New York Times Article About The Drug Article

Green Dozer · November 4, 2008

Please find below the link for an article in the New York Times about our drug tests. Not a bad article, and does not put us in a real bad light. Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/n...ef=ncaafootball

Edited November 4, 2008 by Green Dozer

GreenAlums · November 4, 2008

Not a bad article at all. I didn't realize Casey F. took such a leadership role but I should have guessed. Hat's off to him! On another note, correct me if I'm wrong, but why is it that the drug testing got coverage like this but the stadium vote didn't seem to get near the publicity. I just didn't see near as much, if any, publicity from the vote. Disappointing!

shaft · November 4, 2008

I think Dodge did the right thing having the entire team tested for the reasons highlighting in the article, but I think it is weak of Dodge hint that the team's play hasn't been up to 'snuff because they were getting high.

Green Dozer · November 4, 2008

Not a bad article at all. I didn't realize Casey F. took such a leadership role but I should have guessed. Hat's off to him! On another note, correct me if I'm wrong, but why is it that the drug testing got coverage like this but the stadium vote didn't seem to get near the publicity. I just didn't see near as much, if any, publicity from the vote. Disappointing!

GreenAlums, in a way it has. There have been several letters to the editor in the Record Chronicle since the vote, all of them negative. But a successful stadium vote is not negative, drug stories are. That why the drug story makes the news, IMHO.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Green Dozer

GreenAlums · November 4, 2008

I think Dodge did the right thing having the entire team tested for the reasons highlighting in the article, but I think it is weak of Dodge hint that the team's play hasn't been up to 'snuff because they were getting high.

Why shaft, I'm shocked. If one of our players got arrested for drug possesion and made the news that brought out the lack of control TD has over is team what would we (you) say. I find it more obvious you just want to find any chance to bash Dodge.

VideoEagle · November 4, 2008

Nobody could have said it better GreenAlums! GREAT POST!

I might suggest using the "ignore" function for people so completely blinded by hate they can't begin to think straight.

Edited November 4, 2008 by VideoEagle

aprice · November 4, 2008

Why shaft, I'm shocked. If one of our players got arrested for drug possesion and made the news that brought out the lack of control TD has over is team what would we (you) say. I find it more obvious you just want to find any chance to bash Dodge.

There is absolutely no way that I will ever believe that recreational drugs are even slightly correlated with the teams performance. I think you are forgetting that we are losing by 30+ points a game on many occasions and have had only 1 competitive game this year. I also think its pretty weak of dodge to throw out the suggestion that it has something to do with on the field performance.

Got5onIt · November 4, 2008

There is absolutely no way that I will ever believe that recreational drugs are even slightly correlated with the teams performance. I think you are forgetting that we are losing by 30+ points a game on many occasions and have had only 1 competitive game this year. I also think its pretty weak of dodge to throw out the suggestion that it has something to do with on the field performance.

Agreed 100%. This insinuation by Dodge really angered me.

GoMeanGreen1999 · November 4, 2008

Agreed 100%. This insinuation by Dodge really angered me.

Don't worry, it is all good for us fans. If the guy doesn't win next season with significantly better play, he won't be back for his fourth season.

meangreendork · November 4, 2008

Agreed 100%. This insinuation by Dodge really angered me.

I'm glad Dodge had the whole team tested. That's good of him and it needs to be done.

However, I don't think the team's overall performance is the result of drug use. That could explain a missed tackle or a player fatiguing early...but not an overall performance drop.

GoMeanGreen1999 · November 4, 2008

I'm glad Dodge had the whole team tested. That's good of him and it needs to be done.
However, I don't think the team's overall performance is the result of drug use. That could explain a missed tackle or a player fatiguing early...but not an overall performance drop.

If your only recourse is to have to attend a 1 hour session with a counselor, with no play time taken away, what is the real point of the whole team taking a drug test?

Just curious.

akriesman · November 4, 2008

Agreed 100%. This insinuation by Dodge really angered me.

Some of TD's comments made me think of the 30's film "Refer Madness". If any of you have every seen that propaganda film (you can find it in YouTube FWIW), then you know what I am talking about.

While some of the comments were a little far-fetched, I do think his testing of the entire team was the right thing to do. But, lets not blame drugs for the teams performance here. You can pretty much guarantee that every college FB team has roughly the same % of recreational drug use among team members, or close enough to it.

I would like to see the results from testing any of the major Florida universities. Of course, that will never happen

Edited November 4, 2008 by akriesman

meangreendork · November 4, 2008

If your only recourse is to have to attend a 1 hour session with a counselor, with no play time taken away, what is the real point of the whole team taking a drug test?
Just curious.

That's the odd part. I'm guessing Dodge is doing the good-guy thing for the players with the drug habit by putting them through counseling. Will it work? I don't know. Was it a smart idea? In theory, at least.

eulessismore · November 4, 2008

I think Dodge did the right thing having the entire team tested for the reasons highlighting in the article, but I think it is weak of Dodge hint that the team's play hasn't been up to 'snuff because they were getting high.

And your reason for saying that?

NT80 · November 4, 2008

I think sometimes we should have this board tested. <_<

foutsrouts · November 4, 2008

Some of TD's comments made me think of the 30's film "Refer Madness". If any of you have every seen that propaganda film (you can find it in YouTube FWIW), then you know what I am talking about.
While some of the comments were a little far-fetched, I do think his testing of the entire team was the right thing to do. But, lets not blame drugs for the teams performance here. You can pretty much guarantee that every college FB team has roughly the same % of recreational drug use among team members, or close enough to it.
I would like to see the results from testing any of the major Florida universities. Of course, that will never happen

I remember seeing the film "REEFER Madness" back when I was around 12-13 years old and we kids sneaked out of the house and went to the River Oaks Theatre midnight movie in Houston. It was quite a shock to me as a kid, but back then in the 70's, it was kind of a cult film and joints were regularly passed row to row in the theatre with impunity. Times have changed.

shaft · November 4, 2008

Yawn. Wasn't I the first one the board to post a thread titled "I support Coach Dodge for testing the Players," I also don't remember posting anything negative about RV kid getting busted last year.

So like I said, Dodge did the right thing to test them all.

Dodge is doing the wrong thing to blame the players.

UNT Mean Green · November 4, 2008

This was a nice article by the NY Times, and it put the program and Coach Dodge in a positive light.

Travis Scott · November 4, 2008

I think Dodge did the right thing having the entire team tested for the reasons highlighting in the article, but I think it is weak of Dodge hint that the team's play hasn't been up to 'snuff because they were getting high.

"North Texas is 1-8 after Saturday’s 51-40 victory at Western Kentucky. Dodge said he saw the inconsistent performances, lack of focus and mood swings of his players as indications that his team might have a problem.

“Twenty-three years of coaching had given me pretty good intuition about consistency and inconsistency,” Dodge said in a telephone interview. “I suspected that there may be some uses of marijuana on our team; I felt that we may have one or two that have really got a problem and they’re crying out for help, and we may have another dozen or so that are just starting to dibble-dabble in the stuff.”"

While I'm glad you said something positive about Dodge, even if it's for a few words, I don't think that Dodge hinted that the season's turnout has been because of the drugs. Obviously he has been a coach for over 2 decades at the college level (current and previous UNT experience) and high school. He has seen hundreds and hundreds of kids come through his programs. With all the time that coaches and players spend together during a season, it's no wonder that he can pick up on some behaviors. He has the experience to see and look for that.

I completely agree with you that he did the right thing by testing the entire team. I just did not get the impression that he was looking to blame these 15 players for the performance this season. Then again, I'm not always looking to tear him down, there is no benefit from that.

GreenAlums · November 4, 2008

"North Texas is 1-8 after Saturday's 51-40 victory at Western Kentucky. Dodge said he saw the inconsistent performances, lack of focus and mood swings of his players as indications that his team might have a problem.
"Twenty-three years of coaching had given me pretty good intuition about consistency and inconsistency," Dodge said in a telephone interview. "I suspected that there may be some uses of marijuana on our team; I felt that we may have one or two that have really got a problem and they're crying out for help, and we may have another dozen or so that are just starting to dibble-dabble in the stuff.""
While I'm glad you said something positive about Dodge, even if it's for a few words, I don't think that Dodge hinted that the season's turnout has been because of the drugs. Obviously he has been a coach for over 2 decades at the college level (current and previous UNT experience) and high school. He has seen hundreds and hundreds of kids come through his programs. With all the time that coaches and players spend together during a season, it's no wonder that he can pick up on some behaviors. He has the experience to see and look for that.
I completely agree with you that he did the right thing by testing the entire team. I just did not get the impression that he was looking to blame these 15 players for the performance this season. Then again, I'm not always looking to tear him down, there is no benefit from that.

Well stated post T-Rock!! Thanks for the clear thoughts!!

UNTLifer · November 4, 2008

Then again, I'm not always looking to tear him down, there is no benefit from that.

Good post T-Rock. Don't worry though, a couple of posters only show up when things are going bad. They'll go away once we start winning again. That, or they'll complain that we aren't winning by enough points.

SHOSS · November 4, 2008

Good post T-Rock. Don't worry though, a couple of posters only show up when things are going bad. They'll go away once we start winning again. That, or they'll complain that we aren't winning by enough points.

Can you imagine how nice it would be to complain about not winning by a large enough margin?

Just for the record... 11 points is not too much....and not too little... It is just right because it isn't a negative number!