www.mustanglockerroom.com

[1982Express]

'65, I probably met your father. My grandfather took me down on the field to meet Matty Bell after the Missouri game!

[mavsrage311]

From my experience with new logos, everyone hates them at first, mainly because they are attached to the old ones, mainly because the old ones might be the only one they have ever known. I remember what I first heard from a friend when we saw the new Mavs logo a few years ago. He told me it looked like a mop. No one is complaining now, and it is a new, better, modernized logo. No one has said that the old logos are going away however, and DiamondM made an excellent post. SMU merchandise isnt the best seller in town, everyone knows that. They are just bringing in something new, trying to generate more revenue. As already mentioned, the Rangers and especially the Mavs, modify their logos on different items to create something new, and that has created a lot of profit off sold merchandise. Lets just say that the new merchandise for the Mavs makes them atleast 10-20x more than the old stuff ever did.

And of course the athletic/mktg department want to feature this new logo, but does anyone think it will make its way on our helmets and uniforms??? I don't. But lets not bash the marketing department for trying, and I know some of the people working there, and trust me, they care about the program as much as we do

[NavyCrimson]

good point / however...

nothing wrong with changing logos - sometimes / however,

like M or someone said earlier, there was suppose to be some type of press release to let everyone know what's coming down the pike, not a shot gun blast in the middle of nowhere /

also, these new logos are tooooo much like all the other new stuff coming out! wrong wrong wrong

if you're going to screw with the logos & add others, don't copy the world but be ORIGINAL or go back to your roots & build on what works!!!!!

[Always a Mustang]

In my experience, one of the main things that SMU alumni and current students are seeking is a sense of tradition. While I agree that there is nothing wrong with being creative and innovative, that belongs in areas other than this. Our running mustang is distinctive, popular and very attractive. Lets take advantage of a good thing and quit trying to mess with tradition to build audience. As we all know, the invitation does not make people attend the party and a new logo will do nothing positive for attendance or sales of paraphenalia. Winning will take care of that.

Please don't mess with tradition....it is the way of connecting we old folks with the new. So very many things about SMU are new and really improved from our time on campus....so give us something to recognize. Those are the ties that keep us involved and giving of our time and resources to the university. It is our job as alumni to embrace the tradition and pass it on to the current students so that they can develop the same kind of devotion to SMU that so many of us feel.

[SouthernMustang]

In my experience, one of the main things that SMU alumni and current students are seeking is a sense of tradition. While I agree that there is nothing wrong with being creative and innovative, that belongs in areas other than this. Our running mustang is distinctive, popular and very attractive. Lets take advantage of a good thing and quit trying to mess with tradition to build audience. As we all know, the invitation does not make people attend the party and a new logo will do nothing positive for attendance or sales of paraphenalia. Winning will take care of that.

Please don't mess with tradition....it is the way of connecting we old folks with the new. So very many things about SMU are new and really improved from our time on campus....so give us something to recognize. Those are the ties that keep us involved and giving of our time and resources to the university. It is our job as alumni to embrace the tradition and pass it on to the current students so that they can develop the same kind of devotion to SMU that so many of us feel.

Agree completely. I had a great time at SMU, but many students that graduated felt like something was missing towards the end of senior year, and we didn't get the "total college" experience at SMU -- even though we attended athletic events. Athletic traditions are what connect alumni and students. I'm a recent graduate, and this logo thing makes me mad. It's so stupid. That running pony is one of the few recognizable things we have left. All of this new junk is annoying -- I took part in an athletic discussion with students a few years ago, and all of us in the room harped on how we needed to keep traditions and use stuff that was around during our successful years. We also talked about how it would be great to get a SMU AD who was passionate about SMU, and an alum -- and how none of us thought Copeland was doing anything. After all, couldn't any AD run a successful country club athletic program at SMU? And this room was full of your traditional, fratty SMU guys saying all of this stuff. It's not that SMU students don't care -- it's that even when we're given the opportunity, they don't listen to us -- and then a few years later they spew out this crap.


It's just like when they take away traditional SMU t-shirts and sell pink and purple ones to attract girls into buying that stuff -- hint: SMU girls won't buy "trendy" stuff in the SMU Bookstore, that's what North Park Mall is for... and then they get mad when they have to ship all of it back b/c no sorority ladies are buying the stuff they marketed it towards.

[MrMustang1965]

Here's a copy of the letter that I sent to John Koerner, Sr. Associate AD at SMU:

I am writing to express my outrage over the changes taking place with the logo and merchandising at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

For years, the ‘running red Mustang’, the Diamond M and the block SMU letters have been synonymous with football, basketball, track, swimming and other sports on The Hilltop. The legends of SMU athletics have all worn these symbols with pride. And so have the fans and supporters of SMU. It’s been a ‘tradition’!

This past week, SMU became a member of Conference USA. At the same time, the University opened a new ‘on-line’ store for the purchase of SMU-related apparel and memorabilia under the banner of Advanced-Online, Inc. Since I have been a loyal customer of Bob Sharp’s Spirit Shop in Ford Stadium over the years, I was curious to see what the new merchandise would look like and how much it would cost. My initial reaction to the new merchandise was that I had gone to the wrong university web site. Nothing at Advanced-Online’s web site has any resemblance to the ‘classic’ SMU trademarks. I repeat: N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

The new ‘slanted’ SMU Mustangs and red horse logo has no connection to the University’s traditions or past. However, it does bear a striking resemblance to the logo for the Cal Poly SLO Mustangs, St. John’s Red Storm, the Boise State Broncos, the Akron Zips, Bucknell Bison, the Delaware State Hornets, the Florida International Golden Panthers, the George Washington Colonials, the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Western Michigan Broncos. If you don’t believe me, just go to this web site for confirmation: www.logoserver.com/College.html.

What the hell is happening at SMU? Traditions are being thrown out in favor of a ‘new look’! There is no longer any respect for the University’s history! No one on The Hilltop who makes major decisions that affect the sports fans seems to know the word ‘loyalty’.

When I first heard that changes were being made to market SMU merchandise, I sent you an email expressing my concerns. Your reply asked me to give the new company a chance. The product I am seeing online does not impress me nor many other loyal SMU fans. I encourage you to visit the fan web site at www.ponyfans.com to see what is being said about www.mustanglockerroom.com and its merchandise.

Also, no advance notice was given to Mustang fans that any type of change was going to take place via a news release or announcement. It was just sprung on us. That’s bad PR.

I will not be buying any of the current merchandise being offered by Advanced-Online, Inc. It bears no resemblance to SMU and its heritage as Dallas’ only Division 1-A school. I will also encourage everyone I know not to buy anything from Advanced-Online, Inc. Whoever made the decision to hire this company ‘fumbled’ and turned the ball over. It’s time to listen to the TRUE fans of SMU and bring back the traditions that we all cherish.

Robert C. Hurst
“Mr. Mustang 1965”

[NavyCrimson]

to the point & excellent!

but will they listen? that's a whole different story.

the whole d^%%$ country is going 'retro' while us along with a few others are going 'trendy'!

& we all know how long 'trendy' lasts!!!

missed the boat again! typical SMU!

[2112]

Well, you could e-mail Jim Copeland, but he is still on vacation for four more weeks!!!!!!!!

[PK]

Well, you could e-mail Jim Copeland, but he is still on vacation for four more weeks!!!!!!!!

Actually only three. It would be nice to come home to a full e-mail box don't you think?

[MrMustang1965]

Well, you could e-mail Jim Copeland, but he is still on vacation for four more weeks!!!!!!!!

Already did.

[NavyCrimson]

this is one of the logos we should have resurrected along with the mid-60's logo from the fry era:

http://www.glass4.com/phpbb2/viewtopic. ... &start=165

rayburn posted it in the "A face from SMU's past
"!

great job rayburn!!!

[MrMustang1965]

Well, you could e-mail Jim Copeland, but he is still on vacation for four more weeks!!!!!!!!

Already did.

Got a reply from Copeland (probably a secretary checking his emails) which reads as follows: we have no intent of replacing the traditional Pony logo but we think a compliment to that will result in more people wearing SMU apparel and more stores stocking it.

to which I sent the following:

If SMU would be more lenient with its licensing agreements there would be no need for a 'compliment' to the traditional Mustang logo. The traditional 'running Mustang' and the classic red & blue SMU letters are what need to be emphasized, not a new-fangled, cheap-looking logo that has no ties to SMU's historic past & tradition.

It makes no sense that in Dallas - the HOME of SMU - I can find HUNDREDS of University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and University of Oklahoma apparel and little or none of SMU's...just within a few blocks of the SMU campus!

The idea that a NEW logo will lead to more people wearing SMU apparel is ludicrous. If SMU would release the HEAVY restrictions currently placed on SMU licensing it will allow more merchants to stock apparel with the 'traditional' Mustang logo.

Your reply says 'we think'. In my opinion and the opinion of many loyal and faithful fans of SMU, there was no thought put into this idea whatsoever. It's dumb and just plain wrong.

Please listen to SMU's loyal and faithful fans this time. Please. Do the 'right thing' and banish this bad idea...the same way the Mustang Maniac and the 'new' fight song were erased.

Robert C. Hurst
"Mr. Mustang 1965"

[2112]

You can go into many metroplex sporting goods stores, Targets, grocery stores etc... and they will have Tech, Trash Can University, and all of the usual suspects, but nothing on the local team. PITIFUL!

[DiamondM]

The lack of SMU merchandise is a big pet peeve of mine, but I have specifically vetted this issue with Secules and Copeland, and investigated it myself. While stores will tell you that the lack of SMU stuff is SMU's fault because of licensing restrictions, that is usually just a cop out. All they have to do is make a request to the same college sports licensing clearinghouse to use the registered marks that they make a request to for the other schools. SMU does not refuse licensing requests unless the item is in poor taste (think SMU condoms).

The primary reason we don't see our stuff in local stores is because retailers don't request them from the manufacturers, so manufactures don't request the license and don't make the stuff. The only way to change that is to tell store owners to ask the manufacturer for SMU stuff. Have all your friends do the same. Stress that SMU stuff WILL sell in their store.

You are more likely to make headway with stores closer to SMU and locally owned establishments. Promise them you will patronize their store if they stock SMU stuff, and that you will spread the word -- then follow through. Also, if they refuse to carry SMU stuff using any excuse, promise not to return, then follow through.

[jtstang]

SMU does not refuse licensing requests unless the item is in poor taste (think SMU condoms).

That's poor taste? I'd buy those in a second. Marketing gimmick: "SMU fans, forget lamb skin...go with Peruna skin!"