Are SMU fans glutons for punishment?

[Pony81]

What is it in the pysche of your garden variety SMU fan that keeps him coming back for more humiliation?

Why do we keep watching FB after 20 years of utter, absolute, futility? Not just futility, but we come tantalizing close to victory only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with some improbable last minute breakdown.

There are no hail mary passes, no last second field goals, no nothing but net 3 pointers. Nothing but missed tackles, shanked field goals, personal foul penalties, and air balls.

After tonights loss to a winless ARK-PB, whose tallest player is 6'7", I just don't think the fans who continue to go to games and support the team- me included - are dealing with a full deck. Why do we keep watching?

Is it like the morbid curiosity of witnessing a car wreck? Do we secretly want to see how many bodies get pulled out of the wreckage?

There is some mystical force looking at SMU fans and wondering, "Just how much can they take?

[Mexmustang]

no more...our AD needs to have a serious discussion with our HC. This is quite frankly, the worst year I can remember for SMU sports, right accross the board. If this is all these players can muster, then maybe 50% need to be mustered out at year-end. I cannot believe things have gotten worse, but they have!

[kent dorfman]

Part of the problem I think is our weak and divided fan base. Someone posts an Off Topic thread about the Cowboys and I make a post about them going to the Super Bowl and get flack for it.

I got a friend of mine who is also a huge Cowboy fan but is also equally as big of an Ohio State Buckeye fan. If I do bust his balls about the Buckeyes it's because he's my friend and I know where the line is. This guy the other day talked some smack about the Cowboys and I had enough. You want to root for a team in Dallas, Texas, cut the local yokels like me some slack and lay off the Cowboys.

My point is that many SMU fans do not understand/appreciate the concept of loyalty through thick and thin. All they know is that they once had bought for them, like so many other things in their lives, a great football team and now that it's gone no one cares because they are not capable of appreciating how great it was and how great it would to have again.

We have so many people from all over the country come to SMU and it's easy for them to turn their back on the Ponies and go root for the Hurricances or USC Trojans or whomever. As far as they go, screw em'. Screw those 'free agents'. They come here, leave, and never come back.

[Blue Horseshoe]

The next time I read about the ponies will either be about the fact that our athletic department has closed indefinitely or that we are on a major win streak and are now asking for band wagon fans to hop on board.

I'm done with SMU until then. 16 years later and its time to put my money somewhere else.

[StangEsq]

The next time I read about the ponies will either be about the fact that our athletic department has closed indefinitely or that we are on a major win streak and are now asking for band wagon fans to hop on board.

I'm done with SMU until then. 16 years later and its time to put my money somewhere else.

That'll solve the problem.

[huskerpony]

What is it in the pysche of your garden variety SMU fan that keeps him coming back for more humiliation?

The psyche of a true, loyal fan.

Why do we keep watching?

Because we are true sports fans, who love our school, and want and hope for it to succeed in all of its endeavors, and even if it doesn't--barring some irreconcilable wrongdoing on the school's part--we will always hope for the success of our alma mater.

Why do Cubs fans or Bears fans keep watching? Why did Red Sox or Celtics fans keep watching for all those years? Why do I keep watching the Broncos and the Dolphins? Those are all teams that most average fans have no real reason to support other than a visceral connection to some mythical team identity.

We all spent our formative years at this institution, and--good and bad all together--that is what it is. We all know the positives and negatives of SMU, but I generally feel that the positives outweighed the negatives, and my life--which I am usually fairly happy with--has been in many ways shaped by my experience at SMU. Any recognition that our school gets athletically, academically, philanthropically, whatever, makes me proud to have been a part of this university.

So that is why I continue to support the Mustangs. And I love football.

There is some mystical force looking at SMU fans and wondering, "Just how much can they take?

Quite possibly!

Part of the problem I think is our weak and divided fan base.

Weak, I will give you. Divided, I don't really see that. All I see are a group of people who want to see some level of success. Most pony fans that I know would be ecstatic just to be in bowl contention most years. No one is expecting us to suddenly become a national powerhouse for decades on end (although we would all gladly accept it if it came about!)

There is well documented division amongst the administrative powers that be at our school due to our history, although this has lessened in recent years (in my estimation.) And it exists at every school at some level, so it isn't totally unique to SMU, and we are probably getting closer to most other schools on this issue than we have been in some time. But again, that is what it is.

We have so many people from all over the country come to SMU and it's easy for them to turn their back on the Ponies and go root for the Hurricances or USC Trojans or whomever. As far as they go, screw em'. Screw those 'free agents'. They come here, leave, and never come back.

I disagree. This is a positive and a negative for us. Most SMU students have a favorite team in addition to their support for SMU. Partially due to where they are from, and partially due to our long lack of success. However, if SMU had been outstanding for the last 20 years, I would still be a Nebraska fan too. It is a testament to our school and our fans that there is any interest in our football program at all.

My friends from SMU were Texas fans, A&M fans, USC fans, UCLA fans, Florida fans, Washington State fans, and on and on. That doesn't make any of them any less supportive of SMU. It might mean that as everyone has dispersed back across the country that we are unable to make it back for games as often as we like, but I have watched plenty of games just watching the stupid ESPN game track line move back and forth on my computer while I watched other games that made it on tv. I have watched plenty of games in blurry CSTV internet broadcasts. I still have friends who send text messages for score updates from all over the country if they are stuck at work or busy for some other reason on Saturdays--even though we all know what the eventual outcome will be! Hell, my grandma (who has never lived outside of Lincoln, Nebraska) even calls me on the days we get out to an early lead (before we blow it) just to make sure I have seen the score and that we are actually winning.

So, yes, maybe people don't get as riled up about our consistently poor performance as people at, say, Alabama, might--because we all have other teams we support as well. However, we are all able to endure this and stick around because we have other teams to support and get us through the seasons too.

So spare me your "free agents" nonsense. No one is turning their backs on SMU. Just because people can't fly in every weekend to watch every game (and for the most part, usually to come watch us blow yet another opportunity) doesn't mean we have bailed on SMU. Just because people still support the teams from where they originally come from doesn't mean they have "turned their backs" on SMU. Believe me, there are plenty of SMU fans around the country, and they keep tabs on what is going on with the program, regardless of any other affiliations they may have.

I will always be an SMU fan, and most of the people I know who went there will be too.

(I will grant you that there are many SMU students who just weren't that big of sports fans--but they are fair weather fans for their home teams too, so it doesn't really count, now does it?)

I'm done with SMU until then. 16 years later
and its time to put my money somewhere else.

Good riddance. Don't let the door hit your [deleted] on the way out.

[kent dorfman]

What is it in the pysche of your garden variety SMU fan that keeps him coming back for more humiliation?

The psyche of a true, loyal fan.

Why do we keep watching?

Because we are true sports fans, who love our school, and want and hope for it to succeed in all of its endeavors, and even if it doesn't--barring some irreconcilable wrongdoing on the school's part--we will always hope for the success of our alma mater.

Why do Cubs fans or Bears fans keep watching? Why did Red Sox or Celtics fans keep watching for all those years? Why do I keep watching the Broncos and the Dolphins? Those are all teams that most average fans have no real reason to support other than a visceral connection to some mythical team identity.

We all spent our formative years at this institution, and--good and bad all together--that is what it is. We all know the positives and negatives of SMU, but I generally feel that the positives outweighed the negatives, and my life--which I am usually fairly happy with--has been in many ways shaped by my experience at SMU. Any recognition that our school gets athletically, academically, philanthropically, whatever, makes me proud to have been a part of this university.

So that is why I continue to support the Mustangs. And I love football.

There is some mystical force looking at SMU fans and wondering, "Just how much can they take?

Quite possibly!

Part of the problem I think is our weak and divided fan base.

Weak, I will give you. Divided, I don't really see that. All I see are a group of people who want to see some level of success. Most pony fans that I know would be ecstatic just to be in bowl contention most years. No one is expecting us to suddenly become a national powerhouse for decades on end (although we would all gladly accept it if it came about!)

There is well documented division amongst the administrative powers that be at our school due to our history, although this has lessened in recent years (in my estimation.) And it exists at every school at some level, so it isn't totally unique to SMU, and we are probably getting closer to most other schools on this issue than we have been in some time. But again, that is what it is.

We have so many people from all over the country come to SMU and it's easy for them to turn their back on the Ponies and go root for the Hurricances or USC Trojans or whomever. As far as they go, screw em'. Screw those 'free agents'. They come here, leave, and never come back.

I disagree. This is a positive and a negative for us. Most SMU students have a favorite team in addition to their support for SMU. Partially due to where they are from, and partially due to our long lack of success. However, if SMU had been outstanding for the last 20 years, I would still be a Nebraska fan too. It is a testament to our school and our fans that there is any interest in our football program at all.

My friends from SMU were Texas fans, A&M fans, USC fans, UCLA fans, Florida fans, Washington State fans, and on and on. That doesn't make any of them any less supportive of SMU. It might mean that as everyone has dispersed back across the country that we are unable to make it back for games as often as we like, but I have watched plenty of games just watching the stupid ESPN game track line move back and forth on my computer while I watched other games that made it on tv. I have watched plenty of games in blurry CSTV internet broadcasts. I still have friends who send text messages for score updates from all over the country if they are stuck at work or busy for some other reason on Saturdays--even though we all know what the eventual outcome will be! Hell, my grandma (who has never lived outside of Lincoln, Nebraska) even calls me on the days we get out to an early lead (before we blow it) just to make sure I have seen the score and that we are actually winning.

So, yes, maybe people don't get as riled up about our consistently poor performance as people at, say, Alabama, might--because we all have other teams we support as well. However, we are all able to endure this and stick around because we have other teams to support and get us through the seasons too.

So spare me your "free agents" nonsense. No one is turning their backs on SMU. Just because people can't fly in every weekend to watch every game (and for the most part, usually to come watch us blow yet another opportunity) doesn't mean we have bailed on SMU. Just because people still support the teams from where they originally come from doesn't mean they have "turned their backs" on SMU. Believe me, there are plenty of SMU fans around the country, and they keep tabs on what is going on with the program, regardless of any other affiliations they may have.
I will always be an SMU fan, and most of the people I know who went there will be too.

(I will grant you that there are many SMU students who just weren't that big of sports fans--but they are fair weather fans for their home teams too, so it doesn't really count, now does it?)

I'm done with SMU until then. 16 years later
and its time to put my money somewhere else.

Good riddance. Don't let the door hit your [deleted] on the way out.

Well then that's kind of an issue then i guess. For one we are a small fan base to begin with and for another a lot of our small fan base is spread around the country. And kudos to those who do keep tabs on the program from far and wide. I just recently moved away from DFW and didnt get the chance to come back for any games but I watched every game even if on a grainy feed from the stadium.

But for every SMU fan like myself or any of your friends, sir, there are about three who just say 'later SMU, fight on Trojans or Canes or Cougars or whomever' and those are the ones that were never SMU fans to begin with. They already had loyalties before they came here. So we aren't holding a lot of cards here but those who do follow are loyal to the teeth.

[Pony Soup]

this thread is getting aggressive. Gooo POOOONIIIIEES

[abezontar]

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AGGRESSIVE!

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AGGRESSIVE!

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