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I have had the pleasure of attending the 4 NOB and now the Heart of Dallas Bowl. All were grand experiences, but I must say the HOD Bowl activities will create special memories. One of my favorite NOB memories was our first one in Nawlins, and our event at the House of Blues, packed with Green, singing birthday to President Pohl, and having a grand time! However, I was fortunate to take in virtually all of the Heart of Dallas Bowl and here are 25 ParksAndRecRickMemories: 1. Omni was incredible! 2. Mean Green Nation crowd at the game! I was so proud to see all the ages, excitiement and Mean Green Pride! 3. Rick V calling us into Babb Brothers BBQ and had the players and coaches thank the fans. Very classy. 4. Coach Mac's postgame celebration, "This is not the end, it is just the beginning." 5. Meeting old friends and making new ones at the Tailgate Party. 6. Omno putting up UNT and MeanGreen on the building. Wow, was that awesome! 7. Re-Union Tower's Mean Green Celebration Show 8. A Win at the Historic Cotton Bowl 9. The fan flying the flag right in front of the UNLV Band. One for the ages. 10. Almost all merchandise sold out at the Cotton Bowl 45 minutes before the game. 11. New Year's Eve Party at The Tower Club 12. Thompson's grit, Zack Orr's dominance, Chancellor's Speed, and our typical 2nd half dominance! 13. Mean Green Nation staying for the Award's Ceremony! So fun.... 14. The great Marcus Trice's smile.....and his incredible intensity. 15. The Green Brigade and Cheerleaders at the Pep Rally at the Band Shell at Fair Park 16. How lucky we are to have George Dunham. He was having the time of his life, plus The Birddogs Rock!. 17. Moments with Rick, Hank and George 18. The Helmets and Black Uni's. So awesome! 19. The GREAT Mean Joe Greene. 20. Sports Bar Fun in the Omni 21. Fans storming the field (It reminded me of our home win capturing the SunBelt Title) 22. Watching Coach Mac kiss the Heart of Dallas Bowl Trophy.....4 times! 23. The Mean Green Nation crowd inspiring the team during the game. 24. All the GRAND Media we received. 25. Sitting after the game and thinking, it has been a long 9 years, but this win made it worth it....It's great to be GREEN!

Really some great pics which I've not seen yet. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/teams/north-texas-mean-green/gallery/index.html?photoNum=3

No Red Raiders? I guess you don't work at Papa John's.

True dat This picture is great for a couple of reasons...

You live to pick fights. It was great. Wasn't really complaining I just expect more game presentation since it is a bowl game. Simply stating something I thought. I didn't get to go to NO Bowl so I didn't have a comparison. No big deal. I'm enjoying this win so just chill. Were all good here. You don't have to get defensive about everything. Have a lovely evening.

I work with a bunch of Longhorns, Frogs, and Bears. (And a couple Mavericks). I'm the only guy in the office basking in the glow of a bowl win. The...only...guy...in...the...whole...freaking...office.

Todd Dodge did one great thing for UNT--probably his lasting legacy. He made it public that he was promised a new football stadium when he was hired and he never stopped bringing that to light. It was a great way to keep the BOR and administration honest about this. We aren't playing in any bowl game this year if we are still at Fouts right now, in part because McCarney woul have never agreed to coach here with that toilet as our home field. To be a real player in college football means you have legitimate facilities, coaches, strength and conditioning programs, and funds to pay them with.

GMG! Let's keep a little class amongst ourselves.

Would be awesome if his brother gave us another fORR years.

We need for our own alumni in DFW to adopt North Texas as their team.....then we can worry about everybody else. Of course, everybody is welcome right now.

A little side discussion during the game and today's viewing of the most recent Beyond The Green reminded me to mention this: Brelan Chancellor will be the guy I miss watching (on Saturday's anyway) more than any NT player since Booger Kennedy. Johnny Quinn was a player I LOVED to watch play (not as much as Quoner obviously) and there have been others, but I reserve this accolade for players that truly change the way opposing coaches plan their game...and it just doesn't matter. So happy that Brelan's last game at North Texas included a few plays to add to his highlight reel. Who would you add to the list? GMG

I hope coach Wintrich get a nice little raise. He's done an outstanding job.

Just a single?

And, one more thing! We may bitch, cuss and fuss, but I want to thank the GoMeanGreenNation. Y'all keep me up on news, recruiting, and all that's Mean Green. The links, the posts, the pictures.... Thanks and congrats' to each and every one of you! Thanks Harry for having this opportunity!

We shall see how the cards fall.....

Yeah, Mustafa is finally starting to put some meat on his bones, aside from muscle. Hitting up that victory dining hall. The tough thing for Mustafa during fall camp is that the first few weeks in pads are also usually during Ramadan. It was very tough on him and our other Muslim players. They couldn't eat or drink water while the sun was up, and they lost a lot of weight in the first few days in pads. Hope Mustafa does good in the spring, that way he won't need a killer fall camp performance to get in the rotation.

Interesting thoughts. I'm sure it had to be bittersweet for him, as he had to think about what he couldn't accomplish here. At the same time, I'm sure he felt good for the players to whom he had promised good things, and to whom he gave his time, effort, and attention.

Since he's a walk on I look it as a can't lose proposition. If he's healthy and productive, give him a ship. If not, no harm.

Yeah, relatively. Still though, no need for the name calling. Save there for Austin in 8 months.

2002 N.O. Bowl. I have been to numerous bowl games over the years, from the Blue Bonnet to the original Cotton to the Fort Worth and Armed Forces Bowls. Your not going to get a lot of the usual bowl fanfare experience at the HOD bowl because it is a charity event that tries to keep as much of its proceeds as it can. And I believe the HOD raised $100,000 for the homeless yesterday. Rick

Venture down to Oak Street Draft House & Cocktail Parlor and you'll find these shirts. 308 E. Oak Denton, Texas USA

Baylor 11-2 Rice 10-4 Aggie$ 9-4 Mean Green 9-4 Texa$ 8-5 Houston 8-4 (bowl game left to play) Tech 8-5 UTSA 7-5 Tex St 6-6 CJK5H 5-7 TCU 4-8 UTEP 2-10 Not bad... lets get to number one soon.

Perhaps you haven't heard of Craig James' dastardly deeds?

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.

Same goes for Mike Simmonds. The O-line would walk thru fire for him. He and wife Jamie have them to dinner in their home weekly. We are thankful for them.

There are a lot of Alumni at 11. I used to be one of them before I decided to move on. He's more of a homer and supports home town teams when he can. HE's a good dude.

There have only ever been three Mean Green quarterbacks who started on a bowl game winning team. I can't find player stats for the 1946 Optimist Bowl, but it was 1946 and the game ended 14-13 so I doubt it was an aerial display. In the 2002 NO Bowl Andrew Smith had a rough game, only going 9/22 for 126 YDS and and INT. So by default DT's performance was great. I think DT is in the conversation for the HOF from that performance alone. It probably does say something about our overall level of success through the years, but it is what it is. We'll see what the voters think in five years.

There is a reason Dodge is a HS coach in Marble Falls. To say Dodge was in over his head is like saying an ant is in over it's head in the middle of the Mariana Trench.

I really appreciate the positive pub, but I really get tired of the "sleeping giant" term.

As did I... You know, the irony of our alma mater's success at the Cotton Bowl Stadium on New Years Day with a great Mean Green win and our "lights out" record-breaking turnout of Mean Green fans is.... ...in the Fall of 1981, many of us have commented to each other thru the years that our experience at the Cotton Bowl stadium that season may have been our all time lows as North Texas Mean Green fans and with 1 win that season making it worse but....... ......this New Years Day at the HOD Bowl game created such a feeling of total euphoria for many of us as we sat with our own looking from one end of the stadium to the other end at a sea of green. One Mean Green fan sitting by me got all misty eyed during the first part of the bowl game and truth be told I think many of us older fans had a similar experience as well. It was a great day for young and old alike; that is, all of us who bleed green and make no bones about it. Don't know if we will ever duplicate what we did this last Wednesday during whatever time those of us 60 and above have left on this good mean green earth, but it just wouldn't surprise me if we did.................and more. GMG!

Long time reader, first time poster. ? I've had season tickets for 3 years now and would love to move over. I buy 6 tickets, so the donation gets steep for my income level. I sit on the aisle one section from the club seats, and it is amazing how empty that area is. I fully intend to be a lifelong season ticket holder, so a license option that spreads out the club money sounds very appealing to me. I intend to move over next season one way or another. Sitting at the 45 for the bowl game made my envy antenna activate.

"Did you change conferences and become an AQ school yet, UNT? If not, take that medical hardship waiver and shove it." -NCAA

Thanks to all of the seniors for being a really special bunch. I hope they challenge the next group to step it up even bigger next year. Need someone to fill this guy's leadership shoes...

im starting to think i will be going to the doctor soon and saying i think ive gotten MeanGreen fever and dont even bother trying to fix it! i need it to last till kickoff in Austin when we pass on the MeanGreen fever to those bevos and give them mad cow!!!!!!!!! lets show up big, ill sleep after the following week after the SMU arse whooping at Apogee!!

I'm going to miss every damn one of the departing seniors. This was the most exciting bunch of over achievers I have ever watched at North Texas.

Thanks Harry.

My favorite time of year,mother kids we get today are the kids who will make or break this program for the next 2-5 years. It's always interesting to see who jumps ship, who stays onboard and who comes aboard at the last minute. Hopefully there will be a few good surprises in for the MG faithful.

A reporter from Arizona said there were no more than 7500 in the stands in Shreveport. Also said the Northwestern State band dressed in Zona colors and was introduced as the Arizona band.

Gotta be more than 30k. WAY more Green there than I've seen at Apogee all season.

You go? If you were there you would not be asking that question. You cannot see all the Mean Green fans there in that photo....obviously, as you cannot see the whole stadium...not even all of that one side. But, to answer your question more directly...YES...more than 30,000.

Marcus Trice has to be up there. His intensity, hard-hitting, and special teams playmaking ability will be missed. He's been a pleasure to watch, this past year especially.

Seemed like there was very little pomp and circumstance @ HOD. Almost as if they said here's a football go play. Oh well We had a blast and won the Damon thing so can't complain.

Yes, but unfortunately we did not notice it was Texas A&M Commerce.

I actually agree with you. Derek was held back by our gameplan

UNLV athletics has a transcription of their post-game press conference. You can read the entire .pdf here. I thought what their coach had to say about DT yesterday was in line with my sentiments during the game. It wasn't perfect, but overall I don't think I could have gotten a better performance from DT. He made some clutch clutch plays and triumphed through a load of adversity.

I'll be sure to be extra aggressive with Fox and Hound in Lewisville to get our signs posted in their bar. Oh. Silly me. They didn't survive the season. Snerk!

The only thing that was missing from the win at the Cotton Bowl yesterday was Bourbon Street.

There were police and security guards on the field. Security seemed much more aggressive than police. Imagine that. For all you saying that you don't see what the big deal was, well, you were breaking a law. Criminal Trespass to be exact. This wasn't Apogee, and it isn't the worst crime in the world, but stop acting like you did nothing wrong when by law you did. You can't always do what you want to do just because "dude, laws are stupid." You charge a field, you take a chance of getting arrested. That's why it doesn't happen at Ranger games, Cowboy games and the like.

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.

You have my complete and absolute permission to kiss my ass.