Guyer vs. Ennis Preview

Well, two months isn't too late to start blogging again, right?

Friday's Denton ISD Game of the Week on KNTU features the Guyer Wildcats against the Ennis Lions. This one is going to be an excellent match-up because Guyer is ranked 13th in Class 6A after losing to #1 Allen last week, 48-16.

Ennis on the other hand jumped up to #2 in Class 5A after defeating previous #6 Mansfield Timberview 33-28 in the season opener.

The Lions trailed Timberview 21-0 in the first quarter -- then scored 27 straight points to take the lead. Timberview re-gained the edge early in the fourth quarter, but a 4-yard touchdown pass from QB Tre Elliot to runningback Treyvon Smith sealed the game with just more than three minutes to play.

Ennis -- like Guyer -- is a run-first team. Elliot only threw 12 passes in the week one win, while Ennis ran the ball 50 times for 367 yards, led by Smith with 108 yards.

Guyer runs many formations -- shotgun, pistol, under center, two fullbacks, two tight ends, three and four receiver sets. It's a lot for a defense to prepare for, and when Guyer is executing properly there isn't much a defense can do to stop their rushing assault.

The Wildcats are led by junior and TCU commit Shawn Robinson. He's a very talented quarterback who is truly a dual-threat. In his first season at Guyer last year -- his sophomore season -- Robinson scored 50 touchdowns by himself at the highest classification in Texas.

Guyer QB Shawn Robinson

Robinson has an amazing amount of zip on his passes, but also runs away from defenders in effortless fashion. Ennis coach Jack Alvarez compared him to Baylor's Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III by calling Robinson "RG4."

Last week against Timberview the Ennis defense allowed 182 rushing yards. It will be interesting to see how the Lions try to mitigate Robinson and runners Myron Mason, Christian Moore and freshman Noah Cain.

In 2014 these teams squared off in Ennis and Guyer held on for a thrilling 45-42 win with a last play, long field goal to end the game. I'm hoping for much of the same Friday night.

Also last year Ennis lost their first two games (Timberview and Guyer), then rattled off 14 straight victories to win the Class 5A Division II state championship.

The Wildcats were bounced disappointingly early from the post-season after running into Southlake Carroll's buzzsaw offense in the second round of the playoffs.

This could be KNTU's best game during the regular season, though the Ryan vs. Byron Nelson showdown appears promising and the Guyer vs. Ryan battle to the end the year should shape up nicely as well.

You can listen to the Denton ISD Game of the Week on FM 88.1 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and at KNTU.com which is accessible on desktops and mobile devices.

NT Men's Hoops to Travel to Northern Iowa, Creighton

On the last day of the North Texas men's basketball youth camp I stopped by to get some audio to make a couple of feel-good stories about the camp. About 120 total campers were there to learn some fundamentals and drills about basketball, but have fun, too.

I really enjoyed the stories I was able to make because the kids were great. I went over to the section of 1st-3rd graders and they were rowdy as ever. One of them named Bryant came right up to me and said "hello!" into the microphone.

Here are the two reports as they aired on KNTU on Tuesday, July 2.

Former North Texas player Roger Franklin

Also, ex-Mean Green forward Roger Franklin was one of the camp leaders and he was great to talk to -- as usual.

Roger graduated two years, but still comes out to all these summer basketball camps. His large smile and big voice were at both women's hoops camps I made highlight videos for last season.

• LINK TO NORTH TEXAS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CAMP HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS ONE, TWO, AND A NEWS PACKAGE.

Roger recently finished up his professional season in Luxembourg and told me he expects to sign a new contract later in July.

The other important thing that happened when I stopped by the camp was head coach Tony Benford confirmed the Mean Green will play at Northern Iowa and Creighton in the upcoming season.

Northern Iowa is coming off a very successful season -- finishing 31-4 with a loss to Louisville in the Round of 32. The Panthers also were undefeated at home last season -- a perfect 15-0.

Also, over the past ten years UNI has gone to the NCAA tournament five times and in that span has won 83% of its home games.

The Mean Green upset Creighton 62-58 this past season -- probably the year's marquee win.

In the past 10 years, North Texas has gone 46-80 on the road (37%).

And when you break down the recent North Texas road games against non-conference mid-major opponents they shape out as this:

• 2014 - @ Stephen F. Austin - L 59-48
• 2013 - @ BYU - L 97-67
• 2012 - @ #16 Creighton - L 71-51
• 2012 - @ St. Louis - L 67-63
• 2011 - @ Loyola Marymount - W 76-63
• 2009 - @ Boise State - L 79-73
• 2008 - @ Indiana State - W 80-69
• 2007 - @ New Mexico State - W 75-72
• 2006 - @ Stephen F. Austin - W 76-70

So, out of that list -- not too much success in this decade. That doesn't mean the games against Northern Iowa and Creighton have no hopes of a Mean Green victory, but just showing the past. 

NT Football to Play Texas A&M

Texas A&M vs. North Texas (NTSU at the time) in 1986

The North Texas football team is wrapping up a deal to play at Texas A&M sometime in the 2020 season.

When I first read this on Vito's blog I thought it was a pretty big deal. To face A&M -- who has been a surging team since Kevin Sumlin stepped onto campus -- and a school that a lot of the North Texas students have friends that attend is pretty cool.

Remember the Mean Green played at Texas this past season for the first time since 2006. That was a game that had a whole lot of hope with the Longhorns on a slide, a new head coach in Charlie Strong, and North Texas coming off its best season in a decade.

Of course -- during that game we learned the offensive line couldn't give Josh Greer two seconds to find a receiver, and Texas is still Texas.

The Mean Green has played A&M seven times -- five of which were when both teams played in Division I-A. North Texas has lost every time, with the closest game being the latest one -- a 28-9 loss at Kyle Field.

A&M vs. NTSU in 1986

The squads first went toe-to-toe in the 1946 opener -- A&M 47, NT 0.

This game won't be played until 2020, so for the current students and me it's really not that exciting. I mean, who knows where the heck I'll be in five years? Sure, it would be great to go to Kyle Field for this one, but it is difficult to get hyped for a game five years away.

The college kids who will be playing in this game just passed the eighth grade STAAR test.

So, with that in mind, let's look at some of the future North Texas schedules.

2016 

vs. SMU, @ Florida, @ Army, vs. Liberty

Once again the tradition of playing a cupcake continues with Liberty (has anyone even heard of this school?). Apparently, Liberty is a school in Virginia. Former Kansas coach Turner Gill is the head coach, their nickname is the Flames, and they have a pretty bad ass stadium, too. They've been dominating the Big South over the past seven or eight years and are trying to reach Division I football status. (And, to be fair, Liberty will play at Baylor in 2017).

Liberty's Williams Field holds more than 19,000

The North Texas-SMU "rivalry" series continues with year three, and it'll be the first time for new Pony coach Chad Morris to come up to Denton.

But, follow up that game up with a trip to Florida the next week. It's another homecoming for Coach Dan McCarney of sorts (after playing at Iowa in 2015). Mac helped the Gators win a national championship by coaching the defensive line. Almost everywhere I have seen him, he is wearing his title ring from Florida. It's also one of the last places Mac could see with both eyes. Florida primes up for the Mean Green with a home date against UMass.

A six-year set against Army also kicks off in 2016 -- and this game will be in mid-October at West Point.

2017

@ SMU, @ Iowa, vs. Army, vs. Lamar

Iowa's Kinnick Stadium

Much of the same formula in 2017 -- with the two long-term series against SMU and Army continuing, a hopeful powderpuff opponent in Lamar and another homecoming trip to Iowa for McCarney -- seriously, is this the Coach Mac farewell tour? -- that's assuming he's still in Denton in two seasons. Iowa will be at rival Iowa State the week prior to taking on the Mean Green. Also, for the second year in-a-row Army is scheduled to play an FCS school the week before facing North Texas.

2018

vs. SMU, @ Army, vs. Incarnate Word, @ Arkansas

Army's Michie Stadium

Are you beginning to notice a pattern, yet? This could be a milestone year in the way that this will be the fifth year of the SMU series, a good gauge of how one class of players has gone through four games. The Mustangs are set to the Mean Green's opener for the second straight year -- and SMU will have a busy September with games at Michigan and vs. TCU also in the month. Speaking of Michigan, Arkansas will open the season in Wolverine country.

2019

@ SMU, vs. Army, vs. Abilene Christian

This is the closest opening North Texas has to its non-conference schedule (as long as another program doesn't bail out of C-USA), but you better believe it will be filled with a road game to a Power 5 conference opponent. 

2020

vs. SMU, @ Army, @ Texas A&M

The projected look of Kyle Field after renovations

Keep in mind the match versus the Aggies isn't set in stone, and something could happen that blows it all up. But for now, we're looking at the next available home non-con game in 2020. That is -- as long as North Texas doesn't play five home games like they will this season. 

Is Something Wrong in Denton?

Both quarterback Dajon Williams and outfielder Taylor Schoblocher, arguably the two best athletes at North Texas, have left their respective teams a few days apart. 

Summer is usually quiet around the Mean Green sports front. Once the softball season is over, there really isn't much going on until fall football practice starts up. But after the bombshell dropped of Taylor Schoblocher leaving, another, somewhat smaller explosive, unloaded on campus when it was revealed Dajon Williams is exiting North Texas.

I went in-depth on Scho's departure, but I figured instead of doing the same with Dajon I would look at both of their exits together.

Here's the thing. There is nothing wrong in Denton. There is nothing that is just repelling great athletes away from North Texas. These are just two cases -- unrelated and separate -- that hinge on things that aren't mutually exclusive to North Texas.

Scho left because of differences with the coaching staff -- mainly with hitting coach Natalie Kozlowski. Trust me, head-butting between players and coaches is not something that only happens at North Texas.

Head softball coach Tracey Kee has a no-nonsense approach. And if a player isn't giving maximum effort at all times, then her talent level doesn't really matter. Kee is an equal opportunity bencher. She benched Scho against Oklahoma State, and she's done it to fringe players, too.

With Dajon -- the situation is a bit muddier. A lot of people are trying to throw out theories about why Dajon is gone now. And did he get dismissed from the team or did he leave?

QB Dajon Williams

I'm not going to share what I've heard, but I think it's safe to say Dajon was always going to be a story of 'What If'?

What if he didn't have to be concerned with taking care and raising his young daughter? What if he could have spent more time committed to Quarterback 101? What if he and the coaches got along a bit better? What if he didn't have four turnovers against UAB?

During spring practice Dajon lost the starting job (Did he ever have it coming out of the regular season?) to senior Andrew McNulty, and even dropped behind Josh Greer.

Senior QB Andrew McNulty

And with DaMarcus Smith becoming eligible for summer workouts it only means more competition on a team that has about 17 quarterbacks on the roster.

Yes -- Dajon had a great game against a terribly equipped Nicholls defense that had three different head coaches in the span of six days leading up to gameday. But, he also had a so-so game against Indiana and a really poor one at UAB that led to him getting the hook.

Dajon leaving North Texas isn't really all that surprising. I remember towards the end of the last season, people around the football team were talking about how they expected either Dajon or Greer -- or maybe both -- to not be around during spring practice.

Well, both were around, but one didn't last long after.

There's nothing wrong in Denton. The sky isn't falling just because two great athletes won't be suiting up in the green and white anymore. Will the teams suffer? Yeah, probably, but in the long-run this will be just another speed bump on the way to something better. Hopefully.

Making Sense of Schoblocher's Exit

On Wednesday night, it was tweeted out that North Texas outfielder and super slugger Taylor Schoblocher is leaving the Mean Green softball team. This is really surprising news, and has a whole lot of consequences.

The biggest question -- Why? In Brett Vito's article, Scho says a "hostile environment" was created, specifically between her and coach Koz -- the new hitting coach.

That's all fine. It's not uncommon for players and coaches to butt heads. About 90% of the time players commit to a college because of the coaching staff. When those coaches leave, the players usually want to leave the school, as well. 

But what makes this situation really fascinating is that Scho is staying at UNT -- just giving up softball. Let's take a look at everything she's leaving behind:

• All-Region player after 2015 season
• Named season's first C-USA Player of the Week
• Then a day later, named National Player of the Week
• Breaking several North Texas single-season records

Head coach Tracey Kee has probably been the coolest coach I've ever had to deal with at North Texas, and we have a good working relationship. With that said, it's hard to image a situation so foul that your best hitter would feel it's better to leave the sport altogether. 

Coach Kee and coach Koz have worked together for a long time -- starting at East Carolina. They put together a successful program, but a couple of bad years and then complaints of verbal abuse, among other things, forced them out. 

Kee landed at North Texas a year later; Koz joined her the year after. Could this just same song, different verse in Denton? I don't know.  

I've never brought up the ECU incident with anyone in the softball department. The only conversation I've had was with an NT media relations worker -- who downplayed the situation to me, saying every college coach has to be a hardass to be successful.

Sure, Scho didn't always give the most amount of effort on the defensive side -- but she was basically the biggest thing coming back for the team. The Green Guys discussed what the softball team had coming back (16:30 mark). 

What could have happened to make a player quit the sport she's most likely been playing since six or seven years old? Maybe Scho really was through the game. Maybe she's burned out after years of putting an amazing out of time and effort into something. Maybe she just wants to start over. 

But with a player as talented as Scho is -- she could have transferred to a whole lot of other teams and been a huge part in a championship run (softball is a sport where transfers don't have to sit out a season). 

Instead, Scho will spend her senior year doing what everyone else her age does -- freak out about what to do after graduation. 

Call to the Bullpen

A while back I mentioned I got an unexpected opportunity to work on a North Texas softball T.V broadcast.

I became the timeout coordinator for the Fox Sports broadcast of NT vs. UTEP on Saturday, May 2. Here's the story behind that.

Just chillin' in the background

I worked as a sideline reporter with the up-start American Sports Network for three Mean Green football games this past season. It was a pretty awesome experience.

Anyways the producer who ran those games mainly works for Fox Sports doing New Orleans Pelicans games and other sports between the end of their season and college football starting

I was hanging around the NT athletic center and I heard that this same guy would be producing the softball game vs UTEP.

So, I reached out to him and asked if I could just hang out in the production truck during the game. I've never been in a control room or truck during a live broadcast and I thought it would be a pretty cool thing to see. Plus -- if anything I could just keep the relationship going and say hi to Dave Barnett -- who was the play-by-play, and also named the new voice of North Texas athletics.

Well, around 30 minutes before first pitch someone alerted the producer and director that the stats guy hasn't shown up. So, the timeout coordinator -- Dave Barnett's son -- was called up to do stats and I became the T.O.C (aka "redhat"). 

It's a super easy job where you basically stand on the field, and listen to the producer for the go-ahead to make sure the teams don't start playing until the TV crew is ready.

 It provided a great view of the game, and a nice line on the résumé. I saw the replay of the game around midnight the same day and was on the look out for some pictures I was in.

The pic at the top of the page is one, and here are a two more:

I'm in gray, UNT's Coach Koz in green

And caught taking a picture on my phone...

Hopefully I'll get to have another opportunity to work with Fox Sports.

Covering the Denton Storms

A tree fell through a backyard and onto a parked car, blocking Oakwood Drive in Denton

It was only the second time I had heard the Denton tornado sirens firing off for real. I was calling my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day when she, coincidentally, asked me if I could hear the sirens from my apartment. 

I told her yeah, in fact, they're blaring right now. I feel like I've kind of gotten used to a chance for heavy storms in the D-FW area. Severe thunderstorm watches can become the norm, and it's not really something that causes concern -- especially when it happens three or four days in a row like the current stretch. 

Studio 6 sign on Ft. Worth Dr. in Denton

Well, the batch of storms on Sunday was pretty gnarly. I was watching Pete Delkus, and remember barely being able to see anything outside because the rain was so heavy. The window became foggy -- the same thing that happened the first time I heard the sirens go off.

After it looked like everything was clear I decided the best thing would be to try to interview people who were in the storms.

It was pretty cool driving around after the storm, trying to find damage and talking to people about their experiences.

The first stop was on Fort Worth Drive in Denton where a couple of buildings had some damage, and trees in the median had been cut in half.

Roof damage to Layalina's Mediterranean Grill on Ft. Worth Dr.

I got some good audio from the owner of the Layalina restaurant, but the best was yet to come.

When I pulled up there were already three or four other people taking pictures, one TV cameraman, and some HAM radio operators.

I heard a Denton Record-Chronicle photographer mention that Denia Park was the hardest hit area so I decided to head that way.


There were a whole lot of knocked over trees and a leaning telephone pole or two.

Here are two pictures of the damage south of McCormick and I-35E:

I don't know if storm chasing would be in my future, but it was a rush to cover the aftermath and see the damage first-hand. Also, some of the people I talked to were very interesting and had colorful comments -- which made for great radio on KNTU news the next day.

Jeter's Death Ruled a Suicide

This morning the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office released its report on the death of North Texas women's basketball player Eboniey Jeter.

According to the ME's Office, Jeter died of suicide by hanging. As I've posted about earlier, her body was found in her Mozart Square dorm room Tuesday morning.

From the first time I read about this story I had not even considered suicide. I thought maybe it was a bad heart -- a condition that seems to take many young athletes.

Her age -- 21 years old -- is another thing that makes it so hard to understand. Jeter isn't the first athlete I've covered to pass away, but that doesn't ease anything.

A football player from my high school -- Moses Rhymers -- was killed in a car crash on the last day of my first semester in college. He was a safety and was in his second season at Mary Hardin-Baylor.

I remember that day so vividly because it was maybe the first time someone my age that I've really known died. I had a physics final that morning, and when I came back I saw the news about Moses on Twitter. Most people remember that day as the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. Later that night I helped broadcast the Denton Guyer-Tyler John Tyler stat semi-final football game.

I wonder how bad things had gotten for Jeter, that this seemed like a good or the best option. Surely, we don't and can't know everything, but could something have been done? Could something have helped? Could something have made a difference?

This is such a difficult time for the Mean Green women's basketball program to lose someone they spent so much time with and were so close to. It's also hard to feel how difficult it is for Jalie Mitchell, who's trying to start her first ever month as a head coach.

It's a tough situation all around.

Mean Green Softball Bounced from C-USA Tourney

Picture by SID Taylor Brasher (via @MeanGreenSB)

The North Texas softball team's season is over after falling to second seed Florida Atlantic 5-0 in the first round of the Conference USA tournament Thursday night.

The biggest thing in this match-up were the multiple lightning delays in the Miami area. The first delay hit during the top of the third inning and lasted 30 minutes. Just a few minutes after getting back to play, more lightning stopped the action for about two hours. Here's the radar around the start and early portions of the game:

FAU pitcher Kylee Hanson

The Mean Green knew it had a challenge to go up against Owls ace hurler Kylee Hanson. She threw a 1-hitter and now has a 17-3 record this season.

Coach Tracey Kee told me on Monday she hadn't decided who would start against Florida Atlantic, but like I suspected freshman Monique Garcia got the nod. It's a logical strategy because transfer Stacey Underwood has really struggled in her past couple of outings -- lasting only one inning in Game 1 and an inning and two-thirds in Game 2 against UTEP --- and sophomore Kenzie Grimes doesn't usually start and is best at coming into tough relief situations.

Garcia has toed in the rubber in a lot of big-time situations this season, including the season opener, and in road games at #5 Oklahoma, #23 Texas A&M, and #25 Tulsa.

She quickly retired the first two Owl batters before giving up a solo home run.

Hanson only need to toss nine pitches in the first inning to get three outs. In the second frame, FAU put together some timely hitting by smacking back-to-back singles with two outs to plate another run and led 2-0.

Kenzie Grimes joined us on The Green Guys on Apr. 27

A sacrifice fly after the initial weather delay made the score FAU 3-0, Coach Kee decided to go to the bullpen and bring in Grimes with two runners on. A walk later, Grimes gave up a bases loaded single to aide the Owl cause with another run.

The second, longer lightning delay arrived and the teams didn't get back onto the field for another hour and 50 minutes. However, Grimes somehow stuck with it and got out of the jam with three pitches.

The North Texas batters were Antarctic cold for the majority of the game. Mean Green left fielder Taylor Schoblocher punched the only hit of the game, ending the perfect game bid by Hanson two outs shy of completion. But, #SCHOtime's double was not backed up by anyone else.

I'd like to figure the weather stoppages had some affect, but it appears the game went the same before and after the lightning. Hanson continued her attacking in the circle, and FAU consistently chipped away at the North Texas pitching.

The Mean Green ends the 2015 season with 19-31 record -- much different than the program-record 31-22 mark last season.

I think this just shows how important pitching is in softball. The best North Texas pitcher in history -- Ashley Kirk -- accounted for 22 of those 31 wins a year ago. This season, the best record by a Mean Green thrower was Underwood's 8-7 mark with a 3.99 ERA.

What do you think sums up the NT softball season? Let me know in the comments below.

And BTW, here is the link to Kenzie Grimes' appearance on The Green Guys.

Update on Jeter's Death

There is still not official word on the cause of death of North Texas forward Eboniey Jeter, who was found dead in her Mozart Hall dorm room on Tuesday morning.

The Talons, a big-time spirit group at UNT, organized and held a vigil on campus Tuesday night and lit the clock tower green in honor of Jeter.

New women's basketball head coach Jalie Mitchell and her media crew decided against a press conference this afternoon and instead released a statement.

“As a family, we are hurting. We lost a teammate, a friend and a sister. This is a very tough time for our university and for our team, but we stand strong for Eboniey and for her family. My focus right now is on the Jeter family and my team. We are grieving, but together, we will get through this and make sure we honor the life of a sweet, young lady who is gone from us way too soon. We ask that you please respect the privacy of her family and our team as we go through the grieving process.”  

This is such a difficult situation for the team, and for coach Mitchell, who just took the position in April. So far, NBC 5 in Dallas-Ft. Worth is the only outlet I have heard report anything about the cause of death. They're reporting police think it was suicide:

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/North-Texas-Star-Forward-Eboniey-Jeter-Found-Dead-in-Dorm-302691441.html

Memorial services have not been announced yet.

Mean Green Women's Basketball Player Dies

pic.twitter.com/4TiXw2p5oy

— Mean Green Athletics (@MeanGreenSports) May 5, 2015

I had considered posting about Monday's Green Guys show again, but I received a text message from one of my friends giving me a link to a blog post about the passing of North Texas forward Eboniey Jeter. She was 21 years old.

I don't know any more information about this besides what Brett Vito from the Denton Record-Chronicle has gathered in that post above.

Fellow North Texas athletes expressed their emotions:

Sending my prayers and condolences to Eboniey Jeter's family, her Killeen/Harker Heights family, and her @MeanGreenWBB family. #MGF

— Brandin Byrd (@BByrd24) May 5, 2015

My heart goes out to Eboniey Jeter's family and friends in this tough time. From what everyone says, you were one amazing girl #R.I.P.

— Hanna Forst (@hanbanNiNE) May 6, 2015

You never know where life will take you and who you will meet. My prayers go out to the family of Eboniey Jeter! Your in God's hands now🙏🏾

— Nekia (@nekia_j) May 6, 2015

And from the NCAA:

We join North Texas in mourning the loss of women's basketball player Eboniey Jeter. (via @MeanGreenSports) pic.twitter.com/g51rjpBhG2

— NCAA (@NCAA) May 6, 2015

What I can elaborate on is my experience with Jeter, which can be described as limited, yet positive. I remember she was the last interview of the season after the final loss to UTSA.

The Mean Green led late in that game, but couldn't get anything past the Roadrunner pressure defense and lost 57-54 to end the season without a trip to the Conference USA tournament.

Jeter herself had one of the better games of her career making all four shots for eight points and seven rebounds. She was also a team-high plus-six while she was on the floor.

Standing at the end of a long, white hallway at the Kitty Magee Arena on the campus of Texas Women's University Jeter was crying at the conclusion of a very difficult season.

With a tear-marked face, she strongly and proudly said, "There's no where to go but up from where we are now."

As far as I'm concerned, she's completed that journey upward.

The Green Guys 5.4.15

I co-host an hour long North Texas sports talk show on KNTU-FM on Monday nights. A lot of the show's focus has been on the Mean Green softball team because it is really the biggest team playing at UNT right now.

The Green Guys featuring (L-R) me, Jeremy Miller, Taylor Phillips & Scott Sidway.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this past weekend was huge for the softball team because it propelled them to the seventh seed in the Conference USA Tournament.

We discussed that on The Green Guys, and how -- even though they avoided the best team in the conference, Western Kentucky --  they'll still be challenged against their first round opponent Florida Atlantic.

We were also joined by Tim McNarama (@Tim_McNamara), the C-USA main softball media contact and self-proclaimed world's leading expert in Conference USA softball. Tim was the softball information director at North Texas last season and an overall cool dude.

Tim mentioned how FAU has multiple strong pitchers, and they don't rely on just one ace pitcher. Monday morning coach Tracey Kee told me that the two offenses are pretty similar and both teams could use more of a small-ball strategy.

Of course, I'm not sure how much the Mean Green will need to dive into that if the team slams the seams off the softball like it did in the home series against UTEP.

We had some technical problems getting Tim onto the air (meaning, I thought I knew what I was doing, but I really didn't), and so we didn't get to talk to as much as we wanted. But, here is the full interview with Tim from The Green Guys. (Note: I can't figure out why our voices are scratchy when talking to Tim, but I made a quick fix about halfway through the interview)

You can listen to the latest episode of The Green Guys on our website. The podcast is usually uploaded Wednesday afternoon.

The final Green Guys show of the semester is on Mon., May 11 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. If you're in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area you can hear it on 88.1 FM, or you can listen streaming worldwide on KNTU.com.

#MGSB Headed to Tourney, Avoiding Kramer

Monique Garcia throws against UTEP in Game 1

My Tuesday sit-down with North Texas softball coach Tracey Kee left me with a heck of a lot more doubts than certainties going into the final week of the regular season.
Coach Kee was pessimistic of her team's motivation -- not of it's ability -- but  more so of when a good performance or a bad one would appear. As she likes to point out, the Mean Green beat #7 Baylor earlier this season, and have also lost to some teams below their mark.

But, this weekend proved to be where North Texas finally took a stand and swept UTEP in three games (12-4, 9-3, 14-6). Maybe, all it took was a little pressure -- that's something that centerfielder Kat Strunk hinted at when I talked to her after the third match.

The saying is that pressure creates diamonds, but a song by a rapper Strunk listens to takes it further by adding that fire refines gold.

Pressure could be the catalyst to a fantastic offensive weekend, or it could also be the desire to send the four seniors (Strunk, Dani Hoff, Jen Beardsley and Madison Thompson) to the Conference USA tournament. Strunk pounded the Miners for a school-record seven RBIs in Game 3, including two home runs to go along with the game-winning bomb in Game 1 on Saturday.

The biggest thing about sweeping UTEP and Charlotte losing its series against FIU is North Texas grabs the seventh seed for the tourney and avoids facing No. 1 Western Kentucky until the championship.

Western is led by ace Madison Kramer who mowed down the Mean Green in three games earlier this season, and has sliced through most of the competition without breaking a sweat this year.

Kramer is 21-8 with a 0.84 ERA, has tossed twelve shutouts and averages 13 strikeouts per game (her full stats). She is insane and a potential match-up on the third day of the tourney bodes a whole lot better than facing a fresh Kramer on day one.

The only problem is North Texas will tango FAU in its opening contest on Thurs,, May 7 at 3:00 p.m. CST. The Owls are the number two seed in the eight team tournament and, as a team, are tied with WKU in earned run average.

FAU and the Mean Green did not play each other this season, but did battle in the first round of the tourney when the Owls hosted last year. North Texas won a 10-inning affair that went deep into the evening in Boca Raton 5-4 thanks in large part to program legend Ashley Kirk and current super slugger Taylor Schoblocher (Box Score).

The Mean Green lost the next day to top seeded Tulsa 7-1.

So although North Texas played out of a first round match-up with Western and Kramer, it still can't relax because of a huge challenge against FAU. But if the offense can connect like it did this weekend, there isn't any reason the Mean Green can't make a push for the C-USA crown.
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I had an interesting experience at the series opener of North Texas and UTEP involving an impromptu job and I'll be posting about that -- with a whole lot of pictures -- in a couple of days, so stay peeled.

NT Softball Loses vs #5 Oklahoma

The North Texas softball team came into the match-up losing 15 of its last 17 games and dropping a doubleheader at Oklahoma State the night before.

Not exactly ideal conditions to play the fifth best team in the country -- for the second time this season.

But, the Mean Green had a pretty good effort and led for an inning and a half before giving up a history-making grand slam to Lauren Chamberlain in the 6-2 loss. The blast gave Chamberlain the 91st home run of her career, the most in NCAA history.

It was also a historic night for another reason as there was the largest crowd in program history.

691 fans in attendance tonight at Lovelace Stadium in Denton to witness history by @OU_Softball's @LChamberlain44! pic.twitter.com/ghNx49dhEp

— Mean Green Softball (@MeanGreenSB) May 1, 2015

Counting the number of fans when students get in free and don't have to swipe their I.D. cards is an inexact science, and to be frank most of those in the stands were OU faithful. But it was still cool to see that many people packed into the tissue-box-sized Lovelace Stadium that had two or three pairs of bleachers added down the first baseline.

Kenzie Grimes started just her fourth game of the season for North Texas. After the game she told she was fine with getting the nod, even though coach Kee didn't tell her until about 15 minutes before pre-game warm-ups.

She had a pretty good outing, but walked six Sooner batters in 3 2/3 innings. Mean Green catcher Bryanna Wade hit the two-run homer -- her sixth of the year.

Head coach Tracey Kee

Up next for the Mean Green is its biggest series of the season, and quite possibly its last. They'll play UTEP at home for three games. Which ever team wins the series will grab one of the final two spots in the Conference USA tournament. North Texas can only win the eighth seed, while UTEP can claim the seventh or eighth.

In my usual Tuesday afternoon interview with coach Kee, she told me she has no idea how this weekend will go because the team has played so inconsistently. They scored two runs against Oklahoma -- more than they did in two games combined at Louisiana Tech last weekend.

Her biggest complaint has been the competitiveness of her team. And effort is really not something you want to be worrying about heading to the year's deciding series.

(Speaking of Kenzie, here's a news package I did about her from last season)

Mean Green Softball Games Cancelled

The North Texas softball stadium on Wednesday night, April 22.

The Mean Green softball games against Stephen F. Austin were cancelled on April 22 because of rainy conditions earlier in the week, and the field at Lovelace just couldn't take all the water.

MeanGreenSports release: http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/042115aab.html

This was disappointing for a couple of reasons: 1. I was going to be the public address announcer for the doubleheader, and 2. head coach Tracey Kee told me she was really looking forward to using these two games for her hitters to be able to see some different and live pitching.

Besides the obvious benefit of getting paid a little cash for doing the P.A., I really enjoy working with the softball team and the staff. I've done P.A. for six or seven softball games this season and they are extremely fun and a way to get some experience at a craft which I haven't really practiced since high school.

The locked gates at Lovelace Stadium. 

Also, the North Texas softball team could really have used some momentum on two probable wins against SFA. For the second straight week the Mean Green is clinging onto the eighth seed in the Conference USA Tournament -- if it started now. This would mean a first round match-up with Western Kentucky. NOT GOOD!

The Lady Toppers (yes, their university approved nickname) are the best team in C-USA and are led by one of the best pitchers in softball nationwide -- Miranda Kramer. She's earned six or seven C-USA Pitcher of the Week awards this season. And just this week Kramer did everything she could to help Western take down ranked Kentucky, before losing 1-0 in nine innings. Kramer had a no-hitter going through the regulation seven innings -- but her offense was handcuffed and chained to home plate it seems.

Anyways, these next two weekends are going to be vital for the Mean Green softball team. This weekend they face off against Louisiana Tech -- the team right above them in the West division standings. Then next weekend North Texas faces off against UTEP -- the team right below them in the West.

Good luck Mean Green, and hopefully I'll get to fill-in another time on the public address.