Have Great Idea--don't Post It On Gmg.com

[PlummMeanGreen]

In light of several threads the last few weeks of what I believe to be some darn good promo ideas from many of you so our alma mater can improve its home football game turstile numbers, starting with several great ideas posted by some of you for the UNT/Navy game and now those ideas posted the last 2 or 3 days yet.....................I know I have probably missed a few similar ideas posted in the past by many on GMG.com somewhere down the line, but how many of those ideas posted on this forum have ever really been utilized by the UNT athletic department? Better yet, how many have even been considered? Do we have reason for concern? Well............start with 15K per game averages during bowl years for starters with that question.

Yes, in deedy, we as NT Exes and MG fans would all like to see better than 15K per home game averages in each of our lifetimes (and I think we will "by default"--and that because of more campus growth as well as Denton & Denton County's growth and, of course, we can now factor in the Todd Dodge hire--who in hindsight, he or someone similar (who would be universally accepted by the ones UNT would like to fill Fouts--namely folks like us) should have been hired post ULM-loss in 2001 truth be known and that for all of us who would have preferred UNT football to have been patterned after the annually Top 25 ranked Boise State Bronco football program. Well, we had one upper echelon leader who had a brain "stink release" that chose for each and every one of us the lower ranked road well travelled in Denton.

YET...............might some in our athletic department be tempted to go ahead and jump on and ride the Todd Dodge bandwagon as far as it will take them and just allow TD to go ahead and carry the full load in Denton? Also, allowing some of that "most tempted" group of NT employees to maintain "business as usual," ie, 15K game average production for starters) while just sitting back thinking they won't have to do any semblance of "large group" promotions at all this Fall (2007) in light of UNT hiring our almost universally accepted by all Todd Dodge as the new main man in Denton....................BUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO'VE BEEN AROUND THIS FOR A FEW DECADES CAN WE JUST WARN THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN THAT...................

.............nothing could be further from the truth because now (more than ever) is the time to start promoting non-stop in order to get 25-30K plus per home game (minimum) averages "EVERY GAME" rather than just 18-20K.

Why would I post this in 1,000 word or less? History, man, it's just simply all about our past history at UNT. FWIW..........Todd Dodge and his staff of assistant coaches can only pull this bandwagon so far; that is, they can produce the product we will see on the field of play--yet shouldn't this product in 2007 probably be promoted with the same urgency it would have had DD Ball had yet another season (#10) at UNT AND...................

..................outside of UNT getting a new stadium (much sooner than later and, yes, we will need a Big Mega-Donor for this although we know that it has been posted numerous times by a couple of ex UNT employees that that just "cannot" be done in Denton because its never been done before? But might we all agree now at this point in time that...............

...................we better darn well get this new stadium thing done because there is now a time factor involved in getting this done in more ways than one.

HELLSBELLS! HARK! A NEW IDEA! (Do act like you're not reading this "idea" on GMG.com, UNT officials)! BUT HERE IS THIS NEW AND MOST NOVEL IDEA....

................ Let's copy one of our fellow SBC'ers; you know that other school located in that other SBC Fortune 500 mecca of Troy, Alabama? And with Troy U being an SBC school who chose not to spend half a decade or more just merely talking about building their (basically) new stadium but they just went ahead, defying each and every one of their past Neg-Ned Troy U employees who said "THIS CANNOT BE DONE BECAUSE WE'RE TROY U AND WE NEVER DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE"; but rather, Troy U just went ahead a built a new football stadium anyway. We should be hiring some of their "can do" people to help out UNT AD Rick V, who like Todd Dodge, cannot do all this by himself.

TROY U GETS BENEFITS FROM THEIR (STILL) NEW'ish MOVIE GALLERY STADIUM SUCH AS..................a pretty impressive nationally televised game in their new stadium's inaugural year when they beat a #17 Missouri of which many of us watched in disbelief (while during that same season and beyond we had those who used to be UNT employees who would only complain (among numerous other things) UNT even scheduling such a school similar to the "then" Top 25 ranked Missouri Tigers) YET TO REPEAT THIS JUST ONE MORE TIME............the Troy U Trojans have scheduled a similar game for this Fall which will be nationally televised for all to view from their very modern and impressive football stadium. I think many of us now sense who Todd Dodge and Company's main SBC nemisis is going to most likely be in the next few seasons with those Trojans of Troy U.

And with it being about 15 degrees outside as I post this thread I will still say to all:

Have A Nice Day!

Edited February 16, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[emmitt01]

Longwinded as he is I agree with Plummer...in 1,000 words or less.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I think that I kind of agree with you, Jim but I got lost in some of the rhetoric. Troy does not really equate to North Texas. They found a big donor, expanded their existing stadium, and built. I'm sure that we'll do the same as soon as enough money is in place.

This board is not meant to be a direct line to he Director of Promotions. But, if you really would like to be heard by the staff then I suggest that you (meaning those with ideas) e-mail Jamie Adams, the Director of Promotions. At least you[ll know that it has been passed on to one who might be able to do something about it. He can at least see if it fits into his budget.

[untcampbell]

This is not an attempt to derail the thread, but I applaud anyone that makes it through an entire PMG post...cheers to the Gray One (Mr. Fincher).

Being ADD, I rarely read a PMG post. I do not question their value, but anything more than a 100 words (or 100 emoticons) and I am gone.

Other things that chase me from a post (and that PMG is guilty of on almost every post):

* Overuse (read that ANY use) of the emoticon

* Multiple type sizes

* Multiple fonts

* Changing type color mid-post

* Using BOLD so much that any point intended to made by said bolding, is lost

* More than 3 periods (not a reference to the monthly cycle) in an effort to break thought, pause or continue a sentence.......................................

* Using more than one of any of the above in the same sentence

* Overuse of the parenthetical (I am guilty of that one also PMG)

I think that PMG will not leave a reply box until he uses every single button available to him. Again, not to diminish the value of PMG post points. I am sure they are relevant.

[PlummMeanGreen]

I think that I kind of agree with you, Jim but I got lost in some of the rhetoric. Troy does not really equate to North Texas. They found a big donor, expanded their existing stadium, and built. I'm sure that we'll do the same as soon as enough money is in place.

This board is not meant to be a direct line to he Director of Promotions. But, if you really would like to be heard by the staff then I suggest that you (meaning those with ideas) e-mail Jamie Adams, the Director of Promotions. At least you[ll know that it has been passed on to one who might be able to do something about it. He can at least see if it fits into his budget.

Jack, I get lost in my own rhetoric when I start some of these epistles!

I know almost without a shadow of a doubt that this thread will be read by someone from campus or in the UNT Athletic Dept who will pass the word on. Having dealt with state employees in the past (as we all have in some form or fashion); anyway, we all know moving mountains might be easier than dealing with some of our state employees many of whom tend to not want to ever do things that might rock their personal security boats, but our mountainous attendace problem at UNT must be solved and that needs to be solved with warp speed as soon as possible.

I think we all believe the hiring of Todd Dodge with his enthusiasm and positiveness will do much for attendance, but as we all know--he cannot build our green-tinted Roman Mean Green empire by himself. We have also asked Rick V to raise more monies than is in our entire UNT System endowment; and for some stranger than heck reason, I think he, along with new UNT prez' Dr B and Coach Dodge with other select UNT dignitaries will somehow/someway get this new stadium thing done. I just have one heckuva' gut feeling on all that.

Each of us will all (undoubtedly) do our part, Jack, and that by buying football tickets and bringing as many of our fellow NT alums/friends and acquaintances to our 2007 home football games; but we all know that if everyone on this board did all this that this would (still) not fill Fouts Field. This is where the kind of promotions I've read about on this forum from many of you help our Mean Green cause.

UNT athletic officials should never forget that we are in the entertainment business and that we do have much competition in the DFW Metroplex for the "NT Ex" entertainment dollar. Yet back to some recent ideas on GMG.com: I really do love the one posted that would have Roger Stauback and Mean Joe Greene tossing the pre-game coin for the UNT/Navy game. It would be Captain America and Mean Joe's first meeting since the last Cowboy/Steeler's Super Bowl game, and that kind of promo (alone) would get much attention from the casual/borderline fans in and around Denton-- "IF" promoted far enough in advance).

THAT OTHER GOOD IDEA: The Alumnus Band Day would probably be better than the old HS Band Day idea that someone on GMG.com used to post about ad nausem. We really do have some creative-thinking folks on this board who don't care for self-gain but rather for UNT-gain instead BECAUSE DON'T WE ALL................

...............just simply want to see this football program get back on the high road (again) and for all of us to see our largest per game home crowds in Mean Green football history this coming Fall? I (along with I'd bet many of you) think there is really a good chance for this to happen, too. Yet doesn't all this need to really happen soon because of some D1-A head football coaches who really want their football teams to play before the largest crowds possible? And at UNT, all this being done in a brand spanking new football stadium cannot happen soon enough in light of who we've just hired. We've got do do our part in making this Mean Green HFC's job attractive enough for Coach Dodge to want to stay an extra year or 2 or 3 beyond what his normal tenure might ultimately be. AND...............we all know some of the strategic things that must be done at UNT for this to happen.

Edited February 16, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[Quoner]

Here's Cliff Notes to help everyone decipher:

-Things used to suck here

-DD should have been fired in 2001

-Promotions will obviously not do anything to promote Dodge (but remember, this isn't RV's fault, just his staff.) Also, no specific ideas are included - we should do more "group promotions." Probably this means advertising and marketing, but whatever.

-Everyone in the AD is hanging on every word of this post and not laughing at it

-Boise State wins because of their promotions

-Troy has a new stadium and donors because of promotions

-His post was 938 words

-It's cold

-This post was 104 words

[untcampbell]

Thanks Quoner for the summary. I made it to the "This" that began the last bullet point.

[gregorythegreen]

I've come to the conclusion that PMG has a large file of pre-written paragraphs and he cuts and pastes on the board.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Here's Cliff Notes to help everyone decipher:

-Things used to suck here

-DD should have been fired in 2001

-Promotions will obviously not do anything to promote Dodge (but remember, this isn't RV's fault, just his staff.) Also, no specific ideas are included - we should do more "group promotions." Probably this means advertising and marketing, but whatever.

-Everyone in the AD is hanging on every word of this post and not laughing at it

-Boise State wins because of their promotions

-Troy has a new stadium and donors because of promotions

-His post was 938 words

-It's cold

-This post was 104 words

And just what is it you are trying to say, "Q"? You are now a spokesman for how and what UNT officials feel? Now that is something worth laughing at!

Yet apparently you were hanging onto every word since (after all) you condensed all of it to Cliff Notes.

Try again, "Q" we are all listening to what you are now saying. Thanks for taking the monkey off my back. The torch has now been passed to a younger generation. Proceed.........(but don't accept what most of us have had to accept as a D1 athletic program for most of our adult lives). FWIW, some of us think UNT can still do better across the board, yet some will take just about anything dished down. None of that is hardly what many would call laughable.

Edited February 16, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[Quoner]

And just what is it you are trying to say, "Q"? You are now a spokesman for how and what UNT officials feel? Now that is something worth laughing at!

Yet apparently you were hanging onto every word since (after all) you condensed all of it to Cliff Notes.

Try again, "Q" we are all listening to what you are now saying. Thanks for taking the monkey off my back. The torch has now been passed to a younger generation. Proceed.........(but don't accept what most of us have had to accept as a D1 athletic program for most of our adult lives). FWIW, some of us think UNT can still do better across the board, yet some will take just about anything dished down. None of that is hardly what many would call laughable.

No PMG, I am not a spokesperson. I don't think they'd let their spokespeople say what I say about RV, do you?

I know you won a spirit award in the 90s and have done some great things for this university, but I also know that your rants are for a fact laughed at in the hallowed house that pizzas past built. Why you have decided to focus your energy here rather than at a level that it can be well presented is a mystery for me, but I do communications for a living if you ever want some help. You rant and rave like a lunatic and wonder why no one takes you seriously anymore. You have good things to say, you just decide to packet them in a rainbow ball of horseshit and font changes. Why? Why marginilize yourself this way? If it's a personal "bit" that is fine and I totally understand it, but if it was really a bit you wouldn't get your panties in a wad when people mocked you for it.

PMG, I have posted my thoughts on marketing this university several times, but usually what I see on here is some crap about "more posters," "make the band come back," or something goofy that might lead to maybe a thousand or so more customers that won't provide enough value. This board has good ideas at some level, but most are either not going to provide the right ROI to be done on such a tight budget. A good promotion should bring back 4x what it costs - keep that in mind when we throw out more ideas. I loved the Staubach idea too BTW. not sure how to make it happen, but that is not my job.

I personally have seen more promotions in the past 3 years on campus than ever before and think if the team hadn't gone down the Dickey Crapper we'd be at a 23K average by now. Dodge can fix this - if he wins. If he wins, the budget goes up and you will see more of what they have probably always wanted to do in that department. I had a post on the bball board last week that I'm too lazy to link back to but it summed up my thoughts on winning, marketing, and the like. It's a good read...and less than 938 words.

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to then new Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban saying whhy doesn't he see what he can do in conjunction with UNT and entrench himself even more in the metroplex. Cuban is knowing for responding to most of his messages and had even responded to others that I, some random fan, wrote him, but this one he did not want to touch. He's savvy - so why is that? Should I have posted my thoughts on his blog in increasingly lengthening posts?

This situation is a brand recognition/marketing/communication toilet bowl, and Dodge is our best chance at climbing out and building the credibility that many people think we should already have. When we hired Dodge, everyone wanted to talk about us everywhere. We win with the Dodge, and it will happen again times 10. I guarantee you there is no other time in NT history we could have crapped the bed for two years like we just did and have anywhere close to the gate numbers we just had. If someone has numbers to contradict that, I'd love to be wrong on that.

I think we've headed in the right direction the last three years with our marketing/promotions and really think it all comes back to how much we win the next 3 years to see where we go. We've maximized what we can do with our current product - so keep improving the damn product.

Does this sound like I want the status quo? I hate the status quo right now. I hate getting laughed at when I bring up going to a bball or football game to my coworkers. I hate being the after-thought of most of the non-UNT metroplex. I hate seeing people in Texas shit at our basketball games. I hate seeing Aggie hats on campus. I hate seeing some douche in a Notre Dame jersey sitting in his dorm cheering when we have game going because "his" team is playing.

Do I sound complacent? Spoon fed? I've done everything differently since I got on this board and I'm going to keep doing it that way. I don't see why anyone has to entrench on one side of these debates (AD sucks/AD doesn't suck.)

Some things they do well - compliment them

Some things they do shitty - criticize them.

But don't spout an opinion just because it fits the company line you've swallowed. I know I have no credibility here - and I've chosen that path to entertain myself. But you've decided to take the Unibomber approach to communicating your ideas and it really just confuses me.

I'm sure you'll take this personally and it will turn into some big pissing war, but I really am just asking you these questions honestly. We can do it over PM/whatever. We've PMed before and you've been nothing but helpful. I don't want your torch, you don't have to "step aside" for the younger generation. You should be working with them and dialoguing - not giving subway sermons. We agreed DD needed to go, we have many of the same criticisms of the current AD staff, but yet we are sitting here fighting and you are probably working on your next thesis that will be widely ignored. doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results is insanity Plumm - think about it.

And that's around 900 words of crazy - courtesy of the Q man.

[gangrene]

Plumm -

I agree with what I believe is the main point of your thread (which is ultimately to increase attendance, right?).

now (more than ever) is the time to start promoting non-stop in order to get 25-30K plus per home game (minimum) averages "EVERY GAME" rather than just 18-20K.

I've had a problem with the way UNT Athletics (football in particular) is promoted for quite sometime. While some may disagree, I truly believe that we need to tap into both the Dallas and Ft. Worth metropolises. Is Denton a long drive for residents of Dallas and Ft. Worth? Sure it is, but where do people go in the "triangle" that ISN'T a long drive?? All we have to do is give people better reasons to invest their time and make the drive; i.e. enticements. And, once they make their way to UNT, we need to show them a good time so they'll come back.

In my opinion, one of the best football campaigns ever was Mustang Mania from SMU back in the late 70's and early 80's. I remember seeing SMU crap everywhere. I think they mainly targeted families with discounted and/or free tickets and gave kids free merchandise (jerseys, raincoats, posters, etc.) for attending games. In addition, they bought billboards to display the football schedule around town and distributed free bumper stickers at retailers throughout Dallas. I'm pretty sure they didn't sell out many games, but then again they were playing in the Cotton Bowl and Texas Stadium at the time...they probably averaged over 30K+ every game.

Even the great U of Texas has had to entice fans to attend football games, and as recently as five years ago. UT used to hold about 5 to 10K tickets until gameday and then sell them for $5 apiece. The recent success, culminating with the national championship, means they have had no problem selling every ticket for face value.

Bottomline is we need to do something...anything...to reach the Dallas market if we want to sell out Fouts Field on a regular basis. It could be as simple as making game tickets available at the local grocery store and publishing that in said grocery store's weekly flyer (as the Frisco Roughriders baseball team does). Or, it could be as elaborate as the Mustang Mania campaign was....I'm picturing green billboards and seeing kids wearing UNT stuff everywhere. We could it something like Green Extreme, Green Supreme or Green Galore...you get the idea...and show everyone that the grass really is greener on the campus of UNT! Of course this would cost money, but the return on investment could surely prove profitable.

We already have great ticket and concession prices but we need to make more people aware of that fact. Yet we have several thousand alumni in the North Texas area who probably haven't attended a football game since they graduated. We need to encourage them to come back to Denton for just a few Saturdays a year and bring friends and family.

[Quoner]

Plumm -

I agree with what I believe is the main point of your thread (which is ultimately to increase attendance, right?).

I've had a problem with the way UNT Athletics (football in particular) is promoted for quite sometime. While some may disagree, I truly believe that we need to tap into both the Dallas and Ft. Worth metropolises. Is Denton a long drive for residents of Dallas and Ft. Worth? Sure it is, but where do people go in the "triangle" that ISN'T a long drive?? All we have to do is give people better reasons to invest their time and make the drive; i.e. enticements. And, once they make their way to UNT, we need to show them a good time so they'll come back.

We give tickets away to many of these people and they still don't want to come....I like your points, but the problem is not simple awareness. Mustang Mania is a good idea, but also worked because SMU was pretty good in the time frame you mention. That's something we can do if the product is good and entertaining.

[SilverEagle]

Todd Dodge cannot do it all. Promotions-wise, he's done enough, and now he needs to concentrate on doing what he does best.......coach/teach.

The rest is up to the Athletic Dept. and the Alumni. We had all better STEP UP.

[LoveMG]

In light of several threads the last few weeks of what I believe to be some darn good promo ideas from many of you so our alma mater can improve its home football game turstile numbers, starting with several great ideas posted by some of you for the UNT/Navy game and now those ideas posted the last 2 or 3 days yet.....................I know I have probably missed a few similar ideas posted in the past by many on GMG.com somewhere down the line, but how many of those ideas posted on this forum have ever really been utilized by the UNT athletic department? Better yet, how many have even been considered? Do we have reason for concern? Well............start with 15K per game averages during bowl years for starters with that question.

Yes, in deedy, we as NT Exes and MG fans would all like to see better than 15K per home game averages in each of our lifetimes (and I think we will "by default"--and that because of more campus growth as well as Denton & Denton County's growth and, of course, we can now factor in the Todd Dodge hire--who in hindsight, he or someone similar (who would be universally accepted by the ones UNT would like to fill Fouts--namely folks like us) should have been hired post ULM-loss in 2001 truth be known and that for all of us who would have preferred UNT football to have been patterned after the annually Top 25 ranked Boise State Bronco football program. Well, we had one upper echelon leader who had a brain "stink release" that chose for each and every one of us the lower ranked road well travelled in Denton.

YET...............might some in our athletic department be tempted to go ahead and jump on and ride the Todd Dodge bandwagon as far as it will take them and just allow TD to go ahead and carry the full load in Denton? Also, allowing some of that "most tempted" group of NT employees to maintain "business as usual," ie, 15K game average production for starters) while just sitting back thinking they won't have to do any semblance of "large group" promotions at all this Fall (2007) in light of UNT hiring our almost universally accepted by all Todd Dodge as the new main man in Denton....................BUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO'VE BEEN AROUND THIS FOR A FEW DECADES CAN WE JUST WARN THOSE WHO WILL LISTEN THAT...................

.............nothing could be further from the truth because now (more than ever) is the time to start promoting non-stop in order to get 25-30K plus per home game (minimum) averages "EVERY GAME" rather than just 18-20K.

Why would I post this in 1,000 word or less? History, man, it's just simply all about our past history at UNT. FWIW..........Todd Dodge and his staff of assistant coaches can only pull this bandwagon so far; that is, they can produce the product we will see on the field of play--yet shouldn't this product in 2007 probably be promoted with the same urgency it would have had DD Ball had yet another season (#10) at UNT AND...................

..................outside of UNT getting a new stadium (much sooner than later and, yes, we will need a Big Mega-Donor for this although we know that it has been posted numerous times by a couple of ex UNT employees that that just "cannot" be done in Denton because its never been done before? But might we all agree now at this point in time that...............

...................we better darn well get this new stadium thing done because there is now a time factor involved in getting this done in more ways than one.

HELLSBELLS! HARK! A NEW IDEA! (Do act like you're not reading this "idea" on GMG.com, UNT officials)! BUT HERE IS THIS NEW AND MOST NOVEL IDEA....

................ Let's copy one of our fellow SBC'ers; you know that other school located in that other SBC Fortune 500 mecca of Troy, Alabama? And with Troy U being an SBC school who chose not to spend half a decade or more just merely talking about building their (basically) new stadium but they just went ahead, defying each and every one of their past Neg-Ned Troy U employees who said "THIS CANNOT BE DONE BECAUSE WE'RE TROY U AND WE NEVER DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE"; but rather, Troy U just went ahead a built a new football stadium anyway. We should be hiring some of their "can do" people to help out UNT AD Rick V, who like Todd Dodge, cannot do all this by himself.

TROY U GETS BENEFITS FROM THEIR (STILL) NEW'ish MOVIE GALLERY STADIUM SUCH AS..................a pretty impressive nationally televised game in their new stadium's inaugural year when they beat a #17 Missouri of which many of us watched in disbelief (while during that same season and beyond we had those who used to be UNT employees who would only complain (among numerous other things) UNT even scheduling such a school similar to the "then" Top 25 ranked Missouri Tigers) YET TO REPEAT THIS JUST ONE MORE TIME............the Troy U Trojans have scheduled a similar game for this Fall which will be nationally televised for all to view from their very modern and impressive football stadium. I think many of us now sense who Todd Dodge and Company's main SBC nemisis is going to most likely be in the next few seasons with those Trojans of Troy U.

And with it being about 15 degrees outside as I post this thread I will still say to all:

Have A Nice Day!

jibber jabber; what are you trying to say in 10 words or less?

[greenminer]

I think it's a lot easier to say we should have gotten rid of DD now that we have someone as hyped as TD. But TD would not have been available then. Who do you speculate would have been the hire had that been the case?

Doesn't really matter, I suppose. But I wanted to add a reply that was less than 500 words.

Quoner, I think you've set your own record. Congrats.

[UNTLifer]

have good things to say, you just decide to packet them in a rainbow ball of horseshit and font changes. Why? Why marginilize yourself this way?

if the team hadn't gone down the Dickey Crapper we'd be at a 23K average by now.

It's a good read...and less than 938 words.

I guarantee you there is no other time in NT history we could have crapped the bed for two years like we just did and have anywhere close to the gate numbers we just had.

I hate seeing people in Texas shit at our basketball games. I hate seeing Aggie hats on campus. I hate seeing some douche in a Notre Dame jersey sitting in his dorm cheering when we have game going because "his" team is playing.

I agree with the entire post, but the above is comedy gold.

And this made me laugh too.

jibber jabber; what are you trying to say in 10 words or less?

[PlummMeanGreen]

I'm sure you'll take this personally and it will turn into some big pissing war, but I really am just asking you these questions honestly. We can do it over PM/whatever. We've PMed before and you've been nothing but helpful. I don't want your torch, you don't have to "step aside" for the younger generation. You should be working with them and dialoguing - not giving subway sermons. We agreed DD needed to go, we have many of the same criticisms of the current AD staff, but yet we are sitting here fighting and you are probably working on your next thesis that will be widely ignored. doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results is insanity Plumm - think about it.

And that's around 900 words of crazy - courtesy of the Q man.

If you got tense with my other posts on my thread here, then for heaven's sake don't read this one for sure-----really).

"Q"...........I am glad that I have been able to create so much laughter (as you have claimed). For those who cannot produce I guess "nervous" laughter would be the best medicine for them, right?

Yet I don't think I am the one who actually first started getting things on a personal level with any of this, now did I? In fact, rarely would anyone see this poster attacking another poster or calling them out and I've always been careful not to draw first blood on anyone, but I for damn sure won't remain silent if someone calls me out for whatever their reason. For those who have to get personal with all this, that usually means a nerve has been laid bare so instead of discussing the topic at hand, they have to usually resort to discussing the one who posts the topic, right? I guess Dr. Phil would only say that would be the norm for some people.

There are 1 or 2 on this forum who actually think they can get an emotional rise out of me by posting how they never read my posts (like I would lose any sleep over that? ) but they seem to always still do (since they seem to always know its content). My suggestion to any of that group is: Why respond to any post in this thread if they ain't reading all of its content as to know what is actually being said so they can respond to such?

If most of the last 2 years of my finding myself "busy" on a DD Ball/Game Day has taught me anything is that I can take it or leave it when it comes to some of the "same ol', same ol' produced from those at UNT who now cannot keep pretending to sell me chicken salad while "never ranked teams in Denton" in the past suggests to most who know their college sports that its the other kind of chicken stuff that's being sold instead.

I can support UNT in many others way (and have done just that w/o advertising such). I do know how I happen to feel there are some on this board who (as one fellow alum said) don't know their shit from their oatmeal when it comes to recognizeing the kind of personel who can lead UNT back to being an upwardly bound NCAA D1 athletic program (and with that comment........... if the fu' shits--wear it). Nevertheless, if some of that group would merely get out of the forest long enough to see that all the trees aren't quite as green as they'd previously thought, then they, too, might grow the necessary gonads to actually post their own opinions, ie, feelings and questions to UNT leadership as to why the status quo is no longer acceptable after decades of saying nothing that would rock anyone's boat. In deed, I spent much of my 56 years being one of those who kept thinking "all this can only get better" but quite frankly, the UNT varsity media guides from most of our varsity sports teams during most of my adult life suggests that it just never did get better.

In the last 25 or so years, many of us saw the Stephen F. Austin women field a national contending basketball program (albeit a different era with that sport) while we at UNT just basically did more of the same, that is we (more or less) just fielded a women's basketball program so we could say we met Title IX minimums never seeming to care about providing a quality team or the kind of coaches who would produce such at UNT as Stephen F. seemed to provide for their own women's basketball program that became nationally recognized. FWIW, I am trying to count how many national ranked (NCAA D1-A) programs we've had at UNT since I graduated in 1976. Well.........................I am still trying to come up with that answer.

BACK TO NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS: Many of us as NT Exes back in that day would asked this question to each other : Why Stephen "F"(reakin') Austin going to the top (nationally) with any varsity program and not us...........no, uh, North Texas? What the hell we doing wrong in Denton? Answer to that question: What we were doing wrong in Denton for most of the last quarter of a century (if not all of it) was just merely hiring D-II personnel who had no business being in Denton and staying in Denton trying to make us a viable NCAA D1-A program. Were all these nice guys we hired at UNT during all those decades? Sure they were nice guys but most of you old timers remember what former MLB manager Leo Durocher used to say about nice guys, right?

Can any of this ever change in the UNT athletic department where we think big but seem to most always deliver little? Sure it can change and probably the reason I still even care to post......and also a reason the Todd Dodge hire has excited many of us because this has not been the usual type of UNT hire of late now has it? This hire is important in many ways because (quite frankly) if this hire doesn't cure cancer for NT football and move us up the NCAA D1-A ladder dramatically (like many think it will), then much could be lost with this opportunity. This will be the last go around for many older NT Exes. I hope for their sake its a success story because God only knows we are long over-due for such (for all ages) in Mean Green Country.

Now if I have offended any fellow NT Exes with the contents of this thread, I hardly mean't to do that, but sometimes posting things other those of a Polly-Anna'ish nature tends to cinge some folk's tail feathers. Lucky for all of us, tail-feathers can be re-cycled.

GMG...

[CaribbeanGreen]

PMG, did you just envy SFreakin'A in that post, or have I gone crosseyed?

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

It's easy to see the attraction at SFA. You thought SFA stands for Stephen F. Austin? Not so, it stands for Sex, Food, Alcohol.

[PlummMeanGreen]

PMG, did you just envy SFreakin'A in that post, or have I gone crosseyed?

Let me first begin by saying that I love to put emoticons on my manifestos. They make me produce one helluva' Norm Hitzghes type giggle. All apologies to some of you who get a bit tensed up when I put them in all my posts.

SFASU: They have a beautiful campus with pine trees galore. Their campus is located in a very historic old Texas town with the Old Stone Fort near (or is in on?) their campus. One most interesting cemetary (for those of us who dig old cemetaries--pardon the pun) which surrounds their Old North Church out on Hwy ??? with grave sites date-ing back to the 1700's.

Last time I traveled to SFA to watch the Mean Green play there in our last year in the old SLC we came out of Homer Bryrce Stadium with a tie; but no, I don't envy Stephen Fuller Austin State University because I feel we all believe UNT is a better school in most any comparative program but...........

................. back in the day many of us older nestors did take notice (as many others across the USA did) of their annual nationally ranked NCAA D1 women's basketball program that I believe even won an N.C. UNT has not had anything similar since I first stepped on our main campus in January of 1972. I know we're all proud of our golf N.C.'s, but those were when many of us were still in diapers.

The Todd Dodge era at UNT is very, very important and like Silver Eagle has said in past posts of his and I liberally paraphrase him: We don't need to blow it this time around.

Each one of us will do what we can do this Fall as far as buying tickets, bringing our friends/fellow alums who we have known for years to Game Day and giving what we can to support our school's apparent new upwardly mobile attitude toward its football program.................. but UNT cannot continue its same ol'/same ol' practices and modus operendi's which have annually produced 15K per home game averages and those way too modest numbers even during our 4 bowl years, too. If anyone associated with UNT cannot fatho this, then we have more problems than previously thought and solving our attendance problems on a long-term basis with our present group on campous may be impossible. Thus one of the reasons for this thread which might be a way of some of us saying: Hey, what we've been doing lately has only been producing attendance figures just enough to meet the NCAA D1-A attendance criteria............so maybe some of the ideas that have sprung from this board from many of you should at least be looked at (whether they are used or not)?

Of course, the Todd Dodge hire has (and will) continue to create very much intial interest from many "rarely seen thru past years" borderline-type fans, but large crowd-producing college athletic promotions in the DFW Metroplex should be considered almost a "no brainer" and bare minimum requirment since the entertainment dollar is already wafer thin.

Just my .02 with all this and I believe this is still what this forum is all about, right? Once its not, someone please do let me know. NOTE: What our past media guides will tell us about our athletic program's across the board varsity team records the last quarter century pretty well backs up most everything I've posted for those who would dare to check those guides (and W/L) records out. Sorry, I wish I could say its all been a Sunday School picnic up there the last 2 1/2 decades in Denton and that we've lost so, so many athtletic employees who made our program excel to the Big Boys, but then that would be a bit fictitious, now wouldn't it?

Edited February 17, 2007 by PlummMeanGreen

[DeepGreen]

BACK TO NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS: Many of us as NT Exes back in that day would asked this question to each other : Why Stephen "F"(reakin') Austin going to the top (nationally) with any varsity program and not us...........no, uh, North Texas? What the hell we doing wrong in Denton? Answer to that question: What we were doing wrong in Denton for most of the last quarter of a century (if not all of it) was just merely hiring D-II personnel who had no business being in Denton and staying in Denton trying to make us a viable NCAA D1-A program. Were all these nice guys we hired at UNT during all those decades? Sure they were nice guys but most of you old timers remember what former MLB manager Leo Durocher used to say about nice guys, right?

This pretty much sums up what many feel has being going on at NT. Smoke and mirrors. But, it takes money to hire the right people that can get the job done the right way. The sad part is NT has never received the financial support from the Alumni base on a continual basis that kept the athletic program going at a higher level. The window of opportunity clearly shows Todd Dodge as the standard bearer for athletic success at NT. But financial success can only come from successful athletic teams. Too many followers have come and gone because of lackluster hires and non-competitive teams due to what Plummer pointed out in the quote above.