SMU President Got Fired in 1974

[BIGHORSE]

stallion wishes he could have taken David Berst place to give S.M.U. the D.P.

i just finished the book by David Blewitt called The Pony Trap, I believe his truth!!!

[dbone]

Yeah I'm right on this one and you guys are as pathetic as the same homer Penn St fans the SMU fans complain about. Its sad when you have your head so far up your [deleted] that you can't see the truth. The NCAA ruled in favor the Death Penalty, the Bishops Report confirmed enough to agree with it although they barely scrtatched the surface, the Board of Trustees never contested the NCAA penalty and in the world of public perception in 1987-not 2011 SMU got exactly what it deserved. From a legal perspective this was a SLAM-DUNK OPEN andc SHUT Case.

I have been polite and accurate in my responses. I respect your opinions...but you don't get to have your own facts.

I mentioned that SMU was specifically trapped by the NCAA in 1985 and they nailed us in 1987. I used the Bishop's Report as source material to help wih my timeline...but the facts they "confirmed" were after the DP...so I say again...just like Stanley's "relevations" and Clement's involvement...they are irrelevant.

Your opinions on money changing hands and whatever other gossip you choose to believe...are just opinions unless they are in the NCAA infractions reports. That's a fact.

I say again...I will happily buy you my book...and then attack my story...attack my facts.

And you cannot keep moving the goalposts. "Trustees contesting the penalty,Bishop's Report confirming though barely scrathing the surface, 1987 public perception, Penn State"...what is all this?

Dude, I'm no lawyer...but I debated at SMU...everytime the guy I debated did what you are doing...I knew I had him nailed. You can be right that we did a lot of stuff that was never revealed and you can have your opinion that we deserved the penalty. But that's it. You get no more.

I'm arguing the facts of what the NCAA knew, how they documented it, and when they knew it. You seem to want to introduce facts after the DP as if they are relevant.

Not meant as a dig...but Kato Kaelin just said O.J. did it...he said it today after the case is long decided. Kato's testimony is as irrelevant to the O.J. case as anything in the Bishop's Report or disclosed after the DP. Right?

[dbone]

I would be honored if you would read my book... If you PM me I will happily send you a copy and see if I can sway you.

Sway me? For what purpose?

What a fantastic question.

My book is not meant to rehash what we did wrong or pick at a scab. The net of it is that my daughter asked me "if I did anything wrong when I was playing." Pissed me off. I cannot believe that I have to defend myself or apologize for this garbage 25 years later.

So if I have to talk about it...I'm going to set the record straight. For those who say "move on"...what would you say to your daughter? What if your grand-daughter asks in 25 more years?

I wrote my book...step one. I explained it all and let my kids read it...step two. I have decided to pick a fight with the NCAA...step three. And then I'm gonna throw a "Death Penalty Party" where we put the penalty in a coffin...nail it shut...and give it last rights...step five.

My belief is we cannot kill the DP "Curse" until we give it a proper burial...or party. Besides...what we've been doing sure ain't working.

[dbone]

Was ED's TransAm after the Aggies gave him the Maroon one?

We cheated, we got caught 5 times. The fact was (and if you read "A Payroll to Meet", or watch Thad's 30/30) you'll know that the one right before we got DP'd, the NCAA said, look this is your last chance. You have to stop paying players. We didn't do it and were pretty blatant that we didn't stop doing it. It was the ultimate of hubris and utterly stupid. Imagine if you're a drug dealer who has been popped twice and you live in a three strikes and you're out state, would you continue your business knowing that if you got arrested one more time, you're looking at life in prison. Would you stop dealing drugs or continue to roll the dice hoping that you don't get pinched.

I struggled with this subject. It was hard to remember that Summer...I asked a bunch of teammates to refresh my memories and I'm comfortable with my conclusions. My original title was "Closure"...after researching this event I changed it to "Trapped." And then I changed it again.

Crux is we had no options to shut it down. NCAA had us trapped and knew it. We had four options: shut it down and self-report, shut it down and hope for best, keep it going, wind it down. That's it.

What would you do if you had a fiduciary relationship at SMU? Not just some guy phoning it in...a guy with responsibilities. First three result in either a de facto or a de jure Death Penalty and huge financial impact. Winding it down was the only option that allowed even a chance of escaping serious repercussions. Sure unethical...but a good fiduciary decision.

If you disagree...fine, pick any one of the three other options. Congratulations! You just handed SMU a guaranteed NCAA penalty equal to the DP...and you just got fired.

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

I wrote my book...step one.

I so wanna get this book.
Sorry if I missed where one can buy it.
Is it in bookstores? sold on the Blvd? or where on-line?

[ALEX LIFESON]

I read Pony Trap and found it very interesting. FACTS and TRUTH, not opinion. Great job on the very detailed research. Wonderful job dbone...and it's great having you post on ponyfans!

[RGV Pony]

I wrote my book...step one.

I so wanna get this book.
Sorry if I missed where one can buy it.
Is it in bookstores? sold on the Blvd? or where on-line?

I got it from amazon for kindle

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

I got it from amazon for kindle

Thanks RGV.....I wonder if it's available as an audio book?

[NavyCrimson]

Good job - dbone. i'm looking forward to purchasing your book.

[Brooklynhite]

And Gerald Turner was told by the Ole Miss Board that he wouldn't return the next year. It was up to him how he wanted to play, resigned, fired or left for a new job! So what? Ask your Ole Miss alumi, it is no secret.

Did I miss something, or are you just being sarcastic Mexmustang? I don't get this comment or see any previous comments to which it refers. Explain?

[Sasser Rules]

Not to get off the topic here, but look at the cover of that book: I would give anything to see SMU play in that uniform again.

Blue
"SMU" on the front
Readable numbers

None of the crap Nike gave us.

[ponyboy]

Agreed. That uni rocks.

[Brooklynhite]

AMEN to the uniform comments. Why don't we wear blue any more?

[PK]

AMEN to the uniform comments. Why don't we wear blue any more?

I would guess it is a JJ thing.

[couch 'em]

And Gerald Turner was told by the Ole Miss Board that he wouldn't return the next year. It was up to him how he wanted to play, resigned, fired or left for a new job! So what? Ask your Ole Miss alumi, it is no secret.

Did I miss something, or are you just being sarcastic Mexmustang? I don't get this comment or see any previous comments to which it refers. Explain?

Turner was run out of Ole Miss for his anti-athletics ways.