F O U T S F I E L D

[tmjerm]

Babb tweeted this yesterday.  For a positive change of pace, let’s reminisce on our best memories of Fouts.  

-I grew up a Houston Cougar until 05 when I came to Denton freshman year after athletics had ended and playing in ungood rock bands started.  Part of why I chose NT, outside of the music scene, was the 4 straight championships up to that point (I’d be sorely disappointed).  I got to see Cobbs and Thomas’ last yr together, as rough as it was.  
-I enjoyed Woody Wilson leading a W against SMU in 06, that was the first time I experienced true joy and collegiate atmosphere at Fouts 

-Sprinkled in were some ungood but interesting experiences against FIU and Navy

-Casey Fitzgerald’s 95(?) yd quick out for TD...that dude was electric. 

-My now wife and I’s first game together watching Lance go off on K State in a near win to send her off into the sunset.  
 

it was ugly, too far from the action, had a disgusting track and  no amenities but part of me wanted so bad to update and build onto it instead of build Apogee.  I named my dog Fouts.  I miss being on campus.  It wasn’t pretty, but it was ours.  

Edited November 29, 2019 by tmjerm

[DeepGreen]

Ah!  Fourts Field with those fantastic site lines!  #ReallyOldDenton

Edited November 29, 2019 by DeepGreen

[NTSU52]

It was bittersweet to see it go. More sweet than bitter however.

[untjim1995]

That place was a toilet bowl of a football stadium. It was THE image of our football program for too long. 

[peanuts104]

The new stadium is superior in almost every way. Even nostalgia for me.  I, being younger, have more nostalgic memories from Apogee than I do Fouts. I came on campus a year after the last football game at Fouts.  I remember the Hail Mason against UTSA (I will not call it the drive) and that is my favorite memory from Apogee.  In my opinion, we've had a lot more success (this season somewhat disregarded) in Apogee than the previous stadium. Attendance appears to be up as well. I don't miss Fouts. I'm glad we made the change and I think it was for the better.

[tmjerm]

I don’t think anyone would argue Apogee is a better stadium and better for the program.  No harm in looking back at our old confines. 

[Mean Green Matt]

9 hours ago, peanuts104 said:

In my opinion, we've had a lot more success (this season somewhat disregarded) in Apogee than the previous stadium. 

I can’t think of a single on field success metric which would make this an accurate statement. 

[UNT 90 Grad]

39 minutes ago, Mean Green Matt said:

I can’t think of a single on field success metric which would make this an accurate statement. 

His only memories of Fouts are of a parking lot, so apparently that’s what he’s measuring against. 

[Graddean]

I don’t have any bad memories of Fouts even with the losses.  I saw my beloved Eagles and then Mean Green play.  I got to see among others Art Perkins, Bobby Smith, Joe Greene, Cedric Hardiman, and etc.  I saw Odus Mitchell and the best band . I don’t care about it’s shortcomings, I will never say anything bad about Fouts.  I forgot.  It was also the site of my master’s and doctoral graduations.

[Mean Green Matt]

14 minutes ago, Graddean said:

It was also the site of my master’s and doctoral graduations.

Humble brag. 😀

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

Oh I had some good memories at Fouts. One of the best was the Baylor win. I wasn't there until the 2000s, but every gameday was always somewhat fun. 

Apogee is way better though, but that's obvious 

[Huff]

I saw a lot of games there as a student and later as an alum so it is hard to pick just one but the 2002 game with New Mexico State might top my list.  It was two evenly matched teams.The winner won the conference championship and a trip to the New Orleans Bowl.  The loser turned in their equipment and went home.  The crowd was great.  There was lots of excitement.....and the green guys won.  It was one heck of a night.

[Mean Green Matt]

Fouts is a major part of our history. It’s where Joe Greene played. It’s where Abner Haynes and Leon King broke the color barrier for major college football in the south. Was the site of our only win over a ranked team. A bunch of conference championships. And most importantly it was ours. Yes, the physical stadium was awful, but, at the risk of sounding corny, there was much more to Fouts than the physical structure. I will always remember it fondly. 

[NT93]

My best memories are visiting my older brother and going to Fouts and playing flag football.  Coming from a small town, playing on AstroTurf was a big deal.

[UNTexas]

My memories are totally different than most. I hated and loved the place. It needed to go 30 years ago but I had fun times there.

- Endless hours in meeting and film underneath the stadium. It smelled bad.

- The cricket invasion of 96. So gross. Denton was covered but Fouts took the brunt of it.

- Endless practices on the worst turf ever.

- Watching girls soccer practices. Loved that.

- Sprints. But specifically being punished for oversleeping a Friday Spring 5 am workout after a night out on Fry Street. They made me roll on my side then sprint. We were all dizzy and falling down. It was awful but must have been funny as hell to watch.

- Cleaning the stadium the day after the game after the great towel heist. I promise I didn't take one but almost everyone did. Still makes me laugh but soooooo embarrassing. 

- The terrible feeling of playing my last game there but it was a great win against Utah State.

- Beating Oregon State. Great win and parties afterwards. 

- Spring game 1995 in the rain. It was cold and raining. We went straight the the Fry Street Fair afterwards. Great day.

- My dad watching me play there before he passed away. 

- Freezing Thanksgiving practice before we flew up to Boise State where we really froze and unfortunately lost the playoff game.

I could keep going. Apogee is awesome and Fouts needed to go a long time ago. I still love seeing it on TV whenever Neccessary Roughness is on.

Totally unrelated but I miss the Texas Pickup. Loved walking over there to eat.

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by UNTexas

[Graddean]

4 hours ago, Mean Green Matt said:

Humble brag. 😀

It was so long ago, I had almost forgotten; however, degrees from North Texas are always worth bragging about humbly or otherwise.

[GreenFlag]

I had a UNT police officer tell me they would often catch students getting amorous at Fouts in the evening. They called them FFFs or Triple Fs. That stood for Fouts Field F&€¥ers. 

[Graddean]

4 minutes ago, GreenFlag said:

I had a UNT police officer tell me they would often catch students getting amorous at Fouts in the evening. They called them FFFs or Triple Fs. That stood for Fouts Field F&€¥ers. 

Back in the Matthews days before coed dorms and such, Fouts was probably the go to place.  It was patrolled by campus security, but they left couples alone.  Matthews supposedly said he would rather couples go parking there where it could be protected rather than out on some unprotected country road.

[emmitt01]

I grew up in Denton and would sneak into Fouts with friends to play football on some weekends.  Saw high school football games there.  
 

Sat in a monsoon against Nevada as a student.  Fired Boomer, rang the bell, and ran the flags as a Talon there.  Watched football games as a student with my now wife there.  
 

Watched one of the best football games (at any level) that I’ve ever seen there in 2002 when we played NMSU for the Belt title...and celebrated on the field multiple times as we clenched four of the very few conference titles in our history.  
 

Watched us dismantle Baylor there...and Woody Wilson embarrass SMUt there.  
 

Watched 7 overtimes, with the 50 people still in attendance at the end, between two highly inept teams there...and literally ran end zone to end zone with @FirefightnRick to provide the only crowd noise.  
 

Froze my butt off in the freezing rain with @Zeke as we watched us play WKU there.  
 

Fouts WAS a dump.  It DID have horrible sight lines.  And it DID require a generator just to keep the lights on.   But Fouts was also the home of my Mean Green.  It was the place I came to be with the people I consider my second family.  
 

I’ll always have a positive view of the place.  

[tmjerm]

@emmitt01 knows what’s up!  The asphalt “concourse” was also lovely.  Just every bit of old school.  So weird to miss it but I do.  

[FirefightnRick]

 

 

Rick

[GrandGreen]

Fouts was fine with me.  I go to a game to see football played.  Sitting on metal, concrete or fancy seats never made much difference to me.  The track around the field was not good, but almost all stadiums as old as Fouts had them. 

I never had as bad as experience at Fouts has sitting in the visitors' sections at UT, OU, A&M or LSU.  Premium prices for horrible seats. 

Fouts had to go, for recruiting if nothing else.  Apogee is a great stadium, but it is the game that counts. 

I have seen hundreds of games at Fouts, can't say I enjoyed all of them; but lots of memories. 

[97and03]

I have lots of fuzzy memories there...

[Eagle71]

Fouts Field = Good Times!

[UNTexas]

3 hours ago, Eagle71 said:

Fouts Field = Good Times!

That's a hell of a good picture!!!