vpackrats

Rick, I know you're on the anti-Buick wagon right now, but that last point kind of hurts your case right now instead of helps it. NFL scouts spot talent when they see it, no matter what school (A few examples: Larry Allen -- Sonoma State, Patrick Crayton -- Northwestern Oklahoma State & Demarcus Ware -- Troy). The fact we've been able to win 4 Sun Belt Conference Championships w/only ONE guy getting drafted all these years (Cody Spencer to the Raiders) tells me coaching must be one of the key ingredients for our success. Or, to put it another way...why were all the Ohio State alumni so eager to see John Cooper get the boot? 'Cuz that guy was turning out not just NFL talent, but numerous 1st round talent year after year & yet Michigan, Wisconsin, etc were the dominant Big 10 teams. He didn't get the job done. Dickey has gotten the job done, despite having no NFL talent on his roster (not trying to compare conferences here ), but hopefully you get my point. Think about it ....

OK, let me preface this by saying in no way am I comparing DD's coaching acumen to Tom Landry (we all know this) BUT the above description you've posted sure sounds like Tom Landry's personality on the sidelines. Um, that seemed to work for almost three decades. Just because someone's waiving their arms, screaming at the refs, etc doesn't make them a better coach or mean they are more into the game. For example during the ill-advised Dave Campo era, how many times did we see that guy screaming at the refs, his arms waving like a windmill?? He seemed to be saying "look fans, I'm a good coach, 'cuz I'm involved in the game". Lack of emotions on the sidelines don't bother me ....

One thing to consider in all this "Dickey bashing" -- not necessarily going on w/this post, but you know what I mean. And that thing is: * did you like the front cover story on the USA Today? * did you like the 5 page spread in ESPN's magazine? * do you like the positive press in SI, CBS.Sportsline, etc? That's one thing we can ALL agree on! It was great for the university & exposed a lot of people to our school. Why all the pub? Because we have back-to-back NCAA rushing champs returning! Has that ever been done?? NO! Now, how exactly did North Texas achieve this awesome accomplishment? "Dickey-ball"!!! No Dickey-ball, no national publicity. All I know is I've seen more national pub about North Texas in the last 3-4 months than I've seen combined since '88 when I stepped on campus. (Maybe that's a tad of an overstatement but you know what I mean). Thus, that's why I voted no change in philosophy. It's been proven this'll work itself out.

... and what have the Rangers done after Johnny Oates? (besides numerous last place finishes) ... and what have the Stars done after Ken Hitchcock (besides first round flameouts). The list could go on: Sonics fired George Karl to take them past just getting to the NBA Finals (they haven't sniffed getting to NBA Finals ever since) Nebraska fired Solich since they weren't winning national championships anymore -- sure they were winning 9-10 games a year but that wasn't good enough anymore (that move's worked out real well for them, hasn't it?) These are just a few examples that I'm coming up w/off the top of my head. Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Yep, we need to throw all we've accomplished the last four years out the window. We've gotten routed two weeks in a row. Let's fire everyone. Geez, overreaction Saturday here we come. Fire Dickey posts happened in 2001 ... then people shut up. Fire Dickey posts happened in 2002 ... oops, wrong again. In 2003, let's fire Dickey & this time I'm serious ... um, well, never mind. 2004, OK, all the kidding around is pretty much over. I'm doubly serious this time -- let's get rid of Dickey.... oops, we won the conference again. Nevermind. And, now it's 2005, same ol' "fire the coach" junk. The guy only won Sun Belt Coach of the Year FOUR times. No one else has won the award. It was clear after the MTSU game that a lot of the other Sun Belt schools would love to have him as THEIR coach. So on a rebuilding team w/a entire roster of QB's who have NEVER thrown a pass in college, we got routed twice. I'll give you that. And we need to can somebody for that?? I pray I never have to work for all you people ready to stick "For Sale" signs on DD's front yard. If I had two bad days at work .. hell, let's make that two weeks, I'd be outta there. "Nevermind what you've done the last 4 years you've been here Braun ... you screwed up on the Penske file. You're fired!" Ease up Mean Green Nation .... let's wait a few weeks before going postal. OK, fire away now ....

Attendance question -- I think I know the answer, but isn't the seating capacity broken down as 10,000 seats on each side of the field and 10,000 seats in the metal end zone bleachers? Or can more people fit "between the lines"? If each side can hold more than 10,000 that probably explains how we hit over 23,000 in attendance.

3rd & 8 I can handle. But has ANYONE in their lives seen a 4th and 55?? I hope someone got a picture of the scoreboard showing 4th & 55 for us because that may never happen again. I think that little snippet pretty much sums up the entire evening.

Not really worth my time to get so riled up. Playmaker, if you want to cancel your subscription to the DRC, support a boycott of the DRC, organize protest marches through the streets of downtown Denton for one random comment, go for it. I hope you get a better turnout than Martha Burk did for her Masters boycott (30 people?), but I highly doubt it.

Preach to the choir brotha! I want to hear Green Grenade eat some crow too.

Emmitt -- Thanks for the update. Sounds like you may not be able to post much having to work those kinds of hours. But if you can, keep us posted on how things are going down there. Hopefully all will be well, but who knows if the Dallas news media will give us an accurate picture of what's REALLY going on down there. Let us know. (Wonder what everyone's going to do?? They'll be unable to return for MONTHS, even if they want to return, which a lot don't).

That's a good question. I don't know if the movie is talking about Denton, TX. But I do know if you hang on out on Fry Street on any Thursday night, or all day at the Fry Street Fair, you will see a lot of freaks running around town.

Man, did you ever think you'd see the day where North Texas is ranked in the pre-season AHEAD of schools such as West Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas State, Maryland, Arkansas & Ole Miss to name just a few?!? Pretty cool stuff....

When reading the initial post, I seriously thought this was a delayed April Fool's joke!! This is "not examples of political correctness run amok"???? What would be then??? Y'know, what's pathetic? People from Sports Illustrated to The Dallas Morning News are all making jokes like "gee, we better change the Fighting Irish's nickname because I'm Irish & offended" & here this IDIOT would consider it. ?!?! Sad commentary on how out-of-touch the NCAA & it's board are these days!

Actually, I have no real comment to make here. I'm just tired of being a "Fledgling" and trying to inflate my number of posts to get me to "Bald Eagle" status. Plus, it's late & I'm getting loopy. Later ....

Y'know what though? If he's not eligible, he's not eligible. I don't want any of this "athletic dept pull". That kind of stuff is what gets universities in trouble & makes players think they can coast through classes as there will always be someone to "make it right". I don't want to see anything going on a la Ohio State and Maurice Clarett

QUOTE: We will control the clock, but also be able to keep the Tigers honest by passing the ball to our bevy of great receivers, returning star of which is Johnny Quinn. Yep, we'll control the clock just like we did last year against Texas. What'd we have the ball for, 20 minutes? Somebody is drinking gallons of green Kool Aid -- unless it's random comments for shock value like Randy Galloway occsionally does. Y'know, I find if people bet the opposite of Green Grenade's predictions, you can clean up in Vegas.

Sorry if this has been posted before, but how much are the LSU tickets? I didn't find the pricing on the official Mean Green website. Thanks!

My 2 cents also go towards NOT tearing down the goalposts this year. Yes, I had a good time rushing the field the last 2 years, but hmmmm, let me see ... * Every pre-season magazing I know picked us to win the Sun Belt ... so we're delivering on that promise * It's Idaho * My vote is to heed that ol' advice "act like you've been in the end zone before". Enjoy it, have fun, but it's not like we're a miracle story or just beat a Top 25 team. GO MEAN GREEN!