Scrimmage Today

[UNTstormchaser]

Waterless vs. Non-Waterless Urinals and how they affect attendance at a football stadium? ...... ready........go!

Non-waterless urinals might upset some of the hippy students so much that they don't come back.

[Green P1]

As are so many other subjects. That still doesn't dismiss the fact that many major and non major programs see it as a viable way to connect with their fanbases and grow their programs.

Rick

Yep. And some don't. So.....?

[MeanGreen61]

Same issues brought up by the same people every year.

Edited August 12, 2012 by MeanGreen61

[eulessismore]

For the record , I went to about 30 of Dodge's practices... So yes, nerd indeed !!

+1, and reading that makes me all the more aware of the importance of Coach Mac recruiting the Wichita Falls area. Folks, there are some sports crazed folks from there, and NT03 is a great example.

[untcampbell]

It has already been pointed out, accurately I believe, that only HCF's (hard core fans) want to go to practice, and that those guys will show up to games anyway. This, in spite of the fact (allegedly) that the athletic department hates its HCF's.

Frankly, the only thing that opening practice will do is free up board space for those that constantly publicize athletic department faults to post something else wrong.

But,

GMG

[KRAM1]

It has already been pointed out, accurately I believe, that only HCF's (hard core fans) want to go to practice, and that those guys will show up to games anyway. This, in spite of the fact (allegedly) that the athletic department hates its HCF's.

Frankly, the only thing that opening practice will do is free up board space for those that constantly publicize athletic department faults to post something else wrong.

But,

GMG

+1...Indeed!

[greenminer]

If Mac wants closed practices, let him have them.

[Grant.UNT]

You keep bringing up that if people get to attend a practice/scrimmage it will translate to the turnstile turning more.

You are directly linking attending practice = more attendance. You keep saying we're "desperate" for fans while needing to open up practices.

wow, that was some serious effort to quote someone directly. +1 for the effort.

[Marty]

If Mac wants closed practices, let him have them.

Amen brutha!

[UNTLifer]

Open practices really drove attendance during the Dickey years.

And the Dodge era.

I have a feeling I know why FFR is so worked up over this. Years ago, the department relied on many hard core fans to help with certain activities, player BBQ, handing out schedules/posters, reporting from practice, coming up with ideas to increase interest, etc..., and FFR was a big part of this. The program has grown beyond this and FFR still wants to be involved/heard but the department is not responsive like they were in years past. Just part of our program finally growing up.

[MeanGreen61]

If Mac wants closed practices, let him have them.

They may be our team, but their success on the field is his responsibility. It's his call and we need to respect it.

[UNTcrazy727]

If someone is pissed that they can't watch a practice or scrimmage they should probably find a new hobby. There are better things to do with your free time.

[DeepGreen]

And the Dodge era.

I have a feeling I know why FFR is so worked up over this. Years ago, the department relied on many hard core fans to help with certain activities, player BBQ, handing out schedules/posters, reporting from practice, coming up with ideas to increase interest, etc..., and FFR was a big part of this. The program has grown beyond this and FFR still wants to be involved/heard but the department is not responsive like they were in years past. Just part of our program finally growing up.

And our program is so all "growed up" that fans have to distribute poster schedules throughout the city to get the locals interested.

[UNTLifer]

Deep, I appreciate emmitt, KRAM and crew doing this, but first, I don't believe this required the permission of the athletic department. Second, the main issue is opening practices against the wishes of the head coach to pacify a few hard core fans who think this will grow attendance. My point was that during the Dickey era especially, practices were open and attendance sucked. The average person that we are trying to attract to turn into fans could care less about watching practice or a preseason scrimmage especially in 100° heat.

[DeepGreen]

Deep, I appreciate emmitt, KRAM and crew doing this, but first, I don't believe this required the permission of the athletic department. Second, the main issue is opening practices against the wishes of the head coach to pacify a few hard core fans who think this will grow attendance. My point was that during the Dickey era especially, practices were open and attendance sucked. The average person that we are trying to attract to turn into fans could care less about watching practice or a preseason scrimmage especially in 100° heat.

I hear ya. I can see both sides. To those of us who live far away it's a moot point.

Did you know that Arkansas State reportedly had 4,000 fans show up for their first scrimmage? Did an open scrimmage create the excitement in their fan base or was it possibly a potential bowl-bound team that drew those fans?

[forevereagle]

Did an open scrimmage create the excitement in their fan base or was it possibly a potential bowl-bound team that drew those fans?

Edited August 14, 2012 by forevereagle

[KRAM1]

And our program is so all "growed up" that fans have to distribute poster schedules throughout the city to get the locals interested.

Deep...no one asked us to do anything. This was simply a pure volunteer effort by a few folks willing to give of their time to try to do something positive for UNT and the Mean Green. I think most...MOST...fans of UNT appreciated the effort made. Even if they didn't...and we all know there are a certain few that did not...we all had a great time and were well received around the community.

[GrandGreen]

Much ado about nothing. Some teams have closed practices, others have mostly open and some have both. We had this same debate when Dodge closed practices, I could tell it really confused OU in that first game; that HS offense and no defense was something they probably were not fully prepared for. It is a coach decision and not a big deal either way.

My personal preference would be to have at least one big open practice, maybe the first in pads to introduce the new players and get fans involved to some extent. Not much to give away in the first practice.

LSU is likely to beat NT as badly as they wish, but if it gives NT any edge to limit practice; it is worth a few disgruntled fans.

If you want to talk about something silly, how about making the beat writer and about the only professional coverage NT gets; set outside the fence to view practice. This is petty and counter productive no matter what they think of Vito.

[forevereagle]

If you want to talk about something silly...

Let's not go giving people any ideas.

[FirefightnRick]

And the Dodge era.

I have a feeling I know why FFR is so worked up over this. Years ago, the department relied on many hard core fans to help with certain activities, player BBQ, handing out schedules/posters, reporting from practice, coming up with ideas to increase interest, etc..., and FFR was a big part of this. The program has grown beyond this and FFR still wants to be involved/heard but the department is not responsive like they were in years past. Just part of our program finally growing up.

No, the reason I even continued to post in this thread was because the claim was made that MOST major football programs find no value including their donor and fanbase in at least one practice or scrimmage, and I simply showed that this simply was not true, and the Kram-ablers can't handle the truth.

But, since you brought up the days of our cooking for the team and fans, it actually started for the spring games. Always hoping for us to improve, one year('01 or '02 I think it was?) I spoke with a TCU official who told me they used their spring game as a large promotional to increase and sell and grow their season ticket base. I thought, "Gee, who wouldn't like to have even one ounce of the promotional effort that TCU has been doing to draw in from their tiny fan base?". That type of effort, as far as I was aware of, had never happened here before, so I approached this dept about doing this after one of the New Orleans bowls, and was given the same brush-off that Emmitt was given last week when he approached them with an offer to help as well, and that is, "Yeah, yeah, that's great and all but we are already going to do that for the spring game.....we got it, don't worry".

So the spring game comes around...................NOTHING. No promotion, no sales ad's, no one asking those in attendance if they were ready to renew season tickets, NOTHING!

So, having been around enough to understand the climate I was dealing with at North Texas, I go back and asked again the next year and this time, Very Green, Mo Green, SoundMan, SilverEagle, myself and countless others offered to them that we would even front the money, and do all the labor, and cook barbecue for the team AND their family and friends, if they would simply promote it and supply the resources to sell and renew season ticket holders. And for what ever reason Dickey was allowed to change the spring game from a saturday when it was to happen, to a Thursday when no one could hardly get there in time after work. So the barbecue occured after a saturday morning scrimmage. It was poorly if ever promoted and few showed up, and the departments total great effort was Mandy showing up with about 20 pages of renewal sheets stuffed under a rock on one table that morning. And the scrimmage the next week on a Thursday night was poorly attended for a team that had just gone to a bowl game and we never took advantage of the interest gained only months before. I see people here mention many times over that "winning didn't do us anything in attendance during the Sun Belt bowl years", yet easily forget, or they never even took notice of, how so often our AD Dept blew these opportunities off.

But after that Spring, coach Dickey got wind of our efforts and liked what he heard and calls me at the station and asked if we would instead do this again but before the season in the Fall. And we did, and you got to attend the scrimmage(WE didn't though, WE were cooking and preparing the food during the scrimmage), then got to eat afterwards, and the response by players and their families, coaches and fans was great. But there was very little attempt if any to offer those who did show up to renew and sell tickets, but I could be wrong, because as I said, I was busy cooking and serving.

So now you have what you have, and I suppose there are promotionals to get folks who do show up to renew, even though last year's event, outside of getting to try out our brand new stadium, was one of the least memorable. At least it's something, but it's my opinion they are not doing all they can by integrating it in with a scrimmage like so many other programs do........even the MAJOR ones. .

Rick

Edited August 14, 2012 by FirefightnRick

[UNT 90 Grad]

To be fair, until someone comes up with a list of >60 FBS schools, no one has proven most of anything. I'm definitely not challenging anyone to do that research because I think that the number of folks that care would be limited.

Just curious: A couple of years ago, a few weeks after Thompson broke his leg in the Army game, he was on crutches making his way through the parking lot up to Fouts prior to one of the games. I commenced in some small talk and wound up offering one of the brats I was cooking to him. He didn't take me up on it. I thought about it later and was then concerned that a booster offering free food could be considered an NCAA rules violation. Reading through the terms I have, there is a meal exception if the meal is provided at a booster's home. Can someone in the know provide some rules clarification? I'd just hate for someone to take action based on items in this thread and accidentally break NCAA rules.

Sorry to veer off the subject of Saturday's scrimmage, but the precedence was set for me.

[UNTstormchaser]

To be fair, until someone comes up with a list of >60 FBS schools, no one has proven most of anything. I'm definitely not challenging anyone to do that research because I think that the number of folks that care would be limited.

Just curious: A couple of years ago, a few weeks after Thompson broke his leg in the Army game, he was on crutches making his way through the parking lot up to Fouts prior to one of the games. I commenced in some small talk and wound up offering one of the brats I was cooking to him. He didn't take me up on it. I thought about it later and was then concerned that a booster offering free food could be considered an NCAA rules violation. Reading through the terms I have, there is a meal exception if the meal is provided at a booster's home. Can someone in the know provide some rules clarification? I'd just hate for someone to take action based on items in this thread and accidentally break NCAA rules.

Sorry to veer off the subject of Saturday's scrimmage, but the precedence was set for me.

The NCAA really needs to take these petty rules and shove them up their...honestly, if that's an NCAA infraction, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

[KRAM1]

To be safe...Boosters...and that includes any member of the Mean green Club, any season ticket holder, anyone who donates to the athletic program, etc. in the strictest sense of the definition...should probably shy away from offerening any UNT athlete any food, drink, etc. unless authorized to do so by Athletic dept. personnel. While i doubt the NCAA would pounce on UNT 90 Grad's offer of a brat at a tailgate as Thompson just passed through the area on the way elsewhere, it does open the door to questions. In all of these cases and questions, it's probably better to be safe than sorry.

And, yes, the rules the NCAA selectively enforces are pretty inane at times. But, most grew out of situations where folks were taking advantage of a situation. Isn't that they way it usually happens?