Dear Rick Villarreal and Future New Athletic Director

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · May 26, 2016

RV, thank you for leaving UNT without scandal, such as is happening at Baylor. Thank you for the high academic standard for our athletes. Thank you for not cutting corners simply to be more competitive. Thank you for hiring coaches and staff who haven't cut corners in order to be more competitive.

New Athletic Director, please look at what is happening at Baylor and pledge to do the opposite of what they did to foster the scandal they are now reaping. Take the solid base Rick Villarreal has left and grow it the right way. What goes on behind the scenes is every bit as important as what happens on the field; some would say, even moreso.

To all...even when you have a salad for lunch, the complimentary bag of Funyuns is no dietary sin.

MeanGreenTexan · May 26, 2016

3 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

RV, thank you for leaving UNT without scandal, such as is happening at Baylor. Thank you for the high academic standard for our athletes. Thank you for not cutting corners simply to be more competitive. Thank you for hiring coaches and staff who haven't cut corners in order to be more competitive.

New Athletic Director, please look at what is happening at Baylor and pledge to do the opposite of what they did to foster the scandal they are now reaping. Take the solid base Rick Villarreal has left and grow it the right way. What goes on behind the scenes is every bit as important as what happens on the field; some would say, even moreso.

To all...even when you have a salad for lunch, the complimentary bag of Funyuns is no dietary sin.

Albeit very small, I agree. There are people out there who can accomplish more, while staying clean.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · May 26, 2016

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Albeit very small, I agree. There are people out there who can accomplish more, while staying clean.

If I were still sitting at Fouts Field in the fall, I'd agree 100% with you. As it is, I agree 89%. Good enough. It really is a great stadium. It will be loud and unfriendly if we can ever get teams competitive enough to fill it.

MeanGreenTexan · May 26, 2016

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

If I were still sitting at Fouts Field in the fall, I'd agree 100% with you. As it is, I agree 89%. Good enough. It really is a great stadium. It will be loud and unfriendly if we can ever get teams competitive enough to fill it.

I took your "foundation" as a core of fans... pretty small.

You were speaking of his facilities. The facilities are fantastic... so far. Still need to get baseball going, T&F stadium, and a center court @ Warranch.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · May 26, 2016

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I took your "foundation" as a core of fans... pretty small.

You were speaking of his facilities. The facilities are fantastic... so far. Still need to get baseball going, T&F stadium, and a center court @ Warranch.

Ah, yes. You are 100% right about the fans.

Although, I have a theory that I'd like to posit right here:

THEORY POSITED:
The new generation of UNT grads will be more sports loyal because of the newer, better atmosphere of Apogee. I theorize that between the decision to go I-AA and the building of Apogee, many generations of UNT grads had nothing but bad/lower than good(?) experiences with sports at UNT.

The fortunate were the older generations, the NTSU faction, who really saw good, competitive Eagle athletics when facilities weren't much of an issue. Three decades worth of students after them, though, really were treated to bad facilities, hit and miss competitiveness, and a pretty apathetic view of the whole thing by the school.

I'd say that the new, recent, and future grads have been blessed with better tailgating areas and a better place to watch the games. And, they have responded to the degree that the C-USA made a rule about student sections during football games.

Winning will obviously augment that. However, many of us were at North Texas during three decades between I-AA and Apogee, so we are naturally skeptical. Even when good things have been done, we sometimes downplay them. We've been conditioned, like beaten dogs, to distrust. This is not a problem so much for those in school now, I believe.

MeanGreenTexan · May 26, 2016

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Ah, yes. You are 100% right about the fans.

Although, I have a theory that I'd like to posit right here:

THEORY POSITED:
The new generation of UNT grads will be more sports loyal because of the newer, better atmosphere of Apogee. I theorize that between the decision to go I-AA and the building of Apogee, many generations of UNT grads had nothing but bad/lower than good(?) experiences with sports at UNT.

The fortunate were the older generations, the NTSU faction, who really saw good, competitive Eagle athletics when facilities weren't much of an issue. Three decades worth of students after them, though, really were treated to bad facilities, hit and miss competitiveness, and a pretty apathetic view of the whole thing by the school.

I'd say that the new, recent, and future grads have been blessed with better tailgating areas and a better place to watch the games. And, they have responded to the degree that the C-USA made a rule about student sections during football games.

Winning will obviously augment that. However, many of us were at North Texas during three decades between I-AA and Apogee, so we are naturally skeptical. Even when good things have been done, we sometimes downplay them. We've been conditioned, like beaten dogs, to distrust. This is not a problem so much for those in school now, I believe.

Agree with said theory.
The new AD is stepping into a nice situation if he can overcome the initial obstacles and shatter the status quo that has driven away or upset many fans.

We're all looking for a new golden age of UNT. Athletics & Academics. Academics is moving the right direction (as evidenced with the Carnegie classification). Athletics has been crawling in the right direction as well, but it's time to step it up a notch.

GrandGreen · May 26, 2016

I agree although I have never been an RV fan, that he needs recognition for a program that has been free of major scandal. I actually give Dodge and Mac primary credit for raising the academic standards of the program. Frankly, in the Dickey/RV area it was way below were it should have been.

Edited May 27, 2016 by GrandGreen

UNT90 · May 26, 2016

We can be a competitive in CUSA, AAC, or MWC while still running a clean program. It's what 98% of G5s do.

So, congrats for being like almost everyone else?

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · May 26, 2016

22 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

We can be a competitive in CUSA, AAC, or MWC while still running a clean program. It's what 98% of G5s do.

So, congrats for being like almost everyone else?

Easy to take being clean for granted. It takes work behind the scenes. It's okay to go ahead and acknowledge that.

Harry · May 26, 2016

1 hour ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Easy to take being clean for granted. It takes work behind the scenes. It's okay to go ahead and acknowledge that.

Yes you are correct, it does mean something -- but first you need program relevancy for the "clean program" tag to have any real validity.

"We never broke the rules but we sucked" doesn't work well in this day of college athletics.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · May 26, 2016

8 minutes ago, Harry said:

Yes you are correct, it does mean something -- but first you need program relevancy for the "clean program" tag to have any real validity.

"We never broke the rules but we sucked" doesn't work well in this day of college athletics.

I don't know. How well would it go over if we sucked and were having a Baylor-like scandal? Wouldn't people outside the realm of UNT say, "Wow! There's a school that can't do anything right on or off the field."

Sometimes, the old adage is true: "No news is good news." That is surely the case in college athletics.

Harry · May 26, 2016

7 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

I don't know. How well would it go over if we sucked and were having a Baylor-like scandal? Wouldn't people outside the realm of UNT say, "Wow! There's a school that can't do anything right on or off the field."

Sometimes, the old adage is true: "No news is good news." That is surely the case in college athletics.

I may try your theory out. Next time when I am begging friends and neighbors to attend a UNT game on my dime and get that uncomfortable pregnant pause where their wheels are turning and they are trying to say no in a gracious way, I might try "hey you know we run a really clean program up there. No NCAA violations EVER!" as my close and see what happens. Sort of like dropping a pen when you are trying to get someone to sign a contract.

Eagle-96 · May 26, 2016

7 minutes ago, Harry said:

I may try your theory out. Next time when I am begging friends and neighbors to attend a UNT game on my dime and get that uncomfortable pregnant pause where their wheels are turning and they are trying to say no in a gracious way, I might try "hey you know we run a really clean program up there. No NCAA violations EVER!" as my close and see what happens. Sort of like dropping a pen when you are trying to get someone to sign a contract.

untjim1995 · May 26, 2016

6 minutes ago, Harry said:

I may try your theory out. Next time when I am begging friends and neighbors to attend a UNT game on my dime and get that uncomfortable pregnant pause where their wheels are turning and they are trying to say no in a gracious way, I might try "hey you know we run a really clean program up there. No NCAA violations EVER!" as my close and see what happens. Sort of like dropping a pen when you are trying to get someone to sign a contract.

I figured names like Texas Southern, Idaho, Nicholls State, Portland State, and Bethune Cookman would help bring out the fans since I run a very clean program...//RV

Wag Tag · May 26, 2016

22 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

I don't know. How well would it go over if we sucked and were having a Baylor-like scandal? Wouldn't people outside the realm of UNT say, "Wow! There's a school that can't do anything right on or off the field."

Sometimes, the old adage is true: "No news is good news." That is surely the case in college athletics.

It has really become 0 tolerance for a program to survive. Guilty or not kick them off the team. You have HS in Texas kicking kids off teams because there is alcohol in the background of their Facebook post. It is a privilege to play for a University and the scholly can be taken away really for ANY reason. Just do it!!

Cerebus · May 26, 2016

If you think the "no sanctions ever" line might make us sound too boring, you can always add that we had a player once beat an ATM machine to death. That story is always a real crowd pleaser.

ETA: As a bonus, if they happen to know how well built ATMs actually are, it also just flat out impressive.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Cerebus

MeanGreenTexan · May 26, 2016

20 minutes ago, Harry said:

I may try your theory out. Next time when I am begging friends and neighbors to attend a UNT game on my dime and get that uncomfortable pregnant pause where their wheels are turning and they are trying to say no in a gracious way, I might try "hey you know we run a really clean program up there. No NCAA violations EVER!" as my close and see what happens. Sort of like dropping a pen when you are trying to get someone to sign a contract.

Be sure to also let them know that Coach Hedlund also has a great thing going on the pitch!

Again, it's not an either/or scenario. Plenty of winning G5 programs out there running cleanly. You just have to have an AD that knows what he's doing.
But if you make me choose either/or, it's gotta be the clean loser. Maybe I'm in the minority.

FirefightnRick · May 26, 2016

All that matters now is kick smu's ass!

Rick

DeepGreen · May 26, 2016

58 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

If you think the "no sanctions ever" line might make us sound too boring, you can always add that we had a player once beat an ATM machine to death. That story is always a real crowd pleaser.

ETA: As a bonus, if they happen to know how well built ATMs actually are, it also just flat out impressive.

And who could forget "towelgate" in Logan, Utah.

TreeFiddy · May 26, 2016

1 minute ago, DeepGreen said:

And who could forget "towelgate" in Logan, Utah.

Didn't we hit a HIGH point during the TD era?

UNT90 · May 26, 2016

1 hour ago, Harry said:

I may try your theory out. Next time when I am begging friends and neighbors to attend a UNT game on my dime and get that uncomfortable pregnant pause where their wheels are turning and they are trying to say no in a gracious way, I might try "hey you know we run a really clean program up there. No NCAA violations EVER!" as my close and see what happens. Sort of like dropping a pen when you are trying to get someone to sign a contract.

Yep. If what happened at Baylor happened at UNT, it wouldn't make it past the Denton Record Chronicle. There would be no "Outside The Lines" documentary. Because no one outside Denton would care.

Edited May 26, 2016 by UNT90

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · May 26, 2016

1 hour ago, Harry said:

I may try your theory out. Next time when I am begging friends and neighbors to attend a UNT game on my dime and get that uncomfortable pregnant pause where their wheels are turning and they are trying to say no in a gracious way, I might try "hey you know we run a really clean program up there. No NCAA violations EVER!" as my close and see what happens. Sort of like dropping a pen when you are trying to get someone to sign a contract.

All good and well, except that the context of the conversation MGTexan and I were having was current students and graduates and the experiences they gained at Apogee versus those we had at Fouts. The theory being that newer graduates are more likely to become lifelong fans and return than those between the I-AA and Apogee years.

But, to play along, as difficult a time as you find successfully inviting non-UNT friends and neighbors to UNT games because we are clean, what makes you think a public, national scandal would help bring them in?

I think what I see here is the mindset I spoke about in the theory - those weaned and maturing during the time between I-AA and Apogee are more cynical, more skeptical about any successes of the athletic department.

And, so, even mentioning that we do well academically and don't have any scandals causes those folks to reflexively still find reasons to complain.

I'm sure that someone with a degree in psychology know the term for such a mindset. I just referred to it as being like beaten dogs. No good can be trusted or believed even while it is occurring or has occurred.

emmitt01 · May 27, 2016

I want to live in the world where RV still gets a pat on the back for doing the absolute, unequivocal, bare minimum.

Next time my wife asks me to clean the living room I'll shoot her a snappy "Hey, I don't beat you! Now make me a sandwich for my greatness woman"

If my SWAT team accidentally makes entry into the wrong residence I'll tell my Chief "What's the big deal sir? We didn't shoot ANYBODY"

I could get used to these YMCA "just show that you're trying" standards.

Mo Green · May 27, 2016

Black- do we need as much black in our uniforms since out sports might not be on death watch with new coaches and new AD? I hope we get away from that color as much as we do use it! I hope the new AD makes us proud of Green again.