Green to the Bone

"Our sources, near the situation" -- it would be even funnier if they cited sources far from the situation. Besides, their sources couldn't be near The Situation. The Situation was making a return appearance last night on "Dancing with the Stars."

The Owls dominate intercollegiate athletics in northwestern metropolitan Atlanta.

Old news. The DMN hasn't assigned one of its own to cover UNT in forever. This Tech "reporter" covered the game from Lubbock -- not exactly a high profile effort. Fact is, the DRC is in the same corporate family as the DMN and Vito does a great job. That doesn't mean they shouldn't give his stories and his blog presence better play.

I caught that, too. I always thought that you talk about teamwork in public and call out your players by name only in private or in practice. Great way to build some positive energy in the second game of the season. But then, Pat's on the hot seat, and maybe he thinks he'll get a pass if he can blame individual players.

It is November 2030. Joe and Sam are sitting in a bar, watching a basketball game on a big screen. Joe: Remember when we beat Tech to launch that amazing season? Sam: I'll never forget. I remember the end of OT, when all of us calmly reviewed the stats, commented incisively on the play of various players, and then, in the sober understanding that this should be considered a routine win, filed out of the coliseum in a quiet and orderly manner. I'll cherish that feeling of jaded restraint forever. Joe: Yeah, good times. Wish I had a video.

I'm disappointed that this is only now coming up. I think the second game of the season is way past time to start obsessing over something that might or might not happen four months from now based on an infinite number of variables.

It's plainly the last guy, the strength & conditioning coach. Viloria ... Villareal ... can't be a coincidence.

Wade Phillips.

Agree about Gandy, although I don't think any assistant's job is safe. But in terms of previous local ties being important in regional recruiting, I think it's one of the all-time greatest homer myths, right above the one that says an alum makes the best coach because he really cares. Gary Patterson had never worked in Texas until he joined TCU's staff in 1998; he became head coach in 2000. Today his roster only has a handful of non-Texas players. Resume' x results = recruits.

This is quite correct. Leach was openly contemptuous of the community PR requirements of his TT contract. Big donor wants to shake hands and leave a huge check on the table? Drop dead, sez Mike. Visiting delegation of wealthy business alums would appreciate getting to meet the coach? Screw you, sez Mike. It happened so often that it became a big problem for the university executives who tried to make excuses for him with the offended backers; it's one of the things that made his firing for insubordination all the easier. This is not trivial. We don't need a head case who broadcasts that he hates the people who want to help the program. Don't underestimate the importance of this; it's what makes Leach an unacceptable choice. We need every friend we can get. We need someone who can win games and friends at the same time.

You can't miss me. I'm being delivered by Care Flight. Landing on the 50 during the National Anthem.

This seems like a way more extensive and detailed discussion of color and fashion than guys should be having.

For some reason, I don't remember seeing any students other than her.

The "beat North Texas" shirt the girl in the picture is wearing would be a great souvenir. And I do specifically mean her shirt.

After reading the thing for myself instead of relying on crowdsourcing, I've got to join the crowd. My main questions involve transparency. The report is dated Aug. 19. Why is it only being released now? Aug. 19-20 were the dates of the most recent meetings of the Board of Regents. One might check the BOR web site to see if there was any mention of a Neinas briefing at that meeting. However, the web site says this: "Note: Board meeting agendas and minutes for the most recent Board meeting are approved at the subsequent meeting; after approval, they will be posted on this page." Emphasis added. There is no justification for not posting an agenda online until a subsequent meeting. Zero. It doesn't meet legal or normal standards. Minutes, OK; they need to be approved. Agendas, no. Under this policy, the agenda for a meeting in August would not be published on the web site until November. In fact, the most recent agenda on the web site is from May, which would have been the agenda approved by the board in August. Public bodies have to certify their agendas as being true and accurate, but that's not an excuse for waiting months and months even to suggest what business was considered. No other Texas public body I'm familiar with does this. The Texas Open Meetings Act provides lots of opportunities for closed meetings -- real estate, personnel, etc. Does this Neinas briefing count as a personnel matter? Hard to justify, in my opinion, unless they were talking about specific individuals. This was before the season opened, so if they had a closed-door briefing under the personnel exemption and it didn't involve RV's 7-win ultimatum or some other individual-specific matter, something's not right here. I think the UNT community deserves a full explanation from the BOR on their policy on transparency.

On UNT faculty vs other faculty: Anti-football sentiment rages within every university. UNT is not different. And there's no university at which faculty members are prohibited from expressing their opinions in class, even about football. Some wider experience at more universities might cure lots of this UNT-is-unique sentiment.

Dear EagleGreen, Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the future course of North Texas football. It's been my experience that published "open letters" don't usually have much usable or reliable information and are often written by people who see themselves as smarter than they really are. I must admit that when I first read your open letter to me, my reaction was along the lines of "arrogant ... self-important ... " and so forth, but then I said, "Whoa, Rick, take a breath; this guy might have something to contribute." So I re-read your letter and realized that you had seen some things that I just hadn't seen. I guess I was just too close to the situation to understand the gravity of it, since this one question of what to do about the football team is the only thing that dominates my every waking moment and keeps me awake at night. Because of my preoccupation with it, I just hadn't had time to put it perspective the way you did. I'd like you to know that I haven't been idle since I read your letter and all those postings from others, many of whom are demanding that I hire a particular currently unemployed coach. In fact, I buttonholed President Rawlins after the game and talked it over with him, and we agreed on what to do next. So early this morning I made a few phone calls and got Mike's phone number down there in Key West. I called the house and got Sharon on the phone. "Just a second," she said. "He's out in the back yard spray painting the patio furniture." She was quiet a moment and added softly, as if to herself, "again." I got the feeling she wanted to say more. I heard her call out the back door. "Coach," she said. "It's Rick." He got on the phone. "Hey," he said. "Tough going last night. I saw the game film from Rice last year, and man, you guys stunk on ice. I watched your game online last night, and this year you look lots, lots better. Looks like many of the stats went your way. Too bad about your quarterback. That kid has heart. This is the kind of game that could have gone either way, and sometimes you do it right, and sometimes you make mistakes, but there's no shame in having worked hard even if you come up second by just one point. I hope you let your kids know that." We were both silent a moment before we simultaneously burst into laughter. "Man, what a bunch of losers!" Mike chortled. "That was awful! Lost by one point or a hundred points, it's all the same. Pathetic! Pathetic! Your players and coaches ought to be ashamed. They ought to have people point at them and whisper, 'There go the pansies who don't want to win!'" "I agree," I told him. "That's why I called. I'm checking on your, um, availability. Of course, I gotta ask first about that, uh, incident." "Yeah," he said. "Look, I won't deny that I didn't like that kid and his pansy daddy. But here's what was really going on. I needed to send a message to every other mollycoddled baby on my team that I didn't want them whining to the team doc about concussions. Concussion? What's that? Somebody rang your bell. So? Hell, Red Grange played with a leather helmet. You didn't hear him crying to his mommy, 'Ooh, my head hurts.' Now the NCAA and the NFL and the association of woosified brain surgeons or whatever it is want to outlaw big hits. Helmet-blocking used to be awesome. Clotheslines. You know anybody who ever died from a clothesline? You allow clotheslines again and every freakin' highlight reel will be nothing but clotheslines. 'BOOM! CLOTHESLINE!' Next they'll require us to serve tea and cookies instead of Gatorade. You with me?" "All the way," I said. "I'm a firm believer in denying the extensive and compelling medical proof of the risk of lifelong brain injury -- especially if it happens to a snotty kid with an obnoxious dad! It makes it so much more -- what's the word? -- satisfying!" "A-freakin'-men!" he said. "But there is this one thing," I said. "When the AD and the president and chancellor told you to sign a letter promising not to abuse your players, you refused, right?" "Absolutely," Mike said. "Who the hell did they think they were? They weren't the boss of me!" "Well," I said, a little confused, "actually, I think they were the boss of you. And if we hired you, it would need to be clear that I'd be the boss of you." "YOU!" he yelled. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you know who I am? I'M CAPTAIN JACK FREAKIN' SPARROW! I'M REDBEARD AND BLACKBEARD AND BLUEBEARD AND EVERY DAMN FREAKIN' COLOR BEARD THERE IS, AND DON'T YOU EVER, EVER FORGET IT!" Well, as you can imagine, that sealed it for me. I resolved to raise millions of dollars for Mike's salary and to put him in the head coach's seat as soon as possible. EagleGreen, I'd like to have a chance to consult with you in person to go over what I've done so far and to ask your advice on how to proceed . Tomorrow's a pretty busy day for me. I've got a 7 a.m. meeting with the coaching staff to fire them all. Then at 8 I'm meeting with the team to tell them that based on the feelings of many of the online fans, we're going to forfeit the rest of the season and just try again next year in the new place. I'll tell them that the stuff they might have heard about persevering through adversity and sticking to your mission and honorably striving on even when the world seems to be against you is just pathetic loser talk. We'll still let them keep their scholarships, so they shouldn't care if we just give up now. Then at 10:30 I'm meeting with President Rawlins again, this time to craft the news release. I'd like to show you the draft before we issue it so I can make sure we've struck the right tone. Perhaps we could meet for lunch in the Victory Hall cafeteria. My treat. Many of the players will probably be eating there, too. I think they'd like to get your perspective on things. Again, thanks for opening my eyes. RV

This is from Orange and White, the Clemson sports site of the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail: orangeandwhite.com

Fortunately, it's not likely. Clemson is 250 miles from the nearest spot on the Atlantic coast, way up near the easternmost Smoky Mountains. (Denton, for comparison, is 300 miles from the nearest Gulf coast spot.)

This would be sweet, since it would mean that on previous plays, we had made it at least to our own 41.

The verse is a little too quiet and introspective. But the lead-in to the chorus, when Roger sings, "And I'm gonna tune RIGHT IN ON YOU!" would work. There's also got to be a way to use the word OpporTUNE-ity for something. OK, I might have gone to the well one too many times for that one.

I'm glad to see this topic pop up. Perhaps we could get some Super Pit improvements out of a two-fer for businesses interested in new stadium promotions. You're willing to spend X dollars on promotions at the new stadium -- a suite, scoreboard, whatever. For 25 percent more, you'll also get a major promotion at the renovated Super Pit -- anywhere from one to four sides of a new center score/video board, for example, depending on how many dollars are involved. In addition to a spruced-up concourse, I'd love to see some major exterior improvements. The plaza outside the place is pretty dull and uninviting. And my pet peeve: The outside of the building should have North Texas or Mean Green or Welcome to the Super Pit in letters big enough to be seen from far, far away. Heck, maybe also put a huge logo on top of the building so people in planes can see it while making the approach to DFW Airport. When you're passing over the Super Pit, you see NORTH TEXAS on the building roof. A second later, over the stadium, you see MEAN GREEN on the field. Another stadium fundraising tie-in opportunity.

Army sergeant before big assault: Checks his weapon and says, "OK, follow me!" Air Force sergeant before big assault: Salutes the pilot and says, "Good luck, sir!"

Based on the answer, it has nothing to do with licensing. It's market demand, or at least the perception thereof.

I am torn. I confront my duality. Yin contends with yang. Du Hast by Rammstein, or You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker?