Berry Tramel on WTIC

[Sea Goat]

Well that was a waste.

Well, I'll take your word for it. I'm out of state. Although, I generally consider Gresh and D' Ambrosio to be congenitally dead from the up.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just read the tweets (and piled on a bit, even if late). What a freaking genius. I may send an apology tweet to Tramel so he doesn't think the whole fanbase is as clueless as that idiot.

 

[1999.2004.2011]

I was flipping through radio stations on my commute home from work and happened to land on WTIC when I heard Trammel was going to be on the show. Had to be one of the worst interviews I ever heard in this history of sports talk radio, and that may not do that justice.

What was worse was the fact that afterwards, he decided to pick fights with UConn fans who were obviously upset with the fact that he brought in someone from Big 12 country and didn't ask a single question about UConn...on the flagship radio station for the Huskies....

 

[HuskyHawk]

I was flipping through radio stations on my commute home from work and happened to land on WTIC when I heard Trammel was going to be on the show. Had to be one of the worst interviews I ever heard in this history of sports talk radio, and that may not do that justice.

What was worse was the fact that afterwards, he decided to pick fights with UConn fans who were obviously upset with the fact that he brought in someone from Big 12 country and didn't ask a single question about UConn...on the flagship radio station for the Huskies....

I can't listen to WTIC, but really, all of you who can need to call the station and get UConn fans hired for these jobs. Or at least people who can adapt to understand their audience.

 

[UT4Big12]

Well that was a waste.

I can't listen to WTIC, but really, all of you who can need to call the station and get UConn fans hired for these jobs. Or at least people who can adapt to understand their audience.

I don't know about WTIC, but I can guarantee Tramel would have said nothing of substance as it relates to UConn.
So you are no better or worse off than if Tramel had not been interviewed at all.

 

[UCDaveD]

I don't know about WTIC, but I can guarantee Tramel would have said nothing of substance as it relates to UConn.
So you are no better or worse off than if Tramel had not been interviewed at all.

Maybe, but not even asking the questions is unforgivable.

 

[UT4Big12]

Maybe, but not even asking the questions is unforgivable.

I am surprised Tramel didn't volunteer the information himself as he is known to voice his opinions on everything, no matter the subject.
Over the years, I have come to disregard anything he says because he is just talk and nothing more.

 

[The Viking]

I don't know about WTIC, but I can guarantee Tramel would have said nothing of substance as it relates to UConn.
So you are no better or worse off than if Tramel had not been interviewed at all.

Despite what you think of Tramel or perhaps anything from Oklahoma, he talks with Boren. For that reason alone I'm curious as to his opinions on potential expansion targets - ESPECIALLY UConn

 

[The Viking]

UT4 where do u stand on adding UConn?

 

[UT4Big12]

Despite what you think of Tramel or perhaps anything from Oklahoma, he talks with Boren. For that reason alone I'm curious as to his opinions on potential expansion targets - ESPECIALLY UConn

It doesn't take much to figure out who the expansion targets are should the Big 12 consider expanding.
That information is being studied by a private firm and none of us will know the outcome until May.
Boren (and Tramel) as well will know nothing until then.

 

[uconnphil2016]

WTIC sports talk is the worst. Surprised that Tramel would even come on. There's no way that they have over 200 listeners on any given day

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't know about WTIC, but I can guarantee Tramel would have said nothing of substance as it relates to UConn.
So you are no better or worse off than if Tramel had not been interviewed at all.

Of course not. I know he couldn't get us some inside scoop. What I wanted was for him to experience passion and interest in UConn...to inform him. Instead we got the opposite. A narrative that will play to common belief that nobody here cares.

 

[amory]

My ears are still ringing from Gresh's screaming

 

[UT4Big12]

UT4 where do u stand on adding UConn?

I am not for the conference expanding, but if it comes to that, UConn (being the flagship university) would make the most sense. Geography would be a real problem though for the student athletes and for the fans and that is something that may have an impact on which schools get invited.
The other expansion candidates are what worries me the most. I really don't care to have conference partners whose name comes from a city or to have conference partners which are directional schools. Their academics are questionable as well.

 

[UT4Big12]

Of course not. I know he couldn't get us some inside scoop. What I wanted was for him to experience passion and interest in UConn...to inform him. Instead we got the opposite. A narrative that will play to common belief that nobody here cares.

I understand that.
I have listened to some of Tramel's interviews in the past and he has a tendency to say what he thinks people want to hear.
He did that when he was interviewed by BYU radio and he had those folks all excited (for nothing). His idea was to have the Big 12 set up a scheduling alliance with BYU, eventually moving BYU to the Big 12 as a full partner.

 

[CTGoonie]

The most cringe-worthy moment was when Tramel was quoting the OU prez as saying the B12 is "psychologically disadvantaged by only having 12 teams". For some reason Gresh thought he was making a joke and maniacally laughed. You could tell Tramel was confused as to why he was laughing because he paused for a second before continuing on.

 

[amory]

The most cringe-worthy moment was when Tramel was quoting the OU prez as saying the B12 is "psychologically disadvantaged by only having 12 teams". For some reason Gresh thought he was making a joke and maniacally laughed. You could tell Tramel was confused as to why he was laughing because he paused for a second before continuing on.

I noticed that too. The whole thing was terrible. He sounds like a morning shock jock.

He probably has no idea who Berry Tramel is (and didn't know why he was interviewing him) so he decided to just throw some questions out about the Big 12 in general just to get it over with.

 

[UT4Big12]

The most cringe-worthy moment was when Tramel was quoting the OU prez as saying the B12 is "psychologically disadvantaged by only having 12 teams". For some reason Gresh thought he was making a joke and maniacally laughed. You could tell Tramel was confused as to why he was laughing because he paused for a second before continuing on.

That's funny.
"Psychologically disadvantaged" is the expression used by OU and by no one else in the conference. Needless to say, Tramel is an OU guy.

 

[UT4Big12]

Those of us in Big 12 country are not familiar with UConn (aside from knowing about its national basketball championships).
I found a video flyover of the UConn campus. Nice:

 

[amory]

It doesn't take much to figure out who the expansion targets are should the Big 12 consider expanding.
That information is being studied by a private firm and none of us will know the outcome until May.
Boren (and Tramel) as well will know nothing until then.

I don't think anyone here expected him to break any news. It was just dumb to have Tramel on in the first place to ask general questions about the politics of the Big 12. The only reason we're talking about the Big 12 in CT is because of the possibility of UConn being invited.

And I don't expect everyone to be following conference realignment closely. The interview was worthless but forgivable. It's the way he responded to people asking him a reasonable question why he didn't mention UConn once that really got people pissed.

 

[UT4Big12]

I don't think anyone here expected him to break any news. It was just dumb to have Tramel on in the first place to ask general questions about the politics of the Big 12. The only reason we're talking about the Big 12 in CT is because of the possibility of UConn being invited.

And I don't expect everyone to be following conference realignment closely. The interview was worthless but forgivable. It's the way he responded to people asking him a reasonable question why he didn't mention UConn once that really got people pissed.

I understand.

 

[The Viking]

I'm sure the lesser schools will have psychological issues if there is no network in five years and the GOR is beginning to wind down.
Not Texas or Oklahoma mind you, they likely will be elsewhere at the end of the GORs if there is no network

 

[HuskyHawk]

I am not for the conference expanding, but if it comes to that, UConn (being the flagship university) would make the most sense. Geography would be a real problem though for the student athletes and for the fans and that is something that may have an impact on which schools get invited.
The other expansion candidates are what worries me the most. I really don't care to have conference partners whose name comes from a city or to have conference partners which are directional schools. Their academics are questionable as well.

Ha! We feel the same way, yet here we are...in directional/city name hell. At least Temple isn't "Philadelphia University".

 

[UT4Big12]

I'm sure the lesser schools will have psychological issues if there is no network in five years and the GOR is beginning to wind down.
Not Texas or Oklahoma mind you, they likely will be elsewhere at the end of the GORs if there is no network

Up to this point, no one in the conference bothered with considering a conference network. That idea was voted down (by Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Nebraska) when the Big 12 formed in 1994. It was agreed each school had the right to monetize its tier 3 rights however way it saw fit.

Before it moved to the Big Ten, Nebraska led by announcing it would soon be starting on its own network. Texas wanted to go into partnership with A&M for a statewide network (the Lone Star Network), but A&M showed no interest at the time. Eventually, Oklahoma signed a deal with Fox and Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State did the same. Texas went with ESPN, while Kansas, Kansas State and West Virginia took different routes

Obviously, Oklahoma did not get the sweet deal that Texas did, so now we have the Oklahoma president screaming we should have a "conference network" (something that it voted down from the beginning). OU's president expects Texas to give up its $300 million-20 year deal with ESPN to form a conference network and to add more schools to "stabilize" the conference. I guess he forgot the conference wasn't stabilized when we had 12 members before. ESPN is already on record for saying that it has a special partnership with Texas and it doesn't see anything changing that relationship.

For a conference network to work, every school having a contract with Fox would have to wait until their contracts expire. Fox owns their tier 3 rights for now. Furthermore, ESPN has a major say in the matter. It is not going to turn Texas over to Fox and Texas is not about to give up the Longhorn Network either. So obviously, OU's president is asking for the impossible from the start.

Other than OU, no other school is crying about wanting a conference network. They seem to be content with what they are receiving from their tier 3 deals.

 

[UT4Big12]

Ha! We feel the same way, yet here we are...in directional/city name hell. At least Temple isn't "Philadelphia University".

Yep. I was really shocked when the ACC took Louisville over UConn. That made absolutely no sense, but what do I know about what goes on in the minds of its administrators?

I could almost cry at the thought of the Big 12 looking more like Conference USA 3.0 if we go with adding schools that were once in Conference USA 1.0

 

[31GuardTrap]

3 hrs ago Gresh tweets out--"sometimes it's fun to see how insane and delusional a small piece of a teams fandom can get".
Umm hey dipshit....we are not delusional. We are annoyed, yet not surprised that the State's flagship AM station has an idiot doing an interview on a topic that is extremely important for UConn. Did we expect Tramel to come out and say yeah or nay UConn is going? Not the point. Talk UConn and the Big 12, not Texas, Texas Texas.

 

[UT4Big12]

3 hrs ago Gresh tweets out--"sometimes it's fun to see how insane and delusional a small piece of a teams fandom can get".
Umm hey dip ....we are not delusional. We are annoyed, yet not surprised that the State's flagship AM station has an idiot doing an interview on a topic that is extremely important for UConn. Did we expect Tramel to come out and say yeah or nay UConn is going? Not the point. Talk UConn and the Big 12, not Texas, Texas Texas.

Did Tramel talk Texas, Texas, Texas?

Something of interest to me is finding out the University of Connecticut is a land grant public research university. Once, when the Big 12 commissioner was asked about expansion candidates, he was quoted as saying if you want to get a clue, look at the current make up of the conference. Most schools in the Big 12 are land grant public research universities. Interesting.

 

[31GuardTrap]

Did Tramel talk Texas, Texas, Texas?

Something of interest to me is finding out the University of Connecticut is a land grant public research university. Once, when the Big 12 commissioner was asked about expansion candidates, he was quoted as saying if you want to get a clue, look at the current make up of the conference. Most schools in the Big 12 are land grant public research universities. Interesting.

It was an awful discussion to listen to.

 

[UT4Big12]

It was an awful discussion to listen to.

Oklahoma wants to play Texas like a 3 dollar fiddle right now, so I am not surprised if there was a lot of discussion about Texas.

I can imagine the frustration on the part of UConn fans.

Just out of curiosity, do any of you think ESPN would support a move of UConn to the Big 12 since ESPN headquarters is in Connecticut?

 

[amory]

Up to this point, no one in the conference bothered with considering a conference network. That idea was voted down (by Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, and Nebraska) when the Big 12 formed in 1994. It was agreed each school had the right to monetize its tier 3 rights however way it saw fit.

Before it moved to the Big Ten, Nebraska led by announcing it would soon be starting on its own network. Texas wanted to go into partnership with A&M for a statewide network (the Lone Star Network), but A&M showed no interest at the time. Eventually, Oklahoma signed a deal with Fox and Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State did the same. Texas went with ESPN, while Kansas, Kansas State and West Virginia took different routes

Obviously, Oklahoma did not get the sweet deal that Texas did, so now we have the Oklahoma president screaming we should have a "conference network" (something that it voted down from the beginning). OU's president expects Texas to give up its $300 million-20 year deal with ESPN to form a conference network and to add more schools to "stabilize" the conference. I guess he forgot the conference wasn't stabilized when we had 12 members before. ESPN is already on record for saying that it has a special partnership with Texas and it doesn't see anything changing that relationship.

For a conference network to work, every school having a contract with Fox would have to wait until their contracts expire. Fox owns their tier 3 rights for now. Furthermore, ESPN has a major say in the matter. It is not going to turn Texas over to Fox and Texas is not about to give up the Longhorn Network either. So obviously, OU's president is asking for the impossible from the start.

Other than OU, no other school is crying about wanting a conference network. They seem to be content with what they are receiving from their tier 3 deals.

The other Big 12 schools should be crying about wanting a conference network, because without one its just a matter of time before they're in the same position UConn finds itself in.

Texas, Oklahoma, and probably Kansas are the only 3 Big 12 programs who can afford to be short sighted. They're the ones who will have other options once the Big 12 folds. The rest should have realized by now that a conference network is the one thing that can help secure a spot in what will soon be the P4.

Oklahoma wants to play Texas like a 3 dollar fiddle right now, so I am not surprised if there was a lot of discussion about Texas.

I can imagine the frustration on the part of UConn fans.

Just out of curiosity, do any of you think ESPN would support a move of UConn to the Big 12 since ESPN headquarters is in Connecticut?

I don't think ESPN would try to "prevent" UConn going to the Big 12. But the next time they do anything to help UConn will be the first time.