Thoughts from the UNT signing day event

[H-towngreen]

In talking with my source, He is very impressed with Syd Moore . The transfer LB from Oregon is very much the "Real Deal".

Both very very good to hear

[meangreener]

Sometimes I think our assessment of signees is like 2 people seeing a car wreck. One says the truck hit the car,the other says the car hit the truck. Rivals ranks our class as #107 in nation,#14 in conference.Granted we signed a smaller class than most, but 107th?14th? Are we watching the same movie as Rivals?Perhaps a better way to grade a class is to divide the total number of players sighed into total numbers of players stars to get an average ranking per player, though I haven't taken the time to do so and don't know for sure if it changes overall ranking.

Class size. All that judges your ranking is how many stars you have.

[Mean Green 93-98]

In talking with my source, He is very impressed with Syd Moore . The transfer LB from Oregon is very much the "Real Deal".

Great news. And I certainly trust your source.

[greenminer]

In talking with my source, He is very impressed with Syd Moore . The transfer LB from Oregon is very much the "Real Deal".

WALLACE! WALLACE!

[untjim1995]

Coach MaC wondered why we can get 35-39,000 at the Heart of Dallas Bowl, yet we cannot get 31,000 to Apogee.

I could see a real frustration in MaC's face and tone when he spoke about this. RV asked the crowd last night to each bring one new person to the games.

Coach Mac also said the NT-Texas game would be a nationally televised game. Probably to see the 2014 Mean Green. Although some might tune in to see the new coached team at Texas.

Beat Texas

GO MEAN GREEN

It has always amazed me that we can get big crowds to games outside of Denton, for football and basketball, than we can expect to get at home. People made it to the Cotton Bowl, or to New Orleans, or to OKC, for bowl games and tournament games that probably couldn't find the Super Pit or Apogee in Denton. UNT playing UNLV in a bowl game in Dallas probably got 20k more people than when UNT played UNLV at Fouts back in 1999...

[MeanGreenTexan]

It has always amazed me that we can get big crowds to games outside of Denton, for football and basketball, than we can expect to get at home. People made it to the Cotton Bowl, or to New Orleans, or to OKC, for bowl games and tournament games that probably couldn't find the Super Pit or Apogee in Denton. UNT playing UNLV in a bowl game in Dallas probably got 20k more people than when UNT played UNLV at Fouts back in 1999...

A little more at stake in the HOD Bowl than a regular season game back in the Big West days.

[untjim1995]

A little more at stake in the HOD Bowl than a regular season game back in the Big West days.

To double the crowd size, different? It was the season opener and we still had 30k+ in enrollment, plus Dickey was still early in his career here. I just think its about being perceived a winner and playing someone that matters here in town. TCU, for all their improvement, still won't get a SRO at Amon Carter Stadium unless they are really good AND the opponent is a top name team. I suspect that it would be the same at SMU, too. And although their enrollment and alumni bases are smaller than ours, their cities population is much bigger than Denton, so I think it is fair to compare us to them. But you can look at UH and they have the same deal we do--it depends on who they play while they are winning. I guess its just part of being a college that sits inside of a major media market that has several professional and collegeiate options for your dollar. But those schools all have a huge advantage of who typically shows up on their OOC schedule at home versus us...

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

If it's true that we're ditching the "North Texas" from the helmets in favor of SOW, then I am now 173% in favor of naming the [Jerry Jones voice]stadjyum[/Jerry Jones voice] after Rick!

If I were young enough (because my wife is always young enough...right?) to have another kid, I'd name it Rick, boy or girl. In fact, all new Mean Green babies should be named Rick, if male, or Rickie/Rikki, if female...or, you aren't Mean Green.

[Cerebus]

Crowd size differences aren't that surprising.

There are far more alumni living south of the Lake Lewisville Bridge than there are above it. For the alumni living in Plano, Dallas, Bedford, etc it is a much "easier" trip to go to the cotton bowl or the old Texas Stadium than it is to travel "all the way up to Denton."

What the program has to do it make it worth going "all the way up to Denton" for those non hardcore alumni.

[MeanGreenTexan]

To double the crowd size, different? It was the season opener and we still had 30k+ in enrollment, plus Dickey was still early in his career here. I just think its about being perceived a winner and playing someone that matters here in town. TCU, for all their improvement, still won't get a SRO at Amon Carter Stadium unless they are really good AND the opponent is a top name team. I suspect that it would be the same at SMU, too. And although their enrollment and alumni bases are smaller than ours, their cities population is much bigger than Denton, so I think it is fair to compare us to them. But you can look at UH and they have the same deal we do--it depends on who they play while they are winning. I guess its just part of being a college that sits inside of a major media market that has several professional and collegeiate options for your dollar. But those schools all have a huge advantage of who typically shows up on their OOC schedule at home versus us...

Fast forward 15 years to 2029. Say things are very close to the way they are now as far as NCAA & conferences, except UNT has moved up to a conference like the AAC and are playing a bowl game at the Cotton Bowl against a stout FAU team from C-USA.

Do you think that game would have more to it than the game we're going to be playing against them at Apogee this year?

Bowl games are going to carry more sway. That's just the way it is.

[GrayEagle]

There were a few signees that weren't highly rated by any of the rating services, not just Rivals. But, Rivals gives added points to the state ranking of the recruit. You could sign the #4 player in South Dakota and get extra points over an unrated Texas recruit with a higher RR. They also limit the number of three star players and seem to give favoritism to candidates with P5 offers.

I believe that 247 Composite and ESPN are much more fair with my only complaint about ESPN is that they evaluate far less.

Edited February 6, 2014 by GrayEagle

[Stan R]

Crowd size differences aren't that surprising.

There are far more alumni living south of the Lake Lewisville Bridge than there are above it. For the alumni living in Plano, Dallas, Bedford, etc it is a much "easier" trip to go to the cotton bowl or the old Texas Stadium than it is to travel "all the way up to Denton."

What the program has to do it make it worth going "all the way up to Denton" for those non hardcore alumni.

We should have handed out questionnaires to every single dang one of the 39,000 fans leaving the cotton bowl with a simple set of questions:

1.) Are you a season ticket holder?

2.) Why not?

3.) WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ON GAME DAYS IN DENTON?

4.) Sorry, question 3 was a bit harsh. What could be done to assist your sorry ass in making the trip 30-40 miles north?

5.) Do you own a car?

6.) If you answered no to question 5, you do know you can ride trains and stuff to make it up to Denton right?

[meangreen15]

Coach Mac also said the NT-Texas game would be a nationally televised game. Probably to see the 2014 Mean Green. Although some might tune in to see the new coached team at Texas.

My guess is it will be on the longhorn network.

[UNTFan23]

My guess is it will be on the longhorn network.

What channel is this that you speak of?

[DT 90]

My guess is it will be on the longhorn network.

I then guess three people will see it on TV.

[MeanGreenHoops]

Crowd size differences aren't that surprising.

There are far more alumni living south of the Lake Lewisville Bridge than there are above it. For the alumni living in Plano, Dallas, Bedford, etc it is a much "easier" trip to go to the cotton bowl or the old Texas Stadium than it is to travel "all the way up to Denton."

What the program has to do it make it worth going "all the way up to Denton" for those non hardcore alumni.

This. We met some people at the HOD sitting in front of us who lived in Georgetown. They said it was easy to get to Dallas, but getting up to Denton wasn't.

[cogido]

Great notes. Thank you ! My daughter was in the hospital giving birth so I couldn't attend.

Go Mean Green.

[Green92]

This. We met some people at the HOD sitting in front of us who lived in Georgetown. They said it was easy to get to Dallas, but getting up to Denton wasn't.

Getting from Austin to Denton is truly an nightmare unless you leave at 5 a.m. Ft Worth used to be okay, but it's a miserable parking lot now, too.

[Ben Gooding]

So it's "hard" to drive an additional 30 minutes? This blows my mind. I went to every home game, to Hattiesburg and to Ruston. People living in McKinney, Keller, Euless, Garland and pretty much anywhere in the DFW metroplex can make it to Denton in 45 minutes, tops. It's nauseating listening to people's excuses about driving 30-45 minutes while only paying 15-25 bucks to come support your university.

[MeanGreenTexan]

So it's "hard" to drive an additional 30 minutes? This blows my mind. I went to every home game, to Hattiesburg and to Ruston. People living in McKinney, Keller, Euless, Garland and pretty much anywhere in the DFW metroplex can make it to Denton in 45 minutes, tops. It's nauseating listening to people's excuses about driving 30-45 minutes while only paying 15-25 bucks to come support your university.

I don't know when the serious work starts on the I-35 expansion project, but if it's "hard" to drive up to Denton now, wait until that project gets into full swing.

[Christopher Walker]

I don't know when the serious work starts on the I-35 expansion project, but if it's "hard" to drive up to Denton now, wait until that project gets into full swing.

Choo choo.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Christopher Walker

[UNTFan23]

So it's "hard" to drive an additional 30 minutes? This blows my mind. I went to every home game, to Hattiesburg and to Ruston. People living in McKinney, Keller, Euless, Garland and pretty much anywhere in the DFW metroplex can make it to Denton in 45 minutes, tops. It's nauseating listening to people's excuses about driving 30-45 minutes while only paying 15-25 bucks to come support your university.

Have you driven 35E during rush hour? It is a 45 minute to 1 hour in rush hour from where I live in Carrollton; more if you live further south. If there is any kind of accident, add another 15 minute minimum. Not a fun drive at all and it'll be worse once the expansion project is into full swing.

[Green92]

So it's "hard" to drive an additional 30 minutes? This blows my mind. I went to every home game, to Hattiesburg and to Ruston. People living in McKinney, Keller, Euless, Garland and pretty much anywhere in the DFW metroplex can make it to Denton in 45 minutes, tops. It's nauseating listening to people's excuses about driving 30-45 minutes while only paying 15-25 bucks to come support your university.

You sure like to point fingers. Loan me that $80 in gas, 8 hours of drive time, and two meals to spend "15-25 bucks" to support my school. Let me know when you get out of HS.

[MeanGreenTexan]

You sure like to point fingers. Loan me that $80 in gas, 8 hours of drive time, and two meals to spend "15-25 bucks" to support my school. Let me know when you get out of HS.

8 hours from Dallas to Denton?

[emmitt01]

You sure like to point fingers. Loan me that $80 in gas, 8 hours of drive time, and two meals to spend "15-25 bucks" to support my school. Let me know when you get out of HS.

I'm fairly sure he wasn't talking to you when he singled out the people who live in the metroplex. Just a guess.

And if you somehow felt put upon by his request that people drive in from within the metroplex that's your burden and not his.