Myth: Winning as cure-all ...

[newshound]

On the verge of a bowl berth, we are. But, hush, don't talk about bowl games until the talk is relevant.

Interesting reading in Star-Telegram about TCU's situation. As good as TCU has been -- frankly, pound-for-pound and dollar-for-dollar perhaps the best program in the nation -- winning has not been a cure-all. The only time they have sold out their stadium, which does seat nearly 48,000, is vs. Texas, Texas Tech or Oklahoma.

It's amazing that just now the city of Fort Worth, with no pro sports team, is getting behind TCU full throttle with things like purple lights along the skyline. In this town of Dallas, with so much sports noise in the marketplace, it would be even harder for SMU.

Are things better in this so-far winning season? Why, yes, they are. But, there is so much more to accomplish. And, TCU has shown, plain and simply, that winning is not the cure-all. It's very odd to me that the community has done so little to embrace a program that has done so much for so long (more than 10 years of winning football and two other sniffs at the BCS).

SMU still has a long, long way to go to build a winning culture and to win over many of its cynical long-time fans, many of whom gave up long, long ago. And, many others who doubt it will ever happen. SMU has sacrificed everything in athletics for the sake of football, which rules the roost. No more track program for men, it's soccer programs now mired in less-than-mediocrity. Will it all be worth it? Will SMU's brass take any lessons from TCU's long, hard road of lack-of-respect?

And, even with all that TCU has done in the last decade or so, if they are to lose on Saturday, back to the back burner they will go. SMU has the potential to surpass TCU, but it will be about much more than just winning a few more football games. It will be about developing a following, while making the gameday experience among the best in the country (The Boulevard already is). And, really, that should be the easy part now that June Jones seemingly has things on the field pointed in the right direction.

Big boys on the Hilltop: Keep your eyes on the prize and don't buy the myth that winning will cure all. Winning will make things more fun, but also more challenging, with heightened expectations, on and off the field. Yes, winning may help attract better resources, but those resources are meaningless without the passion of the people who are to use them.

Now, let's go out and hammer UTEP on the field and root for UCF to upset Houston. Then, we can start thinking about the bowl game goal.

[perunapower]

It's amazing that just now the city of Fort Worth, with no pro sports team, is getting behind TCU full throttle with things like purple lights along the skyline. In this town of Dallas, with so much sports noise in the marketplace, it would be even harder for SMU.

They have pro sports teams. Dallas Cowboys are now even closer to Ft. Worth than they are to Dallas. When we're ranked #4 in the nation, I bet we there will be red and blue everywhere in Dallas. Dallas is a winner's city. If you win and win consistently, everyone loves you. If you lose consistently, you either fall into oblivion or you become a running joke for sports media. Unfortunately for SMU, it has managed to do both.

[Stallion]

its stupid to keep complaining about TCU's attendance. TCU has great attendance based on the size of the school. TCU does not equal Ft. Worth any more than SMU equals Dallas. TCU has better attendance than SMU ever did in the Pony Express Days from actual SMU fans at full price. You are so superficial in your comments-are you a philosophy major because you probably could have made your point better in one paragraph by stating exactly what you mean. Something like:

SMU has very little financial and fan support because institutional ineptitude has run off generations of former fans which has affected SMU athletics in all sports and it will take a solid, consistent plan(ie I like the word Model) to rebuild the program to reach its full potential