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TheFranchise

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Posts posted by TheFranchise

  1. My kiddos, wife and I will be there. Thankfully, my three year-old son (turns four the day after this game will be played) knows NOTHING of the current problems with the administration, let alone the fact that we've only won one game so far. All he knows is, "Daddy loves the Mean Green so I love the Mean Green." The same can be said with my nine year-old daughter, too.

    We'll be there yelling and shouting as if we're 11-0 heading into it.

    • Upvote 3
  2. How is it that we can't swing at least some kind of local broadcast deal with TXA-21 or KDFI or a local independent station like that? I mean dang! It sure would be nice to actually be able to watch a road game without having to pay for extra broadcast channels or stream from a not-so-credible website? I mean, "listen to the radio?"

    • Upvote 3
  3. You can't discount that this was a 6 PM kickoff on Halloween night. Anyone with kids is going to have a hard time selling that to their family -- especially when we're talking about a team that was 0-7 taking on a 1-6 team. Had this thing started at say, 1 PM or so, then I know I'd have taken the family and then we'd have gone home for a night of glorious candy hunting. 

    And before you say, "They handed out candy at the game," let's be real here. My understanding is that there wasn't much, and there was opportunity for so much more to be done. I mean dang, offer half price parking to anyone that brings a bag of candy and then have a huge "Trunk or Treat" tailgate in the parking lots. It doesn't seem that hard to organize. Give out free wing zone tickets to any kids in costume. Maybe even half price wing zone tickets to any parents in costume. Make it worth the price of coming out. At this point, getting as many butts in the seats as possible is more important than receiving full price for the seats you sell.

    An unsold seat gives you nothing. But a free seat still makes you money on parking, concessions, souvenirs, etc. Honestly, these are pretty easy concepts to understand. 

    Having said that, I hate that I missed a great game but with such a late start, my three year-old son would've been done by halftime. He loves the Mean Green with all of his little heart (which is awesome!) but that only works for so long for him. And once he's done, Mrs. Franchise is done and suddenly we either leave early and I get depressed having left early from such a great game, or I'm in the dog house for the rest of the night because the family is being held hostage. So, taking the kids Trick-or-treating, getting them to bed at a reasonable time and then listening to Dave and Hank afterward was my best play.

    • Upvote 2
  4. As Butch said to Sundance,"who are these guys?"

    Well, it's a well-known fact, Sonny Jim, that there's a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as "The Pentivirate," who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as "The Meadows."

    stuartmckenzie1.jpg

    • Upvote 4
  5. 1. Houston Nutt  I don't see the attraction.  Other than when he had Gus Malzahn as his O.C., he ran a very bland, unimaginative, predictable offense (like Coach Mac).  He tends to make a lot of enemies (like Dickey).  He's approaching 60 years old.

    2. Turner Gill  He did nice things at Buffalo, but he absolutely drove KU's program into the ground.

    3. Major Applewhite  Not bad.  He doesn't excite me tremendously, but he ought to be able to bring in recruits.

    4. Mike [you mean Mark] Mangino  Great coach.  He comes with some baggage, though.

    Roughly 400 lbs. of baggage?

    I'm sorry, that's probably a little mean. I keed, I keed.

    latest?cb=20150701040321

    • Upvote 3
  6. Interesting that you would post that because I have had good dealings with Reggie as well.

    Took the wife and kids up to the ticket office last season to buy tickets and Reggie was walking around the Spirit Shop. The dude kneeled down and talked with my then-two-year-old son and gave him high fives and fist bumps because my son wanted "Mean Green Stuff." That's really all that needs to be said about him. You make my son smile and feel like a hot shot, then you're a probably a good guy. 

    He and I shot the breeze as well about the upcoming game (it was SMU last season, so the outlook was pretty positive) and it confirmed how genuine he is. I love knowing we have a guy like Reggie helping run things around the department.

  7. Man, Game 1. That was a feast of baseball awesomeness. Diekman was lights-out. Took the mound in mid-postseason form and completely shut the Blue Jays down. Absolutely killed them. And then, the interesting call to put Dyson in as a groundball guy to neutralize the Jays sluggers paid of huge. 

    What a win. Now we have Cole Freaking Hamels going for us and David Price is now 0-4 against the Rangers in the playoffs. This is fun.

    And those 25 ESPN guys that picked Toronto can suck it.

    #NeverEverQuit

    • Upvote 1
  8. Man, so much to say about yesterday and this season as a whole . . .

    Looking back at what I was feeling as a Ranger fan the day of Darvish's injury, then fast-forwarding to the end of an abysmal April and into what was became an eight game deficit on July 21 only to watch this team prove its resiliency . . . it's unreal. To see this blue collar (albeit goofy as all get-out -- which I like) group of dudes go out there and put together what I believe in my 30 years of fandom is indescribable.

    Look, we've not had MANY good seasons in 44 years of baseball. (I'm not counting the Washington years  *not Ron, but the Nation's Capital*, why should I?) But there have been some good ones. That '94 team, despite actually being UNDER .500 was poised to break the team's all-time playoff drought before the strike. The '96 team eventually did that of course, and for the longest time set the bar for what I expected to see from later Ranger teams. 

    To be honest, '98 and '99 are a blur to me, not because I didn't enjoy watching the teams, but simply because their lack of any ability at all in their ensuing playoff runs completely erased anything I could really remember from those regular seasons.

    The 2011 season was pretty dang special. I think that became, in my opinion, the best Rangers regular season at the time. I say this just because; as the year rolled on it felt like the team was really just one more season away from something special. But by the time September hit, I was suddenly watching the standings and the out of town scoreboard as I realized this team had a shot at finally playing October ball again. Once we clinched, I was just happy to be there. Everything after that was gravy!

    Following that, I EXPECTED 2012. I just KNEW we'd be back. So, when we finally steamrolled into the playoffs for the first time as something other than the #3 seed in the AL, I was ready. Again not to discount ANYTHING that group of guys did, but the bar had been set in '11.

    Enter these guys, the 2015 Texas Rangers. We had a new manager that, like many others, I liked overall but really wanted to see what he could do. He was saying all the right stuff and was quickly becoming the type of guy I, MYSELF would run out onto the field for. (Trust me, nobody would pay to watch that, lest they're in the mood for high comedy) But with all the injuries dealt to the team at the beginning of the season, by April it seemed the writing was on the wall. We'd lost our #1 and #2 starters and responded to that with an awful 7-14 April record. But then some funny things happened.

    For one, Prince stayed healthy. Granted, 2014 was really an anomaly if you think about it. The dude had been sturdy leading up to it with IIRC the longest consecutive games streak going on at the time. But having missed all that time, you didn't know if he'd be back to the "Old" Prince at the plate. Boy howdy, was he. He was the lone bright spot throughout April.

    The Rangers put together a FANTASTIC month of May, going 19-11 while the Astros came back down to earth. And while it doesn't sound like much, we'd trimmed the deficit of 7 games behind the AL West leaders down to 5. (Two games, remember that)

    In June, we kept pace and played a game above .500

    Then came July. While it wasn't as bad as April, it was still ugly. We saw the deficit rise to 9 and of course the now-infamous 21-5 beatdown at the hands of the Yankees. But on the last day of the month, at the non-waiver trade deadline, we landed our dude -- Cole Hamels. 

    An 18-10 August, followed by an 18-10 September set the stage for an awesome October. Meanwhile an 11-16 September for Houston nearly ended it for them. Derek Holland came back as well and was pitching for his life, and he played like it!

    Then, after nearly shooting their own season in the foot on Friday and Saturday, the Rangers put together one of the greatest regular season games I've watched in a long time yesterday. Hamels was the ace. Sure, Houston lost, too. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't keeping a close eye on that one. But gather those together and we won the AL West Division by two games. Those two games we gained back in May helped put us in the position we are now.

    Because of that comeback and because of the overall expectations leading up to this season (which were more about "survival" for me after the Darvish and Holland injuries), this team threw together what I believe was the greatest and gutsiest Rangers Regular Season I've ever witnessed. It was phenomenal. Bring on the Jays, now. I like our chances. And as I told a co-worker this morning, I'm giddy that we're even having this kind of discussion.

    See you guys Thursday!

    Oh, and for the record, I hope the Astros go into Yankee-town and embarrass them in their own ballpark. I'd love an all-Texas ALCS and a Rangers-Cubs World Series.

    • Upvote 2
  9. I want to be optimistic, I really do. And honestly, I have been for the three seasons I've now been a student. 

    However, until I see this coaching staff make some changes that actually look like they're trying to win, I can't. And it hurts to say that. But if you're not willing to at least take a few chances and show us that you actually care, then I can't have faith. At 0-3, I'd be putting every single spot on the two-deep up for grabs for anyone that wants to come and take it. You literally have nothing to lose at this point. 

    But holy crap, please prove me wrong. I freaking dare you, Coach. 

    • Upvote 3
  10. Clever as that is, we all know money has nothing to do with it (and for the record, TCU has plenty). When SMU won in Fort Worth in 2011, SMU fans went crazy and talked trash (sound familiar?) and TCU fans acted like the end of the world was at hand. SMU celebrated that win, and deservedly so, and the next week, TCU went about its business. After last year's disaster, SMU's lead against TCU is 28-5-1 in the all-time series, but the fact is UNT won, and won big, last season. UNT fans enjoyed last year's win, and deserved to. But the parallel remains valid.

    Hope it's a good game.

    Dude, TCU leads the all-time series against SMU 47-40-1. 

    I'm assuming you meant to say "SMU's lead against UNT is 28-5-1," which would be accurate.

    But as @greenit said, let's count games where both teams were actually both playing FBS games.

  11. Well for what it's worth, I've spoken to a couple of guys on the team that I share classes with and they're champing at the bit to get out there against SMU (pun intended) and want to prove last season's SMU game wasn't a fluke and that the season as a whole was. I'd venture to say they're more excited about this game than any of us (the GMG members) about it. This alone makes me even more excited about the game than anything else. 

    I think this team realizes the mission they have in front of them and the opportunity they have to win everyone over again. They tasted something amazing in 2014 and they're hungry again. Let's do this, people!

    • Upvote 4
  12. These points cannot be understated. The combination of a bounce-back factor, new stadium, and new coach, had us neck and neck with a team that would go on to win 13 games in 2011 with a Heisman candidate at the helm.

    Do not underestimate the optimism a new coach gives a squad. That first game SMU's kids are going to be pumped. Last season we created 5 turnovers, forced 2 turnovers on downs, and made them punt 6 times. They will play smarter and not commit as many turnovers under Morris.

    Our offense gained a whopping 353 yards last year against them as they averaged giving up 499.4 yards per game. Only 3 teams they faced out of 12 gained less than 400 yards against them, USF-378, NT-353, and UCONN-316(UC lost). Our average starting field position was our own 44 yard line. I doubt very seriously we will average 56 yards to the goal line in this year's game.

    Whether folks around here want to admit it or not, many things went our way last year that won't this year. This year's game cannot and should not be marked down as a surefire win because if we do win this one, it will be because we earned it and not because Smug laid down and let us kick it. 

    Agreed. Dodge had only be OC at NT for 2 years back in the early-mid 90s. He had been out of college fb for over a decade when he stepped into our job.

    Chad Morris is stepping straight from a top-level 10-win FBS program into a head coaching gig as Malzahn did.

    Alright, not trying to be a jerk here, but fill me in on something. Our defense played a great game against SMU last season (and we all agree that last season's was not one of our best defensive units) and therefore gave our offense an easier time moving down the field. 

    But why is that a knock on our team as a whole this year? I'm not saying we're going to beat the Ponies soundly, by any means. I am confident about the game, though because as a whole unit, we really kicked them around last season. 

    I mean honestly, whether the offense has to go 30 yards on a drive to get to the end zone or 98, the point is they made the drive and got into the end zone. You can't penalize the offense just because the defense gave them less field to work with. I mean after all, that's the JOB of the defense. 

    But I think we will all agree on this . . . Go Mean Green and let's go curb stomp some Ponies on September 12!!!!

  13. @JesseMartin,

    I love your take on this, sir. Honestly, it reminds me of a colleague I worked with in the past.

    Back in the early 80's, he was a D-1 NCAA pitcher for, well, I'll just call it a VERY well-known baseball program. Sometime around, I believe it was his junior year, the Christmas break hit and everyone was leaving campus to be with family. His coaches asked him his plans and he said something to the effect of, "Well, I'm a little short on money so I'm just going to hang out with some friends here around campus, maybe catch a movie or something and talk on the phone with family."

    Saddened and sympathetic about this, the coach handed him fifty bucks and said, "Go drive home and spend the holiday with your family. Any extra from this, use it to get some food on the way."

    Somehow the NCAA found out about this the next summer and the dude lost his entire senior year of eligibility.

    I understand the need to keep these athletes as "amateurs," and I support that. But the fact that a kid can't be given a few bucks for gas and snacks to go see family is beyond ridiculous. It's even further stupid that a full year of eligibility would have been lost on account of it.

    For this reason, I support the "reasonable" stipends for cost of attendance.

    • Upvote 3
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