Why Support Vito?

[eppy4life]

ok, well you guys have fun bashing Dodge for the rest of the season. I'll make sure and point out in three years when we're winning the sun belt again the individuals that were calling for his head today.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

ok, well you guys have fun bashing Dodge for the rest of the season. I'll make sure and point out in three years when we're winning the sun belt again the individuals that were calling for his head today.

I guess we can all have our dream. Yours is that Todd Dodge can do something with the program other than run it into the ground. Many of ours is that our president or AD will wake up, fire him, and hire a real college football coach who knows how to handle being a college football coach on and off the field.

[JayDub]

how come when others throw in their little jabs, you shut down threads but you get yours in every chance you can?

Ummm...did you not notice where I jabbed at both sides? Equal opportunity, holmes.

For the record, I have never once closed a thread in that Evil Little Corner of GMG.com because it didn't jibe with my personal leanings. I shut down threads when the horse has been beaten beyond recognition by both sides. There was a brief stretch of time where I got sick of the very personal attacks the folks in those threads were throwing around toward each other, so I closed up shop on politics for a week...well within my very miniscule amount of moderator powers. Also, I closed another thread last week because the topic was, in essence, already being discussed and, frankly I didn't want to keep tabs on two threads where the same attacks were being thrown around.

Anything else?

I'd like to see the playbook for the last GMG game or whatever you guys call that stupid flag football game yall play.

How dare you invoke the name of the GoMeanGreen.com Bowl in a negative way. HOW DARE YOU, SIR! And, if you must know...the last GMG.com Bowl I made it to had a playbook that went a little something like this:

DRAW

DRAW

PASS TO RINGER

PASS FOR 2-PT CONV.

Edited October 29, 2008 by JayDub

[GreenMachine]

Ummm...did you not notice where I jabbed at both sides? Equal opportunity, holmes.

For the record, I have never once closed a thread in that Evil Little Corner of GMG.com because it didn't jibe with my personal leanings. I shut down threads when the horse has been beaten beyond recognition by both sides. There was a brief stretch of time where I got sick of the very personal attacks the folks in those threads were throwing around toward each other, so I closed up shop on politics for a week...well within my very miniscule amount of moderator powers. Also, I closed another thread last week because the topic was, in essence, already being discussed and, frankly I didn't want to keep tabs on two threads where the same attacks were being thrown around.

Anything else?

how's your sister?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

And, so we return to the "you're not a coach" charade. You don't have to be a football coach to understand that Todd Dodge doesn't know what he's doing.

How many other Sun Belt teams have trailed UL-Monroe 35-6 at the half? How many other Sun Belt teams have been behind Florida International 28-0 at half and 35-0 on the third quarter? How many other Sun Belt teams have had 70+ point hung on the three times in the past 20 games?

North Texas football doesn't exist in a vacuum. I don't have to be a head coach to see the difference between a well-coached team and one that isn't. Many of us have played and/or watched football for the better part of our lives. I'm almost 40 and have played or watched it since I was seven. I don't need to be a coach to tell you who is bad and who is good.

You're not just magically bad or good. It comes from coaching. We don't have it. Other schools do.

Edited October 29, 2008 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[GREEN COUG]

ok, well you guys have fun bashing Dodge for the rest of the season. I'll make sure and point out in three years when we're winning the sun belt again the individuals that were calling for his head today.

I am not taking one side or the other right now due to if you look at my amount of posts I am still a newbie but....I think you have to understand that the reason so many are calling for Dodge's head is that when he was hired, he was suppose to produce results. I for one was pretty happy about the news that he was getting hired in the first place, but my frustration on where this team stands is with the best of them. It is not a personal vendetta towards Dodge, it just no results have been shown yet, even though I understand that there are improvements(?) in certain areas on both sides of the ball from just reading the board. It is hard for me to grasp just where this team is beacause of being 7000 miles away.

If this team had won maybe 2-3 games or more this year, this wouldn't be a problem. It is just frustration that we can move the ball and not score.

[jdennis82]

i can't speak for eppy, but i do side with him on the arguement that's spawned from this thread. i think i know a thing or two about football, but i would never say i'm qualified to coach a division one football team. i doubt i'm qualified to coach a pee wee team to be honest. there's more to coaching than installing a playbook, and it's those things that i wouldn't begin to understand. what drills to put in place to produce improvement. where to focus. how to motivate. these are things that coach dodge has the experience that i will never have. for that, i HAVE to trust that he has a better handle on it than i would.

with that said, there's nothing anyone here can do about the coaching position, so what's the benefit of calling for his head on gmg?

[GREEN COUG]

Because when you pay for a product and associate yourself with it, you want results. It is no different than the major schools. For instance if Mack Brown was to go 2-18 the next two years, would you think the fans would say, "Well we should give him a few more years to try and turn this thin around"? No, they would probably be calling for his head by mid-season. They are pouring tons of money into the program and expect positive results. And I know the comparing NT with Ut is like apples and oranges, but the majority of this board put a lot of their heart and money into this program so it is understandable to want results....especially after 4 great years to see that NT has potential to be a worthy adversary.

With that being said I am not one who is calling for his head just yet, but I do understand those that do.

[TIgreen01]

Can we get this thread back on track and start bashing Vito again? Please?

Compare/contrast the 2 pieces concerning the drug testing released this week by DFW area newspapers....The DRC, Vito version vs. FWST, Troy Phillips.

News is news, yes....but one reports it with a negative tone while the other reports it with a positive tone. We've gone over this ad-naseum for at least a year (dating back to the racism coverage last season). I think it reached a critical point this last week with this piece and separately having George Dunham call Vito out during the Troy game broadcast. Like it or not, that was a public statement that the AD and people close to the program are tired of the way Vito reports the "news" at North Texas.

[Smitty]

Can we get this thread back on track and start bashing Vito again? Please?

Compare/contrast the 2 pieces concerning the drug testing released this week by DFW area newspapers....The DRC, Vito version vs. FWST, Troy Phillips.

News is news, yes....but one reports it with a negative tone while the other reports it with a positive tone. We've gone over this ad-naseum for at least a year (dating back to the racism coverage last season). I think it reached a critical point this last week with this piece and separately having George Dunham call Vito out during the Troy game broadcast. Like it or not, that was a public statement that the AD and people close to the program are tired of the way Vito reports the "news" at North Texas.

The athletic department wants positive press? THEN DO SOMETHING POSITIVE! And I don't mean positive drug tests.

It is interesting that no one has questioned a single word of Vito's story as being untrue. Not one word. So let's attack the reporter and call him biased and say he has an axe to grind because we don't like the facts. HOW DARE VITO REPORT THE TRUTH! WE DON'T LIKE THE TRUTH!

I've said it before, some fans don't want reporters, they want cheerleaders.

[TheTastyGreek]

The athletic department wants positive press? THEN DO SOMETHING POSITIVE! And I don't mean positive drug tests.

That's quite a zinger, my friend. I tip my hat to you.

You've been in top form since this story broke. Thank you for what you're bringing to the board.

[TIgreen01]

The athletic department wants positive press? THEN DO SOMETHING POSITIVE! And I don't mean positive drug tests.

It is interesting that no one has questioned a single word of Vito's story as being untrue. Not one word. So let's attack the reporter and call him biased and say he has an axe to grind because we don't like the facts. HOW DARE VITO REPORT THE TRUTH! WE DON'T LIKE THE TRUTH!

I've said it before, some fans don't want reporters, they want cheerleaders.

I don't think it's as cut and dry as labeling this as reporters vs. cheerleaders. No matter how hard people try to use this line or argument, both papers report the facts. No one is disputing that. What is in question is why one consistently reports it with a negative tone while the other reports it with a consistently positive tone. So if we're going to name call, lets do it both ways. We've got a case of one reporter being an instigator/sensationalist and the other being a cheerleader.

There always seems to be an agenda behind the reporting(in just about all news these days). Where is the dang reporting that is JUST what you say: Reporting? We can't get our news anymore without a healthy dose of opinion/spin piled on??

[UNTLifer]

The athletic department wants positive press? THEN DO SOMETHING POSITIVE! And I don't mean positive drug tests.

It is interesting that no one has questioned a single word of Vito's story as being untrue. Not one word. So let's attack the reporter and call him biased and say he has an axe to grind because we don't like the facts. HOW DARE VITO REPORT THE TRUTH! WE DON'T LIKE THE TRUTH!

I've said it before, some fans don't want reporters, they want cheerleaders.

Good Post!

TIGreen01, Vito didn't report it with a negative tone, he reported the truth. If it was negative, blame TD, RV or the athletic program, but not Vito. Phillips is proving why he gets to be TD's audience. He is his lap dog.

[GREEN COUG]

I was speaking of UT donors pouring money into the program. Our donors just simply put what they got, which is not a bad thing, just don't have the mass numbers or the ticket sales of a huge stadium.

[flyeater]

I was speaking of UT donors pouring money into the program. Our donors just simply put what they got, which is not a bad thing, just don't have the mass numbers or the ticket sales of a huge stadium.

my bad and apologies...post deleted

[GREEN COUG]

hey no problem

[Green Lantern]

I'm almost 40

Almost old enough to be consider a full fledged MAN.

[TIgreen01]

Good Post!

TIGreen01, Vito didn't report it with a negative tone, he reported the truth. If it was negative, blame TD, RV or the athletic program, but not Vito. Phillips is proving why he gets to be TD's audience. He is his lap dog.

No argument on the Phillips comment, but why is Vito's report the truth and Phillip's not? Seems like they both report on the same subject matter and facts. If you don't perceive a tone in Vito's article, then great. That's your opinion. In my opinion he goes out of his way to be negative. Just start reading right past the comment from Dodge that "We are past it now and can go down that road".

"That road has been a rough one for UNT.

The Mean Green is off to the worst start in the history of the program at 0-8 heading into a game at Western Kentucky University on Sat­urday and has lost nine straight games overall.

Dodge came to UNT after winning four state titles in his last five seasons at Southlake Carroll High School.

His arrival has helped in­crease interest in the football program.

UNT averaged 17,734 fans per game last season, its highest total since 2003, and is averaging 18,754 fans this season.

Earlier this month, Dodge also played a lead role in convincing UNT’s student body to approve an athletic fee that will help the school replace a rapidly deteriorating Fouts Field with a new football stadium"

I don't see the relevance to the story being reported to discuss the teams "worst start in the history of the program". To his credit he turns around and lists positives...but they come off as trying to make an attempt to balance out the negative just brought up. My question is why is it relevant to the story?

Phillips goes out of his way to be positive. However, if you DO think the team's record is, for some reason, relevant to this story then Phillips also cites it:

"Dodge, whose team is 0-8 this season, said performance "de-hancing" in a number of players led him and assistant coaches to suspect drug use."

In that sentence, he's definitely trying to paint Dodge in a better light by showing him as proactive to fixing a problem. Cheerleader? I don't know, possibly.

The question is not whether both reporters report facts....clearly, there is nothing that is not factual in either snippet. But the question of relevance and how those facts are stated is what makes either piece too negative or too positive. Seems that that question is up for your own interpretation....to each his own.

Edited October 29, 2008 by TIgreen01

[UNTLifer]

True. Thanks, I'm too lazy to pick the two stories apart.

[Smitty]

No argument on the Phillips comment, but why is Vito's report the truth and Phillip's not? Seems like they both report on the same subject matter and facts. If you don't perceive a tone in Vito's article, then great. That's your opinion. In my opinion he goes out of his way to be negative. Just start reading right past the comment from Dodge that "We are past it now and can go down that road".

"That road has been a rough one for UNT.

The Mean Green is off to the worst start in the history of the program at 0-8 heading into a game at Western Kentucky University on Sat­urday and has lost nine straight games overall.

Dodge came to UNT after winning four state titles in his last five seasons at Southlake Carroll High School.

His arrival has helped in­crease interest in the football program.

UNT averaged 17,734 fans per game last season, its highest total since 2003, and is averaging 18,754 fans this season.

Earlier this month, Dodge also played a lead role in convincing UNT’s student body to approve an athletic fee that will help the school replace a rapidly deteriorating Fouts Field with a new football stadium"

I don't see the relevance to the story being reported to discuss the teams "worst start in the history of the program". To his credit he turns around and lists positives...but they come off as trying to make an attempt to balance out the negative just brought up. My question is why is it relevant to the story?

Phillips goes out of his way to be positive. However, if you DO think the team's record is, for some reason, relevant to this story then Phillips also cites it:

"Dodge, whose team is 0-8 this season, said performance "de-hancing" in a number of players led him and assistant coaches to suspect drug use."

In that sentence, he's definitely trying to paint Dodge in a better light by showing him as proactive to fixing a problem. Cheerleader? I don't know, possibly.

The question is not whether both reporters report facts....clearly, there is nothing that is not factual in either snippet. But the question of relevance and how those facts are stated is what makes either piece too negative or too positive. Seems that that question is up for your own interpretation....to each his own.

Maybe...because it is the worst start in the history of the program? And doesn't this little misadventure just compound that worst start?

For the love of Mike Doocy, it's not Vito's job or Phillips's job to paint Dodge in a positive or negative light. The story does all the painting, two coats worth. That Phillips appears to be trying to put a positive spin on things is to his detriment as a reporter. That is not his job. By your own words "Cheerleader? I don't know, possibly" you have indicted Phillips's work.

However, I understand that Phillips, who clearly got beat on this story, is looking for a different approach. He's in second place, so he's coming at it from a different angle, so maybe that's the reason for his approach. And that approach may have been dictated by the quotes he got from Dodge, so I will give Phillips the benefit of the doubt. But Vito's reporting was solid and professional. He did his job and he deserves credit, not insults.

Edited October 29, 2008 by Smitty

[Got5onIt]

"Dodge, whose team is 0-8 this season, said performance "de-hancing" in a number of players led him and assistant coaches to suspect drug use."

Edited October 29, 2008 by Got5onIt

[Quoner]

Well - our entire offensive scheme has regressed this season, so I guess using this logic, it's only logical to accuse the coaching staff of heavy drug use.

/Sarcasm tag

[greenminer]

Well - our entire offensive scheme has regressed this season, so I guess using this logic, it's only logical to accuse the coaching staff of heavy drug use.

/Sarcasm tag

A sadly needed tool on this board lately.

..I'm talking about the tag.

[TIgreen01]

Perhaps Vito included the info about the bad start and Dodge's past as background material. You are supposed to write stories with the assumption that everyone does not know the intimate details.

Furthermore, this story was bound to get picked up elsewhere, so that context is even more relevant to readers that don't know anything about how the season is going or even Dodge and UNT.

I'll agree that this story has the potential(and is realizing that potential as it's being picked up everywhere) to be a national story.

Look, I'm not a Vito hater. I remember back to his days covering the DD teams and he was the one getting called the coaches lapdog b/c people wanted him to ask tougher questions and take DD to task in his pieces. Instead, he wrote solid factual stuff and didn't always find a way to work some kind of negative background stats/material into it that may or may not be relevant. I just don't understand what happened to get to the point he's now at. The only obvious change is that the Head Coach changed and Dodge doesn't give as much access as DD did. Maybe since he posts on this board now (to post links to the DRC website and his reports) he'll take time to comment?

[Quoner]

I'll agree that this story has the potential(and is realizing that potential as it's being picked up everywhere) to be a national story.

Look, I'm not a Vito hater. I remember back to his days covering the DD teams and he was the one getting called the coaches lapdog b/c people wanted him to ask tougher questions and take DD to task in his pieces. Instead, he wrote solid factual stuff and didn't always find a way to work some kind of negative background stats/material into it that may or may not be relevant. I just don't understand what happened to get to the point he's now at. The only obvious change is that the Head Coach changed and Dodge doesn't give as much access as DD did. Maybe since he posts on this board now (to post links to the DRC website and his reports) he'll take time to comment?

Vito, don't comment on the board. It's for jackasses and D-1 athletic directors ONLY!