Thoughts on Falcons @ Saints and SMU @ Tulane

Ahhhh…the genius that is Jim Copeland.

Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky: Hey, Jim. How are you?

Copeland: Good. Just trying to decide what color to paint the downstairs powder room in the new house. What do you think? Ecru or Winter Beige?

Conference USA: I dunno, Jim. I am kind of in the middle of fixing this schedule thing. I have the Tulane AD on the line. We want to ask you a question.

Tulane AD Rick Dickson: Hi, Jim. I know this is awkward, but have you heard anything? I haven’t gotten a call back from Turner. I heard he was talking to some AD in-conference, but I am confused ‘cause I haven’t spoken with him.

Copeland: Uh huh. Wife really likes a gloss finish in the bathroom. I think the shine is too overpowering, personally. Hard to concentrate. More of an eggshell person myself.

Banowsky: Anyway, Rick and I were talking. Rick wanted to know if SMU wouldn’t mind being Tulane’s first game in the Superdome since Katrina. Tulane only has five home games this year. Army can’t move their schedule at all, so it has to be a conference game. We called Rice and they hung up on us, so we thought we’d call you.

Dickson: It would mean a lot to us Jim. It will be a very emotional night for Tulane fans, alumni and students. Sure, the players will be jacked up, not unlike when SMU opened Ford. And even a year out, I can tell you the chances of SMU coming out alive, much less with a win, are slim.

Copeland: Maybe I will paint the study in UVA colors. That would be sweet.

Dickson: So you’ll do it Jim?

Copeland: Yeah, UVA colors, with a single black accent stripe so you can say they are the Cleveland Browns colors, too. Not those Baltimore Ravens, that Art Model is a bast-huh? What? Sure. Sure, Rick. Anything. We’ll play Tulane this year. When is that game going to be again?

Having just watched the Saints-Falcons on TV, some are afraid of what awaits SMU in New Orleans on Saturday. I am not going to allay those fears other than to point out a few very simple facts.

First, there are not going to be 70,000 people in the Superdome on Saturday. There won’t be 50,000. If there are 30,000, I will be surprised. I am y be wrong about this, but I think the fact that nothing official has been said about this supports me.

Second, I dare say there will be more SMU fans in New Orleans on Saturday than there were Falcon fans on Monday. And those SMU fans will make up a larger percentage of the whole. I am not saying it will be anywhere close to 50-50 mind you, but the SMU fans will help.

Third, screw Green Day and U2, we are bringing the Mustang Band.