Was The Rise Real?

[ALEX LIFESON]

Enjoy the empty stands. As for me, I have had enough. Not even really interested in checking the scores any more. My New Year resolution is to become a UCLA t-shirt fan. And you can bet the door won't hit me on the way out. Good luck. Count me gone.

Hate to see you or anyone else leave, but year after year, decade after decade of futility, has caused many to wave the white flag.

[mustangxc]

I would be willing to bet that if we had a $25 million dollar IPF on the grounds, completed, right now, Chad would still be located in Arkansas somewhere doing what he does best. Anybody who thinks a completed IPF would have cancelled out Chad's ambition is limited in scope.

I'll further that claim by adding that even if SMU had built the Lamborghini of IPF's and had sold out attendance for every game this season and had offered to match Arkansas, Chad would still have gone to Arkansas. Sold out attendance at SMU would mean 32,000 fans at every home game whereas SEC attendance is in excess of 70,000 at just about every school other than Vanderbilt. Also, if SMU had been willing to go to $3.5 million a school like Arkansas could have simply raised the offer to $4-5 million. Chad Morris never cared about SMU and was going to leave regardless. Nevertheless, he moved the program in the right direction and rather than have our fans bail and blame each other we do need to work together to keep it going in the right direction.

[mtrout]

Don’t care about CM. At this point I’m more worried about staying ahead of north texas.

[The Falcon]

Thanks, Stallion, for taking the time to rebut the 8 untruths. I know you have a lot of the
info in your head, but I also know that you spent considerable time in pulling data together,
organizing, and writing your comments. Your facts and your reasoning ring true to me and
even with my limited knowledge, I know some these are very right.

No college president is perfect. I read a book some time ago titled "The Uses of a University"
by then UC Berkeley president Clark Kerr. One of his strongest points was that a president
could be measured by how well he kept the peace of the university with all of its constituent
parts. RGT had an incredible task in front of him when he replaced Ken Pye and the damage
that Pye caused to the sports programs on the campus. He is still trying to rebuild our total
sports programs and is making some strides. Moody, Crum, the tennis center, the new
aquatics center, and the newly announced IPF construction are all part of the puzzle. Let's
hope that Dykes is another piece of the puzzle. I know Jank is part of the puzzle. There is
a lot of excitement in our basketball program and the future appears to be very bright.

I would like to see us do a large scale marketing program to put more people in the seats,
especially in football. We need another Mustang Mania type drive. We need to create
a storm of activity and interest in our programs. Many of you have made comments relating
to marketing.

Again, RGT hasn't made all faculty and staff happy, but he has done a great job of keeping
the university peaceful while trying to increase our efficient use of the resources we have.
I, for one, hope he sticks around for a while longer, even if it makes some of you mad.

Go Mustangs - beat UCF and we'll go on from there. As coachspeak says - One game at a time.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

So mex says everything is awful. Stallion says we’re doing everything we can. Now we conclude another year of smu ranking in the bottom half of fbs football (#88 sagarin).

but, but, but, Chad was great!

And now be patient because we are just 2-3 years from righting the ship!

[ALEX LIFESON]

So mex says everything is awful. Stallion says we’re doing everything we can. Now we conclude another year of smu ranking in the bottom half of fbs football (#88 sagarin).

but, but, but, Chad was great!

And now be patient because we are just 2-3 years from righting the ship!

Still hittin the eggnog at 1 a.m. I see. LOL

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Still hittin the eggnog at 1 a.m. I see. LOL

dude you know it's true...how long have we heard the same ole crapola about being "just a couple of recruiting classes away from turning it around"?...how many times have we heard we need to just be patient?...pstient for how many decades?...same ole "let the new guy get his own players". "our players don't fit the new coach system", "build the new on-campus stadium and they will come"...how has that worked out?...blah blah...how many times have we heard "we need an indoor practice facility"? How many times and for how many years have we heard "we'll get an invite to a major conference because of the Dallas market"?..How many coaches have "reached out" to the students to show up at games?..How many times have we heard "our players are slower and smaller but hey they get degrees"? How many times have we heard "we need a great marketing plan that reaches out to the Dallas community"?..Copeland was talking the same sheet 20 years ago and he's long gone...and still the stands remain EMPTY as life passes us by...as far as the picture I posted...it rings true to me...I know several long time dedicated Mustang fans that have already croaked hoping they would live to see the consistent football turn-around that has never happened.

[redpony]

Well, I haven't croaked yet but after having hopes for over 60+ years and seeing only a little success I doubt if I will ever see the successes of the Doak era and the Pony Express era again. Hence each year I lose a little more enthusiasm for our fball program. Before long I will be like a lot of others and just not care anymore.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Still hittin the eggnog at 1 a.m. I see. LOL

dude you know it's true...how long have we heard the same ole crapola about being "just a couple of recruiting classes away from turning it around"?...how many times have we heard we need to just be patient?...pstient for how many decades?...same ole "let the new guy get his own players". "our players don't fit the new coach system", "build the new on-campus stadium and they will come"...how has that worked out?...blah blah...how many times have we heard "we need an indoor practice facility"? How many times and for how many years have we heard "we'll get an invite to a major conference because of the Dallas market"?..How many coaches have "reached out" to the students to show up at games?..How many times have we heard "our players are slower and smaller but hey they get degrees"? How many times have we heard "we need a great marketing plan that reaches out to the Dallas community"?..Copeland was talking the same sheet 20 years ago and he's long gone...and still the stands remain EMPTY as life passes us by...as far as the picture I posted...it rings true to me...I know several long time dedicated Mustang fans that have already croaked hoping they would live to see the consistent football turn-around that has never happened.

I definitely understand how you and others feel, there was a new sense of hope and optimism, when Chad was hired. You could see the air coming out of the fans balloon after Chad's flirtation with Baylor in only his second season. Like I have said before, I haven't missed a home game in over 30 some odd years, and as long as my health will allow, I don't plan on missing one. But with no marketing and a lemonade stand athletic department, it definitely seems like we are proving the definition of insanity Over and over. I am beginning to think, nothing will ever change.

[longbuzzer]

The rise is real, albeit slow.

We are in a decent conference, compared to other G5 conferences. CM left a nice number of athletes behind for SD to work with,including a two year starter at QB. SD has more head coaching experience dealing with administrations than any of our past coaches. IPF is real. Home schedule next year for football has UH, TCU, UNT, Memphis and Navy. MBB kicks b*tt. WBB and remaining sports on the rise.

Our eye should be on where we are ten years from now. We need to creep into and stay in the top four or five schools in the AAC, and see what shakes out.

Happy new year folks.

[Stallion]

Is this the thread where the "win 9-10 games 3-4 years in a row and the fans will support the program just like TCU theory" goes to die?

This was always the mistake in that theory-do you pay to keep that guy who started winning or do start/stop, start/stop, start/stop through multiple excellent Coaching hires after their predecessors get tired of the lack of support

[footballdad]

Is this the thread where the "win 9-10 games 3-4 years in a row and the fans will support the program just like TCU theory" goes to die?

This was always the mistake in that theory-do you pay to keep that guy who started winning or do start/stop, start/stop, start/stop through multiple excellent Coaching hires after their predecessors get tired of the lack of support

No, this is the "if we only would have overpaid Chad the mysterious 'market rate' for his mediocre results he would have stayed theory" goes to die.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Our eye should be on where we are ten years from now.

[ALEX LIFESON]

Our eye should be on where we are ten years from now.

Sadly, there is a lot of truth to this picture. We sit on the 40-yard line in section 203, and just in the last few years, many people that we know or at least recognize, have passed on to that next plane. Many more, look like they are in line at the rest home or doing everything they can to just make it to the stadium. Unfortunately, there's no new blood replenishing the ones passing away. Our athletic department is filled with snot nose inexperienced people, that are looking to pad their resume and get the hell out of here, just like our coaches. If something is not done to change this cycle of insanity, nothing will change.

[BIGHORSE]

We have all seen fellow Mustang fans pass on the last 25 years, none

of us are getting younger, it is way past time to get this program on the permanent

right track before we are all gone.