UTEP’s big recruiting weekend

[El Paso Eagle]

Why put this on the board – Mike Price has said that he wants to recruit Houston and Dallas a lot harder. His wide open style is very intriguing to many players. His presence will have an impact on the players we recruit.

P.S. - The sale out is expected with the game on local TV. They are looking at selling SRO tickets.

Edited October 21, 2005 by El Paso Eagle

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Make no mistake, Mike Price is a great coach....he got the wrong end of the shaft at Alabama, and it won't too long until he has another big school calling.

Two other factors add to their game selling out though: One is El Paso is considerably bigger than Denton, and according to my brother who is in Med School out there, that town is in the middle of nowhere.

Edited October 21, 2005 by GoMeanGreen1999

[El Paso Eagle]

Sorry but I don't buy into the "middle of nowhere” line. This time of year there are festivals everywhere in this area, from El Paso to Juarez to Southern Mew Mexico. In the past when they played poor there would be crowds of 15K to 20K, but they have focused on the Game Day experience. They have made their games the place to be on Game Day.

[Monkeypox]

Sorry, but El Paso IS in the middle of nowhere. Compared to any major metropolitan area, there are very little competing interests.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Sorry, but El Paso IS in the middle of nowhere.  Compared to any major metropolitan area, there are very little competing interests.

←

Sorry about that "middle of nowhere" statement - I did mean compared to a metropolitin area as DFW.

[greenminer]

Sorry, but El Paso IS in the middle of nowhere.  Compared to any major metropolitan area, there are very little competing interests.

←

I agree with the middle of nowhere, but only geographically. It has nothing to do with UTEP's success. I've lived in DFW and am currently in El Paso...there's plenty of interests around here. The difference has to do with sports.

UTEP has no NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB franchise to compete with. About the only thing the [uTEP] administration has ever had to 'compete' with are the local high school games (not necessarily football) and the Diablos...our minor league affiliate of the Diamondbacks.

-gm

[PlummMeanGreen]

Why put this on the board – Mike Price has said that he wants to recruit Houston and Dallas a lot harder. His wide open style is very intriguing to many players. His presence will have an impact on the players we recruit.

P.S. - The sale out is expected with the game on local TV. They are looking at selling SRO tickets.

←

You are proud of your city, El Paso Eagle, and that is good, but I believe Los Angeles is as close to El Paso as Houston and DFW are and I don't think most parents of Texas HS heros in our 2 largest Texas cities have traveling that far in mind to watch their sons play at UTEP. Now if USC or UCLA were to recruit their sons, I am sure they would find a way to fly out to Los Angeles 2 or 3 X's each Fall.

Yet, there are a whole bunch of kids (approx. 160,000) who play Texas High School football and I don't worry about any schools outside of UT and TAMU hogging the best ones most recruiting years. Once NT adds a major college football stadium to its repertoire of athletic venues out at the Mean Green Athletic Village, there are going to be some Texas D1-A non-BCS schools that will have to hustle hard to out-recruit the Mean Green and I do try to say that w/o the wearing of those green-tinted glasses.

In my opinion, NORTH TEXAS will even become more competitive than ever with Big 12 members Baylor and Texas Tech for recruits once we get our new stadium. TRIVIA QUESTION: Which D1-A school in the state of Texas has not won an outright conference football championship in over 50 years? (answer on the way).

Anyway, UT and TAMU will always dominate recruiting in the Lone Star State as this state's 2 flagship schools should inasmuch as since the late 1870's these 2 schools have been given all the political pork or chicken salad (so to speak) by the Texas legislature. It helps if your school has a 28 to 0 lead even before the kick-off and that (basically) is how it is when comparing Texas 2 flagship schools to the rest of its public universities. So all you band-wagon jumper-on'ers and off'er fans out there who buy those Longhorn and Aggies T-shirts non-stop at Wal Mart (and elsewhere) and you've never even been in the cities of Austin or College Station; anyway, every once in a while do our other Texas public universities (subliminal NT) a favor and buy one of theirs (that is, if you can find them at Wal Mart).

The part that has amazed me with all this new stadium talk at NORTH TEXAS is how it seems so many of our own cannot dream or project forward enough as to how that facility will mean 10 X's more to the entire UNT and Denton community than the Super Pit ever has. First thing it will do is get Fouts Field off Interstate I35-E and THAT IS A BIGGIE for our perception from those 60,000 who drive by it every day! The History Department of UNT will benefit from a 40,000 seat football stadium at NT because they will get to see more of its alums gathered at one time in a "first class" facility as to tap those History Department alums for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION: In my life time (I'll be 55 next month) Texas Tech has never won (outright) a conference football championship in either the SWC or the Big 12.

I have no idea how they did before they entered the SWC in 1956). If the Red Raiders don't win the Big 12 this Fall, will they ever do it in some of you NT young gun alum's lifetimes might be a good question?

...............................................................................

Edited October 21, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

[eulesseagle]

Other schools in the middle of nowhere:

1. Boise State

2. Wyoming

3. Montana

4. NMSU

5. UTEP

6. Gonzaga (BB)

7. Idaho

8. Nevada

9. Las Vegas

10. Utah

[MeanGreen61]

Frankly a lot more people get/go nowhere that those who get/ go somewhere Also... is a sale out better than a sell out?

Edited October 21, 2005 by MeanGreen61

[El Paso Eagle]

Frankly a lot more  people get/go now where that those who get go somewhere Also... is a sale out better than a sell out?

←

Sorry, it was late and I'm on Cold Meds

[Stan R]

I can see it now on the bottom of the medicine bottle:

***Warning*** Do not use this medication if you intend to operate large machinery, drive a car, or post on internet bulletin boards. Has been known to cause bad grammar and or mis-spellings.

[GreenFlag]

This time of year there are festivals everywhere in this area, from El Paso to Juarez to Southern Mew Mexico.

Great point. It would be a herculean task to compete with a festival in Juarez. I'm glad we only compete against MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL and Nascar.

Do these festivals include donkeys?

[GreenEddieNT]

Why put this on the board – Mike Price has said that he wants to recruit Houston and Dallas a lot harder. His wide open style is very intriguing to many players. His presence will have an impact on the players we recruit.

P.S. - The sale out is expected with the game on local TV. They are looking at selling SRO tickets.

←

I was reading the CUSA board the other day and it was posted that UTEP has only averaged less than 20K once since 1981 and that was in 1984 when they averaged 19K. A UTEP fan posted UTEP's attendance since the Sun Bowl was built from the UTEP online media guide. This is what we need to aim for when it comes to attendance.

Year Average W-L-T Record

1963 15,336 3-7

1964 10,066 0-8-2

1965 22,683 8-3

1966 26,594 6-4

1967 25,122 7-2-1

1968 22,374 4-5-1

1969 19,082 4-6

1970 16,483 6-4

1971 13,393 5-6

1972 8,896 2-8

1973 8,672 0-11

1974 19,373 4-7

1975 12,850 1-10

1976 12,920 1-11

1977 14,595 1-10

1978 17,430 1-11

1979 26,866 2-9

1980 12,558 1-11

1981 13,622 1-10

1982 22,768 2-10

1983 20,526 2-10

1984 19,433 2-9

1985 20,614 1-10

1986 27,208 4-8

1987 42,086 7-4

1988 35,975 10-3

1989 27,190 2-10

1990 23,809 3-8

1991 29,359 4-7-1

1992 30,131 1-10

1993 26,777 1-11

1994 28,642 3-7-1

1995 21,144 2-10

1996 21,629 2-9

1997 20,484 4-7

1998 20,145 3-8

1999 36,455 5-7

2000 44,715 8-4

2001 28,360 2-9

2002 28,310 2-10

2003 20,009 2-11

2004 41,209 8-4

2005 47,992 4-1(The average and record is through the first 5 games)

[risinggreen]

Actually, I don't think that Texas Tech played a SWC football game until the 1960 season. Prior to that, I believe that they won a few titles in the old Border Conference. They were in that conference for a long time with the likes of NM, NMSU, Hardin Simmons, UTEP, and I think both Arizona schools.

[Coffee and TV]

Other schools in the middle of nowhere:

1.  Boise State

2.  Wyoming

3.  Montana

4.  NMSU

5.  UTEP

6.  Gonzaga (BB)

7.  Idaho

8.  Nevada

9.  Las Vegas

10. Utah

←

or...

Alabama

Clemson

Tennessee

Arkansas

West Virginia

Virginia Tech