Men's soccer

[PonyFan]

Where is Alex Smith on this year's roster?

He's also not listed in that preview y'all linked up on the home page. (And who wrote that thing? Peruna?)

If Smith isn't on the team, these freshmen had better be studs.

[peaker]

The word I heard is he is ineligible because he is now a "professional" in the eyes of the NCAA. It has to do with who and how he trained (or tried out) with this summer while in Europe. It is sad because he is a terrific player and exciting to watch.

[EastStang]

Ah, the Jim Thorpe rule raises its ugly head. So, he didn't turn pro, he just scrimmaged/practiced with pros? How can SMU get away with playing the Dallas FC club? Aren't they pros? How can any number of college baseball teams get away with playing pro teams during spring training? Seems like a weird rule. I guess if you're playing with your college team against pros its okay. So a bat boy getting to shag fly balls during a major league batting practice and getting paid to clean out lockers would then be rendered ineligible to play college ball? I can see lots of gray here, I'm surprised we didn't fight that one.

[Corso]

.... (And who wrote that thing? Peruna?) ....

A journalism student, I suppose.
And EastStang, there's no way this happened unchallenged. We can rest assured that every possible avenue to get him eligible was explored. This is a real shame, because Smith is an amazing player.

[EastStang]

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how we seem to get on the receiving end of any bad NCAA ruling. One time they wouldn't let the Mustang Band perform at halftime of a Super Bowl, so UT went instead because they didn't bother to ask the NCAA for permission. I guess its better to deal with that now than have an ineligible player play in a few games. But man, these NCAA goons really tick me off.

[Lefty]

Likewise.