My Pledge

[OldPony]

Those stats don't tell you that SMU had teams in each of those decades capable of playing well with anyone. For instance we won the SWC in 66, we lost 3 in 69 but were beaten by No. 1,2 and 3 and beat 4 bowl teams. Now we can't even stop Rice. If continuing to drink Copeland Kool Aid makes you feel good, by all means drink up. We are not competitve with any but the bottom 25 of college football. Rice beats us like yuard dogs. TCU has left us in the dust. You wnat to look at our peers? We can't compete in any respectable conference- not WAC, not MWC,not MAC and not CUSA East. I doubt we will compete in CuSA West alhough I think it is one of the weakest divisions of any conference. Copeland must be fired. We keep getting worse not better. Oh yeah, I forgot we won 3 last year against the Bottom 10. Happy Days are here again.

[OldPony]

Those stats don't tell you that SMU had teams in each of those decades capable of playing well with anyone. For instance we won the SWC in 66, we lost 3 in 69 but were beaten by No. 1,2 and 3 and beat 4 bowl teams. Now we can't even stop Rice. If continuing to drink Copeland Kool Aid makes you feel good, by all means drink up. We are not competitve with any but the bottom 25 of college football. Rice beats us like yuard dogs. TCU has left us in the dust. You wnat to look at our peers? We can't compete in any respectable conference- not WAC, not MWC,not MAC and not CUSA East. I doubt we will compete in CuSA West alhough I think it is one of the weakest divisions of any conference. Copeland must be fired. We keep getting worse not better. Oh yeah, I forgot we won 3 last year against the Bottom 10. Happy Days are here again.

[SoCal_Pony]

We should be one of the elite non-BCS football programs in the country; I think all of us can agree on that. This should have been our goal over 10 years ago with the remote possibility that if the BCS ever expanded (CU moving to PAC-10), we would be on a very short list. Instead, TCU is on that list while we are left being the absolute laughingstock of D1-A football. For this reason alone, Copeland should go.

And a comment to PK and JT, cheating alone does not guarantee success; we had more going for us than that…much more.

[PK]

Those stats don't tell you that SMU had teams in each of those decades capable of playing well with anyone. For instance we won the SWC in 66, we lost 3 in 69 but were beaten by No. 1,2 and 3 and beat 4 bowl teams.

Yep, we won the SWC in 66, I was there and then at the Cotton Bowl we rolled over and let Georgia stomp us in to the ground. Sorry, I was in Nam in 69 and missed that obviously good year. Mia Culpa. What the stats shows is that we have never been a dynasty and although we occassionally had a very good team we generally were not competing for a national championship...until those "golden" 80's...pun intended.

[PK]

We should be one of the elite non-BCS football programs in the country; I think all of us can agree on that. This should have been our goal over 10 years ago with the remote possibility that if the BCS ever expanded (CU moving to PAC-10), we would be on a very short list. Instead, TCU is on that list while we are left being the absolute laughingstock of D1-A football. For this reason alone, Copeland should go.

Yes I would agree with what you have said. I don't know if Copeland is a good or bad AD, given the circumstances, even Russ Potts would have had extreme difficulty under the Pye Model, but if Copeland needs to go none of us is in the possition to make that happen.

And a comment to PK and JT, cheating alone does not guarantee success; we had more going for us than that…much more.

Would you care to elaborate on the "more going for us than that...much more." If it is the coaching you are refering to, given the talent we bought almost any coach could have accomplished the same results. The cheating is what got us the superior talent and as I'm sure Stallion will agree, it's all about the talent.

[PonyFan]

.... but would 6 games and a lower bowl every year be satisfactory to you? I would be encouraged by that, but a level to accept should be competing for the national championship.

I want to go above and beyond that, and I firmly believe that one day, we will. However, if you could promise me six wins and a lower-tier bowl game next year, I would imagine countless PonyFans would celebrate me.

Let's reach that level first. Then we'll worry about moving on to the next level after that.

[jtstang]

And a comment to PK and JT, cheating alone does not guarantee success; we had more going for us than that…much more.

Well of course--we had to cheat with some very good players to insure success.

[SoCal_Pony]

My point PK and JT, is when we were on equal footing with the big boys, i.e. ALL of us were cheating, we more than held our own because of the appeal of our school and more importantly our city.

As I posted earlier, many a player would rather drive their Trans-Am through the streets of Dallas than College Station. Same goes with Miami over Tuscaloosa.

And PK, if you did serve in 'Nam, my opinion of you just went up.

[PK]

USNR. Officer Candidate School in Newport RI and then, two years active duty on an ammunition ship rearming carriers, destroyers, cruisers, etc. both in the South China Sea and up and down the east coast of Vietnam...not quite "in", but close enough for me. Somebody had to do it and I was healthy as a horse so I was considered prime meat.

[jtstang]

My point PK and JT, is when we were on equal footing with the big boys, i.e. ALL of us were cheating, we more than held our own because of the appeal of our school and more importantly our city.

Seems to me we had the school and the city going for us long before we were holding our own with the "big boys" in the 1980's. Clearly we did not get over the hump until we got the bigger slush fund. Which lead us to the death penalty...which lead us to Ken Pye...which lead us to academic reform for athletes...which lead us to raising our recruiting standards...etc.

[PK]

One last thing...I didn't mean to imply by saying "in Nam" that I was any kind of hero or such because I wasn't. I was just fulfilling my obligation to Uncle Sam like thousands of others...and very thankful I wasn't tromping through the jungles there with people trying to kill me. All I was trying to say was that I was otherwise occupied and missed those golden games of '69.

[jtstang]

One last thing...I didn't mean to imply by saying "in Nam" that I was any kind of hero or such because I wasn't. I was just fulfilling my obligation to Uncle Sam like thousands of others...and very thankful I wasn't tromping through the jungles there with people trying to kill me. All I was trying to say was that I was otherwise occupied and missed those golden games of '69.

Hell, that's more than my generation had to do, PK. I did register with the Selective Service folks, but without a draft, that's like buying last week's lottery ticket secondhand...nothing was going to come of it.

I did work with one of those riverboat pilots, a la Apocalypse Now, when I was surveying during summers/weekends in college. That guy was a nut, I think Vietnam freaked him out.

[Water Pony]

USNR. Officer Candidate School in Newport RI and then, two years active duty on an ammunition ship rearming carriers, destroyers, cruisers, etc. both in the South China Sea and up and down the east coast of Vietnam...not quite "in", but close enough for me. Somebody had to do it and I was healthy as a horse so I was considered prime meat.

PK,

I graduated from SMU and went to OCS in Newport, RI, in 1968. Afterwards, I headed to Athens, GA, and became a Pork Chop (Supply Officer). Then a destroyer in the Med. A bit different than Nam.

A belated welcome home. Go Navy, beat Army!

[PK]

Now the Mediterranean would have been a great place to serve. BTW, I always had to laugh at our supply officer...he could damn near get you anything you wanted...just don't ask how he did it.

[PlanoStang]

And a comment to PK and JT, cheating alone does not guarantee success; we had more going for us than that…much more.

Well of course--we had to cheat with some very good players to insure success.

Yup, we had to out bid the other cheatahs of which there were, and are
quite a few in our recruiting area. Consider the SWC, Big 8 (now known
as the Big Smelve), and the SEC.