WHY DOES JUNE THINK HAWAII IS BETTER FOR OUR PROGRAM???

[Ralph]

ESPN does not pan the stadium, you'll see a back drop of empty seats but it's been that way with nearly all of the Sheraton Bowl games. 20K is an average crowd in a stadium that holds 50K, the Warriors played before 25K last week but it seemed as though the crowd was less than 20K. So if SMU brings a small crowd, it won't matter, the main focus will be on the team on National TV, the game itself, and SMU reaping a lot of exposure. For the SMU football team, come to Hawaii!!! Hawaii!!! enjoy the sand and surf, make memories with you teammates, and enjoy the journey as SMU football lays its new foundation for winning football.

[mr. pony]

I just don't get it ---- After 25 years of hell, our fans should come first on this one.

Quite frankly I am not sure I buy June's arguement on better exposure for SMU if in Hawaii????

HELP

ok, given our current position in the conference, i'll go under the assumption that we win out.

1) Conference Championship game will be held at Ford Stadium - an incredible event for our fans, and in my opinion more important than a bowl game (6 bowl games for CUSA, 1 CUSA Champ)
2) Recruiting - it will be the ONLY game on TV that day (Dec 24) versus one of five games on Jan 2nd with the Liberty Bowl being the lesser of the five that day
3) All CUSA bowl revenue is shared equally between conference teams, so the $1.7 for the liberty bowl versus the $0.7 for Hawaii doesn't matter
4) again Recruiting - Hawaii Bowl will be against a WAC team, which June has coached against for the past 9 years, rather than an SEC team whose depth would probably get the best of us - better chance of winning against Idaho over Auburn
5) reward our players for a job well done with a trip to Hawaii rather than a trip to Memphis. this will probably be the only time in most of these kids' lives that they will make it to the islands
6) recruiting - trip to the islands to get us some Samoans and Tongans.
7) Maybe most important, maybe least important, June promised Frank Gansz before this season that he would take these kids to show them Pearl Harbor if they made it to a bowl. he's going to live up to that promise. this doesn't get talked about much in all of the bowl discussion, but I think it's pretty important.

i can comprehend tha logic dude...mr pony iz a selfish sun of a deleted...i can't bank tha trip...but it looks best for tha program...do a bake sale...or shut up old man...

I've been to Hawaii more times than you've showered, Curtis.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Give me a break. So take them to Pearl Harbor. AFTER C-USA's contracted championship bowl game in Memphis.

Yeah dude you gonna come up with the money for an extra Pearl Harbor trip?
Jeezzzz someone told me you don't even buy season tickets?
Yeah what a big fan you are!
You gonna bum a ticket in Memphis too?
Quit hammering our Coach that has us at 6 wins!


ANY BOWL FOR SMU AND I WILL BE SMILING!

[SMU2007]

I just don't get it ---- After 25 years of hell, our fans should come first on this one.

Quite frankly I am not sure I buy June's arguement on better exposure for SMU if in Hawaii????

HELP

fans DON'T come first. the program comes first.

if going to hawaii gets the players more excited, is better for recruiting, gets us more exposure etc. why not go there?

[Bergermeister]

I just don't get it ---- After 25 years of hell, our fans should come first on this one.

W R O N G - the team comes first... always.

[Mestengo]

<--------------------------- ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[EastStang]

Also remember JJ recruits Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands. It wouldn't hurt to show his face there in that regard either. We could use a few more linemen and linebackers from the Islands. Secondly, I think JJ figures that our going when Hawaii is not bowl eligible would help the conference keep the Hawaii bowl. That is good long term for us and for the conference. Otherwise an ECU/Nevada match-up would not draw flies and could cause serious reevaluation of the Hawaii Bowl relationships.

[Garret]

Give me a break. So take them to Pearl Harbor. AFTER C-USA's contracted championship bowl game in Memphis.

I hope that you realize that this is a HUGE NCAA violation and would result huge sanctions for the SMU program. I don't mind you going on rant after rant but please keep in mind obvious NCAA violations when you are making your suggestions...

The only way that the SMU team can go to Pearl Harbor is to go to the Hawaii Bowl. Go and rant about other things but please stop suggesting they can go to Pearl Harbor after the Liberty Bowl.

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

It would be a much better expereince..an COMPLETELY different experience v. Memphis in January...Duh!

[Dutch]

Give me a break. So take them to Pearl Harbor. AFTER C-USA's contracted championship bowl game in Memphis.

I hope that you realize that this is a HUGE NCAA violation and would result huge sanctions for the SMU program. I don't mind you going on rant after rant but please keep in mind obvious NCAA violations when you are making your suggestions...

The only way that the SMU team can go to Pearl Harbor is to go to the Hawaii Bowl. Go and rant about other things but please stop suggesting they can go to Pearl Harbor after the Liberty Bowl.

just disregard his comments. Mr. Pony is just a grumpy old coot that is pissed b/c he can't get to the game, for whatever reason. Some people don't handle success well. we should all be happy that the team has made it to 6-4 and MIGHT get to play in a bowl game if we win one of our final 2 games. Beat Marshall!

[jtstang]

Give me a break. So take them to Pearl Harbor. AFTER C-USA's contracted championship bowl game in Memphis.

I hope that you realize that this is a HUGE NCAA violation and would result huge sanctions for the SMU program. I don't mind you going on rant after rant but please keep in mind obvious NCAA violations when you are making your suggestions...

The only way that the SMU team can go to Pearl Harbor is to go to the Hawaii Bowl. Go and rant about other things but please stop suggesting they can go to Pearl Harbor after the Liberty Bowl.

Good lord. I say LET'S START A SLUSH FUND AND BUY GREAT PLAYERS!!!!

Oops, sorry about that proposed violation.

BTW, none of the explanations offered are worth kissing off the CUSA Champ's bowl game. If we are lucky enough to be the champ, we should be playing in January.

[ponydawg]

It's gonna be embarrassing being on ESPN with barely any SMU fans in the stands.

We are going to have pathetic attendance no matter what bowl we go to.....at least when someone watches the hawaii bowl they know there is a good reason why we aren't there (Christmas Eve and Hawaii is far/$$$). I think it would look more pathetic to have 60,000 auburn fans and 2,000 smu fans at the Liberty bowl. And ESPN is going to protect the Hawaii bowl as much as they can, it is in their best interest. There won't be any alumni fans, but if the island locals care to see june and keep the bowl there in the future, they will go.

[CalallenStang]

Dutch, I can't disagree with you points, and I have to admit I hadn't heard the last one.

However, I prefer Memphis for somewhat selfish reasons in that I'd go to Memphis.

Either way, I'd be ecstatic if we went to any bowl.

BEAT MARSHALL!

yeah, i broke the 'code of silence' regarding the Monday lunch. I thought this was pretty important to share though, and has no impact on the upcoming game (which is the reason for the confidentiality)

Don't worry, Dutch. I saw the thing about June's promise to Gansz printed in an article about the team (don't remember if it was one of Kate's pieces or not). Therefore, you didn't break the code of silence.

[peruna11]

BEAT MARSHALL!!

Are the Hawaii Bowl bashers going to be happy about us going there if we end up with our head so far up our aces that we forgot to show up for our remaining 2 games??? Has this controversy made the Hawaii Bowl sour grapes even if it's our ONLY choice??

BEAT MARSHALL!!

[Hoop Fan]

what better way to emphasize your irrelevance by returning to a bowl game after 25 years for a glorious matchup against...Idaho. I'd rather lose 55-10 to Auburn if it worked out that way than beat Idaho. No one cares who wins bowl games. Its all about the hype and matchup. Plus I think there is alot of truth to the idea of you can catch a bigger program napping and win a legit game that really launches your program, ie TCU vs USC in 90's Sun Bowl.