Stadium Video

[eppy4life]

What hisses me off about the whole thing was the drumline. Were they not told what was going on? Does the athletic department not know what the band does every game? How was this not thought through? What if you march the band on the field like normal and then announce the video while they stand there and wait to begin their show? The only way you saw or noticed the video was if you were looking for it.

On a side note, that new stadium's going to look great on NCAA 2011!

[jdennis82]

as frustrated as i was by the drumline situation, i can't be upset looking back at it because their decision to play their songs 1000 times faster than normal during the fourth quarter was pretty funny.

also, the situation on the field created a less than ideal scenario for debuting that video anyway.

[trud1966]

So somebody please tell me UNT is going to have a link to that video and place it on the Web. Or would that be too easy?

[JesseMartin]

Sure we do. Aqua Viridis is a good fan. We don't all have to agree to come here and be fans

It's still a weird quote. If people want to pay for a stadium, it's their choice. And if the students vote for a stadium fee, what else would we "invest" the money in?

[GoMeanGreen1999]

So somebody please tell me UNT is going to have a link to that video and place it on the Web. Or would that be too easy?

It will probably be on the Premium board, but you might have to ask some of those who watch the games online to figure out how to actually get it to work.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I was like, "Is that Hayden Fry?!?!"

No one was paying attention.

This program has no excuse to not be competitive, and yet at every opportunity and every knock on the door it seems like a higher power just pisses on us. Pieces fall apart, plans don't go as expected.

And I'm emotionally detaching myself until conference and maybe longer. I'm just so exhausted. I can find every reason in the world to continue to be optimistic, and then 3 hours and a game later I'm eating my words. This is not me quitting the game; rather, I'm putting the controller down to watch someone else play.

I'll be there every step of the way with my body and money, but for now I can't be the cheerleader.

Thanks for the brat, Greek. Nice to meet you MeanMag.

Do you see 3 teams on our schedule based on what you have seen this year, that we can beat? I hear you on what you are saying.

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

I have to share this story because I feel that it represents a portion of our students:

This drunk or halfway drunk guy - we'll call him Idiot - came up to our tailgate section and started talking to us. After a while my friend said "and what can your degree do to get us a new stadium", Idiot replied "well I dont think we need a new stadium because we can't fill the one up now". I said "well...maybe we can't fill it up now because people know how crappy it is and don't want to come to the games", Idiot replied "no people don't come because we have a sorry football team". I said "well...maybe we have a sorry football team because we can't get recruits here because our facilities are so out dated". Idiot said "I dont think that is the case". So I said "so you enjoy watching football games in Fouts field and the track doesn't bother you sitting so far away or anything?". Idiot said "well I have actually never watched a football game in there"...Idiot, knowing he had slipped up, quickly said "but I have watched track meets in there"....I said "Oh yeah that is nice having the track so close to the seats so you can see all the action up close huh"...Idiot said "yeah". So I said "well it isn't so nice when you're trying to watch a football game in the middle of that huge track and have to look through a track to do so".

Turns out Idiot is one of those people that just sits out in the parking lot during the games and has NEVER even been in to watch a game. I wanted to punch him in the groin.

[UNTflyer]

Simple fix to that problem:

BAN TAILGATING AFTER KICKOFF

[DeepGreen]

It will probably be on the Premium board, but you might have to ask some of those who watch the games online to figure out how to actually get it to work.

Good luck on that on the Premium Board. Many of us were PO'ed because the video streaming was not working on the Premium last night. I'll be cancelling my subscription in the morning.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Good luck on that on the Premium Board. Many of us were PO'ed because the video streaming was not working on the Premium last night. I'll be cancelling my subscription in the morning.

Nice to hear that they were able to fix the same problems they seem to have had last season.

[bobelok]

What video? I was sitting at the 50 yard line and saw no stadium video...

http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42667

[trud1966]

What hisses me off about the whole thing was the drumline. Were they not told what was going on? Does the athletic department not know what the band does every game? How was this not thought through? What if you march the band on the field like normal and then announce the video while they stand there and wait to begin their show? The only way you saw or noticed the video was if you were looking for it.

On a side note, that new stadium's going to look great on NCAA 2011!

The very sad answer to that is probably NO, they probably were NOT told to hold off on playing anything because UNT was about to unveil the biggest capital venture campaign in it's history for the future of the program and this university. Yes, all it would have taken is an email to the Band Director telling him to hold off between this time and that time so everyone could focus on this very important video. It's obvious, simple and common sense, but I'd lay money, nobody in Athletics thought of this, or if they did, just didnt play it out or think it through in their mind. I dont blame the band for this. It was poor coordination on whoever is in charge of managing the entire game day operations.

Edited September 8, 2008 by trud1966

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

It's still a weird quote. If people want to pay for a stadium, it's their choice. And if the students vote for a stadium fee, what else would we "invest" the money in?

I'll be sounding like a broken record by now, but the amount of money needed for a stadium could buy a recognized and successful big conference college head coach along with securing top-notch assistants, for several years. This would have a much more profound and immediate impact than the stadium. I do very much want them to build a stadium without a track around the field. If we took the significant step up in coaching, though, the stadium will surely follow. I'm not exactly sure what will follow from the stadium. Can you be so sure?

This should not be taken as coming down on the current coaches either. I know they have a lot to offer and are giving it everything they've got, and in Coach Dodge's case in particular, this is quite literally true. I just don't think NT went the right direction (and I have said so from the start) and now with the stadium it is the cart before the horse. These are large-scale missteps that will keep the program down for a long time. It is painful to watch. You fixate on this stadium because it is so easy to get caught up in it, but it is unfortunately a distraction.

[UNTflyer]

Well let's be clear here...

The student referendum will be to create a dedicated athletics fee AND to set that fee at more than three times our current fee revenue.

So, we'll be laying the foundation for a well-funded athletics department. The fee will enable the BOR to raise it when required and not rely on the students to raise the student services fee.

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

We do not need you on go mean green.com!

I'm sorry that you feel that way, and I appreciate Nightmare's defense. This should be an open forum, and except for that crazy tulsa nut, everyone on here wants what is best for North Texas. I agree there would be clear benefits to having a new stadium. I happen to believe, though, that much more significant and immediate benefits would be achieved by using that same money to take an entirely different approach to our coaching staff. We just don't have a big-league coaching staff. That's a lot bigger problem than the stadium, and I think it would cost less actually, to fix it.

[UNTflyer]

Aquila, I for one think you should post what you think!

But I will say that the stadium is a more urgent need. It is a money pit, and every year it costs more and more to run a game. I certainly agree that coaching needs to be addressed. More money will help, and a new stadium will bring in more money along with the fee increase.

Keep in mind that this stadium will be financed for probably 10 years, so we don't have to come up with all the money up front. We will be voting for an athletics fee, not just a stadium.

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

Aquila, I for one think you should post what you think!

But I will say that the stadium is a more urgent need. It is a money pit, and every year it costs more and more to run a game. I certainly agree that coaching needs to be addressed. More money will help, and a new stadium will bring in more money along with the fee increase.

Keep in mind that this stadium will be financed for probably 10 years, so we don't have to come up with all the money up front. We will be voting for an athletics fee, not just a stadium.

Thanks. You've done great work on this, and the clarification is a good point. It comes down to this, it does not make any sense for NT to not have competitive Division 1 sports, including football. This is part of being a major competitive university (and it is in many important ways a competition). What are the alternatives? Have disgraceful sports programs? NO. Have no sports programs? NO. If we are going to have sports programs, in this day and age, they need to enhance the big school's reputation. There is no denying this in our culture. Hardly anyone would know, for example, if North Texas had, say, the worst astrology program of any major university. (I didn't say 'astronomy' cause I don't want to give anyone any false impressions. To be honest, I don't know how they rank. And I'm assuming we don't have an astrology program.) However, if you have a really bad Division 1 football program, lots of people know. That being the case, the school, the students, the alumni, the community should do whatever is reasonably possible to ensure we have good athletics programs, most importantly football.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I guess some of you are not into multi-tasking. If we fixed one problem at a time we'd never get through the list. There's more than one hole in the dike. We have to put a competitave team on the field AND build a new stadium.

The team could be competitive by conference time. I know, we've heard that before and seen it acted out. This time though I think that it's true. As pathetic as it was there was improvement and we were missing at least four starters. We had a better rushing defense than Tulsa but our pass defense was atrocious, giving up big play after big play. One fumble by the special teams gave them an easy touchdown and another questionable fumble stopped a drive. We had twice as many penalties as Tulsa did but still only 60 yards. Talking about a new coach and staff is unthinkable at this time. Even with his 2-12 record (soon to be 2-14), I still trust Todd Dodge. He has the knowledge and character to succeed but it's a helluva adjustment going from high school to college coaching. We'll have to give him a little time.

The video presentation was poorly handled but there were plenty of posters and flyers available and the model concept looked great. The video was fine and will be presented in a better setting numberous times. The stadium needs to happen for several reasons. It will give the football team a better sense of pride which increases the incentive to win. If the Dallas Cowboys played oin a cow pasture I'd predict they wouldn't do nearly as well. It will make the fans feel better and more likely to donate back to the university in the future. If we had the new stadium five years ago we'd likely be in CUSA today, playing universities that we grew up knowing of. A beautiful new stadium would identify North Texas as a major university, We add nice buildings and landscaping to attract better students and have one of the most visible buildings (Fouts) on campus look like a dump.

Improving the team would certainly improve our chances of donors and attendance for the new stadium but if we don't have that luxury we can't stop to fix one problem and expect the other not to worsen. We need both the new stadium and a vastly improved football and we need both ASAP.

[UNTflyer]

There's more than one hole in the dike.

That's what she said!

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

I guess some of you are not into multi-tasking. If we fixed one problem at a time we'd never get through the list. There's more than one hole in the dike. We have to put a competitave team on the field AND build a new stadium.

The team could be competitive by conference time. I know, we've heard that before and seen it acted out. This time though I think that it's true. As pathetic as it was there was improvement and we were missing at least four starters. We had a better rushing defense than Tulsa but our pass defense was atrocious, giving up big play after big play. One fumble by the special teams gave them an easy touchdown and another questionable fumble stopped a drive. We had twice as many penalties as Tulsa did but still only 60 yards. Talking about a new coach and staff is unthinkable at this time. Even with his 2-12 record (soon to be 2-14), I still trust Todd Dodge. He has the knowledge and character to succeed but it's a helluva adjustment going from high school to college coaching. We'll have to give him a little time.

The video presentation was poorly handled but there were plenty of posters and flyers available and the model concept looked great. The video was fine and will be presented in a better setting numberous times. The stadium needs to happen for several reasons. It will give the football team a better sense of pride which increases the incentive to win. If the Dallas Cowboys played oin a cow pasture I'd predict they wouldn't do nearly as well. It will make the fans feel better and more likely to donate back to the university in the future. If we had the new stadium five years ago we'd likely be in CUSA today, playing universities that we grew up knowing of. A beautiful new stadium would identify North Texas as a major university, We add nice buildings and landscaping to attract better students and have one of the most visible buildings (Fouts) on campus look like a dump.

Improving the team would certainly improve our chances of donors and attendance for the new stadium but if we don't have that luxury we can't stop to fix one problem and expect the other not to worsen. We need both the new stadium and a vastly improved football and we need both ASAP.

If a way can be found to build a nice stadium AND triple what NT can pay for football coaches, that would certainly be what the students and community deserve.

[trud1966]

I'm sorry that you feel that way, and I appreciate Nightmare's defense. This should be an open forum, and except for that crazy tulsa nut, everyone on here wants what is best for North Texas. I agree there would be clear benefits to having a new stadium. I happen to believe, though, that much more significant and immediate benefits would be achieved by using that same money to take an entirely different approach to our coaching staff. We just don't have a big-league coaching staff. That's a lot bigger problem than the stadium, and I think it would cost less actually, to fix it.

I'll field this one because I work in architecture. Granted, we dont do huge scale stuff like stadiums, but the concept of remodeling the stadium is similar. Alot of people ask the fair question, what would it take to "fix" or remodel Fouts? Fair enough. Not sure EXACTLY what UNT explored, but conventionally it would probably be something like this...

First identify the biggest problems, which we all know are MOSTLY (and yes, I realize there's probably 150 reasons, I'm just commenting on the big ticket items)

The Track needs to go, it causes the stands to be too far away from the playing field.

The lower level seats are too low elevation in reference to the playing field causing poor visibility.

The endzone seats are far too far away. Again, because of the track.

So, we simply fix this, right? Here's how you'd "FIX" this...

1. You'd leave the East side stands in place, as is, for now.

2. Demolish/Remove the ENTIRE West Side stands, along with the track, the exisitng playing field and all of the aluminum bleachers.

3. Excavate out the the playing field area so that you can depress the elevation of this field downward and addition 5-10 feet below what it currently is now.

4. Begin construction of the new field and NEW West side stands, End Zone Stands, Pressbox and ammenities now 150 feet (give or take) CLOSER to the East side of the stands (which we left existing in line #1)

5. Also, dont forget, we now depressed the playing field down 5-10 feet from the existing surface, so that means we have to deal with adding a new wall BELOW the existing East Side Stands we're leaving in place, for now.

6. Remodel all of the parking on the West Side of the standium against 35 because you've just gained 150 more feet of parking lot on that side.

7. All this and get it done in the off time of ONE off season. The existing East Side stands would be left in place for now, but this scenario allows UNT to demolish and remodel those stands 5 years down the line.

So to summarize, if you read that very simplied scenario, you're basically re-building about 85% of the stadium to accomplish the goals that would make it an efficient stadium.

Folks, that's one pricey, major ass-haulin "Fix", that would probably amount to spending about 85% of the New Stadium Budget. It only makes sense to raise the money and DO IT RIGHT.

[pollock]

Simple fix to that problem:

BAN TAILGATING AFTER KICKOFF

Whoa, tap the brakes on that buddy. Ban it for the first quarter if you want but I need something to do when it's 42-7 at halftime.

[VideoEagle]

Whoa, tap the brakes on that buddy. Ban it for the first quarter if you want but I need something to do when it's 42-7 at halftime.

I went to the deck.

[Mean Green 93-98]

I'll field this one because I work in architecture. Granted, we dont do huge scale stuff like stadiums, but the concept of remodeling the stadium is similar. Alot of people ask the fair question, what would it take to "fix" or remodel Fouts? Fair enough. Not sure EXACTLY what UNT explored, but conventionally it would probably be something like this...

First identify the biggest problems, which we all know are MOSTLY (and yes, I realize there's probably 150 reasons, I'm just commenting on the big ticket items)

The Track needs to go, it causes the stands to be too far away from the playing field.

The lower level seats are too low elevation in reference to the playing field causing poor visibility.

The endzone seats are far too far away. Again, because of the track.

So, we simply fix this, right? Here's how you'd "FIX" this...

1. You'd leave the East side stands in place, as is, for now.

2. Demolish/Remove the ENTIRE West Side stands, along with the track, the exisitng playing field and all of the aluminum bleachers.

3. Excavate out the the playing field area so that you can depress the elevation of this field downward and addition 5-10 feet below what it currently is now.

4. Begin construction of the new field and NEW West side stands, End Zone Stands, Pressbox and ammenities now 150 feet (give or take) CLOSER to the East side of the stands (which we left existing in line #1)

5. Also, dont forget, we now depressed the playing field down 5-10 feet from the existing surface, so that means we have to deal with adding a new wall BELOW the existing East Side Stands we're leaving in place, for now.

6. Remodel all of the parking on the West Side of the standium against 35 because you've just gained 150 more feet of parking lot on that side.

7. All this and get it done in the off time of ONE off season. The existing East Side stands would be left in place for now, but this scenario allows UNT to demolish and remodel those stands 5 years down the line.

So to summarize, if you read that very simplied scenario, you're basically re-building about 85% of the stadium to accomplish the goals that would make it an efficient stadium.

Folks, that's one pricey, major ass-haulin "Fix", that would probably amount to spending about 85% of the New Stadium Budget. It only makes sense to raise the money and DO IT RIGHT.

From what I have heard (I imagine on this board, so not necessarily authoritative), #3 is not possible because of the water table.

[GreenBrigadeDebbie]

I am willing to place money on the fact that the band was not told of the video. I know Mr. Williams would have told the drumline to put a sock in it when the video came on had he known about the video. So if there is anyone to blame for this, it is the athletic department for not communicating their plans to the unveiling of the video if this was the case. Besides, from what I have read (was not at the game), there was no special introduction to the video, so how was everyone to know when to watch the screen, including the band?????? My next question is, since this video is pretty important, why was there no special introduction to get everyone's attention? I know when I am at the games, I pretty much ignore the screen until the lineups are on and so do many others on the students side. So introductions to important things like the stadium video is vital!!!

My point is: so unless you know the whole story (i.e. did the athletic dept communicate the video to the band director prior to the game or not) do not accuse anyone for doing or not doing something.