St. Patrick's Day Lower Greenville - Saturday March 19th

NTAlum09 · January 20, 2016

Anybody else going? I will be there with my Mean Green Attire!

http://www.dallasstpatricksparade.com/

greenjoe · January 20, 2016

I contacted the Athletic Department 2 years ago...fresh from a Heart of Dallas Bowl win. I felt this was the perfect time to promote NT as we were the "darlings" of the DFW area. The AD didn't think this was worth the cost, and North Texas was again left out of the parade, except for those in the crowd watching. In their defense, this is an expensive project. $500 to $1,200 to enter plus the expense of a float or other entry (I contacted the company that supplies NT with floats for the homecoming parade). While we could decorate KRAM's of '62 Studebaker, I think a first rate university deserves, requires, a first rate float we could all be proud of.

This idea like many before was shot down by the AD. I have gotten the impression that if they (the AD) don't think of it, then it's not a good idea. And after all, they're the pros. I'm just a fan. It's just that this is close and we could appeal to a market that is ours if we just exercise a tiny bit of "want to."

What says St. Patrick's Day better than Mean Green ??

GO MEAN GREEN

Censored by Laurie · January 20, 2016

1 hour ago, greenjoe said:

I have gotten the impression that if they (the AD) don't think of it, then it's not a good idea.

most people have a hard enough time remembering what fat girl they made out with at The Dubliner on parade day...so maybe a $1000+ investment on such a day just really isn't that shrewd?

NTAlum09 · January 20, 2016

26 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

I contacted the Athletic Department 2 years ago...fresh from a Heart of Dallas Bowl win. I felt this was the perfect time to promote NT as we were the "darlings" of the DFW area. The AD didn't think this was worth the cost, and North Texas was again left out of the parade, except for those in the crowd watching. In their defense, this is an expensive project. $500 to $1,200 to enter plus the expense of a float or other entry (I contacted the company that supplies NT with floats for the homecoming parade). While we could decorate KRAM's of '62 Studebaker, I think a first rate university deserves, requires, a first rate float we could all be proud of.

This idea like many before was shot down by the AD. I have gotten the impression that if they (the AD) don't think of it, then it's not a good idea. And after all, they're the pros. I'm just a fan. It's just that this is close and we could appeal to a market that is ours if we just exercise a tiny bit of "want to."

What says St. Patrick's Day better than Mean Green ??

GO MEAN GREEN

100,000 plus in attendance

Quoner · January 20, 2016

1 hour ago, Censored by Laurie said:

most people have a hard enough time remembering what fat girl they made out with at The Dubliner on parade day...so maybe a $1000+ investment on such a day just really isn't that shrewd?

Most of the other schools seemed to be repped by fan forum floats (TexAgs, TCU, even Arkansas). Maybe it's time we take back the 11 am skies again.

GrayEagle · January 20, 2016

56 minutes ago, NTAlum09 said:

100,000 plus in attendance

The AD operates on a budget and had the largest surplus of any CUSA school for the period ended July 31, 2015 (the last reporting period). They may be weak in a number of areas but creating a "profit" is not one of them. They're actually pretty good at figuring out what they can afford and what they can't to stay within their budget.

Ben Gooding · January 20, 2016

9 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

The AD operates on a budget and had the largest surplus of any CUSA school for the period ended July 31, 2015 (the last reporting period). They may be weak in a number of areas but creating a "profit" is not one of them. They're actually pretty good at figuring out what they can afford and what they can't to stay within their budget.

How hard would it have been to get 25 people to donate 3-4K to push our brand out to the people of Dallas during an even such as this? Everything doesn't have to come out of their assigned budget. If I were AD I would use people just like us to bring things just like this to fruition to expand the University of North Texas brand and create a footprint. Our footprint is currently about 875 acres in Denton, Texas and our AD is 15 years in. It's really absolutely pathetic if some people were to step out of the picture that they think they are painted into and actually turn around and look at the painting itself.

All About UNT · January 20, 2016

I was told that it took too much to coordinate since it was during Spring Break and anyone that was on the float representing the school would have to volunteer.

Don't feed me that bullshit. Walk into the F'in locker room and ask if anyone is around DFW during Spring Break and would want to be on the float.......guarantee you will see some hands raised.

Same with the Dancers...and the Cheerleaders..... and the President.........

Gonna send this to the President right now matter of fact.

KRAM1 · January 20, 2016

21 minutes ago, All About UNT said:

I was told that it took too much to coordinate since it was during Spring Break and anyone that was on the float representing the school would have to volunteer.

Don't feed me that bullshit. Walk into the F'in locker room and ask if anyone is around DFW during Spring Break and would want to be on the float.......guarantee you will see some hands raised.

Same with the Dancers...and the Cheerleaders..... and the President.........

Gonna send this to the President right now matter of fact.

I mentioned this to Dr. Smatresk in the first one on one I had with him shortly after his arrival at UNT. His response at that time was "Dallas"? "We should OWN Denton on St. Patrick's Day"! Would be pretty cool to create a Mean Green St. Patty's Day event in Denton...a big one.

This Greenville Ave parade thing comes up here every year. I looked into this and talked to a lot of folks...both with the parade, float design and builders, logistics folks, GoMeanGreen.Com folks, Athletic Dept. folks, Aluni folks, Student Affairs folks, President, etc. Unless you want to build your own float...money and lots and lots of volunteers....drive it to the parade staging area....drive it in the parade and then back to wherever it was constructed, it is going to cost you a bunch of money and time to have professionals do it. I understand other schools do it, and how cool it would be to have UNT represented, but what I found from my research was that there were lots of folks willing to "let someone else do it and pay for it" and very very few willing to actually commit dollars and time to it. If you do it, it better be a quality, well designed and well constructed float with lots of give away items for the crowd.....thus says the professional float folks I talked with on several occasions...anything less will open you up to social media scorn in the worst of ways. So, lots of time and money...or a lot more money , but a lot less time. The folks doing this would need to make that call. As for me, I am not sure that it is worth the time, effort and money. Folks who want this done have not in the past been willing to step up and fund it, volunteer to work, etc. It seems it is a great idea as long as someone else funds it and/or does all the work.

I have floated the idea to a couple of areas at UNT that could be interested. Neither at this time have the resources or the personnel to devote to such a project. You don't just show up in a pick up truck with Scrappy in the back if you want to be successful in this arena.

Would be great if UNT had a float, but is this the best use of the dollars and manpower needed to pull it off? Iffy at best in my opinion. But, if someone wants to head this and fund it, count on me for a lot of volunteer hours of work.

Edited January 20, 2016 by KRAM1

MeanGreenTexan · January 20, 2016

4 minutes ago, KRAM1 said:

I mentioned this to Dr. Smatresk in the first one on one I had with him shortly after his arrival at UNT. His response at that time was "Dallas"? "We should OWN Denton on St. Patrick's Day"! Would be pretty cool to create a Mean Green St. Patty's Day event in Denton...a big one.

This Greenville Ave parade thing comes up here every year. I looked into this and talked to a lot of folks...both with the parade, float design and builders, logistics folks, GoMeanGreen.Com folks, Athletic Dept. folks, Aluni folks, Student Affairs folks, President, etc. Unless you want to build your own float...money and lots and lots of volunteers....drive it to the parade staging area....drive it in the parade and then back to wherever it was constructed, it is going to cost you a bunch of money and time to have professionals do it. I understand other schools do it, and how cool it would be to have UNT represented, but what I found from my research was that there were lots of folks willing to "let someone else do it and pay for it" and very very few willing to actually commit dollars and time to it. If you do it, it better be a quality, well designed and well constructed float with lots of give away items for the crowd.....thus says the professional float folks I talked with on several occasions...anything less will open you up to social media scorn in the worst of ways. So, lots of time and money...or a lot more money , but a lot less time. The folks doing this would need to make that call. As for me, I am not sure that it is worth the time, effort and money. Folks who want this done have not in the past been willing to step up and fund it, volunteer to work, etc. It seems it is a great idea as long as someone else funds it and/or does all the work.

I have floated the idea to a couple of areas at UNT that could be interested. Neither at this time have the resources or the personnel to devote to such a project. You don't just show up in a pick up truck with Scrappy in the back if you want to be successful in this arena.

Would be great if UNT had a float, but is this the best use of the dollars and manpower needed to pull it off? Iffy at best in my opinion. But, if someone wants to head this and fund it, count on me for a lot of volunteer hours of work.

I venture to say, a GREEN, NAKED, DANCING EAGLE would likely win the best float, no matter what he's being pulled on/behind.

Ben Gooding · January 20, 2016

9 minutes ago, KRAM1 said:

I mentioned this to Dr. Smatresk in the first one on one I had with him shortly after his arrival at UNT. His response at that time was "Dallas"? "We should OWN Denton on St. Patrick's Day"! Would be pretty cool to create a Mean Green St. Patty's Day event in Denton...a big one.

This Greenville Ave parade thing comes up here every year. I looked into this and talked to a lot of folks...both with the parade, float design and builders, logistics folks, GoMeanGreen.Com folks, Athletic Dept. folks, Aluni folks, Student Affairs folks, President, etc. Unless you want to build your own float...money and lots and lots of volunteers....drive it to the parade staging area....drive it in the parade and then back to wherever it was constructed, it is going to cost you a bunch of money and time to have professionals do it. I understand other schools do it, and how cool it would be to have UNT represented, but what I found from my research was that there were lots of folks willing to "let someone else do it and pay for it" and very very few willing to actually commit dollars and time to it. If you do it, it better be a quality, well designed and well constructed float with lots of give away items for the crowd.....thus says the professional float folks I talked with on several occasions...anything less will open you up to social media scorn in the worst of ways. So, lots of time and money...or a lot more money , but a lot less time. The folks doing this would need to make that call. As for me, I am not sure that it is worth the time, effort and money. Folks who want this done have not in the past been willing to step up and fund it, volunteer to work, etc. It seems it is a great idea as long as someone else funds it and/or does all the work.

I have floated the idea to a couple of areas at UNT that could be interested. Neither at this time have the resources or the personnel to devote to such a project. You don't just show up in a pick up truck with Scrappy in the back if you want to be successful in this arena.

Would be great if UNT had a float, but is this the best use of the dollars and manpower needed to pull it off? Iffy at best in my opinion. But, if someone wants to head this and fund it, count on me for a lot of volunteer hours of work.

OK, great. In the meantime, participate in what is already currently happening. Oh, and our attendance numbers speak volumes of Smastrek's vision of taking over Denton. In your next "1 on 1" please tell him thank you for me.

untjim1995 · January 20, 2016

47 minutes ago, GrayEagle said:

The AD operates on a budget and had the largest surplus of any CUSA school for the period ended July 31, 2015 (the last reporting period). They may be weak in a number of areas but creating a "profit" is not one of them. They're actually pretty good at figuring out what they can afford and what they can't to stay within their budget.

Its almost as if the AD here is following a BOR command on staying in budget as his top priority...and make no mistake about it, this is what RV does best--and he does without ever complaining in public. Just a hard worker that always keeps his head down...

This is why we have the #UNTADforlife posts...RV is beloved by the BOR, especially now that he has 17 donors paying for his mistakes and not costing the university any money.

We continue to own the Best Values Rankings...stupid UH brags about being in the top 10 in football and idiotic SMU brags about being in the top 10 in mens hoops--don't they know how much that COSTS??

KRAM1 · January 20, 2016

4 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I venture to say, a GREEN, NAKED, DANCING EAGLE would likely win the best float, no matter what he's being pulled on/behind.

Ha! You could be right...with the amount of beer consumed many of those witnessing the parade might think it was UNT90 in drag..

3 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

OK, great. In the meantime, participate in what is already currently happening. Oh, and our attendance numbers speak volumes of Smastrek's vision of taking over Denton. In your next "1 on 1" please tell him thank you for me.

What is happening? Is there a Denton St. Patty's Day event? If so, I have completely missed it. Hard to take over something that doesn't exist in the first place. One could create it perhaps, but not take it over because "it" doesn't exist.

I will be happy to send him your love.

Ben Gooding · January 20, 2016

38 minutes ago, KRAM1 said:

Ha! You could be right...with the amount of beer consumed many of those witnessing the parade might think it was UNT90 in drag..

What is happening? Is there a Denton St. Patty's Day event? If so, I have completely missed it. Hard to take over something that doesn't exist in the first place. One could create it perhaps, but not take it over because "it" doesn't exist.

I will be happy to send him your love.

Participate in the one that already exists, Mark. Saying, "let's takeover Denton instead" is simply the lazy way to avoid creating a footprint in Dallas. Our Alum are all over Dallas. UNT needs to try catering to them at least once in a blue moon. Seeing a well represented float in a large parade would restore some pride to the disconnected. Especially while watching TCU's and SMU's and probably 3 or 4 other regional universities. Oh, and unfortunately there is no takeover in Denton in any capacity. Attendance virtually across the board is as low as it has been over the last decade. And its not as if UNT was having to roll in metal bleachers to accommodate the overflow over the last decade.

Oh, and I don't have the power to create a parade in Denton. UNT does. Have they, Mark?

greenjoe · January 20, 2016

The University has several billboards in and around Dallas. Very few in Denton. What does that mean ? It means we already "own" Denton, unless one thinks we're competing with TWU or NCTC. Nobody advertises across the street from their own business. Advertising is done to draw potential customers TO your business (school).

I know the homecoming parade is a big deal, but the St. Patrick's Day parade would contact more people. There's just more of them.

I too am weary of the notion that the entire population of UNT evaporates during spring break. They've got to be somewhere. Probably standing under one of those UNT billboards.

GO MEAN GREEN

Aldo · January 20, 2016

41 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

Participate in the one that already exists, Mark. Saying, "let's takeover Denton instead" is simply the lazy way to avoid creating a footprint in Dallas.

8 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

The University has several billboards in and around Dallas. Very few in Denton. What does that mean ? It means we already "own" Denton, unless one thinks we're competing with TWU or NCTC. Nobody advertises across the street from their own business. Advertising is done to draw potential customers TO your business (school).

The TWU banners around the county courthouse say otherwise.

UNT still needs to take over Denton. If you drove on Oak from the square all the way to Bonnie Brae, you would have no idea there was a university two blocks away.

MeanGreenTexan · January 20, 2016

7 minutes ago, Aldo said:

The TWU banners around the county courthouse say otherwise.

UNT still needs to take over Denton. If you drove on Oak from the square all the way to Bonnie Brae, you would have no idea there was a university two blocks away.

This is a problem that only resides in Denton. There are 2 Public Institutions in the City of Denton. It would be uncouth to advertise one more than the other. There are banners around town for UNT as well. I think they swap them out periodically.

Until North Texas somehow finds a way to take over TWU and bring them in under the UNT system, we will have this issue in Denton.

That_Guy_Arlo · January 20, 2016

Yeah to be fair I honestly couldn't remember one float that I saw at the parade. I just remember focusing on having enough beer to last through the entire thing, and fighting to catch beads that I promptly threw away as soon as the event was over.

NTAlum09 · January 20, 2016

26 minutes ago, That_Guy_Arlo said:

Yeah to be fair I honestly couldn't remember one float that I saw at the parade. I just remember focusing on having enough beer to last through the entire thing, and fighting to catch beads that I promptly threw away as soon as the event was over.

Are you sure you were drinking beer or a handle of fireball?

Ben Gooding · January 20, 2016

1 hour ago, Aldo said:

The TWU banners around the county courthouse say otherwise.

UNT still needs to take over Denton. If you drove on Oak from the square all the way to Bonnie Brae, you would have no idea there was a university two blocks away.

This. This right here. We are getting trumped by tdubb with an El Paso State kind of acceptance rate while still holding serve in enrollment.

A real takeover in Denton we are.

UNT90 · January 21, 2016

5 hours ago, GrayEagle said:

The AD operates on a budget and had the largest surplus of any CUSA school for the period ended July 31, 2015 (the last reporting period). They may be weak in a number of areas but creating a "profit" is not one of them. They're actually pretty good at figuring out what they can afford and what they can't to stay within their budget.

Yep. Whore your players twice and don't spend money on marketing and promoting the program seems to be the plan.

genius!!

Edited January 21, 2016 by UNT90

Ben Gooding · January 21, 2016

15 hours ago, UNT90 said:

Yep. Whore your players twice and don't spend money on marketing and promoting the program seems to be the plan.

genius!!

Yeah. And there are people dishing out large amounts of money on this setup. It can't be stupidity, but I don't know what else to call it. The current plan in place will get us nowhere. We will fade away to the deepest depth of G5 football and apparently no one else can see this except for the minute few on the outside looking in.

untjim1995 · January 21, 2016

15 hours ago, UNT90 said:

Yep. Whore your players twice and don't spend money on marketing and promoting the program seems to be the plan.

genius!!

You can't say that plan isn't perfectly effective for what the UNT BOR and administration demand...it all goes back to why RV is perfect to them. He stayed in budget with what they asked when we didn't have the UNT 17. Now that we do, RV will never have us out of budget from the university, meaning he has a job here until he doesn't want one. He does what they demand---stay in budget so we can show what a "value" we are, without so much as one word publicly that is a complaint about the situation. They are never going to rock the boat by firing a guy that does the job perfectly in their eyes. Look at Smatresk--he either follows the BOR's view perfectly on this or he has been ordered to follow the BOR's view on this. And that's why RV is still here to oversee Littrell as the football coach and whoever gets hired to replace Bumford as the mens basketball coach.

gangrene · January 21, 2016

This is such as dumb annual debate. I take my kids to the parade just about every year and I, like others, wear Mean Green attire. I always hear a few "GO MEAN GREEN" yells. It just makes too much sense for UNT to have a float in this parade for it to ever become a reality. I mean everyone knows Notre Dame OWNS that parade, in DALLAS.

And I disagree with the idea that putting Scrappy in the back of a truck (a green truck) with a few cheerleaders throwing out mini UNT footballs or green/white beads wouldn't accomplish our goal of having a successful presence at the parade. In fact, I thinks that's basically what the Notre Dame "float" is - I really can't remember anything other than the fact they were represented.

This isn't the Rose Bowl parade - no one spends thousands of dollars and man hours building out a float every year.