Good Job, Thad!!!

[Hoop Fan]

Probably because they had to.

Hanson's sitting there with a kid who is saying "They paid me." That's more than enough to go to press with - Don't kid yourself: Hanson was in some ways showing them an once of respect by giving them a chance to reply before it got aired, something he really didn't have to do. You are going to have to answer in some form, and since Hanson had a decent working relationship with Collins and Hitch they probably thought nothing that big would come of it - It was simply going to be Stanley's word vs. theirs; i.e. a drug using dropout who is already known to have shopped the story around vs. SMU. The guys probably thought it would make them look more innocent if they simpley sat down, denied it, and got it over with.

Only there's an envelope.......

huh? I'm not sure any formal response was required or desirable (you would never see USC or Auburn do that today), but if one was somehow needed, you issue a statement denying the allegation. You don't sit down for filmed cross examination from an investigative journalist trying to make a buck himself by breaking a story.

[HB Pony Dad]

Probably because they had to.

Hanson's sitting there with a kid who is saying "They paid me." That's more than enough to go to press with - Don't kid yourself: Hanson was in some ways showing them an once of respect by giving them a chance to reply before it got aired, something he really didn't have to do. You are going to have to answer in some form, and since Hanson had a decent working relationship with Collins and Hitch they probably thought nothing that big would come of it - It was simply going to be Stanley's word vs. theirs; i.e. a drug using dropout who is already known to have shopped the story around vs. SMU. The guys probably thought it would make them look more innocent if they simpley sat down, denied it, and got it over with.

Only there's an envelope.......

If you watch more closely and listen, it was a setup interview to discuss SMU Football not allegations of payments.

A secretary called Hansen et. al and alleged that payments were being made.

Hansen set up the interview under false pretenses and then started firing away at about payments and initialed envelopes et. al.

Unfortunately : THE END !

[RednBlue11]

In looking at this objectively from what I watched, Dale Hansen did his job. It was the SMU people who basically hung themselves on what they said and how they reacted to it.

Did SMU officials set a standard for stupidity? Oh my goodness yes. My only problem with Hanson, other than that he is a loud bore, is that his investigative journalism began and ended at SMU. Everyone was paying back in those days. But Hanson knew, and still knows, that the UT apologist Belos butter his bread. My grandmother's bridge club could have broken a similar story about UT and the Aggies if they had wanted to.

Dale Hansen was a local reporter...guess who was local...not UT, not, A&M.

And they didn't have boosters that left players out to dry when they got hurt, we made the mistakes that made it all too easy for Hanson to run w/ his story.

You're also overlooking the highly competitive media war driven by scandal that Dallas had going on at the time.

[Stallion]

Again it is not accurate that Belo or Hansen on Ch. 8 only broke scandals at SMU. They investigated most teams in the Southwest and directly caused probations at most schools in the Southwest. The most prominent being the ambush on Texas A&M QB Kevin Murray by Ch. 8's Gerry Oher where they handed him a lease to a 280Z. Murray looks at it and says "oh my gosh". Rips it out of Oher's hand and runs off. I think you can arguably allege some selective enforgment by the NCAA but the evidence shows that the Dallas media ran investigative reports on all schools in the Southwest during the period. SMU unfortunately was in the backyard of the Dallas media. When you get right down to it-the Dallas media probably uncovered more evidence of NCAA violations in the Southwest than the NCAA ever did during the 70s and 80s.

[One Trick Pony]

A masterpiece of editing an enormous amount of information. With out a doubt the Best 30 for 30 film to date.

[mrydel]

Arkansas was viewed as a primarily clean program only because neither the NCAA folks, nor any journalists wanted to spend even one night in Fayetteville.

[Stallion]

True they were lucky as hell to be hiddin' in the Ozarks. But to be fair the Dallas media did break a story on Arkansas. Can't remember right now who the bagman.* Dallas media also ruined an OU season more recently when they exposed the allegations against OU Rhett Bomar and Big Red Sports. There ought to be a SWC or Texas Bagman Hall of Fame

*Arkansas Bagman was Ted Harrod and landed Arkansas on 3 Year Probation
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2410864

[Mitch McConnell]

Probably because they had to.

Hanson's sitting there with a kid who is saying "They paid me." That's more than enough to go to press with - Don't kid yourself: Hanson was in some ways showing them an once of respect by giving them a chance to reply before it got aired, something he really didn't have to do. You are going to have to answer in some form, and since Hanson had a decent working relationship with Collins and Hitch they probably thought nothing that big would come of it - It was simply going to be Stanley's word vs. theirs; i.e. a drug using dropout who is already known to have shopped the story around vs. SMU. The guys probably thought it would make them look more innocent if they simpley sat down, denied it, and got it over with.

Only there's an envelope.......

If you watch more closely and listen, it was a setup interview to discuss SMU Football not allegations of payments.

A secretary called Hansen et. al and alleged that payments were being made.

Hansen set up the interview under false pretenses and then started firing away at about payments and initialed envelopes et. al.

Unfortunately : THE END !

I caught that, but at the same time, Hitch and Collins should have known that with so much going on and past probations, they should have set the rules with Dale before they went on camera. Their own fault.

[ponyscott]

I just watched it without distractions...wow so very powerful and Thad sure didn't leave any details out...I just noticed the green dollar bill reflections in each of Sherwoods eyes when it was focused on his picture on Texas Monthly. And the Dale interview with Collins, Hitch and Parker was so incriminating and stupid for them to be so unprepared...it was embarrasing to watch.
I still think it will help in recruiting and creates much more awareness for the school Nationwide, good or bad.

[pwnyxpress]

You did an outstanding job on the film, Thad. I appreciated and enjoyed the subliminal digs at our SWC brethren.

[ponyte]

WFAA had a burning desire to get SMU.. After college and before medical school, I was working in a morgue. Some reporterette called me in the morgue and said that she had, "on good authority", that I was "The man in the know" when it came to SMU recruiting. This was in late '82 early '83.

I told her what a SMU Alum gave me and agreed to go on camera but apparently they weren't comfortable with it and never did anything more.

But I will bet a whole lot of money that WFAA didn't call any Horn or Aggie player in a morgue to ask about recruiting.

And it wasn't because I was in WFAA's backyard. I was living in another state at the time.

[mrydel]

I think for loyal ponyfans you should provide a list of the items the SMU alum gave you. It was extensive and expensive if I recall.

[Stallion]

So how much gas did they promise you to take a recruiting visit to SMU?

[Topper]

In looking at this objectively from what I watched, Dale Hansen did his job. It was the SMU people who basically hung themselves on what they said and how they reacted to it.

Dale Hansen was a local reporter...guess who was local...not UT, not, A&M.

And they didn't have boosters that left players out to dry when they got hurt, we made the mistakes that made it all too easy for Hanson to run w/ his story.

You're also overlooking the highly competitive media war driven by scandal that Dallas had going on at the time.

Not overlooking that fact at all. The newspaper war was definitely a factor in this. But when you consider the fact that both papers devoted more coverage to UT than to SMU, and when you consider that both had big Ausin news bureaus at the time, and when you consider that UT and A&M were both going after lots of Dallas talent, it isnt too far fetched to believe that neither paper or the Belo/UT group had any real interest in bringing anyone else down. We definitely made it easy, but you saw in this fine film that all of the media knew that it was going on everywhere at the time. Even the evangelical Grant Teaff was tainted.

[leopold]

Hansen set up the interview under false pretenses and then started firing away at about payments and initialed envelopes et. al.

Nope. Hanson addressed that claim years ago: http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazin ... ory_7.aspx

I said, “Before we begin, are there any ground rules here? Is there any misunderstanding of what this interview’s about? Because we have some serious questions about your football program.”
Hitch said, “Hell, Dale, ask whatever you want.”
We did. And months later, when Hitch complained to the Times Herald that we had lied to him about the purpose of the interview, I told the Herald reporter to call Hitch back and tell him I have a recording of our conversation before the interview started and see if he really wants to say that. He didn’t, and Hitch never complained about it again.

They knew what the deal with the interview was. And they were absolutely going to have to answer back in some form or fashion concerning the smoking gun, Stanley's confession, although I agree, they should have not have done it in a friendly-little-interview type way; people are just more media-savey nowadays.
But Hanson, for all his arrogances, was careful and methodical and gave them a chance to defend themselves, which they took and dug their hole even deeper with.