aztecskin

see? it's real easy to say goodbye

I boosted greg's audio. that was weird.

https://meangreennation.com/podcast/202-nit-champs/ Little post-game pod. CHAMPS!

Yeah it was fine. They played well enough. Like I wrote on the post, however, the vibes are off. They don't care! I don't expect them to, but it is evident once you look. Now, It isn't a big deal and I'm sure there were other considerations. I think they used some budget to stay at the Vdara -- and give the guys a first class trip. If that means skimping on the band a little? Well, I don't hate the choice they made. Mostly I just wonder if they had put out a donation link to quickly get the trip funded if the greater GMG presence would have made it happen.

Those were the same dancers you have seen all season. Yes, I wrote a little bit about this in the MGN NIT Journal -- https://meangreennation.com/nit-journal-wins-blackjack-food/ " It was all I went early to grab some pictures and check the set up. The floor felt bouncy, but that’s just me and I haven’t stepped on a ton of courts all season. It was fine. The NIT folks do a great job, and I believe the main people running the stuff are from the Las Vegas Convention Visitor’s Bureau. Originally when I saw the set up I wondered if there were enough seats. I suppose I was thinking the drawing power of the NIT Last Four was greater than originally thought. Wisconsin brought a great crowd, but NT/UVU/UAB only had an okay crowd. Also we couldn’t bring the band so instead we had some session guys (UNLV’s band) play, wearing green shirts. I wonder how common of a practice this is. There was something off about it. The music was fine, but the timing and enthusiasm wasn’t there. Those people don’t care about the buckets and haven’t watched like, Aaron Scott all season. They can’t possible care at the same level. One time they played a song — Zombie Nation’s “oh oh oh oh” song — and like, the 103 section was not into it. I saw the music director like, looking over at us to see if we were digging it. I was wondering if the hoops band ever plays that? I don’t know that they do. I know it is a thing, though, in college. Just weird vibes." I was told it was the UNLV band. I also confirmed the guy that was leading it is the UNLV leader. It's very lame but I'm glad we paid for A band to be there.

look we'll join the big 12. its fine. We'll play (sigh) Oklahoma State and (ugh) Texas Tech, and (oof) Baylor and deal with the fall out. It's our cross to bear.

https://meangreennation.com/podcast/201-win-north-texas-56-wisconsin-54/ I got up and recorded. Listen to my morning voice.

Hung out with my friend. The only thing that was silly was me locking myself out of the room this morning. Put the room service trey out and the door was heavier than I thought. Fortunately the cleaning person was across the hall. Saved me a barefoot walk to the front desk with no id and no phone.

I have arrived. Ready to party

yeah the question was "Why couldn't Gumms go to UNT for NIL money" my answer was clarifying that LTTC is the place to go, not NT, as NT cannot do NIL by law. my point about OU's NIL collectives having more cash remains. IMHO OU's collectives have more cash than does LTTC.

I mean I don’t know how to get current students to love basketball. Even telling them the game is free and all that isn’t going to bring students in if they don’t care about hoop. and yeah weeknight games are for Denton people and weekends are for DFW people + kids. I bought season tix to SLU and they had 50% attendance for weeknights (and would email me discounted additional ticket offers) and had 70%+ for weekends (including friday nights). To me the marketing has to be to basketball fans in Denton and immediate surrounding area without kids to boost weeknight games. The rest is for the wider metro because it’s easier to get there and spend a day. It’s been a while since i’ve been in Denton for a game but another thing killing the vibe is that there isn’t much ti do immediately after but drive home. Going to a game isn’t really much of a night out. Might be losing some folks if you can’t get a food truck out there pre game or something. Those are gimmicks though and just serve to make it easier for people already thinking about going.

Yep it’s the Vdara. Confirmed not only by Hank but also a team family member.

I don't think fans are owed much. I think it is so trivial to do that -- if I let myself think about it -- makes me annoyed. Like, he could have called up his agent and had him ghost write up something. Then put it out. It's bad PR not to. Like, he would look like a guy who knew how to handle public relations. By not doing it, he continues the little narrative that he is a bad public speaker, and wouldn't do well in a place that requires a lot of media duties. Again, not necessary, but silly on his part.

yeah I thought Tylor was great. You can tell he is asked to do a ton of these haha

The normal, Sunday podcast is up and ready for you. Greg was patient as I helped my neighbor during the normal recording session. https://meangreennation.com/podcast/200-nit-preview/

https://meangreennation.com/podcast/199-hank-dickenson/ Yes, this is the second podcast of the day. Yes we recorded during halftime of FAU/KST. We talked NIT, FAU, Grant McCasland and more

https://meangreennation.com/podcast/198-tylor-perry/ Post practice chat with Tylor Perry about practice, his last two classes, the details, NIT, frustration and more

I’m staying there. I get there monday.

he would have had to approach the LTTC. UNT cannot do an NIL deal. I dont know that it would have mattered, considering that LTTC doesn't have as much money as OU's.

I’ll be there monday night. Y’all let me know maybe we can meet up and have a drink

I mostly didn't care but with every passing day I get a little more annoyed that he didn't.

let's form up a coaching search firm to get in on this sweet money-wasting thing. It is a glorified go-between and I have plenty of experience from middle school: "hey my buddy thinks you're cute and wants me to give you this note"

Sure, about SL I meant that I'm sure Seth Littrell saw his friend Dykes in the NC game and thought "I want to coach at that level" and he sort of missed his opportunity by staying at North Texas when could have left. Now he's an analyst -- not a bad gig all things considered -- but a long way off from being Sark or Strong or Butch Jones (at Arkansas State, so he fell backward). Ultimately it is about performing, but I think they all think they can perform at the highest level. I think NT offers a lot for coaches, and with the right investment -- could even compete at the highest level. But NT is far away from Houston when it comes to support (financially, fandom, facilities, etc). It is far away from Memphis in terms of competing consistently. That's a lot to make up for, and I see Texas Tech as the logical choice for him. I get what you are saying about DFW being home but I disagree that choosing Lubbock is NOT choosing family. His wife went to school there. It is an 1.5 hour flight (commercial) to Dallas and I'm sure Womble or someone would let him use the plane every now and again as part of a sweetener. So I disagree that it is all about beefing up the compensation a bit.