S.M.U. SPIRIT: WHAT GIVES?

[EastStang]

First, I agree that the Pye changes hamstrung us for a good decade until they were removed last year. That being said, it is awful convenient to use hindsight. I think Pye honestly thought (wrongly as history has shown) that SMU was such an attractive school that kids who qualified to come here would wait for an offer. It is amazing that some actually did. Pye's model while naive had a positive view of the University and it was only after a while that it true meaning sunk in. Pye did not understand that the problem was not "academic" it was administrative. The kids who came here to play football were for the most part pretty smart or didn't last their freshman year (pre-DP) which meant that it was a waste of a good scholarship. SMU has consistently had a respectable graduation rate for players. Players with their hands out are not academic issues either. The pay to play was an administrative problem which was solved before he arrived when the Trustees kicked out the Governors. Pye was naive and we paid the price, nuf said.

[Greenwich Pony]

I love my Ponies and would support them if they never won another game (and sometimes it has looked like that). I always hope they win, and believe that we should make every (legal) effort to do so. On the other hand, you have to keep things in perspective. We probably will never be a Miami, Florida State or Oklahoma. We shouldn't be, that's not the type of school we are. However, we should be the date on the schedule that bigger programs worry about.

As to Pye- his heart seemed to be in the right place, even if his head wasn't. SMU should be spoken in the same sentances as Duke, Stanford and Northwestern, all fine academic institutions with solid sports programs. We're not there yet, but I believe that we are moving in that direction. All of the above mentioned schools are at present, schools with stronger academic reputations, and they run competitive, clean programs. SMU should carve it's own way, but it certainly can look at the institutions that we wish to be compared with as guidelines for academic admissions and policies.

[Stallion]

people that feel we will never be like Miami et al and probably shouldn't be because we aspire to be like Duke Northwestern and Stanford ARE the problem. SMU is NOT one of the Top 10 schools in the country. Why can't we be like Miami? Those are the people who have lost The MUSTANG SPIRIT. Those are the peoople that have dug the hole out of which we may never climb out.

[No Cal Pony]

I'll haave to agree with Stallion on this one. Pye was blind. If he was ignorant, then he was stupid. If he or any of us would like to be stanford (then we'll need a lot more $$ in endowment) or duke (same), then we will also need to change our academic policies. Enven these schools make a lot of room for the "student-athlete." Same around where I live now, at unc, virginia, and wake forest, all quality academic schools. All have partial qualifiers and "student-athlete" friendly majors. Or do like stanford, where you can drop a class, even at last minute, and not be listed at an "I" or even take a bad grade.

Who is to say we should not be like miami. It is a pretty good school too. My wife started there before she transfered to u of florida. They also get the folks of the city to support the programs, and they are a goodly part of the city, unlike how SMU is treated in Dallas.

In the meantime, I'll continue to root for my Mustangs. Donate to Mustang Club, and press for the changes that will bring about some good for my alma mater. I look forward to seing SMU play wake in football, so I cna see them here in NC. (That's carolina, not cali.)

Go Ponies!

[OldPony]

I would love to be compared athletically or academically to Stanfford right now. That isn't the problem. I would like to see the schoolkeep it's academic integrity and play by the rules. There is nothing wrong, however, with a PE major or some major of less than great merit which would allow for the transfer of JC hours and be appealing to those who want a career in sports. Sports IS big business and to tell a kid we don't have PE majors which can lead to coaching jobs or other pursits in sports is stupid.

[MrMustang1965]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Stallion:
<B> Why can't we be like Miami? Those are the people who have lost The MUSTANG SPIRIT. Those are the peoople that have dug the hole out of which we may never climb out.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you, Stallion! You and I are on the 'same page'! This is the whole crux of why I started this post! MUSTANGS: YA GOTTA BELIEVE!



------------------
"Winning ain't everything...but it's a lot more fun than the alternative!" S.M.U. SPIRIT: IT STARTS NOW!

[Greenwich Pony]

All I'm trying to say is that academically, I think that the goal of the institution should be eventually to be of that caliber of some of the institutions I named. We're not there yet. We probably won't be for some time, but we have the pieces to do it.

However, I'm pointing out that Stanford has a pretty good atheltic program if the Sears people are to be believed; they seem to be able to stay out of trouble, get national attention for their revenue sports and I'm guessing that they probably have looser admissions standards for athletes than for their general student bodies. Same goes for Duke and Northwestern. Yet these are schools that have good graduation rates and are able to admit athletes without suffering an adverse impact on their academic reputations. I fail to see why we cannot do the same, and we should look at those models as examples to see what they are doing correctly, and take what is useful and appropriate for SMU.

As to us not being Miami, well, why would we want to be? While SMU isn't a top 10 school, it is hell and gone better academically than Miami, and we enjoy a much better reputation outside of athletics. While I'd love to see the success that they have had in football (if not other sports) at SMU, I just don't think it is worth selling our beloved alma mater's soul (again).

And as to Pye, I didn't agree with most of what that man did, but he did step into a godawful mess when everybody else was running for the hills. Yes, he did us more harm athletically than the DP, but we've had more than a few years to change what he broke, but we're just now getting around to it, and he's been gone (in more ways than one) for nearly a decade. He did turn the institution's attention back to where it should have been- the books. Now we need to move forward, and do what's necessary to recruit cleanly and competatively while improving the college in other areas. One is not exclusive of the other, and if it must come down to one or the other, it is an institution of higher learning...

And now I'll stop because people will start thinking I went to UNT by the length of this post...