[Baylor and Hansen]

So, what you're really aggravated about is that Dale picked the low-hanging fruit on Baylor.  Who cares?  Many commentators go after the low-hanging fruit. 

Also, his job is to report and comment on things sports-related, and mainly of interest to people in this region.  You think the Baylor situation would just pass by him in that role?

Here's Doocy over at Fox 4 saying that it's disgraceful that Starr stays and Briles is fired: https://twitter.com/mikedoocyfox4

So, is Doocy self-promoting because he gave an opinion about the Baylor fiasco instead of just reporting it?

(Disclaimer:  I watch Doocy more than I do Hansen; find Doocy to be more authentic.)

[Sun Belt replaces CUSA in Arizona Bowl]

Was bound to happen. Surprised by the Sun Belt, though.

Many of the bowl contracts expire in 2019, Heart of Dallas included.  How many more do you think we lose?

[Dear Rick Villarreal and Future New Athletic Director]

22 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

We can be a competitive in CUSA, AAC, or MWC while still running a clean program. It's what 98% of G5s do. 

So, congrats for being like almost everyone else? 

Easy to take being clean for granted.  It takes work behind the scenes.  It's okay to go ahead and acknowledge that. 

[Reports out that Art Briles will be fired at 11 am]

18 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

I have to say that this cynical old man (who dislikes Baylor a lot) is VERY SURPRISED. I didn't think that Baylor would ever pull the trigger on Briles. I thought for sure that their AD would end up being the sacrificial lamb on this case. I thought that the investigation that they paid for with be a white wash and a cover up. I'm going to grudgingly give the Baylor administrators an "atta boy" on this one.

 

Did I mention grudgingly?

I'm not so surprised.  One of the Board members of a hospital we insured was a Baylor alum and huge booster.  He was a very straight shooter. 

I'm of the mind that many of the old Baylor money, like him, are surprised by what has happened down there and, behind the scenes, made enough noise to say, "Not here, stop it now or the money is gone."

The question to me is how this extends to other programs.  For example, OU has the kid on their roster who broke the female student's face.  The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that the video is public record, after the Oklahoma press had been repeatedly rebuffed by a Norman judge and the city's D.A. - both OU grads.

You wonder what will happen when the video goes public.  It is said to be very Ray Rice-like.  OU's president, AD, and head coach went together to view the video with the D.A.  The kid was given an Alford plea and OU basically redshirted him his freshman year as punishment.  It has looked like a whitewash from the beginning, with the D.A.'s office and judge doing all they can to stall the Oklahoma press.

The reality is, we are in an era where people are (rightfully) torqued up about violence against women.  And, it is dovetailing with what was an already growing sentiment that athletes were getting away with too much.

Accountability is becoming the new norm in athletics.  So, again, I'm not surprised by Baylor's moves.  Social media has now made it possible for local scandals to become national scandals pretty quickly.  Baylor is paying for it.  Other athletic departments should heed the circumstances.


 

[Dear Rick Villarreal and Future New Athletic Director]

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I took your "foundation" as a core of fans... pretty small.  

You were speaking of his facilities.   The facilities are fantastic... so far.   Still need to get baseball going, T&F stadium, and a center court @ Warranch.

Ah, yes.  You are 100% right about the fans.

Although, I have a theory that I'd like to posit right here:

THEORY POSITED: 
The new generation of UNT grads will be more sports loyal because of the newer, better atmosphere of Apogee.  I theorize that between the decision to go I-AA and the building of Apogee, many generations of UNT grads had nothing but bad/lower than good(?) experiences with sports at UNT.

The fortunate were the older generations, the NTSU faction, who really saw good, competitive Eagle athletics when facilities weren't much of an issue.  Three decades worth of students after them, though, really were treated to bad facilities, hit and miss competitiveness, and a pretty apathetic view of the whole thing by the school.

I'd say that the new, recent, and future grads have been blessed with better tailgating areas and a better place to watch the games.  And, they have responded to the degree that the C-USA made a rule about student sections during football games.

Winning will obviously augment that.  However, many of us were at North Texas during three decades between I-AA and Apogee, so we are naturally skeptical.  Even when good things have been done, we sometimes downplay them.  We've been conditioned, like beaten dogs, to distrust.  This is not a problem so much for those in school now, I believe.


 

[Baylor and Hansen]

55 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

If I said the world is round, you would have some kind of counter argument.  You can take and generally do the cynical view of anything.  Do you disagree with anything he said?    It was an editorial comment that almost anybody would agree with despite his motivation.   

Agree here.  Why, 90, does something always have to have some conspiracy or, in your view, untoward motivation behind it?

I am the last person the stand in Dale Hansen's corner because I think he's made a career of unwarranted baiting of certain coaches/players he doesn't like.  And, 93% of the time, he comes across as phony to me.

But, he right about this thing regardless of what his personal motivation might be.

[Dear Rick Villarreal and Future New Athletic Director]

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Albeit very small, I agree.  There are people out there who can accomplish more, while staying clean.

If I were still sitting at Fouts Field in the fall, I'd agree 100% with you.  As it is, I agree 89%.  Good enough.  It really is a great stadium.  It will be loud and unfriendly if we can ever get teams competitive enough to fill it.

[Reports out that Art Briles will be fired at 11 am]

55 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

I believe that even Mike Leach got paid from Tech, didn't he?

Everyone with a decent attorney/agent gets paid when they are fired.  For f*ck sake, Charlie Weiss was still outearning almost every coach in the NCAA last year...just off of what Notre Dame was still paying him:

http://thebiglead.com/2015/05/19/charlie-weis-is-still-getting-paid-even-though-he-was-fired-by-notre-dame-in-2009/

[Dear Rick Villarreal and Future New Athletic Director]

RV, thank you for leaving UNT without scandal, such as is happening at Baylor.  Thank you for the high academic standard for our athletes.  Thank you for not cutting corners simply to be more competitive.  Thank you for hiring coaches and staff who haven't cut corners in order to be more competitive.

New Athletic Director, please look at what is happening at Baylor and pledge to do the opposite of what they did to foster the scandal they are now reaping.  Take the solid base Rick Villarreal has left and grow it the right way.  What goes on behind the scenes is every bit as important as what happens on the field; some would say, even moreso.

To all...even when you have a salad for lunch, the complimentary bag of Funyuns is no dietary sin. 

 

 

[Reports out that Art Briles will be fired at 11 am]

6 minutes ago, Harry said:

Will baby Briles replace him?

 

No.  He's already been investigated by the NCAA over recruiting practices. 

So, he'll have that, plus being part of a coaching staff that tried to cover up rapes hanging over his head. 

The best thing baby Briles can hope for is a DIII job and getting on the "football camps" circuit like many coaching has beens and never weres do.

[CBS DFW's Take On RV's Resignation]

57 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

I tend to agree with you on Smatresk, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for several reasons:

1.) One, he inherited an accounting fiasco that was unprecedented in its nature, as far as I know. That had to require a ton of energy to address and rectify.

2.) Having to deal with UNT-Frisco and its starting up.

3.) Already had to deal with replacing the head football coach and that was probably more than enough to make heads spin on the BOR and administration because of its size and scope for the largest contract ever given at UNT.

I don't care if we get a low energy guy as long as he can pick winners for the revenue sports. That alone would make him way better than anyone who has been in that position here in multiple decades.

Fair enough.  I can go with that.

[George Dunham discussed Hank as AD in KTCK]

19 hours ago, Green92 said:

I pretty much stop reading anything when I see the word "synergy." 

This.  All day long.

Synergy.  Platforms.  "Reaching out to you."  All of it.  Guys 40+ years old with overly coiffed hair or spiked up like they are in their 20s.  Any male past traditional college age with an earring.  All bad.

A kid from Houston said to me last week, "I think I can really see some synergies between our agencies!"  I told him, "No.  There are some things your agency does well, there are some things my agency does well.  If you need help on an account, give me a call.  If I feel like you can help me on some account, I'll give you a call."

[CBS DFW's Take On RV's Resignation]

4 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

If Hank gets hired as the permanent AD, then the point about RV being the major symptom of Apathy will continue to be proven. But something finally tells me that we aren't going that way at all--that Smatresk will hire someone outside of the university.

I agree on the idea that we need to hire a guy who has a proven record for hiring solid coaches in revenue sports. If he can fix that, and we actually start winning, the funds SHOULD come forward by increased MGC memberships, more season ticket holders, and a lot more butts in seats at Apogee and the Super Pit.

I don't like Smatresk as much as others do.  I don't look at UNLV, his prior stop, as a model for college athletics.  It's good that he hired a consulting firm for the head football coach search (?).  But, I'm not sure, after hearing the new football coach in person, that we got the right person for the job.

Whatever consulting firm he hires for the A.D. search, fine.  But, if the hire ends up being like the football hire, there won't be as much "new energy" as everyone thinks there will be. 

 

 

[CBS DFW's Take On RV's Resignation]

6 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

Yes, that's what I'm afraid of. George is a very influential alumni. I wouldn't just write off his endorsement.

He's not that "very influential."  You're a little keyed up, I understand.  Relax.  Don't blow a gasket if Dickenson is the interim A.D.

[In other high-profile UNT hiring news...]

20 hours ago, EagleMBA said:

At the risk of causing some to foam at the mouth, there isn't a band better at tradition and pageantry than Notre Dame. They are awesome in person and I have many memories of seeing them in my childhood. Youtube shows that their current "look and feel" is the same as it was in the 1950s. Tradition binds generations of students/alumni together. The band always takes the field to "When Irish Backs Go Marching By" and morph into the "Notre Dame Victory March".

Musicianship, however, always goes to the Green Brigade.

For anyone who has never seen it, here is a link to an amateur video of the entrance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjDF6j4bi-E

 

This is great; would love to see something similar here again.  However, seems our fanbase would be too busy streaming the game on ESPN3 to pay attention.

[CBS DFW's Take On RV's Resignation]

15 hours ago, UNT90 said:

I guess you missed George Dunham's love fest on the air promoting Hank for the job?

Busy campaigning for Chico to be head coach? 

?
Yes, I suppose I missed out on it.  What difference does it make?  Are you afraid George Dunham has some sort of undue influence on the BOR?  If not, then relax.

Not sure what your Chico angle is; but, have at it.

[MGB: Key questions for a new AD -- 1. What about the current staff?]

2 hours ago, ghost of smith hall said:

So the only people UNT should hire are people that went to UNT?  I love my university but that seriously limits your talent pool.  Also, I believe that grown ups, you know, people out in the real working world, are professional enough to put their loyalties where there paychecks come from. I doubt very seriously that anyone who graduates from University "A" but goes to work for University "B" spends their time thinking of ways to undermine "B" for the sake of "A".

One other thing. I know changes are coming in the AD...they need to.  But I like how Vito kept the names out of it.  These people are not politicians, or rock stars, or any kind of celebrity...they are working people with families whose lives will be dramatically effected by what happens over the next few weeks.  They have done great work for UNT and they don't always get a lot of support or a lot of pay to do it.  Give them some respect by not putting out these blanket statements like "clean house" and then posting peoples names to go along with it. Not cool.

 

 

 

People's lives be damned.  The pitchfork-wielding halfwits want winning football and basketball programs.  No person's family stability is more valuable than college athletics to them.

[In other high-profile UNT hiring news...]

Spats, capes, jackets...whatever.   Just get us some pageantry!

[CBS DFW's Take On RV's Resignation]

22 hours ago, forevereagle said:

Where is the conspiracy theory coming from? Do you have anything that suggests that it is happening, or is it in your head? You keep saying it, but I don't see anyone else saying anything like that. 

Now that RV is gone, something/someone must fill the conspiracy vacuum.  For 90, apparently, its Hank Dickenson.

[MGB: C-USA announces TV package]

15 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

I think that is the reality of what these Lower G5 schools are trying to continue as long as possible. The Power League Cartel can make up for a lot of shortages with one bodybag game, but the probability of those games going away in the next decade are very real. I think that is when the schools in the Lower G5 will finally align geographically to reduce costs and encourage more fans traveling to closer games.

Agree. 

 

[Conference USA reaches landmark deal with ESPN]

Well, then...we're waaaaaaaay ahead of those dolts in the Big 12 and SEC:  We're the second conference, behind the MAC it seems, to sell out for the sake of what millennials do with their phones and ipads. 

I don't see how we keep Judy MacLeod as our commissioner.  Every P5 conference will be at her door within a week trying to pry her away from us, the shaky Big 12 being the first in line, trying to cash in on its Oklahoma state ties to her.

 

[Conference USA reaches landmark deal with ESPN]

When I contemplate this "landmark deal," I think of sitting at the dinner table.  Normally, there would be a gravy ladle in the gravy to help, as much as possible, transport the gravy to my mashed potatoes.

Now, we are sitting at the dinner table with mashed potatoes on our plate, but there is no gravy ladle.  I ask my wife, "Hon, where is the gravy ladle?"

"Use your spoon!" shrieks she, "It does the same thing!  Damn gravy ladle addicts!"

"Nevermind," says I, "Can you pass the dinner rolls, please?"

"Shut up and eat your sandwich bread!"

"Oh...okay."

To my left sits a very happy ODU, having never supped at the table, excited as a child on Christmas morning, spooning as copious an amount of gravy as his teaspoon will allow. 

Then I realize myself for what I am - an ingrate.  All these years, just expecting a gravy ladle.  From times past, always expecting dinner rolls.  I eye the water that now fills my tea glass. I look over again at ODU, teaspoon running over with gravy, giggling like a child. 

I simply let out the sigh of tired exasperation.  'Someday,' I tell myself - again, 'there will be a miracle.  A real Christmas miracle!'

[Conference USA reaches landmark deal with ESPN]

1 minute ago, DeepGreen said:

So, how many CUSA football games will be broadcast on regular ESPN channels?  You know, like ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN2, etc.  Those are channels that the nation watch.  The idea of streaming our football games via the internet is fine for UNT diehards, but not much for the average "fan of football".  And we're getting $500,000 less?  With this package we should right there with the Sun Belt.

Or am I wrong? 

ESPN has deigned to broadcast the C-USA Championship Game for two more years.  Yeah, that's right:  two more whole years!  Then, we'll be negotiating again for...?   With?

And...they'll broadcast five football games over the next two year.  Yes, five games!   Five games over two years in a conference with 14 or so schools at this point.

 

[MGB: C-USA announces TV package]

Wow.  Less than $500k annual payout on the deal per school.  We could go back to the Oklahoma-Texas-Texas A&M away game scheduling circuit and get paid two to three times that.

Well...at least we're not in the Sun Belt anymore.
 

[Conference USA reaches landmark deal with ESPN]

12 minutes ago, Christopher Walker said:

Oof.

Exactly.

"ESPN3 is available only on computers and streaming devices...."

So, where's the "landmark" part?  Oh, I guess that C-USA is the first conference to admit they don't have enough stroke to get a television deal that would, you know, put their football games on television with ESPN.  That is a landmark. 

And...of course ODU would be excited about it.