Rice Game vs, UNT on Halloween - National TV!

[NM Green]

I would love to pay back Rice for that beating in Houston on national tv. I am not a fan of the Thursday game, but with this kind of notice I will simply have to make that arrangement to be in Denton on Thursday night!

GMG

[oldguystudent]

I would love to pay back Rice for that beating in Houston on national tv. I am not a fan of the Thursday game, but with this kind of notice I will simply have to make that arrangement to be in Denton on Thursday night!

GMG

I'll never forget the head coach apologizing for being unable to keep his players from scoring in that game. That was awful.

[drex]

Hey, it's Rice. They are used to playing in front of 2,000 people. Attendance should be awesome to them no matter how big the Apogee crowd is.

[TheWestie]

Hopefully the only students not at this game will be the ones egging and TP-ing Cougar King's trailer

[foutsrouts]

The smart man never, ever hands out candy to children. Ever.

Avoid them like the plague.

[Cougar King]

Hopefully the only students not at this game will be the ones egging and TP-ing Cougar King's trailer

You people are way too easy to upset, you really take the fun out of it.

[emmitt01]

You people are way too easy to upset, you really take the fun out of it.

Agreed. We all know you don't live in a trailer.

But they may still egg your mom's house.

[realitycheck]

Am I the only one that thinks this is a bad idea...

Im not a parent, but how would you tell your kid that youre going to watch a football game instead of trick or treating...

I think the attendance will be like a thanksgiving weekend game

I concur with you 100%. I think a lot of alumni will not be able to make the game because they will be out treak or treating with their kids.

[realitycheck]

It won't be ESPN. CUSA only has a deal with them for the championship game. It will probably be FSN or possibly CBS Sports Network.

I'm guessing CBS Sports Network since they show a lot of Conference USA games on Thursday. This means that only a handful of people will get to watch it. Game 7 of the World Series is scheduled for that night which could also cut into our viewers as well.

[JesseMartin]

I think it's a bit telling how many are counting this game as an attendance loss without even considering the great ideas for getting families and costumed students to come. We want so many things to happen, but shouldn't even bother trying new ideas to make the best out of our situation? My experiences at UNT taught me to plan better than that. Come on. Don't pick one or two ideas. Try EVERYTHING and do this to the max! If planned and executed properly, it can work out very much in our favor.

Set up trick-or-treat stations, and have the AD give a special sign to each spot that has candy. Families with costumed kids get in for like 10 or 12 bucks for the whole family. Costume contest at the end of the 3rd quarter! Trick-or-treating will be over at or before kickoff, and the really good parties won't even be in full swing until after the game anyway. Make sure to have flyers at all of the schools ahead of time and have free fried Rice, courtesy of Housing and Residence Life/Business Services.

And if anyone wants to steal our Mean Green KISS idea, go for it...I'd love to see a ton of green-and-white themed costumes and I won't be there anyway

In summary...can we at least TRY to make this work before getting all negative about the reasons why it might not?

Edited February 18, 2013 by JesseMartin

[GreenMachine]

Agreed. We all know you don't live in a trailer.

But they may still egg your mom's house.

How about we just egg her?

[GreenMachine]

I concur with you 100%. I think a lot of alumni will not be able to make the game because they will be out treak or treating with their kids.

The average age of the people on the alumni side is 118 years old. You mean trick or treating with their great great great grandkids? Edited February 18, 2013 by GreenMachine

[emmitt01]

Not trying to be negative, promise...but my wife brought up some interesting points.

1)It's Halloween night

2)A LOT of fans don't live in Denton. So, if they work until 5pm, it is pretty much a given that pre-game trick-or-treating is a no go.

3)It's on TV. So, even fans who DO live in Denton won't have to choose. Trick-or-treat, watch the game on TV, get the kids to bed at a decent hour.

4)When has NT athletics promotions EVER put together multiple events to help bolster a potentially weak crowd? Just last year I was told that some games "sell themselves" by our promotions director. Not just my words, echoed by a woman with a moderately higher than passing interest who IS MARRIED TO A DIE HARD. Think of how we are perceived by Joe fence sitter and his wife.

I know, I know, I'm just so very negative. But labeling me as a rain cloud and writing off these concerns will only make you feel more "super fan"y when you sit amongst 13,000 of your closest friends on October 31st.

[VideoEagle]

Not trying to be negative, promise...but my wife brought up some interesting points.

1)It's Halloween night

2)A LOT of fans don't live in Denton. So, if they work until 5pm, it is pretty much a given that pre-game trick-or-treating is a no go.

3)It's on TV. So, even fans who DO live in Denton won't have to choose. Trick-or-treat, watch the game on TV, get the kids to bed at a decent hour.

4)When has NT athletics promotions EVER put together multiple events to help bolster a potentially weak crowd? Just last year I was told that some games "sell themselves" by our promotions director. Not just my words, echoed by a woman with a moderately higher than passing interest who IS MARRIED TO A DIE HARD. Think of how we are perceived by Joe fence sitter and his wife.

I know, I know, I'm just so very negative. But labeling me as a rain cloud and writing off these concerns will only make you feel more "super fan"y when you sit amongst 13,000 of your closest friends on October 31st.

All are true. I think 3 is true for any televised game - they always lower our crowds somewhat. I'm personally most bothered by 4 which is very, very true through successive AD administrations. My hope is they will do better but their history doesn't support that.

All that said, I think having a televised game on Halloween is still great for NT. Lots of folks do stay home that night and watch something that can be interrupted easily - like a football game - while they answer the door. Lots of Dads I know stay home to answer the door while Mom takes the kids around and those Dads are more likely to watch a football game - any football game - that happens to be on.

It's a balancing act. I think the net gain of more people seeing us on TV will balance out the lowered home attendance for the game.

[jdennis82]

Get the Greeks involved in some sort of a Halloween carnival for kids on "The Hill"?

[Maduro]

I was really hoping that this wasn't true but the card i got in the mail today says 10/31. this is such an awful idea and I wish the cameramen luck on trying to avoid showing the empty bleachers to the tv audience (which will be half the fans that would typically attend a saturday game).

i've done a good job of not expressing any opinions regarding the decisions of the athletic department... especially since this abomination of a basketball season began. but this has opened my eyes and therefore...

unt athletic department

YOU ARE ON NOTICE

[meangreener]

I think it's brilliant. Costume contests, trick or treating. If we're good, we'll have over 20K. Huge opportunity to get national recognition as we will be the only game on TV and it's not just a random Tuesday. Back to back years on TV. I like.

[foutsrouts]

Let's just hope that for once we turn out to be better than anticipated. Unless we are somehow able to pull a promotional rabbit out of the hat, I'm afraid that a nice winning record at that point is the only way we're likely to come anywhere close to approaching 20K.

[meangreener]

Let's just hope that for once we turn out to be better than anticipated. Unless we are somehow able to pull a promotional rabbit out of the hat, I'm afraid that a nice winning record at that point is the only way we're likely to come anywhere close to approaching 20K.

Oh I agree. We will still pull in 17K at least, in my opinion. But we need to be good.

[Green Crazy]

I consider myself a "diehard" fan of nt football and even I can't convince myself to go to the game over going with my wife and daughter trick or treating. I want to be there really badly, but family first. Even if this wasn't Halloween, I would be going solo or with a buddy, because of it being a school night. The pre trick or treating idea is a good one, but most families might choose their neighbors to give their kids candy over drunken tailgaters. Sorry, I'm not usually someone who knocks others ideas, but this is just not a family football night, no matter what you do.

That being said, I like the game being on Halloween and regionally televised. I think the students will have a decent turn out and exposure is exposure. Lots of folks will be close to a tv this night and wanting to watch football, I usually stop down for two Texas teams playing when I'm flipping channels and I think others will too. The alumni side will be pretty thin and I know alum will be pissed about having to miss a game, but publicity makes this a win in my opinion. I expect about 17-20k for this game if we've got a decent record and 15k if we don't.

[JesseMartin]

Once again, I think you're all right to some degree. Getting people out there might be a hard sell, but if they actually promote it instead of assuming it will "sell itself", I see a good chance that they could at least help cover the deficit that would otherwise occur due to the timing. And I also think we will get a decent viewership on TV, and hopefully come out of it with a good game and/or a win (preferably anything including a win, but hey, any progress is still progress).

[MeanGreenTexan]

Not trying to be negative, promise...but my wife brought up some interesting points.

1)It's Halloween night

2)A LOT of fans don't live in Denton. So, if they work until 5pm, it is pretty much a given that pre-game trick-or-treating is a no go.

3)It's on TV. So, even fans who DO live in Denton won't have to choose. Trick-or-treat, watch the game on TV, get the kids to bed at a decent hour.

4)When has NT athletics promotions EVER put together multiple events to help bolster a potentially weak crowd? Just last year I was told that some games "sell themselves" by our promotions director. Not just my words, echoed by a woman with a moderately higher than passing interest who IS MARRIED TO A DIE HARD. Think of how we are perceived by Joe fence sitter and his wife.

I know, I know, I'm just so very negative. But labeling me as a rain cloud and writing off these concerns will only make you feel more "super fan"y when you sit amongst 13,000 of your closest friends on October 31st.

Emmitt, I'm sure the commute is probably going to be the deciding factor for you (not sure where you live), but I have a trick-or-treater too, and if UNT is going to do something pre-game, then we'll certainly be there, especially if Scrappy is involved somehow.... but we live in the Lake Cities, so it's not too bad of a drive for us.

I bet since it's a school night, they'll have to concentrate their efforts on getting Denton, Lake Cities and other Denton county families to come out. And sadly, fans like you who live further out with kids are the ones who suffer. But the chance to get on TV is too good to pass up.

[GOMG2013]

I think it's brilliant. Costume contests, trick or treating. If we're good, we'll have over 20K. Huge opportunity to get national recognition as we will be the only game on TV and it's not just a random Tuesday. Back to back years on TV. I like.

If UNT has a decent season, this game being on TV will do more for recruiting than anything else. Especially if UNT pulls off the win.

Some people on here are acting like Haloween really is a big time holiday. Maybe for little kids, buts that about it. You go trick or treating for an hour and it's over. Halloween is not going to affect thousands in attendance. Being on a weekday, yes. Halloween, who cares...

If this is the best opportunity to get on TV, you have to take the trade off of losing a few thousand fans that could come to the game if it would have been on a Saturday. We just have to hope the bottom is packed and they pull off the win. Chances are it will be the only college football game on. No brainer. Especially from a recruiting standpoint.

[UNT90]

If any game ever screamed for a post-game concert, this is it.

Make it happen.

Edited February 24, 2013 by UNT90

[Mean Green 93-98]

In all likelihood, I'll be bringing my children . . . ages 10, 10, and 6 . . . and I expect that our family outing will be every bit as good as those who go neighborhood trick-or-treating.