Which is Worse for an SMU Alum?

[Sir Trolls A Lot]

Gentlemen,

Living in the Park cities is a drag sometimes. For one, it is impossible to get solid coverage of SMU athletics. The DMN is so biased towards UT, TAMU, and TCU that I can never get any good solid coverage. Similarly, the TIcket never talks about SMU, except when the Hardline trashes our alma mater.

As an alum, I want to know what others feel. Which is worse for covering SMU football, the ticket or the DMN?

I think it is the TIcket.

[Sam I Am]

At least Radio 1310 carries the game on the internet. The DMN neglects SMU but has been fair this year.

[MrMustang1965]

www.ponyfans.com puts the DMN and The Ticket to shame with its consistent and comprehensive coverage of ALL SMU athletics!

So I call it a 'tie' between those two other media outlets.

[Otto]

The Ticket, more than any other "media" outlet in town, does not cover sports. It carries our games - that's it. Beyond that its goal is to be as irreverent as the FCC will allow and as "entertaining" (if you can call it that) as possible. They're interested in selling advertising and making people listen to see what the station will do next (and therefore patron the advertisers who sponsor the station). The only one on there who even dreams about having any sports knowledge is Norm, and he was strong-armed into moving over to The Ticket when it became a sister station to KLIF (isn't that where he came from?)

And to be fair, while the DMN doesn't give SMU the coverage it deserves as the only D-IA school in town, this year's writer (Calvin Watkins) is good -- really good. He seems to know what he's talking about, he writes good stories (especially for the out-of-town games that many of us can't attend) and he gives the other sports a fair shake when he's allowed room.

Listening to The Ticket to get coverage of any sports (much less SMU sports) is like going to a strip club to watch a game. Technically there are TVs around, but that's not what anyone's watching.

You want to know about SMU sports, you come to this site.

As a fallback plan, check the DMN .... although its stories usually are linked up here.

[DennisSimonGuy]

Otto,

I respect your position and candor. However, your negativity bothers me. Yes, Watkins does a fine job writing an article once a week. Our expectations are so low that WE DO NOT EXPECT MORE. In Austin, the Austin-American Statesman cover UT everyday. I do not even know who is going to start at QB on Saturday for SMU.

As for www.ponyfans.com, I believe this forum is tainted by the negativity from the DMN and Ticket. People often forget that the WAC conference has produced more #1 picks overall (David Carr) than the Big ten in the last five years. That fact does not point to shoddy football.

[Frog03]

Otto,

I respect your position and candor. However, your negativity bothers me. Yes, Watkins does a fine job writing an article once a week. Our expectations are so low that WE DO NOT EXPECT MORE. In Austin, the Austin-American Statesman cover UT everyday. I do not even know who is going to start at QB on Saturday for SMU.

As for www.ponyfans.com, I believe this forum is tainted by the negativity from the DMN and Ticket. People often forget that the WAC conference has produced more #1 picks overall (David Carr) than the Big ten in the last five years. That fact does not point to shoddy football.

I know you aren't actually trying to sit here and say the WAC is just as good as the Big Ten, because Fresno had David Carr come along. Give me a break. There are some decent teams and players in the WAC, but get real.

[DallasDiehard]

Sure, Calvin doesn't get as many stories in the paper as we'd like. I'd like to see the paper quit covering the Big 12 and the Cowboys and dedicate all that space to coverage of SMU, but I'm not holding my breath. Comparing UT coverage in the Austin paper to the SMU coverage in the DMN is beyond "apples and oranges." Hell, the DMN covers UT more than it does SMU.

I think Calvin does a good job. I just wish they'd give him a lot more space.

[MrMustang1965]

The Ticket, more than any other "media" outlet in town, does not cover sports. It carries our games - that's it. Beyond that its goal is to be as irreverent as the FCC will allow and as "entertaining" (if you can call it that) as possible. They're interested in selling advertising and making people listen to see what the station will do next (and therefore patron the advertisers who sponsor the station). The only one on there who even dreams about having any sports knowledge is Norm, and he was strong-armed into moving over to The Ticket when it became a sister station to KLIF (isn't that where he came from?)

And to be fair, while the DMN doesn't give SMU the coverage it deserves as the only D-IA school in town, this year's writer (Calvin Watkins) is good -- really good. He seems to know what he's talking about, he writes good stories (especially for the out-of-town games that many of us can't attend) and he gives the other sports a fair shake when he's allowed room.

Listening to The Ticket to get coverage of any sports (much less SMU sports) is like going to a strip club to watch a game. Technically there are TVs around, but that's not what anyone's watching.

You want to know about SMU sports, you come to this site.

As a fallback plan, check the DMN .... although its stories usually are linked up here.

Agreed on all points. (Love your strip club analogy, too! Classic!)

It bugs me like hell to see The Ticket's van parked on The Boulevard before the games since there's no real support for the team.

[Dooby]

If the DMN or KTCK covered the team more than they did, you same people would be complaining about the negative coverage. What do you want them to do? Perhaps you should be more concerned with SMU never giving the Ticket anything good to talk about or the DMN anything good to write about.

[jtstang]

If the DMN or KTCK covered the team more than they did, you same people would be complaining about the negative coverage. What do you want them to do? Perhaps you should be more concerned with SMU never giving the Ticket anything good to talk about or the DMN anything good to write about.

No kidding.

[huntnfish]

Winning cures all! So would a new AD.

[Sir Trolls A Lot]

I can't believe what I just heard on the Ticket. The arrogance of BaD radio makes me sick. It's pathetic that the leading sports radio station is allowed to get away making such disparaging comments about their hometown D-1 football team. I'm so angry right now that I can't even go into the details of what I heard without fear of saying something I'd regret.

Needless to say, I'm sick of this. While some people who didn't go to school on the Hilltop will be quick to defend 1310, I as an alum am driven to a level of frustration I've never felt. What will it take for the haters to finally go back into their holes and the true fans of SMU stand up and see our sports programs return to glory?

How much longer will we put up with this sorry state?

[Dutch]

now I have to know what those idiots said.

[mrydel]

Sounds like we just had a post from the Ticket Marketing Director.

[DennisSimonGuy]

Mrydel,

The smugness of your response displays your complete ignorance. The Ticket is the enemy of this board anf of every SMU alum. The Hardline regularly speaks of how Southlake Carrol could beat our players.

This is a disrespect to all of our players who work their tail off. You may listen to the pessimism of Mr.Mustang1965 (bad team, bad conference), but I would like our hometown media to start being a little bit more optimistic. No wonder all of the good Texas recruits (like Adrian Peterson), are no longer picking SMU.

Good Media Coverage=Good Recruiting, Disrespectful coverage=program changing players go to OU