After Twenty Years, It Is Time To Take a Stand

[jtstang]

jtstang, the evidence is in the results. For twenty years, the teams have not performed. Perhaps there should be an "summit" to investigate why? Why should our programs be failing so miserably. What practices and policies are responsible and how can they be fixed. We need to examine the flaws in the system that evolved after the NCAA, or put the athletic department in charge of the tenure reveiw at Dedman.

I agree with everything in this post. I just don't see any evidence that SMU has even "pretended to want" major athletics programs in the last twenty years.

[ponyboy]

Lets take a stand by FIRING PB!!!

Kick the dog? Ridiculous. Bennett's consistently said and done the right thing here at SMU, including in this case. Put your energies where they need to be, not on PB.

[NavyCrimson]

well said - mex!

[Stallion]

every single football coach at SMU over the last 20 years has known EXACTLY why-its just they haven't let the cheerleaders in on the secret. It's hilarious!

[NavyCrimson]

[PK]

At least the school can be honest with us, do they or do they not want a sports program? If not, my money, your money and our time can best go elsewhere, like it has for 75% of our fellow alumi.

They want us to keep forking over money to pay for the football team so the school can say they have one, but they do not want it to be a winning one. Maybe if people start withholding their academic donations based on lack of athletic success, perhaps the school will try to win.

Good grief man...do you really think the $1.5 million paltry sum the Mustang Club raises every year really "pays for the football team"? It is a drop in the bucket relative to the overall budget. They may not want a good one as you say, but they are investing plenty into it all the same. If lack of money is what is holding the program back, then withholding contributions is not going to solve the problem because the University isn't going to fund it at a higher level than it already is doing. The increase has to come from ticket sales and donations. A little from a Bowl game would help too.

Edit. My reading comprehension is a little off today. I missed the fact that couch 'em was refering to withholding academic funding contributions. Interesting concept.

[Mexmustang]

No, the donations to the Mustang Club are paltry, but they are just the tip of the iceburg. A good deal of money is donated to the university because sports retained alumni interest in the "happenings" of the university. Why are sports programs still important to those universities that have endowment programs far surpass that of SMU's? bringing people back to campus, giving alumns the chance to feel good about their school, giving our administrators a chance to sell the school's program and future. When was the last time an alumn go excited about a lecture on economics or engineering or a foreign language. Would you go back to hear a comparative poetry disertation? Think about the sports effort made by state universities, federal military accademies and even members of the Ivy League.
My own contributions are barely five figures, but I have raised and caused to be donated over $2.0MM to the university. How excited do you think I am now about assisting a school that seems out of balance. I happen to beleive that consistant failure for twenty years in sports, may indicate several problems exist in the university, pehaps leading to mediocre departments and professors that would rather cricize someone else programs than fix their own. It also says alot about the overall managment and governance of the school.

[BornRed&Blue]

put the athletic department in charge of the tenure reveiw at Dedman.

This is the best idea anyone has every had, truly, make the two "camps" responsible to each other. One cannot make decisions about the other or visa versa! I love it.