Perspective

gangrene · October 4, 2020

I’m sure this won’t be a popular post, but I just wanted to provide a little perspective. The world is in the middle of the worst health crisis in our lifetime. Many businesses have gone under and many people have lost their jobs. Our kids that chose in person learning must wear face masks all day long. Many members of our government are now being hospitalized due to the virus. We can’t do routine shopping without wearing face masks. Even then, we still risk exposure to a virus that could be life-threatening. We were completely without live sports for almost 5 months. Some conferences still haven’t returned to the fields.

Life as we knew it in 2019 is gone.

As I sat in Apogee, watching HBU destroy our secondary, I was only mildly upset. It was eerie to watch a game in person....with no band, no cannon (my kids favorite part of going to a game) and a sporadically populated stadium. Yes, it was very strange but, no, I wasn’t upset. Quite the opposite. I was elated that my family and I were able to experience some sense of normalcy in a world that has changed beyond my wildest imaginations. Elated that, for a few hours, I could almost completely forget about what was happening in the world today.

The following week I learned that a client I’d worked with for the last 20 years had contracted Covid and was hospitalized. I was also told a player on my kid’s basketball team had tested positive and the entire team would need to be quarantined for 2 weeks. We’ve had to forfeit 3 games as a result.

Back to UNT football...do we have some issues? Of course we do. We’re trying to replace a four-year starter at QB, we have some serious concerns on defense and everyone...coaches, players and fans are trying to deal with issues far more important than UNT football right now.

So, let’s cheer for our beloved Mean Green, let’s provide constructive criticism and let’s be invested in the team, but let’s not forget how fortunate we are to be able to have football this season. It’s still very possible it could all come to a screeching halt before we get to bowl season but, regardless, it will forever be marked with an asterisk due to Covid-19.

UNTLifer · October 4, 2020

Well stated.

UNT 90 Grad · October 4, 2020

Speaking of the cannon (Boomer), why was it back to being gone again? Contact tracing issue within the Talons? It sounded great when we got to hear it against SMUt.

Scrappy76 · October 4, 2020

It's refreshing to read a level headed response to this season. We were going to have issues this year regardless with replacing Fine and most of the coaching staff. Add covid on top of that and I'm just happy that we are able to play games at all. Houston still hasn't been able to play a game, that could have been us. As long as our young guys show improvement throughout this season we are in an alight position. Now if this continues into next season some sweeping changes need to be made.

wardly · October 4, 2020

3 hours ago, gangrene said:

I’m sure this won’t be a popular post, but I just wanted to provide a little perspective. The world is in the middle of the worst health crisis in our lifetime. Many businesses have gone under and many people have lost their jobs. Our kids that chose in person learning must wear face masks all day long. Many members of our government are now being hospitalized due to the virus. We can’t do routine shopping without wearing face masks. Even then, we still risk exposure to a virus that could be life-threatening. We were completely without live sports for almost 5 months. Some conferences still haven’t returned to the fields.

Life as we knew it in 2019 is gone.

As I sat in Apogee, watching HBU destroy our secondary, I was only mildly upset. It was eerie to watch a game in person....with no band, no cannon (my kids favorite part of going to a game) and a sporadically populated stadium. Yes, it was very strange but, no, I wasn’t upset. Quite the opposite. I was elated that my family and I were able to experience some sense of normalcy in a world that has changed beyond my wildest imaginations. Elated that, for a few hours, I could almost completely forget about what was happening in the world today.

The following week I learned that a client I’d worked with for the last 20 years had contracted Covid and was hospitalized. I was also told a player on my kid’s basketball team had tested positive and the entire team would need to be quarantined for 2 weeks. We’ve had to forfeit 3 games as a result.

Back to UNT football...do we have some issues? Of course we do. We’re trying to replace a four-year starter at QB, we have some serious concerns on defense and everyone...coaches, players and fans are trying to deal with issues far more important than UNT football right now.

So, let’s cheer for our beloved Mean Green, let’s provide constructive criticism and let’s be invested in the team, but let’s not forget how fortunate we are to be able to have football this season. It’s still very possible it could all come to a screeching halt before we get to bowl season but, regardless, it will forever be marked with an asterisk due to Covid-19.

Everyone has the same issues with the virus, some a lot worse than UNT. I saw So, Miss. get the snot kicked out of them by USA. On another note, La. Tech barely beat the Golden Eagles so perhaps its too soon to tell exactly how we stack up.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · October 4, 2020

Very good perspective. I'll admit, I have probably taken advantage of having football unlike many schools. So many things that make this season difficult.

I guess I have to be extra prepared to be let down

MGNation92 · October 5, 2020

1 hour ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I guess I have to be extra prepared to be let down

Congratulations, you've graduated to a real UNT fan. Now just repeat perpetually and you're golden

Edited October 5, 2020 by MGNation92

RiseUNT · October 5, 2020

vintage 80s GIF by Tras la Cámara

Side Show Joe · October 5, 2020

This is my perspective....

Every program playing has issues in 2020. Problems are not exclusive to North Texas.

This week SMU is ranked #21 in the Coaches Poll and #18 in the AP, and I don't see them making excuses.

Seth Littrell has been at North Texas since 2016, while Sonny Dykes coached his first season at SMU in 2018. So, Littrell had a two year head start on building our program.

This is Littrell's 5th season as head coach. North Texas should not be in this position.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · October 5, 2020

1 hour ago, MGNation92 said:

Congratulations, you've graduated to a real UNT fan. Now just repeat perpetually and you're golden

I feel let down already!

UNT 90 Grad · October 5, 2020

9 hours ago, Side Show Joe said:

This is my perspective....

Every program playing has issues in 2020. Problems are not exclusive to North Texas.

This week SMU is ranked #21 in the Coaches Poll and #18 in the AP, and I don't see them making excuses.

Seth Littrell has been at North Texas since 2016, while Sonny Dykes coached his first season at SMU in 2018. So, Littrell had a two year head start on building our program.

This is Littrell's 5th season as head coach. North Texas should not be in this position.

So Sonny is in his 3rd year at SMUt. Seems Seth had a pretty good start to his third year too, though not ranked. Perspective.

KRAM1 · October 5, 2020

So tired of the "COVID" excuses. EVERY team is playing under the same conditions. Every team has injury and COVID issues, yet some teams seem to find a way to deal with it and play. COVID IS NOT the reason.

greenminer · October 5, 2020

24 minutes ago, KRAM1 said:

So tired of the "COVID" excuses. EVERY team is playing under the same conditions. Every team has injury and COVID issues, yet some teams seem to find a way to deal with it and play. COVID IS NOT the reason.

I'm with you on "no excuses", but COVID can't be simplified into it. One team might not be exposed at all, while another might have a player that can bench an entire position. Multiply that by 2-3x, and you can have an entire side of the ball that is working with the 2s and 3s, mixed in with walk-ons and players subbing from other positions just to fill gaps.

Is it a stretch to say this gap in talent, game experience, and scholarships could be similar to P5 vs. FCS?

As a coach you don't use excuses, but as a fan looking in from the outside, it's a fair talking point.

Side Show Joe · October 5, 2020

11 hours ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

So Sonny is in his 3rd year at SMUt. Seems Seth had a pretty good start to his third year too, though not ranked. Perspective.

Okay. Here is some honest perspective on Seth's 3rd season at North Texas. Brace yourself.....

In Seth's 3rd season his team beat total of 1 FBS program that went on to finish their season with a winning record (Southern Miss finished with a record of 6-5 and no bowl game). None of the other teams we beat in Littrell's 3rd season finished their season with a winning record. In fact the combined record of those programs we beat was 36-70. That means those teams won just under 40% of their games that season. They were not good teams. This is a big reason why Utah State was able to destroy our team 52-13 in the New Mexico Bowl.

I don't write this to diminish what our team did that season. We played the teams that took the field, and that is all we can do. But, when you look at the overall quality of the programs we beat, they just were not very good. Sadly, I doubt our current team could not win half of those game right now. And, that is why Seth has lost some support. It is simple. We should not be this bad in Littrell's 5th season as our coach.

With this perspective in mind, I think it is obvious that Dykes has SMU far ahead of where Littrell has North Texas, and he has done it in less time.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Side Show Joe