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gangrene

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Posts posted by gangrene

  2. The Future of UNT Football

    in Mean Green Football

    Posted

    I've been following UNT football for a loooong time.  I watched us lose a competitive game to the Pony Express in Texas Stadium.  I lobbied UNT classmates about why we should approve the vote the move football from D-2 back to D-1.  "Don't you want to see Notre Dame or Penn State play us in Denton?" (Oh how naive I was back then.)

    I was listening to the live broadcast of the Baylor game when George Dunham asked, "Do you believe in the Mean Green??" I was in Lubbock in '97 and '99 when we beat Texas Tech.  I recall how proud I was when friends would ask, "Didn't Erric Pegram go to North Texas?"  I was there when Dickey's team donned those awful looking black shirts and I was there when McCarney's team shit the bed against Portland State.  I watched Brewer's awesome punt return in the Arkansas game a few years ago (family commitment kept from witnessing that one in person).

    I'm sure there are a few more, but those are the highlights (and lowlights) that immediately come to mind for me.  4+ decades of following UNT football and that's all I've got. 

    I was once a die-hard, enthusiastic Mean Green supporter and took my family to the game every weekend.  I knew our football schedule by memory.  Many years of disappointment have taken its toll on me and stolen all my excitement for UNT football.  Season tickets are something I no longer even contemplate buying.  Instead I've immersed myself in my kids' sports - I coach them and I can control how good the teams are.  When we lose, I know how to fix things.  I know how to get better.  We win and we win a LOT (I'm a competitive SOB).  Oh, I'll still check the UNT score, but it may not be until mid-week or later.  Friends will ask, "Who does UNT play this week?"  I have no idea and will have to check my phone for the schedule.  When we make some spare bowl game it doesn't really do anything to excite me.  A lot of teams make spare bowl games these days.  No big deal really.

    Why did I just share all of that???  Why??  Because I'm just one of thousands of disenfranchised UNT football fans that have found better, much more fulfilling things to do with their time.  We are a sleeping giant, right?  I've heard on this board many times.  Hell, I've even said it myself. 

    What will it take to ignite our fan base and is that even possible??  A top 25 ranking?? Top 10??  Undefeated season??  Will one season do it or will it take multiple seasons of success before the average UNT grad feels proud enough to say, "I went there!" and start attending games, buying merchandise and raising TV ratings?

    What will it take to get Top 25 programs to play in Denton on a regular basis??  I fear nothing short of a P5 conference will result in getting home games against P5 programs.

    What will it take to make top 100 Texas recruits want to play college football at UNT??  We will likely never compete with Texas, OU or A&M for top Texas recruits, but we should be able to compete with any other Texas school.  The school districts north of Dallas; Allen, Frisco, Plano, Denton have some of the top talent in the country every year.  Yet, we struggle to get even one of those players to play at UNT.

    I ask all these questions as I watch undefeated UTSA, now ranked #24 in their 10th season of playing football.  Charlotte, in their 8th season, gets invited to the same conference as UNT.  UAB terminated their football program in 2014, and didn't play for 2+ seasons, yet in 2021 they also are invited to the same conference as UNT.  Liberty just started playing FBS football in 2019 and cracked the Top 25 in 2020.  I'm surprised they didn't get the nod over us for the AAC.

    Why not UNT?  How does UNT fix things??  How does UNT get better?  What does the future hold?  Why is it so hard to have a successful football program?  We haven't been ranked since the 70s, will we go another 40+ years before we crack the Top 25?

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  7. Dear Santa

    in Mean Green Football

    Posted

    I won't be greedy.  I'll be happy with any ONE of these three:

    1. A top 20 ranking (with Coastal Carolina, LaLa and SJSU cracking the top 25, you'd think this was our year)

    2. A future 1st round NFL draft pick (we've had 3, but the last one was 50 years ago)

    3. A season like UCF's 2017 season (in which case I'd probably get all three)

    Sadly, over the last 25 years, I've been slowly beaten into submission that none of these will ever be a reality.

    • Upvote 2

  8. ***OFFICIAL UNT VS. APPY STATE BEACH BOWL IN-GAME DISCUSSION***

    in Mean Green Football

    Posted

    I recorded the game and just finished watching the first half - 28-14...we've still got a chance.  I looked up #52 on rivals to confirm he is the OK State transfer and accidentally saw the final.  🤢🤢🤮🤮

    I may watch the 2nd half sometime next week, when I'm 1/2 drunk, no one else is home and there's nothing else to watch.  But, I have much better things to do with time right now.

    • Upvote 3

  9. Let's Discuss the Updated QB Battle

    in Mean Green Football

    Posted

    I miss Mason Fine.

    I've never been a fan of rotating QBs and not having a #1 is just unstable.  The team needs to know who their offensive leader is.

    Make a decision on a starter and stick with it.  There is valuable experience to be gained by having to play your way through a bad game vs. watching it from the bench.

    • Upvote 1
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    Perspective

    in Mean Green Football

    Posted

    I’m sure this won’t be a popular post, but I just wanted to provide a little perspective. The world is in the middle of the worst health crisis in our lifetime. Many businesses have gone under and many people have lost their jobs. Our kids that chose in person learning must wear face masks all day long. Many members of our government are now being hospitalized due to the virus. We can’t do routine shopping without wearing face masks.  Even then, we still risk exposure to a virus that could be life-threatening. We were completely without live sports for almost 5 months. Some conferences still haven’t returned to the fields. 

    Life as we knew it in 2019 is gone. 

    As I sat in Apogee, watching HBU destroy our secondary, I was only mildly upset. It was eerie to watch a game in person....with no band, no cannon (my kids favorite part of going to a game) and a sporadically populated stadium. Yes, it was very strange but, no, I wasn’t upset. Quite the opposite. I was elated that my family and I were able to experience some sense of normalcy in a world that has changed beyond my wildest imaginations. Elated that, for a few hours, I could almost completely forget about what was happening in the world today.

    The following week I learned that a client I’d worked with for the last 20 years had contracted Covid and was hospitalized. I was also told a player on my kid’s basketball team had tested positive and the entire team would need to be quarantined for 2 weeks. We’ve had to forfeit 3 games as a result.

    Back to UNT football...do we have some issues? Of course we do. We’re trying to replace a four-year starter at QB, we have some serious concerns on defense and everyone...coaches, players and fans are trying to deal with issues far more important than UNT football right now.

    So, let’s cheer for our beloved Mean Green, let’s provide constructive criticism and let’s be invested in the team, but let’s not forget how fortunate we are to be able to have football this season. It’s still very possible it could all come to a screeching halt before we get to bowl season but, regardless, it will forever be marked with an asterisk due to Covid-19. 

    • Upvote 24
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  14. Softball Team Almost Ranked---now 26th

    in Mean Green Athletics

    Posted · Edited by gangrene

    On 3/4/2020 at 7:30 AM, untbowler said:

    they beat #5 team but also lost to under .500 NW team and the rematch with OU, softball and baseball having multiple games in a day/weekend won't have as much fluctuation due to the number of games, unless a team gets swept in a weekend series

    Yes, but while Northwestern may be 8-11, 8 of those losses came against top 25 teams, 2 against teams that will probably break the top 25 soon, and one win was against the #5 team.  They've had a killer schedule thus far.

    • Upvote 1

  15. Softball Team Almost Ranked---now 26th

    in Mean Green Athletics

    Posted

    I just looked up the rankings today, expecting to see UNT in at #23 or so.  No love from the voters.  I think it's BS!! 

    Beating the #5 and #6 teams, especially when that #6 team knocked off the #4 team, which is now the #1 team (per softballamerica.com) is enough to warrant a Top 25 ranking.  Whew, that was a lot - here's the translation in plain English:

    UNT beat Louisiana

    UNT lost to Texas in Austin, but took it to 9 innings

    UNT beat OU at FREAKING OU (yes, I know we also lost)

    Louisiana beat Texas AND Florida

    Texas is 20-3, OU is 15-4, Louisiana is 14-5, UNT is 16-4

    UNT deserves to be ranked.  Moral of the story, don't lose to McNeese State and Northwestern.  Texas can lose to Duke, but UNT doesn't get the respect Texas does.

    • Upvote 5

  18. The DeLong & Short Of It: Mean Green Softball Week 4

    in Mean Green Athletics

    Posted

    DeLong has done a great job with the team in a very short time.  He's also really engaged the DFW softball community by the numerous camps UNT has hosted.  I don't recall seeing any camps when Kee was coach.

    I help coach a 14U select team and the only negative I have is some feedback I heard from my players that attended a UNT camp.  I was told coaches were laughing at some of the players' mistakes and one camper was actually in tears after a day of camp because she felt like the coaches didn't like her.  I hope that was just a misunderstanding and/or an oversensitive girl, but that's not good to hear from potential future recruits that are paying $150+ for a UNT softball camp.  I felt partially responsible because I encouraged the girls to attend the camp.

    • Thanks 2
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  22. Softball Turned Down the NIT

    in Mean Green Athletics

    Posted

    Whatever the reason may be, I disagree with the decision. Five seniors could have played a few more games together and winning the NIT would help prove the NCAA made a mistake by leaving us out.

    It takes years and years of winning for a mid-major to earn the attention and respect of a selection committee.  Just look at Louisiana, where a 50-4 record and #8 national ranking doesn’t even warrant a top 16 seed in the regionals.

    • Upvote 1
    • Skeptical Eagle 1

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