drex

Given the support that Johnny has gotten from the athletic administration, I would not blame him for going. As I have stated before, this administration has determined that football is the darling of the ball and has little attention left for basketball.

We need: 1. Major promotions for basketball home games, like there is for football. As an example, promoting pre-game events such as parties, bands, etc. 2. There is heat put on the women's program to get out their constituency for their games. There are a lot of women who would help Tina. For those of you old enough to remember the Athletic Top 20 put 7,000 in the SuperPit for 'Pack the Pit Night' when the team had only won 3 games thus far. In other words, basketball needs some attention.

The way Tim Jankovich was treated at North Texas is one of the darkest chapters of our athletic history. I am so happy for his rise from the ashes.

It's a lazy day today, so I was thinking what you all thought of changing the Lady Eagles to the Mean Greenettes? Just curious.

Probably the greatest shot was by guard Ron Miller in 1967 which beat Drake on national television. At that time the Missouri Valley had a game of the week and was equivalent to today's ACC or Big XII.

This presents SMU with a perfect opportunity to add to the folly by bringing back Dave Bliss.

In about a year we will be THE BIG BOYS.

I feel sorry for anyone who missed seeing ShoJo go coast to coast twice. He was really sweeping the defensive boards, too. I am not a youngster anymore, so I restrained myself from punching out the old broad from LLLLLLLL who was screaming when we shot free throws. It could have gotten ugly since there were about 25 of them.

I am as excited as all of you folks about the success of the football team. However, is football sucking the life out of basketball? The lack of attention given to basketball worries me. There are no promotions for basketball, the Mean Green donors are stuck in an oversized broom closet in the coliseum for basketball games, there seems to be no real immediacy as to having cheerleaders at the games, half time entertainment is sparce. Some universities are unable to maintain a good basketball program if football is king, and other schools are high profile in basketball while football suffers. Can we strike a balance? Do we care to do so? Just wondered what y'all think.

How can the crowd take three cheerleaders seriously. If the cheerleaders are incapable of getting the crowd into it, they are not cheerleaders. When I see the entire squad at a game acting like they are organized and know what they are doing, I'll take them seriously. NCA or UCA Nationals are nice, but there is too much emphasis on gymnastics and precious little on crowd participation at games. If the majority of the squad cannot make a game none of the cheerleaders should be out there. It looks bush league. If the cheerleaders can't make the commitment to be at a majority of the games then they have no business being on the squad no matter how well they can do basket tosses, liberties, paper dolls, etc.

It is obvious that basketball is the red headed step child of the athletic department. There are so many things that need to be done to promote basketball, but probably won't be done. Remember, the AD is a former football coach. Enough said.

Sign suggestion for MeanGreenQueen. 'Want to guard Shojo? Better wear a helmet.'

At the risk of being simplistic, if the athletic department and the administration would put as much effort into the promotion of basketball that they do football the results would be astounding. We gear up for football and then really let both the basketball teams down as we prepare for another football season. There are many many people running around the athletic dept. not doing much. Put a fire under them and make them perform for the basketball season just as we expect them to perform for the football season.

Iron Man 4 is correct. The atmosphere at the SuperPit can be markedly bumped up. The athletic administration is either incapable or unwilling to make this happen. The athletic department cannot control fan reaction, but they can sure do some things to orchestrate a better college game atmosphere. We play in a major market and have halftimes that many remote junior colleges would reject. In past years we have had guest appearances by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, the Bud Lite Daredevils and the Kilgore Rangerettes. With all the talent on campus, why not spotlight musical groups or dancers from around campus? Also, there are not 14 Greeks who know when games are. Every organization on campus should have an athletic dept. representative who tells their organization the upcoming games for the week. When Jimmy Gales was coach and the team had won only about 5 games, we had over 5,000 in the SuperPit for a pack the pit night that was almost totally done with student participation. It can be done.

I heard Roger Emrich's report of the game on KRLD this morning and he referred to Shawnson as SHOJO...guess the name is catching on.

If you have trouble saying Shawson Johnson, just call him what a friend of mine calls him....SHOJO!

Dickey is apparently unhappy here. There are a number of us who will glad to see him go. No one should be unhappy. As you know, it is always a perfect world and he deserves to be happy.

Point of information. The SuperPit was a solid sell out once. It was the SMU game in the late 70's. Blakeley was the coach and Weasel Johnson was the point guard. SMU had announced just prior to that game that they would not renew the contract to play North Texas and the student section had a huge sign saying 'Paint Sonny Yellow'. Back to the crowd, it was so crowded that the fire marshal refused to let anyone else in. Late arrivals to the game had to park in the parking lot on the press box side of the football stadium. North Texas won the game in a walk.

Sorry, it's too early in the morning. I got the name wrong...it's the Denton County Hamburger places that do not support NT.

If you are truly Mean Green, don't go to the Texas Hamburgers. They do not support North Texas and the owner is a typical Dentonite, in that he takes but does not give to the North Texas scene. The Texas Hamburger Factory in Lewisville is owned by North Texas Exes who do contribute to the Mean Green. They were $1,000 donors at one time. Bon apitite.

If you go to the SMWho game, sneak in...don't let them count you in the attendance figures. I think they play at night this week without the lights on...that way it's harder to see their ineptness.

I hate to see Rodney Belcher dragged into this mess. As you know, Rodney played here under Tommy Newman. He seems like a fine young man. I think that if he is guilty of the things being said about him that it is a classic example of a good man under the influence of Dave Bliss, who always has had a penchant for renegade players. Hope Rodney comes out of this OK, but you know that Bliss will let the assistants take the fall if he can.