What will it take for UNT to get some local media respect?

ChristopherRyanWilkes · October 21, 2013

Just an honest question from a new poster. Noticed a fellow poster on here had to call out Dallas morning news for reporting OU as a "local team" and no mention of UNT. I never saw the "bowl years" so just asking what some of the more experienced fans have witnessed as far as that goes.

UNTflyer · October 21, 2013

"What will it take for UNT to get some local media respect?"

Dale Hansen having a coronary.

ChristopherRyanWilkes · October 21, 2013

I know George Dunham has been great for us being on the ticket. I'm not going to claim I'm a big P1 but when I listen he likes to mention us. I know we don't take precedence over the big schools but not even a score mention in the DMN?

Harry · October 21, 2013

I would compare it to TCU. When TCU won the Sun Bowl against USC it changed the perception of the program with the local media. If UNT were to get to a bowl and upset a higher thought of program it would have similar results in my mind.

ChristopherRyanWilkes · October 21, 2013

One could argue the local media SMU got in the 80s was part of their downfall but I digress.

GangGreen · October 21, 2013

Simple: Wins, Wins, Wins.

foutsrouts · October 21, 2013

Actually, for those who read the old fashioned newspaper, it has been surprisingly good this year. Big fonts, and better than the Frog's coverage this Sunday. At least in my edition. The front page coverage the other day was nice too. I always want more, but I'm basically OK with it at this point.

ColoradoEagle · October 21, 2013

Our highlights were ahead of SMU on both channels 8 and 11 the other night and positive from both. I think we're fine given where we're at.

Sig381 · October 21, 2013

Just an honest question from a new poster. Noticed a fellow poster on here had to call out Dallas morning news for reporting OU as a "local team" and no mention of UNT. I never saw the "bowl years" so just asking what some of the more experienced fans have witnessed as far as that goes.

All we have to do is win. the Media does not want to report on a lossing team that doesnt make good news. C-USA was a great move. if we constantly win we have a huge chance to make it to a bowl game with 6 wins. in the future we will play SMU year year tru 2025. ( can we say rival). we win those game year in and out and make a bowl game the media will drop the derailed pony express and pick up the Mean Green. we have numbers on our side and number in media means sales and readers. i bet they are hoping for us to become good agian.

LongJim · October 21, 2013

Keep winning. The media will write a story if there is a story to write. It is as simple as that.

oldguystudent · October 21, 2013

Winning the Sun Belt didn't seem to really do it. CUSA has a better perception. Come away with at least a division title or two, make the championship game, beat teams that people have heard of in bowl games. Beat SMU multiple times. Whisper in June Jones' ear that the coaching position at Oregon State is opening up, and the kids in Corvallis are in deep need of football ministry.

VideoEagle · October 21, 2013

"What will it take for UNT to get some local media respect?"

Dale Hansen having a coronary.

Actually, he has been far friendlier to NT than many others. He really liked Erric Pegram back in the day. During the bowl years, he was very positive. But the Cowboys are the most important part of sports for him and no college is going to displace that.

KRAM1 · October 21, 2013

Part of UNT's media challenges lie in the fact that SMU IS Dallas in the minds of many just like (but to a lessor degree) TCU is FT. Worth. And, believe it or not, many in the DFW area still think Denton is far far away and not really part of the metroplex. Amazing, but true.

SMU has been connected to the history of Dallas for as long as anyone can recall. Not surprising that SMU does better with the Dallas Media than does UNT. Don't like it, but true.

However, being honest, UNT is doing better these days with local media outlets in general. Will most likely never pass SMU in the Dallas or TCU in the FT. Worth media outlets, but getting more fans into Apogee will help, calling and writing the local outlets will help (not not just complaining about no coverage, but praising coverage as well), winning games and bowls will definitely help (already is), and showing support for UNT in public places will help as will growing our watch parties and local events. As UNT supporters we can help, and appears to me that we are beginning to do just that.

Couple all that with CUSA and some nice wins...and UNT gets more media attention. But, remember, having its own newspaper gives the local media a bit of "cover"as well. The DRC is seen as the main print media for UNT. And, the DRC is owned by the same folks that own the Dallas Morning News. Many Dentonites subscribe to and/or read both.

Edited October 21, 2013 by KRAM1

SSP · October 21, 2013

Continue to make a statement this year, COMPETE with Texas next year and beat SMU.

It would also help if we snagged Jerrod Heard. A TEXAS WIN WOULD BE A possibility if we had him. I find that impossible, but it is my Christmas wish...

Edited October 21, 2013 by SSP

SilverEagle · October 21, 2013

I would compare it to TCU. When TCU won the Sun Bowl against USC it changed the perception of the program with the local media. If UNT were to get to a bowl and upset a higher thought of program it would have similar results in my mind.

If you want to look at it in terms of "just wins" then this is the best answer. They beat a signature program (USC ) in the 1998 Sun bowl game. And then, so it wouldn't look like a fluke, they went 8-4 the next year and beat East Carolina in another bowl game. They then got their community behind them and started to consistently win. They got a big employer (BNSF) to make them a cool noise maker which made for a fun story in the media. They not only had banners hanging all up and down University Drive, they had them hanging all over downtown Fort Worth and the north side as well.

YOU CAN'T JUST WIN FOOTBALL GAMES AND THEN EXPECT ALL THE PIECES OF A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM TO MAGICALLY APPEAR LIKE A BUNCH OF WILDFLOWERS AFTER A SPRING RAIN.

It takes a coordinated and consistent effort by everyone in the North Texas community to turn this thing around.

meangreener · October 21, 2013

Our highlights were ahead of SMU on both channels 8 and 11 the other night and positive from both. I think we're fine given where we're at.

We get as much coverage as TCU does currently and more then SMU, by a decent margin in the DMN and on TV. We have a lot of grads there waiting to report on us so I think we'll be just fine if we can have a good season and beat a real team in a bowl this year.

MeanGreenTexan · October 21, 2013

Continue to make a statement this year, COMPETE with Texas next year and beat SMU.

It would also help if we snagged Jerrod Heard. A TEXAS WIN WOULD BE A possibility if we had him. I find that impossible, but it is my Christmas wish...

Then your brother and Dimitri need to get in his ear.

foutsrouts · October 21, 2013

Beat USM and then Rice on Halloween to go 6-3, and I'll be upset if we don't get front page coverage on Friday the 1st. Of course if we are competing with game 7 of the World Series the night of the Rice game, attendance and coverage could get ugly.

SSP · October 21, 2013

We get as much coverage as TCU does currently and more then SMU, by a decent margin in the DMN and on TV. We have a lot of grads there waiting to report on us so I think we'll be just fine if we can have a good season and beat a real team in a bowl this year.

This is just NOT true.

Green Mean · October 21, 2013

Just win. It's as simple as that. We can't minimize the benefit SMU and other schools have had by being a part of the SWC. Even before TCU turned that whole machine around, they were still not only the team of FW but they were in the SWC which gives all of those schools associated instant valued credibility and history for most people.

To the average person out there Denton is outside of the metroplex. And that is fine if they think that. Denton certainly is not that close unless you live in places like Lewisville, Plano, Carrollton, Frisco etc which is still a godo 20-40 miles drive depending where you're coming from. for a lot of people and plus when people visit the place, it's still that college town feeling which adds more to the thougth that Denton is outside of the metroplex and far from Dallas and FW.

Not too long ago I encountered a little bit older NT alum who was a graduate in the 70's and to this day he refers us as NTSU. He's a huge Baylor fan and considers them his team so I asked him but you graduated from NT right? His response back was yes I'm a proud NTSU alum but Baylor was in the SWC and I never cared for NT football. Bear in mind he still called us NTSU. It's going to take some time to change that perception because that type of thinking is very cancerous and doesn't go away easily. But the more you win the easier it gets to change it. Just win baby.

ChristopherRyanWilkes · October 21, 2013

I know The Ticket has a pipeline to North Texas RTVF. I had a buddy who was a UNT sports journalism student land an internship at DMN. Hopefully getting some UNT students out into the local media will help too.

untjim1995 · October 21, 2013

Just win. It's as simple as that. We can't minimize the benefit SMU and other schools have had by being a part of the SWC. Even before TCU turned that whole machine around, they were still not only the team of FW but they were in the SWC which gives all of those schools associated instant valued credibility and history for most people.

To the average person out there Denton is outside of the metroplex. And that is fine if they think that. Denton certainly is not that close unless you live in places like Lewisville, Plano, Carrollton, Frisco etc which is still a godo 20-40 miles drive depending where you're coming from. for a lot of people and plus when people visit the place, it's still that college town feeling which adds more to the thougth that Denton is outside of the metroplex and far from Dallas and FW.

Not too long ago I encountered a little bit older NT alum who was a graduate in the 70's and to this day he refers us as NTSU. He's a huge Baylor fan and considers them his team so I asked him but you graduated from NT right? His response back was yes I'm a proud NTSU alum but Baylor was in the SWC and I never cared for NT football. Bear in mind he still called us NTSU. It's going to take some time to change that perception because that type of thinking is very cancerous and doesn't go away easily. But the more you win the easier it gets to change it. Just win baby.

There are a lot of UT, A&M, Tech, OU, and TCU fans that are just like that fellow you mentioned above.

I really know that winning is ultimately the way you fix this--its what TCU did to get back into the good graces of the AQs. Those SWC schools just have so much history and name recognition on their side. Even if the small private schools couldn't compete financially with the resources that the bigger state institutions had, they all had major name recognition. That still carries a lot of weght here. I've met several college football fans who have moved here from the Rust Belt or frm California. They have no idea who North Texas is, but they all know who SMU, TCU, Rice, and Baylor are. When you had the SWC alums control EVERYTHING in this state for all these decades, its tough to get through that.

For UNT to make a dent on the DFW talking scene with the media, I'll go back to what one journalist told me several years ago--he was a TCU grad--"UNT needs to win their conference AND beat/compete closely with the bigger AQ names when they get the chance. Then they will garner the attention they have never had in the area." Like it or not, but playing Georgia competitively and getting to a Dallas bowl game where we would get the chance to beat a Big Ten team that people know about might just be our 1998 Sun Bowl moment. It sure as hell wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that way.

SilverEagle · October 21, 2013

Not too long ago I encountered a little bit older NT alum who was a graduate in the 70's and to this day he refers us as NTSU. He's a huge Baylor fan and considers them his team so I asked him but you graduated from NT right? His response back was yes I'm a proud NTSU alum but Baylor was in the SWC and I never cared for NT football. Bear in mind he still called us NTSU. It's going to take some time to change that perception because that type of thinking is very cancerous and doesn't go away easily. But the more you win the easier it gets to change it. Just win baby.

He must have graduated in the early 70's when we were sucking it up with Rod Rust as coach. Because I can't imagine what someone didn't like about Hayden Fry football....and the change in culture he was working on.

Green Mean · October 21, 2013

He must have graduated in the early 70's when we were sucking it up with Rod Rust as coach. Because I can't imagine what someone didn't like about Hayden Fry football....and the change in culture he was working on.

If I recall I'm pretty positive he said 72 or 73.

TheWestie · October 21, 2013

I would compare it to TCU. When TCU won the Sun Bowl against USC it changed the perception of the program with the local media. If UNT were to get to a bowl and upset a higher thought of program it would have similar results in my mind.

To be honest, TCU also had a significant Ace in the Hole that coincided with their rise in football success.

Mike Moncrief was mayor of Panther City from 2003-2011 and was A HUGE boost for TCU's overall visibility. When the mayor isn't even an alum (he went to Tarleton) but is the main cheerleader for Go Purple days, yeah it'll help get a lot of people behind the program.

http://fortworthtexas.gov/codecompliance/info/default.aspx?id=114780

Hell, the new mayor isn't an alum either (Betsy Price went to UT-A) but is continuing the program.

Before the current mayor, we had two mayors IN A ROW (Euline Brock, Perry McNeil) who were former UNT professors.

Last fall Lil Ol' TWU, on the other side of Denton, had an enrollment of over 15,000 students. That's a lot of people the City of Denton doesn't want to piss off by getting completely behind UNT. T-Dub softball made it to the DII softball Championship Tournament last season and the City of Dentonn didn't do too much because they didn't want to piss the UNT folks off.