UTRGV commits to add FCS football by 2024

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

5 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Kevin Dogins! That was the center’s name.

Those teams  with Joe Menchaca at QB were lit, if he hadn’t been suspended I think they’d have beaten North Alabama the second year.

No doubt in anyone's mind including North Alabama they would have won it.   Even with a back up QB who played RB most of the season, they almost pulled it off.

[956 Worldwide 34703]

Anyway, will be looking forward to the inevitable UTPA Throwback uniform game.

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

11 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

has aggy scheduled them yet?

Hey now.... Tech says "me first."  

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

Just now, 956 Worldwide said:

Anyway, will be looking forward to the inevitable UTPA Throwback uniform game.

Edinburg  College throw backs!  

Interesting story about football at  Edinburg College/ Pan American/UTPA/UTRGV from 1989.  I actually recall this attempt.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-17-sp-301-story.html

[ButtFumble 5164]

8 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

This....   

They should have kept the Broncs as the mascot, IMO.

This probably means the death are even more of rapid decline to the Texas A&M Kingsville football program.   It was already in hole.   Unless John Sharp gets his way and merges the Kingsville and Corpus into one school sort of like what UTPA did with the Edinburg campus and UT Brownsville.  In fact their was some serious movement a few years ago to do just this and the athletic programs would have been combined and he promised a new 25,000 -30,000 seat stadium and complex to go along with it.  It didn't fly because Corpus was going to be more on the short end of the stick.   But I'm hearing rumbles it might be tried again with more goodies for Corpus this time around.    I hope it occurs because this region could use a showcase like football stadium .   It will probably occur after I move from the area in 3 or 4 year from now, but I hope it does.

 

that Vaquero looks like their mascot is El Gringos

NotSo Sharp really fucked up that merger it would have been great for both schools and Texas

the aggy system has been fucking over Kingsville for years to the point there was talk of them backing out of the system about 10 years ago

the programs at CC and Kingsville match up great they both have some strengths in their engineering, but not a lot of duplication and with the maritime focus research at CC and the Wildlife research programs at Kingsville they would have a real strength combined together.....their real duplication is in the standard liberal arts programs and the core course programs that all universities have and chopping the administrative cost of those and the overall university administrative cost would have left a lot of money to improve those common degree programs and the combined university overall

CC is getting stretched for land space now, but their location works well for attracting students and their growth is steady while Kingsville has pretty much stagnated on growth the last 5 years after some growth after 2010

the problem is like you said CC knows they have done well and not been fucked like most of the other aggy system schools they see no need to merge and Kinhsville has been so fucked they figure they are just going to get fucked more....I mean shit aggy put a Pharmacy School right on the Kingsville campus that was pushed by South Texas legislators and then the system placed it in the medical school instead of under Kingsville and then a couple of years later merged all the medical school stuff under college station......that is getting shitted on 

the UT System worked the South Texas political leaders, came in with the medical school (of course under the administration of RGV which was the first medical school under a public university in Texas) and then put it all as PUF participants (which actually does not mean more funding other than the $25 million or so in special funding for the medical school start up, but dumb ass politicians do not understand that) and then sold the idea

NotSo Sharp just half assed tossed the idea out there without shit to sweeten, acted like it was a done deal, it and it went over like a shit filled lead balloon....reality is that is probably what the aggy system really wanted was for it to fail.......get a 22,000 enrollment school with some decent engineering and wildlife and ag programs in an area that looks out for itself (while fucking itself), and some decent research numbers for a school that size and that age and suddenly it is harder to shit on them left and right

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

4 minutes ago, ButtFumble said:

 

that Vaquero looks like their mascot is El Gringos

NotSo Sharp really fucked up that merger it would have been great for both schools and Texas

the aggy system has been fucking over Kingsville for years to the point there was talk of them backing out of the system about 10 years ago

the programs at CC and Kingsville match up great they both have some strengths in their engineering, but not a lot of duplication and with the maritime focus research at CC and the Wildlife research programs at Kingsville they would have a real strength combined together.....their real duplication is in the standard liberal arts programs and the core course programs that all universities have and chopping the administrative cost of those and the overall university administrative cost would have left a lot of money to improve those common degree programs and the combined university overall

CC is getting stretched for land space now, but their location works well for attracting students and their growth is steady while Kingsville has pretty much stagnated on growth the last 5 years after some growth after 2010

the problem is like you said CC knows they have done well and not been fucked like most of the other aggy system schools they see no need to merge and Kinhsville has been so fucked they figure they are just going to get fucked more....I mean shit aggy put a Pharmacy School right on the Kingsville campus that was pushed by South Texas legislators and then the system placed it in the medical school instead of under Kingsville and then a couple of years later merged all the medical school stuff under college station......that is getting shitted on 

the UT System worked the South Texas political leaders, came in with the medical school (of course under the administration of RGV which was the first medical school under a public university in Texas) and then put it all as PUF participants (which actually does not mean more funding other than the $25 million or so in special funding for the medical school start up, but dumb ass politicians do not understand that) and then sold the idea

NotSo Sharp just half assed tossed the idea out there without shit to sweeten, acted like it was a done deal, it and it went over like a shit filled lead balloon....reality is that is probably what the aggy system really wanted was for it to fail.......get a 22,000 enrollment school with some decent engineering and wildlife and ag programs in an area that looks out for itself (while fucking itself), and some decent research numbers for a school that size and that age and suddenly it is harder to shit on them left and right

Everything you said is spot on.   

My later days down there were at the time the name change was shoved down A&I's throat.  No one other than a few politicians and some Corpus Christi people wanted the name change for A&I because they knew it would do big time harm.   For a small school in a not so wealthy part of the state, it had a nice donor base and some well off alums in high places such as the one time CEO of Exxon among others.   For some reason, the aggy BOR got scared shitless and voted to change the name after promising the school and the alums back in the late 80's when A&M brought on CCSU, Laredo State and A&I that they would not change the A&I name.    That one act dried up a huge donor base to the point to this some have never stepped foot back on that campus and I'm talking about some people who would have written million dollar checks and left gifts in their wills for the school.  Gone forever!  The dirty little secret from the chatter of the day is the real reason A&M brought on the three South Texas campuses back in the late 80's was to help increase the systems minority enrollment numbers.

At the same time,  it took A&M a long time how to figure out how to operate a system.   To Sharps credit, he's done some good things in recognizing this.   But you don't see it in Kingsville other than a few bones thrown to them.  I've thought this ever since then , while aggy didn't want to give up their name to the schools it took under their umbrella.   I think some of them later took offense that Kingsville to this day is still bitter about the A&M name and losing A&I.   Corpus and Laredo had no problems losing their original identities.  Tarleton kept theirs because of the deal that was signed to bring them in the system decades ago.   West Texas State got to keep some of their original ID.   And Commerce dumped East Texas State ,  but they thought and rightfully so taking the aggy name would give them some staying power being close to the DFW area more than being in East Texas.     East Texas is  Lufkin,  Nacogdoches, etc much like Del Rio, Eagle Pass, etc.  is Southwest Texas and for the longest time Texas State was called Southwest Texas State and San Marcos is maybe considered South Central Texas or even Central Texas.    

UT has always done better with their system schools IMO.  They see them as extension of the brand and in most cases put the money where it's needed.    IMO Kingsville would have been better off being a Tech system school because it has the Ag and Engineering programs to complement their own and Tech would have a foot print in the part of the state they don't have at all.   But Tech didn't get into the systems thing until more recently when Angelo State became part of their system and Midwestern up Wichita Falls might join the system.

 

 

[SimonBolivar 10957]

Fuck being the Broncs. They should've kept the Ocelots name.

[Macklemore 2876]

17 hours ago, Helobious said:

Flores Stadium in Edinburg is closest to the campus, Nueces is right though McAllen Memorial is the largest and not terribly far from campus either. Pretty bland as far as stadiums go though. Only RGV field with any character is Sams in Brownsville but that’s way too small for college. 
 

What’s also close to campus & maybe the nicest facility is HEB Park. It’s a minor league soccer field currently and is only a couple years old. I’ve never been to it but I heard it’s nice. Only seats about 9k though. 

RGV FC plays at HEB Park. It's a really nice stadium. I think the size is right for new program in the FCS. Hell, Houston Baptist plays in a 5,000 seat stadium and they are an FBS program.  RGV is the most underrated region of the state. Lots to like living down there. Especially the proximity to Padre.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Macklemore

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

6 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

RGV FC plays at HEB Park. It's a really nice stadium That is where they should play. RGV is the most underrated region of the state. Lots to like living down there. Especially the proximity to Padre.

It's incredibly affordable to live down there.   A home that might cost $500k in the Austin area might go for half the price down there.   Labor costs are low and builders can get good deals on materials like tile, brick, etc.  from wholesalers on this side of the border who get the deals  from their suppliers on the other side. 

Only downside is the job market is heavily tied to service (retail) and government jobs such as law enforcement, education, etc.   Ag jobs are still there in numbers, but that's shrinking in part to some of the prime farm land being sold to commercial and residential development.  When the economy in Mexico tanks, retail takes a huge hit down there.     Good paying Blue collar jobs are in short supply and I know some folks who commute weekly to the oil fields or  the coast to work in petrochemical.    Same goes for white collar other than your attorneys, CPA's, medical, etc.    But I guess the move to telecommuting will help diversify economy there and in other areas.   I see this here in Corpus with the number of inquires I get from out of state folks looking for property whether it be a primary or secondary home.   And some in state folks to, primarily from the  Austin area.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

21 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

It's incredibly affordable to live down there.   A home that might cost $500k in the Austin area might go for half the price down there.   Labor costs are low and builders can get good deals on materials like tile, brick, etc.  from wholesalers on this side of the border who get the deals  from their suppliers on the other side. 

Only downside is the job market is heavily tied to service (retail) and government jobs such as law enforcement, education, etc.   Ag jobs are still there in numbers, but that's shrinking in part to some of the prime farm land being sold to commercial and residential development.  When the economy in Mexico tanks, retail takes a huge hit down there.     Good paying Blue collar jobs are in short supply and I know some folks who commute weekly to the oil fields or  the coast to work in petrochemical.    Same goes for white collar other than your attorneys, CPA's, medical, etc.    But I guess the move to telecommuting will help diversify economy there and in other areas.   I see this here in Corpus with the number of inquires I get from out of state folks looking for property whether it be a primary or secondary home.   And some in state folks to, primarily from the  Austin area.

I lived in the RGV in the early 90s when I lived with my dad, who worked for Shell Oil.  If you like the outdoors, it is a hell of a region.  Some of my dad's friends had a ranch near La Joya and I hunted there during dove season pretty much every day in high school.  Kept a shotgun in the trunk of my car and went straight from school (Sharyland HS). It was a place you could get a limit standing near the barn in a white t shirt in 20 minutes because there were thousands of birds.  Laguna Madra is my favorite fishery.  And there is excellent deer hunting.

I loved my time down there.  Back then Mexico was safe and we usually went there every Friday night for dinner.  Dad would let me have two beers. My favorite restaurant was La Fogata in Reynosa. I loved living in the Valley.

[CooterBrown 18004]

22 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

It's incredibly affordable to live down there.   A home that might cost $500k in the Austin area might go for half the price down there.   

I can get this for only $250K?!?!? SIGN ME UP!!!

[Macklemore 2876]

Just now, CooterBrown said:

I can get this for only $250K?!?!? SIGN ME UP!!!

You can get huge brand new homes in very nice subdivisions like Sharyland in McAllen for $250-300K

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

1 minute ago, CooterBrown said:

I can get this for only $250K?!?!? SIGN ME UP!!!

Austin is California now as far a real estate....  Oh my!

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

4 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

I lived in the RGV in the early 90s when I lived with my dad, who worked for Shell Oil.  If you like the outdoors, it is a hell of a region.  Some of my dad's friends had a ranch near La Joya and I hunted there during dove season pretty much every day in high school.  Kept a shotgun in the trunk of my car and went straight from school (Sharyland HS). It was a place you could get a limit standing near the barn in a white t shirt in 20 minutes because there were thousands of birds.  Laguna Madra is my favorite fishery.  And there is excellent deer hunting.

I loved my time down there.  Back then Mexico was safe and we usually went there every Friday night for dinner.  Dad would let me have two beers. My favorite restaurant was La Fogata in Reynosa. I loved living in the Valley.

This was me as well.  I grew up down there and graduated from high school in 1990.   I wouldn't trade it at all.

[956 Worldwide 34703]

2 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

You can get huge brand new homes in very nice subdivisions like Sharyland in McAllen for $250-300K

You can go cheaper if you are less selective about your neighbors (not bad/dangerous or even rude/unkempt, just not gated community) and if you can do without the restaurants and shopping in McAllen.  For my money, the lower RGV from La Feria to Los Fresnos and Laguna Vista is a nicer place to live especially factoring in proximity to the coast which is my main plus. 

[956 Worldwide 34703]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

I lived in the RGV in the early 90s when I lived with my dad, who worked for Shell Oil.  If you like the outdoors, it is a hell of a region.  Some of my dad's friends had a ranch near La Joya and I hunted there during dove season pretty much every day in high school.  Kept a shotgun in the trunk of my car and went straight from school (Sharyland HS). It was a place you could get a limit standing near the barn in a white t shirt in 20 minutes because there were thousands of birds.  Laguna Madra is my favorite fishery.  And there is excellent deer hunting.

I loved my time down there.  Back then Mexico was safe and we usually went there every Friday night for dinner.  Dad would let me have two beers. My favorite restaurant was La Fogata in Reynosa. I loved living in the Valley.

Walking across the Las Flores bridge for dinner and drinks, cutting class to get to the Island on good weather and surf days, all your friends have leases or boats....the Valley was an excellent place to grow up. 

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

2 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

You can go cheaper if you are less selective about your neighbors (not bad/dangerous or even rude/unkempt, just not gated community) and if you can do without the restaurants and shopping in McAllen.  For my money, the lower RGV from La Feria to Los Fresnos and Laguna Vista is a nicer place to live especially factoring in proximity to the coast which is my main plus. 

That's the thing that I think freaks people out about the region...   You can go down a rural road and have a $250k + home and your neighbor is in in a wood frame home with a not so nice yard...  

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

6 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Walking across the Las Flores bridge for dinner and drinks, cutting class to get to the Island on good weather and surf days, all your friends have leases or boats....the Valley was an excellent place to grow up. 

Las Flores (Nuevo Progresso)  was our alternative hang out when we didn't feel like going to Reynosa.     You could get a good meal at Red Snapper or Arturo's and couple of beers for a few bucks!  

[txhorns 2409]

Any clue as to which other Texas school the WAC might be targeting as a member?

[956 Worldwide 34703]

Just now, txhorns said:

Any clue as to which other Texas school the WAC might be targeting as a member?

They’ve already officially added ACU, Stephen F., Sam Houston, Lamar, and Southern Utah and are returning to football at the FCS level.

Hurts my head to think about, I still think of the WAC as a fun and gun FBS conference that always had crazy scores from schools like BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, and UTEP.

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

Just now, txhorns said:

Any clue as to which other Texas school the WAC might be targeting as a member?

I'm hearing West Texas A&M...  Makes sense thanks to being in the Amarillo area and they have a brand new stadium which they built with expansion in mind.  Other facilites are D 1 ready.

They were once in Division 1 athletics and shut down things for a couple years in the early 90's and re entered in as a D2 school.

[Macklemore 2876]

McAllen and other cities in the RGV really get it when it comes to economic development when compared to other border cities like Eagle Pass and Laredo. Their officials are really easy to deal and have helped a lot on deals I have worked on. RGV has great potential in attracting jobs and have the right people in leadership to make it happen. McAllen did a really nice job with their new convention center and hotels. Nice retail and restaurants right next to it. Great place to have smaller conventions. Went there for a diocesan conference and was impressed. One thing I don't understand is the airport situation. I don't know why they have McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville and Valley International airports having commercial service. They would be much better off if the cities agreed to do one big airport serving the entire RGV like a much smaller version of DFW. It would be a lot more convenient and open up more destinations.

[Dennis Taylor 18809]

11 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

If they want to make a go at football, they need to recruit some local players and then scour the country to fill out the roster with size and speed.  

Is that important for football?

[956 Worldwide 34703]

6 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

McAllen and other cities in the RGV really get it when it comes to economic development when compared to other border cities like Eagle Pass and Laredo. Their officials are really easy to deal and have helped a lot on deals I have worked on. RGV has great potential in attracting jobs and have the right people in leadership to make it happen. McAllen did a really nice job with their new convention center and hotels. Nice retail and restaurants right next to it. Great place to have smaller conventions. Went there for a diocesan conference and was impressed. One thing I don't understand is the airport situation. I don't know why they have McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville and Valley International airports having commercial service. They would be much better off if the cities agreed to do one big airport serving the entire RGV like a much smaller version of DFW. It would be a lot more convenient and open up more destinations.

The three valley cities just can’t handle not each having an airport, it makes no sense at all, I agree, but no local official is going to win re-election with a message of “I’m going to close the airport.” 

Quick clarification though, Valley International is in Harlingen, there’s only three airports. It’s the only one that makes sense as a local hub due to runway size, infrastructure and location. Right in the middle of the Valley, airport to Island is 50 minutes and airport to McAllen or Brownsville is about 45 minutes. 

 

[Helobious 9451]

Sounds like most of you guys grew up down there far earlier than I did. My favorite memories were going to The Zone in McAllen and Peter Piper pizza haha. We’d go to progreso all the time and I still go every couple years at least, doesnt feel dangerous to me really. But yeah the island and the food are the best things about it imo. 
 

I liked growing up there, it’s definitely more on the slow/boring side of things but that depends on what you’re into really. Only thing is trouble is easy to find if you’re looking for it, saw some friends fall into that. It’s also just as easy to avoid though. And @MacklemoreI feel like it’s too spread out for your mega airport idea, unless you build it in Weslaco or Mercedes. You’re right that it would bring in more flight options though. 

[Helobious 9451]

5 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Is that important for football?

I always say what we lack in size & speed we make up for in ganas. 
 

But yeah it turns out size & speed are usually more useful.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

26 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Las Flores (Nuevo Progresso)  was our alternative hang out when we didn't feel like going to Reynosa.     You could get a good meal at Red Snapper or Arturo's and couple of beers for a few bucks!  

Am close friends with the Sparks family who owns that bridge.  Think it is one of just a handful of privately owned bridges between the two countries.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Fastest guy on my HS team in Houston was a Mexican national...And he could juke you too. He was like a Mexican Gale Sayers and he fucking hated getting tackled so that made him really hard to catch up with. I would bet he was a 4.4 guy. But he would admit he was very much an exception and said that there were more Mexicans who could run for three days straight than dudes like him with blistering speed. And that Mexican baseball was full of great pitchers but not too strong for position players. 

Anyway dude is living the dream now, or at least pre-covid. He owns an Irish pub in Monterrey and it is always full to the brim with absolutely smoking chicks. 

[956 Worldwide 34703]

4 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Fastest guy on my HS team in Houston was a Mexican national...And he could juke you too. He was like a Mexican Gale Sayers and he fucking hated getting tackled so that made him really hard to catch up with. I would bet he was a 4.4 guy. But he would admit he was very much an exception and said that there were more Mexicans who could run for three days straight than dudes like him with blistering speed. And that Mexican baseball was full of great pitchers but not too strong for position players. 

Anyway dude is living the dream now, or at least pre-covid. He owns an Irish pub in Monterrey and it is always full to the brim with absolutely smoking chicks. 

There’s easily going to be 5-10 RGV players each year that are more than capable of contributing at the FCS level. Key will be for UTRGV to sign almost all of them to keep local interest in the team high. 

[ChingoHorns 115]

The Brownsville airpot is almost done with its new terminal but a small airport regardless. I grew up in SA and lived/worked in Austin from 08-2012 and wont leave Brownsville anymore. Wife is a PA (UTRGV grad) down here and life is smooth sailing. 20 mins from our house to the island. 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

9 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Fastest guy on my HS team in Houston was a Mexican national...And he could juke you too. He was like a Mexican Gale Sayers and he fucking hated getting tackled so that made him really hard to catch up with. I would bet he was a 4.4 guy. But he would admit he was very much an exception and said that there were more Mexicans who could run for three days straight than dudes like him with blistering speed. And that Mexican baseball was full of great pitchers but not too strong for position players. 

Anyway dude is living the dream now, or at least pre-covid. He owns an Irish pub in Monterrey and it is always full to the brim with absolutely smoking chicks. 

I have spent my fair share of time in Mexico as a single man.  Monterrey always had the hottest women.  Many definitely had more Spanish than Indian blood in them -- blonde hair and blue eyes.

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

27 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

McAllen and other cities in the RGV really get it when it comes to economic development when compared to other border cities like Eagle Pass and Laredo. Their officials are really easy to deal and have helped a lot on deals I have worked on. RGV has great potential in attracting jobs and have the right people in leadership to make it happen. McAllen did a really nice job with their new convention center and hotels. Nice retail and restaurants right next to it. Great place to have smaller conventions. Went there for a diocesan conference and was impressed. One thing I don't understand is the airport situation. I don't know why they have McAllen, Harlingen, Brownsville and Valley International airports having commercial service. They would be much better off if the cities agreed to do one big airport serving the entire RGV like a much smaller version of DFW. It would be a lot more convenient and open up more destinations.

Agreed and in that sense,  Harlingen would have been the ideal place for a centralized airport since the main anchor airline is Southwest.   Driving to  Harlingen from McAllen is much easier and that driving 5 miles from the airport in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.  

McAllen did a wonderful job starting in the 70's of having the fat cats from Monterrey invest in the city.   Monterrey is probably the second wealthiest  regions in Mexico next  to Mexico City and maybe some of the lower Baja, but a lot of that is wealthy American retiring down there.  And not too mention some of the gals from Monterrey are some of the most beautiful women I've ever met.   That's a side note for you guys who are looking for a rich chick to take care of your lazy ass.  LOL!

Laredo was always content on being the borders truck stop.     They built their infrastructure to accommodate the trade routes from Monterrey area and interior toward Saltillo,etc.    If you are in Custom Brokerage business or trucking, you are banking it in Laredo.

 

 

[Johnny Sack 8397]

5 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Agreed and in that sense,  Harlingen would have been the ideal place for a centralized airport since the main anchor airline is Southwest.   Driving to  Harlingen from McAllen is much easier and that driving 5 miles from the airport in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.  

McAllen did a wonderful job starting in the 70's of having the fat cats from Monterrey invest in the city.   Monterrey is probably the second wealthiest  regions in Mexico next  to Mexico City and maybe some of the lower Baja, but a lot of that is wealthy American retiring down there.  And not too mention some of the gals from Monterrey are some of the most beautiful women I've ever met.   That's a side note for you guys who are looking for a rich chick to take care of your lazy ass.  LOL!

Laredo was always content on being the borders truck stop.     They built their infrastructure to accommodate the trade routes from Monterrey area and interior toward Saltillo,etc.    If you are in Custom Brokerage business or trucking, you are banking it in Laredo.

 

 

When I lived in the region, the wealthy Mexican nationals' shopping sprees was something to behold.

[perfectchaos007 6626]

12 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

There’s easily going to be 5-10 RGV players each year that are more than capable of contributing at the FCS level. Key will be for UTRGV to sign almost all of them to keep local interest in the team high. 

Yep, they’re going to have to convince  guys like Kai Money to stay home 

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

28 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Sounds like most of you guys grew up down there far earlier than I did. My favorite memories were going to The Zone in McAllen and Peter Piper pizza haha. We’d go to progreso all the time and I still go every couple years at least, doesnt feel dangerous to me really. But yeah the island and the food are the best things about it imo. 
 

I liked growing up there, it’s definitely more on the slow/boring side of things but that depends on what you’re into really. Only thing is trouble is easy to find if you’re looking for it, saw some friends fall into that. It’s also just as easy to avoid though. And @MacklemoreI feel like it’s too spread out for your mega airport idea, unless you build it in Weslaco or Mercedes. You’re right that it would bring in more flight options though. 

The 70's/ 80's were a great time down there now that I look back....   It was transitioning and getting more retail, but every town had the small town feel.  The only multiple high schools ISDs at that time was McAllen and Brownsville.    Everyone seemed to get along with each other... Didn't seem to matter if your were Anglo or Mexican... couldn't speak English or Spainsh...  it didn't matter.    I was a white kid in a school district that was probably 75%-25% Hispanic and I probably equal  time  if not more in the barrios with my friends than in my middle class neighborhood with my Anglo and Hispanic friends.    The tios, tias, abuleas and abuelos treated me and fed me well!   I adore many of them to this day.  

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

2 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

When I lived in the region, the wealthy Mexican nationals' shopping sprees was something to behold.

Oh yea... I recall going to LaPlaza in McAllen and checking out at Dillards with my one Polo shirt that I saved my lawn mowing money to pay for and here would come a nice looking Mexicana with 20 shirts and a wad of cash to pay for them.....  LOL!   

[CooterBrown 18004]

I have spent my fair share of time in Mexico as a single man.  Monterrey always had the hottest women.  Many definitely had more Spanish than Indian blood in them -- blonde hair and blue eyes.

Monterey is full of Germans. I vaguely remember reading a lot of them were recruited to staff the university when it was established.

My Mexican heritage is from Monterey and the family names were Von Der Meden and Ratliff.

['stache 21798]

I'm surprised Kingsville never tried to improve their facility and move up to D1. Half and hour from a pretty good population area in Corpus Christi, and the closest D1 for years was in Austin (UTSA now would be the closest). I think A&M Corpus is bigger than Kingsville now, and a nice football facility could be shared with CCISD so today it would seem to make more sense for A&M Corpus to try fielding football at a higher level. I'm not sure how a merger of schools 30 minutes apart with independent athletics would work, especially since AMCC's mascot the Islanders is solely because of its location. Wouldn't make much sense for either mascot in a combined university. It would also make sense for a merged college to go by AMCC since Corpus is bigger and a more widely known city, but I sense Kingsville and its history wouldn't be fond of that. A&M South Texas doesn't work because most people think of Houston. A&M Coastal Bend? Nobody would know what that is. I don't see how a merger like that would work.

[txhorns 2409]

1 hour ago, Nueces River Rat said:

I'm hearing West Texas A&M...  Makes sense thanks to being in the Amarillo area and they have a brand new stadium which they built with expansion in mind.  Other facilites are D 1 ready.

They were once in Division 1 athletics and shut down things for a couple years in the early 90's and re entered in as a D2 school.

West Texas A&M makes sense.  Was curious if it would be them or possibly Midwestern State in Wichita Falls.

[Born Burnt 6177]

11 hours ago, ButtFumble said:

 

that Vaquero looks like their mascot is El Gringos

NotSo Sharp really fucked up that merger it would have been great for both schools and Texas

the aggy system has been fucking over Kingsville for years to the point there was talk of them backing out of the system about 10 years ago

the programs at CC and Kingsville match up great they both have some strengths in their engineering, but not a lot of duplication and with the maritime focus research at CC and the Wildlife research programs at Kingsville they would have a real strength combined together.....their real duplication is in the standard liberal arts programs and the core course programs that all universities have and chopping the administrative cost of those and the overall university administrative cost would have left a lot of money to improve those common degree programs and the combined university overall

CC is getting stretched for land space now, but their location works well for attracting students and their growth is steady while Kingsville has pretty much stagnated on growth the last 5 years after some growth after 2010

the problem is like you said CC knows they have done well and not been fucked like most of the other aggy system schools they see no need to merge and Kinhsville has been so fucked they figure they are just going to get fucked more....I mean shit aggy put a Pharmacy School right on the Kingsville campus that was pushed by South Texas legislators and then the system placed it in the medical school instead of under Kingsville and then a couple of years later merged all the medical school stuff under college station......that is getting shitted on 

the UT System worked the South Texas political leaders, came in with the medical school (of course under the administration of RGV which was the first medical school under a public university in Texas) and then put it all as PUF participants (which actually does not mean more funding other than the $25 million or so in special funding for the medical school start up, but dumb ass politicians do not understand that) and then sold the idea

NotSo Sharp just half assed tossed the idea out there without shit to sweeten, acted like it was a done deal, it and it went over like a shit filled lead balloon....reality is that is probably what the aggy system really wanted was for it to fail.......get a 22,000 enrollment school with some decent engineering and wildlife and ag programs in an area that looks out for itself (while fucking itself), and some decent research numbers for a school that size and that age and suddenly it is harder to shit on them left and right

@RandoIph Duke protégé?

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

3 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Monterey is full of Germans. I vaguely remember reading a lot of them were recruited to staff the university when it was established.

My Mexican heritage is from Monterey and the family names were Von Der Meden and Ratliff.

Yep....  If you look at some of the last names of high ranking officials over the years in the Mexican Government ... Very much a German influenced  last names...  Vicente Fox for one...   

[KYHorn 17015]

13 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I'm surprised Kingsville never tried to improve their facility and move up to D1. Half and hour from a pretty good population area in Corpus Christi, and the closest D1 for years was in Austin (UTSA now would be the closest). I think A&M Corpus is bigger than Kingsville now, and a nice football facility could be shared with CCISD so today it would seem to make more sense for A&M Corpus to try fielding football at a higher level. I'm not sure how a merger of schools 30 minutes apart with independent athletics would work, especially since AMCC's mascot the Islanders is solely because of its location. Wouldn't make much sense for either mascot in a combined university. It would also make sense for a merged college to go by AMCC since Corpus is bigger and a more widely known city, but I sense Kingsville and its history wouldn't be fond of that. A&M South Texas doesn't work because most people think of Houston. A&M Coastal Bend? Nobody would know what that is. I don't see how a merger like that would work.

I've only passed by A&M Kingsville's campus a few times and don't remember much about it, but A&M-CC has a prime location that would be hard to beat in the region. 

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

8 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I'm surprised Kingsville never tried to improve their facility and move up to D1. Half and hour from a pretty good population area in Corpus Christi, and the closest D1 for years was in Austin (UTSA now would be the closest). I think A&M Corpus is bigger than Kingsville now, and a nice football facility could be shared with CCISD so today it would seem to make more sense for A&M Corpus to try fielding football at a higher level. I'm not sure how a merger of schools 30 minutes apart with independent athletics would work, especially since AMCC's mascot the Islanders is solely because of its location. Wouldn't make much sense for either mascot in a combined university. It would also make sense for a merged college to go by AMCC since Corpus is bigger and a more widely known city, but I sense Kingsville and its history wouldn't be fond of that. A&M South Texas doesn't work because most people think of Houston. A&M Coastal Bend? Nobody would know what that is. I don't see how a merger like that would work.

If the merger happens, it will probably be A&M Coastal Bend or something like that.   A&M has the campus in Laredo (International) and A&M San Antonio which is technically in South Texas, so something to tie the two schools to the region would have to be in the cards.

The issue with not moving up was always due to cash and being content on being D2...  They always thought being in the NFL factory for years would be sufficient to overcome what other small schools were doing and they never thought UTSA and UIW would start football to North and UTRGV was always a pipe dream.   Well now they stand here with a Stadium that looks like it did in the 1960's with a few cosmetic touches (same goes for the fieldhouse for basketball) and a UTSA program to the north who did very well this season and has the potential to go great things in the near future.   UIW has made progress and their will be a new D1 program to the south.

A few of us tried to warn the administration 10 or 15 years ago to get a move on upgrading and were ignored.     Now look.  West Texas, Tarleton, and Prairie View all have new shiny toys for their football programs because they got at it with the A&M system and their alumni base.  Same goes with Commerce.   The idiots could have raised the cash from the private sources, but they NEVER tried.  

If I were A&M Corpus and regardless if the merger occurs, I'd be fast tracking football right now and forget about Kingsville.   Start a program for kickoff in 2023 or 2024 and build a new stadium so we can have a showcase stadium in the Coastal Bend to replace Buc which needs to be done regardless.  Build it overlooking the Oso off Padre Island drive on the way to the Island. 

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

20 minutes ago, txhorns said:

West Texas A&M makes sense.  Was curious if it would be them or possibly Midwestern State in Wichita Falls.

Midwestern would have to build a stadium.   They have long used the Wichita Falls ISD stadium much like ACU did for year down in Abilene.  

Midwestern is also looking at joining the Tech system like Angelo State did a few years back which might help get the cash in to get that done. Angelo is another school that might be in the mix for a move up.   They've put alot of money into upgrades including an on campus stadium which can be expanded if need be.  

[TheBryMan81 2508]

18 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

They hired crappy coaches the last decade and gave the job to Michael Salinas who is a former Javelina and one of those outstanding valley guys that deserved a shot elsewhere, but he went to TAMUK and did well.   His last coaching job was at Edinburg Vela  (he did some assistant work at West Texas and Sam Houston) and from what I understand, he got the job by default because the other finalists withdrew thanks to lack of administrative clarity on what they were going to do to help the recruiting process.  He wasn't even coaching when he got the job.  He was regional sales for a big sporting goods company which sold direct to school districts.  

He was in Weslaco for a year after Vela. Weslaco hired him after interviewing several candidates. He did a really good job of implementing a spread offense in 1 year for a team that had been running the Slot T for at least 10 years by that point. After his 1st season, he, suddenly and without a real great explanation, just up and resigned "to pursue other business opportunities". Less than a year later, he's got the TAMUK job and first thing that he does is offer his QB from Weslaco.

[TheBryMan81 2508]

The merger and name change happened the year after I graduated undergrad from UTPA.  I don't know the details, but something about how making the medical school happen would be easier if the two universities merged into one "new school".

When the Vaquero name first came out, I think it was almost universally hated by those on campus. Why? The powers that be actually held a survey for students and alumni to vote on a mascot. They then completely ignored the results and settled on Vaqueros. I believe "Phoenix" was the most popular mascot choice followed by retaining Broncs. It really felt like it was some old white dudes trying too hard to be cultural and settling for the first Spanish word that made sense.  Students did not like it. Feelings  might be different now as new students are coming in that weren't attached to the Bronc mascot and weren't a part of that process.

Speaking of stadiums, being from Weslaco, I'm partial to Bobby Lackey Stadium. Seats just shy of 15,000 I think with some nice press facilities, new turf, and a great scoreboard and media team. Easy access right off of the expressway. It is about 30 minutes from the Edinburg campus though.

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

2 minutes ago, TheBryMan81 said:

He was in Weslaco for a year after Vela. Weslaco hired him after interviewing several candidates. He did a really good job of implementing a spread offense in 1 year for a team that had been running the Slot T for at least 10 years by that point. After his 1st season, he, suddenly and without a real great explanation, just up and resigned "to pursue other business opportunities". Less than a year later, he's got the TAMUK job and first thing that he does is offer his QB from Weslaco.

I forgot about that one year at Weslaco.   No doubt Salinas was a good coach at the high school level.   But making the jump straight to college level and D2 for that matter is a huge jump.  Especially if you had been away from the college ranks as a coach for several years like he was.  

The two finalist other than him at the time were an assistant at UIW and HC for another D2 program in Arkansas ( I think Henderson State?) ....   The assistant at UIW probably had more going for him than the HC from Henderson and I think they offered the UIW coach, but both withdrew.  Salinas got it by default because the calendar was getting close to flipping and they need to hire for recruiting.    

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

Just now, TheBryMan81 said:

The merger and name change happened the year after I graduated undergrad from UTPA.  I don't know the details, but something about how making the medical school happen would be easier if the two universities merged into one "new school".

When the Vaquero name first came out, I think it was almost universally hated by those on campus. Why? The powers that be actually held a survey for students and alumni to vote on a mascot. They then completely ignored the results and settled on Vaqueros. I believe "Phoenix" was the most popular mascot choice followed by retaining Broncs. It really felt like it was some old white dudes trying too hard to be cultural and settling for the first Spanish word that made sense.  Students did not like it. Feelings  might be different now as new students are coming in that weren't attached to the Bronc mascot and weren't a part of that process.

Speaking of stadiums, being from Weslaco, I'm partial to Bobby Lackey Stadium. Seats just shy of 15,000 I think with some nice press facilities, new turf, and a great scoreboard and media team. Easy access right off of the expressway. It is about 30 minutes from the Edinburg campus though.

That's exactly the opposite of what they did during the first name change after UT took Pan American into the system.   The Lawmakers at the time wanted to change it to UT-Edinburg, but they held a vote with name options and UT-Pan American was the compromise.   At least they gave them a vote to because that was not afforded to A&I students a few years later.   In fact they shoved the name change into language into a higher education bill that was passed during a special session during the summer when not much opposition could be organized because most of the student body was gone for the summer.    The Kingsville  native son  Senator Carlos Truan sold out his own school and town to Corpus interests who wanted the name changes because they knew it would harm Kingsville.  

[TheBryMan81 2508]

1 hour ago, Helobious said:

Sounds like most of you guys grew up down there far earlier than I did. My favorite memories were going to The Zone in McAllen and Peter Piper pizza haha. We’d go to progreso all the time and I still go every couple years at least, doesnt feel dangerous to me really. But yeah the island and the food are the best things about it imo. 
 

I liked growing up there, it’s definitely more on the slow/boring side of things but that depends on what you’re into really. Only thing is trouble is easy to find if you’re looking for it, saw some friends fall into that. It’s also just as easy to avoid though. And @MacklemoreI feel like it’s too spread out for your mega airport idea, unless you build it in Weslaco or Mercedes. You’re right that it would bring in more flight options though. 

The Zone, wow....I think that opened when I was in middle school or high school. When I was a kid, we had a place called Green Acres in Weslaco that was a ton of fun. Now it's a Sonic....

There was a place in McAllen called Gorilla George's where we had all of our birthday parties before a big Peter Piper opened up in Weslaco ha

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

2 minutes ago, TheBryMan81 said:

The Zone, wow....I think that opened when I was in middle school or high school. When I was a kid, we had a place called Green Acres in Weslaco that was a ton of fun. Now it's a Sonic....

There was a place in McAllen called Gorilla George's where we had all of our birthday parties before a big Peter Piper opened up in Weslaco ha

Green Acres was the bomb.   You've probably seen the Karate Kid scene at Golf and Stuff when Danielson goes on a date with what's her name.  That was exactly Green Acres back in the day.   Damn good memories with friends.  Damn good memories...  Thanks for bringing that up.