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Gee, and I thought I was going to have nothing for the blog today.

Nice use of statistics, numbers and facts, Todd. Oh, wait. You didn't use any.

what a freaking moron. typical crap from the daily campus.

I realize that is an opinion piece, but was it in reply to an article on the budget? No figures given in the opinion to support a runaway budget so is there article to support this piece? Would love to see the budget figures.

Why can't the DC expose the restrictions placed on the Athletic Dept? They whine about everything else at the school, can't someone see the opportunity to look into WHY SMU has been so bad for so long? If I were still a student there, I'd write it myself. Every year, there are op/ed pieces about "How come we waste money on athletics" or "how come football is so bad, UT is good, why aren't we?".

Think about it, a cover page story on our INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER discussing how the SMU administration handicapped the recruitment process academically, when there was never any academic problems with our DP. It could be an ongoing thing, interviewing key faculty members who were here then. Ask them why they think it makes more sense to pour a lot of money over time into a loser than to just step up to the plate and give it our best shot. If they won't answer, then have a big headline "No Comment" when referring to the interview.

STUDENTS, YOU HAVE THE VOICE, Let it be heard.

I am working on a more coherent detailed response, but the point is this:

Todd has no idea what percent of the schools’ budget is devoted to athletics. The answer is less than 1%. That is right. Less than 1% of the school's total budget is devoted to athletics (total athletic department expenses less athletic department revenue). The vast majority of the athletic budget comes from athletic sources: athletic donors, ticket sales and conference revenue.

SMU Football Blog wrote:I am working on a more coherent detailed response, but the point is this:

Todd has no idea what percent of the schools’ budget is devoted to athletics. The answer is less than 1%. That is right. Less than 1% of the school's total budget is devoted to athletics (total athletic department expenses less athletic department revenue). The vast majority of the athletic budget comes from non-athletic sources: athletic donors, ticket sales and conference revenue.

that is a lot better than my response. "Todd, you are a moron, and don't worry, nobody will hire you with history and political science degrees anyway."

feelan wrote:

SMU Football Blog wrote:I am working on a more coherent detailed response, but the point is this:

Todd has no idea what percent of the schools’ budget is devoted to athletics. The answer is less than 1%. That is right. Less than 1% of the school's total budget is devoted to athletics (total athletic department expenses less athletic department revenue). The vast majority of the athletic budget comes from non-athletic sources: athletic donors, ticket sales and conference revenue.

that is a lot better than my response. "Todd, you are a moron, and don't worry, nobody will hire you with history and political science degrees anyway."

Todd should realize how much he has in common with our Atheletes. With those degrees, he has about as much of a chance getting a job out of college as they do of making the NFL.

Of course, most of the atheletes have better degrees, so they won't have a problem finding non-athletic jobs when they graduate. Maybe one of them will be nice enough to hire him at the Barnes and Noble franchise that they end up owning.

It is hard to say that we are getting our money's worth out of Phil Bennett given his won/loss record. At least he did give us a 0-12 season and a 14 game road losing streak during his tenure.

What a crap article. You might be surprised what highly sprited organization this guy is in. When half the student body thinks this way, and the other half just doesn't care at all, SMU's future is indeed bleak.

MustangSally wrote:Why can't the DC expose the restrictions placed on the Athletic Dept? They whine about everything else at the school, can't someone see the opportunity to look into WHY SMU has been so bad for so long? If I were still a student there, I'd write it myself. Every year, there are op/ed pieces about "How come we waste money on athletics" or "how come football is so bad, UT is good, why aren't we?".

Think about it, a cover page story on our INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER discussing how the SMU administration handicapped the recruitment process academically, when there was never any academic problems with our DP. It could be an ongoing thing, interviewing key faculty members who were here then. Ask them why they think it makes more sense to pour a lot of money over time into a loser than to just step up to the plate and give it our best shot. If they won't answer, then have a big headline "No Comment" when referring to the interview.

STUDENTS, YOU HAVE THE VOICE, Let it be heard.

Because that would take actual journalism skills.

First, the opinion this guys spouts as 'original' was probably advanced back in the 30's, 40's, 50's etc. If he is caused to reflect on his writings in another 10-15 years, I expect he will be embarrased at what he thought was an original idea and such juvenile expressions on a rather inane subject.

But, second, did he just now discover that SMU plays football and has an DI athletic department. There were plenty of DIII schools he could have gone to that spend far less on athletics. But, even they recognize the benefit to the school and to the students, participants and spectators alike, at those schools.

Next thing you know he'll be looking for the ROTC building to burn. After he gets old like me, he'll come to the basic conclusion that generally speaking, people are just no damned good and base all his 'original' thoughts on that one truth.

Wow. How did I get my journalism degree without learning all the insights that guy has?

This was my feedback:


Where I do agree with your point that there are conflicting messages regarding commitment to athletics and commitment to academic excellence in some of the university communication, I do not agree that athletics and academic excellence cannot coexist for SMU. Further, I find it strange that you would state so strongly regarding how athletics is a severe drain on the university budget, but not provide numerical evidence to support your statement. Simply stating that Bennett makes close to 500k does not cut it. If you are going to state salaries, you would have to include university professors for comparison at a minimum. In addition, I think that the university has shown more commitment to academic excellence in recent years (several new buildings and facilities on campus), and has not done the same for athletics. All that is needed is a walk into Moody to see that. I know that you will probably think about the fairly new stadium, but that was made possibly primarily as the result of private donations. Nevertheless, as a young alumni (’02) I can tell you that one of the few opportunities still available for alumni to connect with their school is athletics. I realize that there are lectures, concerts, etc., but for some of us sporting events provide a much more attractive alternative to reconnect with our school than some of these other activities. For instance, I rarely miss a football game, but I pick and choose other events based on the content. Furthermore, I don’t think that you can ignore schools like Notre Dame, Stanford, and USC who have maintained academic excellence despite being private schools with successful athletic programs. I am not making a comparison here, but just wish to show what can be done when you have commitment on both ends. I firmly believe that academic excellence and athletic achievement can coexist for SMU.

When do you think they'll get around to posting the feedback? I sent one in at 730 EST this morning, and its still not up.