SicEm365 (BU): Why SMU (and USF) Will Be in the Big XII

[redpony]

Some here do not understand or realize some of the issues.

- our bball program is an albatross due to not having a competent coach and top level record since we drove off LB (the year of so after he left still reflects his winning ways and not those of the current coach)

- We have no money men and MONEY TALKS. It seems there was much discussion about the little8 adding cougar high. However, I suspect T. Fertitta made the money situation such that they could not refuse cougar high.

- We are not even in the second group to be added. Again, MONEY TALKS and F. Smith has said he will make sure memphis has an updated stadium if they are invited to the little8.

-We will not be able to surpass memphis or boise state because we have no supporters with CLOUT.

-We will likely end up (at least in the next 3 yrs. or so) in a watered down second class AAC conference with the likes of mediocre second class teams joining the conference.
It all boils down to the fact that our big $$supporters are all hat and no cattle when compared to those who want to be head of us.

[Water Pony]

Why does that chart show that SMU has 0 Olympic Medals? By my count, going back to 1968, we have something like 25.

Your are correct. SMU Athletes have won 20 Olympic Medals, which represent:

Swimming & Diving (15):
- 6 Gold
- 7 Silver
- 2 Bronze

Basketball (1):
- 1 Gold

Track & Field (4):
- 1 Gold
- 1 Silver
- 2 Bronze

And, numerous other non-medaling Olympians representing the USA and other countries listed here:

https://smumustangs.com/sports/2021/5/2 ... -list.aspx

[ponyboy]

Hope our SID gets on that. It would be great to get this firm’s info updated since they apparently have some ears out there in university leadership.

[JasonB]

Some here do not understand or realize some of the issues.

- our bball program is an albatross due to not having a competent coach and top level record since we drove off LB (the year of so after he left still reflects his winning ways and not those of the current coach)

- We have no money men and MONEY TALKS. It seems there was much discussion about the little8 adding cougar high. However, I suspect T. Fertitta made the money situation such that they could not refuse cougar high.

- We are not even in the second group to be added. Again, MONEY TALKS and F. Smith has said he will make sure memphis has an updated stadium if they are invited to the little8.

-We will not be able to surpass memphis or boise state because we have no supporters with CLOUT.

-We will likely end up (at least in the next 3 yrs. or so) in a watered down second class AAC conference with the likes of mediocre second class teams joining the conference.
It all boils down to the fact that our big $$supporters are all hat and no cattle when compared to those who want to be head of us.

Actually, I don't think the big name money people are the problem.

I have never been much into the Turner up or Turner down movement, but listening to what he said about the Houston President, I think some more inspiration in that area would do us a lot of good.

[redpony]

Perhaps I should have said 'big money doers. We have seen how Fertitta stands up and supports/finances cougar high. It is also reported that F. Smith has given over 500 mill. to Memphis. That is the kind of money support/push I am referring to.
Do we actually have any supporters who have, in recent years donated even 50 mill. let alone something amounting to hundreds of mill. to advance our school in light of moving up to a better conference?

[SMUvet]

Red did you read the deck?

[PNW_Stang]

We had the Circle of Champions.

[redpony]

We had the Circle of Champions.

Glad you put that in the past tense. Not sure if they are still active and of course that applies to fball. We have nothing in bball (our other major sport) as our charlatan coach continues to be employed and I would not even be surprised if our little ricky has not already given him a new contract and kept it secret. Bball has no circle of champions or supporters who want and insist on a top level team.

[SmooBoy]

A couple more years of rankings and success brings more donors out of the shadows. SMU has plenty of heavy hitters when it comes to funds. Heck, there are probably SO many agreements and things SonnyD and coaches get without our knowledge, to sweeten the deal.

[EastStang]

Perhaps our big hitters are figuring out how to use it for NIL purposes. We can go back to having the richest football team in the NCAA.

[SMU_Alum11]

A couple more years of rankings and success brings more donors out of the shadows. SMU has plenty of heavy hitters when it comes to funds. Heck, there are probably SO many agreements and things SonnyD and coaches get without our knowledge, to sweeten the deal.

Yeah I remember I was talking to the main manager at the sewell infiniti dealership and he was telling me about their loaner program with the SMU coaches so I imagine there are still plenty of big money donors and those who are giving perks like that for free.

[redpony]

Red did you read the deck?

Saw the entire presentation on 365sports but did not download it in its entirety. I also backtracked some of the slides to understand them better. However, I do not recall a screen showing names and amounts of major donors of each school. I do remember him saying that Fred Smith had donated something like 500m to Memphis and told the little8 that he would assure them that the liberty bowl would be renovated. Also mentioned was Tillman Fertitta and his major financial support of cougar high. Which obviously led to their being selected in the first expansion. Fertitta can be VERY persuasive and pushy when he wants to be and this was probably one of those times. He was all over their being selected awhile ago when the first winds of expansion happened a couple of years ago and long before OU and the whorens said they were leaving.
My 'beef' is that we have nobody stepping up telling the little8 what we will do to gain entry. We don't want to be in a 'maybe we expand' beyond 12-14 group. We need to do what is necessary to be added in the next expansion.

[redpony]

Heck, there are probably SO many agreements and things SonnyD and coaches get without our knowledge, to sweeten the deal.

OK, but that is not at all what I was referring to. Most schools have 'bennies' for their coaches aside from just money.

[redpony]

SMU has plenty of heavy hitters when it comes to funds.

Right!! I remember those heavy hitters a few years ago when we desperately needed to get rid of our totally incompetent bball coach.

Other conferences notice when changes need to be made and are or are not, especially in major revenue sports.

[JasonB]

Red did you read the deck?

Saw the entire presentation on 365sports but did not download it in its entirety. I also backtracked some of the slides to understand them better. However, I do not recall a screen showing names and amounts of major donors of each school. I do remember him saying that Fred Smith had donated something like 500m to Memphis and told the little8 that he would assure them that the liberty bowl would be renovated. Also mentioned was Tillman Fertitta and his major financial support of cougar high. Which obviously led to their being selected in the first expansion. Fertitta can be VERY persuasive and pushy when he wants to be and this was probably one of those times. He was all over their being selected awhile ago when the first winds of expansion happened a couple of years ago and long before OU and the whorens said they were leaving.
My 'beef' is that we have nobody stepping up telling the little8 what we will do to gain entry. We don't want to be in a 'maybe we expand' beyond 12-14 group. We need to do what is necessary to be added in the next expansion.

The Smith vs Fertitta comparison s a good one. Because I think it shows you that the UH President had a bigger impact than Fertitta did and is a big difference there.