#8 Rank Baylor Playing At Lowly Buffalo?

Ben Gooding · September 17, 2014

How de we put the pressure on the university to raise the athletic fee? Serious question. It must be raised, it inevitably will happen. So we might as well get it going now.

UNT90 · September 17, 2014

How de we put the pressure on the university to raise the athletic fee? Serious question. It must be raised, it inevitably will happen. So we might as well get it going now.

We can't. Large money donors can.

greenit · September 17, 2014

We should not stop raising the fee until we charge at least as much in subsidy as any of the top 25-30 programs in the country.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/

Oh wait, we already charge more than any of those teams.

Edited September 17, 2014 by greenit

KRAM1 · September 17, 2014

I'll give a crap about Baylor once they play someone other than one of the sisters of the poor. Number 8 my arse!

And, instead of thinking that raising the athletic fee will elevate UNT to some higher level, folks might want to check out who is and is not listed as a member of the Mean Green Club in the current football programs.

Instead of worrying about what "others" should do, folks might want to take care of the things they CAN control...such as their own level of support. Waiting for "others to do it" is exactly why UNT sits where it does with it's athletics program today.

Posting ones current whine on a message board will not help UNT reach higher levels, but taking care of the things one can control and doing something about that just might.

UNT90 · September 17, 2014

I'll give a crap about Baylor once they play someone other than one of the sisters of the poor. Number 8 my arse!
And, instead of thinking that raising the athletic fee will elevate UNT to some higher level, folks might want to check out who is and is not listed as a member of the Mean Green Club in the current football programs.
Instead of worrying about what "others" should do, folks might want to take care of the things they CAN control...such as their own level of support. Waiting for "others to do it" is exactly why UNT sits where it does with it's athletics program today.
Posting ones current whine on a message board will not help UNT reach higher levels, but taking care of the things one can control and doing something about that just might.

Right, and the UNT administration, which has historically given nothing to athletics, can take care of the thing that they control by raising the fee to compete with the UTSA's, UTEP's, and Texas St.'s of the world.

Why hasn't this fee been raised in the last 3 years? If UNT was serious about athletics and competing IN IT'S OWN CONFERENCE, the fee would be raised to the level OF OUR CONFERENCE FOES as fast as possible.

Like I said in the scheduling thread, doing things the same way you always have are going to lead to the same results. This issue is no different. How many disconnected alumni do you think would just chuckle and shake their head if they learned that the students voted for a fee and a mechanism to raise the fee that UNT has never taken advantage of.

I know 2 who have done just that.

Guess what. They could give 2 craps about UNT athletics.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the fee goes away after the stadium is paid off, per the altered legislation that our fearless leaders did nothing to protect (yet our chancellor gets reuped to sit on his ass in Dallas). I don;t think the BOR EVER expected it to pass in the first place and have demonstrated their disdain by dumbing it down in the legislature and ignoring it since it's passage.

Edited September 17, 2014 by UNT90

Ben Gooding · September 17, 2014

Yeah, if we are wanting to be taken seriously the fee has to be raised ASAP. It's kind of embarrassing. I don't get the running in place mentality.

MeanGreenHoops · September 17, 2014

Right, and the UNT administration, which has historically given nothing to athletics, can take care of the thing that they control by raising the fee to compete with the UTSA's, UTEP's, and Texas St.'s of the world.

Why hasn't this fee been raised in the last 3 years? If UNT was serious about athletics and competing IN IT'S OWN CONFERENCE, the fee would be raised to the level OF OUR CONFERENCE FOES as fast as possible.

Like I said in the scheduling thread, doing things the same way you always have are going to lead to the same results. This issue is no different. How many disconnected alumni do you think would just chuckle and shake their head if they learned that the students voted for a fee and a mechanism to raise the fee that UNT has never taken advantage of.

I know 2 who have done just that.

Guess what. They could give 2 craps about UNT athletics.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the fee goes away after the stadium is paid off, per the altered legislation that our fearless leaders did nothing to protect (yet our chancellor gets reuped to sit on his ass in Dallas). I don;t think the BOR EVER expected it to pass in the first place and have demonstrated their disdain by dumbing it down in the legislature and ignoring it since it's passage.

I don't know if all of this is true. But if it is, it's very disappointing. Your other beefs with the AD and school give me tired head but this is one I hope you start pointing out more often. Could you make this your new crusade?

UNT90 · September 17, 2014

I don't know if all of this is true. But if it is, it's very disappointing. Your other beefs with the AD and school give me tired head but this is one I hope you start pointing out more often. Could you make this your new crusade?

Lol. If by crusade you mean posting on a message board, sure.

And it is true that the fee was dumbed down in legislature, with restrictions added that neither UTSA, UTEP, or Texas St has. Ever wonder why?

I mean, why would the legislature care? Maybe the UNT administration never wanted the fee in the 1st place and wanted these restrictions to make sure it went away. Maybe Lee Jackson did actually work in Austin, but worked against the fee to weaken it?

Quite the conspiracy, eh?

But the fact that it hasn't been raised sure does make one wonder.

Why aren't we doing everything possible to give our kids THE SAME ADVANTAGE that kids have who attend UTEP, UTSA, and Texas St.?

The only plausible answer is that we just don't take athletics seriously at UNT.

untjim1995 · September 17, 2014

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the fee goes away after the stadium is paid off, per the altered legislation that our fearless leaders did nothing to protect (yet our chancellor gets reuped to sit on his ass in Dallas). I don;t think the BOR EVER expected it to pass in the first place and have demonstrated their disdain by dumbing it down in the legislature and ignoring it since it's passage.

I'm fairly certain that the BOR didn't think that the vote had a chance of passing--in part, because it never did before. But the stealth campaign worked...if that campaign had been made more public and had the AD out in public talking it up, I doubt it would've passed. Thankfully, it did. Even when the P5s pull away, we still needed something better than a 6-man HS field to play football in, so Apogee should be perfect for us for decades to come.

As for the athletic fee and Lee Jackson, I think he did what the BOR wanted him to do, which is why he got an extension. With the accounting scandal that occurred within the system, he should have been fired immediately. Instead, he got extended. He has contacts in Austin and he uses them to help UNT--its just that athletics isn't really that important at all to him or most of the BOR and administration. Look, that's fine--he does what they want, just as RV does. And, by an extremely large majority, that's what the UNT alumni, students, and faculty want, as well. They want tuition as low as possible, they want the reputation of the university to be known for its music, arts, and education, and they don't want to spend $$$ on athletics, particularly football. Again, that's fine--you have to do what the people want or you're gonna be out of a job. That's just reality.

Its tough, though, for those of us that do love college football and live here in Texas. We all have friends that are SWC and Big Eight school alums here in the state who live and die by their school's teams each week. They have forever looked down on North Texas (State) or just feel sorry for us, like how could we not be at least better than we have been over the years. They are still just astonished that we went down to 1-aa and stayed there for so long. They cannot understand why we like music and arts more than football and basketball. As alumni at UNT, all we can do is shrug our shoulders and say that is how things roll up in Denton. We do get lots of pats on the back when we beat one of the old SWC private schools or don't get absolutely pummeled when we play one the P5 giants, but they know we aren't ever going to be included in anything above where we are because our political ties aren't stronger than theirs, their history gets them the majority of the media coverage, and their fanbases have more money or more people in it (or both) than we will ever have. I believe this is why the number of t-shirt fans of the other Big XII and SEC schools that have graduated from UNT are so huge. They know we aren't ever going to be included with the P5 teams they watch every week. So they either go away and never even think of going back to Denton ever again for a game or they keep an eye on how we do, but they never dream of missing a UT, A&M, OU, etc...game to watch us play Western Kentucky on a Saturday in Denton. But the ultimate irony of all is that these people wouldn't ever go back to Denton either for any orchestra performance or musical performance on campus, either, which is what the university always prides itself on publically. Instead, they just go away, never to be heard from again.

UNT90 · September 17, 2014

I'm fairly certain that the BOR didn't think that the vote had a chance of passing--in part, because it never did before. But the stealth campaign worked...if that campaign had been made more public and had the AD out in public talking it up, I doubt it would've passed. Thankfully, it did. Even when the P5s pull away, we still needed something better than a 6-man HS field to play football in, so Apogee should be perfect for us for decades to come.

As for the athletic fee and Lee Jackson, I think he did what the BOR wanted him to do, which is why he got an extension. With the accounting scandal that occurred within the system, he should have been fired immediately. Instead, he got extended. He has contacts in Austin and he uses them to help UNT--its just that athletics isn't really that important at all to him or most of the BOR and administration. Look, that's fine--he does what they want, just as RV does. And, by an extremely large majority, that's what the UNT alumni, students, and faculty want, as well. They want tuition as low as possible, they want the reputation of the university to be known for its music, arts, and education, and they don't want to spend $$$ on athletics, particularly football. Again, that's fine--you have to do what the people want or you're gonna be out of a job. That's just reality.

Its tough, though, for those of us that do love college football and live here in Texas. We all have friends that are SWC and Big Eight school alums here in the state who live and die by their school's teams each week. They have forever looked down on North Texas (State) or just feel sorry for us, like how could we not be at least better than we have been over the years. They are still just astonished that we went down to 1-aa and stayed there for so long. They cannot understand why we like music and arts more than football and basketball. As alumni at UNT, all we can do is shrug our shoulders and say that is how things roll up in Denton. We do get lots of pats on the back when we beat one of the old SWC private schools or don't get absolutely pummeled when we play one the P5 giants, but they know we aren't ever going to be included in anything above where we are because our political ties aren't stronger than theirs, their history gets them the majority of the media coverage, and their fanbases have more money or more people in it (or both) than we will ever have. I believe this is why the number of t-shirt fans of the other Big XII and SEC schools that have graduated from UNT are so huge. They know we aren't ever going to be included with the P5 teams they watch every week. So they either go away and never even think of going back to Denton ever again for a game or they keep an eye on how we do, but they never dream of missing a UT, A&M, OU, etc...game to watch us play Western Kentucky on a Saturday in Denton. But the ultimate irony of all is that these people wouldn't ever go back to Denton either for any orchestra performance or musical performance on campus, either, which is what the university always prides itself on publically. Instead, they just go away, never to be heard from again.

Pretty spot on here.

I would also add that the BOR basically wants to keep us as the cheap educational option and don't want to spend any additional money on anything, and I think this is also a mandate by the political forces that appoint the BOR.

"Above The Rest For Thousands Less" tells you all you need to know.

Lets just keep little ole UNT as the cheap option for those non-traditional students that aren't good enough to attend a real university. That is the thought process by those overseeing education in the State of Texas at this point.

Edited September 17, 2014 by UNT90

Green Mean · September 17, 2014

I'll give a crap about Baylor once they play someone other than one of the sisters of the poor. Number 8 my arse!
And, instead of thinking that raising the athletic fee will elevate UNT to some higher level, folks might want to check out who is and is not listed as a member of the Mean Green Club in the current football programs.
Instead of worrying about what "others" should do, folks might want to take care of the things they CAN control...such as their own level of support. Waiting for "others to do it" is exactly why UNT sits where it does with it's athletics program today.
Posting ones current whine on a message board will not help UNT reach higher levels, but taking care of the things one can control and doing something about that just might.

College athletics will always begin with the people up top and the administration. If they don't raise the fee to the levels of at least our conference mates when they have the power to do so then there is something wrong and people that do donate/buy season tickets have a valid reason to bitch.