Jump to content

Distancing ourselves from Army rivalry is still a head scratcher to me...


Recommended Posts

I came across an article outlining Army's new stadium renovations which I have pasted a link below.  The Wren/Littrell/McCasland/Jalie era has been fantastic to watch develop and bodes very well for the future of North Texas athletics.   One of the few things I have never understood is why exactly we would move away from what has been a terrific series  - both for our players and fans - with Army?  I get that they are a hard team to prepare for etc, but I still think the positives outweigh the negatives.  Their fans helped us create one of the better home atmospheres in Apogee last season.   It is also one of the great destination games and now will become even more so after the upgrades.  I would hope that we could reconsider this stance and  keep what has been a very positive non-conference series for us in the future.

http://footballscoop.com/news/army-big-plans-renovate-one-college-footballs-best-stadiums/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

It was dumb. 

I don't hate getting out of the Army serious near as much as I hate traveling to Liberty, which is dumber. 

So, they just doubled down on the dumbness of this. 

Thank for your experienced and expert opinion on dumbness factors! GMG 

Edited by Wag Tag
  • Upvote 2
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 6
  • Downvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to agree with Harry.  Hate that the Army series will end.  Great tradition Military School, great destination.  As for defending the option attack, the first game at Army was fun to watch. Regardless of the interceptions we took advantage of, I think we defended against the option pretty well.  Last year, not so much.  But it can be done.  I certainly wouldn't throw away a series with a National opponent like Army for a Liberty.

  • Upvote 2
  • Lovely Take 1
  • Thanks 2
  • Downvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess it’s tricky. I thought the exposure North Texas received from playing Army was great. The national exposure coincided with Army actually being a good team, which hasn’t been the case in the past. That being said I think the series has run its course but would like to see them on the schedule again in the future. 

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Salsa_Verde said:

Question...are people more upset with ending the Army series or more upset that it was replaced with a series against Liberty? 

I think this is the biggest issue.

  • Upvote 3
  • Lovely Take 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is liberty? 

Replacing a recognizable winnable team with a no name is not what I was hoping for.

Why would we even travel there? Are we sure we are there to play football, I was told they only play basketball? 

I am the saddest because I wanted to go to the away game at army this year, West Point is in the same county I was born in. I had not made the trip yet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

What is liberty? 

Replacing a recognizable winnable team with a no name is not what I was hoping for.

Why would we even travel there? Are we sure we are there to play football, I was told they only play basketball? 

I am the saddest because I wanted to go to the away game at army this year, West Point is in the same county I was born in. I had not made the trip yet. 

I'm disappointed this aspect as well.  I was unable to go last time but was looking forward to making it one day. 

What really upsets me is that I lived in Virginia for 8 years and UNT never played a game in the state.  Last summer we moved back to Texas and now they have two games in Virginia in the same season.  Sometimes timing stinks.  

  • Upvote 1
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

I'm disappointed this aspect as well.  I was unable to go last time but was looking forward to making it one day. 

What really upsets me is that I lived in Virginia for 8 years and UNT never played a game in the state.  Last summer we moved back to Texas and now they have two games in Virginia in the same season.  Sometimes timing stinks.  

As a Durham resident, I am delighted two games will be played in Virginia next season. You can be sure I'll be at both. 

However I am disappointed as anyone about losing the Army series. There is no better place on earth to watch college ball than West Point on a crisp, fall day. But we should not despair, great restaurants abound in Lynchburg. I hear McDonalds has a new cooked to order quarter pounder that I can't wait to try!

As far as the chippy play of Army and the other academies, it goes back a long way. http://afteraction.militarytimes.com/2009/11/24/service-academy-football-teams-play-dirty/ Given the size and academic restrictions those guys face, I wonder if they should even be playing FBS football?

 

  • Upvote 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

When I realized how consistently dirty they play, especially Captain Cheapshot out there in the secondary, I was more than happy to let them off the schedule.  I was kinda disappointed in their fans at Apogee as well.  Maybe I'm just being idyllic, but I expected better. 

Rhyan England is his name

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Salsa_Verde said:

Question...are people more upset with ending the Army series or more upset that it was replaced with a series against Liberty? 

Its replacing Army with Liberty..

We all understand the point about how difficult it is to translate from a normal gameplay to army's and how it physically beats up the players..

But again, Army was a potentially the 2nd or 3rd best team we play this regular season. They got Top 25 votes like FAU and I'm assuming Iowa was ranked at 1 time or another. Army is also a national name, and a solid program in terms of how people view the athletic program as well. But the biggest thing that is being overlooked, was the number of fans that turned out for the game. It was one of the top 2 or 3 attended games in the short history of Apogee. Also, I have brought this up but people don't like it but UTEP/Rice/Charlotte really drag down the conference in terms of how it is viewed. They maybe 3 of 5 or 10 worst programs this past year and we play 2 of them making our schedule look even weaker, at least having someone like Army improved how the schedule was viewed before the breakout of FAU. 

I would not have had a problem with Liberty if we had played them and got a nice check to make up the difference, but playing them 1 and 1 without anything in return is a gut punch and a punch in the pocketbook of the program. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Salsa_Verde said:

Question...are people more upset with ending the Army series or more upset that it was replaced with a series against Liberty? 

Both.  Army is a quality football program & a great academic institution.  Liberty is neither.

  • Upvote 4
  • Thanks 2
  • Haha 1
  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exchanging Army for Liberty was a heart breaker for me and, we may never know the real reason it was done. I don't think it has anything whatsoever to do with the style of play. My first thought was that there must be some sort of personal/religious sentiment on the part of the athletic director but, that's pure speculation.

 

  • Thanks 2
  • Confused 3
  • Downvote 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Greenrex said:

Exchanging Army for Liberty was a heart breaker for me and, we may never know the real reason it was done. I don't think it has anything whatsoever to do with the style of play. My first thought was that there must be some sort of personal/religious sentiment on the part of the athletic director but, that's pure speculation.

 

Speculation - yes, but it would explain the behavior.

  • Upvote 1
  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, MeanGreenTexan said:

Actually, we do know, because it has been specifically said, multiple times by Littrell & Baker.   

Littrell & his staff did not like the Army matchup because it was hard on his team.  It took them out of their rhythm, because each season, for a full week, they had to put the breaks on normal practices & practice for triple option... then you have that blocking scheme & dirty play getting our guys hurt...  He wanted out of the series.    Wren delivered with a VERY WINNABLE replacement.   Some people don't like it because of Liberty's religious alignment.   Who cares?  It's a football game!

That's it.  End of story.

But what fun is accepting that?  

  • Upvote 1
  • Haha 2
  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Please review our full Privacy Policy before using our site.