Big change - the giant awakes!

stebo · January 2, 2014

I know that I don't post a whole lot on GMG these days, but I read as much as I can and have not missed a home game in years. Even got to take in some away games this year thanks to our new conference. And at work - like many of you - I am 'that Mean Green guy' - the one that constantly defends the program and it's legitimacy.

Throughout this season the snickers have slowly turned into respectful comments from coworkers. And I am talking about coworkers that went to NT and are T-Shirt fans for schools like UT and OU. Today I am getting comments such as - NT has arrived. They could not believe the crowd. They could not believe the score. They could not believe that I was not alone. Folks, the sleeping giant woke the heck up yesterday. UNLV was the perfect opponent for us, they were from the Mountain West rather than the MAC or Belt - they are a known school - and we matched up well with them. There is a girl that I work with that graduated around the same time as me. She has always been a UT fan and I have (for 3 years) tried to get her to a game. She walked up to me today and said 'I have to get my son out to a game next year'. This girl would NEVER have said that prior to this bowl win and turnout. I showed her the pics from the game and her mouth just opened wide with disbelief.

I imagine there are conversations taking place all over the DFW area today like this one. The giant is waking up - finally.

Zeke · January 2, 2014

Man, how many of us are "that Mean Green guy"??

How many times are you guys introduced as "This guy is the worlds biggest UNT fan!!" I answer with No, No, I'm really not - just 1 of about 36,000 fans yesterday. I want yesterday to make it where we aren't the anomaly as North Texas fans. I want it to be where people know we graduated from North Texas and therefore are EXPECTED to cheer and cheer loud.

No longer will I be the crazy guy introduced as "This guy goes to EVERY UNT game!" gasp!!

Edited January 2, 2014 by Zeke

ChristopherRyanWilkes · January 2, 2014

My Aggie cousin sent me a text saying "Go Mean Green!" and saying the crowd looked loud and crazy on TV. Definitely

been getting some love from some of the bigger school alumni relatives about UNT lately.

TheColonyEagle · January 2, 2014

Stebo! Good to see you posting again.

"The Mean Green Guy" label is hilarious. I've been that for years.

To add to what has been said, I've been getting the same comments this season from football fans. Aggie grads, Arkansas grads, Auburn grads, Etc. But this morning I got comments from people that don't even watch football. "Man, y'all put it on them!"

Never had that happen before.

The question was raised, "what is our potential". I think the truth is, it's higher than any of us might think...

oldguystudent · January 2, 2014

Somebody in my office tried to steal my HOD mardi gras bead necklace thing from my cubicle this morning. Nothing like that has ever happened before.

edcollopy · January 2, 2014

as soon as a guy walked into the office today, he yells at me, 'go mean green..you guys looked great and helped me win my parlay!'

ChristopherRyanWilkes · January 2, 2014

Somebody in my office tried to steal my HOD mardi gras bead necklace thing from my cubicle this morning. Nothing like that has ever happened before.

Apparently those were in high demand, had someone ask me for mine after the game.

VideoEagle · January 2, 2014

I've heard lot's of congratulations. But as for UNLV and the Mountain West being "known," I spent a lot of pre-bowl time explaining who they were to a LOT of people. From my small, personal sample, fans of UT, OU, A&M and Tech didn't have a clue who they were. One Aggie friend was certain I was joking with him, that there could not actually be a university in Las Vegas.

Zeke · January 2, 2014

I've heard lot's of congratulations. But as for UNLV and the Mountain West being "known," I spent a lot of pre-bowl time explaining who they were to a LOT of people. From my small, personal sample, fans of UT, OU, A&M and Tech didn't have a clue who they were. One Aggie friend was certain I was joking with him, that there could not actually be a university in Las Vegas.

We've all met "those" kind of sports fans. They are pretty in your face but in reality don't have much knowledge. I can't imagine they are basketball fans AT ALL if they haven't heard of UNLV.

Mean Green 93-98 · January 2, 2014

I've heard lot's of congratulations. But as for UNLV and the Mountain West being "known," I spent a lot of pre-bowl time explaining who they were to a LOT of people. From my small, personal sample, fans of UT, OU, A&M and Tech didn't have a clue who they were. One Aggie friend was certain I was joking with him, that there could not actually be a university in Las Vegas.

That's pretty clueless. Even though they are not tremendously well-known football presence, they were a major basketball power (if not THE major basketball power) a couple of decades ago.

PlummMeanGreen · January 2, 2014

I know that I don't post a whole lot on GMG these days, but I read as much as I can and have not missed a home game in years. Even got to take in some away games this year thanks to our new conference. And at work - like many of you - I am 'that Mean Green guy' - the one that constantly defends the program and it's legitimacy.
Throughout this season the snickers have slowly turned into respectful comments from coworkers. And I am talking about coworkers that went to NT and are T-Shirt fans for schools like UT and OU. Today I am getting comments such as - NT has arrived. They could not believe the crowd. They could not believe the score. They could not believe that I was not alone. Folks, the sleeping giant woke the heck up yesterday. UNLV was the perfect opponent for us, they were from the Mountain West rather than the MAC or Belt - they are a known school - and we matched up well with them. There is a girl that I work with that graduated around the same time as me. She has always been a UT fan and I have (for 3 years) tried to get her to a game. She walked up to me today and said 'I have to get my son out to a game next year'. This girl would NEVER have said that prior to this bowl win and turnout. I showed her the pics from the game and her mouth just opened wide with disbelief.
I imagine there are conversations taking place all over the DFW area today like this one. The giant is waking up - finally.

Great post, Stebo! Don't be a stranger! Hope you are making millions out there....you are one of the good guys who deserve it.

PMG

laxtonto · January 2, 2014

@Gerry Fraley ‏@gfraley 4m

Saw North Texas on Tuesday. Can see why SMU ducks them.

PlummMeanGreen · January 2, 2014

I've heard lot's of congratulations. But as for UNLV and the Mountain West being "known," I spent a lot of pre-bowl time explaining who they were to a LOT of people. From my small, personal sample, fans of UT, OU, A&M and Tech didn't have a clue who they were. One Aggie friend was certain I was joking with him, that there could not actually be a university in Las Vegas.

Maybe they were pulling your leg in disgust after what they'd seen with 36,000 Mean Green fans on ESPNU, VE? Just a theory with that. To them we are supposed to keep on being the same old impotent athletic program in Little D. If so with that, then I think Dan McCarney's Mean Green football program is going to greatly disappoint all of them.

GMG!

Edited January 2, 2014 by PlummMeanGreen

VideoEagle · January 2, 2014

We've all met "those" kind of sports fans. They are pretty in your face but in reality don't have much knowledge. I can't imagine they are basketball fans AT ALL if they haven't heard of UNLV.

I tried to remind him of Tark the Shark and he reminded me we live in Texas and basketball doesn't count as a sport. He was in the extreme to say the least. He's a third generation Century Club member.

Most were like my father-in-law is a Texas Tech grad from 69 and now works in Charlotte. He knew of their basketball "from years ago," but had no idea they played football. He watched the game on TV and enjoyed it. Everyone I've talked to enjoyed watching the game, they just didn't know UNLV had a football team.

UNTFan23 · January 2, 2014

I tried to remind him of Tark the Shark and he reminded me we live in Texas and basketball doesn't count as a sport. He was in the extreme to say the least. He's a third generation Century Club member.

Most were like my father-in-law is a Texas Tech grad from 69 and now works in Charlotte. He knew of their basketball "from years ago," but had no idea they played football. He watched the game on TV and enjoyed it. Everyone I've talked to enjoyed watching the game, they just didn't know UNLV had a football team.

I've found a fair amount of P5 fans don't know hardly a thing about schools like North Texas and UNLV.

VideoEagle · January 2, 2014

I've found a fair amount of P5 fans don't know hardly a thing about schools like North Texas and UNLV.

That's exactly the problem! In fact, most know the traditional schools in their conferences but don't even know much about the new members of their conferences.

emmitt01 · January 2, 2014

I've found a fair amount of P5 fans don't know hardly a thing about the school they root for.

Next time you meet a UT fan ask him who the best cornerback in Longhorn history is. Or ask a Bama fan to name an Alabama coach not named Saban or Bryant. Or ask an Aggie fan to name their current O-line starters. Then get your popcorn ready and enjoy the show.

Green Mean · January 2, 2014

Next time you meet a UT fan ask him who the best cornerback in Longhorn history is. Or ask a Bama fan to name an Alabama coach not named Saban or Bryant. Or ask an Aggie fan to name their current O-line starters. Then get your popcorn ready and enjoy the show.

I don't know about you but I would welcome and love to have a ton of North Texas tshirt fans.

GrayEagle · January 2, 2014

I agree with the topic banner and it's good to see Stebo posting again. This really could be the awakening of the sleeping giant. The heartening part is seeing the sea of green 35,000 or so and the enthusiasm that they displayed at game.

The win was a real plus but make no mistake UNLV was an average team boosted by smart (read easy) scheduling. They had one key win (San Diego State) and the rest were over cupcakes, that is teams with losing records (or, if you prefer loosing records).

Still, any bowl win is a good win and perhaps the trigger needed to stimulate the Mean Green Nation into action. I believe that it stimulated Dan McCarney and the coaching staff in that they could see first hand that there is a ton of potential life in Mean Green fandom. The team definitely gets into it deeper when surrounded by enthusiastic fans but that does not always translate into better play on the field. I also believe that they will learn to make that support work for them. Lastly, seeing the numbers and intensity of the fans makes me believe that momentum is on the move. Sure, a lot of those present yesterday may only show up for "big" games but until proven wrong I have to believe that healthy numbers will show up at Apogee.

So...."Why Not North Texas?"

ColoradoEagle · January 2, 2014

I tried to remind him of Tark the Shark and he reminded me we live in Texas and basketball doesn't count as a sport. He was in the extreme to say the least. He's a third generation Century Club member.

Ok, but he's aware their bowl game was against Duke, right?

On topic, it'd be great if it got to the point where people wouldn't look at me crazy for saying UNT is my team. Kinda the same looks I got back in the early 2000s with the Rangers. Also, if I could stop getting "I hate the [Philadelphia] Eagles!" when wearing SOW caps, that would be super.

untjim1995 · January 2, 2014

I certainly think we woke up yesterday, for sure, and it was glorious. But the giant can easily fall back to sleep quickly if we don't follow up this awesome season with another big year in 2014. The crowd yesterday looked awesome--it reminded me of the NO Bowls where we had bigger traveling crowds than we had at Fouts for SBC games. That seems to be the biggest question for UNT going forward--how do you get the people who showed up at the Cotton Bowl in their Green to do the same thing when we play a non-AQ game at Apogee? To me, that's when I know the giant has finally awakened for good, when home games against conferemce mates like MUTS or WKU on a non-Homecoming weekend draws 25k or more. Heck, even against the Texas CUSA teams on one of those weekends, too!!

Dan McCarney is a great ambassador to this place--I just hope that an AQ team that needs a new coach doesn't come calling soon. His age and health might keep some folks away, but his enthusiasm and experience and ability to connect with the fanbase would more than overcome those first two concerns. If Art Briles leaves Waco, I could easily see them calling on Coach Mac. If Kansas wins another 2-3 games next fall, they would be the most likely program to go after him. Those are the types of concerns that make you realize that the sleeping giant could be forced back to sleep. But its also why we just have to enjoy this season as much as we possibly can. And we also get to realize that one attitude of North Texas seems to have finally died off--an administration and community that doesn't care a bit about athletics. Because a university that could care less about athletics doesn't come out of the woodwork and just show up like they did yesterday without having thousands of die-hard fans and their friends and family attend a bowl game--that is the biggest difference I see between today's UNT and the late 70's NTSU with Hayden Fry here.

Edited January 2, 2014 by untjim1995

Tree · January 2, 2014

I work from home and my kid wanted to watch the replay on ESPN!

NorthTexan95 · January 2, 2014

If Art Briles leaves Waco, I could easily see them calling on Coach Mac. If Kansas wins another 2-3 games next fall, they would be the most likely program to go after him.

No way Baylor would want McCarney. They would want someone to continue running their same offense and that's not Mac. Now Kansas ... they should have called Mac before he came here. Kansas State could when Snyder retires. Iowa would always be a possibility for Mac.

As you said, Mac's age and health are probably going to keep other schools at bay and may keep Mac from wanting to start over somewhere again. If the school and fans keep supporting him ... if we can pay well enough to keep his best assistants ... Mac won't have many reasons to want to look elsewhere.

Christopher Walker · January 2, 2014

I tried to remind him of Tark the Shark and he reminded me we live in Texas and basketball doesn't count as a sport. He was in the extreme to say the least. He's a third generation Century Club member.

Most were like my father-in-law is a Texas Tech grad from 69 and now works in Charlotte. He knew of their basketball "from years ago," but had no idea they played football. He watched the game on TV and enjoyed it. Everyone I've talked to enjoyed watching the game, they just didn't know UNLV had a football team.

You should have countered the Aggie with our Men kicking their ass in that "sport that doesn't exist" on New Year's Eve.