SUMG

We have a lot of evacuees staying here in Texarkana. I met a guy at the gym today, who is an evacuee from down there. This fellow lives in one of the Louisiana towns in St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans. (one of the hardest hit areas). He told me that he and his extended family plan to go back to New Orleans, once they can. And once they get an insurance settlement.....they're moving to another state. They don't plan on rebuilding, but plan on getting out of there. I asked him if he thought more could have been done with the levee system/pumps, etc. and he said, "No." It was his opinion that really, there shouldn't be 700,000 people living in that small of area, below sea level. Anyway, God Bless all the folks dealing with this. This is the most crestfallen that I've been about a national situation....since 9/11.

First of all....1-AA schools have the 11-game regular season limit, too. So, most of them already have a full slate of games. The only way that a game with LSU could be rescheduled.....would be on December 3.....and that's out of the question, because the SEC Championship Game is that Saturday. So, if the game is cancelled......we'll have a 10-game season. In 2001, when 9-11 happened, most teams were in the same boat, so there were more scheduling opportunities. So, IMHO....if the game is cancelled......there will be no make-up, and we will have a 10-game regular season.

If the game is postponed......the possible roadblock to playing it in December is the SEC Championship Game (which of course, LSU may or may not be in). Any LSU fans know what weekend the SEC Championship Game is? It's got to be either the 3rd or the 10th of December.

Emmitt....that "North Texas" is not on the shirt he's wearing. It's on the photo, which came from the official site. I think they put "North Texas" in the corner of each photo on the official site.

First of all, I don't know why I'm being singled out as the only one who thinks the home schedule is crappy. There were about 7 others who said it on here, before I did. As far as supporting the team: I have already renewed my season tickets, even though I live 190 miles away. So, save the lectures about being a good fan. To all of you who think this is a great schedule or that we should support the team no matter who they are playing: Are you in the Mean Green Club? Do you have basketball season tickets? Usually the biggest "mouths" about being a great supporter, are amongst the cheapos who don't give a nickel to the program.

And when it matters what SUMG "thinks" is a good schedule, then his name will be listed as "Head Coach". ←

The Super Pit has been sold out ONCE for a North Texas game (the SMU game in 1976-1977). There have been some other great crowds: West Texas State and Bradley in 1975-1976; Texas in '80 (Pat Hicks 35 foot shot game); Depaul; Texas in Trilli's first year. But, only one sell out. Also, I have followed us since 1975....we've never been in the top 20 in basketball.

Jimmy....your running post total changes on ALL your posts, once you post. Geez, it would seem that someone who has posted almost 7,000 times, would know that by now.

This schedule has cupcakes on it......but only for home OOC games. (UTPB; Angelo State). Chattanooga will not be an automatic win.....and SFA will be tougher than we expect. Also, UT-Pan American gave us fits last year, even though we won. Plus, those road games (at: Tulsa, Houston, A & M, Az. State) will all be probable losses. I have no earthly idea why we would go on the road to play Nicholls State. If you're gonna play Southland teams (Lamar last year; SFA and Nicholls this year), why not play UTA? And we shouldn't hold their lousy facility against them, when we're playing football in Fouts. So, it's a bad schedule. Because it has a lot of nobodies at home, AND I don't think it's the type of schedule where we rack up a lot of OOC wins, and build momentum going into conference play.

(from www.meangreensports.com): DENTON (8/26/05) - The Mean Green football team will get its first test of the new Fouts Field surface at Saturday morning's intrasquad scrimmage. The Sportexe Omnigrass field, which passed its final inspection yesterday, is a 100-percent rubber inlay surface and has been named one of the safest turfs in the world. The squad's second scrimmage of the season is open to the public and begins at 8:30 a.m. The Mean Green open the season at Louisiana State on Sept. 3.

I wonder if there's any connection whatsoever....between us getting a basketball game with Az. State (who we haven't played since '76, I think).....and a transfer from there. Just curious... Those things do happen some times. For example, we had signed a player to a Letter of Intent named Victor Mitchell. (His brother was former UNT great Fred Mitchell). Well, Victor decided that he wanted to play at UT. So, Coach Blakely got a series of games (home and away) out of UT, by releasing Victor Mitchell from his letter of intent. Victor never went to UT though. He ended up at Kansas.

Here it is: Fri, Nov 11 Abilene Christian (Exh.) Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Fri, Nov 18 Hardin-Simmons Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Tue, Nov 22 UNC-Wilmington at Wilmington, NC 7 p.m. Wed, Nov 30 Arizona State at Tempe, AZ TBA Sat, Dec 03 Chattanooga Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Tue, Dec 06 Texas A&M at College Station, TX TBA Sat, Dec 10 Nicholls State at Thibodaux, LA 5 p.m. Mon, Dec 19 Angelo State Denton, TX 7 p.m. Fri, Dec 23 Houston at Houston, TX TBA Wed, Dec 28 UT-Permian Basin Denton, TX 7 p.m. Fri, Dec 30 Stephen F. Austin Denton, TX 7 p.m. Mon, Jan 02 Tulsa at Tulsa, OK TBA Thu, Jan 05 Louisiana-Lafayette* Denton, TX 7 p.m. Sat, Jan 07 New Orleans* Denton, TX 7 p.m. Thu, Jan 12 Florida International* Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Mon, Jan 16 Denver* Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Thu, Jan 19 Arkansas-Little Rock* at Little Rock, AR TBA Sat, Jan 21 Arkansas State* at Jonesboro, AR TBA Thu, Jan 26 Troy* Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Sat, Jan 28 South Alabama* Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Thu, Feb 02 Louisiana-Lafayette* at Lafayette, LA TBA Sat, Feb 04 New Orleans* at New Orleans, LA 1 p.m. Thu, Feb 09 Middle Tennessee* Denton, TX 7 p.m. (DH) Sat, Feb 11 Western Kentucky* at Bowling Green, KY TBA Wed, Feb 15 UT-Pan American Denton, TX 7 p.m. Sat, Feb 18 Denver* at Denver, CO 3 p.m. Thu, Feb 23 Troy* at Troy, AL TBA Sat, Feb 25 South Alabama* at Mobile, AL 7:05 p.m. Sun Belt Conference Tournament

(from www.meangreensports.com). I don't know how to copy and paste something from a pdf.file, but if you go over there...you can see the entire schedule. Hopefully, we get return games from the Ags and Ariz. State. There are no marquee home games this year on the schedule. Here's the story, maybe someone more computer literate than I can post the entire schedule): In non-conference action, North Texas will face one opponent from both the Big 12 and Pac 10 conferences and two teams from Conference USA. The Mean Green take to the road to play at least four teams from top-10 RPI conferences, including Arizona State, Texas A&M, Houston and Tulsa. Houston and Texas A&M are two of seven opponents from the state of Texas on the schedule. "Again our non-conference schedule will be very challenging, including games against several teams that advanced to postseason play last year, in preparation for our always tough Sun Belt Conference schedule," said North Texas head coach Johnny Jones. The Mean Green, which has won at least nine games at the Super Pit three of the last four years, will play 13 home games, including a December 3 outing against NCAA-Tournament qualifier Chattanooga. While six of its first 11 games are on the road, NT will open its season at home against Hardin-Simmons on November 18 and play its first four Sun Belt Conference games at the Super Pit as well. The Mean Green’s first league game will be against last year’s Sun Belt Champion Louisiana-Lafayette on January 5. The regular season ends Feb. 25 and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be played March 3-7 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. "Our players and coaches are excited about embracing this opportunity and look forward to the challenges it presents," said Jones. Head Coach Johnny Jones will collect his 50th victory at North Texas with the Mean Green’s first win of the season.

Quoting Arkansas State Fan: "My wife's family does their dinner on Saturday, we go to my family on Thursday, her brother goes to his in-laws on Thursday, and her sister goes to her in-laws on Thursday then we all get together on Saturday." Yeah but you're from Arkansas....aren't those the same four people all visiting one another.....over and over again? j/k

Here's the story: The old saying "Two heads are better than one" might be the best way to describe North Texas this season. While most teams are trying to find one starting running back, the Mean Green have two. Patrick Cobbs, the nation's leading rusher in 2003, and Jamario Thomas, No. 1 in 2004, return to once again make North Texas the favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference. Cobbs had a tremendous 2003 season, leading the nation with 152.7 yards per game, finishing with 1,771 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. Unfortunately he injured his knee in 2004, sitting out the season and taking a medical redshirt. Thomas, who was just a freshman, stepped in as the starter and ended up leading the nation with 180.1 rushing yards per game, setting the NCAA freshman record for 200-yard games with five. Now both will be in the backfield, causing headaches for opposing teams. "We knew from Day 1 that Patrick was capable of doing great things," said North Texas coach Darrell Dickey. "When Jamario got here, he could do some great things too. These guys take everything in stride. We are looking forward to having both in the backfield." Having two great running backs will also help ease the pressure for an inexperienced quarterback. The likely starter is sophomore Joey Byerly. He had an effective spring practice, but saw very limited action last year, throwing only 12 times. "We don't throw a ton, but we look at passing efficiency. That's what we are looking for, somebody who can manage the game plan, manage the weapons and get the ball to these two guys. With both of them in the backfield, it's going to be tougher for defenses to key in on one individual," added Dickey. And tougher for the rest of the league to win the conference title. Predicted order of finish: 1. North Texas: Can they make it five consecutive conference titles? The Mean Green's biggest test will be the second week of the season -- at Middle Tennessee. 2. Middle Tennessee: With eight starters back on offense and 10 on defense, the Blue Raiders pose the biggest threat to North Texas. Clint Marks is the best passer in the league. 3. Louisiana-Lafayette: With the return of quarterback Jerry Babby and wide receiver Bill Sampy, the Ragin' Cajuns should be able to compete for the conference title. 4. Troy: After a fantastic season in 2004, it's going to be tough for the Trojans to have an encore this year. The defense will be strong again, especially with the return of LB Bernard Davis and DB Johnny Faulk. 5. Louisiana-Monroe: Dual-threat quarterback Steve Jyles is back, but the season will depend on the running game of Kevin Payne and an inexperienced defense. 6. Florida Atlantic: The Owls should have a strong secondary, led by Willy Hughley, but the offense will be young. Former West Virginia backup Danny Embick gets the start at quarterback. 7. Florida International: The offense will be the strength with the return of quarterback Josh Padrick, but the defense must be much better than it was last year. 8. Arkansas State: Running back Antonio Warren and quarterback Nick Noce return, but the rest of the team is inexperienced. Defensive back Tyrell Johnson is one of the best in the conference. More from the same piece: Off. players of year: Patrick Cobbs, N. Texas Jamario Thomas, N. Texas Def. player of year: Bernard Davis, Troy Coach of the year: Darrell Dickey, N. Texas

Great action photo of Jamario at the CBS Sportsline website (www.cbssportsline.com). Along with a story on The Sun Belt.....which highlights J-Mo and Patrick.

One thing that we don't know and won't know unless we experience is this: Would we actually take more fans to Ft. Worth for a bowl....than we have to games in New Orleans? Some seem to think so. I don't know. I know that when you are in NO for a game, you run into some fans who ONLY go to the New Orleans Bowl, that is the only game they make every year. (Some of those are alums; some are students). I don't know if FW has the allure to bring those folks to a game. Also, how many fans have we taken to the TCU games in the past? 2000 tops? I know, I know.....this would be for a bowl game. But, I just think that the lack of allure of FW.......when compared to NO.......and there's a darn good possibilty that we would take less fans to a bowl game in Cowtown, than we would to one in New Orleans. (And addressing what untgirl said: Being down there, it seemed that our coaches had clamped down on the partying last year. If that's not the case, and we had players who had had too good of a time, and weren't focused on winning the game---I wish our coaches/AD staff would let us fans know beforehand. That way, I won't waste $700 going to watch a football team that isn't into the game).

Jimmy.....maybe you haven't heard......NBC carries Notre Dame football and ONLY Notre Dame football. And as the other poster noted, ESPN's "The Season" chronicles an entire year at ONE particular program. (like Gonzaga in hoops; Arizona in football, back when Mackovic was there). So, I think this should be allowed. I have nothing against TTech or Knight.

(FROM THE AUGUST 5 USA TODAY): UNT (+32) vs. LSU ULL (+ 38) vs. Texas MTSU (+23) vs. Bama Ark. State (+26) vs. Missouri FIU (+34) vs. Kansas State

That's why you always see the name PlummMeanGreen in italics.

Nothing against Ft. Worth...I like the town. And who knows what any arrangement might be. But, Cajun Nation posted that any year in which UNT is the league champ, that we would PROBABLY go to the FW Bowl. If that ended up being the case.....would you like that deal? I wouldn't. As much as some like to bitch about how many times we've been to the NO Bowl.....our fans have kept that bowl afloat. One more great thing about NO: Don't underestimate the domed stadium in Dec. (If either of the last two NO Bowls had been outside, they would have been miserable.....and that's in NO). I'll give Plumm this much credit. He has cahoneys. Never has someone who's never been to a NO Bowl, been such an expert on the bowl atmosphere down there.

While I would love for us to have a tie-in with the FW Bowl....I would HATE for UNT to have to go to that bowl, every year that we win conference. (as it states). Go to FW once in a December.....and we'll all see very quickly how much we'd miss New Orleans. Trust me on that.

Since Plumm whiffed with his response.....let me give you a straight answer. I would guess that we have between 250-300, from looking at the number of names in the football program. Definitely not nearly as many as we need. So, if you're thinking about joining......please do! (And if are already a member....thanks and try to encourage others).

Plummy....must have put on more weight. Thus, he wants the darker shade so he'll look svelte.

Below now.....where it has the members who are on the board at the moment.....what does it mean when some names are italicized????