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DRC: ESPN fan temperature rankings -- Are UNT fans really distraught?

Brett Vito

By Brett Vito
in Mean Green Football

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Ben Gooding Newbie

Ben Gooding

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Without question, yes. Battered, bruised, and beaten. I think trend patterns play a role into this as does coaching changes and general winning %. It must. We are, without a doubt, among the top 5 psychologically abused fan bases in the country. From the outside it looks like we have the bells and whistles to be great. The geographical location to at least, if nothing else, play in our favor. The academic pedigree to attract. But we keep churning out losing season after losing season. And Brett, only at North Texas do people get giddy about 5-8. And I don't really care what happened the year before. I am just telling you what the casuals and the observers see, and what they see is 5-8 is a losing season. 

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MeanGreenTexan Grand Master

MeanGreenTexan

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9 minutes ago, Brett Vito said:

DRC:

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/mean-green/2017/08/22/unt-fans-distraught-espn-ranks-say

Quote

 

A 5-8 record might not sound like something to get excited about, but it represents a pretty successful season at UNT.

The Mean Green have won five games in a season just three times in the last 12 years.

 


Uh, Brett,  this is EXACTLY why we're distraught!

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Cerebus Experienced

Cerebus

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13 minutes ago, Brett Vito said:

DRC:

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/mean-green/2017/08/22/unt-fans-distraught-espn-ranks-say

We last won a conference championship in 2004.  

In the twelve years since we have gone 41-104 (28%), averaging 3.4 wins a season.  We have won 7 or more games once, lost 7 or more games 11 times.  We have never won double digit games in that span, and have lost double digit games 4 times, missing out 3 more years by only losing 9 times.

 

Of course the fans are distraught at the current state of the program.   Are some of us distraught at the current state, but at the same time hopeful we might be seeing change?  Yes.  

 

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untjim1995 Grand Master

untjim1995

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To me, a better word to describe the entire situation is desperate--as in desperately trying to draw in any kind of sustainable fan interest, desperately seeking to be mentioned in any media besides the DRC (no offense, Vito--its the reality of the situation), desperately trying to connect with TX HS Coaches and parents to give their sons a chance to play here when they have other options at the FBS level, and desperately attempting to catch up lost ground in the arms race that is college football, even at the G5 level.  We are beyond thrilled when we have attendance that is near 20k at Apogee or near 3k at the Super Pit. Those numbers must dramatically increase or we have to recognize that this is the highest we will ever go, which will eventually be lower than the current FBS setup, which is a ticking time bomb for a lot of teams, especially in the lower G5s.

Wren Baker HAS to be better than RV or this thing is just a sinking ship that is taking on more money. Seth Littrell and Grant McCasland HAVE to be better than their predecessor(s) or we are staring at the real possibility of having paid out more than we ever have before for no visible reasons. That sense of desperation amongst the fans that are here and those that are coaching/leading here is very real. 

What we don't know, and nobody knows for sure, is if winning here would change things here in the way that we on gmg.com want it to change, from an increase in fan and media attention, to just a higher place on the college football totem pole. It didn't when Fry was here and it didn't when Dickey ran thru the SBC. Maybe the third time is a charm for football, but in the previous 40 years, attendance and interest has always been the issue, even during the very few periods of winning we have seen in football or basketball.

If that cannot be fixed and we do get dropped down again a level for football, distraught will then be a good word to describe the fans that did stick around over the last few decades since we moved back up to 1-A in 1995.

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letsgiveacheer Rising Star

letsgiveacheer

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20 minutes ago, Salsa_Verde said:

Optimism seems to be the only thing the fan base can hang it's hat on right now  for about the past 40 years. To say that I'm hoping for the best this coming season would be a huge understatement. 

 

Edited by letsgiveacheer
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RBP79 Veteran

RBP79

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Forget NTSU years, I been around since the sixties and up until we returned to the big time North Texas was a commuter school. Not many people would come up from DFW for football games. Start with DD, I thought we were finally on our way.....stupid me! Then it was  countless years of WTF....why do I buy season tickets. Throw in one good year then the bottom falls out. Yes BV we are distraught! A 5-8 team doesn't move my peg too far. Show me continued improvement SL and perhaps this attitude in the fan base will change.

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Ben Gooding Newbie

Ben Gooding

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2 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

B.S. article/assumption because I can promise you that neither offer of this assessment contacted any fans of North Texas.

Do they really need to? Like really? We're a beat up, disgruntled fam base. Bill Parcels said it best, "You are what your record says you are." If our our record doesn't scream distraught, I'm not sure what will. 

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UNTLifer Grand Master

UNTLifer

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I would say that the majority of our fan base is excited about the direction of the program.  I am not distraught.  I would be if I thought we were headed in the right direction.  I would label our fan base as optimistic at this point.  A year ago distraught might have been the correct label.

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Mad Hatter Contributor

Mad Hatter

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People want to win against teams they've heard of.  That's why the SBC years didn't move the needle very much.  We'd beat up on teams no one had heard of and then get steam rolled by the teams where all their friends and family had gone to school.  So painful.  Then all the teams no one had heard of started beating us too.  Ugh. 

Time to go hit the bottle.

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Salsa_Verde Mentor

Salsa_Verde

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9 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

People want to win against teams they've heard of.  That's why the SBC years didn't move the needle very much.  We'd beat up on teams no one had heard of and then get steam rolled by the teams where all their friends and family had gone to school.  So painful.  Then all the teams no one had heard of started beating us too.  Ugh. 

Time to go hit the bottle.

Yes, exactly! The SBC years were great but let's keep things in perspective. We went 1-3 in those bowl games.

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