Question for those predicting less than 6 wins

MeanGreenHoops · August 25, 2013

I sort of always have this feeling at games that our fans are in "wait and see before I personally invest" mode. Meaning, it seems they kind of wait for the team to do something before they start making a lot of noise.

I'll give two examples because I've met them before. Emmitt and FFR. Those guys are often critical on GMG.com about things, but I know at games they always support full throttle because I've seen it.

Just curious. Because I'm one who believes support really helps at games. Especially when you've been down for awhile.

So for everyone who has said they don't expect more than 4 wins, or I won't be happy unless we get at least 6 wins etc.

Is this your attitude in the stands, sitting quietly waiting until we beat Ball State to get to 2-1, before you start to do your job as a fan? Or do you leave that to the board and make as much noise until it's proven otherwise?

emmitt01 · August 25, 2013

I'm a fan of North Texas. That's my alma mater and where my loyalty lies. My issues with the admin, coaches, direction, etc of the program won't change that...because I'll be around North Texas looooong after they're gone.

(Though I'm finding recently that any criticism of the current regime is taken as a "personal attack" by some)

KRAM1 · August 25, 2013

You know...you make a great point about both Emmitt and FFR...those guys are definitely full throttle at the games. The Mean Green could use more fans in the seats and definitely more like these two guys.

The "wait and see before I personally invest" thing is another topic into itself.

oldguystudent · August 25, 2013

Past experiences have taught me to shut the hell up at games. I very clearly come from an extremely different school of fandom, and they do NOT take kindly to it in these parts.

We've arrived at the maturation of the everybody gets a participation trophy generation. Everybody is a special little butterfly, and everybody is a winner. Fine.

KRAM1 · August 25, 2013

I'm a fan of North Texas. That's my alma mater and where my loyalty lies. My issues with the admin, coaches, direction, etc of the program won't change that...because I'll be around North Texas looooong after they're gone.
(Though I'm finding recently that any criticism of the current regime is taken as a "personal attack" by some)

See, you can't even make a serious and respectful post without some vague or not-so-vague attack at others who don't agree with the positions you take. The first part of your post is your opinion and respectful and worth reading and thinking about...the last, well, sort of ruins the first.

KRAM1 · August 25, 2013

Past experiences have taught me to shut the hell up at games. I very clearly come from an extremely different school of fandom, and they do NOT take kindly to it in these parts.
We've arrived at the maturation of the everybody gets a participation trophy generation. Everybody is a special little butterfly, and everybody is a winner. Fine.

Ha...so true...so true! Bring out the "participation" trophies! LOL

NT03 · August 25, 2013

If you go into a game miserable or down , then you probably have bigger issues in your life. I may go in with low expectations , but ill be there every game fully supporting my team. Saturday can't get here soon enough !

KRAM1 · August 25, 2013

If you go into a game miserable or down , then you probably have bigger issues in your life. I may go in with low expectations , but ill be there every game fully supporting my team. Saturday can't get here soon enough !

Exactly! Exactly!

MeanGreenTexan · August 25, 2013

If you go into a game miserable or down , then you probably have bigger issues in your life. I may go in with low expectations , but ill be there every game fully supporting my team. Saturday can't get here soon enough !

Exactly.

Just because I think we'll go 5-7 this year doesn't mean I'll cheer any less/more if we actually go 1-11 (c'mon, UTSA=certain win), or 11-1.

houstonmeangreen · August 25, 2013

Past experiences have taught me to shut the hell up at games. I very clearly come from an extremely different school of fandom, and they do NOT take kindly to it in these parts.
We've arrived at the maturation of the everybody gets a participation trophy generation. Everybody is a special little butterfly, and everybody is a winner. Fine.

OK ----YOU WIN....your trophy is in the mail !!

houstonmeangreen · August 25, 2013

I'm a fan of North Texas. That's my alma mater and where my loyalty lies. My issues with the admin, coaches, direction, etc of the program won't change that...because I'll be around North Texas looooong after they're gone.
(Though I'm finding recently that any criticism of the current regime is taken as a "personal attack" by some)

So just what are your issues....one by one...and your solutions for same!!

UNT90 · August 25, 2013

Everyone here wants UNT to be better, achieve more. We sometimes just disagree what path will take us to where we want to be.

If going to UNT games ever becomes a chore, I simply will stop going. It would take a pretty miserable person to want to go to an event that they do not enjoy.

jdennis82 · August 25, 2013

My question for those predicting less than 6 wins...what fun is it to predict a poor season? I can understand realistic, but as a fan, I'd rather be wrong on the positive side compared with finding myself having been incorrectly pessimistic. Is a prediction of losing more enjoyable in a desire to "be right" or to "make a point" that you're dissatisfied with what you're expecting?

MeanGreenTexan · August 25, 2013

My question for those predicting less than 6 wins...what fun is it to predict a poor season? I can understand realistic, but as a fan, I'd rather be wrong on the positive side compared with finding myself having been incorrectly pessimistic. Is a prediction of losing more enjoyable in a desire to "be right" or to "make a point" that you're dissatisfied with what you're expecting?

Then you can understand a 5-7 prediction. (W's: Idaho, Tulane, MT(gotta have faith on this one), UTEP, UTSA)

It's how I genuinely see the season shaking out... right now. Pound ID to a 30-point lopsided victory, play Ohio close or win, & beat Ball St. convincingly (10+ pts), and I'll probably change my tune.

It's not setting the bar low so I can be pleasantly surprised if we win more (some people may be doing this), or to take the sting off if we lose more, it's just how I see it.

And, NO, a losing prediction not enjoyable!

UNT90 · August 25, 2013

My question for those predicting less than 6 wins...what fun is it to predict a poor season? I can understand realistic, but as a fan, I'd rather be wrong on the positive side compared with finding myself having been incorrectly pessimistic. Is a prediction of losing more enjoyable in a desire to "be right" or to "make a point" that you're dissatisfied with what you're expecting?

And I'm tired of being disappointed.

Going to games with lowered expectations allows me to enjoy the tailgating atmosphere, meeting with friends, and if we win when I don't expect it, all the better.

drex · August 25, 2013

Any way you look at this fan base is beaten down. The football year, coupled by the basketball debacle really tests the faithful. Let's hope this is a breakout year...we break out about every 10 years historically, so maybe this is our year.

filmerj · August 25, 2013

My prediction is a dire one, not because I want to lower my expectations so much so that one more win will make me happy, but because I was right last year, and I haven't see anything that has helped us improve upon our team from last year. Is one more year of experience enough? Maybe. We did what we did last year... in THE BELT! This year we face better teams in conference. Would I love to predict a 9-3, or a perfect season, yes, but I just don't think we have the pieces there. Unless we start playing some of these highly touted freshman recruits, and they immediately catch on to the college game I just can't predict anything better. But I cheer, and throw my support behind our guys. Because it's more fun than to sit there like a bump on a log. Plus, tailgating gets most of us through. Even with my predictions, I still hope for a win. I still get disappointed when we lose. This is the only customer oriented service that I still pay money for, despite the product not meeting expectations. What does that say?

Edited August 25, 2013 by filmerj

casual fan · August 25, 2013

My question for those predicting less than 6 wins...what fun is it to predict a poor season? I can understand realistic, but as a fan, I'd rather be wrong on the positive side compared with finding myself having been incorrectly pessimistic. Is a prediction of losing more enjoyable in a desire to "be right" or to "make a point" that you're dissatisfied with what you're expecting?

Exactly.

As I said before: Optimism is frowned upon in this establishment!!!

If you can't be optimistic before this coming season, then when?

Let's go bowling!

Harry · August 25, 2013

Exactly.

As I said before: Optimism is frowned upon in this establishment!!!

That's just BS -- we have some of the most loyal fans and donors this program has here on this site. We had nearly a decade of losing season in football for goodness sakes. And despite this many of us remain very optimistic about the future.

I am sick and tired of our good fans being criticized for not being blindly optimistic given the results we've been fed in our major revenue sports lately.

The fact we have been able to maintain a loyal 15-16K of fans through all the losing and the continuing growth of our student attendance are two extremely encouraging signs to me. This without 1 signature win or a freaking regional rival to play against!!!

I think the recent move by the Board of Regents to level the budget playing field is more evidence that our leaders realize this situation as well. In the past we would have the lowest recruiting budget in the conference and write it off to "well our location makes it easier to get unofficial visits so.."... BS -- we have to FUND this business or we are one step behind at the start of the C-USA race!! In the meantime, let's win some damn games and give our fence sitters a reason to jump on board... GMG

UNTLifer · August 25, 2013

8-4 and I will drive half way across Texas to watch em' live.

UNT90 · August 25, 2013

The fact we have been able to maintain a loyal 15-16K of fans through all the losing and the continuing growth of our student attendance are two extremely encouraging signs to me. This without 1 signature win or a freaking regional rival to play against!!!

The amazing thing to me is that we have a fan base of about 16 or 17k that will come no matter the outcome. The 4th year of Dodge gave fans absolutely NO REASON to come to games, but they were there.

If we ever manage to actually ~~win...~~ have a win over a ranked opponent in a bowl year...

Edited August 25, 2013 by UNT90

bleedgreen4ever · August 25, 2013

I understand that based on the past, fans are very skeptical about this team winning games. However, to me it's pretty evident that this team is not like our past teams. Why? The mere fact that we have more depth and competition in most positions. Add to that the big amount of motivation and passion permeating throughout the team and I think that's enough reason to believe we will reach at least six wins this season. It's very doable in my eyes and much more realistic than in the past.

DeepGreen · August 25, 2013

That's just BS -- we have some of the most loyal fans and donors this program has here on this site. We had nearly a decade of losing season in football for goodness sakes. And despite this many of us remain very optimistic about the future.
I am sick and tired of our good fans being criticized for not being blindly optimistic given the results we've been fed in our major revenue sports lately.
The fact we have been able to maintain a loyal 15-16K of fans through all the losing and the continuing growth of our student attendance are two extremely encouraging signs to me. This without 1 signature win or a freaking regional rival to play against!!!
I think the recent move by the Board of Regents to level the budget playing field is more evidence that our leaders realize this situation as well. In the past we would have the lowest recruiting budget in the conference and write it off to "well our location makes it easier to get unofficial visits so.."... BS -- we have to FUND this business or we are one step behind at the start of the C-USA race!! In the meantime, let's win some damn games and give our fence sitters a reason to jump on board... GMG

Harry,

How many times have you heard me say this, here and in other correspondence? I have always been concerned about our recruiting budget, or lack of the necessary funds for successful recruiting. I've been preaching this for over 20 years. The Dallas-Ft Worth area has many fine high school athletes to recruit to UNT. But all those other FBS head coaches and recruiting coordinators know about that talent too. And the rest of Texas.

And yes, you have to have successful recruiters on staff to sell our program. But they must have the money to "shake the bushes" for recruits from all over.

Edited August 25, 2013 by DeepGreen

UNT90 · August 25, 2013

I understand that based on the past, fans are very skeptical about this team winning games. However, to me it's pretty evident that this team is not like our past teams. Why? The mere fact that we have more depth and competition in most positions. Add to that the big amount of motivation and passion permeating throughout the team and I think that's enough reason to believe we will reach at least six wins this season. It's very doable in my eyes and much more realistic than in the past.

Am I reading a post from 2009 or 2013?

Just sayin...

MeanGreenHoops · August 25, 2013

That's just BS -- we have some of the most loyal fans and donors this program has here on this site. We had nearly a decade of losing season in football for goodness sakes. And despite this many of us remain very optimistic about the future.
I am sick and tired of our good fans being criticized for not being blindly optimistic given the results we've been fed in our major revenue sports lately.
The fact we have been able to maintain a loyal 15-16K of fans through all the losing and the continuing growth of our student attendance are two extremely encouraging signs to me. This without 1 signature win or a freaking regional rival to play against!!!
I think the recent move by the Board of Regents to level the budget playing field is more evidence that our leaders realize this situation as well. In the past we would have the lowest recruiting budget in the conference and write it off to "well our location makes it easier to get unofficial visits so.."... BS -- we have to FUND this business or we are one step behind at the start of the C-USA race!! In the meantime, let's win some damn games and give our fence sitters a reason to jump on board... GMG

This is a great point Harry and why I used two examples of people that are polarizing (on here at least) to ask the question.

For me, this is all just for fun. The fact that it is my alma mater makes it painful at times, as opposed to if I was a t-shirt fan for some other school. I just have also wondered if people that have those wait and see attitudes actually take that with them to games. I really hope not because I think support from the crowd really helps the team. And I also think Apogee is great for being noisy.

I also hear that attitude sometimes expressed by people at games. They just sit in their seats complaining about things instead of making noise. And I'm not referring to the 4th quarter and down by 21, I mean in close games in the 1st half. I'm always thinking, well true we are losing and we aren't playing well, but we could win so why don't you make some noise and help that happen.

Edited August 25, 2013 by MeanGreenHoops