My quotes inspire other people's indignance

Toothpastefordinner.com knows what's up.

I love North Texas.

North Texas is where I got my education. And to an uncomfortable extent, the school now dominates my free time. Every week, TY and I misallocate a large chunk of time that ought to be dedicated to our employers or the women who indulge our obsession. We work on this website instead of what we ought to be doing for a living or for love.

Since we went public with the site, we have both been surprised and horrified by how North Texas has slowly but surely started to consume our lives. Example: My girlfriend and I are taking a long-promised vacation this week. The destination and itinerary were conveniently scheduled so that our return drive to Dallas would have us on I-20 passing through Monroe, Louisiana just in time to catch Saturday's North Texas road football game vs. ULM.

Before I got to North Texas, I thought college athletics was the most ridiculous and asinine obsession in the wide world of sports. Now, I spend inordinate amounts of time wondering about the urine content of teenagers. I field phone calls at all hours from internet semi-strangers and people I've only seen in parking lots who want to tell me or ask me about some piece of scurrilous gossip. I nearly ruined another vacation for my girlfriend when I was threatened with expulsion from the Alamo, just because I couldn't resist answering a highly informative phone call during the Mendoza/DeLoach firing and hiring escapade.

And, with very few exceptions- I love it. Because I love North Texas, and this website has served as a vehicle for me to become more involved, to get to know a variety of people who I never would have met otherwise that share this fairly rare but intensely passionate interest.

Because of this site, TY and I hear from a lot of folks about the positive and negative happenings surrounding North Texas. For a variety of reasons, most of it gets filtered out and never gets posted. Sometimes, it's because people with an ax to grind are obviously feeding us bullshit. Other times, it's because we can't quite get enough of the details to feel comfortable posting a story (Where have you gone, Jim Zakel? And who did you tender your resignation to?). Other times, a story is true and verifiable but we don't post it because all it does is embarrass our school or publicize mistakes that student athletes would subsequently never be able to outgrow.

Since the two of us are occasionally amusing in our jackassery, people talk to us. We don't understand why, but it continues to happen. And we try to be very judicious in what we write. Because we take our irreverence very seriously.

Since we started the site, I can only think of two articles (out of nearly 500) that I regret posting. When you consider how much of our content focuses on convicted rapists, Black History month humor, satirical slander, and dead SMU coeds... That's not a bad ratio of regrets.

The first article I regret was created back before we went public with the site, during the months when we were still writing for an audience of, literally, less than 10 people. Rick Villarreal's son was arrested for a serious crime, and we made a joke about it that also referenced the newly announced advertising slogan for North Texas football. If the incident had occurred after we went public, I wouldn't have written the post.

The other article I regret was my "open letter to God" after Daniel Meager was named the starting QB before the 2007 season. Any doubts I may have had about his ability were erased by the performance I saw against SMU. And the way he's handled himself since then, especially considering the adversity he's gone through, is a testament to his personal character. I'm proud that he's represented North Texas, and I'm sorry for anything negative I've ever said about the guy. I hope he can get past all the bullshit I'm told he's had to deal with in the past year and a half, and I hope it doesn't sour him on our school.

Even though I regret writing them, you can still find both articles in our archives. We could always delete them, but we've made the decision to maintain them to keep ourselves honest. The articles we regret are always there reminding us to be more deliberate in the future. The article (I can only think of one instance, the Goldfield house sale/assumed donation, and it was heavily qualified) where we posted what turned out to be a false rumor is always there as a reminder to make sure we've got our facts straight before publishing a story.

In fact, only once have we ever gone back and deleted or significantly modified (meaning, something beyond fixing a spelling or grammar error, most of which we also leave intact) a post on this website. And it wasn't because we were trying to eliminate a story we regretted writing or to delete an article that turned out to be inaccurate.

In the wee hours of the morning on Friday, December 14th of last year, we posted an article claiming that Butch LaCroix, then a North Texas football assistant coach, had tendered his resignation.

Before lunchtime, a call came from an Athletics Department representative vehemently asserting that the story was not true, and that the folks in charge were very angry over our shameful rumormongering. We were told in no uncertain terms that LaCroix had NOT resigned, and that we needed to take down the incorrect information.

Even though I trusted the original source and had received additional confirmation after publishing the story, we took the Athletics Department at their word. They said we had the facts wrong and we needed to take down our story. So, we did.

You can probably imagine how surprised we felt less than 48 hours later, when a slightly more legitimate media outlet confirmed that LaCroix had indeed resigned.

Go figure... Either our irresponsible not-quite-journalism was so powerful that it coerced a completely content employee into quitting his job, or the Athletics Department knowingly and intentionally lied to us.

A few weeks later, we were tipped off that Ron Mendoza was about to lose his Defensive Coordinator job. This time, to my subsequent regret, we called the Sports Information department early in the evening to confirm or deny before publishing the story. They tried to play down the rumor without officially denying it, and after some deliberation and hesitation, we decided to post the story.

Just a few hours later, the story was confirmed to one of the local newspapers.

So once again, either our little website was the shockingly persuasive catalyst for the second coaching change in less than a month at North Texas... Or the folks in the Athletics Department tried to mislead us to keep us off the story.

That's just the way things go. Only the very naive would find it shocking that those in positions of authority and power might occasionally have to be less than 100% candid or honest to effectively do their jobs.

Sometimes, I absolutely adore Rick Villarreal. Other times, I have to shake my head and wonder what he's thinking. That's true of any public figure in a position of influence for North Texas.

I only care about UNT employees in so far as they impact North Texas. When Rick V, or Darrell Dickey, or Todd Dodge, or Gretchen Bataille, or anyone else says or does something that enriches the University of North Texas... I love them for it. And when they say or do something that brings shame or embarrassment to UNT, I resent them for it. I'm not in a position where I can just pack up my support and take it to Dallas Jesuit or some other school if I get frustrated with the words or actions of NT's officials... My ties will always be to North Texas.

Our main priority here at TY Sports is to amuse ourselves. So humor factors in to almost everything we do. When we praise RV, we usually couch it in humor. When we criticize, we generally do the same.

If we're critical, it's nothing compared to the criticism faced by Athletics Directors like Steve Pedersen, Darryl Gross, Barbara Hedges, Robert Mulcahy, or Al Bohl. Anything remotely negative we've ever said about Rick Villarreal pales in comparison to the criticism we've leveled at Steve Orsini and the work he's done at SMU.

We're not on a mission to slander or embarrass Rick Villarreal. Anyone who feels our Sexytime! feature undermines this point doesn't recall how it started and grew. We started posting photos of RV and jokingly analyzing their sex appeal after RV instructed the operators of GoMeanGreen.com to prohibit any such discussion of North Texas student athletes on their forum. I commend him for the decision; it was the right thing to do and I'm glad that he voiced his displeasure over the issue. We figured that hypersexualizing and critiquing photos of a handsome 50 year old man was inherently silly enough to appeal to everyone. And it would simultaneously mock those who couldn't quite comprehend why that sort of thing might be inappropriate when directed towards a teenage girl. I thought it was a throwaway joke (that's why the name comes from a Borat reference) that would quickly be forgotten. But much to our surprise, the feature took on a life of its own and became (along with the phrase "Texas Douche") effectively synonymous with this website.

One of the things Rick Villarreal occasionally does that makes me scratch my head in confusion is post on a fan message forum; specifically, GoMeanGreen.com. No matter how much one might desire direct communication with die-hard fans... Posting on a messageboard is a very perilous act for someone in RV's position.

But his decision to do so has granted me a very dubious distinction: How many other college football fans can say that their school's Athletic Director has effectively called them out on an internet messageboard?

A little background for those unfamiliar:

North Texas is currently holding a student referendum for a dedicated Athletics Fee that will help finance a new football stadium. As one might imagine, this issue has been a topic of much anticipation and discussion among North Texas fans.

One of the main points of concern is where the remaining balance of funds will come from. On one particular forum discussion, a very enthusiastic young fan kept referencing a discussion he'd had with RV in which he claimed RV asserted that there were as many as three companies lined up and ready to put money on the table in exchange for naming rights. I doubted whether the account was accurate, but I wouldn't have been surprised if some sort of vague hinting about the issue had indeed taken place. From what I've been hearing, it wouldn't mark the first time in this vote campaign that members of the Athletics Department might occasionally have been less than 100% candid or honest in order to more effectively drum up student support.

After the thread in which this discussion was taking place reached entry number eighty two, I finally chimed in and tried to politely (because I have a soft spot for this particular young fan and I don't want to see him get discouraged about the program or its leadership) explain that even if his recollection of this conversation were accurate, then it was my opinion that RV was "full of crap" if he had in fact claimed he was turning down corporate offers in order to attempt to pursue private funds.

Even the most strident critic of Rick Villarreal wouldn't deny that he's an intelligent man. And after almost a decade of struggling to raise funds for this new stadium, neither he nor anybody else in their right mind would pass up an eight-figure bird in the hand that would complete the financing.

The young man made a statement about how he was sure that Villarreal "wouldn't lie to us," a comment he later identified as sarcastic. Based on my own experiences, I shared my opinion that this wasn't necessarily an absolute truth. I went on to tell the young man to always remember that his tie to North Texas is permanent. And not to get too wrapped up in the highs and lows that accompany the tenures of various University employees, no matter how important they may be.

But in between those two sentiments, I said this:

And I know for a fact that he's been lying to some people about stadium related issues that I will not specify.

I was very focused on trying not to discourage the young man and I was not very judicious in my choice of language elsewhere. This was a serious error on my part, and in the future I will try even harder to be careful in how I choose my words. A statement so bold should not be thrown out flippantly, and in retrospect I wish I had not phrased things the way that I did.

I don't "know for a fact" that Athletics officials have "been lying" about stadium issues. I'm not a fly on the wall eavesdropping on secret conversations, I don't have photos or videotape of any shenanigans, and I'm not a first-hand witness to any alleged impropriety.

It was a very irresponsible choice of words, and I regret my error.

The posting seems to have inspired RV to once again put digital pen to digital parchment and condemn those who would unfairly accuse him of dishonesty. Which, judging by the fact that he was trolling my forum profile (and no one else's that was engaged in the precipitating discussion) about an hour before posting his retort, appears to be a population of one.

Again, I screwed up and I was wrong to write what I did.

But something to think about... Consider it Exhibit 1 in why "(p)osting on a messageboard is a very perilous act for someone in RV's position."

Earlier in the week, Rick Villarreal ignited a tiny controversy when, during a stadium tour intended to drum up student support for the vote, he was recorded saying:

We keep saying our football program sucks. Well, it does. Okay? I mean, I'd be the first to tell you I'm embarrassed as anybody as how we're playing right now. But the reality is we're not going to get any better until we make changes and support the program. If we want to continue to get worse, and that's how we want people to look at us, then we can keep going down this road. Because it's not going to get better.

(Just for the record, I agree 100% with everything he said in the above quote.)

The quote was recorded by the NT Daily (the North Texas student newspaper), then mentioned by reporters for the Denton Record-Chronicle/Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

RV turned to GoMeanGreen.com to address the hubbub to the only people (outside of the football program) who really took notice: the die-hard fans. In the first of what would ultimately be three posts on the forum in as many days, Villarreal attempted to clarify by saying:

My reference to the "program" was in reference mainly to the stadium and all the those things that can affect a team's performance as well as the effects it has on our team and its' ability to be successful. Remember I was there talking about the need for a new facility. I did not say our team sucks and never would.

It's very understandable how someone could get mixed up. The phrase "football program" can be used to cover a large scope or any specific segment therein. But direct your attention to the statement about how RV is "embarrassed as anybody as how we're playing right now." (emphasis mine).

I've racked my brain for hours, and I can't think of any way the English language can be tortured such that an inert object like a stadium can possibly engage in the act of playing anything. Ditto for the intangible things that affect/effect a team's performance.

Whenever one speaks candidly, one runs the risk of saying what one really means instead of only what one can comfortably say. The potential for embarrassment can be tremendous when the message is recorded.

It's a concept I understand very well.

Villarreal didn't say that our football team itself "sucks", he said that our football PROGRAM sucks. And then he went on to use words that can't be interpreted in any other way but to conclude that our team's performance is personally embarrassing.

Whatever he meant to say and whatever he reasonably should have said, the statement is out there and on record. Again... I understand his situation very well. But RV has apologized to the coach and the team, and I assume they've accepted his apology.

I hope he'll be as gracious as they were in accepting mine.