New Years Resolutions

ntsumgspe · January 2, 2006

Any suggestions ?

good_ken · January 2, 2006

To not physically threaten fans

To not verbally attack fans

ADLER · January 2, 2006

New Years Resolutions, for the Mean Green Athletic Department

Find some way, any way, to convince the fans that things are getting better.

The fan base watched things spin out of control toward the end of this past football season. We witnessed members of the football coaching staff and the athletic department staff seriously lose their composure dealing with the fan discontent.

We saw both the men's and women's basketball programs crumble and disappear in the much anticipated Sun Belt Conference Tournament hosted at North Texas. Expectations were so low that nobody seemed to even care.

We saw the football coaches wrap the teams future around a quarterback that they knew was a serious grade risk a year ago and make no provisions for his predictable failure. Subsequently, we saw ill-prepared injury prone freshmen quarterbacks being fed to the wolves and getting destroyed for the entire season. We watched as fireworks illuminated the post game celebrations of those visiting teams after they had humiliated our team at home. I still can't believ we shot off firework after our worst home loss in history.

We watched as the football team unbelievably said "screw the fans, screw this school" as they refused to remain on the field for the 1 minute and 48 seconds that it takes to play the Alma Mater. "They're told from birth to walk away with their heads down in humiliation after a defeat" and "Why do they owe anything to those people that support them" were the excuses offered. Thankfully, by the end of the season, only a few players still Fostered that belief.

The athletic department has taken to a foxhole mentality, and communications with the fan base have reached their lowest point since the current regime arrived.

New Years Resolutions, for the Mean Green Athletic Department?

Give everyone reason to believe things are getting better.

PlummMeanGreen · January 2, 2006

Good post, ADLER...

I think most of us might agree that UNT has grown (and is growing now) because of its strategic location at the apex of a north Texas population center that the NTCOG (North Texas Council of Goverments) says now has 5.6 million citizens within 1 hour of our UNT-Denton campus; and therefore probably hasn't grown so much because of who has been in charge of our university in recent years.

We seem to have leadership at this point in time who seem to have no concept (whatsoever) of the importance of good public relations with its very own constituency . Our Chancellor's private school education (degrees from SMU and Duke with no PhD) caused some from the beginning to try to understand why NT BOR Chairman Bobby Ray thought that man with such an academic background would be a good fit (or hire) for the 4'th largest public university in Texas which once again, would be a university that was going to grow even if Quasi Moto had been in charge.

I feel the many departments within a university take on the personalities or attitudes of its leadership and at UNT that begins with mainly two, ie, Chancellor Lee Jackson and our NT Board of Regents Chairman, one Mr. Bobby Ray. Those 2 seem to be ram-rodding everything in Denton from how many paper clips each department can budget to a football program that has (in deed) dominated the SBC most of the time in football, but has had few other succcesses outside the SBC. Such successes outside the SBC of which 1-A football wins (sadly) could be counted on one hand during the entire 8 year reign of Darrell Dickey in Mean Green Country.

Of course, lest we forget, another NT varsity coach has been given 17 years to still try to get to .500 in wins/losses--anyone else you've heard of at other schools at any division of the NCAA who gets this much time to continue to be (at best) a bit above average (some years) with many wins over non-NCAA D1-A schools)? <>*<> So here's one New Years Resolution for some: Should all those who want some very nice Texas state benefits and retirement packages start faxing resumes' to the human resources department at the University of North Texas today? }:>)

Most outside the Denton Record/Chronicle and Denton, Texas, America, would never tell officials of the College Football Hall of Fame to start preparing any space in their hall for any future new members that would be coming from our campus, with all the under-whelming results we've seen outside the SBC/Bottom 10; unless, that is, they have a section in their fine hall on "hiring bloopers and blunders." If we all look back a couple of decades, we could give them a whole bunch of material from Mean Green Country for that section of their hall if they had one on that subject.

Yet, we do know how to hire effectively as to keep our program from avoiding any semblance of Top 25 status in any of our varsity programs while keeping us (somewhat) solidified with other scavengers toward the bottom of the NCAA D1-A tank. I think some present NT leaders should (hopefully and soon) start feeling some kind of embarrassement over who (under their watch) they continue to hire (and keep); that is, those who have even fooled a few of them with bottom rung success.

NOTE: I swear I know 10 people on this very message board who (even as novices) couldn't do any worse, that is, compared to some of our leaders who approved all athletic hirings in Denton the last 10 years and beyond; and for certain those very same 10 from this board wouldn't allow a handful of non-North Texas people ram-rod such hirings as was force-fed to all of us by a couple or so from the "pre-Bill Snyder" Kansas State U connection and that's for damn sure.

IMO, UNT is in dire need of bold, decisive leadership who can identify our personnel problems and then solve them by making the appopriate changes--not next week, next month or next year----but now. Most any novice can study the trends or directions of most any NCAA college athletic varsity program as to know what is really working in context with the division of the NCAA it co-exists; also, a varsity athletic program that is showing itself to be effective with its alumnus or fan base and that based on who is showing up for its events (comparative to other "progressive" NCAA D1-A programs) and who gives out of their pockets based on what they see as a varsity program's direction.

We seem to have no definite or steadfast direction at UNT as far as our alma mater's setting of goals to be successful in the 119 member NCAA D1-A other than that that we have as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Except on this message board or forum, have any of you heard anyone else connected with UNT in an official capacity talking about aiming any of our Mean Green varsity sports programs to Top 25 status?

The answer to the aforementioned question should be the "tell tell" or big red flag that confirms that we are in dire need of making many changes at the University of North Texas and even if those changes start within those who govern our very school itself, ie, the NT Board of Regents. This group of Texas governor-appointed officials have had no problems annually rubber-stamping low expections pf UNT football in Denton, but such low expections which many I've known for more than a few years will hardly continue to approve (or accept) as alums much longer (even if at all now).

Some on this board merely want Dickey to get back to the top of the SBC which means to a growing number of us of UNT only getting back to the Top of the Bottom (of NCAA D1-A). That all may have been fine before when even our prior Big West membership showed us all just how far behind we really were, but (ironically) our successes in the SBC now seems to be showing a growing number in our constituency just how unsuccessful we really are in context to the other 119 schools that comprise NCAA D1-A. It is a most unique situation we find ourselves right in the middle of in this the Darrell Dickey era at UNT where success has been defined in so many different ways by so many different alums and fans.

At most other NCAA D1-A outposts (outside the SBC), success can very clearly be defined, but at UNT and our being part of the SBC, what the definition of success is can be about as different as night and day among many in the Mean Green Nation. Most of our constituency will still eventually get around to seeing (if they haven't already) what our school's athletic successes are outside the SBC is really what matters and because that is what the local, regional and national sports media measure us by (and thus a reason many of that elite group would hardly call Dickey Ball a raging success albeit is with a handful on this board, our campus and a few beyond it).

The varisity sports wins we do get at UNT that seem to salve a hardy handful of our fan base seem to only be against schools either in the SBC or schools that are hardly in the mainstream of the NCAA division we co-exists.

So in closing, it seems fairly obvious that the NT athletic program (specifically football) is (basically) going nowhere fast as to the level where many of us who've been around this for a few decades thought it would be by the year 2006 BUT...............as they say, the beginning of a new year is also a great time for change.

Edited January 2, 2006 by PlummMeanGreen

TeachinTodd · January 2, 2006

Good post, ADLER...
I think most of us might agree that UNT has grown (and is growing now) because of its strategic location at the apex of a north Texas population center that the NTCOG (North Texas Council of Goverments) says now has 5.6 million citizens within 1 hour of our UNT-Denton campus; and therefore probably hasn't grown so much because of who has been in charge of our university in recent years.
We seem to have leadership at this point in time who seem to have no concept (whatsoever) of the importance of good public relations with its very own constituency . Our Chancellor's private school education (degrees from SMU and Duke with no PhD) caused some from the beginning to try to understand why NT BOR Chairman Bobby Ray thought that man with such an academic background would be a good fit (or hire) for the 4'th largest public university in Texas which once again, would be a university that was going to grow even if Quasi Moto had been in charge.
I feel the many departments within a university take on the personalities or attitudes of its leadership and at UNT that begins with mainly two, ie, Chancellor Lee Jackson and our NT Board of Regents Chairman, one Mr. Bobby Ray. Those 2 seem to be ram-rodding everything in Denton from how many paper clips each department can budget to a football program that has (in deed) dominated the SBC most of the time in football, but has had few other succcesses outside the SBC. Such successes outside the SBC of which 1-A football wins (sadly) could be counted on one hand during the entire 8 year reign of Darrell Dickey in Mean Green Country.
Of course, lest we forget, another NT varsity coach has been given 17 years to still try to get to .500 in wins/losses--anyone else you've heard of at other schools at any division of the NCAA who gets this much time to continue to be (at best) a bit above average (some years) with many wins over non-NCAA D1-A schools)? <>*<> So here's one New Years Resolution for some: Should all those who want some very nice Texas state benefits and retirement packages start faxing resumes' to the human resources department at the University of North Texas today? }:>)
Most outside the Denton Record/Chronicle and Denton, Texas, America, would never tell officials of the College Football Hall of Fame to start preparing any space in their hall for any future new members that would be coming from our campus, with all the under-whelming results we've seen outside the SBC/Bottom 10; unless, that is, they have a section in their fine hall on "hiring bloopers and blunders." If we all look back a couple of decades, we could give them a whole bunch of material from Mean Green Country for that section of their hall if they had one on that subject.
Yet, we do know how to hire effectively as to keep our program from avoiding any semblance of Top 25 status in any of our varsity programs while keeping us (somewhat) solidified with other scavengers toward the bottom of the NCAA D1-A tank. I think some present NT leaders should (hopefully and soon) start feeling some kind of embarrassement over who (under their watch) they continue to hire (and keep); that is, those who have even fooled a few of them with bottom rung success.
NOTE: I swear I know 10 people on this very message board who (even as novices) couldn't do any worse, that is, compared to some of our leaders who approved all athletic hirings in Denton the last 10 years and beyond; and for certain those very same 10 from this board wouldn't allow a handful of non-North Texas people ram-rod such hirings as was force-fed to all of us by a couple or so from the "pre-Bill Snyder" Kansas State U connection and that's for damn sure.
IMO, UNT is in dire need of bold, decisive leadership who can identify our personnel problems and then solve them by making the appopriate changes--not next week, next month or next year----but now. Most any novice can study the trends or directions of most any NCAA college athletic varsity program as to know what is really working in context with the division of the NCAA it co-exists; also, a varsity athletic program that is showing itself to be effective with its alumnus or fan base and that based on who is showing up for its events (comparative to other "progressive" NCAA D1-A programs) and who gives out of their pockets based on what they see as a varsity program's direction.
We seem to have no definite or steadfast direction at UNT as far as our alma mater's setting of goals to be successful in the 119 member NCAA D1-A other than that that we have as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Except on this message board or forum, have any of you heard anyone else connected with UNT in an official capacity talking about aiming any of our Mean Green varsity sports programs to Top 25 status?
The answer to the aforementioned question should be the "tell tell" or big red flag that confirms that we are in dire need of making many changes at the University of North Texas and even if those changes start within those who govern our very school itself, ie, the NT Board of Regents. This group of Texas governor-appointed officials have had no problems annually rubber-stamping low expections pf UNT football in Denton, but such low expections which many I've known for more than a few years will hardly continue to approve (or accept) as alums much longer (even if at all now).
Some on this board merely want Dickey to get back to the top of the SBC which means to a growing number of us of UNT only getting back to the Top of the Bottom (of NCAA D1-A). That all may have been fine before when even our prior Big West membership showed us all just how far behind we really were, but (ironically) our successes in the SBC now seems to be showing a growing number in our constituency just how unsuccessful we really are in context to the other 119 schools that comprise NCAA D1-A. It is a most unique situation we find ourselves right in the middle of in this the Darrell Dickey era at UNT where success has been defined in so many different ways by so many different alums and fans.
At most other NCAA D1-A outposts (outside the SBC), success can very clearly be defined, but at UNT and our being part of the SBC, what the definition of success is can be about as different as night and day among many in the Mean Green Nation. Most of our constituency will still eventually get around to seeing (if they haven't already) what our school's athletic successes are outside the SBC is really what matters and because that is what the local, regional and national sports media measure us by (and thus a reason many of that elite group would hardly call Dickey Ball a raging success albeit is with a handful on this board, our campus and a few beyond it).
The varisity sports wins we do get at UNT that seem to salve a hardy handful of our fan base seem to only be against schools either in the SBC or schools that are hardly in the mainstream of the NCAA division we co-exists.
So in closing, it seems fairly obvious that the NT athletic program (specifically football) is (basically) going nowhere fast as to the level where many of us who've been around this for a few decades thought it would be by the year 2006 BUT...............as they say, the beginning of a new year is also a great time for change.
←

Would it be wrong to ask for "optimism" as a New Year's Resolution? Or, since this is about the administration, and not the fans, maybe "realism" would be better, as they need to wake up as to what is happening to the school's athletic program?

UNT_92_Fan · January 3, 2006

my new years resolution though not directly aimed at the AD would be some sort of program...or maybe another poster or one of the lurkers who ahs yet to join to join solely to do CLIFF NOTES on Plumms essays! Great stuff dude! I just have a ridiculous form of ADD and cant make ti thru most of them!

FirefightnRick · January 3, 2006

Too much to list, but COLLEGIATE MARKETING and MERCHANDISING would be towards the top.

Rick

meangreendork · January 3, 2006

Hmm...the marketing and whatnot has improved a bit, so they're already covering that.

I say that there needs to be a lot more discipline- on and off the field.

FirefightnRick · January 3, 2006

Hmm...the marketing and whatnot has improved a bit, so they're already covering that.
I say that there needs to be a lot more discipline- on and off the field.
←

Does that whatnot part include the "whisper promotion" for the post-season conference basketball tourney we hosted last spring, or the day before promotions for the mail-outs for year end football games, or that email I got the day before the Houston basketball game last month just to name a few?

Rick