mad dog

I wouldn't say he belongs in that list, but watching Ja'Mar Toombs for A&M was a treat. I remember watching him drag three guys into the end zone on several occasions. He played for a while with the Dallas Desperados, and I have no clue where he is now.

http://www.easports.com/games/ncaa06/impact.jsp?ncc=1 Guess who EA decides to use to exhibit the new "Impact Players" feature? Check out the second video.

as of yesterday, the release date is July 12.

ratings is the one area I can't help with. As soon as I read anything at all, I'll let you know, but the likelihood is that no one will have ratings for us until release day.

I have two people moving out of the house in August, and am looking for a few good folks to come live with us for the next fall and spring. Details: 1504 Michial Denton, Tx, 76203 Right across the highway from North Texas (feel free to use http://www.mapquest.com) Within an easy bike ride distance of campus (more importantly Fouts Field!) $250 a month + bills. Rarely over $400 a month total. If you are interested, send me a PM and I'll give you my cell phone number so we can talk more.

mostly on utopiafootball.com, because they post information just about the second it becomes available. However, in the interest of saving time, feel free to post questions you may have about the game. I've been reading it closely for a few months, and I can give you the skinny on just about anything you'd like to know.

I guess I see the confusion... EA sports NCAA Football 2006 - video game.

Actually, all teams are limited to three Impact Players, with at least one on offense and defense. Given this, I think it makes sense, esecially given Covington's play of the year (decade?).

Offense: #43 Patrick Cobbs 90 overall #20 Jamario Thomas 90 overall Defense: #8 T.J. Covington 85 overall :Edit: Rest of Sun Belt, in case you're interested: Arkansas St. HB #42 86 overall Antonio Warren CB #20 82 overall Montis Harrison MLB #14 82 overall Josh Williams(?) FAU MLB #59 85 overall Shomari Earls CB #24 84 overall Willie Hughley QB #5 80 overall Danny Embick FIU CB #21 88 overall Nick Turnbull LOLB #43 85 overall Lance Preston WR #86 85 overall Cory McKinney MUTS DT #92 85 overall Jeff Littlejohn HB #20 85 overall Eugene Gross QB #17 82 overall Clint Marks Troy ROLB #27 86 overall Bernard Davis CB #8 84 overall Johnny Faulk QB #12 78 overall D.T. McDowell (whoops!) UL Lafayette QB #15 86 overall Jerry Babb WR #80 85 overall Bill Sampy CB #2 76 overall Michael Adams UL Monroe WR #18 86 overall Drouzon Quillen LE #99 85 overall Alnecco Shine QB #15 85 overall Steven Jyles

Isaac Thomas made plays by the truckload in the spring. Any one of them might seem mundane to you (made a great stop at the Line of Scrimmage), but the fact that he consistently performed over the course of a month of practices makes him this. I would stop short of saying he'll bring national publicity, though. Look at Jamario and what he did, and most College Football fans still don't know his name.

Not having seen the original, I just went to see it as a funny football movie. I enjoyed it within that context. My girlfriend and I laughed hard through the whole thing.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if Texas won against OSU in a blowout, but I wouldn't bet on it, either. As much as Ohio State relies on Ginn, Texas relies on Young. I think Texas is even more overrated this year than in past years, and I would not bat an eye if they got stomped. As for beating Oklahoma, I'm going to go with the Patriots rule: "Until they prove to me otherwise." Unless OU loses, I'm going to go with them every year in the Red River Shootout until they do.

Wonderful breakdown Euless.

To be fair, it is a lot easier to pump up the side who's winning. And it's a lot easier to pump up a group who travels to another state to support their team. untbones, please check your PM.

Well, here's some numbers for you. There are two BIG rebounders in the league. That's it. Just two guys who stick out: Ivan Almonte of FIU with 10.5 a game and Yemi Nicholson of Denver with 9.9. Past that, it is a bunch of contributors. The rebounding differential between 1st and 3rd place in the Sun Belt is 2.7 rebounds a game. The difference between 3rd and 20th is 2.5 rebounds a game. And we have two guys in there, Isaac Hines at 11th and Jeffrey Simpson at 19th. We have individuals getting it done, but, more importantly, we are getting it done as a team. Only FIU gets more rebounds a game than we do (39.1 to our 37.5). Everyone on our team contributes a lot. Just ask the guys if you see them what their mindset is on gameday. It isn't to go out there and pick up 10 boards. It isn't to go out and pick up 30 points. It isn't to get a double double or a triple double. It is to do their best to help their team win the game. I don't know about you, but I'll take that any day of any week. As for Leonard and Jeffrey's field goal percentage and scoring average... Leonard is seventh in the conference at 17.5 points a game, and Jeffrey's shooting percentage ranks 4th at .580. Jeffrey didn't start getting a lot of playing time until conference play started up, and, consequently, he has nearly 10 points a game in conference. And Leonard's shooting percentage? Well, for a guy who has taken 357 shots from all over the floor, shooting .375 isn't all that bad. Minus the three pointers, which he's admitedly shot .258, Leonard's shooting .440 from the floor. I'm just learning the game of basketball, but already i've learned how much more deceptive it is than football. In football, what you see on the field and what you see on the stat sheet line up pretty well. But in basketball, you can come away from the game with an impression that is totally opposite from reality. I myself have gone into the media room shaking my head, saying "how the heck did we shoot 50% in that game?" Or, "how did we get out-rebounded?" Trust me, things are pretty durn good right now. The numbers help with perspective.

Here's an unbelievable stat: NT is currently 4th in the conference in free throw shooting percentage with 72.2% Denver is in the lead with 75.7%. It certainly seems that we're shooting poorly, but Coach Jones pointed out that only three teams in the conference are better at the line. huh...

Coach Jones in the press conference verified this... just cramps.

I'm no expert, and i don't have administrative control. But it was pretty plain to me that it was a Slinker/Jones bashing thread that, towards the end, got hijacked into a FFR bashing thread. That kind of personal infighting is a little embarassing and I'm not sure if I would have done any different.

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This really looks like the same argument I hear in the football forums: Why is the attendance low? Guys, it all takes time, and usually much more of it than we'd prefer. Some of you older folks will recognize that sometimes, in life, the only way you can make something happen is 1) do what you can do, and 2) wait. Some of us younger guys are understandably a bit confused and frustrated when, in the 'quick fix' world that has been presented to us, nothing we do seems to have any bit of effect. To get where we all want to go is not something that can be accomplished overnight. You have to realize that, in the perfect situation, with flawless seasons filled with memorable moments, low ticket prices, ubiquitous and creative advertising, the time it takes for us to get to packed Super Pits will still be measured in years, not in months or weeks. One of the most frustrating things I've learned in life so far is that sometimes you can do everything right, with all the right intentions, and still not end up getting what you want. So what happens when, as humans, we screw something up? Let's say we drop a "gimme" game at home. Let's say we lose our star player. Let's say that we end up with a losing record. That "best case" timeframe of a couple of years might tack on a few more. But there is hope here. My mother, who works at a high school in Carrollton, hears more and more non-music kids "thinking about UNT," and not just because they couldn't get into UT or A&M. Our business school, our Emergency Management program, our Engineering program; all of them are starting to get noticed. We are starting to get kids here who aren't here for a "community college" experience, who expect an education and college experience commensurate to Tech, A&M, or UT. I was met with a little shock when I asked a new student from Arkansas what he was studying. He told me that he had heard about our college of education and wanted to get a degree from here. Usually, kids from further away than Texas are either here for the music school or are exchange students. To get non- music undergraduates here from out of state, solely on our University's reputation, is HUGE. What does this have to do with basketball? Rhetorically, have any of you been to games in the past five years? Have you noticed the change in attendance/volume of the crowd? I'm the who went to as many basketball games in the first week of this year's season than I did in four undergraduate years, and I was shocked to see literally thousands of people in attendance. I guarantee you, none of the people in the stands are "community college" minded guys. They aren't here because they couldn't afford someplace else, or because UNT was the only place they could get in. It is hard to be proud of a place you were more or less FORCED to go. These people are at UNT because they had a choice, and picked here. The length of time between now and what we want is contingent upon too many factors for me to follow, much less understand. Wins, losses, moments, down to individual experiences, there are FAR too many variables. No one can predict when it will come, but I can tell you when it won't. It won't happen this year. It won't happen next year. It probably won't happen the year after that. Until we cycle out every person who wants the old UNT paradigm, assuming that's even possible, we'll be stuck with unsatisfactory attendance. And what happens then, when we actually get the attendance we're looking for? There will be something else that we want. If you keep looking at tomorrow, you'll entirely miss today. Wishing for better things is admirable, normal, and, well, human. But you might do well to enjoy how far we have come, because we certainly could do worse.

...I have always hated the guy. He has day in and day out showed absolutely zero respect for the game, been a selfish me-first guy, a loudmouthed braggart with no humility, and the fact that he twice danced on our star at Texas Stadium hacked me off beyond belief. Well, I still don't like him, but I can't hate him. He said in the press conference that, had he been Brett Farve, the media would have called him a warrior for coming out and playing with an injury that should have kept him from walking, but, since he's T.O., he's selfish. I thought about that. And, you know what? I think he has a point. Can you imagine the rehab he'd have to do to get ready for a game like this? Can you imagine the courage it must take to go out there and realize that your career might be over if you plant your foot wrong? Can you imagine the pain he must have felt? Shoot, he was limping seriously after every play. When Byron Leftwich had to be carried down the field on an offensive drive, he was a hero. T.O. a hero you are not. Worthy of my respect you still are not. But i'll be damned if you didn't prove that you have one hell of a will.

http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr

Yeah... i don't think that this game will be won or lost according to heart. In my opinion, very few of our losses had anything to do with that or motivation. The guys will come ready to play tonight, and i'll lay our chances on one factor: getting out of Hopkin's shooting slump.

http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr

yeah, i remember looking over and thinking "WTF????" Seriously, if i had to shoot free throws looking into that, i'd probably just set the ball down and walk away. It'd creep me out too much.