2012 HS - Gerren Ballard - 6'6" PF (TCU- Football)
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What's going on Mean Green?
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98
Florida Atlantic (1/26/25)
This. As soon as you start to realize who we are then it’s easier to understand that our attendance (issues) match our culture. I promise @UNTLifer, this isn’t @PlummMeanGreen taking over FFR’s account. As of right now we’re averaging 3100 per home game. Attendance has ranged from around 2400 to 4,029. This makes me fairly certain that each time 3,100 people are surrounded by 10,000 seats, that it will remain traumatic enough to keep the strangely infatuated by what attendance looks like on their TV set in hormonal therapy for years to come. Things we all know. We don’t play in a P4 conference. Hosting Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Texas, Houston, TCU, Baylor etc would certainly increase it. But we don’t. And early home scheduling has usually been uninteresting to most. So unless we get an invite this isn’t going to change. Other than an Oregon State or App State we rarely play non-con schools in Denton most outside of college basketball fandom have ever heard of,….including today with FAU. I would claim the “We’re not the only show in the metroplex” excuse but of the 3700 who showed up on a damp, cold one o’clock Sunday afternoon today, 3660 and change were alumni and general fans. To me, that’s not outstanding, but that ain’t horrible, either. So who WASN’T there today? The Students. There’s 8,000 to 15,000 students within walking distance(My Walking Distance, and I’m 58) of the Super Pit, yet there was only 35-50 students sitting in the Maniacs Section today. Why? I don’t know. I can only guess? Maybe it's because the general student doesn’t like basketball, or hadn’t heard of FAU? Maybe they’re disgusted paying fees to athletics that go to play-for-pay athletes while they wait tables, sell lawnmowers, mow lawns or stock groceries at Piggly Wiggly on East McKinney St. to pay for rent and food(What? When did they go out of business?)? It’s possible that for many students the games just are’nt that fun enough to return on a Sunday afternoon? On average the game day atmosphere doesn’t look fun to me, especially if I were a student? Other than the baby race today, the in-game atmosphere, the music, the entertainment during timeouts and the contest activities as usual were all over the place and not fun. Today we were getting our asses kicked by FAU. But later we countered with a 6-0 run to get back in the game, forcing the Owls to take a time out. What do we do as a sports entertainment entity at that moment? We shush everyone and kill the euphoric excitement of the play on the court with a P.A. announcement about the volleyball team or something, followed by a lame-ass video of two of our players discussing god knows what on the scoreboard overhead. The mascot. As an ex-Scrappy and possibly the only “Professional”(Oh no, not another “NR” story, but anyone could have done this if you knew and respected and worked for the great Jim Hobdy in the 80’s), mascot here posting or reading this, I’ll remind that a mascot is in fact for entertainment. Other than one many years back I haven’t seen Scrappy do anything towards entertainment in any way form or fashion. Mascots are mostly for the kids. But done right, with an athletic and energetic individual inside can and should add to the overall atmosphere. The dance team, ummm I thought was there for entertainment? I’ll be nice, and I’m being nice,…… and just remind those of you who are new here and may not know, that for 20 to 25 years, prior to 20-17,18,19?, somewhere around there, the North Texas Dancers were the DFW minor league to the world renowned Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. NOT ANY MORE! Cheerleaders are still great at what they do. They keep the noise up and are still an athletic, competitive group who still seem to pride themselves at maintaining the top standards the championship teams of the past set for them. This is all sports entertainment wet blanket 101!!!!!!!! So I have no idea why the other 45,550 other students don’t show? But the 35-200 who do are fairly consistent depending on the day of the week and the opponent. It’s been that way for years. And I know this. We all know this. So that’s why it’s no longer an issue to me anymore, and doesn’t affect whether I support or not. Nor should it be for anyone else and I suggest reminding life is just too short to worry about it any more. Hell, the university PAYS $10,000(last I heard) per year to the lone student spirit organization to do their sworn duties, that of promoting and protecting our traditions, and they’re no where to be found on game days, and in fact voted among themselves out of one tradition, that of lighting the tower green for road victories, simply because it became too burdensome. And the university didn’t even know it for years until recently. Yet they still get funded, and I haven’t seen them at a basketball game in DECADES. So, the university isn’t truly concerned about attendance, why should I? Why should you? It’s who we are. I’ll finish with this. Several have mentioned, and I agree that maybe we need to hire someone knowledgeable of the inner workings and entertainment of a successful minor league baseball program? Those people seem to really know how to inject some fun into a game day atmosphere. Rick -
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A plea to our "football-only" fans
Be thankful for the beautiful Super Pit! Back in the early days at NT, basketball was an outdoor sport... Basketball North Texas lacked a proper basketball court in the early years of the school. Outdoor courts were erected near the Library, now known as Curry Hall. https://exhibits.library.unt.edu/untfirst50years/athletics/ -
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Wichita State (1/29/25)
They'll have to rip the bandaid off. No way they let their basketball program get Benford'd... thanks RV (and WB+1)- 1
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299
Around the League / UNT Opponents
It means another year tacked on. It's important, and doesn't come around as often or as easily as we'd like. -
98
Florida Atlantic (1/26/25)
I don't think you guys are getting it. Ok, make the s16. Cool. Then we'll talk about how we can't get to 5k att because we have to make an e8. Then it'll be because we've never made a f4. Or 19/25 years this century we have played .500 ball or better. Until the CULTURE gets shifted it will always be something. We need an AD that has a fire in his belly and a vision to shift the culture to where it needs to be and be vocal about that vision. If Jared can't do it or doesn't know how then he needs to go. It's bare minimum job responsibility stuff...- 2
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