What I want to see on September 3...

Cerebus · August 22, 2016

I want a score that ends up like this.

SMU: N

North Texas: N + Some Positive Integer

oldguystudent · August 22, 2016

9 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

North Texas: N + Some Positive Integer

Decimal lives matter!

Cerebus · August 22, 2016

Just now, oldguystudent said:

Decimal lives matter!

When it comes to CFB, only in Vegas.

oldguystudent · August 22, 2016

7 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

When it comes to CFB, only in Vegas.

Well let's not get fractionalized here, buddy.

Cerebus · August 22, 2016

Just now, oldguystudent said:

Well let's not get fractionalized here, buddy.

He who would make a pun would pick a pocket.

SilverEagle · August 22, 2016

18 hours ago, 4MYMGE said:

What I want to see on Sept. 3??? Is a full stadium. As a parent of a current player, I would do anything to help this team RISE. Last year was hard for everyone. My constant prayer, during this off-season, has been, "Dear Lord, if my son was on what people say was 'one of the worst teams in this school's history', please let him be part of the team that turns this thing around". Maybe last year had to be so hard so that we could have everything that we have now. I am thankful for the big name coaches that decided to come to North Texas with the confidence to right this ship. I am thankful for the new players that have come to this University to help in this quest, but I am also thankful for the players that toughed it out and stayed here and are buying into our New Beginning.

My favorite scene from the movie 'We Are Marshall', is the morning of the first game of their rebuilding year. Their new coach is in his home just wondering if anyone is going to show up at the game on that day. He goes outside to retrieve the morning paper and what does he see??? People everywhere...headed to the stadium...excited because it is Game Day! This is what I would love to see on Sept. 3rd. And why not??? North Texas has a venue that is both fun and affordable. Sure--you can stay at home and "see how this team does" before you invest any time or effort, but I am asking everyone to come out and support these players and these coaches. Invite your friends and family to show up. Being part of the game is more fun than just watching the game, or reading about it. Get Fired Up Mean Green Nation! Let's Go MEAN GREEN! It's almost GAME DAY!!!

This! So much this.

And this.....

......OR, one day something similar to this..........

Aldo · August 22, 2016

Would like to see some TD celebrations

http://i.giphy.com/uzMQ6XNj6Nr9K.gif

Withers940 · August 22, 2016

I want to see 25,000 people and a UNT Win!!

emmitt01 · August 22, 2016

6 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

This! So much this.

And this.....

......OR, one day something similar to this..........

I don't see how ANYONE could downvote your post. The Del Conte video expresses everything that I, you, and many others have been saying for years!!

It is the whole EXPERIENCE that brings people back time and again. The old adage on this board of "just win and everything will be ok" is nothing more than the next in a line of excuses concerning why we don't draw fans. First it was "wait til' we leave Fouts". Then it was "wait til' we get out of the Belt and play Texas teams". Now it's "just win". Wrong! Fix the damn culture!!

Make a DAY at Apogee (because it's about the whole day) an event. From the moment someone picks up a phone to order tickets, to the second they try to park, to the way their tailgate experience is, to the band and team's entrances onto the field...all of it matters!! My eight year old doesn't get bummed when we lose...but she hates it when she doesn't have fun and doesn't see Scrappy. I have longtime friends (who happen to be female, though I know many women care about on field performance) who could care less about winning or losing...they want to drink beer, talk to friends and be entertained.

I pray that Wren Baker understands this. If he doesn't we will have these same discussions when his successor arrives.

untjim1995 · August 22, 2016

14 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I don't see how ANYONE could downvote your post. The Del Conte video expresses everything that I, you, and many others have been saying for years!!

It is the whole EXPERIENCE that brings people back time and again. The old adage on this board of "just win and everything will be ok" is nothing more than the next in a line of excuses concerning why we don't draw fans. First it was "wait til' we leave Fouts". Then it was "wait til' we get out of the Belt and play Texas teams". Now it's "just win". Wrong! Fix the damn culture!!

Make a DAY at Apogee (because it's about the whole day) an event. From the moment someone picks up a phone to order tickets, to the second they try to park, to the way their tailgate experience is, to the band and team's entrances onto the field...all of it matters!! My eight year old doesn't get bummed when we lose...but she hates it when she doesn't have fun and doesn't see Scrappy. I have longtime friends (who happen to be female, though I know many women care about on field performance) who could care less about winning or losing...they want to drink beer, talk to friends and be entertained.

I pray that Wren Baker understands this. If he doesn't we will have these same discussions when his successor arrives.

The only way to get the kind of experience TCU sells at AGC, though, is clear...you have to win to get attention of your current students and local alumni/fans. TCU would still be drawing flies to AGC if it weren't for the winning seasons that Franchione started having in FW in the late 90s...and what Patterson has built over there is beyond any Frog's/FW citizen's dreams. They have it made now, since they are in the Big XII and get great support because they are really good and they play teams that people want to see. They were averaging less than 20k per game under Pat Sullivan, while playing in the WAC. Then, under Fran, they started averaging over 25k per game in the WAC and CUSA. When Patterson go things really rolling there, the crowds were 30-35k for MWC games. Today, they get 40k+ for Big XII games.

SilverEagle · August 22, 2016

17 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I don't see how ANYONE could downvote your post. The Del Conte video expresses everything that I, you, and many others have been saying for years!!

It is the whole EXPERIENCE that brings people back time and again. The old adage on this board of "just win and everything will be ok" is nothing more than the next in a line of excuses concerning why we don't draw fans. First it was "wait til' we leave Fouts". Then it was "wait til' we get out of the Belt and play Texas teams". Now it's "just win". Wrong! Fix the damn culture!!

Make a DAY at Apogee (because it's about the whole day) an event. From the moment someone picks up a phone to order tickets, to the second they try to park, to the way their tailgate experience is, to the band and team's entrances onto the field...all of it matters!! My eight year old doesn't get bummed when we lose...but she hates it when she doesn't have fun and doesn't see Scrappy. I have longtime friends (who happen to be female, though I know many women care about on field performance) who could care less about winning or losing...they want to drink beer, talk to friends and be entertained.

I pray that Wren Baker understands this. If he doesn't we will have these same discussions when his successor arrives.

Sooooo this!

SilverEagle · August 22, 2016

33 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

The only way to get the kind of experience TCU sells at AGC, though, is clear...you have to win to get attention of your current students and local alumni/fans. TCU would still be drawing flies to AGC if it weren't for the winning seasons that Franchione started having in FW in the late 90s...and what Patterson has built over there is beyond any Frog's/FW citizen's dreams. They have it made now, since they are in the Big XII and get great support because they are really good and they play teams that people want to see. They were averaging less than 20k per game under Pat Sullivan, while playing in the WAC. Then, under Fran, they started averaging over 25k per game in the WAC and CUSA. When Patterson go things really rolling there, the crowds were 30-35k for MWC games. Today, they get 40k+ for Big XII games.

If winning was the main thing, then we should have seen a significant bump in attendance during/after the four straight NO bowl trips and our HOD bowl win. But actually our attendance didn't spike up noticeably after the NO bowl run and it went down the season after the HOD bowl win.

Why does "fix the culture" not compute with most people on this board?

Edited August 22, 2016 by SilverEagle

untjim1995 · August 22, 2016

1 minute ago, SilverEagle said:

If winning was the main thing, then we should have seen a significant bump in attendance during/after the four straight NO bowl trips and our HOD bowl win. But actually our attendance didn't spike up noticeably after the NO bowl run and it went down the season after the HOA.

Why does "fix the culture" not compute with most people on this board?

No, it does--at least with me. But the culture won't change if you don't win consistently. We saw very little jump in attendance in the early 00's because they basically were running roughshod over a collection of teams in the SBC that nobody had heard of or just flat out didn't care about or respect. Combine that with Fouts being a dump and Dickeyball boring most people to sleep, it wasn't ever going to get any better than that 15k average. And as we saw, that was the ceiling, as the losing crept back in and we began seeing attendance drop under Dickey in those last two years.

To me, the fix the culture thing is waaaaayyyy above the AD, though. Granted, the last AD couldn't fix a leaky pipe or a broken clock, but the AD has to focus on leading the department--the stuff like making UNT football matter to people has to come from two sources--the BOR/administration telling everyone that UNT sports matter and will be priority one for connecting with alumni because of the revenue it brings (sorry, not music or arts), and the student body, which has shown it cares more today about sports here than ever before. If we win, the students will come. If we don't, they won't. But its the BOR/administration that has to walk the walk here--that would do more to fix the culture towards athletics than anything else, because it will pervade thru the faculty and into the city. Right now, Denton citizens and the majority of UNT faculty LOATHE our football team--its what the students hear over and over. But the ones who look past this always come out to watch out first game or two--its after this that our losing usually torpedoes any momentum and they go back to hearing what a joke we are in their classes, dorms, and around town.

If you get the leadership to go against the status quo in Denton, you've got the chance to make UNT Football something it has never been here. But, just as in politics, until the status quo of money from corporations and unions affects the policies of the day, nothing will change. Its up to the leadership to make it abundnatly clear thru words and actions that UNT Revenue Sports are the true #1 window to the university going forward.

Ben Gooding · August 22, 2016

24 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

If winning was the main thing, then we should have seen a significant bump in attendance during/after the four straight NO bowl trips and our HOD bowl win. But actually our attendance didn't spike up noticeably after the NO bowl run and it went down the season after the HOD bowl win.

Why does "fix the culture" not compute with most people on this board?

I do believe that Emmit is right, the culture needs serious attention. However, the HOD Bowl season holds the school record for average attendance at North Texas (at I believe 21.8K; which is nothing to really hang your at on for a "record"). With that said, the 2014 season following our HOD bowl season was a perfect recipe for bad attendance. Attendance dropped for the Thursday night game and for the season home finale (after getting slayed on the road all year). But we were still averaging around 19.2K. In 2015 was absolute dog shit in attendance as it should have been. The coaches quit, the team quit, and then the fans quit. The opening game at SMUg showed that fans were in it for the season. It just didn't materialize and in fact crumbled. I expect 2014 type attendance numbers for this season. There may even be a spike as compared to 2014, because I don't think there will be a Thursday evening game due to the horrible TV negotiations done by our great conference. Nevertheless, the culture does need to change. Winning is a big part of changing that culture. No one wants to be associated with a loser. The game day atmosphere could become 2nd to none, but if we are still losing more than we are winning the Apogee experience will stay closer to the status quo than not. Here's to hoping 2015 becomes a sore outlier.

UNT90 · August 22, 2016

Recovering from last year will take time. I think some of you are going to be shocked by SMU attendance, especially on the alumni side of the stadium.

Ryan Munthe · August 22, 2016

Once again, it's not the student culture. They show up when we're winning like any student fanbase.

We have NO casual fans. Dentonites don't go to UNT games just because it's their local team, they just don't care about UNT. That needs fixing.

TreeFiddy · August 23, 2016

Its all of it. Traditions, atmosphere, winning, game day experience, etc...

There is no single ingredient. What we need is a chef.

Ben Gooding · August 23, 2016

32 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Recovering from last year will take time. I think some of you are going to be shocked by SMU attendance, especially on the alumni side of the stadium.

Sure it will take time. With that said, attendance for smug game will be the 3rd most attended game in Apogee history behind stadium opener vs UH, 2013 HC vs UTEP. Given the 6PM kickoff, it being season and home opener, having a new head coach witg a fun overall philosophy, new AD, it's against SMUg, SMUg thinks they are going to be better so more of them will show, etc. etc. There will be 25k+, book it.

UNT90 · August 23, 2016

1 minute ago, Ben Gooding said:

Sure it will take time. With that said, attendance for smug game will be the 3rd most attended game in Apogee history behind stadium opener vs UH, 2013 HC vs UTEP. Given the 6PM kickoff, it being season and home opener, having a new head coach witg a fun overall philosophy, new AD, it's against SMUg, SMUg thinks they are going to be better so more of them will show, etc. etc. There will be 25k+, book it.

We shall see...

greenminer · August 23, 2016

Any one have any idea how the casual fan/Dentonite perceives the changes going on? Is it possible that only a passionate minority know about Wren and Littrell?

UNT90 · August 23, 2016

4 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Any one have any idea how the casual fan/Dentonite perceives the changes going on? Is it possible that only a passionate minority know about Wren and Littrell?

It's not only possible, it's a certainty. Casual fans/Dentonites don't even know the name of Wren Baker, or Ric Villarreal, for that matter.

Army of Dad · August 23, 2016

17 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Any one have any idea how the casual fan/Dentonite perceives the changes going on? Is it possible that only a passionate minority know about Wren and Littrell?

11 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

It's not only possible, it's a certainty. Casual fans/Dentonites don't even know the name of Wren Baker, or Ric Villarreal, for that matter.

I know about it...oh, yeah not that casual of a local...

FirefightnRick · August 23, 2016

Silver and Emmitt are spot on.

A Culture Change is the key.

Rick

DeepGreen · August 23, 2016

1 winning season in 10 - 15 years will not get the attention of anyone. Certainly not the Dentonites. To me, you change the culture by winning first, then the game day atmosphere and pageantry second.

UNT90 · August 23, 2016

8 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

1 winning season in 10 - 15 years will not get the attention of anyone. Certainly not the Dentonites. To me, you change the culture by winning first, then the game day atmosphere and pageantry second.

Why does there have to be a first and second? Coaches and players are responsible for winning. The AD is responsible for game day. Both can be changed simultaneously.

It is always surprising to me when fans think things can only be changed one at a time. Hopefully, that was the old way of doing things.

It's a new day. I wish fans would embrace it and EXPECT MORE.