SCREAMING EAGLE-66

--Repeating... there is at least two types of recruits whose priorities are different... (maybe three big groups if you throw in the blue chips). Those who want NFL scout exposure..... Those who think about only the next four years and the fun and glory they can have .... and last those are actually students and think college years will be fun but really they have a future after college and likely not as an NFL player. They will all see things differently. 1. All will consider the coaching staff and repetition of the university. 2. Most will want SOME playing time by their second year. 3. Most most consider the school environment--Housing, things to do, training facilities. A lot might would likely "scratch off" locations because of the obvious negatives and not so much because of the positives.. bad coach, bad location, poor living conditions. I would think the negatives are more influencial than the positives. I do think most student do have an idea of their major when they enter school.... it may change a time or two... but most of those who are better students do have idea of where they plan to go in life at least in general.

---I am guessing, but I think most recruits will fall into two groups... Some love football but want an education as well,--- but some just want to play football, be the center of attention of fans and don't think much about life after football. My list. ___________ 1. Playing time available, they want to have an decent opportunity to play some by sophomore year. Part of this is just personal but they also know they can not gain the attention of fans or the NFL by just sitting on the bench. 2. If they are thinking they could be a possibly a NFL player then they look at the schools history in that area of producing players and at the same time pay some attention to which conference they will play in. 3. The smarter ones will think about "Do I really want a degree from there also can I get the education I need?" ** 4. Location is important, some want to be closer to home so family and friends can watch them and some want to be in a location that has plenty to do in their spare time. More that likely some will just try to avoid some remote distant location more than just picking a certain favorable location. 5. The environment at the school-- meaning how they percieve that the coaches will treat them, living conditions (dorms, food, etc), how they will be treated on campus in general which could be a negative issue at some places, and if they think they have a decent chance to pass and stay in school. ____ ** I have been amazed by how many soccer parents (some in other sports) who think their kids are going to earn scholarships to get them through school.... The crazy thing is how much money they pay out for these "select" teams instead of just rat-holing the money. Play for fun and don't pay out $1000's each year on trips etc. with expectations of getting it back.... In the case of boys there are not a large collection of schools that play soccer that I would want my kids to attend... who wants a degree from Northwest South Dakota State ?? (made up) or from the College of the Southwest (it exists about 80 miles from me with about 400 students, mostly locals who can't afford to leave town) I know of some soccer kids that went there....crazy... most people in this town doesn't even know it exists. .

---The Belt may not be what we prefer but it beats the WAC... I'll bet MUTS and some of the others in the Belt would prefer the ACC or SEC instead of playing us as well. We are where we are and just need to get better and dominate it and get our attendance up if we want to improve our lot.

---Really bad idea... It all about money. It takes 19 games for those those players in the Super Bowl and players are beat-up and exhausted. Really they play 23 but most starters play little in pre-season. Adding the travel to it across MANY time zones and that creates more problems. Leave it alone... some owners such as Jones have even had preseason "scimmages" that appear in large stadiums that they charge for in addition to the 4 preseason games. Besides after 16 games, it is obvious which teams are the best and belong in the playoffs, one more game would change very little if anything. ---I think Arizona played one regular season game in Mexico against someone (within the past 5 years) but the rest have been in the USA as far as I remember. Playing in Mexico (or Canada ) in nothing like playing Asia, or even Europe for teams not on the East Coast.

---There is no one answer.. 1. Winning the majority of the games. 2. Defeating some name opponents (teams that locals are very familiar with, even on the road). 3. Having teams visit DENTON that most people are familiar with and being competitive with these, win or lose... example: Navy this year, SMU last year... 4. Playing exciting games... which brings fans back to see more. 5. Better publicity in the area.. not sure yard-signs is the answer but might help some, but signs on campus would help with students if they appear on the day of games and day before and aren't just permanently there... attracts more attention when they appear and disappear and don't just become part of the scenery. This may sound high-schoolish but encouraging students to display NT colors on Friday [not frat etc. shirts with some other color] especially before home game days would be good reminders.. Organizations could push this as a big item in school spirit and traditions. I suppose it could be posted in (or in front of) dorms as well which would help some also. Today's' students are tomorrow's alums.... create involved and proud alums. 6. People were complaining about people not knowing th school song at graduation..... print it in the program, a local HS did that after a poor performance. It would not hurt to have it posted on campus some places for student to "read" for 4 years. ...Do anything to better connect students to North Texas so they that they feel "we" and not just "they".

---We actually get to see a lot of Blimps in Midland. I live less than a mile from a small airport that has a "Blimp Port" for them to connect to, it is a few hundred yards from Midland College. We have them a lot because they travel from EL Paso to Metroplex and stop here over night quite a bit, if the wind is bad they remain here a couple or so days. There are several of them with various advertisers on the sides. The Fuji one ( white/green ) seems to show up the most. --Re wind shear: I don't know if this is it but while landing at Baltimore this weekend we really took a hard bounce and even a couple of people on board screamed as we hit the runway hard. Just as we were about to touch down we dropped down and really took a jolt. We were told that it resulted not because of the pilot or plane but because of the "air". It was the worse bounce I had ever experienced, I was amazed that the tires did not pop. ---191 ... The main highway from Midland to Odessa is Tx- 191. It borders Midland International Airport on the North and we all use it to get there.

---NO, Mr. Jones is not the tool of the Devil .... He is the Devil.!!... Haven't you ever heard of "The Devil and Ms Jones"....? LOL

---This may not popular here ..BUT.. ..couldn't Fouts be done like UT.... the track removed, the fields lowered 15-20 feet and seating constructed below bringing those seats near and just above the field with good vision. It would be a lot less expensive that a total new stadium so not as money would need to be raised.. Restrooms, etc. could just be junked and reconstructed. I think TxTech did the same thing because I seem to remember a track there during the 60's and now it seems much lower and closer to the field that it was then. I realize this does not answer parking problems. Also with the track gone permanent concrete stands could constructed in the end zone areas much closer to the field. With all that done seating could be 40,000 or more. --- It we do build a totally new one it should constructed in such a manner that upper decks could be constructed at some point in the future. You never know what will be needed then. I am sure in the mid 60's that Kyle Field (which had about 35,000) never expected to ever need 80,000-90,000 seats but they do now. ---Additional problem for us is I-35 and land it needs..... but UT sort of has the same problem.... I-35 right behind it. ____________________ Grey-Eagle-One posted while I was typing.... very similiar comments. I had not read them before this post.

--The Coliseum had big LIONS.... and their winning percentage was very good.

--My comment on FIU. ---They appear to have a track around the stadium BUT it appears that the end stands have been moved in for football game... If not they just built a stadium over what had been a track.. Vision their on the sidelines could be no better than ours. ---Muts looks nice. ---The LaLa one appears to have a lot of seats very far from the field (very flat looking). ASU as well (in the picture). Haven't been to either place. ________________ --- Old --UT opened in 1923 and held 27,000 .... has undergone many enlargements since but some of the original stadium still exists I think. It was enlarged to 40,000 in 1926, 60,000 in 1948 and now with the upper decks and track removed it holds 85,000. Current plans call for more improvement to 90,000. ---- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_K._Ro...emorial_Stadium ---Kyle Field was started in 1927 and until 1968 it held only 35,000. I remember it looking much like Fouts with concrete endzone seats when I attended a game there in 1965. It now holds 82,000. ---TCU opened in 1930 with 22,000 It now holds 44,000. ---SMU claims to have just enough seats for all their multitude of fans and is a sell out every week. The size varies from week to week.

---All the facts are not in the history books by any stretch of the imagination... They may be in various records and documents but not history books. Reading history books published about 1900 and even prior to WWII are a great deal different when discussing social issues and even events reported. I have some books of my parents, grand-parents etc. and some of the things stated are rather shocking and very slanted to certain view-points. ---Some think ONLY Fox tells the truth while CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Newsweek, NY Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, the BCC, and the rest are lying snakes. I wonder why only one network can see the truth while the rest are so corrupt. Could it be that it is the one network out that group isn't being honest? After all the current government will always tell you the truth... just ask those who lived in Germany during the 1930's. Might as well throw college profs into the same group as the media.... hmmmm... those are two really informed groups that check facts...... The trick by some now is if others disagree with them call them liberals, commies, pagans, un-Christian etc. or some other unflattering name---and make fun of them. [ again sounds like Germany, 1930's ] --I am reading a book by Bob Schieffer (CBS news from Ft.Worth and TCU) and it is interesting to see his comments on government claims by Nixon, Johnson and others. Apparently Nixon was even hinting at having the FCC pull licences of stations that were saying things he did not want stated. Fortunately he did not succeed and was eventually forced out of office. -- ___________ Back to the topic.... Private and religious schools do not have a certain district to pull from.... they will recruit or at least attract athletes from everywhere... which gives them an advantage especially among smaller schools. There are cases where a wealthy supporter will pay a kid's tuition if comes to the school he supports (scholarship?) and guess what, he is a good athlete. . My wife after teaching in public schools for years, now works at a private school, a good one academicly, and not near as sports rabid as some. Private schools have no business in UIL.

---Repeating... if politicians want to help public education, fund programs or whatever to get the trouble makers out of the regular classrooms. At the same time we really don't want these hoodlums out on the streets because of the trouble (theft for example) they would cause when not at some type of "school or work-type program". There are no simple answers to better education but MORE TESTING or more difficult graduation requirements is definitely not the answer. --- Passing folks who do not deserve to pass** is noticed by those who did work and did not pass by much... Guess what happens the next semester... they won't work either.... Why bother to try, you get passed anyway becomes the common attitude. This is why colleges are so successful at education... most students fear failing and try to learn, well at least the ones that make it past the freshman year. That is also the reason so many leave after about one semester... they expected to be held to HS standards and are shocked when they actually fail. **passing a person that should not pass does him no favor either. I have a student that "somehow" passed the previous course and he now has a 20 for me and has attended almost every class (math). He is in way over his head and 40 points below the second lowest grade in the college class I teach. So many college students really regret doing little in HS.... it hits the fan in college, even in good community colleges, they face a difficult or impossible task. Many are forced into no-credit classes to upgrade their skills in math and English.. .Even fairly decent students learn they often can't go to colleges they expected to attend because they scored too low... often because they just goofed off in HS.

---The situation in Northern Ireland has really improved the past few years over what it was 20-25 years ago. It is a great reason why politics and government should never be mixed. Once they become intertwined that there all reason disappears.

--Nothing good can come of this thread.. It is the top one listed, so I did not move it up... kill it. --It is not even football in any way--- kill it.

---What is acceptable in a small rural school will not be in a large AAAA or AAAAA high-school. Pretty much the community is the same and not so diverse as in a larger school district and there will not be a lot of complaints and when there is they can be handled much easier. In general school has enough responsibities without taking on teaching religious beliefs... let Churches and homes do that. School can't do everything and shouldn't. Besides that some teachers are Catholics, Mormans, Church of Christ, Baptists, or Uniterians if not some non-Christian group. You may not agree with what the teacher believes anyway. ---Iran and other Middle-eastern countries mix religion and government. That is why they are so crazy and irrational and difficult to deal with. Europe once did and the 100-Years War erupted along with many others. Because of Europes problems, we separated the two pretty much and mentioned it in our Constitution. Neither should control the other.

---The school where wife teaches was playing a "Christian based school" from another town two years ago in football when the game was stopped in the first half (football) because of fighting and repeatedly kicking one of our players while he was on the ground. The following week the other school is given full responsibility for the fight and disqualified. I have never heard of such thing in a public school although likely it has happened. I think the other school missed a verse or two of the Bible... Even some of their parents went onto the field as well setting fine Christian examples. Some of these newer rabid Christian schools are completely nuts. My wife's school was started by a Episcopalian church about 40 years ago when Midland was growing extremely fast during an oil boom and public schools were too crowded.. Religion is approached with reason there. Another one they played had players who were constantly mouthing off obscene remarks so the players said. No fighting took place, but they seemed to trying to provoke one hoping to get some of our players thrown out it seemed.

-- MC Calasan has not ever transfered or played at Utah... He agreed last fall to go there but I suppose that agreement was not binding. Calasan is a citizen of Serbia. Interestingly I spoke to the MC coach, McCasland, yesterday and he was wearing a Utah T-shirt. --- In this week's campus newspaper it was announced that his assistant, Alvin Brooks II, is leaving and going to be an assistant coach for Bradley University. Perhaps he is considering there.

---I guy in my high school spun out in front of the school, lost control and killed a sophomore girl who was standing by the curb.. The parents had no other children. There were no paybacks to those parents or the girl.

---That is not the reason... too many many parents refuse to be parents, they want to be buddies and lack the courage to say no and set guidelines. Without parental support at home the schools have no chance especially when you contact them they then start blaming the school and decide that the teachers just don't understand and are to blame for their child's' behavior. I really get sick of parents who think misbehavior by 4-5-6 year-olds is funny. [kids being sassy or throwing food at a restaurant for example] They are creating a monster and don't realize it and by age 12 or so the kids are totally out of control and have no respect for anyone. ---Schools are not churches and have many groups of various denominations and religions whose beliefs are widely different. A little more religion, morality, and parenting at HOME would be helpful. Don't put that on educators... they have enough on their "plate" as it is, besides some of them have beliefs not compatible with your beliefs anyway. I spent several 30 years in public schools and my final ten were far the worst. I now teach college classes. The best way to improve public schools is find a better answer for those who don't behave and have no respect for others....... not more stupid state tests or before school devotionals. Raising decent kids is a FULL TIME JOB, includes summers and weekends, not just an occasional religious comment. ---An occasional "swat" never hurt a kid... unfortunately there are a few parents and even teachers that have abused what was reasonable and so it is pretty much banned in many schools. It is not really about the amount of pain inflicted but more about the message sent---- disapproval and consequences. Each kid is different... #1 son got more than double the combined swats of my other two who would just keep their mouth shut..... PS... he is now finishing his 2ed year in law school, guess it did not hurt him any, but he still wants to argue about it. .... LOL

--A bunch of banny roosters.

---A draw play on 3rd and 47 is usually good for 5 or 10 yards. I remember seeing that done last year. I suppose the coach was expecting 3 or 4 unsportmanlike calls or face masks calls on the play which would earn another ""Mean Green first down."

--SMU has a whole lot of white squirrels.... but most theirs are two legged and completely nuts. It is rumored that theirs are very afraid of Eagles instead of hawks. ---Squirrel hunting has always been a popular pastime at NT. I remember a lot of squirrel shots. ..LOL ( surely that term is still used some) Forgive me, that was just too tempting to post.

---Well you are the exception then. I have had classes that had kids who eventually were charged with murder. My worst of all time had five kids in one room that were later charged with murder (within next 5 years), three convicted (I am convinced the other two were guilty just no witnesses -- one later made it to prison for a long time anyway ). In addition two in that class of 17 students were murder victims. I have never swung at a kid but was very tempted at times... It may not be right but I was pretty sure I would have been fired had I done so. Kids today realize that there is little adults can do when they do things especially if the administration in the school is not what they should be, and many aren't. One student of mine brought a gun to school and I still believe it was meant for me since I referred him to the office which then placed him in on campus suspension. He brought the gun the following day and it was discovered. The cops were called and he was locked up. He got the message and today he is a fairly decent person.... married with children and stays out of trouble. ---It has been my experience the more they somewhat get away with, the more they will do, since they believe no one can touch them.

---- Absolutely NO to private schools in UIL. We have one here which is sort of a home school and don't meet classes every day. Those guys that play basketball spend HOURS practicing when not in class (a lot of the time) and pretty much year around I understand. They could always claim parents are watching these things and not coaches and get away with it. And yes, some of these private schools do recruit somewhat. My wife teaches in one now but not the odd one mentioned above. Notice now that lots of Spelling -Bee winners are not from public schools..... They "could" spend hours on that subject and they will on other sports and events as well thus would have an unfair advantage. All private school would recruit somewhat and here kids that are good but not good enough for AAAAA will enroll at a small private school sometimes in order to play. The lower classifications would be hurt the worst by this change and I think private schools would dominate these groups, A, AA, maybe AAA. ---- I have mixed opinions on Bible classes in public schools. We once had them here but they died out for the lack of interest and because graduation requirements allowed less electives. Odessa has Bible classes now that seems to be working ok BUT I can see situations that could really cause problems. While working in public school we once had some early morning devotions on the intercom that I could almost tell for certain which church the person attended and heard some that could be offensive to some other Christian groups much less other religions. ---- Some of the complaints by fundamentalist people are just nuts. I have had students who just wanted to read a Bible or whatever (talk about religion sometimes) when they had mathematics assignments to do and they were just about failing. I guess I was considered anti-religion just because I told the kid to put it up and get to work. Trust me I am not anti-Christian, I attend church semi-regularly.. I have never known of a teacher that objected to a kid having a Bible at school, just what they were were trying to do with it. It is these type of actions that have caused the mess with religion in schools and complaints by the crazies out there. Some of these folks if you give them an inch that want to take a mile. I can't count the times I have had kids claim they didn't do their homework because they went to church the night before and apparently it lasted a long time (revivals etc.). Guess I was anti-religion because I wasn't real sympathetic.. _______________ --- Similiar argument for the Talons who wanted to chalk up the sidewalks... once they start, everygroup on campus including religious and political ones will be writing on them and probably concrete walls as well. I can promise that the Latter Day saints will want classes on the book of Morman, Islamics will want Koran classes, Buddists etc. Not every community has a lot of Orientals but some do and have a lot of groups who are not Christian. Be careful what you ask for you may get it and it will cause even more division and problems.

---Guess he has never heard of "soap on a rope". I would think he could afford a bar or two since he likely is paying nothing for tuition or housing unlike most of us that went to college ----- besides I would think he would prefer a personal supply rather than a "community used bar". eecck! -- that could be awful. PS: some student have no parking fees or fines -- they have no car (I didn't most of the time) --- instead my available funds went to pay tuition, books, housing, etc. which he gets for free. --Hint to assistant Athletic director: "Tell them to furnish their own soap bar " ...