MeanGreenHoops

“Our kickoff returns were the best they have been with the exception of the one touchdown,” Dodge said. "My donation to the athletic department this year was the best it's been, with the exception that I won't give next year," MeanGreenHoops said.

What was the risk? What made it critical...or rather what was more important? To get a college coach and get some wins, or build excitement. Folks, the single biggest missing thing in the long history f this program has been buzz. It's what made the alumni and students, heck all of DFW apathetic towards NT. There was no one better to create that buzz than Dodge. His hiring is already a huge success. And even though the team is not competitive yet at all, we still have more attendance than a lot of the games when we were competing for NO Bowl bids, and had no student support for a stadium. We now have that in the bank as well. If we can start winning and get back to bowl games, Dodge will get a bronze statue at the new stadium. If not, it still did what we needed most, get people to believe.

Great points FLF, but I think the Dodge hiring has done what it was designed to do. It was simply a publicity stunt to get people interested in NT football. And it has worked with flying colors. More donors, more season tickets, students approving fees to build a stadium, bigger crowds to see the worst team in IA football than when we were getting into the NO Bowl. If in a year or two, we still are this terrible, the move to get a new coach will be made. And that coach will have a much stronger fanbase, facilities, a stadium etc. to build on. So, let's assume that it's not going to get any better, the next coach choice will be huge, because they will open the stadium and if that coach is bad for 4 years people will lose interest. But even if that happens, there is now a fan base and facilities to work with, somthing that would have been unlikely without the Dodge hiring.

NORTH

Do I get to say I told you so now? Notice this is the first point, it's why I keep harping on it that we have to bring this issue to the forefront. Can we now please leave the music school students alone as a source of frustration for athletics. It's nearly as bad as our fascination with how SMU is keeping us down.

Rick while this sounds good, it really isn't what helps a musician get a job in the real world. They already have those venues, the Recital Hall, the Murchison, and a football stadium isn't one of them. Now if you could bring in musical events like they do at Pizza Hut Park and that would help with revenue for the College of Music then you'd have something. I don't think you could find a single music alum from NT that would say a new football stadium will help the value of their degree. That doesn't mean it's not good for the university, it just doesn't help them. There are several other degree plans where this is probably the case as well. The main thing to worry about on this issue is that the music student is very dedicated and also loyal to NT. Thus, if they were to feel they were getting this shoved down their throat, I could see them rallying against it. I don't think that's the case, but so far the arguments for it don't make sense from their perspective.

So sad, not a single mention about the Stadium being the first LEED certified "Green" stadium. And then this - "The stadium will increase the amount of school spirit and pride," Kline said. "It will attract better recruits, which will make our team better, and the national recognition of our football team would mean our degrees would more reputable and valuable. Academics bring a limited amount of recognition, but athletics can take that recognition to a whole new level." I'm sure Mr Kline is trying, but too all of the people who will vote against, this simply isn't a true statement. A new stadium will not make an Education degree more valuable, nor countless others careers outside the corporate world. Using this as a basis of argument for the fee, will backfire.

Oh and one more thing, as pathetic as this football program is, you better sell the stadium fee to students with something besides helping the football team, because that seems like a waste of money.

I mentioned this on the stadium thread and it is a great idea and must be the focus of the campaign for not only the student vote but getting donors. You can't look anywhere without hearing about protecting our planet. As for the students, if you want to get a bunch of people riled up to vote against this, tell them how a stadium will help the value of their degrees. This will only force them to vote against it because for a lot of them it won't. Say that to any Art History Major, Education Major, Music Major, Psychology Major etc. and they will say no it won't and they'd be right. Folks as much as you might think it helps you in the corporate world, in many of the fields where we have a lot of dedicated students at North Texas, the athletic department has zero affect on their future. But a Green campaign is something everyone can get behind.

Sorry for getting in on this discussion late, but what exactly are they doing to make it special. Is it still going to be the first LEED certified stadium? If so, this is by far the most important thing you should promote about the stadium to other students. An eco-friendly stadium will do more to keep people from voting against this than any other single argument. It's very simple, you don't have to convince students to vote for it, you need to keep them from voting against it. A green stadium is practically like a donation for something good in the world. It's hard to rail against that. Lastly, the marketing approach of how a stadium will increase the value of your degree... will not work on someone who would vote against it. It in fact gives them a reason to vote against it. But, a green stadium is hard to get riled up to vote against.

I actually see some progression...we didn't give up 70, with probably less to work with on defense than last year especially up front. The offense tried to play ball control and run clock so it didn't get real ugly. There sounds like there are also some new formations to help an offense that struggled in 2nd half of games last year. And 3 wins would be better than 2

Tulsa whips UAB so that's a loss (L) LSU is a loss, I don't think we need to even compare their first week result (L) Rice whips SMU plus it's a road game s another loss for us (L) FIU getting beaten pretty badly, but they did score 19 in the first half, an Kansas is highly ranked, but we do have them at home (W maybe) ULL getting whipped by Southern Miss and we have them at home (W maybe) ULM is only down 24 in the 4rd to a top 10 team , plus it's a road game (L) Troy beat Middle (L) WKU got beaten handily by a bad Indiana team, it's a road game so (W maybe) Fl. Atl losing 35-10 to Texas but it's also road (L) Middle lost by 14 to Troy, but it's a road (L) Arkansas State down 5 in the 3rd to A&M, and even thought at home most likely (L) So if all goes well 3-9.

I stand corrected, this is more like Dickeyball.

Dodge Ball verse 2, same as the first.

Too bad it's nearly impossible to get stuff with "just" the logo on it. For some reason we also have to put the words North Texas everywhere with the logo. We don't even have it on the helmets. They sent me a car emblem and that looks more like a bumper sticker with the words North Texas and the logo. It's really bad branding.

The Pizza Hut Park design is great. That place only holds 20,000 and change, but it is extremely loud when it's even 75% full. It's the opposite of Fouts ... where you can have 25K there and feel like your by yourself.

Holy Cow! 5 Rivals three stars so far. This will be the best recruiting class in decades! And love the defensive backfield pick-ups. We have been down there for a few years and very bad in depth. How many times over the past few years have the other teams offense had 4-5 wide out formations and we didin't even have 5 defensive backs in the game because there weren't enough athletes to put out there? Dodge will get it done. By 2010 when this class is Junior's and redshirt sophomores, this team will be a monster!

thanks, got it

Couldn't see where to do a poll, but what is your choice of the 3 possible reasons for the awful season? A. Coaching Staff In Over Their Head B. Dickey Left the Cupboard Devoid of Talent C. The Players aren't buying what the coaches are selling? I'll go with B, because the other choices depress me.

Maybe, but why do we continually go for two when it's not yet needed. Now we need two scores to get back in the game rather than being a touchdown and a two-point down. It's as if they have a go for two chart and use it no matter where we are in the game.

That's crazy talk SUMG. Act like you've stopped someone on 3rd down before.

Well at least it's more interesting than Dickeyball. I used to ignore out of conference games because we had no chance. But now, even though we have no chance, maybe we'll set some kind of record for most points allowed in a game, or half or quarter, or maybe a Ripley's believe it or not like, "OOC Team X scored touchdowns on 15 consecutive plays against North Texas in 2007" Believe it or Not!

Well other than the fact it might mean waiting 3 more weeks for an announcement, I would be big time on board with Dodge. It could be huge for our program and the short time wait now doesn't matter to me if the long term means wins.

Todd Dodge is by far the best option for the job for Publicity. Most NT alums live in the DFW area and Dodge will get the attention of all of them. He was the name my wife suggested when I told her Dickey was fired. And no she is not a football guru, her comment was something like "They should get that coach from Southlake Carroll who always wins" Hopefully he gets the job and turns out to be the best man for the job.

If we hire this guy, I still get to cancel my season tickets and spend the money on something else. It's funny a couple of weeks ago my wife was thinking about what I could spend that money on because we didn't think Dickey would be removed. Then he gets fired and we were like, oh well I guess we do have to keep the tickets, well now I'm thinking we might be canceling them after all. What a roller coaster for my wallet.