Our Football Program and the Negativity it Breeds: A Challenge

SHOSS · September 8, 2011

I think most here are ready to have something to get excited about. Look at all the offseason talk, we will find positives (and negatives) out of anything. If you can honestly find positives out of last week's performance I applaud you. But don't come on here and act like those of us who are down in the dumps are out of line. I believe those who've been season ticket holders the last 5 years have every right to be a little negative. Go over in your mind all the home games we've sat through in the past 5 years. I'd argue that our fan base is pretty darn loyal to sit through all that and still care enough to be upset.

If we aren't alarmed and upset at this point, there is a problem. We could go two ways with the results that we have all had the "pleasure" of witnessing... Mad or apathetic... Mad means that we care... apathetic is a bigger problem. apathetic is our alums wearing notre dame and UT and other university garb... mad is us wanting better for our school...

GIVE ME MAD OVER APATHETIC ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

I was one of those that wanted to give Dodge more time until last season... then I finally acknowledged that it was time. The AD made the right choice(maybe a year too late), and we moved on. I got caught up in being tired of all the Dodge complaining on this board too... So, the negativity bothered me a ton.

I have now come to terms with complaints and venting on this board. We all want more on this board. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. When I post, I am usually posting stupid sarcastic jokes at this point... that is how I deal with my anger. When we don't have anything good to talk about, that is the direction I go. That doesn't work for everybody. The positives I see right now are recruiting and BASKETBALL!

Anger is good. Keep it positive? Well, positive results will breed positivity. Apathy is the worst disease that our alums have...not the anger.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · September 8, 2011

I'll tell you why I've been particularly "negative" about last week's first quarter. I listened for years to people saying that Dodge just needs time, yet I thought he was probably a stinker (for D1 college) before his first game. Then it quickly became apparent that he clearly was a stinker but hardly anyone would call it out, because
they...just......wanted.........to............keep...............things....................positive!

That approach didn't work out very well. As a fan (meaning in most important part, I want the team to win), 'torture' is the best word for how it worked out. I guess there's something laudible about enduring torture with a positive attitude. However, it is much more laudible to try to do something to stop the torture.

And now, that clearly stunk last week almost as bad as it possibly could. My hope is that it improves a lot immediately. If it does not then I think we have seen this movie before and maybe this time some people will remember how it goes (on and on) and ends, and call for change promptly IF it is needed. You should be able to tell pretty soon if it is there. Please don't fall into that 'it takes time' garbage.

I found last week to be alarming and I did NOT expect that opening quarter. If the ensuing weeks are alarming then yes this place is one of the ways to sound the alarm. I don't want to see any more money wasted for one thing. Return on investment in that stadium largely depends on outstanding coaching, not on our collective happy vibe. If you want to call that negative then really you just have different priorities.

Come on, man, be fair...many of us called out the Dodge farce long before Season One of his failed experiment even ended.

I think the problem is, some fans get too emotionally attached to coaches. Coaches are human, too, and need love. But, that's what their wives and 2nd wives and 3rd wives are for. Some of them have kids, too, that love them and depend on them for new cars and a steady source of cash.

We're different. We're fans who pay money and stuff to watch their product on the gridiron football fields. If we see crap, we call crap. Giving up 28 points in one quarter to a Sun Belt Conference school is crap.

It doesn't take an aardvark to sniff out the difference between a prepared team and an unprepared team. Sacto State beat Oregon State on Saturday. Eastern Kentucky - not Western Kentucky - almost beat Kansas State.

I don't have to tell you that Sacto State and Eastern Kentucky are FCS schools, which used to be I-AA. And, that Oregon State and Kansas State are FBS schools, which used to be I-A.

And, listen...if Dodge left this program in the shape of an FCS school, I'm not going to be real positive about it anymore. At some point, you have to understand that cows eat cabbage and, so, Rick Villareal must have known after a couple of seasons how the program was being pared down into an FCS-like shell of an FBS program.

I mean, is no one culpable here? We just sit here on our asses like Baylor, hoping to have someone to sue when we can't field competitive enough teams year after year?

Get that corn out of my face!

Edited September 8, 2011 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

Green Mean · September 8, 2011

Welcome to the crowd. hard to imagine why all the negativity continues, but some folks just cannot help themselves. It's pretty easy to figure out who will always find the "negative side" of almost everything that is UNT. They generally refer to it as realism or being realistic, but really, it's just being negative. There is ALWAYS something positive to be gained from college athletics...if nothing else, it's fun to watch...win, lose or draw. If you can't find something positive from being on a college campus on a fall afternoon or evening, watching two teams battle it out on the field, then you probably never will be able to find anything positive in most anything. Doesn't mean you have to "enjoy" a loss, just means that you might want to keep it in a bit of perspective and focus on the enjoyable parts of the experience. There were probably many more enjoyable experiences than negative ones...just focus on those. If you cannot enjoy yourself at all unless your team wins, then you probably don't need to be going to sporting events of any kind as you will surely be disappointed from time to time. It's just one perspective.

Couldn't disagree with you more. And there are those people that for whatever reason or another refuses to question UNT and face reality that this thing has been nothing but a big turd for god knows how long. Being negative is reality....there's nothing to be positive about. Remember many of us donate our hard earned money to this program and I refuse to accept the loser mentality and attitude. Its all about results and what you've done on the field...if you stink you need to hear about it. If you're good and win...then like we've seen on the board you'll get all the blow harded threads and posts people can handle.

UNTBill · September 8, 2011

To a conference opponent.

While you don't throw a 1st downpass the entire 1st half.

Damnit!! I said I was done, and y'all drew me offsides!!

I am I this camp as well. I thought the coaches said we didn't have the horses up front.

If that is truly the case, then a strictly "predictable" run based offense won't work.

I certainly hope we game planned differently for Houston.

See ya Saturday

GO MEAN GREEN

JRock · September 8, 2011

Solid

To an extent.

JRock

JRock · September 8, 2011

Couldn't disagree with you more. And there are those people that for whatever reason or another refuses to question UNT and face reality that this thing has been nothing but a big turd for god knows how long. Being negative is reality....there's nothing to be positive about. Remember many of us donate our hard earned money to this program and I refuse to accept the loser mentality and attitude. Its all about results and what you've done on the field...if you stink you need to hear about it. If you're good and win...then like we've seen on the board you'll get all the blow harded threads and posts people can handle.

".there's nothing to be positive about."

Depends on the context. "Nothing" is a very strong word to even use when there is a mountain of positive things to discuss.

"I refuse to accept the loser mentality and attitude."

Now this I like very much. It shows a solid commitment as a fan.

Yes, being negative is a reality, however, after a while, one will be standing there bitching by themselves. It's a reality that people get sick of it. Regardless, my original post was to help foster a new attitude towards the growth we are seeing in NT football. I'm not trying to get this forum to sit around a campfire making friendships bracelets. It's about solid constructive support of our program as alumni and students. Our boys in green deserve it.

JRock

SilverEagle · September 8, 2011

If we aren't alarmed and upset at this point, there is a problem. We could go two ways with the results that we have all had the "pleasure" of witnessing... Mad or apathetic... Mad means that we care... apathetic is a bigger problem. apathetic is our alums wearing notre dame and UT and other university garb... mad is us wanting better for our school...

GIVE ME MAD OVER APATHETIC ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

YES!

Anger is good. Keep it positive? Well, positive results will breed positivity. Apathy is the worst disease that our alums have...not the anger.

A few years after I graduated from NT, my wife informed me that we need to move from the student side and start watching games with the grownups. So we did. After a couple of games with the "polite-tennis-applause" crowd, my wife said "did these people get lost on their way to a tennis match.....or a funeral?" And this is coming from a graduate of TWU who mainly thinks that college sports should never be a business.

When North Texas beat Tennessee back in 1975, two things happened A. The Tennessee coach was fired, and B. Tennessee cancelled the contract with North Texas.

So, for all of you who drink at the fountain of Zig Ziglar and Norman Vincent Peale, was that a Positive action or a Negative action?

I'll tell you my view of it. It was negative toward the coach, but a positive action for the program.

eppy4life · September 8, 2011

A few years after I graduated from NT, my wife informed me that we need to move from the student side and start watching games with the grownups. So we did. After a couple of games with the "polite-tennis-applause" crowd, my wife said "did these people get lost on their way to a tennis match.....or a funeral?" And this is coming from a graduate of TWU who mainly thinks that college sports should never be a business.

When North Texas beat Tennessee back in 1975, two things happened A. The Tennessee coach was fired, and B. Tennessee cancelled the contract with North Texas.

So, for all of you who drink at the fountain of Zig Ziglar and Norman Vincent Peale, was that a Positive action or a Negative action?

I'll tell you my view of it. It was negative toward the coach, but a positive action for the program.

What does that story have to do with Dodge's failure as our HC?