Green to the Bone

Prudence, maturity, and responsibility on a message board ... hmmm ... interesting concept ...

It's not hard to guess why the reference is gone. My guess is that somebody figured out that this was potentially libelous.

Strikes me as a trial balloon, which is to say: complete hooey, but with a purpose. Like promoting somebody or something. Do we have any members who are subscribers to Fran's secret newsletter? Maybe this month's edition has some insight.

This isn't just juvenile and unprofessional; it's bizarre.

My Fouts solution: We get those foundation repair guys who always remind us that they're UNT alums to jack up the whole thing about 50 feet or so. Then we build new lower level seats covering the existing track. The outside three lanes of the existing track would still be usable, but all further records would then have to be listed as indoor numbers. The inside lanes would pose a risk of runners banging their heads on steel beams, so we would either stop using those, or only let very short runners use them. Then we give the stadium a sequel name, such as Fouts II: With a Vengeance. Simple. Elegant. And it comes with a lifetime guarantee against cracking or slippage.

I think constitutionally, the order of succession is athletic director, then vice-president, then Al Haig, then the House speaker, then the president pro tem of the Senate, then all the cabinet officers in order of department seniority, then the deputy assistant director of sports information.

Bobby's off-court record

Sure can't rule out a monetary motivation. But this was the day after Knight had sprayed pellets into another local woman's yard. There are also still-vague accounts of this videotaper later being struck in the neck by a pellet. He says Knight intentionally fired toward his house. Bob denies it. On the other hand, if Bob had said, like any normal person and responsible hunter, "Gosh, neighbor, I'm sorry, we'll move," there would be no tape. This is the same act he's pulled for years, and the exact same behavior -- "YOU WILL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME AND TREAT ME WITH GREAT RESPECT REGARDLESS OF MY BEHAVIOR BECAUSE YOU ARE A SLUG!" -- that got him fired from whatever that last job of his was. Ask yourself what you'd do if you needed to confront a person who is 1. very powerful around Lubbock and 2. a well-known rageaholic and 3. armed with a lethal weapon. At a minimum, I'd tape it. I think the neighbor displayed guts by going alone and not hiring Blackwater to guard him. I sure know one thing: Hardly a week goes by that a Big XII coach doesn't do something entertaining.

Bob Knight screams at a man who asks him to hunt further from his house, since shotgun pellets are landing in his swimming pool. Bob does what Bob does. The homeowner taped the encounter on Oct. 21. The DMN posted it this evening. Bob Knight video If the link doesn't work, just go to dallasnews.com and you'll find it on the first page.

Thank you. Thank you. I am in awe.

Notwithstanding the fact that what's typed on this board does not give reality even the slightest nudge, your preferred home schedule would have us playing all our conference games on the road. Not generally healthy for anybody's W-L.

Agreed. I thought they might double us, or hit closer to 100. Looks like our D play went better than expected. Interesting that they had more turnovers than us. That's something to keep building on. On the other hand, missing all 11 3's either indicates their defensive strength or our propensity to take long, little-chance shots, which I also saw against Midwestern. If we don't have long-range accuracy, why not stop trying them? All in all, not a memorable outing, but OU is the national No. 9 team.

As opposed to the Ivy League, which is a very philosophical league, or the SEC, which is a very metaphysical league whose members are able to mow down opponents through sheer psychic will without making actual physical contact. Gateway players, unlike those of other conferences, are still burdened with the pre-evolutionary need for bodies and muscles. Poor buggers. Good grief, I love sports quotes.

George and TD talked about UNT closing the Orange Bowl this Saturday. Dodge said he'll tell the team before they take the field what a great, historic facility it is and how they should be proud to be part of a long, storied tradition. Class all the way. But they also talked about something I'm sure many here knew, but I didn't, or had forgotten: The first game at Texas Stadium was North Texas vs. Louisville, on Oct. 16, 1971. The Cowboys played their first game there a week later. We won, by the way, 20-17.

Let's form a new conference with just us, WKU, Miami, and FIU. We'd win all the conference games, and the fight song would really mean fight song. Everybody posting on this thread could go in on the rent for a big condo on South Beach. It'd be fun! And as long as we're going to Miami twice anyway, we make it three times by throwing in the Dolphins as a body bag game. Their body bag, that is. All that makes about as much sense as anything.

I suspect that that's the case. Their silence speaks volumes, which would be a very good ending thought for this thread and this topic. Case closed.

With offers from those schools, sounds like academics won't be a problem.

I know how aggravating it can be when mere facts get in the way of an argument. Too bad. Myth No. 1: Everybody else in the Belt is beating great teams and we're just beating online diploma mills. Fact: North Texas is the only Sun Belt team that has played seven non-exhibition games so far. Four Belt teams have W-L records that add up to a better percentage than North Texas: South Alabama (5-1) and MTSU, Troy and ULM (all 3-1). The teams that the other Belt leaders have defeated are UMo-Kansas City (3-3); Tulsa (1-5); Ohio (1-2); Tennessee Tech (1-2); Houston (2-5); Arizona (2-4); Kennesaw (4-4); McNeese (1-8); Centenary (1-4); and Texas State (3-2). Message: Every other winning Belt team is beating poor to mediocre teams. Myth No. 2: Our poor performance explains our poor attendance. Fact: Women's hoops in the Belt draws very small crowds, period. The other Belt leaders have played a total of five home games so far. Attendance figures are 556; 403; 325; 305; and 2,614, the last for MTSU versus Tennessee Tech, an in-state rivalry. Later, when they're playing teams from many states away, you'll see numbers around 200-400. UNT's numbers are 421, 245, and 411, consistent with the others. Message: Attendance at UNT games is no different than any other regular Belt teams. Sorry if this doesn't fit into the "we suck the most of all" narrative that is looping in many people's heads.

Count me in with this sentiment. Winning is better than losing. Winning, but not in the way some would want, is too often considered the same as losing. It's not. Team: We won! Cynic: Yeah, but you only beat a high school-caliber team. You'll lose the next one. Team: We won again! Cynic: Yeah, but the way you faded in the last three minutes is typical Slinker ball. The next game will show how doomed every Slinker team is. Team: We won again! Cynic: Yeah, but I've watched this team every year since 1857, and Slinker's a perpetual loser. As long as she's the coach, no good will come. You'll see. Team: We won again! We're 5-2 now! Cynic: Yeah, but ... And on and on and on and on and on and on. Don't you people ever get tired of being cynical? Just wondering.

After sitting through this cold, wet and windy experience, I am forced at last to ask the question: How many Krispy Kreme fundraiser boxes are we going to have to sell to put a RETRACTABLE ROOF AND CENTRAL HEAT in our new stadium?

That was certainly one of the most (physically) miserable games I've ever sat through. But every time I thought I might be going into hypothermia, it made me feel safe to look a few seats to my left and see an off-duty firefighter there who would know all the first response procedures. Thanks for all you do, Rick. And although it wasn't a perfect game by any means, Jamario made me extremely proud. And to see the team's reaction when we won was worth every cold and wet hour. One question, though: At the game's end I had crossed over to the student side next to the team tunnel. Since I was then just a few rows above the field, I couldn't see what happened in the postgame dustup. Anybody see who did what to whom, and who did what back? TD made a brief mention on the postgame show about how he told the team not to respond to taunts and disrespect, but there were no other details.

True, it wasn't ever pretty. It was pretty scary most of the time. We got owned numerous times in the meanness category. Then again, Wichita Falls is a pretty rough place.

Amen. After all, the players, coaches, cheerleaders, dancers, band, officials, etc. don't have the option of staying home. And the seniors deserve a sendoff. I don't think many of us have risked injury for our school. I figure we owe them at least a thanks in person. And heck, we might just win. We few, we soggy, cold, miserable few. We will be there.

MidState (from Wichita Falls), now 0-3, was surprisingly tough and aggressive and had it tied at 37 at the half. They got tired (just three on the bench) but never quit. Gotta say, Slinker's players took chances and got burned sometimes (trying long 3's and making some long passes into the lane that got stolen), but they show a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for each other. They're winning, too. If you haven't been out to one of their games yet, give it a try.

I'm sure Heaven is working overtime assembling lists of football coaches and discussing shoe contracts and radio show fees.