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MUCH improved. I thought the sound was decent, there was no major screwups on announcing, nobody lost the DVD to play at halftime. There was huge potential for disaster with pregame and halftime but it I found it to be satisfactory.

I agree. Much better.

Did Bush present the trophy at the end? I couldn't stay and watch another team accept a trophy on our field.

There was no formal presentation of the trophy after the game. Bush stayed for most of it but was gone before the end.

I thought the game presentation was very very good. It's amazing what happens when they get some people in there who know what they are doing (to my knowledge, it was someone different form the first 2 games). There was a lot of potential for disaster but it went quite smoothly. There weren't many "wtf" or "what are we doing" moments that I can recall.

I have been a critic of the game day presentation. But I want to give credit when and where it is due.

Tonight's presentation was very good. Vastly improved over what I've seen and heard at GJF this year.

Good job to all involved. Still room for improvement on somethings, but over all, very good.

BTW, I liked the cannon. It added some excitement to the kickoff. I'd vote for it to be part of the game day presentation.

The salute to the armed services, the SEALS, fighter jets, etc: just awesome.

I understood that W presented the trophy in the winning team's locker room.

I heard Dubbya presented it in the Navy locker room, as planned.

Game presentation was fantastic — best I've ever seen at SMU. Pregame fanfare was sensational. Skydivers were breathtaking, flyover was awesome. Halftime horse and pony show was tasteful and well-orchestrated — photography of wild horses was beautiful, on-field presentation was appropriately understated.

Far and away the best game presentation in years.

Seemed like they checked off every complaint SMU fans have have voiced on Ponyfans. The only negative I saw was one of the field clocks was out of order.

obviously the only other adjustment would be, uhhh the winning of a game on overtime...

bitter taste about this one. We have to win one game that is a legitimate upset this year, both for sanity of the 1500 and hope for this team

I agree it wa better, but the mics on the band still have to go. If you sit in Sec 203 through 207, there is a terrible delay.

only complaint from my mom is too much going on like the little cheerleaders before the game and the parents that took over our seats (can't we get them on the field to take pics?)

Eye In the Sky wrote:There was no formal presentation of the trophy after the game. Bush stayed for most of it but was gone before the end.

I thought the game presentation was very very good. It's amazing what happens when they get some people in there who know what they are doing (to my knowledge, it was someone different form the first 2 games). There was a lot of potential for disaster but it went quite smoothly. There weren't many "wtf" or "what are we doing" moments that I can recall.

I agree. You could tell it was someone different coordinating last night's on-field activities. Much, much better. My wife commented that it was almost a "bowl like" atmosphere at halftime. The pre-game was one of the best I've seen for a SMU game. It was certainly better than starting the grass fires on the burm from shooting off fireworks.

I still don't understand how they can't make AllAccess better. It was above the previous years but panning the crowd with plays being run killed me.

Statler wrote:I agree it wa better, but the mics on the band still have to go. If you sit in Sec 203 through 207, there is a terrible delay.

Need a mic reasonably close to get the band piped into the indoor sound feed.

The Good
The honor guards, tribute to the troups, George Bush, paratroopers and flyover
--They warned about the cannon, but the F/A-18s caught some by surprise. I thought I was going to have to perform cpr on a couple of blue hairs in front of me. Just imagine if they were dropping ordinance. You wouldn't even hear them until it was too late.

The Bad
Van Halen's jump playing, while the band is playing while there is a commercial for our volleyball team on the jumbotron, while the announcer is trying to say something. Pick one at a time!

The horse presentation was not as bad as I expected. It would be perfectly acceptable if I never hear Wildfire live again.

The Odd
I am proud to say that my ancestors were Cherokee on my father's side. But I found it odd that we had native American color guards. Was there a military connection or was this for the wild mustang program? The various nations certainly added some color and variety to the ceremony.

The Game
I thought we played very well throughout. And I really wanted JJ to go for 2 at the end. It was quite cool and my date was quite the trooper sitting through it until the very end.

One last thought...the crowd was actually better than I expected for a cool Saturday night. I saw lots of UT jerseys. Any idea how the TX/OU ticket promotion helped attendance? I thought it was a great move by our marketing department.

Regarding the native Americans, the announcer did not do a good job of explaining it. The men and women of those color guards were all veterans of the armed forces. Hence why they all came out onto the field at halftime for the "Wildfire" lip-sync when the announcer said to welcome all of the members and veterans of the armed forces making their way onto the field.