Other People's Quotes

[Glad To Be Green]

I got a call about the thread on the board today that basically said that I have lied about several issues concerning the stadium project. The biggest one I guess is that we have 3 companies lined up that want the naming rights and that I also have one person that will do it but if not we'll get one of those companies to do it. Well with all due respect to the young person who posted that, I did not and never have said we have any company lined up to sign up for the stadium. During the tour a question was asked about the rest of the funding for the stadium. My response was that a naming rights sponsor would part of our funding mix and that we had commissioned a report from a company that values facilities. We know from that information that it is a great property. We as a group feel that there are one to three corporations we could approach immeadiately as soon as the project was a go. I also said I would prefer it be named after an individual but if that did not happen then we would probably have to go the corporate route. For anyone who knows anything about corporate naming of facilities those things don't usually happen until the beginning of construction or during the costruction phase. I have made that very clear on several occassions with students, donors and administration. The producers of the report confirmed that for us. I did not say what was posted, but I guess the comments of a student make that my position and my words.

Then there's the renovation of Fout's Field. No we did not have an official study done to evaluate a renovation because the University almost four years ago made the decision that the Master plan moved Fouts Field to the other side of I-35. Part of that decision was based on a number of factors but mostly keeping student based facilities and activities closer to campus. Prior to that however, there were discussions about drainage, accessibility, the ability to lower the field and other factors that led to a "new" stadium plan across the highway and not a renovation at Fouts. That was not just my decision as no project of this magnitude would be for any individual on any campus.

During this process, I have tried to keep everything transparent making information and the facility available for students. We want this decision to be made based on people knowing the right information. Because of it I've become the villian, my son has been trashed in the paper and by taking the risk and trying to bring something to this program that has been long needed yet grossly ignored instead of taking the easy route I get chastised on a regular basis. This facility and this athletic fee are sorely needed for this program to be moved forward, the thing I have tried to do since the day I got here.

If we've made a mistake somewhere, point it out as we still have the time to inform students.

[untcampbell]

It takes little skill or guts to trash people via a message board.

It takes men of character and courage to lead atheltic departments, football teams, etc.

Thanks Rick for your efforts and I ask with due respect that you continue to work to inform your most passionate, though often blindly so, fans.

Scott Campbell

Class of 1982

Flower Mound, TX

[NT91]

named after an individual ...how about YOU!!! (R.V.)

Edited October 11, 2008 by NT91

[meangreendork]

named after an individual ...how about YOU!!! (R.V.)

Do your part, Rick. All of the quotes in the world will mean nothing when the Mean Green march out on to their new stadium that YOU were a big part of.

[bstnsportsfan3]

Im sorry rick...i miss understood you then....i dont think you lied and its my bad for having posted something i thought i heard when i wasnt positive...i take full responsibility for that....I think your doing a hell of a job and i hope i didnt cause any harm... im all about the stadium passing and getting the correct info out to my fellow students.

once again my apologies...

Edited October 12, 2008 by bstnsportsfan3

[JesseMartin]

I think a lot of weirdness will go away when the vote is over. As long as it passes, which is statistically VERY probable, a lot of the "who said/did what" will likely start to fade. Then all we do is put the "cardboard thermometer" up and color it in GREEN every time Rick kicks some ass and gets more money donated.

[chrisfisher]

As always Rick, thank you for speaking directly to the members of this board. We are truly lucky to have an AD like you. I really appreciate the hard work you and your staff have put in toward bettering our athletics program (and eventually raising the value of my degree too!).

[NT03]

As always Rick, thank you for speaking directly to the members of this board. We are truly lucky to have an AD like you. I really appreciate the hard work you and your staff have put in toward bettering our athletics program (and eventually raising the value of my degree too!).

2nd that !!!

[yyz28]

...Because of it I've become the villian, my son has been trashed in the paper...

THIS is what I don't get. It is the RIGHT of any UNT fan, alumni or student to discuss and critique the athletic department, the staff and the team - but some of the crap I've seen on the Daily's website is beyond disgusting. Taking personal shots at the AD is bad enough but then to drag his son in to a discussion is beyond classless. We're lucky the baby doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater.

The internet has created a sick subculture of people who I call "keyboard cowboys". These people will say anything for shock value and to offend, and hide behind a keyboard. These are the same people who would NEVER have the gravitas to say it to your face.

RV, I can't tell you how much I and most here appriciate your efforts. There has been a waining in patience lately as this thing seems so close and many feel the future of the program itself is in the hands of students right now. I belive it will pass because you and your staff and the organizers on the pro-fee side are working so hard. This time next week, I hope we're planning the new stadium parade. If we are, we have YOU to thank for it!

Thank you for making North Texas a better place.

[akriesman]

Right on about the "Keyboard Cowboys" Scott. You can find these characters everywhere these days, not just here at NT.

[BonfireBrian]

Right on about the "Keyboard Cowboys" Scott. You can find these characters everywhere these days, not just here at NT.

I agree with everyone said here in this thread.

RV- thanks for all of your efforts to make North Texas a better athletic department and an overall better university.

[ArlingtonMeanGreen]

Rick,

Jo Ann and I think you have done a fantastic job in raising the level of UNT Athletics particularly football. We appreciate the job that you are doing.

You always have the young men and women at UNT first and that means a lot to them

The Millers will always be there if you need something

God Bless

[LoveMG]

keep fighting the good fight rv. you have more support than you know.

[UNT_playmaker]

This has nothing to do with the subject of this thread, but thanks again for bringing tailgating to NT.

Alot of people and myself included love to tailgate, and with the way things are going with the team this season, tailgating is a great way to bring people into the game who normally might not attend.

[Hunter Green]

Rick,

God knows the kinds of crap you've had to put up with and still more crap you've had to deal with since you got here. Those of us who have been around awhile know what kind of obstacles were in place and how much work it has taken to overcome a lot of it. Unfortunetly, when one is a public figure, one is also subjected to a lot of B.S. in addition to the good stuff. Please realize that 99% of us are behind you all the way. We would not be where are now without all your efforts. Thanks for all your hard work.

[rcade]

THIS is what I don't get. It is the RIGHT of any UNT fan, alumni or student to discuss and critique the athletic department, the staff and the team - but some of the crap I've seen on the Daily's website is beyond disgusting. Taking personal shots at the AD is bad enough but then to drag his son in to a discussion is beyond classless. We're lucky the baby doesn't get thrown out with the bathwater.

I don't think anyone should drag his son into a discussion about UNT athletics. That's a low blow. I know I take cracks about my family a lot worse than anything said about me.

But nobody at Go Mean Green has anything to do with how the media covered his son's arrest and the pending trial. Whatever went down that night was a pretty serious situation. A student nearly died. I think it would've been covered by the media regardless of who was involved.

[ADLER]

Greek, I have to say that I agree with Rick on this. Maybe he should have worded his response more carefully, but what he said in both his quote and in his explanation was accurate.

"We keep saying our football program sucks. Well, it does. Okay?" It does, and overall, so do several of the other athletic programs at North Texas. One post-season victory in the past 60 years in all revenue sports combined (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and baseball) indicates that the program has an established history of sucking. Alumni and the community haven't just been distancing themselves from North Texas for the past two seasons or for the past two decades, they've been keeping away for generations because nobody really believes that North Texas can really ever compete with the "big schools" of college athletics.

North Texas is horribly underfunded and can't realistically be expected to compete. During the 1980's, Oklahoma State baseball fans laughed their asses off when the North Texas baseball coach ran the concession stand between innings. The men's basketball team has only been in postseason play twice during that 60 year span; the recent 2007 team and in 1988, winning a weak Southland Conference after going 3 and 10 in non-conference play. Both teams lost by double digits in their first round NCAA game. The women's basketball team has never qualified to play in the NCAA tournament. The 5 point football win against Cincinatti in the 2002 New Orleans Bowl remains the sole post-season victory in the past 60 years.

That is a history of futility, and everyone knows it. And what makes it so sad is that it is happening at a school with so much potential to have excellent athletic programs.

Like him or hate him, Rick is fighting like hell to finally get that fixed for this university. He's telling the truth and the truth hurts. Yet he's getting crucified by the student paper at every opportunity, a paper that is actively campaigning against what their own research indicates the students of the university desire, a respectable perception for their school.

[GREEN COUG]

During the 1980's, Oklahoma State baseball fans laughed their asses off when the North Texas baseball coach ran the concession stand between innings.

I was still a young pup then, but please oh please tell me this wasn't true!

But otherwise, from hearing different histories recounted on this board, I would agree wholeheartedly with this "history of futility". I am posistive that this program is moving in the right direction however bleak it may seem now. A few of my buddies over have heard of the Mean Green and one even commented the he remembers them being pretty damn good. It is going to take a few impatient years but I do believe that this ship can be righted with Dodge at the helm.

I can't wait to make my first football game when the new stadium opens after missing every football season so far!

[GrandGreen]

I was still a young pup then, but please oh please tell me this wasn't true!

But otherwise, from hearing different histories recounted on this board, I would agree wholeheartedly with this "history of futility". I am posistive that this program is moving in the right direction however bleak it may seem now. A few of my buddies over have heard of the Mean Green and one even commented the he remembers them being pretty damn good. It is going to take a few impatient years but I do believe that this ship can be righted with Dodge at the helm.

I can't wait to make my first football game when the new stadium opens after missing every football season so far!

NT had a baseball team only because the Southland conference mandated it. The coach pay was whatever the limit was at the time to maintain your full social security benefits. The team had a total of 1 1/2 ships. I am sure with NT working hard for a change in the rules, the Southland dropped the baseball requirement after a few years.

The baseball team record was very bad, but based on their resources, they were remarkably competitive.

[ADLER]

I was still a young pup then, but please oh please tell me this wasn't true!

Back in the 1980's North Texas was required by the Southland Conference to have a baseball program.

North Texas had no facility, team, money for scholarships, and coach.

A coach was hired who did a remarkable job with what he was provided. The little scholarship support was divided as best possible, and the team actually won a few, but very few, games.

Since there wasn't a stadium, UNT played in a neighborhood park several miles away in east Denton.

The baseball field at Mack Park

Yeah, that bleacher was the home field stadium.

Edited October 13, 2008 by ADLER

[untgirl04]

Greek, I have to say that I agree with Rick on this. Maybe he should have worded his response more carefully, but what he said in both his quote and in his explanation was accurate.

"We keep saying our football program sucks. Well, it does. Okay?" It does, and overall, so do several of the other athletic programs at North Texas. One post-season victory in the past 60 years in all revenue sports combined (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and baseball) indicates that the program has an established history of sucking. Alumni and the community haven't just been distancing themselves from North Texas for the past two seasons or for the past two decades, they've been keeping away for generations because nobody really believes that North Texas can really ever compete with the "big schools" of college athletics.

North Texas is horribly underfunded and can't realistically be expected to compete. During the 1980's, Oklahoma State baseball fans laughed their asses off when the North Texas baseball coach ran the concession stand between innings. The men's basketball team has only been in postseason play twice during that 60 year span; the recent 2007 team and in 1988, winning a weak Southland Conference after going 3 and 10 in non-conference play. Both teams lost by double digits in their first round NCAA game. The women's basketball team has never qualified to play in the NCAA tournament. The 5 point football win against Cincinatti in the 2002 New Orleans Bowl remains the sole post-season victory in the past 60 years.

That is a history of futility, and everyone knows it. And what makes it so sad is that it is happening at a school with so much potential to have excellent athletic programs.

Like him or hate him, Rick is fighting like hell to finally get that fixed for this university. He's telling the truth and the truth hurts. Yet he's getting crucified by the student paper at every opportunity, a paper that is actively campaigning against what their own research indicates the students of the university desire, a respectable perception for their school.

I believe the women's basketball team received a spot in the NCAA or NIT tournament in 2002. I could be wrong on this, but I remember watching a game and laughing at the announcers trying to pronounce Wilma Griesminaskytya (sp?).

[UNTLifer]

Back in the 1980's North Texas was required by the Southland Conference to have a baseball program.

North Texas had no facility, team, money for scholarships, and coach.

A coach was hired who did a remarkable job with what he was provided. The little scholarshop support was divided as best possible, and the team actually won a few, but very few, games.

Since there wasn't a stadium, UNT played in a neighborhood park several miles away in Denton.

The baseball field at Mack Park

Yeah, that bleacher was the home field stadium.

That is where I played as a 15/16 year old in the Denton Boys Baseball League, and yes, that is where NT played their games.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

very truthful there.

[MeanGreengdub]

Back in the 1980's North Texas was required by the Southland Conference to have a baseball program.

North Texas had no facility, team, money for scholarships, and coach.

A coach was hired who did a remarkable job with what he was provided. The little scholarshop support was divided as best possible, and the team actually won a few, but very few, games.

Since there wasn't a stadium, UNT played in a neighborhood park several miles away in Denton.

The baseball field at Mack Park

Yeah, that bleacher was the home field stadium.

Dannnnggg, that place is awesome.

[ADLER]

I believe the women's basketball team received a spot in the NCAA or NIT tournament in 2002. I could be wrong on this, but I remember watching a game and laughing at the announcers trying to pronounce Wilma Griesminaskytya (sp?).

I believe the womens basketball team has twice been invited to the NIT where they were shipped off to be first round cannon fodder for one of the bigger name teams. Both games were lost in convincing fashion. I think the latest game (2002?) was at Washington.

The women's basketball team has never once won a conference basketball tournament and advanced to the NCAA's.