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gotta give credit where credit due. UNT has made great strides in becoming a very competitive football program and now owns a win over Cincy (something the Frogs couldn't do). Not a bad crowd (19,000) for a Tues nite game...UNT appeared to have a better turnout than what SMU would have generated. Still definitely "mid-major", but showing promise for a better future.

How much longer will it be before SMU joins our Metroplex neighbors in these post-season football games? And...when we do get there, will the game be played 1,500 miles from Dallas in front of only about 100 SMU fans?

Thanks CP for the kind words...

George Dunham and company of the MG Radio Network said we travelled 15-16,000 to the New Orleans Bowl game and Jub Jub is one not to embellish numbers. Heck, one Galveston alum says there were 17,000 of our fans which is only twice the number plus 1K that one of your fellow alums says we had; of course, we are sure he was in the Big Easy and the SuperDome counting, eh? }:> )

How darn funny, though, because we just averaged over 15,000 per home game at Fouts this year and needed about 21,000 at our last home game to do that! Our traditionally slow non conference starts against who we mostly play OOC (UT, Bama, OU, etc, etc) each season just kicks the heck out of our early season crowds. Starting out 0 & 5 or 1 & 4 just does something to prevent our schools from getting out the big crowds early in a season. (Of course, Baylor opens at Fouts next September so we know that will be a nice turnout).

I agree with your response in my thread below about "UNT Going Sports NUTS..." inasmuch as we all need to be working toward averaging 30K per home game at our respective venues. When we both do this this will show we are all serious about college football in the Metroplex.

I am not sure that either one of us with the present membership make-up of the conferences we are both in will make that happen any time soon, though. I do believe tweaking and altering some of the membership of our league's can make it happen quicker than most would ever think (and I think you might agree with that also). I just would not want to see the loss of an automatic NCAA BB birth by starting out fresh with a whole new athletic conference.

Again, Charleston Pony, thanks for your most kind and generous words...



[This message has been edited by MeanGreenGem (edited 12-25-2002).]

ESPN radio, which is eons more reliable than the ticket, reported that 18k total tickets were sold but only about 8k were actually in attendance. Having watched part of the game I would have to say that the 8k is accurate. I very seriously doubt that NTSU known far and wide for apathetic fan support bought 18k tickets for an away game. My goodness man you only had 500 reported--that's 500, not 5k--for your last men's basketball game in Denton and that number was probably inflated.

First of all, "The Ticket's" George Dunham, a UNT grad and 1/2 of that station's highly rated "Gentle Musers" AM show (and play by play man of the Mean Green) is one not to embellish or exaggerate attendance figures. Hell, we have one from Galveston who estimates that UNT brought 17,000 fans to the New Orleans Bowl. Yours and what you claim that ESPN radio said were only 8K at this game is just a another grossly exaggerated fairy tale provided by some obvious traditionalist not wanting to admit that things just "ain't" what they used to be in D-FW inter-collegiate football.

If Jub-Jub and his broadcasting team say 15-16,000 traveling Mean Green fans, you can take that to the bank. Why should they lie about such things as attendance? How about that huge "announced" 21,000 plus for the Tangerine Bowl game featuring TTech and Clemson? This bowl game featuring 2 well established football programs in a well established bowl game to boot! Hmmm?

Secondly, I am sitting here on a Thursday evening watching a video re-broadcast of the New Orleans Bowl and UNT fans have one whole lower side (from goal line to goal line) of a 70,000 seat SuperDome filled; plus some Mean Green fans even in the section above that lower section. Quite a statement most unbiased types would even admit for that large a number of traveling fan's from any school for a bowl game being played this part of December on a week day almost in the middle of a work week. Hey! Give us some credit where credit is due here.

I do know you may be "one" who refuses to listen to the truth even when it is staring you straight in the face but UNT truly had 15-16,000+ fans at the SBC's 2'nd (only "2'nd" I should repeat) Annual New Orleans Bowl. I am sure ESPN II could provide you with a video of the game if you really need more visual proof, but I don't think even that would really truly matter to you, either, now would it?

If all this is bad news for you, just wait till the Nielsen ratings come out because I predict that news may bother you as much. Last year's 1'st Annual NO's Bowl game was ESPN II's 3'rd highest rated program in its history. You may choose to not read a Dallas Morning News TV/Radio Section for a few days for bowl game TV ratings if all this coming out of Mean Green Country is making you, uh, a bit "tense" as they might say on "The Ticket." (Thank God for SMU fans like CP and many others from the Hilltop with objective, unbiased and realistic point of views).

As far as the SMU/UNT BB game several days ago? Scheduling a college basketball game on a Saturday during a Thanksgiving weekend really seems like a most ideal amd prime time to schedule a college basketball game in DFW to me (insert sarcasm here). I was at a mall in west Fort Worth myself getting a little Christmas shopping in so I wasn't there, either. (I did listen to the game, though, if that counts)

BUT.........I was at a 1975 UNT/SMU basketball game NOT scheduled around a major holiday as I recall when there were 10,700 in the SuperPit to watch 2 pretty "competitive" basketball teams that year. (I would say neither SMU or UNT are quite at the highest level competive stage at this moment of the 2002/2003 season with recent losses by both basketball teams to schools they should not have really lost to).

Good luck to all positive thinking SMU'ers who truly know how the cow eats the cabbage.


[This message has been edited by MeanGreenGem (edited 12-24-2002).]