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Since the TCU game, everyone knows my tone has been sharp if not downright ugly about what has happened this season.

I'll admit I put some things up to be just flat out nasty. In looking back, I was probably unmercifully hard.

But I can tell you that of all the programs that I have been around since I started school in 1987, I have always felt the most connection with this one.

It started with that 1987-88 team and how I was around it and how cool it was that there was a great atmosphere that kept the campus going during the first non-football season.

Larry White gave me a chance to be a student assistant on the SID table and did grunt work, so I got to know a couple of players.

I went to the SWC tournament every year at Reunion Arena that I could. It was one of the best things in my time in school when we beat Baylor and Darryl Middleton to win the SWC title, 75-64. Beat TCU in the first round and hammered Houston in the semifinals.

I remember when Jameil Rich went off on Houston and we upset the Cougars to get to play Texas in the SWC tourney semifinals in Dement's first or second year.

I've seen everything from Todd Alexanders off-the-court issues and subsequent departure to Kato Armstrong schooling David Rivers in the tournament to seeing him become ineligible.

I went to Austin to see us beat Texas in 1992-93 when we won the regular season title. Of course, the SWC tournament wasn't fun. And we were a No. 10 seed in the 1993 tournament when we lost to BYU by about ten.

Since then, it's been nothing short of frustration. We had several .500 seasons with Dement. In retrospect, he probably did about as good as he could. I'm not sure.

But I think the turning point for this program was during the 1999-2000 season when the NCAA-type team had that huge week against TCU and Tulsa at Moody. Lost to TCU when we imploded in the last 8 minutes. Lost to Tulsa in OT when Willie Davis dribbled the ball off his leg and Tulsa hit that shot in the corner to send it into overtime.

I don't think that team nor this program has gotten over that. And it's sent shockwaves.

And it hurts to see us putting up disastrous season after disastrous season. With a class like this and the expectations to be better, I still thought 13-16 was realistic (Icon knew that was my prediction).

Then came the TCU game and I came away so disenchanted, that I just believed this was season was already gone. I just observed a team that just didn't have it.

Believe me, no one wants this program to be as consistent as I do. I probably want it more because of my first affiliation with it.

I'm frustrated, I'm angry and I'm disillusioned. With the Crum Center and with the great atmosphere Moody could provide, this program is a sleeping giant.

I just hope it wakes up sometime soon.

man, that was a lot of reading.

I thought it was just because we still suck.

For those of you attorneys that file stuff in Louisiana, I guess this post should say something like "can someone here show cause as to why SMU does not suck"

It may just be simple chemistry. If you don't have quite the right ingredients, the compound just doesn't do what its supposed to do. Perhaps some of the players are right, but others may not be quite right for this team and its style and we just aren't deep enough to just not play them. I think we are in the sorting out phase right now. I look at the sorry state of the Wizards this year. Last year they made the playoffs and were competitive with most of the pieces there. This year they suck in fact they super suck. You still have most of the main cogs, but without the right supporting cast, they are very hard to watch this year. I suspect that's where we are. We have some new players joining this cast next year and will lose a few members next year. Let's hope the chemistry ignites a fire next year. Or they may super suck again. SMU basketball, the adventure continues.

EastStang wrote: Or they may super suck again.

agree.

George S. Patton wrote:Since the TCU game, everyone knows my tone has been sharp if not downright ugly about what has happened this season.

I'll admit I put some things up to be just flat out nasty.

Really? The hell you say!

George S. Patton wrote:In looking back, I was probably unmercifully hard.

But I can tell you that of all the programs that I have been around since I started school in 1987, I have always felt the most connection with this one.

It started with that 1987-88 team and how I was around it and how cool it was that there was a great atmosphere that kept the campus going during the first non-football season.

Larry White gave me a chance to be a student assistant on the SID table and did grunt work, so I got to know a couple of players.

I went to the SWC tournament every year at Reunion Arena that I could. It was one of the best things in my time in school when we beat Baylor and Darryl Middleton to win the SWC title, 75-64. Beat TCU in the first round and hammered Houston in the semifinals.

I remember when Jameil Rich went off on Houston and we upset the Cougars to get to play Texas in the SWC tourney semifinals in Dement's first or second year.

I've seen everything from Todd Alexanders off-the-court issues and subsequent departure to Kato Armstrong schooling David Rivers in the tournament to seeing him become ineligible.

I went to Austin to see us beat Texas in 1992-93 when we won the regular season title. Of course, the SWC tournament wasn't fun. And we were a No. 10 seed in the 1993 tournament when we lost to BYU by about ten.

Since then, it's been nothing short of frustration. We had several .500 seasons with Dement. In retrospect, he probably did about as good as he could. I'm not sure.

But I think the turning point for this program was during the 1999-2000 season when the NCAA-type team had that huge week against TCU and Tulsa at Moody. Lost to TCU when we imploded in the last 8 minutes. Lost to Tulsa in OT when Willie Davis dribbled the ball off his leg and Tulsa hit that shot in the corner to send it into overtime.

I don't think that team nor this program has gotten over that. And it's sent shockwaves.

And it hurts to see us putting up disastrous season after disastrous season. With a class like this and the expectations to be better, I still thought 13-16 was realistic (Icon knew that was my prediction).

Then came the TCU game and I came away so disenchanted, that I just believed this was season was already gone. I just observed a team that just didn't have it.

Believe me, no one wants this program to be as consistent as I do. I probably want it more because of my first affiliation with it.

I'm frustrated, I'm angry and I'm disillusioned. With the Crum Center and with the great atmosphere Moody could provide, this program is a sleeping giant.

I just hope it wakes up sometime soon.

Please beat the horse some more - it might not be dead yet.