Once Again The Loyal Customers Take it Up The Rear

NT1978 · October 18, 2011

There's no way in knowing what the numbers would be for sure as CBL (I believe)stated early in the thread. However, would you rather have:

A)Not moving gametime, sticking to our guns (ie "we're bigtime, we don't move for anything!") -- 12K fans show up

B)Moving the gametime, admitting "defeat" (underselling ourselves, or whatever other negative moniker you want to label it) ----- 17K people show up

If you beleived the first sentence of your post, wouldn't the choices be

A)Not moving gametime, sticking to our guns (ie "we're bigtime, we don't move for anything!") -- 12K fans show up

B)Moving the gametime, admitting "defeat" (underselling ourselves, or whatever other negative moniker you want to label it) ----- 12K people show up

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 18, 2011

If you beleived the first sentence of your post, wouldn't the choices be

A)Not moving gametime, sticking to our guns (ie "we're bigtime, we don't move for anything!") -- 12K fans show up

B)Moving the gametime, admitting "defeat" (underselling ourselves, or whatever other negative moniker you want to label it) ----- 12K people show up

This. Because the football game will be in the fourth quarter when the baseball game begins. The baseball fans were never coming to the game anyway.

We'll be lucky to get much more than 12,000. My kids will have plenty of room to run around the end zone again.

MeanGreenDan · October 18, 2011

We'll be lucky to get much more than 12,000. My kids will have plenty of room to run around the end zone again.

Unfortunately it probably would have been like that either way.

KRAM1 · October 18, 2011

I haven't had a chance to be on here much lately because of stuff (of which no one cares about). That is relevant because of this:

If I had not checked the board this morning, I would have no idea that the game time had changed. MGC member, club seat holder, and no notification of a time change to the game. How does that happen? I live three counties away and don't read the DRC . As of this writing, I have not received one email from the AD updating the game time. Not one. How many that don't read this board and don't live in Denton still don't know about the time change? It is homecoming, after all, the one game of the year where alumni are supposed to come back to the university. That email should have gone out to season ticket holders BEFORE any public announcement of a change in game time was made. Customer service and marketing 101.

It is also very troubling that our very own AD was on the podcast telling the fans that there was no way this game time would be changed just a mere 2 weeks ago. It's like the thought of changing the game time never occurred to the AD until he was asked about it on the broadcast, then he went back and thought about it, and decided "hey, that's a good idea, why not do that", completely ignoring the fact that he had already told the most ardent members of the small fan base that the time would not be changed. I doubt that is what happened, but that is the appearance of what happened.

Doesn't inspire confidence in the AD at a crucial time in college football history.

As far the time change itself, it works out very well for me personally, which seems to be what most of here care about (how it affects them personally)

Mike...no one found out until last evening at the Coach mac Show...about 6:30PM. That's when the first announcement was made. RV told me at the show that he did not get the President's OK until late this afternoon...after all homecoming event coordinators had been contacted and arrangements made regarding the parade, tailgate tents for the homecoming day, etc. Pres. Rawlins has a special President's Tent for the event as well as many other departments and campus organizations. This was not a decision made lightly. I am sure the MGC will put out some announcement this week. Probably as early as today. They didn't get the word until last evening and made the announcement live on the show as soon as they could.

As for me, this change definitely affects me in a challenging way. I referee soccer every Saturday morning and will have some problems with games that will need to have referee assignments rescheduled, and I will need to rearrange the Denton Alumni Chapter Pavilion work schedule and I will be LATE to the tailgate festivities and will miss the team march and all tailgate other than my work at the Alumni Pavilion. Big time mess for me now for Saturday, BUT, this is a decision that probably needed to be made even though it definitely inconveniences a bunch of people. RV is VERY much aware of that and knows not everyone will be in support, but seems to me the folks on this board were sure calling for this move earlier in the week. For my personal schedule, I wish this move had not been made and I told RV that in person, but I also told him I understood and that I would do everything I could to be there for the start.

The big "shame" of all this is that the students and alums and fans of UNT make this sort of thing necessary because they have not been willing to support this program in the numbers necessary to move the program forward. Too many students, alums and fans would indeed choose the Ranger game (even watching on TV) over actually attending the Mean Green game. If you want this sort of thing to stop...change the attitude of those that SAY they support the Mean Green. Me, I'm mad at the Rangers for not moving the start time of that baseball game to accommodate the Mean Green. Take that Rangers!

CMJ · October 18, 2011

If you beleived the first sentence of your post, wouldn't the choices be

A)Not moving gametime, sticking to our guns (ie "we're bigtime, we don't move for anything!") -- 12K fans show up

B)Moving the gametime, admitting "defeat" (underselling ourselves, or whatever other negative moniker you want to label it) ----- 12K people show up

I don't necessarily believe we're gonna get more alumni/townspeople out to the game because of the change. Based on this and other threads around, we're gonna gain some folks and lose others. Will probably be a wash.

I do think the change might get more students out for the first half (or 3 quarters) before they go back to their dorms/apartment to watch the Ranger game. The student section was the one that seemed to bother the most people at the last home game.

More than anything, I think this was a move to try and get them.

forevereagle · October 18, 2011

Your Mom and Dad and brother and his wife isn't here dismissing my concerns for theirs. You are! Whether they make it or not doesn't affect you in the least!

Thanks for the support though, friend!

Rick

Ok, so I felt it necessary to comment here because you invoked my name. This new timing does affect me. The wife is in Austin for work and her return timing is going to mean that we will likely be late for the game. Does that make me happy? Not really. On the other side, I do understand the decision and I am not upset by it. There are also some advantages for us that come from this. We will not have to be out as late with our 5 month old. With the weather starting to turn, it means that the game will probably be a little warmer than it would have otherwise been which will be better for the little one. My wife's parents are driving up for the game as well, and an earlier start time means that they will not have to drive home as late that night. Sure, the change is less than convenient for me, but I am not upset by it because I understand that the AD is trying to do what they feel will most benefit the program, and that is what they are paid to do. Sometimes there are unfortunate side affects to that, but these things will happen.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 18, 2011

I haven't had a chance to be on here much lately because of stuff (of which no one cares about). That is relevant because of this:

If I had not checked the board this morning, I would have no idea that the game time had changed. MGC member, club seat holder, and no notification of a time change to the game. How does that happen? I live three counties away and don't read the DRC . As of this writing, I have not received one email from the AD updating the game time. Not one. How many that don't read this board and don't live in Denton still don't know about the time change? It is homecoming, after all, the one game of the year where alumni are supposed to come back to the university. That email should have gone out to season ticket holders BEFORE any public announcement of a change in game time was made. Customer service and marketing 101.

It is also very troubling that our very own AD was on the podcast telling the fans that there was no way this game time would be changed just a mere 2 weeks ago. It's like the thought of changing the game time never occurred to the AD until he was asked about it on the broadcast, then he went back and thought about it, and decided "hey, that's a good idea, why not do that", completely ignoring the fact that he had already told the most ardent members of the small fan base that the time would not be changed. I doubt that is what happened, but that is the appearance of what happened.

Doesn't inspire confidence in the AD at a crucial time in college football history.

As far the time change itself, it works out very well for me personally, which seems to be what most of here care about (how it affects them personally)

KA-POW! Just got the e-mail from the athletic department. Looks like you jogged them into action!

The only way this works for the athletic department in the general public is to tell people what they are doing. But, I doubt we'll see it on any local newscast either.

If they're going to do this, why not publicize it?

UNTLifer · October 18, 2011

Its OK Rick I will likely be down about 8 with this move. They were coming up to tailgate and all but most of them could not get to Denton before 3:00 or 3:30 so that shoots down tailgating which is mostly why they were coming. Game-day experience on Homecoming at all new suck levels.

So, they were tailgating, but not coming in so they don't count anyway towards attendance? Just trying to figure this all out.

island eagle · October 18, 2011

I think that the poll answers this question.

MeanGreenTexan · October 18, 2011

...If I had not checked the board this morning, I would have no idea that the game time had changed. MGC member, club seat holder, and no notification of a time change to the game. How does that happen? I live three counties away and don't read the DRC . As of this writing, I have not received one email from the AD updating the game time. Not one. How many that don't read this board and don't live in Denton still don't know about the time change? It is homecoming, after all, the one game of the year where alumni are supposed to come back to the university. That email should have gone out to season ticket holders BEFORE any public announcement of a change in game time was made. Customer service and marketing 101...

This is probably the only part of all of this that really concerns me. I have yet to receive an email, or any other type of notification of the game time change either. There are a ton of fans that do not read/post on gmg.com, so hopefully they will get an email/text/something that will notify them of the time change.

This. Because the football game will be in the fourth quarter when the baseball game begins. The baseball fans were never coming to the game anyway.

We'll be lucky to get much more than 12,000. My kids will have plenty of room to run around the end zone again.

This, I'm not so sure about... I think some of the Rangers fans who previously decided not to attend will show up to the game now... they'll just leave around halftime, or midway through the 3rd quarter. They will count towards attendance and hopefully, they will have spent some money on concessions/gear. Of course, these are the folks that will need the notification from the A.D. regarding the time change.

Now, if the Mean Green make it interesting (I.E. don't blow out ULM so early ) maybe these folks will decide to stay and watch the remainder of the Mean Green win!

SilverEagle · October 18, 2011

I've been too busy (won't bore you with the details) to read lengthy threads like this until this morning. I'm absolutely disgusted with anyone and everyone who has taken a dismissive attitude toward FFR on this subject.

Rick sometimes goes off on the occasional rants, but who on this board doesn't? Especially the ones who really care about this University and it's programs....and it's image.

There are many who have been just as loyal as Rick, but few who have given as much of their personal time as Rick (we're talking hundreds of hours). Who on this board would have stepped up to rebuild one of our few spirit icons? Would we have had any of our Icons pictured in Texas Monthly if it had not been for Rick? For those who call him "Fire Hat Jesus", what have you done to promote spirit and give the University a unique fan presence on game day? This is especially significant since his game day presence has always been on the Alumni side.....the most apathetic of all Texas Universities.

For those who dismissively say "well look on the back of the tickets, it says times subject to change". Well, that may be true, but in the vast majority of times, that has to do with television coverage. Is this game time change due to us getting some television coverage? No, this game time change is basically an acknowledgement of how pathetic our athletic program is... and how poorly our athletic department is being run.

UNTFan23 · October 18, 2011

For those who dismissively say "well look on the back of the tickets, it says times subject to change". Well, that may be true, but in the vast majority of times, that has to do with television coverage. Is this game time change due to us getting some television coverage? No, this game time change is basically an acknowledgement of how pathetic our athletic program is... and how poorly our athletic department is being run.

I guess some people never looked at the other side of the stadium and only saw a couple thousand students that bothered to attend the game against FAU. That would have likely happened again had the game time not been changed. It's sad that the Mean Green come in second for a lot of people but the truth hurts.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 18, 2011

Rick Firefighter and I have had our disagreements. But, in the long run, he's bought in more than I have. I refused to buy season tickets and went walk-up route until this season because I didn't want to contribute to mediocrity. He's watched, and paid to watch, a lot of bad football.

Doing things like taking care of the canon and whatnot as well. That means something. My kids love the canon! Well...the boy loves the canon because he's five and it's a form of gun. The girl, it scares...but, she's a little girl. Loud noises are supposed to scare little girls.

I think Rick Villareal was in a no-win situation here. The problem, to me, is two-fold, though; and, not of his making.

First, we don't have a loyal fan base. It doesn't take much to knock them off the path. So when a few whine about the Rangers, we move.

Second, this is homecoming and more people have scheduled arrivals and travel around it probably more than for other games. Many may not live in DFW and could care less about the Rangers, but likely want to see the newfangled stadium.

In the end, Rick V. did what he thought was best. I'd have kept it at 6 p.m. solely for the fact that homecoming does mean more travel from more people. If it had been a non-homecoming game, I'd have switched it and done so a few days earlier to give people more lead time with plans.

Go Cardinals!

Green Mean · October 18, 2011

It's sad that the Mean Green come in second for a lot of people but the truth hurts.

I don't think that is a fair thing to say. It is all about importance and implications. Most of the metroplex is ignited with the Rangers the last couple of seasons and after all it is the World effing Series. Look homecoming is great and all but it comes every year and last I checked we have sucked beyond believe for over 6 years and historically we have been bad and have had apathetic alumni. Yeah we have a new stadium and all but if people that that was the UNT athletics savior then you all were sadly mistaken. As I have said before I have no beef with people choosing to watch the Rangers over one of our games because it is the World Series after all. Had the roles been opposite then there is no question people would choose to watch us over the Rangers or any other team. We just need more fans....quantity over quality...no need to put people down for the decisions they make.

eppy4life · October 18, 2011

I think I have less -s available to me now than before. What happened?

Censored by Laurie · October 18, 2011

I've been too busy (won't bore you with the details) to read lengthy threads like this until this morning. I'm absolutely disgusted with anyone and everyone who has taken a dismissive attitude toward FFR on this subject.

Rick sometimes goes off on the occasional rants, but who on this board doesn't? Especially the ones who really care about this University and it's programs....and it's image.

There are many who have been just as loyal as Rick, but few who have given as much of their personal time as Rick (we're talking hundreds of hours). Who on this board would have stepped up to rebuild one of our few spirit icons? Would we have had any of our Icons pictured in Texas Monthly if it had not been for Rick? For those who call him "Fire Hat Jesus", what have you done to promote spirit and give the University a unique fan presence on game day? This is especially significant since his game day presence has always been on the Alumni side.....the most apathetic of all Texas Universities.

For those who dismissively say "well look on the back of the tickets, it says times subject to change". Well, that may be true, but in the vast majority of times, that has to do with television coverage. Is this game time change due to us getting some television coverage? No, this game time change is basically an acknowledgement of how pathetic our athletic program is... and how poorly our athletic department is being run.

Good. Lord.

No one...not Rick, not me, not even LoveMG is important enough to be individually contacted and consulted as to how a schedule change affects their personal schedule. No one. I, and am sure most who have "dismissed" Rick's rant here are actually sorry that an obviously very loyal fan will be adversely affected...BUT THE POINT IS THAT RICK OR ANYONE ELSE'S CONFLICT DOESN'T MAKE IT A POOR DECISION.

The acknowledgment of how poor our football program is came at the FAU game. There it is...13,142 in the third game game of our lovely new stadium...in large part the attendance was hurt by the Rangers. A repeat of that on Homecoming would really suck...and that was the looming likelihood the AD was looking at in trying to go toe-to-toe with a Rangers' World Series game.

Recognizing that a World Series game, even watched on TV, holds more appeal to the average student and average Dentonite than going to a UNT football game is simply the stark reality. It sucks...but its true. All of us long for the day its not true...but we're not there.

Green P1 · October 18, 2011

It's the Rangers and the World Series. I fully believe that were the Rangers 45 minutes from Austin, College Station, Lubbock ect.... They'd lose fans to the game as well. Luckily, they'd have fans waitin in the wings to gobble up the extras leaving them with a full stadium. We don't have the reserve list of fans waiting in the wings... thus time change.

Green Mean · October 18, 2011

It's the Rangers and the World Series. I fully believe that were the Rangers 45 minutes from Austin, College Station, Lubbock ect.... They'd lose fans to the game as well. Luckily, they'd have fans waitin in the wings to gobble up the extras leaving them with a full stadium. We don't have the reserve list of fans waiting in the wings... thus time change.

Bingo

UNTFan23 · October 18, 2011

I don't think that is a fair thing to say. It is all about importance and implications. Most of the metroplex is ignited with the Rangers the last couple of seasons and after all it is the World effing Series. Look homecoming is great and all but it comes every year and last I checked we have sucked beyond believe for over 6 years and historically we have been bad and have had apathetic alumni. Yeah we have a new stadium and all but if people that that was the UNT athletics savior then you all were sadly mistaken. As I have said before I have no beef with people choosing to watch the Rangers over one of our games because it is the World Series after all. Had the roles been opposite then there is no question people would choose to watch us over the Rangers or any other team. We just need more fans....quantity over quality...no need to put people down for the decisions they make.

I want to watch the Rangers game as much as other people do but I'll be there at the North Texas game no matter what time kick-off is. As stated by myself and others, North Texas isn't the #1 team for a lot of people, so when a big game like the World Series is taking place for a Metroplex team, I'd expect North Texas to get bumped off a lot of people lists of games to make a point to go to the NT game. That is a price North Texas has to pay for being part of a large metropolitan market with lots of pro-teams.

Like I said, the truth hurts that North Texas isn't the number one team on everyone's sports team list.

Edited October 18, 2011 by UNTFan23

risinggreen · October 18, 2011

I don't think we should be playing evening games ater September regardless, but I do think they should have figured out the necessity for the time change days ago. At least those who originally planned on showing up before 6:00 can still hopefully catch the second half.

mattmartin817 · October 18, 2011

even though I think this schedule change is about as important and impactful as a fart into a pillow,

that'll get you pink eye.

Edited October 18, 2011 by mattmartin817

Green P1 · October 18, 2011

If you wanna be brutally honest, most of the students we're trying to get to these games didn't give a single rip about UNT 1-4 years ago. Same kids have watched the Rangers suck their entire lives. We'll be in this exact same position until people begin to care about UNT BEFORE they randomly decide to attend the school.