Attendance?

[Eagle1855]

You have to understand that this isn't the 60's or 70's anymore. People usually don't have UNT as their first choice of college(it was mine though). Many flunk out at Tech, UT, OU, A&M, or elsewhere and then enroll at UNT to get their stuff back together. Some come because it's close and they don't want to be far from home. Some have friends or girlfriend/boyfriends who go and just follow suit. One thing is for sure, nobody(or a ridiculously small percentage) goes to North Texas these days because they've grown up following the football program and dreaming of playing at Fout's someday. When I was growing up playing touch football (in Houston), you were a Longhorn or an Aggie and that was in the Andre Ware days when UH was killing people. When I moved to Dallas, that changed from Aggie/Longhorn, to Longhorn/Sooner. Until the program builds on success and kids grow up bleeding green, the majority of your student population can take it or leave it(Mean Green Football games).

This is actually a series of really good points.

I grew up in Houston around the same time. My first college game was a UH game with Andre Ware at the helm. Had very similar experiences, and it isn't something a lot of people that grew up in the DFW understand (with respects to UNT). For whatever reason, UNT was my first choice too. I only applied to Tech and UNT (because I didn't want to live in or near Houston). I decided I had no interest in Lubbock, so it was on to Denton.

As much as it sucks to hear, there is truth to the part about this not being a school of people's first choice. I didn't learn that til I moved to Denton and realized 75% of the people I knew were from the DFW area- many of which admitted they had applied other places but didn't get in. This is not the case at A&M, UT, or Tech. This is also not to say that things aren't changing- they clearly are- but that doesn't mean it isn't a reality with which we have to deal.

I believe in UNT and the progress it is making both academically and athletically. I also believe in the vision of the leaders of our University. The school has already grown up ten fold since I started in 99. Just a walk through campus is a completely different experience (though as I learned during the MTSU game, still conjures many of the same fond memories).

All of this talk comparing us to crowds at games with well-established football tradition is really unfair. We aren't there- yet. They have had a half-century (or more) head start. As far as Im concerned, the University all but neglected athletics until RV was brought in (love him or hate him). That's a pretty significant deficit to make up, and we're paying for it now.

This doesn't mean we cant expect a lot out of our students, alumni, and local fans- we SHOULD. I just don't think it's fair to hold them to the same standards you do a place like Oklahoma or Texas where football has been a tradition for a century. We should also expect a lot out of our coaches, our administrators and our professors because we should strive for excellence in EVERYTHING we do.

So be proud to be Green and stop with the personal attacks on our own! Everyone has a reason for why they couldn't be there, and they are all valid because the are all personal reasons!

I believe there are still great things in store... Go Mean Green.

Edited November 27, 2007 by Eagle1855

[Quoner]

Fun flashback - in the mid 1990s, you could buy coupons for $5 Texas endzone tickets at HEB because the games didn't sell out. Some of those tickets now retail for $100 no matter what weekend they play.

Like it or not, people are idiots - and the majority only really care if they see a winner. To put this even simpler, just watch how the game crowds evolve during the movie Major League.