Home Opener Eve

A short note on the eve of the Ponies' home opener against UAB. I'm currently watching UTEP-UH. Is it somehow possible for them both to lose?

Ty and I will be on the Boulevard tomorrow at our spot in front of Cockrell-McIntosh. Hope it's a good turnout and that plenty of SMU faithful are there.

Cheers.

Drink, Watch, Listen

Drink This: Sam Adams Octoberfest




Watch This: SMU: The Climb



Listen to This: Run This Town(SMU remix) - J-Makk

Tap the Boulevard: now with more blogging

A lot to catch up on since this thing went dormant last year. Let's do this Quickly (That's What She Said).

The ponies went to and won their first Bowl game in 25 years on Christmas Eve in Hawaii and pony fans everywhere rejoiced with excess eggnog, Tiny Bubbles , and cries to their wives that if they just believed hard enough anything is possible. Yes Virginia, last year there was a Santa Claus and he was wearing red.

Last Year's Big Factors

Margus Hunt: SMU discovered the hidden talents of the Eastern Bloc. The 6'8 discus wielding Estonian decided he didn't like field goals very much and need to block them all. The Wolfman probably accounted for the most momentum shifts for the ponies last year.

Kyle Padron: After being a revolving door of QBs since the great Ramon Flanigan left the program in the late 90's, the Ponies may have finally found a program quarterback. A true Freshman last year, Padron has the ability to think on his feet, make plays, and learn from his mistakes. He's young, and he is only going to get better.

Special Teams: Yes the reporters love to talk about the previously mentioned Estonian Terminator, though he reminds me more of Ivan Drago from Rockey IV "I must block you", more credit needs to go to Coach Mcknight and his entire squad of Special Teams. Yes, Hunt was the highlight but the entire Special Teams deserves credit. The ponies won a lot of close games last year because of fantastic game changing plays made by this squad.

Looking Forward:

Expectations have never been higher in my lifetime for an SMU Football season with the exception of the return of football to campus in 1989. We are witnessing the rebirth of a program. The 2009 season was a big step, but by no means was it the final step. There will be stumbles, there will be disappointment, but this 2010 team looks tougher and more talented than ever before. We have a young quarterback in Padron who is a student of the game, a D Line that likes to hit people, a squadron of young fast receivers, and for once the expectation to win with the goal of winning a championship.

Go Ponies

Article 19 and the Remaking of SMU Football

I haven't posted all season due in large part to the demands of grad school and life in general. But in light of SMU successfully completing a 7-5 season, the most wins in a season since 1984, sealed by the emotional win against Tulane on Saturday, I thought I would write a quick post. In addition to the win yesterday and the season as a whole, SMU grad and Austin filmmaker Thad Matula has completed a teaser trailer for his documentary on the life, death, and rebirth of SMU Football entitled "Article 19" (a reference to the portion of NCAA rules dealing with the so-called Death Penalty). I watched the trailer today and was quite impressed by it. Thad is still filming (I saw his camera operators at tailgate on Saturday and at the Senior Walk on the field after the game) and will likely head to Hawaii to cover the Mustangs at the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. What he has done so far is very intriguing: interviews with Forrest Gregg, Dale Hansen, Lance McIlhenny, Reggie Dupard and June Jones. The footage he has is excellent. I'm looking forward to watching the final product.

Teaser Trailer:

Untitled from DLP Entertainment on Vimeo.

Frog Week

It's frog week for the ponies and we all know what that means, the traditional frog smack that TCU is too good to play the ponies nowadays. That's like a fat girl getting a make over and then acting like shes to cool to hang out with her smarter, wealthier, prettier next door neighbor that's been sick for 2 weeks (decades) because she has lipstick on...she's still fat. Speaking of...
TCU does have Patterson and his one size too small mock turtleneck sitting on the sideline. But hey, at least the guy can rock out some Hall and Oats.

I will be the first to admit, yes TCU has made huge strides in football over the past few years, and I congratulate them. In fact I think it's great... bring down the BCS, the other little guy in town fighting for press space over the Evil Longhorn Empire, etc....
But come on froggies don't get to cocky or the ponies will have to give you another dose of humility much like in 2005. This is a Rivalry game, one of the few our two schools have, it's tradition, and it's fun. It's fun to have a cross town rival, hijinks occur, smack talk, and it's usually a pretty good game. So you frogs might have had a few winning seasons under patterson's large belt but June and his boys are gaining some ground and the next few years are going to be good.

I'll let my more educated associate Irving disect the frogs (pun!) and breakdown what this game will look like Saturday night. However, I'll give you my top reasons why TCU sucks.

5. Purple: Who thought this was a good idea? Look how angry this guy is because he has to wear it week in and week out. Give me the Red & Blue anyday.





4. Super Frog: What the hell is this? Is it a cat? Did Lisa simpson breed with an alien? No it's super frog the delightfully cuddly mascot of TCU...Peruna may be a mini horse but he's a bad ass.






3. The Campus: pretty....the guy who decided to use yellow brick with a red roof must have been on the same committee that selected purple as the school color and an alien cat as the mascot. Sweet tall, horn thing, cone fountain too. You know I briefly cosidered going to TCU until I vistited the campus, realized frat house shared dorms together, there was a major street dividing campus, and the buildings looked like well like that...advantage Hilltop...

I was going to keep going but I got too bored looking up TCU stuff..... TCU Sucks...

Go Ponies

It's the most wonderful time of the year

In honor of the college football season starting and seeing the first oktoberfest beer of the year in the store yesterday and me remembering my password for this blog I will celebrate in song.

It's the most wonderful time of the year
when the footballs are flying
and everyone's lying that this is the year!
It's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's the hap happiest season of all
with the rivalry meetings
oktoberfests for drinking
it's finally the fall!
It's the hap happiest season of all

They'll be tailgates for hosting
and wins that we're boasting
and losses that make us feel low
they'll be underdog stories
and tales of the glories of
Conference Championships long long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
The ponies will be winning
and we'll all be grinning
cause the horned frogs are Queer
It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!

Happy football season everybody!!! So go grab a paulner munich and get ready for saturday.

Go Ponies

RIP Coach Gansz

Frank Gansz, SMU Special Teams Coach, passed away yesterday at Presbyterian Hospital here in Dallas after experiencing complications from knee replacement surgery. Gansz was a salient figure in both college football and the NFL where his knowledge of football in general and special teams play in particular put him high in the esteem of many.

"He was the finest football coach I ever worked with," [Dick] Vermeil said Monday. "The quality of the human being matched his coaching skills. ... His vibrancy will live forever in the people that he touched."

Junes Jones coaxed Coach Gansz out of retirement in 2008 to help reshape SMU's football program.

Coach Gansz's family was with him when he died. He was 70 years old.



Dallas Morning News Story on Coach Gansz