letsgiveacheer

Other than CUSA's private schools, particularly Rice, I see North Texas as at least an equal to any of their state schools. Plus, I suspect we have more top rated programs than any of them and not just including music.

I just "Googled" NTSU and did not see any meaningful reference to our school until the 6th page or so and then it was not in a sports context. Even as a student at dear old North Texas State, I do not recall anyone calling us NTSU on a regular basis, it was always North Texas or North Texas State. I do recall someone altering the I-35 Ave C exit sign one night to read NUTS rather than NTSU. Also, any branding effort should be all inclusive-not just the athletic department. Ironically, the coach's quote at the end of your posts uses the words North Texas, not UNT. When does the season start?

My little theory is this: Universities that have many syllables in their names (not counting "University") naturally tend to be referred to by their initials: UAB, UCLA, SMU, UCF, UNC, etc. It's just easier for people to use the initials. Obviously there are many exceptions. I don't think schools make a concerted effort to use one or the other, it's just how it is. North Texas is a quick name to verbalize. Plus, its got a nice "ring" to it. Regarding the UNT vs North Texas debate, I realize that most people on this board are in the North Texas region, but I suggest that "UNT" will mean nothing to people in most parts of the country.

Sarcasm at its best!

Lest you think I'm an old curmudgeon, let me say I am retired from the Air Force, been shot at many times, deployed to various hell-holes around the world for many years, etc etc. As I said in my post, if this is a recruiting tool, fine. The military is sworn "to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and to do that, you have to have to recruit. Providing color guards at football games, sponsoring race cars, etc are all effective in this effort and justified. But what part of the Marine's mission involves training football teams? There is so much waste in our military budget and this bothered me tremendously while on active duty. I did whatever I could to reduce this, especially as I became more senior. Unless the university reimbursed the Marines, here is what this probably cost: federal per diem in the Dallas area is about 200 a day. If there are 8 of them and they arrived yesterday and leave tomorrow, we are speaking of 3000 in addition to their wages. I'm not aware of any Marine bases in the DFW area but if there are, then we are just speaking about the time away from their normal responsibilities. 3000 is nothing to the federal budget but as I told my troops when I saw waste, think of it as a citizen's entire year of income tax. In other words, your year of hard work paid for a football workout. Off my soapbox now and back to football!

Unless this is a recruiting tool, there is no possible justification for Marines spending their time conducting workouts for a university's football team.

I think now we see why McCarney is so controversial on the Iowa State board. He did things there that no one had done before but he did it sandwiched between some pretty miserable seasons. There are some interesting parallels here.

I miss Shiner!! A few stores here in NC carry the "normal" variety but none of their special brews. Do they still make Long Star?

I agree with greenjoe that KNTU should cover UNT sports first and foremost. I suspect there is always something to say. As someone said, could you imagine UT's, TCU's (fill in the blank) station covering UNT sports before their own? But I strongly disagree about the call to change formats. In a recent thread, there was a discussion about being proud of the university. There is one undisputed thing that North Texas does that is better than any other university in the country and that is its jazz program. Why would you not want the university radio station to mirror what is best and unique at our school? Besides, a .7 rating is not so bad for a college run station with no advertising. We would be elated if .7 of the Metroplex population attended a home football game!

I can't speak to NCAA infractions, but I do suspect that the public would be surprised at how the academies do their recruiting. Some years ago, they all realized that if they were to remain competitive in D1 football, the old system of getting in the academy first and then getting on the football team was not going to work anymore. As a result, there is almost a sub-class of cadets and midshipmen who are playing football that could not get in the academy through normal channels. Still, their class schedule and work load would put most any other college to shame. While I am at it, I am still sore about having a mandatory deduction from my pay for the AF Academy football stadium. I could have cared less about AFA football.

Very nice job! I agree with your assessment, at least about the early 70s which is when I attended NTSU. Very few of my classmates, other than music majors, were actually proud of attending North Texas. I recall one of the cheerleaders asking the band if we could play the "Eyes of Texas are Upon You"! Silver Eagle is absolutely correct about the English barrier. Your paper was graded in the blind by a faculty committee.

Another school to look at with envy is Old Dominion in my hometown of Norfolk. They resumed playing football after an absence of 65 years and have sold out their stadium two years in a row, averaging just under 20,000 per game with attendance ahead of South Alabama. It is hard to make comparisons as there are no pro sports in the Tidewater area to compete with. The area really gets behind the team. I suspect if their administration wanted to, they could easily make the jump to D1 in short order, similar to what South and Central Florida did. Va is a fairly large state and only supports two D1 teams, UVa and Tech. If I recall, they were also members of the Sun Belt in the old days. Thread

I think it was a smart move to officially change our nickname from the Eagles to the Mean Green. Does anyone remember the BB game with Boston College? Confusing to say the least.

Happy Birthday, Harry!

Congratulations to the Green Brigade!! I have been very critical of them in the past for their (and almost every other marching band) corps style of marching. To my mind, it is uninspiring. But what the North Texas band has, and has always had, is a very high degree of musicianship. I have not heard another university band that can touch them...not Michigan, not Ohio State, not Indiana, no one. I'm proud to see them get this recognition.

While going through stuff in preparation of a move, I came across a mimeographed (remember that?) "cheer sheet" which must have come from either the 71 or 72 season. Here they are: 1. Chewing gum, chewing gum stick it on the wall... Soft hard sticky gooey Get that Ball!!! 2. Bricka Braka Firecracker sis boom bah! Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny Rah Rah Rah! 3.Enchilada Guacamole tortilla team... Hot Sauce, Hot Sauce Go Mean Bean! and my favorite.... 4. Football, Football A very good game But with NT... It Ain't the Same!!! I think times have changed. Click here to view the article

Congratulations!

I've never lived in Texas after graduation and I can assure you that few people have a clue what UNT means. Maybe in La or Ark but not on the east or west coasts. In fact, it would be pretentious of me to make them guess. It's all alphabet soup. Quick, without "Googling", name these schools in five seconds or less: CCU, ESC, NCCU, UEI, etc, etc. There are only a few schools that can get away with using their initials like SMU, TCU and UCLA. Most of the rest need their full names. The issue about North Texas being a region is a valid one. That's why when people ask me where I went to school, I say "the University of North Texas" or "North Texas State" in the old days. When I talk with musicians, I can say just "North Texas".

Hmmmm...I was thinking that Royce Lumpkin, who was the assistant band director at North Texas for many years and is now the Chair of UNCC's music department, may have introduced the Mean Green name to them, but I see from his bio that his arrival at Charlotte was about ten years after this clip. www.coaa.uncc.edu/Academics/Department-of-music/Faculty/Detail/84-royce-e-lumpkin

This has been a great tournament so far! Great to see both VCU and Butler in the semi-finals. As a child growing up in Norfolk, I remember VCU was then known as Richmond Professional Institute. While they must have played basketball, I do not remember them making any sort of noise at all. Their campus has pretty much taken over downtown Richmond and I see they have have an enrollment of 32K. Hardly a "little" school. U of Richmond has quite a bit to be proud of as well. They have high academic standards and a whole lot of money! Finally, I'm glad to see the Butler coach refuses to acknowledge this "mid-major" nonsense. I wish more schools, including our own, did the same.

My link Says Benson has contacted North Texas...How many times does that make?

Agree. It's pretty pathetic when the local paper cannot get your nickname correct.

Really excellent interview. RV has to get the nod for best AD ever at North Texas. While many times we have wished for better success on the field, court, pool, whatever; the facilities he has brought to the campus are nothing short of astounding. One small correction, I believe he said that several North Texas teams were ranked nationally for the first time in school history. That is not correct but it is easy to misspeak while being interviewed. Well done, gentlemen!

If you want a taste of old time Hot Springs, I'd recommend the Arlington Hotel. Last time we stayed about five years ago, it was in need of a major renovation, but the grand old resorts like this are quickly going the way of dinosaurs. On weekends, they had live music in the "Zoo Bar" but I suspect it is not what you are looking for...unless you like swing dancing and foxtrots! Checking Trip Adviser, I see there are a good number of complaints about the Arlington, so maybe it has gone even more downhill since we were there. At the very minimum, I'd have a look around. As far as attractions go, too bad that the I.Q. Zoo has closed. I'd never seen a rooster operate a cash resister so fast in my life!