A Tale of Two Cities

[Charleston Pony]

TCU can't fill a 46k seat stadium for a top 25 caliber team; that doesn't translate to BCS desireable. I admire the success they've had and hope we can reach that same level soon, but we are 2 small private schools that don't have large followings.

Only thing programs like ours can do is to build quality programs that can compete on the field/court (if not at the box office) with the larger public schools and hopefully someday we will be worthy of a larger cut of the pie.

If the MWC could add Boise (and eventually a strong 12th school) and sustain the success they've had in football, it's possible they could break into the cartel someday...but BYU is the only program that can pack in 60k fans on Saturday afternoons. That's what the cartel is all about.

[ponyscott]

Understood but the cartels will put up with more than you think with privates schools if they had access to a major media market like Dallas and that only put 40-45,000 fans in seats. And really don't you think that TCU or SMU for that matter could indeed fill their stadiums if they had rivalry's with major schools instead of East Carolina, Marshall and/or Wyoming and UNLV? The major schools travel well...we need a good home fan base of course but playing big name schools and being competive with them creates a lot of differnt opportunities....hey we never thought we would even get award winning JJ and his staff to come to little crappy SMU did we?

[Charleston Pony]

I suppose Eric Dickerson deserves some credit for JJ's being here. Thought I read somewhere that ED was one of the 1st people JJ called to inquire about what was going on at SMU

[SMUstang]

Small private schools can be successful. I give you Notre Dame, USC, Miami, just to name a few.

[Stallion]

PonyStang-as someone considered a strong critic of what went on around here in the last 20 years I don't think it is accurate to say that SMU will never have the commitment to a strong program that TCU does.

Yes TCU does seem to have an institutional goal of becoming a BCS program-which most SMU fans have laughed at-but those knowledgeable realize that TCU maybe a lot closer to that goal than they care to admit. The MWC is building a strong case for an eventual lawsuit to force them into the BCS if it isn't granted voluntarily. We'll see. SMU apparently has no such goals and is happy to be Tier 2 in my opinion.

But otherwise, if you really examine the SMU program they have slowly-much too slowly finally got their [deleted] together:

1. Facilities
2. Academic Model is fixed-we are now on an even playing field with just about all our competitors. There are several key players on this team who are playing only because of relaxed academic standards and what's more they got in only with the active assistance and cooperation of the administration. I prefer not to get into examples but I truly believe that to be true based on what I've heard about several recruits that I know based on published reports who had borderline academic transcripts.
3. Commitment to Quality Coaching Staff-(I still think June made a mistake by not getting a couple of ace Texas recruiters on his staff from Day 1-but I have no complaints on the quality of the staff.)
4. Financial-we may not like it but Orsini and the Ford Stadium/Boulevard initiative has instituted absolutely necessary funding changes which has put us in much better position to compete financially

anyway I'm not sure if you really follow the program close enough to realize that we have made the necessary changes that should allow this program to suceed. If you are using the past mistakes to justify criticm or perhaps refusal to support the program then those excuses no longer hold water It just takes time-more than most Ponyfans realize for those changes to take effect.

What I don't like and still get pissed off about is blatent misrepresentation of the present situation-see the first post which is absolutely total BS. To get to the TCU level we are simply going to have to much improve our recruiting-we even are going to have to OUTRECRUIT other top programs for the best players if we want to compete for Top 25, Championships, QUALITY Bowls and be able to conmpete with the A&Ms, Techs, TCUs, Baylors, Houston(improved recruiting), Southern Miss(improved recruiting) and other quality teams on our future schedules

[SMUstang]

I'm not just talking about institutional committment, which SMU probably has. I am talking about community committment as well. Businesses, private citizens, and of course boosters. I question whether SMU will ever match TCU in those areas.

[CalallenStang]

I'm not just talking about institutional committment, which SMU probably has. I am talking about community committment as well. Businesses, private citizens, and of course boosters. I question whether SMU will ever match TCU in those areas.

Does the term "Circle of Champions" mean anything to you?

[ponyscott]

And ED would never have texted Orsini if Orsini hadn't gone out to to LA previously to engage ED, play golf and let him know that SMU needs him and wanted to connect again. JJ contacted ED that he wanted to know about SMU potential interest and ED in any previous year would have told him to go look elsewhere. ED had been convinced after talking to Orsini and Turner that we are in it for the long term and attitude and facilities are improving for a reason. Forget about the cry baby attitude for years past only look at the Orsini regime to see what will happen...it's all about a new 'can-do' spirit that you need to pay attention to. In addition to easier admissions and student tutors,state of the art student/athlete learning center and facilities I know there is discussions about adding new university majors that appeal to athletes/students that want to focus on anesthisiology, kineseology ( don't have spell check sorry) and physical therapy majors that allow them to became athletic trainers, directors etc. That is really important to many athletes.......and the big state schools have had these majors for years....

[SMUstang]

We could have done it in 1998 instead of 2008 the same as TCU. But we didn't. TCU has been going one direction, we have been going the opposite.

[Stallion]

No [deleted] kiddin'. We could have done it in 1989 and we wouldn't have lost two generations of fans. People love comeback stories but we screwed up and decided to compete for the Ivy League Championship instead of the SWC Championship.

[CalallenStang]

We could have done it in 1998 instead of 2008 the same as TCU. But we didn't. TCU has been going one direction, we have been going the opposite.

Then explain to me why it makes sense that you are throwing a hissy-fit in 2009 instead of 1999. From 1989-2007 we went backwards. From 2008 on we will be going forwards. It's a shame that you refuse to see that we are making progress.

[ponyscott]

Exactly, as those who dwell on the past...stay there! I mean WTF ......get over it ......1998? its over, wake up....if we don't see you in the future....see you in the pasture...LOL

[Stallion]

I was one of the few people on these board who blueprinted with supportive evidence and examples over a decade ago exactly what had to be done to compete-I was told by multitudes of Cheerleaders that SMU would never adopt those measures. Each and every point is now part of the official SMU policy. As for today-see my post above.

I criticize the program in approximate direct proportion to the criticism it deserves. I probably had literally hundreds of posts over more than a decade attacking the academic model with factual evidence of exactly how SMU was undermining the program-This Academic Model was the real, primary reason SMU has not and could not compete with our natural and traditional rivals. I have never used the academic model as an excuse for future years since 2008-because its not valid.

A strong argument can be made that SMU would be 0-3 today without Shawnbrey McNeil's 350 yards, Rock Dennis' 3 Ints, Sterling Moore's team leading passes knocked down and Int., Kennemer's leading tackles and Int., Marquis Frazier's Ints and sacks, Syzmanski's FGs, Punting and Kickoffs etc. These are guys that SMU might not have admitted in prior years. More accurately, the Academic Model won't be an excuse after about 2011-2012-a 4-5 year perspective when the classes recruited under the changes has had completed their eligibility.

But I'm also not going to sit by and let some Cheerleader come on here and blatently misrepresent the truth about how we compare athletically to the TCU program. We've got enough Cheerleaders one or two posters providing an accurate picture of where we are is healthy. As for this year I'm not in the Top 50 of critics based upon what I read last Saturday and Sunday.

[SoCal_Pony]

There is one area where we could become Top 25 in 5 years...Basketball

I am convinced we could rival UT as one of the 2 dominant programs in the state.

Although not likely, that could be a deciding factor if a TCU/SMU BCS decision ever arose.

Yes, we hired a top named coach, yes, we have and are making facilities improvements, but to SMUstangs point, I do not think they would hire a Scott Drew / John Calipari type coach who would stretch the outer limits of what is legal to bring in the top athletes to this school.

Other programs do it...maybe the fear of another DP scandal prevents us from ever doing it.

[SoCal_Pony]

What my post above means is the SMU can become a Top 40 program in BB, but not a Top 10 program.

I want to be a Top 10 program.