We've learned the athletic budget is going up. And that increase is not related to buying out Tubbs or Copeland or hiring Orsini or Doherty. The increase was planned a long time ago, before those things happened. How much? About $1.2 million.
Four SMU football players were named pre-season all Conference USA. DT Adrian Haywood, DE Justin Rogers and S Joe Sturdivant. Also, kick returner Jessie Henderson was named.
The following Mustangs were preseason all-conference last year:
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Odds and Ends
Someone pointed out there are only 100 days till SMU at Texas Tech.
SMU won American Football Coaches Association's 2006 Academic Achievement Award because the 2000-01 class (Cavan’s last class) had a 100% graduation rate. Any time SMU receives an award like this, you should be proud. I have always paid attention to this award for some reason. I always thought it was interesting that SMU had never won it before (honorable mention 11 times). It is also interesting that Texas Tech, Auburn, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Florida State, Iowa, Iowa State, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia were honorable mention; these are good football schools that still graduate 70% of its football players. And if SMU were able to graduate no more than that, it should still be proud as that exceeds the graduation rate of the University as a whole. I call that academic integrity. And you can still have it and be good on the football field. As long as people at SMU think the terms are mutually exclusive, SMU is going to struggle.
On a related note, SMU president Gerald Turner was named co-chairmen of The Knight Commission.
“The goal of the Commission was to recommend a reform agenda that emphasized academic values in an arena where commercialization of college sports often overshadowed the underlying goals of higher education.” Noble goal. To the extent the commission seeks to emphasize the “student” in student-athlete, I am all for it. Where the Commission loses me is in crap like this- a white paper discussing whether success in sports increases applications and alumni donations. I don’t have a problem with a study such as this per se, but when the author comes out and says universities can cut athletic funding without fear of losing applications or donations, and that statement is completely unsupported, I have a big problem with that. Long story short, I don’t think of this organization as anything more than an academic Pollyanna convinced that if not for the football teams, they would be cruising between classes in solar powered Segways.
As for Turner being a chair, I have no problem to the extent he tries to change college athletics. We all need hobbies. But if he were ever to pull a Pye and try to make SMU a beacon of light in the darkness of college athletics, he can rest assured that he won’t have the support of most SMU alumni.
SMU football has apparently landed its first recruit for 2007. Josh LeRibeus, who is 6-foot-3 and 321 pounds, also had scholarship offers from Baylor, Boston College, Colorado State, Houston and Stanford. Justin Smart, LB from marshall signed a LOI to play for SMU starting next year.
Likewise, on the last day of the signing period, Matt Doherty signed Cameron Spencer of Orange, Texas to a LOI for next year. Doherty also got his first commitment for 2007: William Eddie III , a 6-1 junior guard from Detroit Cass Tech. Detroit is a long way from SMU. Ranked the 22nd best player in michigan as a Junior; don't know where he ranks now as a recruit.
SMU won American Football Coaches Association's 2006 Academic Achievement Award because the 2000-01 class (Cavan’s last class) had a 100% graduation rate. Any time SMU receives an award like this, you should be proud. I have always paid attention to this award for some reason. I always thought it was interesting that SMU had never won it before (honorable mention 11 times). It is also interesting that Texas Tech, Auburn, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Florida State, Iowa, Iowa State, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia were honorable mention; these are good football schools that still graduate 70% of its football players. And if SMU were able to graduate no more than that, it should still be proud as that exceeds the graduation rate of the University as a whole. I call that academic integrity. And you can still have it and be good on the football field. As long as people at SMU think the terms are mutually exclusive, SMU is going to struggle.
On a related note, SMU president Gerald Turner was named co-chairmen of The Knight Commission.
“The goal of the Commission was to recommend a reform agenda that emphasized academic values in an arena where commercialization of college sports often overshadowed the underlying goals of higher education.” Noble goal. To the extent the commission seeks to emphasize the “student” in student-athlete, I am all for it. Where the Commission loses me is in crap like this- a white paper discussing whether success in sports increases applications and alumni donations. I don’t have a problem with a study such as this per se, but when the author comes out and says universities can cut athletic funding without fear of losing applications or donations, and that statement is completely unsupported, I have a big problem with that. Long story short, I don’t think of this organization as anything more than an academic Pollyanna convinced that if not for the football teams, they would be cruising between classes in solar powered Segways.
As for Turner being a chair, I have no problem to the extent he tries to change college athletics. We all need hobbies. But if he were ever to pull a Pye and try to make SMU a beacon of light in the darkness of college athletics, he can rest assured that he won’t have the support of most SMU alumni.
SMU football has apparently landed its first recruit for 2007. Josh LeRibeus, who is 6-foot-3 and 321 pounds, also had scholarship offers from Baylor, Boston College, Colorado State, Houston and Stanford. Justin Smart, LB from marshall signed a LOI to play for SMU starting next year.
Likewise, on the last day of the signing period, Matt Doherty signed Cameron Spencer of Orange, Texas to a LOI for next year. Doherty also got his first commitment for 2007: William Eddie III , a 6-1 junior guard from Detroit Cass Tech. Detroit is a long way from SMU. Ranked the 22nd best player in michigan as a Junior; don't know where he ranks now as a recruit.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Q-Ross Pub
Indirectly, of course. See here.
Anthony was helpless in the presence of Quinton Ross' withering defense in the first round; he was unable to work his way to quality shots and let his frustrations show in a series of embarrassing nationally televised pout sessions. Anthony averaged 21 points a game but netted more turnovers than assists, failed to hit a three-pointer in the entire series and averaged only 6.6 rebounds in over 38 minutes a contest. Tellingly, he also shot 33 percent from the floor.
Cowlishaw Chat
Three SMU related questions in the Tim Cowlishaw chat today:
I don't understand the fascination some people have with playing Texas. It has little interest to me other than SMU should always have one tough team on the schedule. So adding Texas to the schedule means nothing to me unless Texas Tech or A&M got dropped. Same goes for USC, Notre Dame and anybody else.
Blogger/blogspot isn't working well today. I don't even know as I type this whether it will post or not. If you read it, yes, it does, and if you don't, no it doesn't. Or somesuch.
rooster: Why won't Texas schedule SMU in football?
Tim Cowlishaw: They fear Phil Bennett. No, seriously, what good would scheduling SMU do? They win by 40 points, SMU brings no fans to Austin. And the Longhorns certainly wouldn't do a home and home unless maybe the Dallas game would be played in the new stadium at Arlington. I would like to see SMU play more teams from Texas. Getting crushed by the Longhorns wouldn't do the Ponies any good.
Roy L.: When will SMU recover from the Death Penalty? In 100 years maybe?
Tim Cowlishaw: Ah, it's good to see Brett Daniels weighing in with a question. It's not when they recover, it's when they stop using it as an excuse. Bennett finally got it going at the end of last year, and we'll see if that's for real at all this fall. And I think Matt Doherty is a very good hire, given the arena and lack of prominence of SMU basketball these days. So at least there's a ray of hope.
GaryM: While I understand your theory that UT has nothing to gain by scheduling SMU, what do they gain by beating the snot out of La.-Lafayette? Don't they, like most other big-time programs, annually schedule at least one patsy to come in and be splayed before the big crowd while receiving a big check? Why not keep the money at home, massacre a Mustang once in a while?
Tim Cowlishaw: No love for the Screamin' Demons? Wait, that's Northwestern State in Natchtoches, City of Lights. What's Lafayette? Still Ragin' Cajuns? If you want Texas to beat up the Mustangs once in place of this team, I will put in a call to DeLoss.
I don't understand the fascination some people have with playing Texas. It has little interest to me other than SMU should always have one tough team on the schedule. So adding Texas to the schedule means nothing to me unless Texas Tech or A&M got dropped. Same goes for USC, Notre Dame and anybody else.
Blogger/blogspot isn't working well today. I don't even know as I type this whether it will post or not. If you read it, yes, it does, and if you don't, no it doesn't. Or somesuch.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Potpourri
Random NFL Draft thought:
I grew up in Fort Worth, which for those SMU fans that did not know, is that town you get barbecue in when you go to the TCU game. As such, I root for the Cowboys, I root for the Mavericks, I root for the Stars and I quasi-root for the Rangers.
So pardon my random Cowboy comment. I am still puzzled by the second round pick of Anthony Fasano. The word out of Valley Ranch is that this is an attempt to go to a two tight end set. See here. It makes me wonder how this is related. Here is a HS coach that is said to run the most prolific offense in the high school ranks nationally. Interestingly, he was interviewed to coach tight ends for the Dallas Cowboys. Stranger still, Dodge's spread offense doesn't use a tight end.
Anyway, just thought I would blog that note.
As for Mustangs going to the NFL, no SMU players were drafted. That should not come as a surprise. However, several were invited to mini-camps. Read all about it here. I would like to think one of these guys makes it in the league for a year or two. If I were a betting man (and I am), that would be Alvin Nnabuife.
Much has been made of Doherty "mending fences." (I can't link to it because I can't get the DMN website to work. Why? I have no idea.) No disrespect to Calvin Watkins, but you could predict this article was going to come out the day after Tubbs was let go. Anyway, Doherty is doing what he needs to do, which is something that we all knew (or should have known) he was going to do. Is there more to do? Sure. Did they erect a wall south of the Trinity to keep Doherty out? No. Are they going to be doing Doherty any favors any time soon? Probably not. I will say this, if you read the message boards of Texas Roundball, throughout this whole affair, for every anti-SMU comment there is, there is an equal number of posts critical of Tubbs.
Doherty's lead assistant is now the head man at FAU, which means Doherty has two positions open on his staff (I think). Whether that is for an Assistant Coach and a Director of Basketball Operations or for two Assistant Coaches, I donÂ’t know. Logic would say that one would be a "local" or "Texas" hire. That coach could come from anywhere, another Division I school, a lower division college or junior college, a high school or even the AAU ranks. If I hear anything, I will pass it on. Some guy did tell me he thought Doherty would hire the HC from Abilene Christian (Division II), but I don't know if there is any truth to that. The other assistant will likely be a former player or cohort of Doherty-somebody from Kansas or UNC or Notre Dame.
In the future, all discussions of Jimmy Tubbs will be greeted with the following:
We all need one of these for the Boulevard:
I can't decide. Do I want San Antonio to win tonight, travel home and have to play the Mavs 36 hours later at noon on Sunday or do I want the Kings to force a game 7 and possibly win the series giving the Mavs home court until the NBA Finals?
I grew up in Fort Worth, which for those SMU fans that did not know, is that town you get barbecue in when you go to the TCU game. As such, I root for the Cowboys, I root for the Mavericks, I root for the Stars and I quasi-root for the Rangers.
So pardon my random Cowboy comment. I am still puzzled by the second round pick of Anthony Fasano. The word out of Valley Ranch is that this is an attempt to go to a two tight end set. See here. It makes me wonder how this is related. Here is a HS coach that is said to run the most prolific offense in the high school ranks nationally. Interestingly, he was interviewed to coach tight ends for the Dallas Cowboys. Stranger still, Dodge's spread offense doesn't use a tight end.
Anyway, just thought I would blog that note.
As for Mustangs going to the NFL, no SMU players were drafted. That should not come as a surprise. However, several were invited to mini-camps. Read all about it here. I would like to think one of these guys makes it in the league for a year or two. If I were a betting man (and I am), that would be Alvin Nnabuife.
Much has been made of Doherty "mending fences." (I can't link to it because I can't get the DMN website to work. Why? I have no idea.) No disrespect to Calvin Watkins, but you could predict this article was going to come out the day after Tubbs was let go. Anyway, Doherty is doing what he needs to do, which is something that we all knew (or should have known) he was going to do. Is there more to do? Sure. Did they erect a wall south of the Trinity to keep Doherty out? No. Are they going to be doing Doherty any favors any time soon? Probably not. I will say this, if you read the message boards of Texas Roundball, throughout this whole affair, for every anti-SMU comment there is, there is an equal number of posts critical of Tubbs.
Doherty's lead assistant is now the head man at FAU, which means Doherty has two positions open on his staff (I think). Whether that is for an Assistant Coach and a Director of Basketball Operations or for two Assistant Coaches, I donÂ’t know. Logic would say that one would be a "local" or "Texas" hire. That coach could come from anywhere, another Division I school, a lower division college or junior college, a high school or even the AAU ranks. If I hear anything, I will pass it on. Some guy did tell me he thought Doherty would hire the HC from Abilene Christian (Division II), but I don't know if there is any truth to that. The other assistant will likely be a former player or cohort of Doherty-somebody from Kansas or UNC or Notre Dame.
In the future, all discussions of Jimmy Tubbs will be greeted with the following:
We all need one of these for the Boulevard:
I can't decide. Do I want San Antonio to win tonight, travel home and have to play the Mavs 36 hours later at noon on Sunday or do I want the Kings to force a game 7 and possibly win the series giving the Mavs home court until the NBA Finals?
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
E-bay finds
Yeah, I am working on something for later this week. I meant to already have it done. Truth is I am sick. I caught what my oldest son gave to my youngest son, who in turn, gave it to my wife. As they say, "Strug-gle-ing."
I dig e-bay. Sure, I could point to any number of SMU items, but what fun is that? Get an old jersey, an old program, an old photo of Doak or throwback Dickerson Jersey. Awesome.
Anyway, for the SMU fan that has given up, I suggest this. A KC Royals fan auctioned of all his Royals memorabilia and his "loyalty." The winning bidder gets to pick the seller's new favorite team. Note, if you are an SMU fan and you try this, I will bid and I will win and I will make you a Temple Owls fan.
And then, there is this. The genuine Cobra Kai gi worn by "Bobby" in Karate Kid. Bobby uttered the famous line, "Get him a body bag!" Greatness. It brings a tear to my eye. BTW, if the Cobra Kai did need a body bag, they could get them here in bulk. Buy American.
I dig e-bay. Sure, I could point to any number of SMU items, but what fun is that? Get an old jersey, an old program, an old photo of Doak or throwback Dickerson Jersey. Awesome.
Anyway, for the SMU fan that has given up, I suggest this. A KC Royals fan auctioned of all his Royals memorabilia and his "loyalty." The winning bidder gets to pick the seller's new favorite team. Note, if you are an SMU fan and you try this, I will bid and I will win and I will make you a Temple Owls fan.
And then, there is this. The genuine Cobra Kai gi worn by "Bobby" in Karate Kid. Bobby uttered the famous line, "Get him a body bag!" Greatness. It brings a tear to my eye. BTW, if the Cobra Kai did need a body bag, they could get them here in bulk. Buy American.
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