We're #9

[Mexmustang]

We simply met the competition and because we weren't supposed to, we got caught. Don't be so damn naive.

[jtstang]

Well regardless of why we got caught, we got the death peanlty because we got caught often and were so damn arrogant about it. Told the NCAA we'd stop three probations before but had no intention of stopping, and were dirty not just in the athletic department/booster area, but all the way up through the administration and even to the governor's office. We definitely deserved what we got.

[PK]

We definitely deserved what we got.

Does that include getting Pye and his vision for SMU athletics?

[PonySnob]

Does that include getting Pye and his vision for SMU athletics?

That was the true "death penalty" for SMU athletics!

[jtstang]

We definitely deserved what we got.

Does that include getting Pye and his vision for SMU athletics?

Well, it's an interesting concept. I know there are the followers of Stallion out there who rant that the current predicament has naught to do with the regime that led us to the Death Penalty, that it was the Ken Pye aftermath that is solely responsible for this mess.

But think about it, without the prior regime's transgressions, there would have been no reason for Don Shields to go and therefore no need to look for a new president and therefore we would not have hired Ken Pye, and so on and so on. So in a manner of speaking, yes, SMU made its own bed in that regard as well.

[couch 'em]

I always wondered how paying players was really any different than building them top notch facilities: practice facilities, dorm rooms, and locker rooms with all the latest bells and whistles, etc. Aren't schools now trying to buy players with what they think players might want while they are at school rather than directly giving them the money and allowing them to purchase it for themselves? In a sense isn't that putting players on the payroll? If you were really concerned about unfair competition wouldn't you mandate that every school could spend exactly the same amount on their athletic department (and athletics in general) regardless of the size of the school? That way no one could build a fancy practice facility, or offer to pay players such exorbitant salaries that would be out of the price range of a smaller less endowed school?

By that logic, (and I agree) dating is no different than hiring a prostitute.

[davish75]

shouldn't the creation of the BCS be at the top of the list?

The list should also include the destruction of the SWC by UT.

[LonghornFan68]

shouldn't the creation of the BCS be at the top of the list?

The list should also include the destruction of the SWC by UT.

[davish75]

shouldn't the creation of the BCS be at the top of the list?

The list should also include the destruction of the SWC by UT.

I guess you're not able to see a scandal, but that was cute.

[LonghornFan68]

Nah, it's mostly that I saw that picture earlier and was looking for a chance to use it. Haha.

[PK]

That is a totally disgusting picture , but funny sentiment.

[LonghornFan68]

shouldn't the creation of the BCS be at the top of the list?

Ok, UT issue aside, I don't see how that is so scandalous. Sure, the BCS is flawed, but it's the best thing going short of a playoff system and it gets tweaked yearly. Tell me, since the creation of the BCS, which team was wrongly awarded the Title? Maybe some of the matchups should have been different (undefeated Auburn comes to mind), but I don't think there's nearly as much controversy surrounding the winners as there used to be. But what do I know? Nothing. There, I said it for you.

[mrydel]

shouldn't the creation of the BCS be at the top of the list?

Ok, UT issue aside, I don't see how that is so scandalous. Sure, the BCS is flawed, but it's the best thing going short of a playoff system and it gets tweaked yearly. Tell me, since the creation of the BCS, which team was wrongly awarded the Title? Maybe some of the matchups should have been different (undefeated Auburn comes to mind), but I don't think there's nearly as much controversy surrounding the winners as there used to be. But what do I know? Nothing. There, I said it for you.

Now do a study on what teams get a gazillion $$$ for bowl games and what teams, in the same division 1A get pennies. We may some day claw back to be the on the field equivalent of a Baylor or a Vanderbilt, but the money we share in our conference does not compare to theirs. I believe that is the contention. I know that is hard for you to see over the pile of money UT gets, but it is easy to see from this side of the stack.

[LonghornFan68]

shouldn't the creation of the BCS be at the top of the list?

Ok, UT issue aside, I don't see how that is so scandalous. Sure, the BCS is flawed, but it's the best thing going short of a playoff system and it gets tweaked yearly. Tell me, since the creation of the BCS, which team was wrongly awarded the Title? Maybe some of the matchups should have been different (undefeated Auburn comes to mind), but I don't think there's nearly as much controversy surrounding the winners as there used to be. But what do I know? Nothing. There, I said it for you.

Now do a study on what teams get a gazillion $$$ for bowl games and what teams, in the same division 1A get pennies. We may some day claw back to be the on the field equivalent of a Baylor or a Vanderbilt, but the money we share in our conference does not compare to theirs. I believe that is the contention. I know that is hard for you to see over the pile of money UT gets, but it is easy to see from this side of the stack.

Yeah, well, if the world were fair we'd all be married to 3 super models.

But in all seriousness, which mid-major team should have gotten the crown? Seems like Boise State was given a good opportunity last year and made the best of it, but I don't think they deserved to be in the title game.

Also, you're telling me that a school with an enrollment and alumni base of what I'm guessing to be 1/5 the size of larger schools should get the same shake? So bigger schools and conferences should enact a College Robin Hood plan to help prop up the schools that are small? Sorry, but that's b.s. If small schools want to compete with the bigger programs they'll have to start acting like bigger programs. Get your alums interested in donating large wads of cash and upgrading the facilities. Petition to be in BCS conferences. The list goes on.

[PonyFan]

Beyond the last 25 years, you would have to say the East Germans and Soviets paid their athletes, when the Olympics were just for amateurs, plus the eastern block doping, e.g. East German women swimmers would kick my b*tt.

One of my roommates at SMU was a swimmer, and his sister was a college swimmer (not at SMU) who swam in the Olympics (Montreal 1976, I think). She finished fifth in whatever her event was, and then learned that two of the swimmers who finished ahead of her (East Germans) were on 'roids. They never gave her a medal, but as far as friends and family are concerned, she won a bronze medal.