2009: A Big Year For Denton

UNT_playmaker · May 29, 2007

WOW! By reading some of the comments and responses to this post I feel we are a bunch of fighting women. I can see both sides but this post I think is really nice....this only helps both universities and the city of Denton which frankly needs more than what it has now in my opinion. These are the things that create the face of our school, atmosphere, city etc. UT is PHENOMENAL and all but if you take out the capital and the whole arts thing then you would have another ordinary spared affair town/city with a marvelous school. Being a UNT alum it makes me proud to see good posts like this. Moreover we are almost in June and there just aint a whole heep going on with UNT and what not. Another fact you can put to the list is the RTVF department is teaming/collaborating with the American Film Institute as AFI is opening a big branch in Dallas. Thats huge for the department and huge for the exposure of the school even. Also NT will have its first ever annual like film festival in September in which several big name guests will attend and guess what....its going to be in Denton (Atleast as of last month). To me thats huge news and any good and positive news like this should be commended and though I cant say all of this is new which was posted, we needed to keep on hearing it so it doesnt go away and the fever and excitement will stay. I dont know this is all just my opinion.

Apparently UNTfan23 thinks that this is a thread that is toxic because it is dumb and it contains tired old news that should just go away because it is a subject matter that he doesnt seem to understand or comprehend with at the moment.

Thanks for the kind words, I believe that almost all of the replies on here have been positive towards this posting. It was meant to point out all of the positives that are coming along soon and also the one BIG negative that will continue to be a problem for the MEAN GREEN.

Bryan316 · May 29, 2007

The Staples is going into one of the two spots created by the old Target shell. Is the new Circuit City going in the other one? They always have great first-day-release prices, but the gas for the trip to Lewisville erases the savings.

UNT_playmaker · May 30, 2007

Yes Bryan,

Circuit City is confimed to be in the larger section of the bldg, but not announced to the public as of yet. Staples will be a Junior Anchor, and there will be a remainig 16,000 sf that is being negoitated to another unknown tenant, I am hoping its a Party City. We need on in Denton.

Rayzor Ranch announced Chico's and Blackwater Apparel.

I have the 411 on these things because I work in Real Estate and get tidbits that are passed along my way.

stebo · May 30, 2007

Playmaker/Alex,

Pick up the phone. Call RV (or e-mail him) and ask him these questions yourself. I did. The answers that I got satisfied me. Why are they not publicized? We do not want to advertise our lowlights to media outlets and other teams that recruit against us. It is as simple as that. You get sooooo freaking angry, but the fact is - you make up a group of people (a small group that I thank the lord is not organized) that expect too much, too soon. 5 years ago we were on the verge of losing our entire program. Now we... well, I am not going to go through the list.... but we are a viable conference member, with a IA budget. We were able to buy out a contract worth $567,000 to get rid of a coach and another couple hundred grand for the assistants/coordinators. On top of that we hired a new coach at the highest salary ever paid to a football coach in NT history. Do you think that we would have been able to do that if RV didn't have his sh!t together? The man has a plan. We are waiting on a few things to come together. We hope that they will come together sooner then later. Call or e-mail RV. Don't be hostile, just tell him who you are - agree to keep the items that you discuss off of the board, and have a nice talk with him. I think that you will walk away happy. Good things are on the horizon for NT.

As for a big Spring announcement. That is board fodder. It was alluded to and people just took it to be true. There was an announcement, it came much earlier then Spring. It was the donation to start the campaign. That campaign is being put together with that money. Maybe it is not as fancy as you want it to be but that $1.5 million was the largest donation in the history of NT athletics. RV has now scored three of those donations (in the 7 figure range). Before RV had come along, the largest donation on the books for NT was $230K and was from Ben E Keith (a company) to help underwrite the stadium expansion for our move back up to IA. The year that RV arrived in Denton, there were 52 paying members of the Mean Green Club. Most had their memberships thrown in because of some sort of advertising deal that they had worked out. Total donations for the last year of Helwig - $57K.

Your generation knows nothing but success and has no concept of how far we have come. You also do not know that RV was instrumental in turning this bus around. He was talking about the Athletic Center and being laughed at when he first got here. Not at North Texas he was told. Now look at our facilities, besides the lack of a new football stadium - we have some of the best facilities in the country. Our facilities are just as nice as many lower level BCS schools. We have done all of this on a shoe-string budget and through quiet negotiations.

Why quiet negotiations? First of all, nobody on this fan board is entitled to know anything about the negotiations going on at the moment. You seem to think that you do, but you don't. Even still, if you would be a man and call RV, I would be willing to bet that he would take you to lunch and tell you exactly how things are coming along. Why do we keep things quiet? Well, if you make too much noise in Denton about a project, you WILL get it killed. The academic community still runs the University and we are coming off some pretty harsh scandals with teachers and tenures and salaries. We do not want to give those groups any ammunition. I will leave it at that. As for the quarterly meetings, RV has come on here and explained it a million times. I guess that I will reiterate what he posted the LAST time someone asked him. If there is news to be released, it will be released immediately now - not in a quarterly fashion. On top of that, you can always click on the "Ask RV" button on the NT website. The meetings were designed to give NT fans a look at how bad of shape that we were in and how much help we needed to get out of that situation. We have dug ourselves out of the hole and are now on to bigger and better things. No other major project is being worked on right now other then the stadium. But we have a new coach and we have our fingers crossed. 5,000 showed up for the Spring game, which is 4,950 more then I have ever seen at a Spring game. The stadium is being worked on so settle down.

Now, how many more months until this gets posted again? Should I save this response to a Word document? Nah, I doubt this will get through to Alex or any other RV haters. I challenge you to call or e-mail RV and simply ask him for a meeting to talk about NT. He will oblige you if you are a season ticket holder. If you aren't happy at the end of that meeting, then come back and complain. But don't go off of internet speculation and rumours. Even the papers get things wrong or blown out of proportion. The big announcement took place. You didn't think it was big enough. Go figure. When they announce that the new stadium is breaking ground, Plumm will complain that it is too small and Adler will complain about the design. What's new? You can't make everyone happy. Especially at North Texas where people feel "entitled" to know everything about the dealings of the athletic department.

By the way, if you were to call the AD at UT or A&M and ask them to have lunch with you, they would laugh you off the phone (unless you were a million dollar donor - and then they would put you in a line). I bet that you don't make the call. I bet that you continue to take the low road and choose sucker punches on a message board like a coward. Next year, Emmitt and I can once again contemplate as to whether or not we will even let you play in the GMG flag football game because quite frankly - nobody really wanted you there. There - you took sucker punches at my friend RV, I will take a sucker punch at you. Call the man, then come here and cry. Until then you are crying wolf.

Edited May 30, 2007 by stebo

stebo · May 30, 2007

By the way, the "source" for that big stadium announcement was a recruit. I don't think that RV would mind me sharing that. They (the newly hired staff working under the latest information) painted a picture of the future of NT athletics to the new recruits that we were trying to get to sign up and the recruit got a little loose with his talking about NT about why he signed with us. Another recruit also said that this had been pitched to him. Those are your "sources"... do you even remember? From there, everything took off and it officially became "RV promised this" and "RV promised that". Well, I don't know what was promised to recruits. I know that it has never been promised publicly, just envisioned. Don't take a couple of 17 year old's word on something, they were just being recruited and are just excited to be playing for North Texas... ask those questions yourself.

Edited May 30, 2007 by stebo

UNT_92_Fan · May 30, 2007

:blowup: BURN

I heart Stebo

Stan R · May 30, 2007

Some great points Stebo, and I hear and believe most of what you said in your posts. I also believe RV is one of the best if not the best AD at NT EVER. However....

Why would you (any athletic dept) not come out and put a goal date out for breaking ground? If what you say is true and I believe it is - why not shoot for a goal? What criteria do you put forth to determine when it makes sense to set a date? When you have it 50% funded? 70%? Or do you just come out and say - YIPPEEE!! We have it fully funded! We break ground tomorrow!

UNT_92_Fan · May 30, 2007

I think the fact that the school is still academically driven and the athletic department is still the ugly stepchild in the sight of the professors and academic schools (not so much the admin) keeping what is being done on the down low is a must do. If RV came out and said I am 75% to my goal of 15 million or how ever much then I just see it...as stebo stated...starting an uprise in the university because they are not too supportive.

Daddy Dumpsalot · May 30, 2007

starting an uprise in the university because they are not too supportive.

Why would this start an uprise in the University? It is not like the students are directly paying for it, outisde of what they already pay in fees. If anything I would think this sort of annoucement would start a positive uprise in the community and get everyone excited about a new stadium and get people on board with the athletic department.

I hear ppl say that we have some of the best facilities in the nation...I just dont see it: I see facilities that will get us by for the time being, that are indeed better than what we have had, but I do not think our facilities are going to be the deciding factor of a torn recruit over a low end BCS school.

I do not see how cutting corners and saving a few pennies on our facilities will show everyone we are serious about our athletics...same thing goes for the stadium. I would rather wait a few more years and do everything right than try to cut corners like the softball field and volleyball court. I understand money is the primary issue in how well something is built but instead of stretching our $10 to temporarily satisfy everyone, why not wait and get $15 to satisfy everyone for years to come...

LoveMG · May 30, 2007

By the way, the "source" for that big stadium announcement was a recruit. I don't think that RV would mind me sharing that. They (the newly hired staff working under the latest information) painted a picture of the future of NT athletics to the new recruits that we were trying to get to sign up and the recruit got a little loose with his talking about NT about why he signed with us. Another recruit also said that this had been pitched to him. Those are your "sources"... do you even remember? From there, everything took off and it officially became "RV promised this" and "RV promised that". Well, I don't know what was promised to recruits. I know that it has never been promised publicly, just envisioned. Don't take a couple of 17 year old's word on something, they were just being recruited and are just excited to be playing for North Texas... ask those questions yourself.

the recruit heard it from a coach who heard it from the AD. why not tell MGC members about the plans? BS

UNT_92_Fan · May 30, 2007

disregard asshole-ish response...bad day already

Edited May 30, 2007 by UNT_92_Fan

Daddy Dumpsalot · May 30, 2007

if you would have taken the whole post into effect you could have seen that I was referring to a statement made earlier in regards to the professors and the academic schools....

And the question still goes unanswered.

Quoner · May 30, 2007

Wow, I'm glad I laid off Playmaker a few months ago. This is going well.

UNT_92_Fan · May 30, 2007

Dude read thru stebo's post....he talks about it also.

There has been some shady shit, some controversies over tenure, as well as other things at the Uni. If we suddenly announce 15 million + for a damn stadium...whether we raised it ourself within the AD or not...Someone is gonna blow a gasket in the departments. Count on it.

I am all for this stadium but I don't need to know everytime RV buys a new seat back or endzone pylon... I just want the stadium

I am sure this isn't a good enough answer but tis all i got right now...

Edited May 30, 2007 by UNT_92_Fan

Daddy Dumpsalot · May 30, 2007

There has been some shady shit, some controversies over tenure, as well as other things at the Uni. If we suddenly announce 15 million + for a damn stadium...whether we raised it ourself within the AD or not...Someone is gonna blow a gasket in the departments. Count on it.

Cheer up, your day could be a lot worse I'm sure.

Now...

I read Stebo's post, all of it, as well as this whole thred. The question was not directed at you but to anyone who agrees that keeping everything a secret is good for the University or the Denton Community. I presented why I thought it would be a good idea to announce it publicly, not because we 'deserve' to know, but because it's positive publicity.

Someone mentioned that it was being kept a 'secret' because of the professors and academics. I don't buy that at all. First off, with how little the University supports athelitcs financially, they should have nothing to say if the athletic dept. were to raise enough money to build a new stadium or anything else in the athletic dept for that matter.

What are they going to say "We can afford to build a new stadium but not give us our well deserved raise?"...To which RV should reply, and show, how little the University has not helped out financially with anything regarding to athletics, and maybe even show how cutting the athletic budget almost killed the program and put some hot coals over the heads of some. It was the athletic dept. promoting it and receiving gifts that made this possible...His as well as the whole depts hand are washed and clean.

But maybe I'm wrong.

stebo · May 31, 2007

Probably because we will fund this stadium much like we funded our other projects. Through student fees and loans from the BOR. The new athletic fee that was put into place has served us well. That extra $3.7 million per year has done a lot to help us become Title IX compliant for the first time ever as well as overhaul every single facility EXCEPT Fouts. Heck, even Fouts got a jumbotron and new turf. Now that we have caught up, we can start putting some of those fees towards bonding of a stadium.... essentially having students guarantee the note. Now, do you advertise this to ANYONE at North Texas? There will be articles all over the Daily about reducing the fee because it has served its purpose and should now go away. You forget that just a few years back - during the middle of our so-called "dynasty" - our student body came out in record numbers to VOTE DOWN an athletic fee that would have BUILT the stadium. So we have had to go about this very slowly, using super duper top secret loans from the BOR that we don't have to pay back. We have also used that increased fee that our BOR forced on the student body after they had just voted it down. I don't really want to go into too much detail because some a-hole from the Daily might be reading this forum... but the fee is stll coming in, our student population keeps going up... and we have accomplished all of the goals that the original fee was put into place to take care of. Now we can get creative. Like I said, if you think that RV is such a liar - don't be a coward, pick up the phone... invite him to a free lunch and LISTEN.

As for a recruit commenting on a new stadium somehow being blamed on the AD... gimme a freaking break. We will have a new stadium, it is on its way. The AD didn't lie to a coach who in turn lied to a player... an excited 17 year old kid wanted to brag about the new school that he just signed to play for. Plain and freaking simple as that.

JayDub · May 31, 2007

This and most other threads right now are becoming such asswhip.

I think it may be time for me to power-down and slip into dry dock for a little while.

Who's comin' with me?

Green Mean · May 31, 2007

I cant say I really have a set opinion and/or vision on this new stadium other than hope. I know one thing for sure that most rumours dont generally come out of somebody's arse. They come from somewhere and they atleast have some sort of merit to them. Its like human stereotypes.....we all know they arent politically correct but you know what, most of them actually have some truth to them in some form or another.

As to NT, RV and all that it implies. I believe that the university has a duty to inform the public as much as possible on whats going on with our school. We need to be informed and thats just a simple as that. In the end it is a state university that gets funded by the states tax payers. In my opnion I believe RV needs to come out and say what the hecks going on because i've heard about this so called stadium for like 4 years now!! A video was made, a contractor was considered to build it....and now its as if there was never such talk of the stadium. If they havent raised a dime for the stadium yet then by golly dont be ashamed because it is reality. If they have half of it then come out and say it. BUT WE NEED TO BE INFORMED!!. Someone was talking about teachers tenure and etc and yes that is a pretty big deal but you are trying to keep them happy vs. 35K potential students, all the hundreds of thousands of alums worldwide, and the possibility of the sky being the limit for this program? I"m sorry but I dont buy any of that. Theres something fishy going on here and I believe it needs to come out. I understand things take time but I feel that RV is another John Hart (former Rangers GM) in that you just NEVER hear from the guy or see him unless something was done such a donation or transaction. The more we reach out to the world, the more the world will open their arms for us. UNT NEEDS TO BECOME A WHORE JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER HUGE UNIVERSITY OUT THERE!! Come out and market this puppy, go to each and every donor, home, corporation, business and get something whether its 5 cents for 5 million dollars. And yes I am a believer that its better to wait and get something done right rather than being fast and regretting it later. So again I am not saying we need to know the deep deep deep secrets of whats going on but in stuff like this RV and his clan needs to reach out to every Tom, Dick and Harry and inform us in what the hells going on with this athletics department. Its bad enough that people done care about NT sports but if this continues on forever then even the loyal fans will start disappearing one by one and we surely dont wanna see that.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Green Mean

stebo · May 31, 2007

Man, I hear you bro. I hadn't posted a thing since the GMG bowl but I just couldn't let the dipshits continue to smear our Athletic Department. How can you be a North Texas fan and NOT know these fundamental things about the "state" of North Texas and North Texas politics. Comparing our school to a new Circuit City pushed me over the edge. As far as I am concerned, it is recruiting season year round right now and we don't need our own (uninformed) fans undermining the coaches and staff that work their butts off for our entertainment. The thing is... the people that are getting smeared get paid way less then most of us but we rely on them for so much... If guys like Playmaker would just donate as much as they complain then we would have a new stadium by next Saturday.

UNTFan23 · May 31, 2007

Stebo, that student fee was for women's sports. I forget the exact amount but it help pay for the majority of the expenses of the women's sports we offer. The fee that was in place before the fee that was added in 200? can be used for all other athletic related expenses, whatever they might be.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least that we are saving a portion of the fee.

stebo · May 31, 2007

Stebo, that student fee was for women's sports. I forget the exact amount but it help pay for the majority of the expenses of the women's sports we offer. The fee that was in place before the fee that was added in 200? can be used for all other athletic related expenses, whatever they might be.
It wouldn't surprise me in the least that we are saving a portion of the fee.

There is no exact budgeting of the student fees for athletics. We were in DESPERATE need to get compliant with women's facilities. We had the school buy the Liberty Christian property (smart move that save the athletic dept tons of dough) and then we upgraded everything. The fee was passed by the BOR in order to get us compliant and to help to fund the Title IX issues. We haven't added any sports, we were already funding those sports. We have used the fees collected wisely and gotten every single facililty SOME sort of facelift. Now the extra fees can be used for whatever the budget needs. The smart thing was getting all of the Title IX stuff out of the way first. Now nobody can come back and say that we threw everything into men's sports. And yes, you are correct. We already had a fee in place. If someone wants to get extra picky then the AD can just say that the new fee is supporting Title IX sports on its own and the old fees are what they are using to upgrade Fouts into a new stadium. It is not a crazy request, the facility is over 50 years old... but it would have been an unreasonable request to replace a current structure for a football program when the programs like Softball and Volleyball did not even have locker rooms a couple years ago. Their coaches didn't have offices. They had ZERO facilities. Our soccer team was playing on the intramural fields. Our softball team was playing at a City of Denton park. Our Volleyball program floated, they played wherever they could find space that day (women's basketball would usually be using the Snake Pit when the men were practicing).

As for timetables at North Texas. Bad Idea. If you have been around for ANY campaign, you would know that. The freaking Green Seats in the Super Pit campaign took like 3 years. Our "new" Athletic Center was orginally going to be over at the old facilities plant across the road from Fouts (up against Cement City). That ws the original plan. It had a nice big poster with a picture on it and a thermometer for funding and all of that. Well, when we didn't hit the timetable, people gave up. Then fans thought it was a pipedream/joke and that if they were to donate for it then they would be a "sucker" - because they money would just go to repainting Fouts again. The same exact thing happens with a timetable placed on a stadium. If you don't hit the date, then everyone thinks that they do not need to donate because "its never gonna happen" and then you REALLY have a problem. That is when you have to fund the entire thing in house like we ended up funding the Athletic Center.

You guys seem to think that RV and his staff haven't gone over every single possible scenario already. They know Denton now. They Know North Texas. They know the politics. Only a fool would promise a timetable for a stadium with our fanbase. You have to finesse the money out of our fans. And you have to fund in house through bonding, fees, and donations. We are doing ALL of these things every single day. When the majority is raised, you will get a final public phase where you can buy your own locker or seat. It will happen.... we just haven't gotten there yet.

Daddy Dumpsalot · May 31, 2007

We are doing ALL of these things every single day.

Stebo how are you involved in the athletic dept and particularly this project? And how can other people get involved besides donating?

stebo · June 1, 2007

Stebo how are you involved in the athletic dept and particularly this project? And how can other people get involved besides donating?

I just am friends with the guy that was in charge of development when the University had a rep working the the Athletic Department. Also, I know RV - he knows me - and I have asked him some of the same questions that are being brought up here. I was on SA (before it became SGA) that voted to move us back to IA and oversaw that move along with the old gang of fools - Sloan, Helwig, and Hurley... and I was very involved with the athletic department as a student. When I opened the Tavern on Fry Street, I became a sponsor and as a sponsor I was able to go on some of the team's trips (to the games) and stay with those guys. I have been to dinner with them in social and public settings. Hank and I have known each other since 1995, when I opened the bar. This board dates back to that time... but it was on Paradise then... then Rivals... and now is indy. A large sum of the older fans do not post here anymore but WE were the ones that brought BACK the Mean Green Club. Before us, it had been turned into a worthless fixture called the "Foundation"... The AD asked for the name back and we willingly gave it back for our love of the school and the game. These discussions have been going on and on for the last 12 years. I am not trying to toot my own horn, I usually stay pretty quiet on here. But when I see blatant lies been posted about people that I call friends and ALLIES of the program; I take offense to it. I do not mean to offend any posters but it just gets old after awhile. So old that a lot of the older posters do not even come around the board anymore.

As for the young guns on here. I admire you and embrace you. My generation got it started and we are seeing it through - but we need to quadruple in size to accomplish our goals. So... like I said.... if you are truly interested in things like stadiums; don't complain about it on a message board where recruits can see your rumblings - call the athletic director and ask him out for lunch or dinner. If you are a season ticket holder he will listen to you and probably even let you in on some of the challenges that they have faced. I am not special, I have just been around for awhile.... and I am only 35.

June 1, 2007

Holy smoke, AV. Is it the legal profession or living in Tennessee that gives you psychic powers?

It is the latter, because the same thing is happening here, and for that matter, other places I've been. That said, this is our last night living in Tennessee. We're moving to Austin, and while they have more 'exciting master planned residential communities' on the horizon than you can shake a stick at, I don't have the stomach for suburban sprawl traffic madness. Thus, we'll be living in the middle of town, where it appears they now have urban high-rise condominium madness.

Daddy Dumpsalot · June 1, 2007

It is the latter, because the same thing is happening here, and for that matter, other places I've been. That said, this is our last night living in Tennessee. We're moving to Austin, and while they have more 'exciting master planned residential communities' on the horizon than you can shake a stick at, I don't have the stomach for suburban sprawl traffic madness. Thus, we'll be living in the middle of town, where it appears they now have urban high-rise condominium madness.

Where in Austin are you moving? I am from there and agree that unless you have a helicopter it's hard to get around. It didn't used to be that way, only within the past 8 yrs or so.