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The Sad State of Affairs at SMU post-SWC demise


PlummMeanGreen

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23 hours ago, UNT86 said:

I hate SMU.

I hate everything about them.

I wish them nothing but failure in the worst possible way in everything they try.

I wish this for them every day until the end of time.

I hope SMU loses their Spring game.  

If SMU played a team made up exclusively of protesters from Antifa and the right-wing zealots from Charleston...I’d take the protesters and the points

 

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You guys do know that up until 1950 that dirty smu was perennially ranked in the top 3 in terms of total attendance---in the NATION?  I can't seem to get google to work for me today, but here's a view that shows from 1948.  At one point I had found a report that went back at least 20 years prior.  Even after 1950 their attendance didn't totally plummet, but it didn't make the top 3 and really dropped off after the Cowboys started playing in the NFL.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Attendance.pdf

So the notion that they did nothing without UT is off base.

I hate them even more than Georgio and trud1966 combined!...but the facts are that they were incredibly relevant over a pretty long period of time.  It is why they still have some of those super heavy hitter donors bankrolling the program.  

 

 

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13 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

You guys do know that up until 1950 that dirty smu was perennially ranked in the top 3 in terms of total attendance---in the NATION?  I can't seem to get google to work for me today, but here's a view that shows from 1948.  At one point I had found a report that went back at least 20 years prior.  Even after 1950 their attendance didn't totally plummet, but it didn't make the top 3 and really dropped off after the Cowboys started playing in the NFL.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Attendance.pdf

So the notion that they did nothing without UT is off base.

I hate them even more than Georgio and trud1966 combined!...but the facts are that they were incredibly relevant over a pretty long period of time.  It is why they still have some of those super heavy hitter donors bankrolling the program.  

 

 

So, if I'm understanding you correctly, they were essentially the only football option in a major city that didn't have a pro football team ...and as soon as there was another major football entertainment option, they dropped off a cliff attendance wise?  

Hmmm, it's a hard sell, but I'll buy it.  😀

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I think my biggest issue with them will always be that they led the other private schools in the SWC to band together to ,make sure we wouldn't be the next UH in the SWC and truly leave them behind in DFW if we had any SWC success, which obviously would've occurred with Hayden Fry at the helm. But to me, the worst thing they ever did to us was when CUSA had an opening and we were in the SBC in the mid 00's, they publicly threw their support behind freaking Podunk La Tech instead of helping a local school move up. Keep in mind, UH and Rice were both in CUSA at the time, so it wasn't network driven like it realignment would soon become in 2010. That was so sorry to me. That was when it was very clear that they would never allow us into a conference with them if at all possible. Of course, in pure UNT luck, now that we are good, we are in a time where TV markets are the only things that matter to conferences and networks, so SMU being in Dallas makes East Coast folks think that's enough to cover the Metroplex for their conferences. That fallacy still exists today and cant end soon enough for us.

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1 hour ago, TIgreen01 said:

You guys do know that up until 1950 that dirty smu was perennially ranked in the top 3 in terms of total attendance---in the NATION?  I can't seem to get google to work for me today, but here's a view that shows from 1948.  At one point I had found a report that went back at least 20 years prior.  Even after 1950 their attendance didn't totally plummet, but it didn't make the top 3 and really dropped off after the Cowboys started playing in the NFL.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Attendance.pdf

So the notion that they did nothing without UT is off base.

I hate them even more than Georgio and trud1966 combined!...but the facts are that they were incredibly relevant over a pretty long period of time.  It is why they still have some of those super heavy hitter donors bankrolling the program.  

 

 

Sooo......they were relevant right up until 70 years ago. 

I stand corrected. 

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Of course SMU had good teams, they were cheating even before they fielded their very first team https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1987/04/19/scandals-arent-new-at-smu/e412cae2-1dbf-4d75-8b58-a5c45f197d64/

SMU has paying recruited athletes $1.75 hr in 1922 ($25.50 hr in 2019 value) at imaginary jobs and in 1923 UT and A&M decided to have the blatantly cheating institution tossed out of the Southwest Conference. The resolution was narrowly defeated (3-3 tie) with new SWC member TCU voting to maintain a local church school.

SMU was not caught for cheating again by the SWC until 1928.

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2 minutes ago, ADLER said:

Of course SMU had good teams, they were cheating even before they fielded their very first team https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1987/04/19/scandals-arent-new-at-smu/e412cae2-1dbf-4d75-8b58-a5c45f197d64/

SMU has paying recruited athletes $1.75 hr in 1922 ($25.50 hr in 2019 value) at imaginary jobs and in 1923 UT and A&M decided to have the blatantly cheating institution tossed out of the Southwest Conference. The resolution was narrowly defeated (3-3 tie) with new SWC member TCU voting to maintain a local church school.

SMU was not caught for cheating again by the SWC until 1928.

hockey canes GIF by Carolina Hurricanes

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20 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Sooo......they were relevant right up until 70 years ago. 

I stand corrected. 

Yeah, I can't believe I was trying to defend them....but I guess I always thought they were never really more than an also ran (except the Doak years) until I ran into those all-time attendance numbers.  It shocked me.  They probably still have old-timers around that were there to see those days.  Even if they were cheating their guts out the whole way.  If recent history tells you anything, they have never been alone in that pursuit. 

 

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1 hour ago, emmitt01 said:

So, if I'm understanding you correctly, they were essentially the only football option in a major city that didn't have a pro football team ...and as soon as there was another major football entertainment option, they dropped off a cliff attendance wise?  

Hmmm, it's a hard sell, but I'll buy it.  😀

Was KFC around then too?

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2 hours ago, TIgreen01 said:

Yeah, I can't believe I was trying to defend them....but I guess I always thought they were never really more than an also ran (except the Doak years) until I ran into those all-time attendance numbers.  It shocked me.  They probably still have old-timers around that were there to see those days.  Even if they were cheating their guts out the whole way.  If recent history tells you anything, they have never been alone in that pursuit. 

 

community agree GIF

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On 9/5/2019 at 1:11 PM, PlummMeanGreen said:

Good post!

We’ve all been bashed by some SMU fans & we’ve done our share of bashing back. (Ask Gray Eagle about all that as he’s called for detente between the 2 schools for decades).  

I am glad both schools at whatever level of NCAA purgatory we each reside keep playing each other, though.  For starters it’s  a cheap date—No airline or hotel expenses. It’s an athletic budget breather for both schools. 

People do change, though. Check out SMU football ex  DanFreibergerForHeisman  on Ponyfans.com.  He was one one of our fiercest critics until we beat Arkansas last Fall.  He said he’d never call us “ NTSU” again & he’s stuck to it!😂

GMG!  BEAT SMU!

Jim, I had varied reasons for calling for detente with SMU.

My oldest daughter's late father-in-law was an SMU graduate and financial supporter and one of the finest men that I've known.  Cindy is now on the staff at SMU and it's hard to be too critical of the institution who will support her retirement in a few years.

I don't hate anyone.  Intense dislike...yeah, but to me that's healthy.  On the other hand hate is consuming and unhealthy.  It's with you 24/7.

Like you, I was an early fan of SMU.  I especially liked Doak Walker and later Don Meredith.  I'm now looking at Mason Fine in the same light as I saw the Doaker, who was credited with building the (enlarged) Cotton Bowl.   

 I also intensely disliked the cheating of SMU that resulted in the death penalty.  However, I attributed that to the head of the Mustang Club and the former governor of Texas (both of whose names escape me at the moment).  The average SMU fan was not a participant and did not condone the school's actions.

The real reason that I called for detente was that I hoped that we could work together to gain admittance to the WAC for North Texas (or whatever conference SMU was in.)  Instead, they chose La Tech.

I would still like to see North Texas, SMU, Houston (and maybe Rice) in the same conference.  Good competition, cheap travel, and natural rivalry for all.  Hell, throw in johnny-come-lately UTSA for all I care.  My hope is that Wren Baker and Smatresk have enough diplomancy to make it happen.

 

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