Killing "Southern Methodist"

[Paladin]

My estimate is that 90% of the country has no idea who Southern Methodist is. But 70 % have probably heard of SMU

That is the point to my argument, ESPN calling us both names helps fix this problem. Another thing we need to do better is to create a national correlation between SMU / Southern Methodist and the city of Dallas.

Apparantly some confusion at Associated Press:
DALLAS (AP) — Southern Methodist University will be home to George W. Bush's presidential library, officials formally announced Friday after a year-long approval process that some faculty and religious opponents failed to derail.
The decision became official as SMU's board of trustees approved an agreement with the Bush Foundation, which will manage construction and raise money for the project, expected to cost more than $200 million.

I agree completely that there is a tremendous advantage to branding ourselves with the city of Dallas. Everyone knows where Big" D" Little "a" Double "ll" .."a"..."s" is.

[soccermom]

Being called Southern Methodist (since that is who we are) isn't a problem for me. I'm just glad ESPN and other people are talking about SMU (the Southern Methodist one!).
KICK 'EM MUSTANGS!!!!!!!!!

[jtstang]

This entire thread is nonsense.

[lwjr]

Maybe once we start winning the C-USA championship year in year out, beating top twenty teams on a consistent basis, being ranked in the top 15 year in year out and winning upper tier bowl games, maybe then ESPN, FSSW, ABC,CBS,NBC,TBS,TNT, and any other alphabet sports station or show will refer to us as SMU not Southern Methodist University. I truly believe at this point in the programs growth this is not a real important issue.


PONY UP!!!
BEAT A&M

[pwnyxpress]

The school does prefer to be known as SMU when the reference is athletically related.

http://smumustangs.cstv.com/ot/smu-licensing.html

Official University Name
The name of the institution is Southern Methodist University. When referencing the athletic department, please always use SMU (e.g. SMU Athletic Department) instead of Southern Methodist.

[Topper]

This entire thread is nonsense.

It is ridiculous. First of all, I hear the national media, particularly in print, constantly refer to "Texas Christian." I actually like the idea of the media using both references interchangeably like "USC" or "Southern Cal." Can't see why this is an issue.

[Bergermeister]

Let's all send a message to ESPN that we'd like to be called SMU and not "Southern Methodist". For whatever reason, they don't do the same thing to TCU, so why us?

I just sent mine. It took two minutes. Just click the contact us link at the bottom of their website.

Sorry, I'm an advocate of "Southern Methodist" and have communicated (from time-to-time) my appreciation for that reference. To each his own....

[f4shionablecha0s]

It makes us sound like some backwards Abilene Christian style bible college. Not to mention creating a unified brand is a no brainer.

[CalallenStang]

What gets me is when they call us "Southern Methodist" then use the abbreviated "Southern Meth" in box scores. We aren't a regional variation of a drug!

[ponyscott]

I really don't care what they call us, as long as they call us! I understand the branding part of it but we are really an unknown entity for the most part around the country. I mean c'mon what have we done recently to make SMU OR Southern Methodist a national brand name?....not yet, but maybe when we beat TAMU on September 4th, we will be.

[Junior]

What gets me is when they call us "Southern Methodist" then use the abbreviated "Southern Meth" in box scores. We aren't a regional variation of a drug!

ha!

[ObeyMyDog]

It makes us sound like some backwards Abilene Christian style bible college. Not to mention creating a unified brand is a no brainer.

I agree with you in your logic but not the example specifically. Southern Methodist does kind of bother me but it is fine for right now. The USC/Southern Cal argument makes sense but only in their case, they don't care and are identifiable by each name, and that is b/c they have been on the big stage consistently for quite some time.

As of right now, we don't have much national prominence, so I think being called Southern Methodist is fine b/c is identifies specifically who we are. Like somebody said previously, a ton of people really do think SMU is Southern Miss.

I think it makes us sound like one of those tiny schools you know nothing about and don't hear about until they are competing for one of those random NCAA BBall tournament bids from a random conference you don't know the name of.

But, some consistent winning and some big profile wins, along with the publicity from Pony Excess, and we will universally be referred to as SMU at some point in the foreseeable future.

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

Who are you people?

[SMUtrojanFAN]

Let's all send a message to ESPN that we'd like to be called SMU and not "Southern Methodist". For whatever reason, they don't do the same thing to TCU, so why us?

I just sent mine. It took two minutes. Just click the contact us link at the bottom of their website.

This is ignorant, being called Southern Methodist and SMU interchangeably just helps brand recognition by creating a correlation between the two names. You do not hear USC fans complaining about being called USC or Southern California... Pick your battles with ESPN (not like they really care anyways).

From the USC media guide:

It's Not 'Southern Cal'
Note to the media: In editorial references to athletic teams of the University of Southern California, the following are preferred: USC, Southern California, So. California, Troy and Trojans for men's or women's teams, and Women of Troy for women's teams. PLEASE do not use Southern Cal (it's like calling San Francisco "Frisco" or North Carolina "North Car.") The usage of "Southern Cal" on licensed apparel and merchandise is limited in scope and necessary to protect federal trademark rights.

[HorseSense]

Who are you people?

Agree---Seriously, people??