pass on losing to UTSA. No excuses. I expect us to win that game.

Great news. I'll be watching. One way to incorporate more social media around BTG, would be if the athletic department could contract to fund the series for a length of time, and use BTG QR codes on the football schedule posters. These codes would unlock promo videos of the BTG episode schedule. Anyone walking by a poster (at schools, restaurants, businesses,...) could access the content on their smartphone or tablet. Just a thought.

Is this really where our athletic department expects us to be in 7 years? Playing home and home series with South Alabama. If so, then I better start preparing for more disappointment. I'm happy with the Texas Tech series even though I will be over 50 by the time they play it in Apogee. The Houston series is a good move. I've been told the Liberty series was necessary in order to create better opportunities in our scheduling, but I don't view the South Alabama series as a better opportunity. If we were bringing USA in for a season opener and there was no return game, then fine. But I don't believe giving USA a home and home is improving our schedule. This looks like a series RV would have signed. Some people on this board complain because we are in the dark on so many things around the athletic department. I'm starting to agree. I can't defend this series when I talk with others, and I can't see how we can use it as a selling point with recruits. In my opinion, it just isn't the kind of series that elevates our program.

Terrible news. I wish English a quick recovery. On a positive side, I hope he is able to side some quality time with his father while he is recovering. As for how this will affect the team, It is a big hit. Again, on a positive note, we are still early in fall camp. Hopefully the defense has time to adequately adjust before the season starts, and this is the extent of our major injuries for the season.

I have yet to miss a road game at Rice. I'll be enjoying Thanksgiving with my family and a Mean Green win this year. I will also attend the SMU game.

This is great news. Will he sign during the new early signing period in December?

I'll stick with #3 Wilson. He's had some great games over the years. His senior season should be fun. By the way, I think Bussey has tons of talent. Good pick.

I drove 117 miles and got there by noon to hear Littrell and Baker speak. Due to road construction traffic, I walked into Apogee about 11:55 am. Just in time to jump in line and get my tickets, which I'm very impressed with (Wonderful packaging and first rate). While getting my tickets, I was able to watch Lettrell leave. I never saw Baker. I understand Littrell has some family matters going on, and I understand. His family should come first. It just would have been nice if the athletic department had a coach or administrator there to speak at the time they scheduled. Aside from that, I applaud the athletic department for trying something new. I think all that attended were glad they went. Like I said the ticket packaging looked great. Everything was correct in my package. The free t-shirt was a nice touch. The schedule posters looked great. I got a free yard sign. And the ticket staff was very kind and helpful. I really had a wonderful time. It was great to see KRAM and meangreentexan again. And, it was nice to meet greenjoe. If the athletic department hosts another Mean Green Mania event next season, I will attend again. Go Mean Green!!!

I'll be there with the wife. Haven't been to Apogee since the spring game. I'm planning on being there by noon, so we can hear Baker and Littrell speak. I have yet to meet either. Should be fun.

How will this new party deck count towards seating? What will be the recalculated seating capacity of Apogee?

I no longer live in the Denton area. Does anyone know if they have started construction on the new flagpole? Thanks.

There is certainly some hate between our teams and fans, but not enough to call it a rivalry. If someday a large portion of our student body expresses hate for UTSA on a daily basis, and crowds explode for these annual games, then it would be a rivalry.

Despite what C-USA says, they don't have a real media deal outside of beIN Sports. That is a real problem. I have always been reluctant to embrace online streaming as a TV broadcast, but I could be changing my mind. The Big Sky Conference has launched their own network on Pluto TV,... and It is a really nice setup. It would be great if North Texas and other C-USA universities could take back our 3rd tier media rights. I'd much rather watch our streaming games on this free platform (adds are played at intervals throughout the broadcast, just like television), versus giving money to ESPN3 (The Deuce). For those that have never heard of Pluto TV, it works just like satellite. You can change between channels and everything. How great it would be to watch all of the Mean Green sports on something very close to real TV, 24 hours a day. Check it out. http://pluto.tv/ Also, here is a thread about the Big Sky's network, from the CSNBBS board. http://csnbbs.com/thread-821964.html

Does anyone know if Beyond the Green is going to be renewed for this season? If so, when will the first episode air, and what time? Thanks.

A very smart move in my opinion. It is a great way for the athletic department build and maintain new contacts for the Mean Green Club. This move alone should help increase attendance by a few hundred this season. A few years of this, and we might be looking at an average attendance of over 25K. Thank you Mr. Baker.

I have yet to meet Mr. Baker, but after reading that article, I believe he is certainly a very smart and calculating AD, and we are fortunate to have him. In relation to the facts of the article, I agree with every decision he has made, except for keeping Benford. I will go to my grave believing he never should have returned for his 5th season.

If we lose to UTSA, then we will be losing more then 3 games this season.