Mike A. Tiger's LSU Football Preview - North Texas

Game 3: The LSU Hat Brigade

vs. The North Texas Mean Green
Fear the Hat?

Fear that hat? Hardly. Even if you super-size it.

Environmentalism is not a new fad at LSU. We have been “going green” for years, hosting the “Mean Green” of North Texas in Tiger Stadium many times. And we’re getting pretty good at recycling the denizens of Denton, Texas.

The best thing you can say about North Texas is that they have a kick-ass jazz music program, the first college program ever established in the country. And their mascot situation rivals only Auburn University for multiple personality disorder. While nobody ten miles outside of Denton knows it, UNT's mascot is the eagle and was adopted in 1922 in a student election over the dragon, the lion and the cottontail rabbit. (The school’s young student body president, Elmer Fudd, was devastated with the loss by his wascally nominee.) Their costumed eagle is “Scrappy” but he didn't always go by that name. In 1974, students who felt "Scrappy" was too warlike (“Scrappy” WARlike? Really?) dubbed the bird "Eppy," and he kept that name until 1995, when it dawned on everyone that nobody knew what “Eppy” meant, ergo, it could mean “warlike.”

If you think that line of thinking is on the edge, consider that in the spring of 2002, the North Texas chapter of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society attempted to make the group's namesake the school's secondary mascot. The student body narrowly rejected the measure. Awww, nuts. You can’t make this stuff up.

No wonder the athletic teams have embraced "The Mean Green." This name is usually associated with football alum "Mean" Joe Greene, a legendary member of the famous Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers and Coca-Cola commercial icon.

WATCH THIS – CLASSIC COKE

While the North Texas football program doesn’t strike fear in the hearts of anyone in purple and gold, it has won several conference titles over the year. And they also own another gridiron milestone - they were the first football team in modern history to go to a bowl game after posting a losing overall record. The Mean Green finished 5-6 overall in 2001 but won the Sun Belt with a 5-1 conference record, thus earning an automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl. So who can we hope to be the next to achieve this lofty goal? One comes to my mind pretty quick.

Prediction: C’mon. Pick a number. Any number. If you kick “s” on Scrappy you get Crappy. Okay, I’ll go out on a limb and say that the Tiger’s D sees red and shuts out the Mean Green, amassing stats that will place them statistically as the #1 defense in the country after this game. All three LSU quarterbacks get good playing time and pile up some nice stats on the O side. LSU 63, Coke Zer-0.

Come watch the games in metro Atlanta with your friends at either Rio Grande Cantina in Buckhead or at Buffalo Wild Wings in Alpharetta. See ya next week - the next blog for Auburn is an epic!

Your Pal,

Mike

P.S. Don’t forget to vote for me for National Mascot of the Year in the Capital One's All-America Mascot Team competition. Go to capitalonebowl.com and vote often. I promise to eat the other ten mascots if I win.

Mike A. Tiger's LSU Football Preview - North Texas
Submitted by Mike A. Tiger on September 10, 2008 - 11:55am Sports
Game 3: The LSU Hat Brigade vs. The North Texas Mean Green Fear that hat? Hardly. Even if you super-size it. Environmentalism is not a new fad at LSU. We have been “going green” for years, hosting the “Mean Green” of North Texas in Tiger Stadium many times. And we’re getting pretty good at recycling the denizens of Denton, Texas. The best thing you can say about North Texas is that they have a kick-ass jazz music program, the first college program ever established in the country. And their mascot situation rivals only Auburn University for multiple personality disorder. While nobody ten miles outside of Denton knows it, UNT's mascot is the eagle and was adopted in 1922 in a student election over the dragon, the lion and the cottontail rabbit. (The school’s young student body president, Elmer Fudd, was devastated with the loss by his wascally nominee.) Their costumed eagle is “Scrappy” but he didn't always go by that name. In 1974, students who felt "Scrappy" was too warlike (“Scrappy” WARlike? Really?) dubbed the bird "Eppy," and he kept that name until 1995, when it dawned on everyone that nobody knew what “Eppy” meant, ergo, it could mean “warlike.” If you think that line of thinking is on the edge, consider that in the spring of 2002, the North Texas chapter of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society attempted to make the group's namesake the school's secondary mascot. The student body narrowly rejected the measure. Awww, nuts. You can’t make this stuff up. No wonder the athletic teams have embraced "The Mean Green." This name is usually associated with football alum "Mean" Joe Greene, a legendary member of the famous Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers and Coca-Cola commercial icon. WATCH THIS – CLASSIC COKE While the North Texas football program doesn’t strike fear in the hearts of anyone in purple and gold, it has won several conference titles over the year. And they also own another gridiron milestone - they were the first football team in modern history to go to a bowl game after posting a losing overall record. The Mean Green finished 5-6 overall in 2001 but won the Sun Belt with a 5-1 conference record, thus earning an automatic bid to the New Orleans Bowl. So who can we hope to be the next to achieve this lofty goal? One comes to my mind pretty quick. Prediction: C’mon. Pick a number. Any number. If you kick “s” on Scrappy you get Crappy. Okay, I’ll go out on a limb and say that the Tiger’s D sees red and shuts out the Mean Green, amassing stats that will place them statistically as the #1 defense in the country after this game. All three LSU quarterbacks get good playing time and pile up some nice stats on the O side. LSU 63, Coke Zer-0. Come watch the games in metro Atlanta with your friends at either Rio Grande Cantina in Buckhead or at Buffalo Wild Wings in Alpharetta. See ya next week - the next blog for Auburn is an epic! Your Pal, Mike P.S. Don’t forget to vote for me for National Mascot of the Year in the Capital One's All-America Mascot Team competition. Go to capitalonebowl.com and vote often. I promise to eat the other ten mascots if I win.