Musings from Saturday
Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:22 pmAttended what is probably the only football game I'll make this year on Saturday with my 6-year old. My lack of attendance isn't a protest thing. . .I've just got a lot of irons in the fire these days and can't make it out to Ford much. A few takeaways:
1. Did anyone else see the red fox that was running through the family section at the beginning of the game? I thought it was a cat at first and had to do a double-take. That darn thing ran right at us, veered off at the last minute, and leapt from the bleacher seat all the way over the brick wall into the boxes. It was the most athletic moment from any resident of the SMU campus that I saw on Saturday. It was also hilarious to see people rise from their seats and stare when they realized what it was.
2. It was about 80 degrees at kick-off, but with the sun beating down it felt like 100. Wow, my son and I were sizzling!! Needed to take a break and get some snacks half way through the first quarter just to avoid a killer sunburn.
3. I really liked the red chrome helmet, blue shirt look. Maybe white pants would have been better. . . not sure. But the Ponies looked good. Wouldn't mind them breaking that look out from time to time in the future.
4. Crowd size was disappointing (what else is new on the Hilltop), but the crowd seemed lively during the latter part of the 1st quarter and the beginning of the 2nd quarter. When the Ponies were on the brink of scoring in the 2nd, the crowd really seemed into it. Then everything went to Hell and it died. But it was fun for a little while.
5. I like what Hart, et al have done with game presentation. Thinking back to years past at Ford, they seem to have improved the experience quite a bit. If we can just get some SMU fans to attend games, Ford will be a fun place to be on Saturdays.
6. The team. . .and I mean this in the nicest way. . .is unspeakably bad. I didn't expect much this year with the schedule, new QB, etc. But I had no inkling that they would be this horrible. I'm sure there are a lot of PFs who now claim to have seen this debacle coming. . .but I don't believe it. Many of us had limited expectations for this year, and in some cases very limited expectations, and we all knew the recruiting has not been up to par, but I don't think anyone expected to see this utter and complete meltdown in all phases of the game. I sat through the late Caven years and early Bennett years. Perhaps my memory is selective, but I think this team is quite a bit worse than any SMU team I've seen. And its not just the lack of talent; the players are physically weak, poorly conditioned, and horribly coached. Basic fundamentals that I thought would have been taught in middle school are a challenge for these guys.
7. For the first time, I'm truly angry with June Jones. I thought it was time for him to go at the end of last season. But I frankly had no idea that he would leave the cupboard this bare and then abandon ship 2 games into this disaster of a season. I think a lot of the former players really like him, and that's why we are seeing some of these things on Twitter. I respect that. . .But as a fan I now have contempt for that piece of [deleted]. It's sad; from 2009 - 2011 the program showed so much promise and he really seemed to be moving it in the right direction. Not sure what happened after that with him mentally, but I'm of half a mind that the COC should try to claw back his salary for 2012-2014. Its obvious now that no one was home.
8. I really feel for the kids who want to try hard and win. This season is a huge bummer. And many of them will no doubt be run off by the new coach.
I'll keep following the Ponies via TV and radio. Hope to see something a little better when I come back to Ford again next year!
1. Did anyone else see the red fox that was running through the family section at the beginning of the game? I thought it was a cat at first and had to do a double-take. That darn thing ran right at us, veered off at the last minute, and leapt from the bleacher seat all the way over the brick wall into the boxes. It was the most athletic moment from any resident of the SMU campus that I saw on Saturday. It was also hilarious to see people rise from their seats and stare when they realized what it was.
2. It was about 80 degrees at kick-off, but with the sun beating down it felt like 100. Wow, my son and I were sizzling!! Needed to take a break and get some snacks half way through the first quarter just to avoid a killer sunburn.
3. I really liked the red chrome helmet, blue shirt look. Maybe white pants would have been better. . . not sure. But the Ponies looked good. Wouldn't mind them breaking that look out from time to time in the future.
4. Crowd size was disappointing (what else is new on the Hilltop), but the crowd seemed lively during the latter part of the 1st quarter and the beginning of the 2nd quarter. When the Ponies were on the brink of scoring in the 2nd, the crowd really seemed into it. Then everything went to Hell and it died. But it was fun for a little while.
5. I like what Hart, et al have done with game presentation. Thinking back to years past at Ford, they seem to have improved the experience quite a bit. If we can just get some SMU fans to attend games, Ford will be a fun place to be on Saturdays.
6. The team. . .and I mean this in the nicest way. . .is unspeakably bad. I didn't expect much this year with the schedule, new QB, etc. But I had no inkling that they would be this horrible. I'm sure there are a lot of PFs who now claim to have seen this debacle coming. . .but I don't believe it. Many of us had limited expectations for this year, and in some cases very limited expectations, and we all knew the recruiting has not been up to par, but I don't think anyone expected to see this utter and complete meltdown in all phases of the game. I sat through the late Caven years and early Bennett years. Perhaps my memory is selective, but I think this team is quite a bit worse than any SMU team I've seen. And its not just the lack of talent; the players are physically weak, poorly conditioned, and horribly coached. Basic fundamentals that I thought would have been taught in middle school are a challenge for these guys.
7. For the first time, I'm truly angry with June Jones. I thought it was time for him to go at the end of last season. But I frankly had no idea that he would leave the cupboard this bare and then abandon ship 2 games into this disaster of a season. I think a lot of the former players really like him, and that's why we are seeing some of these things on Twitter. I respect that. . .But as a fan I now have contempt for that piece of [deleted]. It's sad; from 2009 - 2011 the program showed so much promise and he really seemed to be moving it in the right direction. Not sure what happened after that with him mentally, but I'm of half a mind that the COC should try to claw back his salary for 2012-2014. Its obvious now that no one was home.
8. I really feel for the kids who want to try hard and win. This season is a huge bummer. And many of them will no doubt be run off by the new coach.
I'll keep following the Ponies via TV and radio. Hope to see something a little better when I come back to Ford again next year!