There's a 99% chance this is going to be awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwtX-4fX ... r_embedded

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Fire Phil Emery

Very cool. I was just discussing this team. I couldn't remember the particulars behind the death penalty. Did the NCAA impose it, or did SMU have a hand in determining that things had gotten so out of hand they shut the program down themselves.

Mostly the NCAA. There was a huge backlash on the campus by professors against the athletic department, but SMU and the NCAA investigators actually reached an agreement that would have severely handicapped the program (taking away more than half the available scholarships, bowl ban, television ban, recruiting restrictions, coaches and AD fired, everything you can imagine) while still allowing them to play. When the investigators brought the agreement back to the enforcement committee, they stepped in and said we need to make an example of them.

What people forget is that SMU was already in trouble before the death penalty came down. The NCAA had already given them the harshest penalty in college football history in 1985, and then specifically imposed death penalty legislation to handle the situation should it ever happen again. They really had no choice but to nuke SMU.

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Fire Phil Emery

I wonder how many Auburn fans will be watching it like a horror movie.

I know they won't get quite as bad of a penalty but it could be the second worst sanctions ever.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think they are overstating the overall skill of that SMU team. The way I remember it, they had a superior running game with Dickerson and James, a good defense and a really weak passing game. They might have gotten to #1 but it was a novelty act #1 like if TCU or Boise State made it today...at least that's how I remember it, but I was pretty young. I loved SMU back them. I like them now with June Jones.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Interesting that they choose to premiere it immediately after the Heisman Trophy presentation.

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You know me like that.

Will it end with a live execution of Craig James? That is one arrogant fucker that I can not stand listening to and its even worse having to see his smug face on tv.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Like you're reading my mind.

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More programs need the death penalty.

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Working for Notre Dame seems to be a death penalty in itself

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hey-oh!

That's the part that sucks about it. If it's an ESPN 30 for 30 I doubt they'll light up that asshole as much as they should since he's on the payroll.

That was my first thought too, but I'm holding judgment.

Eric Dickerson is involved in this, which is interesting because I'm pretty sure he's never admitted to being involved in anything while at SMU, which is almost impossible to believe. I'll be curious whether he acknowledges anything or not.

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Fire Phil Emery

Slightly off-topic but related, and I didn't want to start a new topic:

SPORTSByBROOKS (got to have the capitalization right) is like the Bleacher Report if only one awful writer wrote on the Bleacher Report. Anyway, people--including some pretty smart people--follow what he says, and he does break news every now and again. Anyway, this is just silly:

http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/booster-who-killed-smu-was-craig-james-agent-29321
For those unacquainted with the story, well, watch the movie tomorrow. But, in short, the worst booster for SMU was a Dallas businessman named Sherwood Blount. Sherwood Blount was also Craig James's agent when he went to the NFL. BROOKS has a story about this today that has been getting traction on the interwebs, including this caption:

Uh, what? Now, I dislike Craig James as much as the next person. But none of this was "secret". Blount was publicly banned from the SMU program by the NCAA in 1985, two years before the death penalty. As part of BROOKS's expose, he uses AP stories from 1987 showing that Blount was James's agent.

In other words, this is over two decades old. This is common knowledge! I mean, not everyone knows it, but you don't need a big, "the secret is now out!" type of story. It has been known since before the death penalty scandal.

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Fire Phil Emery

Wasn't then SMU coach Ron Meyer on ESPN's payroll for quite awhile as well?

Crooked ESPN commentators for $500....James, Valvano, Meyer...and on and on.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

To be conducted by Mike Leach.

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DVR is set for this bad boy tomorrow night

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From your keyboard to the pirate god's ears!

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I follow where my mind goes...

Ron Meyer admitted to the $100 business card story (for the first time, I believe), but it looks like neither Dickerson nor James are going to admit to anything. Bummer.

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Fire Phil Emery

I will delete my thread.

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Dickerson seems like he is doing the "wink wink I don't know anything" thing while James is still being a giant douche and being dead serious saying it was his girlfriend.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

That's been their M.O. for 25 years. No surprise, but I'm a bit disappointed.

The Texas stuff is important here, but Texas had been on the decline for some time when SMU rose. Actually, Houston was the major power in the late 1970s, believe it or not. They were cheating their asses off too.

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Fire Phil Emery

I'm afraid that this is going to start suffering from "we didn't interview Bobby Collins" syndrome, where the guy that didn't provide access gets put in a worse light than he deserves.

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Fire Phil Emery

It sure seems like it. Although Skip says he just looked lost and wondered what the hell he got himself into.

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Yeah, it changed in tone a bit right after I posted that. I think it's been fair so far. I have some small quibbles but pretty good.

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Fire Phil Emery

Some quick thoughts:

Skip Bayless has always struck me as a really smart guy that has purposefully chosen to act like a D-bag and argue out of both sides of his mouth. This movie kind of bolsters that view.

Small trivia point: David Whitford, probably the foremost expert on this stuff, is the brother of Bradley Whitford, who played Josh on The West Wing.

They said earlier that the boosters refused to talk. That's party true, but Blount came out and said to investigators "it's my money, and I'll spend it as I want." That didn't help SMU. They also didn't mention the James/Blount connection.

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Fire Phil Emery

Doesn't James still work for ESPN? He's been made out to be just an "Awww shucks" kid who did nothing wrong.

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Eric Dickerson just admitted to helping commit a recruiting violation. He also just told a really amusing story.

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Fire Phil Emery

That was pretty funny. "Listen you M.F. I will bust your ass."

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That interview was crazy.

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