Honor among Thieves

[jdrinboston]

I was struck by a line in the NYT article this morning saying something to the effect that the major BCS conferences are content with bloodying rival conferences, but are hesitant to actually finish them off for fear of how it would look.

I wonder if there is something to this assertion and as a result - all of the BE football schools will find themselve stagnated because the others (ACC, BIG XII, SEC, BiG) won't actually have the guts to finish the BE off.

 

[metsfan2323]

The Big East conference will never be destroyed. It may be a non football league, but there will always be a Big East conference.

 

[zls44]

In all this, UConn never tried to destroy anything until it had no options. BC did. Syracuse did. Miami did. VT did. Pitt did. Remember that.

I mean, it doesn't count for anything. But it's something.

 

[jpm25]

The guys making the decisions care only about themselves - sure, there image is part of that, but I think avoiding litigation is more important than looking like the bad guy. Swofford's image is vastly better this time around vs. 2002/3 because he has been painted as acting defensively.

 

[ZooCougar]

http://www.the-boneyard.com/threads/thamel-the-mac.2364/

You're talking about the Pete Thamel article which has been covered in the above thread.

But I think there is logic to the assertion that predatory conferences will be hesitant to kill another conference off completely due to the immense PR backlash. Just look at the bad press SU and Pitt got, which last for like a day.

I think it's sad, because as a football conference, the Big East has failed to keep its membership happy. The fact that 25% of it just left and four other schools will leave at first opportunity proves this.

Perhaps the Big East football conference deserves to be killed off.

 

[The Funster]

http://www.the-boneyard.com/threads/thamel-the-mac.2364/

You're talking about the Pete Thamel article which has been covered in the above thread.

But I think there is logic to the assertion that predatory conferences will be hesitant to kill another conference off completely due to the immense PR backlash. Just look at the bad press SU and Pitt got, which last for like a day.

I think it's sad, because as a football conference, the Big East has failed to keep its membership happy. The fact that 25% of it just left and four other schools will leave at first opportunity proves this.

Perhaps the Big East football conference deserves to be killed off.

It does. Exit strategies should have been discussed and potential landing spots for the football schools should have been negotiated years ago.

 

[jpm25]

http://www.the-boneyard.com/threads/thamel-the-mac.2364/

You're talking about the Pete Thamel article which has been covered in the above thread.

But I think there is logic to the assertion that predatory conferences will be hesitant to kill another conference off completely due to the immense PR backlash. Just look at the bad press SU and Pitt got, which last for like a day.

I think it's sad, because as a football conference, the Big East has failed to keep its membership happy. The fact that 25% of it just left and four other schools will leave at first opportunity proves this.

Perhaps the Big East football conference deserves to be killed off.

It's interesting - at this point if Rutgers, for example, goes to the Big 10 - did the Big 10 kill the Big East, did the ACC, or did Texas/Oklahoma and the threat of a 16 team conference do it? In the end, who is harmed? WVU, Cincy? They would both be gone now if they could.

 

[freescooter]

The big East football conference was always somewhat forced...initially an awkward appendage to the basketball league and later, it was never completely accepted as legitimate either by the non-football members of the league nor outsiders. In hindsight, it probably would have made sense to form an entirely new league of eastern football members divorced from the basketball league. The whole argument about who controls the big east name, is, I think, just a proxy for the real issue of who controls the Big East. The smaller urban private schools who have a very different set of goals for their athletic programs, where if they could get away with it mens basketball would be the only sport they sponsored, are just vastly different from the large public universities who want to compete at high levels in everything. When you consider that of the original big East football league, only rutgers and West Virginia remain, that suggests that it was never a real part of the Big East.

 

[ZooCougar]

Theoretically, if every remaining football school were to leave and find a home in BCS conference then the only schools that would be harmed are the remaining basketball schools who were getting a great deal out of being associated with us; basically reaping the benefits of playing basketball in a conference with higher profile BCS schools, without actually having to field a BCS football team.

 

[Danzz]

In all this, UConn never tried to destroy anything until it had no options. BC did. Syracuse did. Miami did. VT did. Pitt did. Remember that.

I mean, it doesn't count for anything. But it's something.

If we had the choice, we would have left with Pitt and Cuse. Nobody is without sin. We just didn't get the chance to commit one.

 

[ctchamps]

If we had the choice, we would have left with Pitt and Cuse. Nobody is without sin. We just didn't get the chance to commit one.

That may or may not be true. UConn may have chosen to accept everyone's word that they would try to make the conference work. If true, was that stupid? Only because it evolved that way. People are convinced that the ideas they support are inevitable. Nothing is inevitable. Just more or less probable. So UConn now has to scramble. And people will point the finger of incompetence, stupidity, bad business model or whatever. And these individuals will dismiss other possible paths that could have taken place. That makes the issues they are discussing about them and not about the object they are arguing over.

 

[Danzz]

That may or may not be true. UConn may have chosen to accept everyone's word that they would try to make the conference work. If true, was that stupid? Only because it evolved that way. People are convinced that the ideas they support are inevitable. Nothing is inevitable. Just more or less probable. So UConn now has to scramble. And people will point the finger of incompetence, stupidity, bad business model or whatever. And these individuals will dismiss other possible paths that could have taken place. That makes the issues they are discussing about them and not about the object they are arguing over.

I'm not saying most of that. What i am saying is if Uconn knew Cuse and Pitt were leaving , they wouldn't be hanging around trying to make the BE work. We would have left with them if we were invited. Unless I missed something, this is exactly where we are now: scrambling to get into the ACC. I'm not pointing the finger at incompetence, stupidity, bad business model or anything else. I loved the BE but I'm not sure I love it as currently constructed.
I would hope that Uconn and Rutgers obstain from voting on new members to the BE in the future unless they are 100% committed to the conference. If we are not 100% committed to the BE we shouldn't have a voice in the future of the conference.It would be the right thing to do just as Notre Dame should have obstained from voting on the football TV contract. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm not saying most of that. What i am saying is if Uconn knew Cuse and Pitt were leaving , they wouldn't be hanging around trying to make the BE work. We would have left with them if we were invited. Unless I missed something, this is exactly where we are now: scrambling to get into the ACC. I'm not pointing the finger at incompetence, stupidity, bad business model or anything else. I loved the BE but I'm not sure I love it as currently constructed.
I would hope that Uconn and Rutgers obstain from voting on new members to the BE in the future unless they are 100% committed to the conference. If we are not 100% committed to the BE we shouldn't have a voice in the future of the conference.It would be the right thing to do just as Notre Dame should have obstained from voting on the football TV contract. Just my 2 cents.

I should have made separate posts. My comment to you was the may or may not part. The rest was a statement about some other comments I've been reading. And I piggybacked them to my reply to you. Sorry.