Pony Excess (Dec 11. 9 PM)

[jlb1705]

I thought it was pretty good, particularly when compared to that vapid puff piece on Da U. I also found the argument as to how the ongoing newspaper war in Dallas really turned the heat up on the program in ways that would not have happened elsewhere. Very enlightening.

Any idea on who the three non-SWC schools that voted against the repeat offender rule were?

I imagine Kentucky was one of them. Around the time SMU was doing their thing, UK's basketball program was failing to properly seal envelopes of cash headed toward recruits while the team was already on probation.

 

[Dryden]

I thought it was pretty good, particularly when compared to that vapid puff piece on Da U. I also found the argument as to how the ongoing newspaper war in Dallas really turned the heat up on the program in ways that would not have happened elsewhere. Very enlightening.

What was not mentioned is that the Dallas Times Herald, which was the paper where Skip Bayless worked, folded in 1991. After the hammer fell on SMU in 1987, the Times Herald's advertising revenue dried up, leading to several ownership changes in the following five years before crosstown rival The Dallas Morning News bought the Times Herald and closed it the next day.

Funny how that works.

 

[scott91575]

I thought it was pretty good, particularly when compared to that vapid puff piece on Da U.

I finally decided to look that one up on the internet. I watched the into from the guy that did it, and turned it off. Sounded like some big Miami fan, and it was going to be a big fluff piece.

 

[SloopyHangOn]

I have loved the ESPN 30 for 30 films over the past year. Sadly, this is the last film in the 30 for 30.

Ah, but it isn't. It's merely the end of the first half. It's called 30 for 30 for a reason.

I'm not entirely sure when the next batch will begin to come out, but this is merely the midway point. Whoever had the idea to begin this series as a promotion for ESPN's 30th Anniversary is a genius. Pony Excess was definitely one of the better ones, but if you haven't seen 'One Night in Vegas', 'Silly Little Game', '4 Days in October' or 'Winning Time' you should. Those are my favorite to this point, although I haven't seen them all. I hear 'The Two Escobars' and 'Run Ricky Run' are good as well.

 

[scott91575]

Ah, but it isn't. It's merely the end of the first half. It's called 30 for 30 for a reason.

I'm not entirely sure when the next batch will begin to come out, but this is merely the midway point. Whoever had the idea to begin this series as a promotion for ESPN's 30th Anniversary is a genius. Pony Excess was definitely one of the better ones, but if you haven't seen 'One Night in Vegas', 'Silly Little Game', '4 Days in October' or 'Winning Time' you should. Those are my favorite to this point, although I haven't seen them all. I hear 'The Two Escobars' and 'Run Ricky Run' are good as well.

Well, this was supposed to be the final one. 30 for 30 meant 30 filmmakers creating 30 documentaries. Yet ESPN announced they will continue to do about 5 or so a year as "30 for 30 presents" or something like that. As with anything popular, it continues. Yet this was the end of the initial idea.

 

[scott91575]

Thanks to this, I decided to watch some more 30 for 30 episodes. I just watched "the two Escobars." I can recall at the time the goal happened saying "they are going to kill that guy," sure enough they did, and I also recall at the time thinking "not a shock." It's amazing how something so small and insignificant in my life, so much that I could predict the assassination of another human being that came true, could be such a huge deal for so many at the time. Just one of those things that puts everything in perspective in our own lives.

 

[Dryden]

I knew I had read this before some time ago, so I found the original article from SI back in March '87 when the verdict came down on SMU.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1135953/index.htm

Two points:

- The death penalty was not a new thing introduced in '85 as is often alleged, and repeated in Pony Exce$$. The NCAA has always held the power to shut down a program, and the NCAA had done it at least twice before SMU, once on Kentucky basketball in 52-53, and once on Southwestern Louisiana basketball from 73-75. The Repeat Violator rule simply codified the standards for when the NCAA could invoke it.

- I mentioned that the film missed one of the key ramifications of the scandal, which was that the Times Herald went out of business within five years. The SI article at the time included this:

As for the unnamed booster, the Dallas Times Herald, citing sources close to the SMU athletic department, identified him as Sherwood Blount Jr., a Dallas real estate developer and sports agent. Blount, who played linebacker at SMU from 1969 through 1971. is a flashy, self-made millionaire. He refused to discuss the issue with SI but warned the Times Herald: "Please make sure you're right, because I hold you personally liable if you print that. If you're wrong, we'll go to court and prove you wrong."

Skip Bayless, then with the Times Herald, positively ID'ed Sherwood Blount, and in a few short months the paper abruptly lost most of its advertising streams.

I think that'd make a good story on its own.

 

[Dryden]

The other blast from the past, archive from the Houston Chronicle in the aftermath of Houston hanging 95 points on SMU freshmen in 1989.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1989_658904/uh-calls-it-execution-so-does-smu.html

UH calls it execution; so does SMU
JERRY WIZIG Staff
MON 10/23/1989 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section Sports, Page 5, 2 STAR Edition

After the Astrodome scoreboard mercifully was turned off Saturday, the fallout remained on both sides following the Houston Cougars' 95-21 demolition job on SMU.
In the wake of the first 1,000-yard show by an NCAA team, there is conjecture as to how the Cougars might have taken a little pity.

Punt on third down, for example?

"I thought about that a couple of times," UH Coach Jack Pardee said Sunday. "But you can't be hypocritical. How do you tell your own players to work hard all week and execute, then you do something like that?"

SMU Coach Forrest Gregg and his players were angry. They felt the Cougars needlessly poured it on during their NCAA-record 1,021-yard show. UH averaged 11.9 yards per play.

Gregg noted Pardee pulled quarterback Andre Ware after a six-touchdown, 517-yard first-half passing performance "or they could easily have scored 100 or whatever they liked."

Cont'd ...

Everyone here is familiar with Andre "Shame on you Coach Tressel for running-it-up on poor wittle Northwestern" Ware, I'm sure.

 

[Jake]

The other blast from the past, archive from the Houston Chronicle in the aftermath of Houston hanging 95 points on SMU freshmen in 1989.

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1989_658904/uh-calls-it-execution-so-does-smu.html



Everyone here is familiar with Andre "Shame on you Coach Tressel for running-it-up on poor wittle Northwestern" Ware, I'm sure.

I remember both games. Apparently, Andre still feels guilty about what he did to SMU.

 

[BigWoof31]

Well, this was supposed to be the final one. 30 for 30 meant 30 filmmakers creating 30 documentaries. Yet ESPN announced they will continue to do about 5 or so a year as "30 for 30 presents" or something like that. As with anything popular, it continues. Yet this was the end of the initial idea.

Bill Simmons was kind of a "project coordinator" for the entire series and he said the first one should premier around the start of baseball season next year. It's going to be called "Catching Hell" and it's about Steve Bartmann and his reaching over the fence at Wrigley in the NLCS.

 

[scarletngray]

The Greatest that Never Was is another good one about recruiting at that time, and how much Marcus Dupree got offered.

The reason Barry Switzer only won one Super Bowl with the Cowboys is because they were saddled by the salary cap. Something he didn't have to worry about when he coached Oklahoma. :tongue2:

:osu:

 

[OSUScoonie12]

You can now buy the entire 30 for 30 series, which I'm seriously thinking about getting. I certainly hope ESPN continues to do these, even if it is only 5 or so a year. I love seeing these more in-depth stories about sports and certain topics.

 

[Wingate1217]

Guess who Craig James' agent turned out to be?????? The main character (read:money man) in this whole saga....

Craig James? career at SMU spanned 1980 to 1983. When James moved on to pro football, one guess who is agent was?
The same Sherwood Blount who set up the slush fund that pounded the final nail into the SMU football program.
In his book Game Day, A Rollicking Journey to the Heart of College Football, James gave this carefully parsed account of his days SMU:

Now, I?m not going to sit here and tell you I never received a nickel during my playing days. But I can say with certainty that no benefits were ever extended to me from anyone associated with the SMU administration.​

Not coincidentally, there?s not a single mention of Sherwood Blount in the book.
Is it unreasonable to think that with James? agent found to be behind the slush fund that led to the death of the SMU program, James took money from that agent during his playing days at SMU? Especially considering Blount was already barred from the program by the NCAA when he set up the ?85 slush fund?
What would happen today if James was currently playing for SMU and it was found he was taking money from an agent?
Whether that agent was associated or not with the SMU administration, James? college football career would be over and the SMU program would have some explaining to do to the NCAA.
Knowing what we know now, is it unreasonable to think that James actively participated in the same dirty system at SMU that eventually led to the football program?s demise?

http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/booster-who-killed-smu-was-craig-james-agent-29321​

 

[buckcfd]

Ah, but it isn't. It's merely the end of the first half. It's called 30 for 30 for a reason.

I'm not entirely sure when the next batch will begin to come out, but this is merely the midway point. Whoever had the idea to begin this series as a promotion for ESPN's 30th Anniversary is a genius. Pony Excess was definitely one of the better ones, but if you haven't seen 'One Night in Vegas', 'Silly Little Game', '4 Days in October' or 'Winning Time' you should. Those are my favorite to this point, although I haven't seen them all. I hear 'The Two Escobars' and 'Run Ricky Run' are good as well.

Also check out Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL. Donald Trump gets owned. Throws a hissy fit and leaves the interview.

iTunes has HD episodes for $4.99 a piece ($3.99 for standard quality).

 

[scott91575]

Also check out Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL. Donald Trump gets owned. Throws a hissy fit and leaves the interview.

iTunes has HD episodes for $4.99 a piece ($3.99 for standard quality).

The Donald doesn't like to be reminded of his failures. It was pretty pathetic, but then again, so is a guy that has the greatest comb over in history.