Replacing Peruna

[smupony94]

Finally, endowing the SMU mascot is an excellent idea.

I think nature has taken care of that issue.

Well said

[EastStang]

Except of course when Peruna has been a mare.

[Longtime]

Did someone say the TxTech alum who tried to write a new fight song for SMU was trying to turn SMU into Tech?

Bingo!

Nathan Scot Montague is a Longhorn.

Read it here, the final letter at the bottom of the page:

http://search.dallasobserver.com/Issues ... tters.html

Ol' "Hook'em" Montague wants a large, listless livestock specimen as the SMU live mascot, just like at dear old UT.

Like I said before: Idiotic. Asinine. Stupid.

I don't know what the deal-breaker was for MM65, but this would be it for me. I can take a lot as an SMU fan, but you start attacking one of the few great traditions we have, and I'm outta here. If Peruna's gone, so am I.

[MustangStealth]

What an interesting coincidence on those last two letters... are we in the twilight zone?

[jtstang]

Except of course when Peruna has been a mare.

Blasphemy.

[DiamondM]

What an interesting coincidence on those last two letters... are we in the twilight zone?

I had completely forgottten about that, and hadn't even realized they published Montague's letter too. I just think that we must be the only 2 people who ever write to media outlets about our feelings. If more SMU alums did it, it would be hard for DMN and others to argue that nobody cares.

[jtstang]

If more SMU alums did it, it would be hard for DMN and others to argue that nobody cares.

If only two are doing it, maybe they are right.

[couch 'em]

"Meadows filth"? You're a serious a-hole dude.

Just wanted to post my apologies for that comment - bad choice of words posted while angry and looking at the "meadows" association in the guy's email.

I have several friends who have graduated from meadows (and called me on this comment) and I never meant to insult the entire school.

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

That would be one of the same people listed as being behind this: "John Gibson in development" (unless we have hired a new John Gibson). I believe he is a Red Raider, and has been sent here on a secret mission to undermine SMU traditions and support -- by trying to make us more like them.

I was told by a mutual acquaintance that he really didn't want to write that song in the first place and that the only reason he did it was because Turner asked him to do so.

[that's great raplh]

i would not mind having a real mustang in addition to peruna

[KnuckleStang]

For the record, I am myself a proud Meadows graduate, and have no problem referring to this person as Meadows Filth.

Also, what is the Mustang Band director's name, and how can it be that he is "not opposed to the idea" of changing the mascot.

Eloquently put, DiamondM.

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

For the record, I am myself a proud Meadows graduate, and have no problem referring to this person as Meadows Filth.

Also, what is the Mustang Band director's name, and how can it be that he is "not opposed to the idea" of changing the mascot.

Eloquently put, DiamondM.

In all fairness, I'm not sure that we can truly attribute that to Mr. Hopkins, the Mustang Band Director. It seems that the so called seal of approval that Judith Banes had given the Mr. Montague wasn't exactly as stated. There could be some hyperbole in that assessment as well.

[PlanoStang]

...is Ole Miss a 2 year school or 4 year?

Ask Turner. He got run off from there.

[PlanoStang]

Here is what I sent to Scot and to the Daily Campus editors:

When I first read the proposal to replace Peruna with a full size Mustang, I tried to envision how it would work. I really did. I thought, “Let’s set aside tradition for a moment, and think about the practical pros and cons of this.” But, then I realized that the point is that you can’t just set aside tradition without a really good reason to do so. Therefore, I’ll return to the practical considerations in a moment, but let’s start with the issue of tradition.

I have no doubt that an informal straw poll of your average, uninvolved SMU students and alumni will find support for replacing Peruna with a full size Mustang. This is a symptom of a problem that has troubled me since I became a student at SMU in 1990: the failure of the university and its students to take the time and energy to teach, learn, understand, respect, embrace, and defend its traditions. How many times have we heard some student or alumnus complain that SMU doesn’t have any “cool” traditions like XYZ university? Or that we should start some new tradition because our mascot, fight song, colors, band, whatever is stupid? The thing is, the reason why certain traditions at XYZ university seem “cool” is because the students and everyone associated with the university (a) know about them, and (b) participate in them. Most traditions may seem silly or stupid to an outsider (or an uniformed insider), but when even the seemingly silliest tradition (Aggie yell practice, Stanford’s tree mascot, Woo Pig Sooie are just some examples) becomes “what WE do,” not only do people associated within the university support that tradition, but outsiders start to admire the tradition because so many are committed to and participate in it. If you want a “cool” tradition, start participating in the many traditions we already have.

And so it goes with Peruna. If SMU students were taught the history of Peruna, they might just embrace the tradition of the small, feisty, yet accessible mascot. In some ways, a small yet spirited horse is a much better symbol of a small, private university who is often the underdog than a full-sized Mustang. And even if that weren’t the case, just as a soft fluffy collie is Texas A&M’s mascot and a goat is Navy’s mascot, Peruna is MY mascot. That is what makes him special – he’s MINE and he’s YOURS. What we have here is just another case of tradition-envy (“theirs is bigger than mine”) thinly veiled by laudable goals of environmental and historical consciousness.

Now to the practical part. This proposal suggests that the new and “improved” Mustang will never have a rider, and rightly so. As we all recognize, once you put a rider on a horse, it’s a Texas Tech Red Raider, a Traveler, or somebody else’s mascot, but it’s not a Mustang,. Without a rider, the new Mustang will not be able to run across the field. Period. No handler can run with a full size horse, and no conference in the world is going to let us just have a horse run across the field on his own. So where does that leave us? With a heavily sedated large livestock animal standing on the sidelines tied to a post or in a pen. Ooooh, sounds inspiring. That really reflects the spirit of the wild Mustang, doesn’t it?

Plus, a full size riderless Mustang also eliminates the very important ambassador role that Peruna serves on the Boulevard and at other local appearances. Peruna is mobile, approachable and accessible to kids and adults alike. A full-size Mustang simply cannot perform this function.

Finally, endowing the SMU mascot is an excellent idea. It costs money to feed, care for, and transport the mascot (more for a full-size horse than for Peruna), and more funding is always better. But why do we have to discard a 75 year old tradition to start a Peruna endowment? Let’s support the traditions we already have, both financially and emotionally. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: Peruna is MY mascot.

Why didn't you just say when they try to run him across the field, A
LONG TIME SMU TRADITION he'll kill the Peruna runners by
dragging them to death

[westexSMU]

QUOTE: "the shetland, which is a notorious ill-tempered breed and bites people"...............??? What the hell,.............This has got to be a joke right ? I think " ill-tempered breed and bites people" sounds like a great MASCOT which ours is. Long live PERUNA !