Anyone watch ESPN's 30 for 30:Pony Exce$$?

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glovedgopher

glovedgopher

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After watching it, I know where Lou got the idea that playing in the Dome would help the program.:eek:
 

Yes I watched it, really liked it. Except the end when they kind of started to defend SMU for what they did.

They threw out the whole "Everyone else was doing it" argument, but I don't buy that. I buy that all the other schools in the southwest conference were buying players, but that still doesn't make it right.

You can argue also that the NCAA made an example out of SMU and did not go after the other schools strong enough and that I can agree with, but I'm glad the NCAA went through with the death penalty. If you don't go through with your policies then why are they in place? SMU was on probation for buying players and they broke the rule again less than 5 years between, therefore they deserved to be punished.

Minnesota has had their own struggles with that. The whole Clem Haskins debacle set Minnesota back many years.
 

I watched it, and was irritated by how giddy Ron Meyer, Eric Dickerson, and the others were when talking about the recruiting practices SMU had during the first half hour of the show (Meyer laughing when asked if the rumors were true that he would leave a $100 bill with his business cards when he visited high school coaches/players "I might have done that.") It was as if they didn't understand, or didn't care, that what they did set that school/program back basically two decades.

I thought it was pretty sad, more than anything else, a) for the school/future students, and b) that ESPN seemed to be kind of laughing along with these guys as they talked about how they cheated.
 

Wheaton said:
Yes I watched it, really liked it. Except the end when they kind of started to defend SMU for what they did.

They threw out the whole "Everyone else was doing it" argument, but I don't buy that. I buy that all the other schools in the southwest conference were buying players, but that still doesn't make it right.

You can argue also that the NCAA made an example out of SMU and did not go after the other schools strong enough and that I can agree with, but I'm glad the NCAA went through with the death penalty. If you don't go through with your policies then why are they in place? SMU was on probation for buying players and they broke the rule again less than 5 years between, therefore they deserved to be punished.

Minnesota has had their own struggles with that. The whole Clem Haskins debacle set Minnesota back many years.
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Agree about the last 15 minutes of the 2 hour show. How about Houston trying to score 100 and throw for 1000 yards? Classy. It's funny how the NCAA needs the media to uncover the truth behind all of these scandals. If the Dallas tv station didn't do the work that they did would SMU been caught? Not likely. Same thing happened here. I also liked the fact it aired minutes after Can Newton received his trophy.
 

TCF=UnitedWeStand said:
I watched it, and was irritated by how giddy Ron Meyer, Eric Dickerson, and the others were when talking about the recruiting practices SMU had during the first half hour of the show (Meyer laughing when asked if the rumors were true that he would leave a $100 bill with his business cards when he visited high school coaches/players "I might have done that.") It was as if they didn't understand, or didn't care, that what they did set that school/program back basically two decades.

I thought it was pretty sad, more than anything else, a) for the school/future students, and b) that ESPN seemed to be kind of laughing along with these guys as they talked about how they cheated.
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Thought the documentary was great in every way. I would say ESPN was laughing along with what they were doing. This film was not made by ESPN, nor did they have any hand in the production. They did chose it to be a part of the 30 for 30 series but it wasn't their film. I read a little bit about the film maker. He is an SMU grad and wanted to make a film that told the story from to prospective of those involved. I think he did this very well. James and Dickerson have never admitted to anything over the years and that came through in the film. Really, if you think about it, why should they admit to anything. When they were being recruited did they really do anything wrong? The schools coming after them and the schools they wanted to go to were all doing this so why would they think accepting the money was wrong. They had a tremendous pride in their university and their teams, like any of us would have. I am sure today they smile when asked about stuff, you could sort of see that in the film but I don't think there is anything wrong with them keeping their mouths shut. They have nothing to gain from talking about it.

I loved the flow of the film and I think this was the intent of the filmmakers. He wanted us to see all sides of the story then make up our mind of whether or not the death penalty was wrong. First we heard from the "Pony Express" and their feelings that they were just doing what everyone else was doing. Then came the people who really messed things up by continuing to cheat after they were caught. Then we heard from the people who came in the aftermath and how much pain and suffering the SMU program has had to deal with since. IMHO, at the end the filmmaker wasn't so much saying SMU was treated unfairly but rather why weren't the other schools in the same boat.

Bottom line, you cheat and you put yourself at risk for getting caught, however that may happen. Interesting when they asked Dickerson about the player who blew the roof off the scandal and Dickerson says he warned SMU the guy was bad news.
 


CJTGopher said:
Thought the documentary was great in every way. I would say ESPN was laughing along with what they were doing. This film was not made by ESPN, nor did they have any hand in the production. They did chose it to be a part of the 30 for 30 series but it wasn't their film. I read a little bit about the film maker. He is an SMU grad and wanted to make a film that told the story from to prospective of those involved. I think he did this very well. James and Dickerson have never admitted to anything over the years and that came through in the film. Really, if you think about it, why should they admit to anything. When they were being recruited did they really do anything wrong? The schools coming after them and the schools they wanted to go to were all doing this so why would they think accepting the money was wrong. They had a tremendous pride in their university and their teams, like any of us would have. I am sure today they smile when asked about stuff, you could sort of see that in the film but I don't think there is anything wrong with them keeping their mouths shut. They have nothing to gain from talking about it.

I loved the flow of the film and I think this was the intent of the filmmakers. He wanted us to see all sides of the story then make up our mind of whether or not the death penalty was wrong. First we heard from the "Pony Express" and their feelings that they were just doing what everyone else was doing. Then came the people who really messed things up by continuing to cheat after they were caught. Then we heard from the people who came in the aftermath and how much pain and suffering the SMU program has had to deal with since. IMHO, at the end the filmmaker wasn't so much saying SMU was treated unfairly but rather why weren't the other schools in the same boat.

Bottom line, you cheat and you put yourself at risk for getting caught, however that may happen. Interesting when they asked Dickerson about the player who blew the roof off the scandal and Dickerson says he warned SMU the guy was bad news.
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The flmmakers did a good job of telling us why SMU got caught. Unhappy players, loud mouth boosters, stupid administrators and a less than friendly media equaled a perfect storm for getting caught. How about Texas being called twice in 2 different films recently. They must hate 30 for 30.
 

glovedgopher said:
After watching it, I know where Lou got the idea that playing in the Dome would help the program.:eek:
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Exactly what I was thinking when I watched that segment. Holtz should have known it was the money getting these kids to go to SMU, not the move into the pro stadium.
 

josh087 said:
Exactly what I was thinking when I watched that segment. Holtz should have known it was the money getting these kids to go to SMU, not the move into the pro stadium.
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I'm sure Holtz knew part of it was the money. Did Houston start playing in the Astrodome around the same time?
 

Did anyone else find it funny that showed it right after Cam Newton won the Heisman on saturday night?
 



CJTGopher said:
Interesting when they asked Dickerson about the player who blew the roof off the scandal and Dickerson says he warned SMU the guy was bad news.
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It seemed to me that Dickerson was blaming the player more than anyone else. That's ridiculous. He also acted like SMU was a victim. "Everyone else was doing it" is not a good excuse. They could have stopped it but they didn't.
 


I know Craig James loves to campaign for concussion awareness but maybe he could warn college players about the dangers of accepting money. Maybe he does but something could have been done with this film coming out and all the recent Cam Newton stories.
 

The death penalty itself didn't kill the SMU program it was the loss of scholarships and banishment from road recruiting trips.
 



Ya anyone else thinks its really coincidental that a 30 for 30 film highlighting pay for play scandals premieres directly after the Heisman Trophy ceremony? Made me chuckle.
 

glovedgopher said:
I know Craig James loves to campaign for concussion awareness but maybe he could warn college players about the dangers of accepting money. Maybe he does but something could have been done with this film coming out and all the recent Cam Newton stories.
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Craig James is a twit. He has no problem that he played on the most crooked program of all time, but is willing to throw a good coach under the bus for not worshipping at the feet of his spoiled brat son.
 

It Happened Everywhere

discochris said:
Craig James is a twit. He has no problem that he played on the most crooked program of all time, but is willing to throw a good coach under the bus for not worshipping at the feet of his spoiled brat son.
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James is a giant arse. Talking to the people around the SWC here at the time all say that every team was doing what SMU did. SMU became sloppy in a big media city and got caught. That simple.
 

TCU was doing it. Wacker was the coach that put the stop to it.
 

I threw up a little in my mouth watching that pompous a-hole James basically bragging the whole documentary about how good they were, etc.....never acknowledging how much the cheating helped them. Can't believe he can work at ESPN and cover college sports after playing at that place. As if he didn't know what was going on with Dickerson driving the yellow Trans AM.....hillarious.
 

Buttcheeks McGaffigan said:
The death penalty itself didn't kill the SMU program it was the loss of scholarships and banishment from road recruiting trips.
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Not to mention that the administration decided not to play the first season after the penalty. How is any program supposed to return from a 2 year lay off?
 

So was it ever officially known who was on the take and who wasn't? Dickerson tries to deny it, but why wouldn't he be? If you're going to pay the scrubs, you're going to pay an absolute superstar.

And Craig James is a dick. Why does he get away from all of it scot-free? He took money, knowingly, that it was illegal. His agent was Sherwood Blount, the booster at the head of the payments. Oh and James also "worked" in Blount's real estate office.

Sports by Brooks has some great stuff about SMU here:
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/docs-smu-boosters-1982-payroll-from-meyer-29336
Dickerson is on the payroll for $700/month for 12 months, wonder what the initial signing bonus was.

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

Two more thoughts:

Sherwood Blount is about the coolest name ever. But obviously the guy is a slime ball.

Did anyone else want to hit Craig James every time he came on the screen? The man exudes douchness.
 

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