Rub of the green...interim BE commissioner gives a POWERFUL defense of the BE in ESPN interview

[Rumrunner]

I believe Bailey's words are simply stunning. Magnificent:

Q:[ESPN] I have touched a lot on the ACC compared to the Big East this week. How is the future system going to be fair, given these tie-ins?

A: [Joe Churchill Bailey, interim Big East commissioner]
There is the sense that there's a rub of the green. Sometimes it doesn't work perfectly and you have to live with those things, fair, unfair, deserved, undeserved, that's kinda the rub of the green. Sometimes, it's going to happen, whether it's to the Big East or someone else."


http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/34172/bailey-unconcerned-with-access-to-playoff

For some reason I was stirred to find why the depth of his words proved so moving. I racked my brain and realized his interview paralled these words:

"We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

Fingers crossed that Joe Bailey carries the Big East flag for as long as possible.

 

[CL82]

Wow. I did not get that at all.

 

[Rondogg]

Wow, did he really say that he is not concerned with access to the big bowls and bowl tie ins?

When are we going to get good news?

 

[uconnfan68]

Wow. I did not get that at all.

Sounded more like happens.

 

[Palatine]

Alfred E. Newman is the new commish.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

ah...I assume this is sarcasm....at first I thought you were serious.

He just needs to figure out who to send flowers to...

 

[Rondogg]

The only thing sustaining me through this bulls4it is the hope that there are big moving Pieces behind the scenes, working in our favor. Now we get this, from the top? What the hell is "rub of the green". Is he brain damaged?

 

[SubbaBub]

How about saying, "The Big East is one of premier athletic conferences in college sports. We are confident that any fair and legitimate selection process will include our champion and any other deserving teams from the Big East. We have been deeply involved in these discussions and would be very concerned if this was not the case. We do not intend to be on the sidelines."

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[metsfan2323]

He should have just said that "our eventual move to 14 schools will bring us much closer to football parity with the ACC then we have been in the past. The gap between 5 and 6 has narrowed. The gap between 6 and 7 has become a Gulf. We also still take great pride in being the premier basketball conference in the country"

Getting to a "Major" bowl via earning it instead of being guaranteed it is a good thing BTW. It brings with it much more respect. Most of the country has given Mountain West football more respect then Big East football the last 7 years because they have earned all of their big bowl appearances. There have been years when the AQ bid has turned the Big East into a national punching bag.

 

[uconnfan68]

He should have just said that "our eventual move to 14 schools will bring us much closer to parity with the ACC then we have been in the past". The gap between 5 and 6 has narrowed. The gap between 6 and 7 has become a Gulf.

No, he should have trotted out the BCS records and said the ACC will make a reasonable 6th conference.

 

[Palatine]

How about saying, "The Big East is one of premier athletic conferences in college sports. We are confident that any fair and legitimate selection process will include our champion and any other deserving teams from the Big East. We have been deeply involved in these discussions and would be very concerned if this was not the case. We do not intend to be on the sidelines."

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

+1

 

[freescooter]

The only thing sustaining me through this bulls4it is the hope that there are big moving Pieces behind the scenes, working in our favor. Now we get this, from the top? What the hell is "rub of the green". Is he brain damaged?

The Big East has been blessed with such great leadership all these years...Oy! Rub of the green is a golf term for basically bad luck. You hit a great drive and it hits a sprikler head and bouces into a trap, for example. Or it hits a marshall and stops 50 yards short of where it would have ended up...there is a formal definition in the rules of golf, but that is the general understanding.

 

[metsfan2323]

No, he should have trotted out the BCS records and said the ACC will make a reasonable 6th conference.

I wave the Big East flag as much as I can, but I am not delusional enough to think we have been a better football conference then the ACC. There is more to a football season then just bowl performance. That said I honestly believe the gap between 5 and 6 has been narrowed substantially and there may be years in the near future when we are better on the field then the ACC and the PAC 12.

 

[John Greene]

When reading this I do not get the feeling that it is "a powerful defense", just the opposite.
It reads like the statements of a person who does not really have a good grasp of what the future holds or how he might influence it. It seems like he to treading very lightly. Almost as if he is afraid to anger another conference by being more outspoken.

 

[metsfan2323]

Almost as if he is afraid to anger another conference by being more outspoken.

+1
I thought the same thing.

 

[coachcap]

Paging President Herbst: Please ring up your fellow cpnference presidents & chancellors & find a credible replacement for this buffoon a.s.a.p. This is beyond embarrassing.

 

[Rumrunner]

I would rather select an advocate for the Big East by throwing a dart at a list of posters on the boneyard than trotting out Bailey. Heck, even a Twitter list of Alec Baldwin followers.

His answers are nonsensical, weak, disjointed and awkward. Kind of like the Big East conference's business model of the past decade!

 

[John Greene]

I would rather select an advocate for the Big East by throwing a dart at a list of posters on the boneyard than trotting out Bailey. Heck, even a Twitter list of Alec Baldwin followers.

His answers are nonsensical, weak, disjointed and awkward. Kind of like the Big East conference's business model of the past decade!

How can anyone be critical of a business model that acomplished all of the following:

1. Lost all but one founding member who played FB.
2. Burdened the BB side with more more programs that are "building".
3. Sailed through a major restructuring of the FB post season with an "interim" head.
4. May well enter a critical contract negotation with the same interim arrangement.
5. Maintains a membership structure that no other conference would come near.
6. Managed to lower the average academic standing of conference members while losing WVU.

You just don't understand how difficult it is to do all of that.


After writing that I need at least three fingers of scotch.

 

[sdhusky]

I believe Bailey's words are simply stunning. Magnificent:

Q:[ESPN] I have touched a lot on the ACC compared to the Big East this week. How is the future system going to be fair, given these tie-ins?

A: [Joe Churchill Bailey, interim Big East commissioner]
There is the sense that there's a rub of the green. Sometimes it doesn't work perfectly and you have to live with those things, fair, unfair, deserved, undeserved, that's kinda the rub of the green. Sometimes, it's going to happen, whether it's to the Big East or someone else."


http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/34172/bailey-unconcerned-with-access-to-playoff

For some reason I was stirred to find why the depth of his words proved so moving. I racked my brain and realized his interview paralled these words:

"We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

Fingers crossed that Joe Bailey carries the Big East flag for as long as possible.

That is not at all what Bailey said. Basically, if he gave the Churchill speech it would have gone like this:

We will show up and hope we get lucky.

 

[UConnDan97]

How about saying, "The Big East is one of premier athletic conferences in college sports. We are confident that any fair and legitimate selection process will include our champion and any other deserving teams from the Big East. We have been deeply involved in these discussions and would be very concerned if this was not the case. We do not intend to be on the sidelines."

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

SubbaBub for commissioner, 2012! "Because a BCS Conference is a terrible thing to waste..."

 

[jdb50]

Joe Bailey meet Admiral Stockdale, there it is. Any questions?

 

[Hoophound]

Joe Bailey meet Admiral Stockdale, there it is. Any questions?

He came off well the first few times he spoke. He has either been eliminated from negotiations or he truly sees the Big East waving the white flag. Any reasonable, skilled, professional business person would have said something like Subba suggested.

This is horrifying. Seriously, can anyone here get Herbst on the phone and ask her WTF is going on? If this is where we are at then Jurich and Herbst can't possibly be involved. Both are far too competitive and aggressive for this. Makes you wonder if PC is still calling the shots.

 

[huskymedic]

He's just toying w/ them... It IS ESPN ya know. Let's see what he's saying to NBC!

 

[FAIRTIDES]

When reading this I do not get the feeling that it is "a powerful defense", just the opposite.
It reads like the statements of a person who does not really have a good grasp of what the future holds or how he might influence it. It seems like he to treading very lightly. Almost as if he is afraid to anger another conference by being more outspoken.

It was obfuscation, pure and simple, and it worries the hell out of me. My perception of his previous actions and reputation don't play against the line of ambiguous crap in the interview. There could be a number of reasons. It could be that the Presidents have told him to act like an "interim." It might be that there are very delicate discussions (about what?) in process that he doesn't want to jeopardize. Or, and this is worrisome, it might be that he still has no idea as to the final league make-up; i.e. who's staying, who's going, who's coming or not coming. UCONN, Louisville and Rutgers have made no secret of their willingness to bail and it will be a year before the "new guys" will be seen on any schedules. A moving target is hard to promote.

 

[uconnfan68]

I wave the Big East flag as much as I can, but I am not delusional enough to think we have been a better football conference then the ACC. There is more to a football season then just bowl performance. That said I honestly believe the gap between 5 and 6 has been narrowed substantially and there may be years in the near future when we are better on the field then the ACC and the PAC 12.

So you believe everything Swofford tells you? It's called spin for a reason.