IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE ALL THE WAY AROUND!

[MrMustang1965]

Well, I said I'd do it and I'm sticking to my guns...it's time for the FANS (!) to start a letter-writing campaign (forget emails...letters have weight and get noticed when they're delivered by the postman!) to show Mike Cavan the quickest entrance ramp onto Central Expressway to get him off The Hilltop and out of Big D!

I attended the game Saturday night after driving up from Houston the night before. I've had a chance to 'reflect' upon the pre-game activities, the game itself (what little of it there was for the Mustangs!), how the football program is POORLY marketed and what it's going to take to get SMU back to a 'competitive' level after discussing the program and its problems with two of my buddies who are also longtime suffering SMU fans.

Pre-game activities: Personal Note to R. Gerald Turner, President of SMU: SMU is *NOT* Ole Miss so please quit trying to make it into something it is not! Tailgate parties are GREAT! But your attempt at turning SMU's main boulevard leading up to Dallas Hall into SMU's version of Ole Miss's 'The Grove' doesn't work! I attended the SMU v. Ole Miss game a few years ago in Oxford, MS. What's missing at SMU is THE SPIRIT that I saw and felt for Ole Miss in 'The Grove'. What I witnessed Saturday night (and at other games prior to last Saturday's TCU game) were groups of folks (fraternities, sororities, alumni associations, etc.) who just wanted to eat and drink and not 'get into THE SPIRIT of the game itself and start rallying against the opponent for that night. Which leads to my next observance....

The SMU cheerleaders: sad. Do ANY of you know how to get the SMU fans rallied before a game? Or even at a game itself? My father was a 'YELL LEADER' at SMU in 1948 (cheerleaders weren't even heard of back then!) and can still get folks yelling for the team at the age of 77! I bet he and I could get the PRESS BOX side of Ford Stadium to yell LOUDER than the student side of the field at almost any game if we were allowed onto the sideline! Note to SMU's 'cheerleaders'...your job is to rally the fans to YELL for the Mustangs and deflate the opponent's spirit! If you want to see how it's done, take a 3 hour trip south to College Station some Saturday that the Mustangs aren't playing and watch the guys in the white shirts and white pants on the sideline at an A&M football game! As much as I despise the Aggies, I give 'em credit for their YELL LEADERS! It's done properly and EFFECTIVELY at Kyle Field!

The game itself: pitiful. SMU looked like a high school team going up against TCU. Not just mentally but physically, too! All this talk about players getting bigger and working out over the summer...I don't see it. TCU's players were so much bigger than SMU's, it was frightening. And mental mistakes that weren't overcome that snowballed into more mistakes throughout the entire game. I realize that football players are human and make mistakes...they're not flawless superheroes. But to continue making the same mistakes over and over is inexcuseable. I know the Mustangs were out there giving it their best against the Horned Frogs but watching that game was like having oral surgery without anesthesia!

So, here we are at 0-2 and two more opponents coming up that will be VERY difficult to compete against. If ANYONE at SMU had the guts to do it (and honestly I don't think anyone there does!), they'd show Mike Cavan the door RIGHT NOW along with the majority of his staff! There are enough unemployed TALENTED coaches out there right now that could come in and whip this program into shape and get us to a competitive level for WAC play!

That's what I didn't see Saturday night...the Mustangs didn't even appear to be COMPETITIVE against the Horned Frogs! I am so sick and tired of hearing people say it's because of The Death Penalty that we're suffering to this day. You know what? GET OVER IT! Let's get this program back to where it belongs!

Someone elsewhere on this message board said that Mike Cavan was a great recruiter. (I posted a reply to that message so I won't repeat it here.) GREAT recruiters take their recruits and turn them into GREAT football players, too! That's not happening at SMU. There's talent going to waste. It's time to bring in a coach that can take these guys to a competitive level! WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SHOW MIKE CAVAN THE DOOR???? (btw, remember that Cavan's only 'winning' season was when he still had players who had been recruited by Tom Rossley!)

The game 'atmosphere': What's up with this MTV-style of showing a football player on the giant screen TV on the scoreboard? I about puked each time a player had his 'video' on the screen. Note to the coaches: there's NO ONE on this team right who is a superstar! Get this crud eliminated and get back to the basics! Also, what's with this ROCK N' ROLL and OLDIES music blaring on the PA system? I couldn't even hear the Mustang band playing the fight song ("Hail to the Red and the Blue"...ditch that other one...it's not memorable!) or "Peruna" because I was being subjected to this crud on the press box side! If I wanted to hear Gladys Knight & The Pips or The Beatles or Bob Seger, I'd have brought a friggin' radio into the stadium with me! This music adds nothing to the SPIRIT of the game or the fans rallying behind the team! I'm sure some 'genius' in the SMU marketing department - who gets paid a helluva lot more than me! - came up with this idea.

It's time to make SMU into a college football program FOR Dallas! And there would be no better way to do that than to capture the headlines by hiring a NEW COACH that would be of a high enough caliber to warrant attention! As much as I dislike the guy, look what Texas Tech did by hiring Bobby Knight for its basketball program! SMU needs to find a football coach that can come in and galvanize this program from the moment he steps onto The Hilltop and generate media publicity that puts SMU in the national spotlight! Any suggestions? Let's hear 'em! And put 'em in your letters to R. Gerald Turner calling for 'Cavan's Caravan Departure from Big D!'

I love SMU and the Mustang football program. I was raised on it since 1957. I've been through hell and back with this team, just like a lot of folks. I'm not giving up on them. I want them to succeed. But it won't happen under the current atmosphere and coaching staff...it's time for a change. And the sooner, the better!

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SHOW MIKE CAVAN THE DOOR? His record at SMU is now 18-29 with an overall collegiate record over 15 seasons as a head coach of 85-78-2. Do the math!

SEND YOUR LETTERS (not emails!) TO:

R. Gerald Turner
President, SMU
P.O. Box 750100
Dallas, TX 75275

Jim Copeland
Athletic Director, SMU
P.O. Box 750216
Dallas, TX 75275

My letter will be mailed tomorrow! How about yours?

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

[NavyCrimson]

beautifully said...this whole scenario is sad & rotten to the core - i'm the field to the PA..what gives....i'm writing my letter to this week!!!

thanx!!!

[PerunaPunch]

Couple of additions:

The reason I couldn't hear the band is because they got drowned out by TCU's band. Let's thow out a couple more scholarships for the band, especially if they happen to play Souzaphones (sp?) or drums. We have a terrific band, but it needs to be both larger and louder.

I think Cavan is probably (please don't hit me) a decent coach. Problem is that he's not the kind of coach who has the magneticism to turn a program around. Face it, we're going to have to pay big bucks to lure a respected, proven coach here to turn this program around. I sure as hell wouldn't want the job. Too tough. But the right man is always available for the right price. Alumni, time to pull out your wallets again.

Marketing, marketing, marketing. The program needs more money and needs to hire competant people. Marketing fills the stands. People on campus start wondering about what's in that new museum, what's on tap in the music and arts department. Maybe I should attend some of these soccer games I've been hearing so much about? Gee, I miss this place. How else can I be involved and an alumni? But for me at least, it all starts with football. That gets me back to the campus.

Finally, just hang on to the damn ball.

[MrMustang1965]

Peruna Punch:

You're right about the TCU Band drowning out the SMU band...but I have to maintain that the SMU band is steeped in 'tradition' and a lot of that's been lost on The Hilltop over the years. (I remember when it was "99 Guys and a Doll" and they could overpower the UT Band at the Cotton Bowl!) Don't increase the size of the Mustang Band. Increase the quality!

As for the marketing of Mustang football...we're on the 'same page'...big bucks for a quality, experienced and determined coach that turn this program around brings in bigger bucks at the ticket office! I'm not a rocket scientist but SURELY if I can figure this out, there's bound to be some marketing 'genius' at SMU in the school's marketing office that can figure this out, too!??? Should I come apply for a job in the SMU marketing department NOW? I've got LOTS of ideas on how to get Dallasites into Ford Stadium to watch the Mustangs! But the first order of business is for a NEW COACH to get this team 'COMPETITIVE' again!

Is the administration listening? IT'S TIME TO SHOW MIKE CAVAN THE DOOR!!!! See my post above for the names and addresses to send your letters to...NOT EMAILS!...to make your voices heard!

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

[MustangMom]

Until SMU allocates more money to the Marketing Department at SMU, their hands are pretty much tied.



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Go Mustangs!!
-MustangMom

[MrMustang1965]

Mustang Mom:

I've got some ideas on how to market the program in a way that wouldn't cost hardly any money at all!

Get 'volunteers' (i.e. students!) to go to youth soccer games and football games on Saturday mornings (GAME DAY!) and hand out FREE TICKETS! Also, hit the youth centers (Boys' Clubs, YMCA/YWCA, Scout troops, etc.) with FREE TICKETS! Don't do it several days beforehand...they'll just get thrown away! DO IT THE DAY OF THE GAME! BUILD A FAN BASE WITH THE YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR PARENTS! BUILD EXCITEMENT FOR THE MUSTANGS! AND...GET THESE KIDS EXCITED ABOUT SMU FOOTBALL!

But before all this can happen, we need a NEW COACH! See my previous posts about how to get a new coach hired on at SMU!



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