It really is something you can't capture in the written word. Watching it is unbelievable. I'm still amazed every time I watch it.

The full television special was about 40 minutes long, and they absolutely nailed it.

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Fire Phil Emery

Yeah words really don't do it justice. Just seeing Henry Lee Parker sweating and stammering is priceless.

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They laid it on a little thick with Poor David Stanley, but I guess they nailed him pretty good before that, so maybe it evens out.

I really do think that SMU was trying to stop the payments. None of the people that came in after 1985 have been accused of accepting illegal payments. But part of the settlement SMU reached with the NCAA was that they said that they told everything there was to tell. Once they did that, they were screwed either way. Either you stop paying, and someone will talk, or you keep paying, and if you're caught, you're dead.

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"I don't believe in corporal punishment." Yeah, well that's why you have a mouthy little kid

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Fire Phil Emery

One thing they elided was that SMU was actually really close to avoiding the penalty. The NCAA made a last-second reversal.

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Fire Phil Emery

I just stopped laughing from that line.

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In fairness to Houston, they were trying to rebuild their program and get Andre Ware a Heisman.

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Fire Phil Emery

I don't know what to make of all the "SMU wasn't any worse" stuff. A lot of those programs were really awful in those days. It was a different age.

At the same time, I was talking to an old SWC and SEC position coach--not a naive guy--a couple months ago and I asked him about that stuff. This is roughly how the conversation went.

"Was what the SWC was doing that much worse than what was going on everywhere else?"
Yes, absolutely."
"And was SMU really the worst of it?"
Oh, God yes."

I tend to believe him. And I do believe that things got better after the NCAA ramped up enforcement in the late 80s.

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The players like Dickerson and James saying the kids didn't do anything wrong is asinine. You guys knowingly broke rules by accepting gifts and money. I don't care that the boosters were more guilty. Players broke rules.

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Yes, I agree. I also think that the stuff about the kids that didn't do anything getting hurt was overwrought. They were allowed to transfer anywhere in the country without penalty. There needed to be an example. SMU was the best possible, and I think they did a pretty good job of not hurting the ones that were swept up in it.

All in all, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Another well done movie, notwithstanding my minor nits at points.

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I would love to hear Skip revisit some of this when he is no longer under contract at ESPN. I'm sure he has some more things he can add to the story, especially more details on James.

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

While I tend to agree with a lot of what you write, this is crazy. This is the same time that Barry Switzer was coacing Oklahoma and Galen Hall was coaching Florida, they just didn't get taken down with SMU. It has always gone on to some degree, and will continue. No matter what school you hold loyal to your heart, none of them are clean. Also, it is not just your major sports.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

He didn't say these places were clean; far from it. He just said that the Texas stuff was worse. There was a greater culture of familiarity with one another and an acceptance of it.

I don't have first-hand knowledge, because I wasn't down there. And this was just one guy, to be sure. But I thought it was interesting.

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Fire Phil Emery

No doubt it was interesting, and it brought a chuckle to me. I just wish ESPN would have been more honest, Craig James was as bad as anybody in this whole ordeal. Maybe I have alternative missions as a Arkansas fan, but this really brings up bad memories. Also, I know he mentioned Texas being the worst, but anybody would be foolish to believe that this was the only conference this was going on. Just like now.

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2018
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10 More Wins

it's one of the things that makes college football hard to really embrace. there's so much corruption. SMU got what it deserved and i wished the NCAA would come down harder on other programs.

First I will say I love college sports, growing where I did there were no pro teams around at the time. But, it is not just college football, it is all of the sports.

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2018
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10 More Wins

yeah but college isn't pro and these kids aren't supposed to be getting paid to play.

I agree with you totally, but what can you do to stop it?

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

kill them all.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins