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Well 14,044 people at a game would make A PHD at a Mac school cry his eyes out.
Bowlng Green Falcons.

Meaningless words from a meaningless commission.

Let's you know what side of the fence he's on. Most likely the posters original thought.

Couldn't have said it any better myself - Samurai Stang!

I guess I'm like most folks now. The bcs-BS is hear to stay. When spineless administrators who are losing millions wont take corrective action to remedy their situations, why should the rest of us worry? They're there because of their actions - or lack of.

It's time to check out & go to other interests where you can make a positive influence! I'm done!!!

We had better hope this commission is meaningless. Look at their recommendations: treating athletes more like the student body, and a reduction in scholarships.

How many football players can compete with SMU academics AND pay their way vs. at a state school?

Without scholarships and special treatment we can't hope to compete.

I think it's meaningless like you inferred. Much like the rest of the NCAA - a paper tiger & meaningless.

Obviously there has to be some limits, but they still don't seem to appreciate or understand the correlation between successful winning athletic programs and increased student applications...in other words, it is marketing. Geez.

blah, blah, blah

well, it is within their control to change the rules and require college athletics be comprised of TRUE student athletes...and in the process force the NFL and NBA to create professional minor leagues for all those so-called "student" athletes everyone wants/needs to compete for the $$$

we all know these leaders of academic institutions aren't going to give up those dollars...they are paid well for providing the minor league systems for professional athletics

I think SMU should be in the forefront of proposing academic change as long as SMU isn't one of the few schools that play by higher standards. And I further think the NCAA should implement rules which integrate the athlete into student body-this includes limits on practice, conditioning time and film study time. The locker room should be locked up during unauthorized times so athletes are motivated to study for their tests on Friday not studying film or working out to beat TCU on Saturday. Anything earlier than Noon or past 6:30 p.m or so during the school year should be deadzone for all athletes in which no activities except perhaps study hall for struggling athletes. It in fact should NOT be a job-they are student althletes who are entitled to experience college life.

We can only manage our own affairs. Ensure our standards are the "mean" not the exception. We also need to invest in athlete academic administrators/advisors and tutors to make sure these kids succeed and don't fail, either from lack of effort or academic assistance. It so simple to make this great school succeed for the majority (not all) of our student athletes. Given the backround of many of our athletes, we would also be fulfilling the goals of the university--making men and women prepared for life.

Stallion wrote:I think SMU should be in the forefront of proposing academic change as long as SMU isn't one of the few schools that play by higher standards. And I further think the NCAA should implement rules which integrate the athlete into student body-this includes limits on practice, conditioning time and film study time. The locker room should be locked up during unauthorized times so athletes are motivated to study for their tests on Friday not studying film or working out to beat TCU on Saturday. Anything earlier than Noon or past 6:30 p.m or so during the school year should be deadzone for all athletes in which no activities except perhaps study hall for struggling athletes. It in fact should NOT be a job-they are student althletes who are entitled to experience college life.

Stallion makes some really good points. I'd like to see college athletics revert to amateur athletics and not professional minor league athletics bent on TV dollars.

I agree with Stallion's comments. The other comment that I would make is to permit more supervised off season practices. Think about it. Schools that do not go to bowls have less practice time than schools that are bowl eligible. This handicaps the teams with the greatest need for practice. I believe that for teams that are not bowl eligible that they be given 11 extra spring days of practice and ten extra summer days. This would enable them to improve their teams and make them more competitive for the next season. And if not that, then there should be a toilet bowl for the worst two teams in the country to battle it out the day before the BCS Bowl. This would give maximum practice time to the two teams that need the most practice and they probably could get a sponsor very quickly. The SaniFlush Consolation Bowl brought to you by Proctor and Gamble.

I agree. We shouldn't treat young men as men. We should make sure they have no choices. After all, if they have choices, they might not decide to do the things we middle aged men think they should do.

Part of college is learning to live as an independent, responsible person. Lord knows if they have to decide between preparing for a game, one game on one day out of a possible 48 days of their entire lives, they might choice to do something irresponsible.

The schools and NCAA should do all in its power to assure that young men will be treated like middle schoolers. That way, they will be prepared to do whatever we old goats demand of them after they graduate.

Just think of it as if we were back in college. If we have limited time for one activity, say football, that means we have more time to do other things, like study, cruise Greenville Ave, chase skirt, party with our buddies and so forth. Does anybody remember their college days? Yes we all studied but we also enjoyed the fruits of a young life. So too will these men.

We sure don't want young men studying film. That would require them to look at real world situation, analysis problems and situations they may face, identify and observe fine details that may give them a competitive advantage and then take that knowledge and execute in a real world situation. Lord knows that those useless skills can never compare to learning how to function in the real world from a book.

A young man decides that he want to play college football and he has the skills and opportunities to play college sports. He also wants to be a professional after college (MD, JD, PhD, etc.) While in college the young man decides that football is the most important thing to him. He knows he will do whatever it takes to play. He realizes he has limited games to play. So he majors in a discipline that doesn't require as much academic time as other disciplines. He has teammates that both play ball and pursue higher academic disciplines. All these young men are making choices based on their needs, not the NCAA's or middle aged men's.

Now the young man that wants to play also enjoys the off field opportunities available to young men playing football. So he plays football and has the time of his life. After football, he goes to a state commuter school, takes the prerequisite courses for the profession he choices, and gets into that professional school. He both played ball and got the higher degree needed for his life's work. And he did it with an alternate path to success.

What did he learn because he had choices? He learned to recognize what he wanted and how to allocate his resources and capabilities to achieve multiple goals. He made both short term and long term plans to achieve his goals. And he learned to do things that met his needs and not a preprescribed path dictated by others. Oh, and he did these things despite limits placed on athletics by the NCAA. We certainly don't want young men doing these kind of independent thinking, planning and execution. Those type of skills are to be suppressed at all cost.

In the long run, individuals can always go back to school at any time in their lives. But they can only play, at most, 56 games of college football for their entire life. Many can get a college education. Less can get a college education at a fine school like SMU. But even less can play football at the D1A level. We should do all in our power to ensure that those limited playing days have the least impact on a young man as possible and that those young men do exactly as we old men think they should do.