DENTON, Texas – We
are on the crispy cold campus of North Texas right now inside The Super Pit,
where they put their students in the Pit Crew right behind the visitor’s bench.
If nothing else, North Texas really has a way with names. That includes the
Mean Green.
As I’ve heard it, North Texas has always used a screaming
eagle as the school’s mascot (if you go to www.meangreensports.com you can hear
the scream of the eagle – I don’t recommend doing so at work), but at some
point after Mean Joe Greene graduated from North Texas in 1969 and headed to
the Steel Curtain in Pittsburgh, the school renamed its teams. As a side note,
according to Wikipedia (which everyone knows is the foremost reference point
when checking accuracy), there was a movement a few years ago to add the albino
squirrel as a second mascot. I cannot be the only one in favor of the school adopting
the albino squirrel. However, the web gurus might have trouble adding the
scream of the albino squirrel to the website.
Here are a few more famous names that graduated from North Texas:
Norah Jones, Pat Boone, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Roy Orbison, Dr. Phil and “Stone Cold”
Steve Austin.
One Streak Snapped:
Assistant coach Jon Jordan was given an aisle seat on the way to Dallas
yesterday. From everyone’s recollection, it was the first time this season that
Jon was not sitting in a middle seat. Needless to say, the 6-foot-4 Jordan
looked considerably more comfortable when he wasn’t shoehorned between two
other travelers.
Welcome
Home: Freshman guard Travis
Hallam grew up in Mesquite, Texas, which is about 50 miles from Denton on
the other side of Dallas. Next season, the Pioneers expect to bring a pair of
Hallams back to the Super Pit. Denver signed Travis’ younger brother Chase to a
national letter of intent back in November. In the meantime, Chase’s current
team Mesquite High School is ranked 11th in the Texas 5A rankings. From
recent reports, about 80 people from Mesquite are expected to drive up for the
game tonight.
When
Life Hands You Lemons: A few players were a little sticky
last night at dinner after the waiter at an Italian restaurant lost control of
a drink tray, and three glasses of lemonade went flying. Fortunately, the
restaurant served drinks in plastic cups, so no one was at risk when they hit
the concrete floor.
Shirt
Update: Unfortunately, Mitch Hyder’s ShamWow Shirt seems to have
lost its magic after narrow losses at New Orleans and against Arkansas State
(Mitch did not wear it during the double overtime loss at Louisiana-Lafayette),
Hyder has retired the camelhair. Hyder has suggested that the shirt be burned
during halftime of DU’s next home game, but it seems the fire marshal has
denied his request. Its official record was 14-4.
Hotel Update: More than a couple people made the
comment this morning that our hotel did not have a waffle iron shaped like
Texas, but there’s still hope. The team will check out the Denton hotel today
and head to another hotel by the airport after the game. Perhaps the breakfast
buffet near DFW will come through like the one near Bush International did.
Tomorrow, we will jump on a flight to Miami.
Yearly travel totals:
Total Flights – 13
Total Mileage Flown
– 9,258
Total Bus Miles –
1,229
Total Number of Hotels
– 10
Total Number of
Different Airports – 8
Total Number of
Airline Delays – 1
Total Number of
Cancelled Flights – 1
Total Number of Bags
Lost – 2
Total Number of
Players Hit by Flying Lemonade – 3
Total Number of Consecutive
Flights Jon Jordan sat in the middle seat – 12 prior to snapping the streak
Wednesday
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