A Theory: The Problem with Student/Alumni Attendance
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 12:16 amJust a theory...but one of the reasons that student & newer alumni attendance at SMU games is lax may be because these folks were never exposed to the same kind of SMU football that the rest of us were (SWC days).
In the pre-DP, pre-Kenneth Pye days of SMU, football was a sport that almost everyone who attended or graduated from SMU would go see on a Saturday, either at the Cotton Bowl or at Texas Stadium. Some students may have made their collegiate choice based on SMU's football exposure on the national level. I remember driving through the campus and seeing numerous cars with license plates from as far away as Michigan, Connecticut, South Carolina, California, etc. The 'unofficial PR campaign' worked.
However, since 1987, Mustang football - the way many of us knew it - hasn't existed on The Hilltop. These students and newer alumni made their decision to come to SMU over the past decade or more without any exposure to the same kind of Mustang football we remember. The 'unofficial PR campaign' has not been at work. And, as a result, it hasn't been important to the students & newer alumni whom you would expect to be in attendance at the games like many of us did years ago.
Many of the freshmen this year at SMU were born going into SMU's 'dark era' and have never seen a consistent winning program on The Hilltop in their lifetime. The names Ray Morrison, Matty Bell, Hayden Fry, Doak Walker, Kyle Rote, Don Meredith, Chuck Hixson, Jerry LeVias, Ricky Wesson, Craig James, Lance McIlhenny, Eric Dickerson, etc. don't hold any significance to these folks because there hasn't been a foundation for them to build upon.
These students and newer alumni weren't there to appreciate the wins over TCU that led to a Rose Bowl berth in 1936; the 1948 Cotton Bowl game against Penn State; the 1948 Cotton Bowl against Oregon; the 1951 SMU v. Notre Dame game in South Bend with the Mustangs coming away with a 27-20 win; the 32-28 upset win over Navy with Heisman trophy candidate Roger Staubach at the helm for the Midshipmen in 1963; or the 1968 win over the Sooners in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
While it disappoints me that SMU's current students and more recent alumni - as well as Dallas' citizens - don't attend the games at Ford Stadium, it doesn't surprise me as much anymore considering the circumstances.
These 18-23 year old undergrads and the newer alumni of the past 18 years just haven't had the history to build upon like the rest of us have had.
In the pre-DP, pre-Kenneth Pye days of SMU, football was a sport that almost everyone who attended or graduated from SMU would go see on a Saturday, either at the Cotton Bowl or at Texas Stadium. Some students may have made their collegiate choice based on SMU's football exposure on the national level. I remember driving through the campus and seeing numerous cars with license plates from as far away as Michigan, Connecticut, South Carolina, California, etc. The 'unofficial PR campaign' worked.
However, since 1987, Mustang football - the way many of us knew it - hasn't existed on The Hilltop. These students and newer alumni made their decision to come to SMU over the past decade or more without any exposure to the same kind of Mustang football we remember. The 'unofficial PR campaign' has not been at work. And, as a result, it hasn't been important to the students & newer alumni whom you would expect to be in attendance at the games like many of us did years ago.
Many of the freshmen this year at SMU were born going into SMU's 'dark era' and have never seen a consistent winning program on The Hilltop in their lifetime. The names Ray Morrison, Matty Bell, Hayden Fry, Doak Walker, Kyle Rote, Don Meredith, Chuck Hixson, Jerry LeVias, Ricky Wesson, Craig James, Lance McIlhenny, Eric Dickerson, etc. don't hold any significance to these folks because there hasn't been a foundation for them to build upon.
These students and newer alumni weren't there to appreciate the wins over TCU that led to a Rose Bowl berth in 1936; the 1948 Cotton Bowl game against Penn State; the 1948 Cotton Bowl against Oregon; the 1951 SMU v. Notre Dame game in South Bend with the Mustangs coming away with a 27-20 win; the 32-28 upset win over Navy with Heisman trophy candidate Roger Staubach at the helm for the Midshipmen in 1963; or the 1968 win over the Sooners in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
While it disappoints me that SMU's current students and more recent alumni - as well as Dallas' citizens - don't attend the games at Ford Stadium, it doesn't surprise me as much anymore considering the circumstances.
These 18-23 year old undergrads and the newer alumni of the past 18 years just haven't had the history to build upon like the rest of us have had.