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Partnering in parking sounds like a great idea.

asa matter of fact Mustang Mania did sell chicken [deleted]. Mustang Mania came well before even a winning record

Stallion wrote: Mustang Mania came well before even a winning record

You're right.

Mustang Mania dates back to 1979 if not earlier. The SMU pocket schedules I have list Mustang Mania in 1979-80, 1980-81, and 1981-82.

We were 5-6 in 1979.

Great idea on the partnering with the garages next door. Why haven't we done that in the past?

I am to the point where I don't think it matters - the other major conferences still have some pilfering to do.

Mustang Mania started in 1978. We were 4-6-1 coming off 4-7. The next year we were 5-6

Stallion wrote:asa matter of fact Mustang Mania did sell chicken [deleted]. Mustang Mania came well before even a winning record

the difference is the SWC schedule. Plus you had a coach selling the program. Lastly, we started recruiting and playing exciting ball, Ford and Tolbert.

1978 - Potts and Brad Thomas's first year

4-6-1
SMU 45 TCU 14
SMU 35 At Florida 25
SMU 21 At Penn State 26
SMU 35 At Ohio State 35
SMU 28 At Baylor 21
SMU 28 Houston 42
SMU 3 At Texas 22
SMU 17 Texas A and M 20
SMU 58 At Rice 0
SMU 16 At Texas Tech 19
SMU 14 Arkansas 27

Notice the schedule and scores. You see good teams and competitive games - NO BLOWOUTS. That is how you build attendance with some marketing thrown in on top.

In 78 SMU lead the nation in attendance increase from 26,635 to 51,960. (from Temple Poncey's book Mustang Mania: SMU Football)

That was a brutal non-conference schedule and SMU held their own. Wins at Florida, a tie at Ohio State, and a narrow defeat at Penn State.

Wow.

StallionsModelT wrote:Maybe its a lame excuse but Ford Stadium is a nightmare to navigate as far as traffic/parking for people who are not used to being around the SMU campus. Add that to the massive construction right now and its a logistical nightmare for a big-time college football game. I can't keep track on my twitter feed of people complaining that they waited for 2 hours in traffic waiting to park for the high school playoff games at Ford these past two weeks.

I'm not sure what the solution would be other than partnering with some of the garages across from 75 in Mockingbird Station on the weekends.

StallionModelT,
it is better than trying to park for a game at UT and there are 100K people

Treadway21 wrote:

Stallion wrote:asa matter of fact Mustang Mania did sell chicken [deleted]. Mustang Mania came well before even a winning record

the difference is the SWC schedule. Plus you had a coach selling the program. Lastly, we started recruiting and playing exciting ball, Ford and Tolbert.

1978 - Potts and Brad Thomas's first year

4-6-1
SMU 45 TCU 14
SMU 35 At Florida 25
SMU 21 At Penn State 26
SMU 35 At Ohio State 35
SMU 28 At Baylor 21
SMU 28 Houston 42
SMU 3 At Texas 22
SMU 17 Texas A and M 20
SMU 58 At Rice 0
SMU 16 At Texas Tech 19
SMU 14 Arkansas 27

Notice the schedule and scores. You see good teams and competitive games - NO BLOWOUTS. That is how you build attendance with some marketing thrown in on top.

In 78 SMU lead the nation in attendance increase from 26,635 to 51,960. (from Temple Poncey's book Mustang Mania: SMU Football)

If memory serves correct didn't Eddie Garcia miss a FG at the end of the game that would have won it for the Ponies?

lwjr wrote:

Treadway21 wrote:

Stallion wrote:asa matter of fact Mustang Mania did sell chicken [deleted]. Mustang Mania came well before even a winning record

the difference is the SWC schedule. Plus you had a coach selling the program. Lastly, we started recruiting and playing exciting ball, Ford and Tolbert.

1978 - Potts and Brad Thomas's first year

4-6-1
SMU 45 TCU 14
SMU 35 At Florida 25
SMU 21 At Penn State 26
SMU 35 At Ohio State 35
SMU 28 At Baylor 21
SMU 28 Houston 42
SMU 3 At Texas 22
SMU 17 Texas A and M 20
SMU 58 At Rice 0
SMU 16 At Texas Tech 19
SMU 14 Arkansas 27

Notice the schedule and scores. You see good teams and competitive games - NO BLOWOUTS. That is how you build attendance with some marketing thrown in on top.

In 78 SMU lead the nation in attendance increase from 26,635 to 51,960. (from Temple Poncey's book Mustang Mania: SMU Football)

If memory serves correct didn't Eddie Garcia miss a FG at the end of the game that would have won it for the Ponies?

yes, he missed a 48 yard goal with two seconds left.

My point on mustang mania is that you had a number of factors come together to make it work. Our current campaign has little chance to work when it is trying to promote the team and we get blown out by Baylor and A and M then has to contend with promoting teams like S Miss, SFA and Memphis later in the year. Mustang Mania would not have succeeded in our current environment.

They at least have a better schedule to work with next year, but even then we will have to show some results and exciting games.

So there is a possibility of a Big East Basketball Tourney in Vegas.... I like that idea...

actually with Mustang Mania many of our biggest crowds were with the Second Division of the SWC or non-conference because those were the games they needed to pump. You can say that they were long time conference rivals but the fact is that the attendance at those games skyrocketed from the prior meetings (Rice 6 to 60,000 Campaign) 10 times the attendance from prior meeting. Rice, TCU and Baylor were annual contestants for the Bottom 10 in those year although Baylor under Grant Teaff was making resurgence.

I remember having trouble finding a seat at the '79 game against Baylor at Texas Stadium. Even though SMU lost, I remember walking through the concourse listening to fans chanting "SMU" "SMU" "SMU". For some reason that memory sticks with me.