Monday, October 30, 2006

Entering The “Blogosphere”

Well, I’ve decided to enter the “blogosphere.” With all the things going on at SMU, both in the athletic department and all across campus, I thought my own blog would give me a chance to share my thoughts and opinions with all the Mustang fans on the web. Before I get started, I just want to welcome everyone to my own little corner of the internet and want to encourage you to come out and support the Mustangs.

We have several big events going on on the Hilltop, but I thought I’d start by talking about Tuesday night’s football game against UAB. I cannot stress how big this game is for us – both on and off the field. Of course we want to win as we pursue our goals of a conference championship and a bowl berth, but perhaps even more importantly, this is an opportunity to showcase SMU to the nation. As you all know, ESPN2 will be televising the game (in HD, even!) and it’s imperative that we make Ford Stadium look good on national TV. For that, we need your help. Since this is Halloween night, I know many of our children will want to go trick-or-treating – no worries, they can do that in the stadium! We’ve set up the "Ultimate Trick-Or-Treating Experience" starting at 5:30 p.m. Departments from all across campus will be setup around the concourse of the stadium with their own trick-or-treat and haunted house stations. Additionally, all children are invited to participate in an on-field parade. We’ll also have our Kids' Corral with bounce houses, coloring stations, and more. So, help pack the house by arriving early.

Speaking of arriving early, many fans have voiced concerns over Boulevard activities on Tuesday. Not to worry, The Boulevard will be open, even on Halloween. While the Boulevard "officially" opens at 3:30 p.m., you may come earlier. We do ask you to be aware that normal classes will be progress and to be respectful of noise levels as we get ready to take on UAB.




For more information on the UAB game, click here.

People have also contacted us with parking questions. Be aware that credentialed parking zones (Green, Gold, Silver, Red and Orange) will open for parking beginning at 3:30 p.m. You are encouraged to arrive early as parking may be limited. Don’t worry, though, if your lot reaches capacity, our friendly parking staff will direct you to the overflow area located at the old Mrs. Baird's Bakery, just across Mockingbird from Ford Stadium. Even if you don’t have a credential, parking is still a snap. You can try the old UA Cinema theater parking lot, the Expressway Tower, the Radisson/6060 Building or the DART Mockingbird, Park Lane or White Rock Lake Stations. These lots will be available for SMU football game parking beginning at 4 p.m., and the SMU Game Day Shuttle will be running beginning at 4 p.m. and will continue until approximately two hours after the game. The Game Day Shuttle is, as always, free of charge.

For our students, we have been granted a waiver by Conference USA for the UAB game to permit student seating in rows 1-24 in sections 122, 123 and 124 right on the 50-yardline. Students are asked to be good hosts and display appropriate sportsmanlike conduct. We don’t want to abuse this privilege. Students are also encouraged to show their spirit for the national television audience by dressing up for Halloween and making signs. We’ll have prizes for the most “spirited” students.

We’re also going to start a new tradition on Tuesday. Every time SMU makes a first down, Dan Bell, our PA announcer, will say “First down SMU!” We then want the crowd to yell “Mustangs!” and point in the direction we are going to score.

Whew! How’s that for my first entry? I’m going to try and update the blog on a regular basis, so keep checking in. See you all Tuesday!

2 Comments:

Blogger BrianTinBigD said...

Steve,

Glad you have joined the world of the Blog. I recommend you add a link to the most widely read of the SMU blogs, the SMU Football Blog, http://smufootballblog.blogspot.com

11:08 AM  
Blogger TexLes85 said...

Good job. With a wife who has worked at SMU for 8+ years and a fifth year senior still there, we are all around campus a lot for sports, music and lectures. We saw a lot of really bad football the last 8 years and are encouraged by what we saw this year.

10:02 PM  

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