MustangSTATS wrote:June didn't see the attendance he wanted at the UCF game, started to believe that his [Gary Patterson] didn't stink, and mentally checked out for the season expecting to get a new job elsewhere.
I wrote him an email after the UCF game assuring him that the tides were changing in the stands and that they would start seeing the fruition of their hard work, at least with my group. He wrote back a tired sounding one-liner, "thanks for your support".
Mountain Mustang wrote:But wouldn't you agree that's a vast improvement over being ranked perennially in ESPN's the Bottom 10? I would say it's a monster improvement.
I've been a part of too many good teams to accept that besting 58th-percentile is anything to brag about. Believe me, I'm thankful for it but it's also something that, every time it's brought up, I interpret as just a nice thing to say to acknowledge SMU is continuing to improve, not something anybody is really bowed over by.
ASU and from what it sounds like at least a few other schools must have been "bowed over" by our going to 3 straight bowl games or else they wouldn't have shown interest in Jones in the first place. The one thing I'll agree with you on is that it's a sign that SMU is continuing to improve. Congrats on being a part of those "good teams" you mentioned. As a 33 year old SMU fan, I haven't so that's probably why I'm much more grateful than you appear to be.
Here's to those that wish us well and all the rest can go to hell!!!
If you made it through SMU, you know what it feels like to be better than the 48th-percentile already. It is literally harder percentage-wise to fail out of SMU than to not go to a bowl. Yes, I said "great" teams but you don't need to patronize me. I'm sure a lot of you have played on teams better than 0.500 or have had the experience of being on a championship-level team.
MustangSTATS wrote:June didn't see the attendance he wanted at the UCF game, started to believe that his [Gary Patterson] didn't stink, and mentally checked out for the season expecting to get a new job elsewhere.
I wrote him an email after the UCF game assuring him that the tides were changing in the stands and that they would start seeing the fruition of their hard work, at least with my group. He wrote back a tired sounding one-liner, "thanks for your support".
Attendance is changing if you look at the numbers. That losing streak hurt us, but this was the first season (in a long time) to have all but one home game have 20k+ in attendance (Rice at 14k was the lowest attended game since ECU in 09). Avg home game attendance went down slightly but that was without having TCU (2010) or that giant operation sellout (SFA in 2009) which both skewed the numbers. In 2010 we had 4 home games under 20K (many well under), and only TCU and Houston over 20K (Houston barely over). SMU is making solid moves forward, and without a marketing team I might add.
According to SO, BE money means adding a marketing team we lost due to budget cuts. OOC home games next year are: SFA, A&M, and TCU. Having Baylor, TCU, and UNT ooc for the near future should help. Attendance is a problem, but mainly for those that expect SMU to go from 20k to 35k overnight for every single game. One great thing to see is how much the interest in the TCU game has grown. 2010 vs TCU was the first time I ever so Ford have somewhat of a home team advantage when it came to crowd noise.
I appreciate you compiling that spreadsheet. 1) those numbers tell a number of things about our fan base and 2) shows how we should be developing our scheduling strategies.
The 2010 TCU game was amazing and I agree. First time I've felt a crowd advantage at Ford.
SMUer wrote:I appreciate you compiling that spreadsheet. 1) those numbers tell a number of things about our fan base and 2) shows how we should be developing our scheduling strategies.
The 2010 TCU game was amazing and I agree. First time I've felt a crowd advantage at Ford.
Was the Baylor game in 2005 (29,538) something special or does playing Baylor really attract that many people for the season opener? Also Houston is supposed to be a rival, I guess, but the numbers are still really flat.
SMUer wrote:If you made it through SMU, you know what it feels like to be better than the 48th-percentile already. It is literally harder percentage-wise to fail out of SMU than to not go to a bowl. Yes, I said "great" teams but you don't need to patronize me. I'm sure a lot of you have played on teams better than 0.500 or have had the experience of being on a championship-level team.
Not trying to patronize you just an outsider in North Carolina who doesn't know your full perspective. I offer this as a parallel example of what it means to go to a bowl game for 3 straight years and what an accomplishment it is. Let's say you play in the NFL for 15 years, and your team has been a doormat for all those years, but in the last 3 seasons, someone came in and breathed life into your franchise and you made it to the playoffs each year; maybe you didn't win, but you at least took the next step in moving forward. Given your past history, you'd be absolutely thrilled. And you'd want to grow even more and work even harder to get to that next step up. That's where I see SMU Football and that's why I believe it's so important to recognize our accomplishments of the last three years as nothing short of spectacular. Hopefully the program takes that next step, and I wouldn't mind at all if June Jones got us there.
Here's to those that wish us well and all the rest can go to hell!!!