Players want to go to an out of town Bowl

[Junior]

i can understand the kids wanting to go out of town for a bowl. who wants a staycation when you can have a bona fide vacation out of town.

[ponyinNC]

This is why I like pf.com - I've changed my mind on the bowl situation based on many of the posts by guys that actually played Div 1 football.

At first, I really wanted to be in Dallas against BIG or BYU. I could fly down and actually attend the game. It would be a great opponent either way. I was very much against Hawaii again. But after listening to you guys, I realize it SHOULD be all about the kids. They are the ones that have worked their @sses off and they should be rewarded. Let em go wherever they want if given the chance.

[DiamondM]

I am pretty tired hearing SMU fans, the most long-suffering of any program, get bashed as if we're the problem.

THIS. A thousand times this.

The constant call for the long-suffering loyal fans to "do more" for this team makes me want to punch someone in the face. The calls to ask a friend to come, to buy and extra ticket and give it away, to drive over to the school to pick up signs to put in our yards like we're the friggin' local elementary school, to pay more for our parking and tickets after seasons that while admittedly good when measured against 1-11 are not up to the expectations that THIS COACHING STAFF set for us, etc. (all of which I do and have done since before June was our coach by the way, and did again on Saturday too) are ridiculous when seen in the light of the half-arsed way so much is done around here.

You get the feeling sometimes like June is just egging on his players to have this antagonistic stance against not just the world, but us -- the fans who have been trying real hard to support a staff, a team, and an administration who don't seem all that interested in doing much but the bare minimum. Maybe it's not true, but sometimes perception IS reality.

As far as on the field, so far the only "genius" I've seen from Jones is in hiring Tom Mason. I see nothing particularly genius about recruiting, player development, play calling, etc. That's not to say I would rather be back at 1-11 than 7-5, but if June is going to raise my expectations by blowing smoke up our arses by touting McDermott's skills at the beginning of the year, then he (and his unquestioning supporters) ought to take criticism of McDermott and June's handling of him in the latter part of the year a little more in stride instead of acting like we should just all be happy as clams.

So much more I could say, but I will stop there.

Okay, one more thing, can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE work on how to get a play off before 1 second is left on the play clock every dang play next year. If we're going to have a high powered offense, you would think we might be capable of running a few more plays a little more quickly like pretty much EVERY ONTHER team in the country can do and does.

[SMU 86]

I am pretty tired hearing SMU fans, the most long-suffering of any program, get bashed as if we're the problem.

I am tired of some SMU fans for bashing players for expressing their opinion and not saying what you want them to say.

[SMU 86]

I'm not going to apologize for any of my comments regarding the Jones administration. I'm no fan of his on many counts, but I do acknowledge that he has given us a little more street cred.

But I will say that it really doesn't matter what we think or what anyone else thinks. What matters is what the 85 in that locker room think about each other, the coaches and their attitude.

I do believe that they play for June. And I do believe he connects with kids.

I think we can leave it like this:
All of us want SMU to be successful in the worst way. We have emotionally invested our time and our dollars. We may argue on what is the right path to get there.

I wouldn't have shown up yesterday at Ford if it didn't matter to me. It did.

I know Mitch, you want one of those fake yes man type coaches. LOL. Just kidding (I hope).

Actually the coach I'm looking for is summed up in the way my boy Jerry Kill at Minnesota described his philosophy: "A physical, hard-nosed football team that can run the ball and play defense."

Mix in a FB, a TE and a punter, and I'm good.

Jerry Kill was 3-9 this year with losses to South Dakota State and New Mexico State.

[ponyboy]

But they were a physical, hard nosed 3-9.

[Mitch McConnell]

86 -- I'm familiar with the Gophers' schedule and figured that since Kill had crap from the Tim Brewster regime this was starting over -- I think we including the falling over each other apologists accepted June's first year at 1-11 in 2008 because of the overhaul didn't we -- but I can tell you they played much better in November minus Wisconsin. And I watched them in person against Iowa and saw how they were starting to understand.

Let me tell you this at the end of the first half, they executed those last 25 seconds and one timeout to kick a 51-yard field goal about as well as you can do. Given June's abysmal way of managing the clock, I doubt he would do the same thing.

So let's not go there.

[SMU 86]

Kill is a BCS yes man as well IMO. He came from NIU where he was trying to get to a BCS game then when he gets to Minnesota (A BCS school) he says that the schools in smaller conference can't play with the BCS schools on a regular basis but only if were a one game situation. Also, Brewster gave him some talent as he has some good recruiting classes but he just could not coach them. Kill is running the spread isn't he?

[smupony94]

Big 10 has been off all year

[smubrooks]

I'd like to see us in the Hawaii bowl. I think the team will be very happy and therefore "show up" on national TV. and I will a more valid excuse for ignoring my in-laws and going to the bar by myself to watch football on Christmas Eve!!!

[SBR Pony]

People are giving McDermott way too much crap.

He did great at the beginning of the year. He got hurt and obviously hasn't played well lately.

Is he a great quarterback? No. He's a backup that transferred from a craptacular program and got called upon in an extremely unlikely time. Now, he has no one else to come in for him when he's having a bad game, but he still keeps going out there and trying, which is a lot more than I can say for a lot of the players.

[sbsmith]

People are giving McDermott way too much crap.

He did great at the beginning of the year. He got hurt and obviously hasn't played well lately.

Is he a great quarterback? No. He's a backup that transferred from a craptacular program and got called upon in an extremely unlikely time. Now, he has no one else to come in for him when he's having a bad game, but he still keeps going out there and trying, which is a lot more than I can say for a lot of the players.

He most certainly did not play great at the beginning of the year, he might have gotten hurt but he was pretty damn stiff and inaccurate before the injury.

[skyscraper]

Well, we won't be playing Utah State in a bowl

@MikeHumesESPN: Utah State has accepted an invitation to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Sat, 12/17 at 5:30pm, ESPN).

[sbsmith]

Well, we won't be playing Utah State in a bowl

@MikeHumesESPN: Utah State has accepted an invitation to play in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Sat, 12/17 at 5:30pm, ESPN).

2 WAC teams placed, 1 to go (Nevada). Nevada gets the Hawaii Bowl berth if Hawaii can't get bowl-eligible. Shame we won't be going out there for a rematch in that scenario.

[The PonyGrad]

Well, if in town is in University Park then Ticket City is the ticket, right?