DMN-SMU will bring the PONY and band to Hawaii!
Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:46 amThis is old news (This Kate Article is DMN on Dec 15, but was news last week)but we should give props to whomever was responsible to make sure that all should be rewarded, as we all had doubts that we wouldn't have these SMU representatives with us in Hawaii! Thanks to Steve Orsini and Turner first of all. We look forward to seeing the Mustang Band, Peruna and the SMU Spirit Squad all in action on the Hawaii Bowl turf on National TV, nothwithstanding the Mustang Football Team!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 2b178.html
SMU will saddle up the pony and bring the band to Hawaii
11:36 PM CST on Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By KATE HAIROPOULOS / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
UNIVERSITY PARK – Taking a trip to Hawaii for Christmas isn't cheap. Try taking an entire football program, spirit squad and even Peruna, SMU's live pony mascot.
But SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said the department is on track to bring all of the above to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium, and break even.
"It's one of the more challenging financial experiences because of the high demand, and yet the high expense," Orsini said. "It's still a reward. It's an investment in our football program, one we're happy to make."
The charter for the team and others in the official travel party leaves for Hawaii on Saturday.
Orsini declined to divulge the cost of going to the bowl, but explained where the money is coming from.
The biggest source will come from Conference USA and its predetermined reimbursement policy for the Hawaii Bowl. C-USA shares all of its revenue from bowl payouts.
SMU also asked its boosters – including a key group called the Circle of Champions – to contribute toward extra expenses, such as bringing the band.
SMU will also defray some of the costs by keeping a percentage of the tickets it sells. SMU is working with supporters to buy tickets that will be distributed to servicemen and servicewomen from Hickam Air Force Base, located in Honolulu.
Orsini said he and SMU president R. Gerald Turner quickly agreed that with SMU going to its first bowl in 25 years, "we need to thank a lot of people," Orsini said. "This is a university trip."
Worth waiting: About seven SMU seniors won't be on Saturday's plane, staying back a day to go through graduation ceremonies. Senior receiver Emmanuel Sanders is among them, and is expecting some 50 family members in attendance.
He was there: Strangely enough, SMU coach June Jones actually attended SMU's last bowl game – a win over Notre Dame in the Aloha Bowl in 1984. He had been an assistant at Hawaii before leaving to coach for the Houston Gamblers in the USFL and was making a return trip to pick up some of his belongings.
No go: Cornerback Sterling Moore (knee) is expected to be cleared to play in the bowl, but Jones said he's leaning toward holding him out for precautionary reasons since Moore hasn't played since being injured in the Nov. 14 game against UTEP.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 2b178.html
SMU will saddle up the pony and bring the band to Hawaii
11:36 PM CST on Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By KATE HAIROPOULOS / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
UNIVERSITY PARK – Taking a trip to Hawaii for Christmas isn't cheap. Try taking an entire football program, spirit squad and even Peruna, SMU's live pony mascot.
But SMU athletic director Steve Orsini said the department is on track to bring all of the above to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium, and break even.
"It's one of the more challenging financial experiences because of the high demand, and yet the high expense," Orsini said. "It's still a reward. It's an investment in our football program, one we're happy to make."
The charter for the team and others in the official travel party leaves for Hawaii on Saturday.
Orsini declined to divulge the cost of going to the bowl, but explained where the money is coming from.
The biggest source will come from Conference USA and its predetermined reimbursement policy for the Hawaii Bowl. C-USA shares all of its revenue from bowl payouts.
SMU also asked its boosters – including a key group called the Circle of Champions – to contribute toward extra expenses, such as bringing the band.
SMU will also defray some of the costs by keeping a percentage of the tickets it sells. SMU is working with supporters to buy tickets that will be distributed to servicemen and servicewomen from Hickam Air Force Base, located in Honolulu.
Orsini said he and SMU president R. Gerald Turner quickly agreed that with SMU going to its first bowl in 25 years, "we need to thank a lot of people," Orsini said. "This is a university trip."
Worth waiting: About seven SMU seniors won't be on Saturday's plane, staying back a day to go through graduation ceremonies. Senior receiver Emmanuel Sanders is among them, and is expecting some 50 family members in attendance.
He was there: Strangely enough, SMU coach June Jones actually attended SMU's last bowl game – a win over Notre Dame in the Aloha Bowl in 1984. He had been an assistant at Hawaii before leaving to coach for the Houston Gamblers in the USFL and was making a return trip to pick up some of his belongings.
No go: Cornerback Sterling Moore (knee) is expected to be cleared to play in the bowl, but Jones said he's leaning toward holding him out for precautionary reasons since Moore hasn't played since being injured in the Nov. 14 game against UTEP.
