I need Den opinions on a stupid idea.

[liebestraum]

Most of you know I used to be a professor at Sam Houston State (1995 to 2021).  The Miners and the Kats are my two favorites teams.  Both are now in CUSA.  This year, UTEP travels to Huntsville to play the game.

Here?s the stupid idea:  KC Keeler, the HC at SHSU has apparently decided SHSU and UTEP are going to be rivals.  (SHSU will no longer play Stephen F Austin State in football because they are FCS and because we have beaten them 12 straight times.).  When SHSU played SFA, we played in NRG Stadium.  Now Keeler wants to play future games in a neutral site.  I have no idea where.  I will say the idea benefits SHSU because their current stadium holds 15,000.  I am thinking Keeler does not want to play the game in El Paso with the 50,000 screaming fans that will be there to see a rivalry game.

I think a neutral side would be stupid (no location has been mentioned). 

I am correct, am i not?

lieb

[kyyote]

To me, Sam is now in cusa and is indeed our rival for the state of Texas. To cusa Sam is Houston. UTEP needs to fill the Sun Bowl and Sam needs to start taking ownership of Houston. Home for football. Big time!  We in cusa are leftovers but there is a solid core that can compete with others at our level. In the remake the teams have to step up, not down. Jmvho

[KiddMiner]

My take is this.

Our Rivals are NMSU and UNM because of our history with them, we had something started with Houston, but greener pastures awaited them. SMU..eh.... Rice just could be considered a Rival, maybe.

SHSU just might be considered a Rival depending on how long this new CUSA shapes up and what happens on the field, Rivals are supposed to be the enemy..hate'em....

I just don't see us in this conf long term if Coach Dimel has the success we all are hoping for, and he pulls a Bill Snyder.
I sure hope UTEPs pockets open wide when that happens or yeah, SHSU could develop into a Texas Rivalry.

[Austintacious]

Some years ago I attended a UTEP @ SMU game the year they started using their new stadium.  I attended the UTEP alumni area/tent and met a few Denizens and had a few beers.  When it was time to head to the stadium, this smart-aleck SMU student started berating us about how SMU was going to beat our butts.  I just responded, "It's possible."  The kid was drunk and I saw no need to continue the conversation. 

In the second half, UTEP was behind by several touchdowns.  It didn't seem like there was any hope.  But then UTEP came alive and pulled a miraculous comeback and won the game.  It would have been nice to see the kid on the way back to our car and see what he had to say now.  I wouldn't have rubbed it in but only wanted his retort. 

SMU would not have made a great rival because of their superiority attitude towards people of color or ethnicity.  One of my good friends had nephews that briefly attended SMU and left because of the attitudes prevalent towards them. 

I do have a niece who just finished her freshman year there but because she has blonde hair and looks like her mother I assume she has not had that experience.  I would like to talk to her when I get a chance.

SMU as a rival.  A BIG NO!

[SisyphusMiner]

Not sure I see the value in a neutral site.  There are a lot of UTEP grads in the DFW area, but could we really sell more tickets than a home game?  I think SHSU is just trying to avoid traveling to the Sun Bowl

Yes SMU grads are racist.  I've had SMU and Baylor grads literally say "I'm sorry for you" when I said I was born and raised in El Paso.

[Minermojo]

Now that Sam is in the big leagues, well, semi-big leagues it has to realize that 15k isn't gonna cut it in the long run. If it's gonna be playing well known schools that are in the Cabal it will generate more revenue when these schools come to play in Huntsville. You can anticipate more fans coming to see if your team can pull an upset. So that's why there would be a need for a bigger stadium, at least 30k, like the original sun bowl.

Now, as for the neutral site, I think that's a great idea...for SHS and not so much for Utep and its fan base. A problem for one is how to share the gate and goodies sold in the stadium.

Another is that most alumni, (I presume) are in the SHS's general area which would make it a home game for SHS every time these two teams played.

If the coach brought up that idea he's a very cunning person for even suggesting it. Utep would be very foolish to go along.

For one, there won't be 50k in the Sun Bowl when SHS comes here mainly because the El Paso general public doesn't know squat about your school even though they've been very successful in FCS. I had to ask Siri how far from Dallas it was only to find out it's about 160 miles. The fans here will treat it like a game with No.Arizona and such, you know, feel a little uppity and won't attend because they're expecting a win and don't want to waste their money on an unimportant game (in their minds). If it ever happened that those two schools would be playing for a championship that would be another matter, it would fill up but not to 50k because the Sun Bowl has been altered to a smaller capacity...but you get my drift.

So in summation, HECK NO! Sam wanted to be in this level they need to learn to think big because even if it's Cusa it's another level conference from what they left behind.

[Minermojo]

Some years ago I attended a UTEP @ SMU game the year they started using their new stadium.  I attended the UTEP alumni area/tent and met a few Denizens and had a few beers.  When it was time to head to the stadium, this smart-aleck SMU student started berating us about how SMU was going to beat our butts.  I just responded, "It's possible."  The kid was drunk and I saw no need to continue the conversation. 

In the second half, UTEP was behind by several touchdowns.  It didn't seem like there was any hope.  But then UTEP came alive and pulled a miraculous comeback and won the game.  It would have been nice to see the kid on the way back to our car and see what he had to say now.  I wouldn't have rubbed it in but only wanted his retort. 

SMU would not have made a great rival because of their superiority attitude towards people of color or ethnicity.  One of my good friends had nephews that briefly attended SMU and left because of the attitudes prevalent towards them. 

I do have a niece who just finished her freshman year there but because she has blonde hair and looks like her mother I assume she has not had that experience.  I would like to talk to her when I get a chance.

SMU as a rival.  A BIG NO!

I think my wife along with my neighbor and his family attended that game. I think what we did was a somewhat cause of their dislike for Hispanics. LOL

When we were on their campus we realized that it was dress up week for their fans. Needless to say we weren't dressed up like them. Anyway, there was this kiosk selling/giving beer away, I can't remember. So it occurred to us to go get one and went straight to the kiosk and ordered two beers. The kid at the kiosk had this (what do I do look on his face) and gave us the beer. As I was waiting for my beer my neighbor told me, "hey look to your right". I did and saw a line about a block long and they were all waiting for their beer too. I thought we would die that day from getting beaten up. Luckily all of them were dressed to the nines and only that saved our lives, they didn't want to soil their outfits beating up two Mexicans. Ha, ha. I'll never forget that day and I'll bet neither will they. The nerve of those Mexicans were probably on their minds but no one said nothing. I guess they figured if we were so brave to do this maybe we were bad asses and didn't want to mess with us.

[kyyote]

Mojo must be high or drunk. He is talking about smacking a team around. UTEP. Like because it is a lower level team UTEP is guaranteed to win. There are no such things as guaranteed UTEP wins. Against anyone. And Sam has Houston close by to recruit from. They win championships. Like it is who they are. The first time Sam whips UTEP that whole looking down your nose thing is out the door and the rivalry is on like donkey Kong. Sam will be looking for scalps and to prove that this is an elevator stop in cusa. UTEP will be a favorite scalp to take.  It?s UTEP but it is still Texas from here to there bragging rights.

[Minermojo]

Mojo must be high or drunk. He is talking about smacking a team around. UTEP. Like because it is a lower level team UTEP is guaranteed to win. There are no such things as guaranteed UTEP wins. Against anyone. And Sam has Houston close by to recruit from. They win championships. Like it is who they are. The first time Sam whips UTEP that whole looking down your nose thing is out the door and the rivalry is on like donkey Kong. Sam will be looking for scalps and to prove that this is an elevator stop in cusa. UTEP will be a favorite scalp to take.  It?s UTEP but it is still Texas from here to there bragging rights.

Ay my friend, you need to reread my post. I didn't say that "I" thought Sam was easy pickin's, I said that people don't know who Sam is or even where they're located (I thought that they were closer to Dallas) and thus don't put much stock in their abilities. "They're gonna think that because Sam was FCS that they don't belong in the same field not knowing that Sam has championships in that level they left.

That's okay Ky, I know you're an old man but I still love you brother.

[Austintacious]

If SHSU wants to play their home games at NRG , fine!  But the Miners play their home game in the Sun Bowl. No to a neutral site.

[Minermojo]

If SHSU wants to play their home games at NRG , fine!  But the Miners play their home game in the Sun Bowl. No to a neutral site.

That's a better plan right there, proving that Utep fans have a lot of smarts. SHS can play their home games wherever their little hearts desire but not our home games, they will be at the Sun Bowl.

[liebestraum]

When SHSU played Stupid F Austin at NRG, there would be about 25K in attendance.  They are slated to play Air Force at NRG this year.  There has been talk about playing Texas State - another old rival - at NRG as well.  It will be interesting to see the attendance figures for those games.

Honestly, I recalled when UTSA seemed to want to be our rival and UTEP fans shut that down.  I thought it would be the same for SHSU.  And I agree that a neutral site makes no sense for UTEP.  I, for one, would look forward to a UTEP/SHSU game in El Paso.

We will find out what happens this year.  The game is on a Wednesday night (because TV), so there will be lots of on-campus students.  And it seems that SHSU is hyping the move to CUSA to (it is hoped) increase attendance.

lieb

Edit:  because SHSU is questionable at QB, it would not surprise me if UTEP wins the game this year.  But, I have to be honest, SHSU has a head coach that is way better than Dimel.  It should be an interesting game.