Discouraging, But you Never Can Tell...

[billybud]

Of course the Big Ten wants mandated carriage fees...

The combined Time Warner-Comcast map...

 

[frankthetank]

We really are far from WVU

UConn is closer to WVU than UCF is (who is a critical school that you have to keep your eye on because of its location and recent success). I don't mean to suggest that UConn is a great geographic fit for the Big 12, but if you're serious about getting into the P5 come hell or high water, your administration should be making every effort to try to mitigate that issue. For instance, there's a perception that BYU is a lot closer geographically to the rest of the Big 12 compared to UConn, but the reality is that it really isn't a material amount. How many Big 12 presidents and ADs actually realize that? Do the key media members at ESPN, CBS and Sports Illustrated understand this to be the case so that they can reference this whenever there's a realignment article? I honestly don't think that they do since I've seen BYU and UCF mentioned a bit more frequently as potential Big 12 candidates than UConn in the mainstream media pieces.

Likewise, if UConn could swap locations with Cincinnati, you'd probably be in the Big 12 already, but it unfortunately doesn't work that way. At the very least, you've got to put the perception out there that the geography is at least "not as bad as you think". If the retort is always agreement that UConn is too far away, then the Big 12 will just move on to the next candidate.

Several of the conference realignment stories that have come out over the past year (i.e. Tom Jurich's mechanisms to get Louisville into the ACC, how TCU ended up in the Big 12, Maryland's dance with the Big Ten) show that people in other schools in other conferences aren't anywhere as near in tune with realignment issues as we (the people that follow this stuff) think they are. They're more persuaded by face-to-face conversations and easing nerves than we'd like to be believe. To be sure, you've got to bring in the objective dollar amounts, but the softer subjective perceptions of a school matter as a selling point. If someone had told you 5 years ago that Louisville was a "football school", you would have laughed him out of the room. However, Tom Jurich explicitly worked on that perception and by the time that the likes of FSU and Clemson had to vote on ACC expansion, Louisville was looked at as the "football choice" (and in this day and age, being the "football choice" is about 90% of the battle).

 

[ConnHuskBask]

@frankthetank Think the Big12 would go for a UConn/Cinci add if we both agreed to be partial revenue members for say a decade and UConn offered every other home game with Texas/OU at giants stadium/yankee stadium?

 

[NickyNewark]

I am a dual citizen of the USA and the Republic of Ireland. Most Irish find the whole idea of American football as something a bit silly and sissified.

The prefer Gaelic football and rugby, both played without helmets or pads of any type.

Most Irish really know little or care little about American football, period.

I suspect most would quickly change their minds if caught by a Doug Plank forearm or a Deacon Jones "clothesline" tackle!! How often is a Rugby player carried away in an ambulance? Have you ever heard the "crack" of a breaking leg(LT's sack of Theismann) for 100yds and on national TV in Rugby? I'll admit its(rugby) a pretty rough sport but the American pool of toughness reaches a whole other level IMO!! I'll bet alot of those Rugby guys would make great FB players and admittedly we've soften american FB to a large enough degree that I worry about the future of the game !?!

 

[NickyNewark]

Hey Terry, it is not just the Irish. Most people outside the USA find American football silly.

I think Europeans find FB too theatrical with the uni's being sort of a "costume"! Also Americans for the most part seem larger than life to the average european Rugby fans I'd guess but its (FB) just an american evolution of Irish FB or Rugby? Notice the 1st game in 1869 was at the time the 1st generation of Irish-catholics were about 20+? Most Irish-Catholics came in the 1840s during the famine and continue to stream in not to mention those millions already here(Scots-Irish) who blazed the trail to the west !!!

 

[TerryD]

I suspect most would quickly change their minds if caught by a Doug Plank forearm or a Deacon Jones "clothesline" tackle!! How often is a Rugby player carried away in an ambulance? Have you ever heard the "crack" of a breaking leg(LT's sack of Theismann) for 100yds and on national TV in Rugby? I'll admit its(rugby) a pretty rough sport but the American pool of toughness reaches a whole other level IMO!! I'll bet alot of those Rugby guys would make great FB players and admittedly we've soften american FB to a large enough degree that I worry about the future of the game !?!

I don't know, but when I am in a pub in Killarney or Dublin watching Gaelic football or rugby it seems that they stop play every five minutes to drag a bloody, injured player off the field.

 

[NickyNewark]

3 of my great-grandparents came over in the same boat in "89" from Tipperarry and Mayo as teenagers to Wyoming Cty,Pa or the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area to work with the railroad behind others who sent back for them.One of the 3 married a Jackson (Scots-Irish) who was supposedly related(cousin) to Stonewall?

 

[whaler11]

So, freakin' Nebraska has to take a reduced share of revenue upon joining the B1G, yet Tulane, Tulsa and ECU can join the AAC as not only full members but get a portion of our buyout money from Rutgers?

What world do we live in?

Also - I want to apologize to Boneyarders for constantly ranting about Tulane and Tulsa...I can't get over it, but I'll try not tobring it up again.

Penders the other night was on TIC... you want something more damning about Tulane. Penders pointed out that baseball is the second most important sport at the school.

 

[The Funster]

If UConn joins the Big 12 it has to be as a full member. We'll need the revenue to offset travel expenses.

 

[NickyNewark]

If UConn joins the Big 12 it has to be as a full member. We'll need the revenue to offset travel expenses.

I think the Big12 would be fortunate to be able to crack the NY/NE market with a UConn and their strong hoops brands and growing FB brand. Of course I think any offer would send the B1G into action with an offer for obvious reasons.

 

[billybud]

Penders the other night was on TIC... you want something more damning about Tulane. Penders pointed out that baseball is the second most important sport at the school.

Baseball season is underway...

Penders the other night was on TIC... you want something more damning about Tulane. Penders pointed out that baseball is the second most important sport at the school.

Maybe things are situational....

I sat under a sunny sky on a perfect 70 degree afternoon this past weekend watching Nole baseball. If there is snow on the ground until spring, it is hard to get into baseball.

We are now four games into the season.

I agree that baseball has slipped far from its status in my boyhood when it was America's sport.

Baseball is who we once were, football is who we now are.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Baseball season is underway...


Maybe things are situational....

I sat under a sunny sky on a perfect 70 degree afternoon this past weekend watching Nole baseball. If there is snow on the ground until spring, it is hard to get into baseball.

We are now four games into the season.

I agree that baseball has slipped far from its status in my boyhood when it was America's sport.

Baseball is who we once were, football is who we now are.

And soccer is who we are becoming

 

[whaler11]

Baseball season is underway...l


Maybe things are situational....

I sat under a sunny sky on a perfect 70 degree afternoon this past weekend watching Nole baseball. If there is snow on the ground until spring, it is hard to get into baseball.

We are now four games into the season.

I agree that baseball has slipped far from its status in my boyhood when it was America's sport.

Baseball is who we once were, football is who we now are.

College baseball has grown some, but come on. The AAC needs to be a good enough basketball league for UConn, Cincy and Memphis to stay above water. If your campus cares more about baseball than basketball that doesn't help.

Penders also cited East Carolina, but they have a legitimate football program - so I can look the other way.

 

[billybud]

College baseball is not really "commercial" right now in the sense that basketball is ...maybe for networks in the future.

We do watch limited college baseball on the tube in Florida...regional network fare mainly.

 

[TerryD]

Penders the other night was on TIC... you want something more damning about Tulane. Penders pointed out that baseball is the second most important sport at the school.

I moved to Baton Rouge from the Pittsburgh area in 1983. I live about 75 miles from New Orleans.

I can attest that baseball is the second most important sport after men's basketball at Tulane. Their baseball program has been pretty good the past 15 or so years.

Football? Dismal. I went to a Tulane/Syracuse game a couple of years ago. There were about 6,000 fans in the 65,0000 seat Superdome. About half were traveling Syracuse fans. It was kind of sad to see.

There is no enthusiasm for football. Tulane has lost most of its football fan base. Hurricane Katrina sure didn't help things.

It was a bit different in the Eighties when Tulane beat LSU a few times. The Green Wave went 12-0 in 1998. Maybe the new on campus stadium they are building will help. I don't know.

 

[UPitt]

Baseball season is underway...


Maybe things are situational....

I sat under a sunny sky on a perfect 70 degree afternoon this past weekend watching Nole baseball. If there is snow on the ground until spring, it is hard to get into baseball.

We are now four games into the season.

I agree that baseball has slipped far from its status in my boyhood when it was America's sport.

Baseball is who we once were, football is who we now are.

I love baseball as much as anyone, but we are at least a month away from playing baseball outside of a gym around here. Only 50 miles outside the city, we received 30 to 40 inches of snow this past weekend in the mountains, so its still ski/snowboard/snowmobile season around here. Even saw a group using dog sleds this past weekend, something I never expected to see in PA.

I think the timing of the college baseball season really hurts northern universities. The Pitt baseball schedule starts Feb 14 and ends May 17. We play the first 17 games on the road and then 12 of the next 15 at home to try and get even. The prime time to play baseball in northern cities is from May through Sept, which is the time during which recreational and youth ball is played. Also, attendance at pro baseball thrives during these months, when compared to chilly April games. I understand why the college baseball season is from mid Feb to mid May (coincide with spring semester and allow for college tournys), but participation/competition from northern colleges would increase greatly if the season was from mid March or April through June.

Billy, enjoy those 70 degree days now, because those will become miserable 95 degree days in no time while we enjoy come cool 80s up here.

 

[billybud]

Spring time in Arizona and Florida is the time that the retirees come out to watch the spring training circuit.

Beautiful weather...beats the heat and humidity of summer all to hell. Baseball, to me, is almost unwatchable in June when the afternoon sun bakes the crowds. The Regionals in Tallahassee can be brutal...

But I know that next Tuesday I'll be at Steinbrenner Field watching the Noles play the Yankees....just another retiree in the crowd.

 

[upstater]

I think Europeans find FB too theatrical with the uni's being sort of a "costume"! Also Americans for the most part seem larger than life to the average european Rugby fans I'd guess but its (FB) just an american evolution of Irish FB or Rugby? Notice the 1st game in 1869 was at the time the 1st generation of Irish-catholics were about 20+? Most Irish-Catholics came in the 1840s during the famine and continue to stream in not to mention those millions already here(Scots-Irish) who blazed the trail to the west !!!

In the professional ranks you have rugby players who are 6'5 250 pounds with 4.6 speed. In the recent past you've had players like Pat Kirwan and Jonah Lomu who were more talented athletically than NFLers playing now. There is one kid, Carlton Isles, that plays for US Rugby and he runs a 10.1 100. He also gets his nose in the rucks and mauls which means he's not afraid of contact like some DBs (Cromartie) and WRs.

 

[upstater]

On Frank's #6, the cost per student is higher than out-of-state tuition at the institutions mentioned which shows that even out-of-staters are being subsidized, so there's never really a point when you make profit on out-of-staters. That still only applies to private schools when full tuition is often (or usually) above the cost per student.

 

[HuskyHawk]

True. But this particular Notre Dame Athletic Director wasn't interested in a Big Ten membership either fully or partial. Notre Dame views itself as an eastern oriented school wanting to play athletic competition as often as possible in eastern markets. The last thing they want to be is the midwestern catholic school in the midwestern conference. He wants the football team to play in markets all over the country and especially outside of the Midwest. Would one of the former ND athletic directors been interested in partial Big Ten membership? Possibly. They've considered it before. But not this one. They like the current arrangement, and so far so does the ACC. Down the road we'll have to see.

This has always been true. But what if ND is invited to the B1G along with UConn? Then placed in a Pod with UConn, Maryland & Rutgers. With regular games against old rivals in Michigan, MSU & Purdue. Or even just this 8 team division: Notre Dame, Maryland, UConn, Rutgers, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan, MSU (Every school would get a rivalry game, so Michigan would play OSU). The travel would be insanely good, with Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern and Illinois all a bus ride away. However strong ND is in New York, they are even stronger in Chicago. Notre Dame and UConn to the B1G gives them both. Exile to the ACC will decrease their relevance in their largest market. That 2015 schedule, with no B1G schools, is suicide for Notre Dame over time.

 

[ZooCougar]

Big 12 will not expand further east. The rest of the conference other than WVU is pretty happy about only having to travel east once every basketball season. Why add another trip to a remote island?

 

[upstater]

ND is never going to join the ACC. Never.

 

[ffg53]

In the professional ranks you have rugby players who are 6'5 250 pounds with 4.6 speed. In the recent past you've had players like Pat Kirwan and Jonah Lomu who were more talented athletically than NFLers playing now. There is one kid, Carlton Hines, that plays for US Rugby and he runs a 10.1 100. He also gets his nose in the rucks and mauls which means he's not afraid of contact like some DBs (Cromartie) and WRs.

Why not play US football, then? I can't imagine that rugby players earn anywhere near NFL players.

 

[SixRings]

Big 12 will not expand further east. The rest of the conference other than WVU is pretty happy about only having to travel east once every basketball season. Why add another trip to a remote island?

What you say makes sense. However, what the Big 12 does is God's own mystery sometimes. I'm not sure you can predict.

 

[upstater]

Why not play US football, then? I can't imagine that rugby players earn anywhere near NFL players.

It's their game and they earn millions.

It's an international game, you have to remember that.

Not Isles, Carlton Isles is not a top rugby player. I'm just giving you an example of a guy with 10.1 100 speed. He never played US football, but he did just sign a contract with the Detroit Lions.

Here's Jonah Lomu: