Good news, Mustangs. Ford Stadium will be full next week. The predominant color will be Texas A&M maroon and not Harvard red or Yale blue. The home team might as well be playing in Hawaii.
After the death penalty, a period of time rarely referenced on campus, SMU’s football program – once the jewel of a university and a city – rapidly declined. Ever since, the Mustangs have had problems filling Ford Stadium and selling tickets.
Whenever a thunderous roar can be heard from the field that was once home to a dominant defense and the speedy duo of Eric Dickerson and Craig James, one can safely guess that the roars belong to Texas high school football fans or TCU fans that decided to drive down from Fort Worth.
Recently, athletes and administrators alike have criticized students for Boulevarding instead of making the walk down to the stadium. Students, it seems, have made a conscious decision: free alcohol and a venue for socialization is a better choice than cheering on their fellow peers. But, one must ask why. Why is there no excitement about a well-funded, well-staffed football program?
Is it a lack of football culture? Penn State, even after Sandusky, has great school spirit. When Penn State played Virginia on the road on Saturday, students followed suit and could be heard outside of the stadium chanting, “We are Penn State!” Besides, SMU didn’t lack a football culture in the 1980s when we were the envy of much of the Southwestern Conference. Individuals from, the suburbs to the inner city made it out to SMU games. We were Dallas’ team. Neither Dallas nor the university has had a major demographic shift since then.
If not culture, is it a lack of initiative by the university? University administrators and student body officers have tried year after year – and promised in campaign after campaign – that they would increase student and community enthusiasm at football games. These initiatives have been moderately successful in pushing students and community members to attend games. But, the results have not been phenomenal. Just last week the athletic department and Student Senate, along with a few other university bodies, reinstated an old tradition: the Mustang Band will now march from the steps of Dallas Hall all the way to Ford Stadium in an effort to encourage students to leave the sacrosanct Boulevard. The stadium was not full against Stephen F. Austin [SFA], however. The initiative just might be another respectable initiative by the university.
This board believes that the SMU’s latest game against the Lumberjacks provides the solution to the original question posed: Why is the Boulevard a sweeter spot than a seat in Ford Stadium?
It is simple. It has to do with wins. We can dump millions into our program, but if we don’t have results, no one will show. Just like a business, our product must be worthy, or the opportunity cost of attending a football game will be giving up a beer for a less-than-decent view to a horrible blowout. If SMU can continue its win streak, especially on the scale of our SFA win, there is no question that the student body and the community will once again be excited to watch the Mustangs.
And then, after years of continued success, SMU can afford to have a down season or two. Penn State has sold out of home game tickets for the 2012-2013 season.
