Peruna packs a punch despite size

For the four years that we’ve been in college, The DailyCampus has often spouted off uninformed nonsense on a regularrate.

Most of the complaints fall under the same complaint; “SMUhas no spirit,” “We need better traditions,” and”Why can’t we be more like [insert Big 12 schoolhere].”

For the most part, we’ve dismissed these “informedopinions” as the ramblings of those who would rather sit intheir rooms and type than actually take the time to learn aboutschool tradition. For that reason, and because we’ve been toobusy actually having school spirit, we’ve never responded.Until now …

Peruna has been our mascot since 1931 and has been a Shetlandpony for all those years. It is one of the most distinctive mascotsin college sports because he is run, not ridden, up and down thefield.

Also, he is kept free, out of a cage, and is not sedated, unlikemany other college mascots. Peruna embodies the free and wildspirit of the Mustang in a small package.

The same can be said for our school. While not a largeuniversity, we can pack a big punch. The uninformed”fan” who pulls himself away from the couch once a yearto watch an SMU game may find this hard to believe. But here aresome interesting facts about past and present Perunas.

Peruna is a stud horse used to mate with all the female ponies.He has often been known to beat up the other horses in the stable,despite his size.

Peruna has also KILLED another mascot, the Fordham Ram. During agame between the two schools, Peruna was led too close to the ramand kicked it, killing it immediately. He’s also belted Bevoand tried to mount the Texas Tech horse.

Now, if that’s not intimidating, we don’t know whatis.

Anyone who bothered to come to the game this Saturday saw howmuch power this “oversized labrador” contains.

While waiting for the team to run out on to the field, Perunabegan to get feisty. At first only stomping the ground and buckinghis head, he slowly began to inch forward, dragging the handlerswith him. Turning this way and that, the Peruna handlers couldbarely keep him still. Luckily, the team ran out onto the field,and the handlers could finally let Peruna off running.

“Peruna weighs 400 pounds,” handler Taylor Starksaid. “If he wants to, he’ll knock the crap out ofyou.”

Stark also commented that he has never seen anyone”skipping” alongside the mascot. All handlers are ingood physical condition and have to sprint to keep up with thepony.

“Ed Board is a bunch of morons,” Stark said.

Ed Board seems obsessed with the “lack of schoolspirit” on this campus. Yet, the worst way to increase schoolspirit is to start and stop traditions on a yearly basis.

Circling your pony ears after Varsity is something that has beenaround SMU for about two years, yet Ed Board claims this to be a”wonderful tradition.” Obviously this two-year-old handgesture is way more important than a mascot we’ve had for 70years.

There is a rumor going around that the senior class gift isgoing to be a new mascot; a large, tamed, black horse. Well, ifthis is the case, we, the authors, will certainly not be donatingany money to the gift.

Having a larger black horse in Peruna’s place would beludicrous. Peruna is wild, feisty horse that can hardly be heldback by its handlers.

A horse any bigger with the same spirit would be unmanageable.The only solution would be to cage it or give it a rider.

A caged Mustang would be a giant irony, and teaching a horse tobe ridden would only destroy its spirit.

Is Ed Board suggesting we have a mindless mascot whose spirithas been broken? We thought you said the problem was lack ofspirit.

School spirit is not something SMU sends out in the mail withits acceptance letter. It’s not dependent on the footballteam’s record. It’s something you create withinyourself.

School spirit starts by getting out of your room and going to agame, any game. We are nationally ranked in the top 10 inmen’s soccer. We have outstanding swim teams. Next semester,our basketball teams will dominate the court over in MoodyColiseum.

Don’t go to criticize or be a cynic. Go and cheer andsupport the players. This is your school. Be proud of your collegealma mater,because it’s the only one you have.

If you feel the need to argue this point, please feel free toemail Phil and Ryan at [email protected]. We will be more thanhappy to explain to you what the true meaning of school spiritis.

We don’t need a more intimidating mascot. We need moreintimidating fans.

Peruna packs a punch despite size