Question for those predicting less than 6 wins

[Mo Green]

I didn't join in the W-L competition,l but I would like to say something about any fan that has seen most of our men's games under the last two coaches. If you were saying its great ball how come a really large number of people tailgating OUTSIDE OF THE STADIUM won't even come into the stadium to see the game? Should not some of you "get those tailgaters into the stadium" rather than throwing rocks at the people that are supporting football inside the stadium. Just saying...

Edited August 25, 2013 by Mo Green

[SilverEagle]

You know...you make a great point about both Emmitt and FFR...those guys are definitely full throttle at the games. The Mean Green could use more fans in the seats and definitely more like these two guys.

The "wait and see before I personally invest" thing is another topic into itself.

I disagree. I think this is the perfect forum/thread to discuss this.

I'll start off by saying that I never predict how the team is going to finish. As a fan of North Texas (or any team for that matter) I find the prediction thing a bit defeatist. If anyone ever pins me down about how many games I expect us to win, my answer will always be "all of them". If the fan base doesn't have a "I didn't come here to lose" attitude, then why should the football team?

One of the biggest disappointments for me about this program has been a fan base that has historically been, at best, a bit stand-offish about school spirit. It's almost as if school spirit was "not cool" (and that really was the case in the late 60's early 70's) and only when a noticeable contingent of fans start getting rowdy (led by the Emmitts and FFR's of that generation) does everyone else join in......but not always.

Our "I'll-show-up-and-get-rowdy-if-you-will....maybe" attitude has almost become institutionalized and (sadly) the only tradition that we consistently have here.

I don't know how other people's High School experiences were (spirit wise), but I went to a school that expected rowdiness on the part of the students AND the adults that showed up for games. We had cheerleaders that relentlessly worked the crowd, and when they did a cheer, they would announce what it was, and that they expected EVERYONE to participate to the fullest.....and we did. One year our band was playing some song at a crucial time in the game, when we should have been playing the fight song.....which totally pissed of the cheerleaders. Our band director refused to stop in mid-song to fire up the fight song. I was just sure that one of the cheerleaders (her name was Molly) was going to climb into the stands and whip our band director's ass.....and she probably could/would have had she not been restrained.

Some of you may remember Dan Clark, who ran for Sheriff a couple of times in Denton County. Among other things he was involved with, he was with officiating HS football games. I dated his cousin, and I had an occasion to visit with him one day (late 60's early 70's). Dan had just officiated the Decatur/Bowie football game, and he made a point to tell me that on more than one occasion during that game, he almost threw a flag on the Decatur fans for unsportsmanlike conduct. He said, "you better tell those fans to tone it down". I just smiled and said "Dan, you used to play football at Decatur, have you forgotten so soon how "exuberant " they can be?. And throwing a flag on them would only make it worse."

THIS is the culture I came from. So imagine the culture shock, for both me AND the long time NT alumni, when I started regularly sitting with the "tennis applause" crowd whilst acting like a Decatur fan. They used to look at me like I was crazy, and I would look at them as if they were a bunch of people that had gotten lost on their way to a funeral service rather than intentionally going to a football game. I don't carry on like that anymore, or not as much, but that has more to do with age, rather than being taken over by the "tennis applause walking dead".

So, this is a long harangue to say that I don't make predictions about our W/L record. But I do have expectations.

I expect my football team to show up with their "I didn't come here to lose" t-shirts under their uni's.

I expect our cheer staff to actually cheer and loudly encourage the crowd,(on BOTH SIDES of the stadium), to participate in the game rather than do gymnastics and perfunctory pom-pom shaking.

I expect the Band to take total responsibility for promoting school spirit starting in the parking lot, all the way into and at the stadium. And to celebrate this great school with performances that have lots of "showmanship".....instead of just showing up and playing their requisite song list.

Edited August 25, 2013 by SilverEagle

[FirefightnRick]

I sort of always have this feeling at games that our fans are in "wait and see before I personally invest" mode. Meaning, it seems they kind of wait for the team to do something before they start making a lot of noise.

I'll give two examples because I've met them before. Emmitt and FFR. Those guys are often critical on GMG.com about things, but I know at games they always support full throttle because I've seen it.

Ok wait... I'm confused. I reserved 3 tickets to a game in Athens two weeks ago. So am I part of the crowd that waits to see before I invest,...or am I part of the invested?

Rick

[Mean Green 93-98]

Good stuff, Silver. I will never forget that first year I got season tickets at Fouts ('96, I think) and sat over on the alumni side. I had never seen such passive fans in my life. It's a lot better now, but could still stand improvement.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Phil Steele's football magazine and his staff put 7 North Texas football players on their CUSA all conference teams this summer so we have some semblance of recognized talent from the experts. Of course, I think we have much more talent than just those 7, too. Then just out this week was another fairly accurate college football predictor of our school's football program even has us winning 9 games this Fall, so who the heck knows?

Best thing about this upcoming Saturday night at Apogee is that we will be able to put many of our own personal questions to rest (we hope) and probably have a few new ones take their place.

So sit back in those comfortable Apogee Stadium seats with the superb sight lines, maybe even be a bit more open-minded than usual about our team's prospects but moreso....just enjoy the heck out of all the entertainment aspects of what college football can really be. It's not supposed to be like a trip to the dentist.

GMG!

Edited August 25, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[MeanGreenHoops]

Ok wait... I'm confused. I reserved 3 tickets to a game in Athens two weeks ago. So am I part of the crowd that waits to see before I invest,...or am I part of the invested?

Rick

Haha, definitely one of the invested. That example was for my question at the end of the post, which you didn't include in the quote. Makes it seem like i was saying you weren't without the rest of my post. I suppose it should have been written differently, sorry for the confusion.

[Chief Rising Eagle]

I expect my football team to show up with their "I didn't come here to lose" t-shirts under their uni's.

I expect our cheer staff to actually cheer and loudly encourage the crowd,(on BOTH SIDES of the stadium), to participate in the game rather than do gymnastics and perfunctory pom-pom shaking.

I expect the Band to take total responsibility for promoting school spirit starting in the parking lot, all the way into and at the stadium. And to celebrate this great school with performances that have lots of "showmanship".....instead of just showing up and playing their requisite song list.

Good expectations.

A big part of the college football experience is relentless Cheer-Leaders and a Spirited Band that helps the team and the crowd by playing the right music at the right times.

Is there a game day coordinator that oversees these two integral parts so that they work together in harmony to enhance the game day experience?

[casual fan]

Phil Steele's football magazine and his staff put 7 North Texas football players on their CUSA all conference teams this summer so we have some semblance of recognized talent from the experts. Of course, I think we have much more talent than just those 7, too. Then just out this week was another fairly accurate college football predictor of our school's football program even has us winning 9 games this Fall, so who the heck knows?

We also opened as 15 point favorites for our opening game.

I know UNT fans have waded though knee deep manure for years, but I'm still excited.

I maybe as naive as a little kid on his birthday, but with this much manure there must be a new pony around here somewhere.

GO MEAN GREEN

[untjim1995]

My expectations for North texas are always based on the REALISTIC situation we are in. That was how I looked at it back in 2003 and how I look at it 2013. As a fan, my expectations for UNT are based on these criteria:

1.) Our talent--both players and coaches.

2.) The teams we are playing and where we play them

Right now, I see a QB that is not very reliable and a DLine that is paper thin. I see a coaching staff that doesn't trust their QB to throw the ball. I do see playmakers in Chancellor and Jimmerson, as well as a talented OL. I also improved talent on defense at LB and in the secondary. Lastly, I see a schedule that has a good mix of teams that we SHOULD be way ahead of (Idaho, UTSA), teams we are capable of beating anywhere, whether its small or big (Ohio, Ball State, MUTS, Rice, UTEP, La Tech, USM, Tulane), a team that looks like a stretch to beat right now (Tulsa), and a game that pays for salaries and non-revenue sports (Georgia).

If we win the two we ought to win, and add in 2-3 games of the middle ten games as wins, that gets me to 4-5 wins this year.

What I WANT is to take my boys to the games in Denton and have fun with them. I dream of us going 12-0 and going to the CUSA championship--but I also want to win the lottery, too, so its all relative when we look at expectations.