Directed by Thaddeus D. Matula (whose father is a faculty member at SMU), Pony Excess traces the development and the aftermath of the SMU scandal. It also makes the case that if SMU’s penalty was extraordinary, pay for play was and remains a common practice among NCAA Division I programs. The question is, who benefits and who is responsible. The answer to the first part is just about everyone involved, to varying degrees. Just in terms of money, this would include boosters and alumni, universities, commercial product manufacturers, coaches, agents, players and their families, and, of course, the NFL. The second answer to the second part is less clear, though the official inclination is to penalize players, with coaches and school presidents let off and programs sometimes suffering fallout (see: Reggie Bush, USC, and Meyer’s next incarnation, Pete Carroll).
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/134 ... ny-excess/
