Dear Steve, take your letter and stuff it!

[StallionsModelT]

Hey at least our era of fans isn't responsible for the decimation of one of the most storied programs in college football. The younger alums have been given NOTHING to cheer for. The old fogies who continue to show up at least have memories of the glory days when we won conference championships, contended for national titles, etc. We have NOTHING thanks to a bunch of overzealous rich idiots who caused a nuclear bomb to be dropped on our school. You can [deleted] about the young alums not going to the games but the fact of the matter is the old regime is responsible for all of this mess.

[Mustangsabu]

Sir,
If you go back and re-read what you sent out on Oct. 12, that you fanned the flames of distrust and frustration between fans and alums and the university. Not only do I find this to cloud Peruna's future, I'm also concerned about what other traditions will be jeopardized. This also adds to my doubts about you being the leader for athletics.

To have head football coach June Jones be associated with this was a blown calculated move. He should have been nowhere near this.

I'm going to say this in a language you can understand: Peruna is the ONLY mascot for SMU - past, present and future. I hope these horses are well cared for but I don't want them on my campus in the future years. They are pawns in a political movement which SMU doesn't need to be in the middle of.

I don't have a problem evaluating my future of giving to the school should Peruna either have company or is shown the door. The university has done a nice job of driving off its followers with it's lack of commitment to anything.

What does it say when our mascot's existence in question? Just a bad bad idea.

First off, I am a fan of Peruna, simply because of the longevity of service. That said, you make a couple of points that indicate to me that perhaps you could evaluate this in a different light.

Peruna is a Shetland Pony (I think), she is NOT a Mustang. WE are MUSTANGS. Should we not wholly support any involvement that SMU has in the plight of the Mustangs as a very famous breed of horse? The Mustang is synonymous with America. The Shetland Pony is not. Having a real and tangible connection to the Mustang cause is something that every SMU fan, alum or student should embrace. The ONLY reason to keep Peruna, and to keep Peruna as a Shetland Pony (I am surprised that no-one has even mentioned keeping the name Peruna and giving to to a Mustang), is that she has been around for a long time. Personally I think that Peruna should be kept around for precisely that reason. But to suggest that she is the only mascot is foolish because is fails to take into account that Peruna ONLY appears in football games at at no other campus activities. She has been the mascot of the football team throughout her career. I have never seen her charge the field at a soccer game, for example.

I agree that to remove Peruna as the mascot of SMU Football would be to end a really special tradition. But I think that to create a meaningful link between SMU and the Mustang breed could grow into a tradition that future students and alumni could value every bit as much as Peruna the Shetland Pony.

I should point out, coming from a high school that was founded in 1432 and having sung services for 11 years in a cathedral built in 1191 that traditions do change, and that it is ok when they do, even though another tradition is lost.

I will finish by saying that I don't believe the athletic department handled this well. I think the University should have been the liason with the Mustang protection people and JJ and the football should have stayed away from anything other than the presentation of a mustang or two at the half-time of the navy game. I will be appalled if there is booing of the Mustangs.

[Greenwich Pony]

I have to agree with the General this time. I am not exactly "the older generation" and I am not a kid either. And Peruna is not "just a shetland pony on the sideline." Perhaps mascots mean little to some people, and that is fine. And I am not saying new traditions cannot be started- the gathering a tradition by an organization is something that naturally happens when it matures.

However, unecessarily replacing a tradition is something entirely different.

Peruna is not just a Shetland pony on the sideline. He represents the spirit of the university. Peruna may be small, but he is tough, aggressive and takes no guff from anyone. Frankly, those are very much the virtues SMU is and aspires to. We're small- we're not some bloated state university. We have had to be tough and aggressive to get to where we are in collegiate standings (and hopefully will continue climbing) and our graduates have to be tough and aggressive in the world abroad, and, as a group I believe we are. And SMU needs to blaze it's own trails, which is something we tend to do as well. We have been doing for coming on 100 years. Peruna is also about unity of our past (good and bad) and our present and should represent our future as well. And when I was in school, or even in my 20's it did not seem like that big a deal. But as the university changes, the campus changes and the world changes, Peruna stands as a beacon to us as our home, providing instant familiarity.

Take Peruna away from SMU, and hell, I might as well be giving my money to Yale or Columbia or any number of universities closer to home, if I want to support education. Or I could give it to any number of other interests. Or I could buy a new boat. We alumni give money to SMU because we remember and love that spirit, the spirit embodying by an independant-minded, black, ungelded stallion shetland pony. Lord knows we have written checks through years of god-awful athletics performance because of a love for that spirit. Take away Peruna and SMU is no longer our SMU of memory, but another school. God forbid, it could be TCU with much prettier buildings.

So while time and change march on, that is why Peruna should continue to represent the university. Because the SMU of the future does matter, but it relies on the SMU of the past to become a reality.

And frankly, the day SMU replaces Peruna as the mascot is the day that I for one will stop writing checks to the school, stop giving SMU grads first crack at interviews in my company and stop pitching SMU professors as experts for productions. Because it will no longer be SMU. It will just be another one of America's 4,000 colleges.

[RGV Pony]

still wondering where it is written that SMU is replacing Peruna. I don't think I can do anything one way or another. So bring on Peruna's Posse.

[StallionsModelT]

Peruna isn't going anywhere. My God. I've had it with this.

[PonyTales]

... They are pawns in a political movement which SMU doesn't need to be in the middle of...

That is a nice way of looking at it (the horses as pawns), but it's not like everyone involved is supportive of the W Library, either. Regardless of political affiliations and beliefs, the W Shrine will bring money and attention to the university. The new mascots certainly have generated a lot of attention/discussion, and if there's a truckload of Pickens' money behind it, we all know the university won't decline.

[mr. pony]

I will put this plain and simple and it will be the only thing I have to say about this - you don't f_ _ k with tradition.

so why did we move from the house that Doak built to Texas Stadium? And why did we move from the Cotton Bowl to Ford?

Doak built it. The Cowboys moved in.

[az1]

I guess we had to drop the tradition of paying players. We should have messed with tradition before it caused our demise.

[couch 'em]

I guess we had to drop the tradition of paying players. We should have messed with tradition before it caused our demise.

Actually they DID mess with the tradition and started paying everyone too well. Had they just done it half way and under the table like everyone had always done, there wouldn't have been any problem, and we'd be in the Big 12.

[az1]

I guess we had to drop the tradition of paying players. We should have messed with tradition before it caused our demise.

Actually they DID mess with the tradition and started paying everyone too well. Had they just done it half way and under the table like everyone had always done, there wouldn't have been any problem, and we'd be in the Big 12.

You know Couch'em, I might not agree with everything you say but I sure have fun reading what you say.

[Mexmustang]

I need two volunteers, a blank pistol and a chainsaw, we'll march all three animals into Orsini's office be done with this talk...

[Statler]

I need two volunteers, a blank pistol and a chainsaw, we'll march all three animals into Orsini's office be done with this talk...

Guess what it's just like the M Band playing Peruna (the fight song) over and over and over again. It will never go awayayaayayayayy..echo echo echo......

[PonyTales]

I need two volunteers, a blank pistol and a chainsaw, we'll march all three animals into Orsini's office be done with this talk...

"Just blanks, right?"

"Riiiiiiight."

[Mexmustang]

This going to be GREAT...

[Treadway21]

MidlandMustang wrote:
I will put this plain and simple and it will be the only thing I have to say about this - you don't f_ _ k with tradition.


so why did we move from the house that Doak built to Texas Stadium? And why did we move from the Cotton Bowl to Ford?

Apples and oranges my friend.