Another 'faux paus' by SMU's marketing dept.

[MrMustang1965]

I got a call today from a young man (he said he was an intern) with the SMU season ticket office. He wanted to know if I wanted to continue buying the season tickets that my father had in his name. (See story "SMU Loses #1 Fan") I decided to see if this young man was 'on the ball' so I asked him, "What's the schedule for this year's games?" His response: "Oh, it hasn't been announced yet. We don't know yet who we'll be playing."

At that point, I told him, "Yeah, you do. Go to <A HREF="http://www.ponyfans.com." TARGET=_blank>www.ponyfans.com.</A> The schedule is posted there on the message board." His response was, "Are you sure? I really don't think it's been announced yet." I told him, "Trust me."

I also told him to send me the forms for the season tickets because I'll probably continue buying them in Dad's memory.

Just a little advice to the SMU season ticket/marketing folks: MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE TELEMARKETERS HAVE THE 2003 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE IN FRONT OF THEM BEFORE THEY START SOLICITING SEASON TICKET HOLDERS!

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"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!"

[Stallion]

...he's correct-that is not an official schedule and is definitely subject to change-

[Mickey]

stallion, You are splitting hairs here. The point Mr Mustang was making was that the telemarketer didn't even know anything about what he was marketing. The schedule has been announced and he should know it. The schedule may not be official but the only thing that may change is the time and maybe the day if it is moved to accomodate TV. We will be playing the teams on the schedule and that will not change and you can take that to the bank. The telemarketer did not imply that the schedule was not official. He flat stated that the schedule hasn't been announced yet and we didn't know who we would be playing. The scedule has been posted several times, on ponyfans.com and smumustangs.com.

[This message has been edited by Mickey (edited 01-30-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Mickey (edited 01-30-2003).]

[Stallion]

It may be splitting hairs but believe me a lot of things happen every year that could effect the schedule. OSU could get invited to the Black College Coaches Game and drop SMU. UT dropped Hawaii a few years ago. I think TCU had a game dropped. Schools have dropped Fresno in this time period. About 15-20 games a year get moved. Kansas St and Nebraska have been looking for games this late in recent years and considered dropping other games. UTEP dropped New Mexico St recently this late. Tech dropped UTEP. The SMU/TCU game has been moved several times to accomodate TV. If you want to drop a game all you got to pay is the contractual amount which might be as low as $50,000-100,000. My point is that if you're making plans based on that schedule-don't be surprised if it gets changed. Generally, a school doesn't officially announce its schedule until later in the spring.

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 01-30-2003).]

[Mickey]

We will be playing the teams that have been posted. The only change may be the time and maybe day for TV reasons. Any preseason kickoff game like the Black Coaches Game is just an extra game and allows the participants to play 13 games instead of the 12 maximum that is currently allowed.

[This message has been edited by Mickey (edited 01-30-2003).]

[SMUPonyFan]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Mickey:
<B>The scedule has been posted several times, on ponyfans.com and smumustangs.com.
</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Please provide me a link or direct me to an official schedule or a announcement of the schedule on smumustangs.com or by an official smu website. Fact is, I do not think SMU has come out with anything regaurding next years schedule.

I do think SMU should announce the schedule much sooner than they do. The schedule you see on this site and others is most likely correct, so there is no reason why they should sit on it and not release it. But in many people's defense (SMU ticket office and Stallion) there is no schedule yet.

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Go Red, Go Blue, Go Mustangs, S M U

[SmooPower]

Looking at smumustangs.com, the 2002 schedule was announced officially on Jan 9th of that year. Don't know why it is different this year.

[Mickey]

Here is the schedule. Any changes will be around the open dates and to accomodate TV. However, the order should remain the same.

8-30 @TT
9-13 @Baylor
9-20 OSU
9-27 @Nev
10-4 UTEP
10-11 @SJU
10-18Boise State
10-25 @Tulsa
11-1 FSU
11-8 @ LaT
11-15 Rice
11-29 TCU

The caveat is that this is obviously not official and is subject to change. However, there is no reason that the ATH DEPT cannot provide the above when asked about next years schedule.