Three Practices Open to The Public...

FirefightnRick · August 5, 2013

...and to the WHOLE public, not just for school officials, family members of players, lettermen or $1000 donors. And not in the scorching heat at 4 pm, but at 7 pm on Saturday.

.

With this kind of accomodation to the public and reaching out to fans you would almost think they are having attendance issues only averaging 18k people a game down in AUSTIN?

http://www.kvue.com/sports/more/Three-UT-football-practices-open-to-the-public-217994391.html

Rick

Edited August 5, 2013 by FirefightnRick

UNTFan23 · August 5, 2013

You're right Rick. I will never attend another NT game because practice is closed. :rolleyes:

FirefightnRick · August 5, 2013

You're right Rick. I will never attend another NT game because practice is closed.

I see the point went right over you there. Your usually better than that.

Rick

UNTFan23 · August 5, 2013

I see the point went right over you there. Your usually better than that.
Rick

Opening practice ain't gonna solve any attendance issues. Odds are quite likely that vast majority of people that might attend will already be season ticket holders.

FirefightnRick · August 5, 2013

Opening practice ain't gonna solve any attendance issues. Odds are quite likely that vast majority of people that might attend will already be season ticket holders.

Whooosh!!! That's twice.

Rick

UNTFan23 · August 5, 2013

Whooosh!!! That's twice.
Rick

If I'm missing what you're saying, then by all means enlighten the rest of the Mean Green Nation as I am sure others are wondering what the frack you're really talking about.

Edited August 5, 2013 by UNTFan23

drex · August 5, 2013

Will home games be open to the public? Just wondering.

untjim1995 · August 5, 2013

I see the point went right over you there. Your usually better than that.
Rick

What is the point?

UNT 90 Grad · August 5, 2013

If I'm missing what you're saying, then by all means enlighten the rest of the Mean Green Nation as I am sure others are wondering what the frack you're really talking about.

We sittin' here talkin' 'bout practice.

MeanGreenTexan · August 5, 2013

If I'm missing what you're saying, then by all means enlighten the rest of the Mean Green Nation as I am sure others are wondering what the frack you're really talking about.

X2.

What IS the point here?

UT is going to have a lot of interest in their practices. UNT may have 20-30 people tops show up to watch a practice... no matter when it is, and as pointed out by UNTfan23 the second time it 'went over his head', anyone who DOES show up to a UNT practice probably already has season tickets because they already care.

Win some games and maybe interest will pique. In the meantime, I wont lose a wink of sleep because practice is not open to the public.

greenminer · August 5, 2013

It was this way last year. Has the department allowed any opportunity for fans/ticket holders to express their wishes? If so, what was said and what was the AD's reaction?

KRAM1 · August 5, 2013

Waiting to hear what the point was....UNTFan23 is correct in all he mentioned, but if that wasn't the point, please enlighten us.

RAGEMASTER5000 · August 5, 2013

This is like Coach Perterson's big news all over again.

FirefightnRick · August 5, 2013

No, y'all go ahead with the speculations and what nots. This is rather amusing.

In the meantime, another program that seems to value every opportunity to grow their loyal fanbase so that,..just in case they don't win and the excitement tapers off as the season goes on they still may continue to support because they had that chance early on to identify and get to know their team.

http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080413aaa.html

The first practice will be held on Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:45 p.m. with the first five practices being open to the public. From that point the coaching staff will determine which practices will be open and which will be closed.All open practices will be held on the Tech Practice Fields. Times and locations are subject to change and will be announced through the team's Twitter account, @LATechFB.

Rick

meangreanmick · August 5, 2013

Whooosh!!! That's twice.
Rick

You seemed to have omitted the fact that this is the first time in several years he has allowed practices open to public? But UT doesn't seem to have had attendance problems prior to this happening?

UNTFan23 · August 5, 2013

No, y'all go ahead with the speculations and what nots. This is rather amusing.
In the meantime, another program that seems to value every opportunity to grow their loyal fanbase so that,..just in case they don't win and the excitement tapers off as the season goes on they still may continue to support because they had that chance early on to identify and get to know their team.
http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080413aaa.html
The first practice will be held on Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:45 p.m. with the first five practices being open to the public. From that point the coaching staff will determine which practices will be open and which will be closed.All open practices will be held on the Tech Practice Fields. Times and locations are subject to change and will be announced through the team's Twitter account, @LATechFB.
Rick

I keep staring at this thread and I can't figure out what the hell you're opining about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_f8ayQQx4I

Edited August 5, 2013 by UNTFan23

MeanGreenTexan · August 5, 2013

No, y'all go ahead with the speculations and what nots. This is rather amusing.
In the meantime, another program that seems to value every opportunity to grow their loyal fanbase so that,..just in case they don't win and the excitement tapers off as the season goes on they still may continue to support because they had that chance early on to identify and get to know their team.
http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080413aaa.html
The first practice will be held on Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:45 p.m. with the first five practices being open to the public. From that point the coaching staff will determine which practices will be open and which will be closed.All open practices will be held on the Tech Practice Fields. Times and locations are subject to change and will be announced through the team's Twitter account, @LATechFB.
Rick

That's great for LATech.

Don't take this as a dare FFR, but I highly doubt you're going anywhere. Anyone who would care to attend UNT practices in the football team's current state are also not going anywhere.

And bolded-red above, I think, is a straw-man. Again, anyone who would attend a UNT football practice won't go anywhere when UNT goes 5-7, or *gulp* 2-10. They're already fans. And not the kind that will dust their hands and walk away when the going gets tough... or they would already be gone, don't you think?

untjim1995 · August 5, 2013

No, y'all go ahead with the speculations and what nots. This is rather amusing.
In the meantime, another program that seems to value every opportunity to grow their loyal fanbase so that,..just in case they don't win and the excitement tapers off as the season goes on they still may continue to support because they had that chance early on to identify and get to know their team.
http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080413aaa.html
The first practice will be held on Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:45 p.m. with the first five practices being open to the public. From that point the coaching staff will determine which practices will be open and which will be closed.All open practices will be held on the Tech Practice Fields. Times and locations are subject to change and will be announced through the team's Twitter account, @LATechFB.
Rick

I'm even more confused now. I guess I'm just not getting it, which certainly won't be the first time. Are you saying that by opening practice more than a few times will build a stronger fanbase from your season ticket holders? If so, the Dickey years at UNT would not necessarily agree with that assessment, nor would the Dodge years, when we closed almost all practices, yet saw our attendance jump over all those Dickey years.

Seriously, though, I'm not clear on what you are trying to say, but I am very interested to see your answer.

smoothfresh · August 5, 2013

Come on guys... we all know open practice and providing details about your team = a happier and potentially bigger fan base. Speaking from experience look how Bill Snyder grew the Kansas State fan base.

(for those who don't get the sarcasm during K-State practice roads and the airspace around the practice facility are closed and take a peek at a Bill Snyder press conference before a game)

Stan R · August 5, 2013

Fine. Then have a practice non-watching party. Organize just outside of the "illegal" watching area and have yourself a party. Force the issue.

greenminer · August 5, 2013

Is this a big deal? Are there 500 people getting blown off by the AD, or is this a vocal army of 10?

FirefightnRick · August 5, 2013

You seemed to have omitted the fact that this is the first time in several years he has allowed practices open to public? But UT doesn't seem to have had attendance problems prior to this happening?

You seemed to have missed my annual "We're missing another oportunity" bitch session last year in which someone..hell it might have been you for all I know...responded with a "The big schools don't do it so why should we?"....and they would throw out examples like ZeroU, tU etc.

But you indirectly brought up a valid point. tU doesn't have attendance issues, yet they still value the chance to reach out even further. And now this. Someone down there realizes that even though their program truly is a "Self Promoter" it never hurts to keep promoting and selling to grow their fan base.

But here at NT, we don't. We have all the fans we can handle.....

Rick

FirefightnRick · August 5, 2013

Is this a big deal? Are there 500 people getting blown off by the AD, or is this a vocal army of 10?

We had an alumn who qualified and played in the U.S. open last year and our AD Dept sent out a notice to Mean Green Club Members via email to watch for it..................................nearly a week AFTER the U.S. Open occurred. So who can say for sure how many people would show or not, or knows we even play football....or not? If we reach out to the public, alumni etc and draw in the next Ernie Kuehne it will have been worth it.

Rick

untjim1995 · August 5, 2013

You seemed to have missed my annual "We're missing another oportunity" bitch session last year in which someone..hell it might have been you for all I know...responded with a "The big schools don't do it so why should we?"....and they would throw out examples like ZeroU, tU etc.
But you indirectly brought up a valid point. tU doesn't have attendance issues, yet they still value the chance to reach out even further. And now this. Someone down there realizes that even though their program truly is a "Self Promoter" it never hurts to keep promoting and selling to grow their fan base.
But here at NT, we don't. We have all the fans we can handle.....
Rick

There is actually a need at Texas to do this right now--its because their fanbase is feeling very nervous right now. They have had three seasons that are not up to their standards--theirs, not ours. Their fanbase is tired of getting prison-raped by OU in the Cotton Bowl every October. Now, they get their little brothers to the east in College Station who left home and literally became a big success in the SEC overnight, so much so that recruiting is overwhelmingly going in the Aggies favor right now. Their fans are increasingly becoming angry and dissatisfied with the direction of the program. Opening up a few practices for them is probably a nice way to make nice with the thousands of fans that want to see a practice in Austin. Texas needs to do this right now because they are on the precipice of falling backwards even more. It isn't hard to see an 80s level fall back from the Longhorns if things don't get better soon. Thats going to be a lot of t-shirts to win back again.

At North Texas, you, me, and about 50 other people that aren't parents, siblings, or friends of current players would like to watch a practice. Sure, I wish we had more that wanted that, but I am giving McCarney the benefit of the doubt that he knows what is best for his team. Would I like to see an open practice or two? Absolutely. But Texas is doing this because they are LOSING t-shirt fans at a fast rate right now, which costs money. Here at UNT, we don't have t-shirt fans. Hell, we barely have fans, as compared to our size. Its watermelons to plums when looking at these two schools. One wants football to be their window to their great research university. They have a legacy to try and keep. the other university has proven for decades that they feel that football only takes away from music, arts, and academia, which they feel provide a great "value" to the population.

I think I hear you now--and I tend to agree on wanting some practices open for the fans--but I don't think we are missing anything big because we don't open them up. We just don't have enough fans to push the needle here. Otherwise, when Dickey was our head coach and we opened up practices to everyone, we would have seen attendance jump greatly, especially when we were winning the SBC in a dominant fashion. Instead, when Dodge took over, and now with McCarney, we have seen attendance increase, even if it is not where we want it to be or thought it would be when Apogee was built.

UNTFan23 · August 5, 2013

You seemed to have missed my annual "We're missing another oportunity" bitch session last year in which someone..hell it might have been you for all I know...responded with a "The big schools don't do it so why should we?"....and they would throw out examples like ZeroU, tU etc.
But you indirectly brought up a valid point. tU doesn't have attendance issues, yet they still value the chance to reach out even further. And now this. Someone down there realizes that even though their program truly is a "Self Promoter" it never hurts to keep promoting and selling to grow their fan base.
But here at NT, we don't. We have all the fans we can handle.....
Rick

Coach Mac gets to make the rules and we have to live with them. This is his third year here so why bother ripping off that old scab about closed practices ... unless you like causing drama?

Edited August 5, 2013 by UNTFan23