SI mentions SMU as possible Big XII replacement

[ponyboy]

Dan Branch is that rarest of politicans: one with integrity and the best interests of the State in mind.

[RednBlue11]

Should we be e-mailing these guys...

yes!

[RednBlue11]

his office is only 5 blocks from where I live so I may actually be a constituent of his...anyway, here's the email i just wrote him. i hope y'all will do the same!

Representative Branch,

I am writing you today on behalf of SMU Football. It is clear that A&M will be leaving the big 12(10) soon, as many lawyers on ponyfans.com have pointed out, as the decision by the SEC yesterday was legal posturing. I implore you to work on SMU's behalf to ensure that the possible re-shuffling works in our favor and the favor of SMU Football's future.

Pony Up!

Best regards,

[S....M....U]

good stuff

[Water Pony]

What is the role of the legislature when influencing an athletic conference, especially when candidate schools may be private?

[S....M....U]

brings in a lot of revenue to dallas and has a potential to boost our city's economy by a substantial amount...think about how the hospitality industry, travel industry etc would be affected if we were playing big time teams with large, moving fan bases, ads for tv games will bring more money in as well. would definitely help dallas immensely from a economic standpoint.

[Harry0569]

What is the role of the legislature when influencing an athletic conference, especially when candidate schools may be private?

Baylor Part II??

Staples, I believe, was on the Scott van Pelt show, and was saying that SMU is a real possibility to join the Big XII.

Any news is good news, especially on a nationally syndicated radio show.

[S....M....U]

representatives want to get involved to make their constituents happy and wealthy (to protect their seats)...a move to the big 12 would do both of these things

[Harry0569]

Our selling point is the Dallas Market, which to me doesn't make a whole lot of sense since Dallas has UT/A&M, TTU, OU, grads.

[Garret]

Here is the composition of the Higher Education Committee:

There are 9 members of the Higher Education Committee.

Chair (Dan Branch): SMU Law degree, Chairs SMU's board of Political Studies
Vice Chair: Stanford Undergrad, Harvard Law
Member: UT-Austin Undergrad, Texas Southern Law
Member: UT-Austin Undergrad, UT-Austin Grad, taught at UT-Austin
Member: UT-Austin Undergrad, Baylor Law
Member: St. Edward's Undergrad
Member: Baylor Undergrad, North Texas Grad, taught at UT-Arlington and TCU
Member: Harvard Undergrad, Princeton Grad, Penn Law

Rep. Fred Brown is officially on the committee, but he announced his resignation from the Legislature in June and an election will be held in November to replace him. Note that there are no members of that committee with A&M degrees.

http://www.danbranch.com/index.php?opti ... 18&lang=en

[StallionsModelT]

I think what you sell at SMU is the following:

Academics, Money, Location, Potential

Hammer those points home and hope that the political connections work for our favor.

[PonyKai]

The key to emails is volume; the emails are going to an 18-20 year old kid, an unpaid intern...maybe a staff assistant or in a dream scenario an LA that handles constituent mail. They'll get it, tag it, and probably send you a generic form letter back. The key is volume from a number of people. So, get a friend to do it, or just do it for a friend. Doesn't really matter what the letter says as long as it contains "GET SMU IN TO A BETTER CONFERENCE," or some variation.

[Treadway21]

The key to emails is volume; the emails are going to an 18-20 year old kid, an unpaid intern...maybe a staff assistant or in a dream scenario an LA that handles constituent mail. They'll get it, tag it, and probably send you a generic form letter back. The key is volume from a number of people. So, get a friend to do it, or just do it for a friend. Doesn't really matter what the letter says as long as it contains "GET SMU IN TO A BETTER CONFERENCE," or some variation.

Dan's chief of staff is also an SMU alum and he has some other on staff from SMU. With the Park Cities as his district, he is a good guy to have looking out for us.

[PonyKai]

It also helps if you just call and say, I have a lot of money, and I want to give it to Mr. Branch. May I please speak to his Chief of Staff. Usually works better if you have said money and will actually donate it.

[RednBlue11]

I am going to craft an email that everyone can copy and paste to their rep and st senator then post it here for use

http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/City.a ... ame=dallas

follow this link to a list of local reps and senators