My Interview With Brett Vito

[UNTflyer]

Brett reached out to me last week to get my take on the 10th anniversary of the opening of Apogee Stadium.

While I will not go into a lot of the details of the story he is publishing, I will echo some of my thoughts here.  If you want to read the whole story, sign up for Brett's newsletter.
 

I spoke about the student vote, and how the credit for the students voting in favor of the new athletic fee should go to several people. While I had a role in drafting the bill in the Student Senate, others such as Jeff Kline and Blake Windham deserve just as much credit, if not more.  They were the younger guys, they had more facetime with students, and they did a lot of work.  I spoke to some student groups, I wrote opinion pieces for the NT Daily, I created the Facebook group Students for a New Stadium that had over 2,000 members, and I purchased campaign signs and planted them around the campus perimeter.

But the real credit goes to the students who showed up to vote. They made an informed decision in the face of stiff opposition from some very vocal student groups.

I also talked about how far we've come. While the product on the field over the last 10 years has been hit or miss, the progress has met our expectations. We got out of the Sun Belt, attendance improved, recruiting is better, donations increased, and we got some bowl games.  We also have a new soccer stadium/track facility, and a great football practice facility.
 

There's more in Brett's newsletter.  But I just wanted to drop in and say that I'm proud of what we did. I don't know what is going to happen in college football over the next 5 years, but we put ourselves in a much better position.

Go Mean Green!

 

[Jonnyeagle]

19 minutes ago, UNTflyer said:

Brett reached out to me last week to get my take on the 10th anniversary of the opening of Apogee Stadium.

While I will not go into a lot of the details of the story he is publishing, I will echo some of my thoughts here.  If you want to read the whole story, sign up for Brett's newsletter.
 

I spoke about the student vote, and how the credit for the students voting in favor of the new athletic fee should go to several people. While I had a role in drafting the bill in the Student Senate, others such as Jeff Kline and Blake Windham deserve just as much credit, if not more.  They were the younger guys, they had more facetime with students, and they did a lot of work.  I spoke to some student groups, I wrote opinion pieces for the NT Daily, I created the Facebook group Students for a New Stadium that had over 2,000 members, and I purchased campaign signs and planted them around the campus perimeter.

But the real credit goes to the students who showed up to vote. They made an informed decision in the face of stiff opposition from some very vocal student groups.

I also talked about how far we've come. While the product on the field over the last 10 years has been hit or miss, the progress has met our expectations. We got out of the Sun Belt, attendance improved, recruiting is better, donations increased, and we got some bowl games.  We also have a new soccer stadium/track facility, and a great football practice facility.
 

There's more in Brett's newsletter.  But I just wanted to drop in and say that I'm proud of what we did. I don't know what is going to happen in college football over the next 5 years, but we put ourselves in a much better position.

Go Mean Green!

 

@UNTflyer I can't thank you enough for what you did for us.  Future legions of UNT supporters and fans will smile kindly upon you and your efforts.   I hope to have the honor of meeting you in person some day and wish you and your family only the best.

[Withers940]

Thank you @UNTflyer for all your heart work on this stadium!!

 

I remember voting on for this Bill my Senior year. I really wanted this new stadium and wouldn't be hit with this on my tuition so I thought this was a HUGE WIN WIN. 

 

GO MEAN GREEN!!!

[UNTLifer]

[meangreen11]

[Tom McKrackin]

Can someone fill some us in on what actually transpired on the stadium?  I read Vito’s article but still have some questions.

[Wag Tag]

Driving up to OKC on business twice a month and seeing the construction of the facility is what go us involved with UNT Athletics and UNT. It has been a blast and has introduced us to great friends. Thanks to all for the vision and hard work! GMG 

[meanJewGreen]

2 hours ago, UNTflyer said:

Brett reached out to me last week to get my take on the 10th anniversary of the opening of Apogee Stadium.

While I will not go into a lot of the details of the story he is publishing, I will echo some of my thoughts here.  If you want to read the whole story, sign up for Brett's newsletter.
 

I spoke about the student vote, and how the credit for the students voting in favor of the new athletic fee should go to several people. While I had a role in drafting the bill in the Student Senate, others such as Jeff Kline and Blake Windham deserve just as much credit, if not more.  They were the younger guys, they had more facetime with students, and they did a lot of work.  I spoke to some student groups, I wrote opinion pieces for the NT Daily, I created the Facebook group Students for a New Stadium that had over 2,000 members, and I purchased campaign signs and planted them around the campus perimeter.
 

 

After we graduated, Jeff used to use the successful stadium vote as an attempted pick up line to woo women of our similar ilk (who came from UT, A&M, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, NYU, GW, Georgetown, Wash U- STL, etc) when we would go to young professionals events in Dallas.

The tactic never really worked, but I always thoroughly enjoyed watching it play out and letting one more person in on the magic going on at UNT. 

[Brett Vito]

55 minutes ago, meanJewGreen said:

@Brett Vito when is the news letter coming out? I signed up Monday and want to read the story 

It lands in our subscribers' email at noon-ish on Wednesday. Showed up at 12:10 today.

[UNTflyer]

So people may be wondering... what happened to UNTFlyer? 
Did he pull a J.D. Salinger? 
Did he go Howard Hughes crazy? 
I heard he died. 
Did he ever really exist?

Well, I'm still here in Denton.  I can see the stadium lights and the wind turbines from my office window.  If you watch WFAA weather cam from Apogee, you might see my house on the horizon.  I was on Denton's Parks & Rec Board for a couple years. I ran for city council (and got my ass kicked). 

My career has been going well. And with great power comes great responsibility - such as 14 hour days, 25% travel schedule, and very little downtime.

I've spent less time here on GMG.com than I did when I was a student and new graduate.  It's just something that sort of happened, like losing touch with a good friend.  It wasn't a choice. It was just life.

I still go to football games. Basketball games. Even a soccer game once in a while. Last year was the only season I didn't have season tickets.  I'm in the crowd, with the alumni.  I love UNT and I always will.  

And while life means I've missed some games, you will find me this Saturday in section 207, the same seats I've had since the stadium opened.  The same seats I will have until the day I die.

Go Mean Green!

[TheTastyGreek]

46 minutes ago, UNTflyer said:

So people may be wondering... what happened to UNTFlyer? 

 

[97and03]

26 minutes ago, TheTastyGreek said: