vpackrats

The trick is to not wait on the Athletic Department to make promotional opportunities for kids & just do it yourself. I'm coach of a Little League baseball team in Carrollton & we've got the end of the season team party thing down to a science. Spring ball = Rangers game. Fall ball = last UNT football game (3rd year in a row coming up). Remember, when you bring 20 or more, you get a discount on tickets. There's your incentive. Kids love the tailgating & the proximity of being close to the field!

Bowl info straight from College Football News.com. Hey, I'll take it!!! Wed, Jan 1 12 pm ESPNU Heart of Dallas Bowl Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX Big Ten No. 7 vs. C-USA Projected Matchup: Iowa vs. North Texas

Love me some Section 208!!

I was at that game & I can't believe this is the 25th year anniversary of that game (geez, I'm old now). Anyway, there was a big caravan of cars heading back to Denton on I-35 after the game & one of our fellow students' cars said it best with some shoe polish on the window: "North Texas 24 Texas 13 Referees 14". Such a con job ... no way they could get away with it now though (thanks instant replay!).

Same thing here. Anyone looking to sell their parking pass for this week's game if you're not going? Will buy from you. I am doing our end-of-the-year Little League team party and the more parents & kids I can get over to our usual tailgate spot in the grass, the better!

Good article by Brett. I don't mind playing one money game a year. Not two and definitely not three. But one game against a Top 20 school is fine by me. It's cool to experience campuses such as LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Clemson, etc when you normally might not get to experience a historic school like that. Next year we have Georgia and 2015 we have Iowa. Two more places I am looking forward to visit for the 1st time. It's a great way to see the country & meet new people. I can tell you the LSU folks were about the friendliest people we've seen at any of our trips. We got stopped at about 5-7 tailgates while walking to see Mike the Tiger's enclosure by people giving us free beer, shots & telling us to eat some of their food. And, they'd be "offended" if we didn't. Great fans! Anyway, back to the point. Sign me up for one national power per year...

Man, Adler's topic thread is so on the money it is crazy! Each year I organize a guy's road trip for UNT's biggest road trip of the year & the last 10 years we've been to a lot of cool places (Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma & Texas) but we got Ike'd and Katrina'd the 2 times we played LSU and called off those trips. For this year, when organizing the trip a month ago, I warned the group to likely expect a hurricane the week before the game based on prior history ... and sure enough, here we go! Truly crazy. Who needs the Weather Channel when you can just guarantee a hurricane when LSU plays North Texas?? lol

If anyone is planning on NOT using their red/blue parking passes for the Western Kentucky game, I am offering to buy them from you. I've organized an end-of-the-season team party for the fall Little League team I am coaching and will be bringing about 20 parents & kids to that game. For most of them it will be their first time to go to a North Texas game and the more cars we can get in for tailgating the easier it will be. Start 'em young & hopefully they get hooked down the road!

Don't worry guys! Great news! I wasn't a math major but I can state with near certainty that I can wash out Rick's not being able to attend the game. I wasn't going to make the game previously (that's minus 2 for those of you scoring at home) but now thanks to the switch I am going (plus two). So, that cancels Rick's -2, bringing us back to a net loss of no change in attendance. Whew! RV should be glad to hear that. Seriously, I think it's the right call. Guess what? Crap like this happens all the time. EX: If you were a Brewers fan & had tickets for Game 6 on Sunday your game started at 3:05 P.M. if the Rangers lost and 7:05 P.M. if the Rangers won. That's a 4 hour time change & a decision being made on the game time < 24 hours. And we're moaning about a 2 hour time change made 5 days in advance? Geez. BTW, this decision was likely made by RV with hard-core fans in mind too. I've been a season ticket holder for 7 years now & graduated 18 years ago (1993). But I've also been a die-hard Ranger fan since I was like 10 (1980). And guess what? Like it or not, there are a lot of North Texas / Ranger fans like me who if they had to decide between a World Series Game 3 and North Texas - ULM, they are gonna go with baseball. Doesn't make them a "bad fan" one way or the other. Anyway, now I can do both. Thanks RV!

Actually, it's not the first game. It's game 3. And, it's a big one! GO RANGERS!!!

First off, let me say I was in favor of Canales getting the job based on the effort put forth over these past 5 games. It was like watching a different team!! And, it made the season actually enjoyable again. That being said, a lot of people think like NM Green when it comes to McCarney, so I feel a rebuttal is in order. My wife went to Iowa State so I have had the opportunity to follow that program a lot more closely than normally would be the case. They were HORRIBLE prior to McCarney. In fact, they pretty much were the laughingstock of the Big XII. I never thought I would see the day when they were THISCLOSE to being in a Big XII championship game. That's right, little ol' Iowa State was a shanked FG away in getting there over the likes of Nebraska, Missouri, etc. After having seen their on-field product previously, that kind of end result was about as impressive as Al Gore inventing the internet in my opinion. When Iowa State ended up canning McCarney because he didn't seem like he could "take them to the next level", I remember telling my wife that Iowa State is in trouble and probably headed for similiar fate as Texas A & M. Namely, A&M got greedy because all Slocum was doing was taking them to Cotton Bowls and other pretty good bowl games but that wasn't enough for Aggie alummni -- they wanted National Championships. Up until this year, they've been pretty much forced to wander in the wilderness with some pretty mediocre football & many people now wished they hadn't run Slocum off after all. It's the ol' "you don't know what you have till it's gone" problem. That is pretty much what happened to Iowa State. McCarney was 18-18 his past 3 years at ISU, they run him off & the "great" Gene Chizik promptly went 5-19 with most of the same players. If McCarney was such a dud, why didn't Chizik kick more ass up there? The moral of the story is let's just wait & see how things unfold. I think McCarney will be a solid coach & you will like the results.

Well, to start off with, I am NOWHERE near as connected as Plumm. However, I do want to share some scoop I heard recently. Namely, my best friend's sister's boyfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl that saw Franchione talking about interviewing for the UNT job at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

Me and two other friends are going. Leaving Thursday night & flying to Columbia, SC -- heading back on Sunday. Should be a great road trip!!

Yeah, ummmm, I'm not really putting much stock in RealTimeRPI's match-ups right now. They have Weber St as the 14th seed playing Wisconsin. Somebody needs to tell the website that Weber St lost to Montana and won't be playing in the tourney come Sunday.

110% agree. George is awesome for promoting the university!!!

Hi, I'm new to the basketball board. Great game tonight!!! But that's not what I'm here to talk about. Can someone direct me to the thread regarding the Sun Belt tiebreaker system? I want to bitch about us getting screwed out of the #1 seed. If someone can tell me where that is, that'd be great. Thanks!

Quick question about the PA announcer ... I've been wondering, do we have a new PA announcer at the basketball games this year? It just all seems a bit more like "Humble" Billy Hayes at UNT games now & I don't remember it being that way before. The less our guy can sound like a Mavs "screamer", the better. If it's the same guy, I guess I am just getting old. lol

Yeah, I just got that in the mailbox. What a hatchet job on Dodge & what bad publicity for our university. It talks about how Todd Dodge "is a revolutionary" and how Riley "turned down a scholarship offer from Texas to play for his old man in Denton". Actually, it's a really good article on the QB's in Texas and worth reading about. Just couldn't resist taking a shot ....

I've been sitting on the sidelines watching the various posts but I figure it's about time to put in my .02 cents. Yes, I know it's been a tough season. But, yes, I fully support what Todd Dodge is building here & hope he gets some more time to finish what he started. In our current "what have you done for me lately" society, it'd be nice to see patience get rewarded even though it may take longer than we want. In my humble opinion, it'd be nice to see all D-I coaches get at least 4 years to implement their plan (barring some ethics issues, recruiting violations, etc). Think about this -- if Dodge goes, our most highly regarded recruit in years? Gone. You know who I'm talking about ... Mack Brown would have him back in a second. Dunbar? Who knows ... he may be gone too. That means we'd be breaking in a 3rd QB in 4 years. Fun. But more importantly, think about our recent past. Everyone was clamoring for Dickey to be fired for quite some time (during the initial "We need Dickey fired" campaign) but he got that 4th year. What did he do? Well, as we all know he led us to 4 Sun Belt Conference championships and had a record 26 game winning streak in the conference. Unless someone has been hitting the crack pipe too much, I think we can all agree that's a pretty damn good run. Wikapedia even notes that during this four year period the "Mean Green became only the 11th program in college football history to win four consecutive conference titles". Not bad! OK, what's my point? I believe that had Dickey been canned after that 3rd year you wouldn't have seen 4 straight Sun Belt Championships -- the new guy would have had to implement his own system, bring in different guys, etc & it would have been a rebuilding process. The wait was worth it. The same should go for Dodge. If he can't make it in Year 4 I have no problems letting him go, but he should at least be given the same chance that Darrell Dickey received. He can now sell the new stadium, our players will be one year older & wiser, etc. I think it will be a good thing. Recycling coaches every few years will get us nowhere but at the bottom of the Belt.

Man, it's a good thing you are not having to support a school in the Big 10. You'd never make it. Their kickoffs are generally at noon or 11 AM and that is the whole year long. If you can't get organized for anything less than a 5 PM start, those games over & done with hours before that time period.

For my .02 cents, Denton supports the high schools more than the university. No question about it. For example, back in 1989 I played on the baseball team & we had our games at good ol' Mack Park. Now THAT was a college baseball stadium lemme tell ya. Anyway, we wanted to spruce up the place & approached the city to roof up the dugouts to make them look more presentable. Y'know, put a wood roof on the dugouts & paint them green & white. The city had no problem with the improvements -- as long as we painted the dugouts purple & gold (Denton H.S. colors). So, that was the end of that idea & we just kept playing with chain link dugouts. Basically, I learned as a sophomore that you can't fight city hall.

When the North Texas - SMU series starts up, let's call it "The Battle for the Silver Shopping Cart". 'Nuff said. Playing for a silver shopping cart trophy is just quirky enough to catch on. Heck, if schools can play for an Iron Skillet, a Telephone Trophy and The Old Brass Spittoon, why not a shopping cart?

Well, I can do without the obscenties (thankfully I did NOT bring my kids to the game tonight). However, even though I have season tickets, your last sentence is EXACTLY why I sit on the other side with the students. I'd rather be loud & stand than be around people sitting on their hands all game & getting mad because people are standing. Better atmosphere on the student side!

Did any of you see the live shot on the news of the HazMat crews in their white suits disinfecting the outside & inside of the ENTIRE Canyon Creek Elementary School because one kid (1) may have contracted the disease? I haven't seen that much overreaction since Mrs. Smails made Bushwood Country Club drain the entire pool due to a "doodie" floating in the water. I think this is the end of the world!!

Good god man... All your comments about the PA announcer are on target. I am watching the replay on Channel 21 right now & that guy is PITIFUL!! It is like hearing Humble Billy Hayes on steroids. Humble is brutal on the ears but he sounds like Bob Shepard compared to this ass-clown. If I was a Western Kentucky fan, I don't think I'd be able to take it for more than one game. Yeesh.