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I don't think I saw this Keith Whitmire piece put up yet, although there have been plenty over the last couple of days. Anyways, I found it to be a pretty objective, fair, and well-written piece on SMU's formal statement of intentions.

http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/08/26 ... eedID=3742

"Let's put it this way: If facility upgrades were all that stood in the way of SMU receiving an invite to an AQ conference, checks would be written that night and dirt would be flying the next morning.

SMU's major challenge toward AQ admission is filling its facilities. SMU is a small, private school with a small fan base. SMU will gain more fans as Jones continues to build the program, which has gone to bowl games the last two seasons."

Nice article.

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"It would be an economic boon to Dallas if SMU were to regularly fill Ford and Moody with BCS conference foes. More people would be hired to run events and more fans would stay in Dallas hotels and enjoy Dallas nightlife."

I agree. Between the East and West coasts, Dallas is ideally suited to have big time college sports coming here routinely. For Big 12 fans, we are a destination worth traveling for. With a deck over the east side, the setting would be fantastic preceding by a day on the boulevard for the city and visiting fans to enjoy. With Moody being rennovated and our proximity to Love and DFW, alumni, fans of sports and visiting schools will enjoy something we never had at the Cotton Bowl or the old Cowboys Stadium, i.e. beautiful campus to spend the day at without having to relocate to Fair Park or Irvine. The Hilltop becomes a "destination" with DART schuttling fans from downtown hotel and restaurants.

USC, Stanford, Miami and Northwestern benefit their cities and so will SMU deliver for Dallas. All are NFL cities too. With Cowboys in Arlington and TCU in the BE, we have Big D to ourselves and offer SW and Great Plains football and BB fans the best of SMU and Dallas. Location, Location, location. (Plus tradition and competitive programs.)

definitely a well written, fair article. thanks for posting.

well said water pony. I definitely agree. Saw a guy post a comment on an article I was reading earlier. Not affiliated with SMU, but he said he would definitely buy season tickets if we were playing a big 12 opponent every other week.

I believe that quality and name recognition of our opponents has a lot to do with our attendance.
I make it a point to schedule my annual Dallas trip during football season so that I can attend some SMU games. I usually try to make it to two games during my trip. However, if I think one of the games are going to be a ho-hummer then I pass on it as my kids/grandkids would rather do something else. If we were playing b12 teams then I am sure it would be a different story.

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Our national alumni will be making more treks to the Hilltop. For five years I had season tickets, despite being in Chicago. With stronger competition and bigger crowds, more trips each season are in the works. Beside, our campus is a stunner and I want to see us break ground for a new Natatorium, which will be needed in our new conference.

I find this whole thing very exciting, and I just hope that the City of Dallas takes note. I think the timing of this announcement is perfect, right before the season starts with us on national TV. We need a better home schedule to pry people in Dallas away from their TVs, or sports bars, but I think that there is a greater recognition now that the modern Dallas sports fan is a potential SMU fan (at least in terms of butts in seats).

The Boulevard is world class. The Stadium is, in my opinion, sufficiently upgradable to meet the needs, and the new Moody is going to be awesome. I do think it would take a leap of faith by an AQ conference, but I think SMU is saying and doing all the right things to get the people who matter to think it might be a gamble worth making.

Yes, a BCS conference may be taking a gamble but our chances of expanding/improving our facilities are far better than many other contenders. I think it is well knowN that we could get the funds to expand Ford very quickly and Moody is already in the planning stages. A cougar high or some other contender that needs to make improvements might have a hard time finding funding. How long ago was it that cougar high announced their plans for a renovated stadium? And they are still trying to obtain sufficient funding.

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Been noticing that JJ is twitting (twatting??) articles about SMU to Big 12.

Isn't 'twatting' feminine for 'twitting'?

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