Official Attendance...

UNTflyer · September 1, 2013

21,975

greenit · September 1, 2013

Good to know we sold that many tickets. I am estimating 3-4k no shows.

chrisfisher · September 1, 2013

Disappointing number, but when you haven't had a winning season in 8 years, it is expected. I know the stadium will fill up if we convince the public that this team is for real by winning many more games this season.

meangreener · September 1, 2013

Like I said...yet everyone insisted it was 18.

wardly · September 1, 2013

3 day weekend for students [i assume no Monday classes], probably a lot of them went home.

FirefightnRick · September 1, 2013

Yeah....and the official attendance for the MTSU game in 2011 was 15,962.

North Texas also broke the all-time attendance record for a season with a total of 113,186. A crowd of 15,962 saw tonight's game.

http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/120311aaa.html

A complete fabrication of the truth IMO. The attendance was so poor that night... I would say between 3,000-4,000,...that McCarney complained about it during the caravans the following spring.

Rick

jdennis82 · September 1, 2013

With performances like this, attendance retention will be greater through the season. In addition to that, if we can build momentum in the standings, the recognizable CUSA lineup will bring new fans out to a degree we haven't seen since the bowl years.

I was pleased with attendance on both sides of the stadium (I admit, my first season w/ tickets in the shade made a HUGE difference in my enjoyment of the game).

Ultimately, I guess I don't understand the complaints about attendance. Typically, what I read are attempts to discount ANY excuse someone might have had for not showing up. Seems a more productive use of time to, instead, use a dissatisfaction with the result as motivation to participate in helping find solutions (whether on a micro or macro level)

If the attitude of the team in the face of adversity mirrored many on this board's approach to personal dissatisfaction, we would've lost this game after the onside kick.

Mean Green 93-98 · September 1, 2013

Yeah....and the official attendance for the MTSU game in 2011 was 15,962.
http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/120311aaa.html
A complete fabrication of the truth IMO. The attendance was so poor that night... I would say between 3,000-4,000,...that McCarney complained about it during the caravans the following spring.
Rick

Don't season tickets always count toward attendance, whether or not rear ends are in their corresponding seats?

buff64 · September 1, 2013

Don't season tickets always count toward attendance, whether or not rear ends are in their corresponding seats?

Nope

emmitt01 · September 1, 2013

It's not the attendance or lack thereof that irks me. People will have rheir reasons. It's the laissez faire attitude of our promotions department that boils my blood. If we put on the full court press to promote our games, and THEN the fans came up with reasons to stay home, I'd adopt the prevalent "oh well, that's life" outlook.

greenit · September 1, 2013

I consider the efforts to build a new stadium, build a new athletic complex, hire a new coaching staff, join a new conference, get our team featured on new TV show about our team, etc... all part of an overall effort to increase interest in our program.

It feels like it is working to me. Maybe not as fast as I would like, but it feels like things are slowly moving in the right direction.

jdennis82 · September 1, 2013

I consider the efforts to build a new stadium, build a new athletic complex, hire a new coaching staff, join a new conference, get our team featured on new TV show about our team, etc... all part of an overall effort to increase interest in our program.

It feels like it is working to me. Maybe not as fast as I would like, but it feels like things are slowly moving in the right direction.

+1

The program's profile is growing. Let's not lose sight of that.

meangreener · September 1, 2013

Frankly, it was just freaking hot.

I think more fans would've came had the heat not been so oppressive.

Those of us in the student section were just...dead. Many just didn't want to brave that heat and I can't blame them.

PlummMeanGreen · September 1, 2013

SMU and TCU while in the SWC had to have significant numbers of visiting traveling fans to have anywhere close to decent attendance figures for schools that had been in a major conference all those decades.

What attendance we do get at North Texas 99% of the time are mostly all "OUR" fans.

Again, had Texas Tech been our opponent last night we would have had 35,000 at Apogee. Amazing how

that "traveling fans" formula works, now isn't it?

Honestly? After 8 losing seasons in a row, I'll gladly take a 22,000 Mean Green fan base to build onto once the real winning begins. I want to see

the day when all 31,000 plus fans at Apogee are all wearing green and we have to tell opponents officials...

"sorry, but we don't have enough tickets for your fans" albeit we know by NCAA decree that we are supposed to reserve a certain

number of those for visiting schools.

I'm beginning to feel about this football program the way I did in 1975 as a UNT student when Hayden Fry and his Mean Green were making some real hay in the NCAA and others in our neighborhood were not (and were just as hesitant to schedule quality Mean Green football teams during that era, too).

GMG

Edited September 1, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

KingDL1 · September 1, 2013

I consider the efforts to build a new stadium, build a new athletic complex, hire a new coaching staff, join a new conference, get our team featured on new TV show about our team, etc... all part of an overall effort to increase interest in our program.

It feels like it is working to me. Maybe not as fast as I would like, but it feels like things are slowly moving in the right direction.

Until we are really winning, dates and times mean a lot when UNT football is not a priority to that many. Labor day weekend conflicts with family labor day parties, and this weekend (today) was the start to dove season. Students go home on the long weekend, and hunters go out to hunt. Topper 100+ heat we did well at was likely around 16000 last night.

Sept 14th Ball State will be hard on many of the Alumni I know with kiddos in sports, plus it may still be hot. Traditionally we have had poor attendance for 3:00pm games since I have had tickets these last 12 years.

October 12th against Middle who? Its nice at 6:00 pm but no one at UNT seems to realize like it or not that Texas-OU weekend has a huge impact on our attendance, lots of big watching parties. Tons of winning may eventually fix this.

But don't get excited a home on a weeknight game on Halloween, wow, stacking people's Halloween parties against driving to Denton in heavy traffic to watch a game that is on TV. Seem someone is not paying attention.

Followed by the last two both in November with starts at 2:30 still early for many, a bit hard on the tailgater folks to get a good group and the kiddo sports conflicts are still happening.

Our best bet is lots of winning, or teams with names important to the dfw area,

drex · September 1, 2013

I consider myself a pretty good fan, but I have to tell you that I almost did not come to the game with my wife, due to the unbelievable heat. Getting old is not fun. In the old days I would have laughed at the heat--now I run from it.

PlummMeanGreen · September 1, 2013

Guess the heat had me seeing double, but if Apogee holds 31,000 I still thought there were about 21-22K in attendance. I tell you without a breeze it was mighty hot even in our shaded west side of Apogee but thankfully, we had a breeze most of the evening albeit a warm one.

How many fans stay in the club suites level, never taking their nice seats and drink all night long and then............. how many students were still outside Apogee doing a bit of their own imbibement of the spirits?

And drex, I whole-heartedly concur with your above post. LOL! And come on now, you are so much more than just a pretty good fan all the decades I've known you!

Still considering 8 "L" seasons in a row, I am more than OK with our fan base which we all know will get so much larger when the winning cycle returns to the Mean Green Village. I repeat; It will get so much larger when the winning cycle returns and the numbers in our UNT constituency insures that will be a reality. As we always said in sales: "It's a numbers game."

GMG!

Edited September 1, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

FirefightnRick · September 1, 2013

It's not the attendance or lack thereof that irks me. People will have rheir reasons. It's the laissez faire attitude of our promotions department that boils my blood. If we put on the full court press to promote our games, and THEN the fans came up with reasons to stay home, I'd adopt the prevalent "oh well, that's life" outlook.

See, folks like Jdennis don't understand the effort by many here who have approached the AD dept with help only for it to be...well.....

My personal conversations in the past two weeks with RV involved...

1. McCarney doesn't show up on time for the Mean Green March. His arrival with the team is sporadic at best. Rick say's he knew nothing about this though it's happened for two years, going on three. Rick said he would address it, which I guess he did since McCarney showed up only 10 minutes early yesterday instead of the usual 25 to 30. Still, several folks showed up at 4 and missed it yesterday walking up to me asking me when it was going to go down. I told RV we have approached Dan about this at his radio show and he outright denies he's ever early. Outright denies it, yet the man walked right past me yesterday during this event at precisely 3:50 p.m.

2. Where is the Junior Mean Green Club Spirit Line for the team to run through to start the second half? RV wasn't sure about that. I pointed out that TCU still does it. In fact on the way home last night listening to the LSU-TCU game the Horned Frog Radio Network advertised their Kids program. It's a way to get the kids more involved. It was extremely popular at Fouts. It's why some people were even there at times. Tons of kids thought it was cool. If the kids think it's cool, then mom and dad will more likely want to get involved. RV said he would check on it.

3. Why can't the kids go down on the field after the game. This was another thing that many kids look forward to, which may get you more folks to come. RV wasn't sure about this but thought it might be due to a conference rule, and said he would check on it.

4. This year was a very poor turn out for the kick off football event, possibly one of the worst I've ever seen or heard about. To me this was in due part to the standoff'ish approach to the fans McCarney has taken. RV agreed, but thinks it may have also been in part due to the Denton Fair Grounds opening that weekend. I was gong to tell him he's dreamin if he thinks that's the case, but just then the tennis team walked by and distracted me and I never got that out of my mouth,...as I'm sure all of you can understand.

5. Why on God's Green Earth can't McCarney do a proper football team entrance before the game? Why? RV said it's all Dan's call on that. So there you are.

So I'm not just bitching here on a message board. I and Emmitt and several others have approached the AD with concerns in person. The things listed above are easy fixes. EASY FIXES PEOPLE....EASY!!!!!!!

As are the concerns below as well

We are in year three and we can't get the ref mic problem fixed.

There was an announcement over the P.A. last night to follow the Spirit Bell to the lighting of the Tower. But the Spirit Bell hasn't been used in 4,5,6 years now because the university ignored it and allowed it to fall into ruin. SoundMan got it running and has tried to deliver it back. Whether his efforts were finally received this year or not I can't say but I never saw or heard it yesterday?

The Talons missed 4 to 6 firing opportunities last night. What good is me spending thousands of my dollars and hundreds of hours away from my family for going on 25 years now to build, maintain and deliver you a cannon if your not going to use it? Why did they misfire it at the end of each quarter? No idea. Why not for each kick off? I asked several Talons this after the game and was told they were told by the AD to no longer fire it for kick off's because their usual delays are scaring our players on the field when trying to field the ball.

OK, so why are their firings delayed????????????? I'll tell you why. Incompetence and a lack of LOAD AND FIRE PRACTICE!!!! I left specific, detailed instructions in video and written form,..... that every team accepted to serve on cannon crew each year MUST go through a load and firing practice, and that the best way to prepare for this would be to have it during one of the teams' scrimmages. It hasn't happened, and an in person load and fire and practice session hasn't happened since I held one in person in 2011. And that is where the video I post here comes from.

So don't correct the problem, which is an easy problem to fix. Just water down another tradition because the problem won't fix itself.

My final suggestion has been for three years now to correct this problem once and for all is for the cannon to be placed in the care of our Army ROTC on campus because they would assign a detail to it that would precisely and accurately care, maintain and load and fire it better than anyone on earth. I did the ground work way ahead of time for this. I inquired with Cpt Flake of the Army ROTC about this precise idea three years ago and he was more than receptive to the idea. Not only would this assure it would be operated correctly and safely, but would ensure that I would never get a phone call again a week ahead of time telling me it's broke and asking if I can come fix it?

Who have I approached personally by meeting in person, phone calls, email and text messages concerning all of this? Talons, Dr. With of the Student Services dept, Deborah Lilieart of the URCM dept and Jamie Adams and RV of the Athletic Dept. When I suggested this Deborah and Dr. With shrugged this idea off as if you would do Milk on a shopping list.....remembering that you still had some in the fridge. They don't want to take it away form Talons for whatever reason. I suggested then to simply have the ROTC cannon crew.....PLEDGE Talons. It's a simple fix...a simple process and I'm sure the ROTC folks would be willing to do it. No..........again, shrugged off with about a 3 second consideration. Later I contacted the ROTC just to see if anyone ever approached them about it....Nothing!

It's the little things that add up. So many little things. A simple fix that would take nothing more than a phone call to correct, yet here we are still discussing all of this again. Will it grow our fan base better than wins would? Probably not, but it sure couldn't hurt. And given our team track record and history, it would be a hell of a lot easier a thing to correct.

So don't effing preach to me about.... "use a dissatisfaction with the result as motivation to in helping find solutions (whether on a micro or macro level" because you have no damn clue what some of us here have been through with the group of folks who are running things up there.

Stepping off soap box...

Rick

Edited September 1, 2013 by FirefightnRick

meangreener · September 1, 2013

I felt like the Talons were just firing Boomer when they felt like it.

Was stupid.

The Talons have become a joke over the past few years, so I'm really not surprised at all.

FirefightnRick · September 1, 2013

I felt like the Talons were just firing Boomer when they felt like it.
Was stupid.
The Talons have become a joke over the past few years, so I'm really not surprised at all.

But they don't have to be a joke. You DO understand that, correct? It's called ACCOUNTABILITY and just a little bit of oversight by those in charge. UNT90 preaches this weekly only to have some dumbass mock him for it.

I NEVER misfired Boomer. NEVER, and the procedure we used was much more difficult. Back then we used wadding in front of the charge to increase the combustion pressure to make it louder. Yes, can you imagine? Boomer under the care and firing of FirefightnRick and the Swartz brothers was LOUDER. And we never missed a shot in 4 years.

Rick

Edited September 1, 2013 by FirefightnRick

meangreener · September 1, 2013

But they don't have to be a joke. You DO understand that, correct? It's called ACCOUNTABILITY and just a little bit of oversight by those in charge. UNT90 preaches this weekly only to have some dumbass mock him for it.

I NEVER misfired Boomer. NEVER, and the procedure we used was much more difficult. Back then we used wadding in front of the charge to increase the combustion pressure to make it louder. Yes, can you imagine? Boomer under the care and firing of FirefightnRick and the Swartz brothers was LOUDER. And we never missed a shot in 4 years.

Rick

I'm not saying that it's okay.

I'm saying that there's nothing we can do, they're a student organization. The AD is kinda stuck.

FirefightnRick · September 1, 2013

Regarding Talons, I am confused about the accountability. It is a student organization, so it isn't the AD office. They can have a chat with them, I guess and ask them to step it up. The Student Affairs office I guess can pressure them. But in the end, isn't a student club that governs itself? I wasn't in it, but was in others. Student organizations are largely autonomous.

Perhaps Emmitt can help clarify, since he was the President of Talons at one point. (I think I have that correct.)

I agree that if they are misfiring or missing the correct times, it should be addressed. Just not sure who, other than the students in the group themselves, to speak to.

Dr. With of Student Affairs(is that the correct name for that dept?) is over them. Tracy Friar of Student Activities and Jamie Adams of the AD dept are their sponsors.

Rick