letsgiveacheer

Yesterday, I was delighted to learn that there will be a McAdow era alumni band (1945 to 1975) participating in the homecoming game on Oct 27. As the plans exist now, there will be some sort of social event on Oct 26, a bit of practice and then a performance during the pre game at homecoming. If nothing else, we will try to "introduce" the original fight song. The cost will be about $50 per person. We will also be raising money for the McAdow Scholarship Fund at the same time. I know there are a few other old timers on this board, so if you are interested, please send me a PM and I will get you in touch with the organizing committee. Bring your Geritol!

"On another note, we really need to make some more creative merchadise. T-shirts with sayings besides the University of North Texas (yes, I know we have to advertise)... maybe an SMU shirt that says "Trust fund babies"... something relating to their "privleged" status. (Even though Dallas is ooooo so much more pretentious then Denton) I dont know just more sayings on shirts" Those can be fun! There is a great shirt around Chapel Hill which says: The Good (UNC) The Bad (NC State) The Ugly (Duke)

"Hi Tom. There was a different version. I am not aware of when it changed, as our records don't show the date. " Thanks, Tom for contacting him about this. As I know most of the details about the change, I will contact him about this. Maurice McAdow used to enjoy arranging the fight song and Alma Mater for men's quartet. The vocalists were always band members, not voice majors. I have mentioned this before, but I have a "green" record with favorites from the marching band, recorded in the early sixties, I think. It has all the fanfares, marches ( McAdow liked to play circus marches as well) that the old timers will remember.

It would seem that not much has changed over the years. While I was there in the early 70's the dorms were full (three to a room at West Hall!), but when Friday drew near, the campus went empty. In fact, I recall all the big traditions, like movies in the old English building, being on Wednesday evenings rather than on a weekend. We have plenty of company and a commuter school designation is hardly unique. In fact, within the public universities, I would suspect that only two or three schools in each state would not be commuter schools. In Texas, those schools would be UT and A&M, here in NC, they would be UNC and NC State. Virginia has more, (UVa, Va Tech, William and Mary, and VMI) but that is a unique situation. This is something that is difficult to fight. I have no evidence to support this, but I have long felt that the way to gain loyalty and support from students is to restrict enrollment rather than grow. Make it tougher to get into North Texas. Make the high school sophomore say, "if I want to get into North Texas, I need to get 1250 on my SATs, take AP classes," etc. Then when they get here, it will mean something and their experience will be all the more significant.

The original fight song contains an excellent counter melody in the bass line and indeed is much more interesting musically. Not to get into too many musical terms, but a half step was added in the intro in the '76 version which still grates on my nerves. Then, we have the drums droning on and on as it is played today. To add a bit of embarrassment to the entire issue, almost the entire first two lines of our fight song are rhythmically identical to the Notre Dame fight song. Only the last two measures are different.

While we are speaking about traditions, it would sure be great to bring back the fight song as originally written. The current version (circa 1976 forward) needs to be retired.

This is indeed inappropriate especially when we have servicemen dying everyday. As a retired Air Force officer, I have been a bit surprised at all the suggestions to honor Staubach, etc. As far as I know, he never attended North Texas. Let me suggest we honor the North Texas veterans on Veterans Day. The AFROTC unit at North Texas has commissioned many hundreds of officers who have served our country. Then there are those who served before coming to NT and those who served afterwards. With a bit of effort, I suspect we could get the word out easily.

I remember watching the game on an ESPN replay at 3am in the morning as I was getting ready to fly to Saudi Arabia. There were only a handful of uniformed Americans there at that time and I would have to shoot you if I told you what we did. It was a good came and we done good.

Isn't that the truth!!

Don't laugh...here is where I teach; home of the Battling Bishops: http://annex.ncwc.edu/athletics/sportsinfo.../logo_index.htm Talk about logo nightmares!

Wasn't New Mexico State an existing member of the Valley also? Although there are a million versions about this, I recall their basketball coach giving the Pit its name in the late 60s.

This talk of new spirit groups makes me wonder what happened to the Green Jackets? Are they still around?

I don't know about North Texas football being discussed in the White House, but I seem to remember that Lyndon Johnson invited the One 0' Clock Lab band to the White House in the 60s.

You are assuming that just because someone wears or has worn the uniform, they are supporters of the academy teams. I can assure you that after spending 20 years in the Air Force, my interest in Air Force Academy sports is zip. North Texas is my team!! Especially after mandatory deductions from each officers' pay to support AFA athletic programs in the old days!

Goodness..everytime someone asks this question, I feel old! BYU in 1971. It was a home game for us in the Cotton Bowl! We were suposed to play in Texas Stadium, but it was not ready yet. I recall we lost, but every Mormon in Texas was there, rooting for BYU!!

...director of a regional opera company.

As I don't have a computer at home, about the only way to follow our game's score is through ESPN's ticker. On Saturday night, they listed us as the winner: 16-10. I want to bed thinking we had won, only to learn diferently this morning. Did anyone else notice this or am I loosing my mind?

Growing up in Virginia, there were a number of public women's schools (Madison, Radford, Longwood, etc.) and men's schools (UVA, VMI etc.) Madison College was one of the all girls school and then reevented themselves as James Madison University. It seems to be a good school in a beautiful part of the state. As an aside, Pat Rooney was Mr. McAdow's grad assistant in the early 70s and then went on to build what is probably the best college music program in Va. at Madison.

I was at North Texas from 71-75 during the transition from the Pit to the Super Pit. Many people thought the new facility would bring North Texas basketball to a national level (just like some think a new FB stadium would do the same). It was designed in the "brutalist" style of architecture that was popular at the time (look at the library and history building). The most peculiar thing I remember were the burnt orange seats, just like UT! Earth tones were popular in those days! But no one (that I can recall) even questioned why the seats were orange rather than green. I was the conductor of the "pep band" as it was called and remember the first game at the Super Pit as the most boring game I had ever been to at North Texas. I think we lost, but cannot remember who we played. We were out of the Valley and played an independent schedule. Gradually, the crowd lost interest and the attendence numbers went way down. The special atmosphere of the Pit was gone. I also seem to recall the opening ceremony at the Super Pit. After the speeches, lead by then president "Jitter" Nolan, Deborah Carr (I think) came and sang accompianed by the NTSU Symphony. Famous faculty members like Eugene Conley who had a great career at the Metropolitan Opera, also sang. There is no pride of authorship here so if anyone has any corrections or additions, please jump in!

Applied to a group of nationally known music schools and told myself I would attend the one who gave me the best scholarship. I choose North Texas over others. Quite a shock coming from Va to Texas!

I had looked forward to going, but unfortunately will not be able to attend. One minor correction to the band director statement. Their band director is not from UNT, but several of the music faculty are, including the chairman of the nusic department, Royce Lumpkin. When I was in school, Royce conducted the second and third bands, then called the campus bands. Maurice McAdow conducted the top band which was called the concert band. Perhaps that is what you were recalling?

What's wrong with ArkStFan ?

Since she is coming from UNC, I wonder if ex-UNC coach John Bunting will be a candidate?

"The UNT System will present the proposal for a new College of Law in Austin" Perhaps we should first propose a new College of English in Denton. Do we have any proofreaders on campus?

And to think we used to "beat em like a step child" (as they say here in NC) when Corso was their coach! They are a very impressive team with a great fan base. There are probably many lessons we can learn from them. For me, I'm off to see the Battling Bishops of NC Wesleyan take on Ferrum. It's the best I can do tomorrow.