Twenty-five (25) years ago on Saturday..,

[Mustang1991]

"SIZE DOES MATTER" is the old adage that the NCAA proved true 25 years ago tomorrow.  Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 marks 25 years since the NCAA imposed the death penalty on a small, private university's football team. In the intervening years, other schools equally (if not more) corrupt--the Kentuckys, Alabamas, Ohio States, USCs, etc.--have never received punishments fitting their crimes.  Maybe it's time to humanely euthanize the governing body of college athletics, which long ago abdicated its role as impartial judge and jury to its marquee member institutions.

[Digetydog]

"SIZE DOES MATTER" is the old adage that the NCAA proved true 25 years ago tomorrow.  Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 marks 25 years since the NCAA imposed the death penalty on a small, private university's football team. In the intervening years, other schools equally (if not more) corrupt--the Kentuckys, Alabamas, Ohio States, USCs, etc.--have never received punishments fitting their crimes.  Maybe it's time to humanely euthanize the governing body of college athletics, which long ago abdicated its role as impartial judge and jury to its marquee member institutions.

I was a freshman when the hammer fell. Simply put, it was horrible. I distinctly remember watching David [deleted] Stanley spill the beans to the media. Nevertheless, I have to admit that we deserved it. It wasn't just a bad booster or player, it was the chairman of the school's board of governors and the AD. Bill Clements said it was our "moral obligation" to continue illegal payments to players.

The reason nobody has gotten the DP since we got it: it was much worse than they expected. They realized that it is not appropriate to gut a school like that.

[BIGHORSE]

I was going to post this on Saturday, the last time I will ever mention it too.

We have buried the D.P. and risen from the dead, let's go Mustangs!!!

[smubrooks]

Maybe the school should have a ceremony where they symbolically bury the DP for good. And we can all spit on it's grave.

[huskerpony]

I like it. Can we burn Dan Beebe in effigy?

[Mustang1991]

The issue of whether the Death Penalty was worse than anyone expected is still debatable to me. Remember, SMU imposed restraints on itself (no student-athletes who couldn't reasonably be expected to graduate) that crippled the program additionally. And notwithstanding those restraints SMU still got to a winning record in 8 seasons (1997). 1997 to me is the "what if" year. Had SMU simply beaten an 0-10 TCU team we would have been in a bowl and the rise back to relevancy might have started 12 years earlier than it did.

[austinponie]

An experimental punishment, used once, in my opinion.

My what a long road it's been...

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

yep the ncaa/texas shafted us, but we also shafted ourselves
in continuing the Pye over-reaction for so many years. Pye
was actually as bad or worse than the death penalty. whats
done is done and hopefully we will continue to improve in the
Big East.

[LHS81]

I agree with Insane. The overreaction by Pye and the SMU advisory panel was far more detrimental to SMU, than the "death penalty" handed down by the NCAA.

[SMUer]

We gutted the department of everyone with a winning mentality (albeit some too much so) and that had deleterious effects also.

[BigT3x]

Does this mean that the old timers will have to stop rambling on about "Pye" and the faculty conspiracy to destroy athletics that hasn't existed in years?

[ready4abowl]

Sgt Pepper told the band to play?

Or was that 20 years ago today...

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

Does this mean that the old timers will have to stop rambling on
about "Pye" and the faculty conspiracy to destroy athletics that hasn't existed in years?

June Jones has pretty much ended the Pye hangover,
so yeah hopefully you young punks won't hear too much about the
suffering we went thru while you were still squirting in your diapers!

[Buddha]

No kidding. It's part of the past that needs to be buried once and for all, yet we keep bringing it up. We have acknowledged it, survived it and eventually moved on from it.
Leave it in the history books.

[ojaipony]

No kidding. It's part of the past that needs to be buried once and for all, yet we keep bringing it up. We have acknowledged it, survived it and eventually moved on from it.
Leave it in the history books.

Damn, I agree with this. Win CUSA, finish Top 25 in 2012!