Question on SMU football online publications

[Donnell88]

I believe there are two online publications that cover SMU football; one of them is PonyStampede.com, which I subscribe to. Is there another one? If so, I can't remember the name of the website.

[JasonB]

Rivals. The hilltopics

[Donnell88]

Thank you.

[ponyboy]

ponyfans is a pretty good one too

[ALEX LIFESON]

Rivals. The hilltopics

Do you subscribe to both?

[JasonB]

Rivals. The hilltopics

Do you subscribe to both?

Yes.

I don't pay as much attention to Rivals, but it has certainly improved. It is more like a traditional news site - more information gathering and reporting, less opinion. Kind of an upgraded version of DMN. I guess I don't visit as much because I don't really learn anything new from it?

247, Billy is really plugged in with the coaches on the football side. You hear about some of the inner workings, and the stuff he shares is pretty well aligned with things that I hear, so the new things he reports I tend to accept as fact. When he has a practice report that I also attended, I recognize and tend to agree with most of the observations, which hasn't always been the case previous owners (they would report things that didn't really happen, over exaggerate, report things they weren't supposed to, and showed up really late to practice). He shares his opinion frequently and it drives discussion. It is more like you would expect from a message board with good information and then a ton of opinion. Less traditional news format, and more the opinion-driven stuff we see from modern news outlets. He respects University policy more than people who ran that site in the past, which is good. But he also doesn't hold back on opinions, which is also good. He has great relationships on the football side, but the relationships on the basketball sides are not as good because he has called out the coaching staff publicly, and so the basketball coverage suffers a little bit. But even on the basketball side he has gotten better. Previously, it seemed like he held a bit of a grudge against Jank and it impacted his ability to be objective, but I think his stuff this year has been pretty on point. That has been a very positive improvement. I think his involvement with the LSU site has broadened his exposure to how things work and how to "play the game", so to speak. And he can use that experience to provide some insights on the SMU program from a P5 perspective, which I find valuable.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Rivals. The hilltopics

Do you subscribe to both?

Yes.

I don't pay as much attention to Rivals, but it has certainly improved. It is more like a traditional news site - more information gathering and reporting, less opinion. Kind of an upgraded version of DMN. I guess I don't visit as much because I don't really learn anything new from it?

247, Billy is really plugged in with the coaches on the football side. You hear about some of the inner workings, and the stuff he shares is pretty well aligned with things that I hear, so the new things he reports I tend to accept as fact. When he has a practice report that I also attended, I recognize and tend to agree with most of the observations, which hasn't always been the case previous owners (they would report things that didn't really happen, over exaggerate, report things they weren't supposed to, and showed up really late to practice). He shares his opinion frequently and it drives discussion. It is more like you would expect from a message board with good information and then a ton of opinion. Less traditional news format, and more the opinion-driven stuff we see from modern news outlets. He respects University policy more than people who ran that site in the past, which is good. But he also doesn't hold back on opinions, which is also good. He has great relationships on the football side, but the relationships on the basketball sides are not as good because he has called out the coaching staff publicly, and so the basketball coverage suffers a little bit. But even on the basketball side he has gotten better. Previously, it seemed like he held a bit of a grudge against Jank and it impacted his ability to be objective, but I think his stuff this year has been pretty on point. That has been a very positive improvement. I think his involvement with the LSU site has broadened his exposure to how things work and how to "play the game", so to speak. And he can use that experience to provide some insights on the SMU program from a P5 perspective, which I find valuable.

I gave up on the Rivals site, when they started going downhill a few years ago, but, I have heard they are improving under new management. 247 is excellent, I would agree on your points made.

[dalpony]

As do I

[AusTxPony]

We now have 3 good sites to follow our Mustangs. This one, 247 with Billy and Rivals with Damon who has really improved that situation. All three deserve your support.