Grading the performance of John Marinatto

[UConnSportsGuy]

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/30118/vote-grade-john-marinatto

On the ESPN blog, they are asking you to grade John Marinatto's performance as commisioner of the Big East conference during this expansion era.

I am surprised that only 67% of people gave him an F. And who are the 1% of people who gave him an A? Let's see...that is about 50 people ....I am guessing that the Big East has about 50 employees in Providence and they all discussed it during their 3 hour lunch at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffett and they all voted on their computers when they got back in the office today! That is the only explanation!

 

[Dann]

i give him a M for marinate

 

[huskymedic]

D meno... No F because he tried.

 

[B1GEast]

F for freakin idiot

 

[junglehusky]

Well I was thinking you gave him a C, because you have the big Block C for your avatar. Oh crap, that means i give him applause!

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If you put the blame on Marinatto it just shows how little comprehension you have about the situation at hand.

 

[Nostical]

Well ConnHusk, you may be right, but I get the feeling that when Tranghese left, if The Big East had hired Larry Scott, the outcome may have been different.

 

[whaler11]

Well ConnHusk, you may be right, but I get the feeling that when Tranghese left, if The Big East had hired Larry Scott, the outcome may have been different.

You can't turn chicken*#&% into wings from the Bidwell Tavern. We seem to be deluged with people blaming Providence and people saying the Big East football league is going to be better. It seems there are people who hold both opinions?

You could see that if expansion happened the Big East was dead in the water. Waylon was kind enough to remind me every time I pointed that out that.. 'I must hate the Big East'. Of course both of things can be true - you can like the Big East and observe they were a minnow that was going to be swallowed by bigger fish at the same time.

I can't wait for the next NBC is going to turn water into wine thread. Memphis is on board they must have added tens of millions to the deal.

 

[BNich]

If you put the blame on Marinatto it just shows how little comprehension you have about the situation at hand.

I don't know how you guys can just blame him for all that has happened. Completely unfair IMO.

 

[BNich]

Well ConnHusk, you may be right, but I get the feeling that when Tranghese left, if The Big East had hired Larry Scott, the outcome may have been different.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. We will never know.

 

[whaler11]

All you have to do to see how weak the Big East's hand has been all along is watch the TCU timeline. They came and left without ever playing a game. I guess you can give Jamie Dixon the credit for landing TCU if you really want to be unfair - but when you have 2-7 unsuited, it's awfully tough to bluff your way through it.

 

[whaler11]

Larry Scott may have been better - but really how could you screw the Pac - 10 up? None of those schools were ever going to leave that league and they have a huge advantage in that they own their odd timezone. Their product is on in their huge markets when no one else is playing and they can provide product for the late night on the East Coast. He added Utah and Colorado - should anyone be impressed by that?

 

[Nostical]

I'm not hating on Marinatto, but you have to recognize the dramatic impact that can take place when a different, more dynamic and strategic thinking leader takes the helm. I'm a believer that the forward looking Larry Scott would have created a different and better outcome for the Big East. Did Harbaugh make a difference with essentially the same 49er team? Did Calhoun have a different vision than Perno? Steve Jobs v John Scully? You get the picture. Anyone think that Marinatto would have led The Pac 12 to where they are today had he been hired out there instead of Scott? Anyone?

 

[whaler11]

I'm not hating on Marinatto, but you have to recognize the dramatic impact that can take place when a different, more dynamic and strategic thinking leader takes the helm. I'm a believer that the forward looking Larry Scott would have created a different and better outcome for the Big East. Did Harbaugh make a difference with essentially the same 49er team? Did Calhoun have a different vision than Perno? Steve Jobs v John Scully? You get the picture. Anyone think that Marinatto would have led The Pac 12 to where they are today had he been hired out there instead of Scott? Anyone?

If you think those situations are similar to where the Big East was then I'm pretty sure you don't get the picture.

Someone may have done better - but the league was screwed, there was no way to stop it.

 

[Adios]

It looks to me as if the Big East was designed to be a developmental conference. Look at who's come and go, so far. Heck, we even came out of nowhere into national relevance. The Big East should get an A+ for what they helped us do.

 

[BNich]

Big 12 is a better fit for TCU. An OK st. fan that I work with called the move about a month before it became official. Not much the BE can do to keep them from being pulled to the Big 12 which is and has been a much better conference.

 

[whaler11]

Big 12 is a better fit for TCU. An OK st. fan that I work with called the move about a month before it became official. Not much the BE can do to keep them from being pulled to the Big 12 which is and has been a much better conference.

I'm pretty sure that you can find plenty of posts on this and the prior Boneyard from posters who knew TCU would never play a Big East game.

 

[FDNY99]

Well I say the straw that broke the camel's back was Marinatto's pushing the Nova upgrade as hard as he could up until he got shut down. It was that point that the football schools realized they were on an island by themselves with no one in Providence having their back. If he had actually took the time to realize what was going on instead if pushing that assinine Nova upgrade maybe he would havr come up with something more creative. Honestly better, more creative ideas come out of this board than from BE HQ! This conference was doomed to it's present disposition the day Tranghese retired and handed over the reigns to that idiot. And don't think for one second he would look out for the best interests of UConn as a loyal member of the BE...he already showed his hand by hiring Hathaway for his $1 a year salary. That alone reinforced my opinion that we need to any and everything to get out of the BE. If the men's team doesn't make a run and we end up on the bubble...no way We get in to tourny if Hathaway has anything to do with it. What better way to stick it to Calhoun and Herbst...have the last laugh!

 

[huskymedic]

If you put the blame on Marinatto it just shows how little comprehension you have about the situation at hand.

Enlighten us...

 

[whaler11]

Well I say the straw that broke the camel's back was Marinatto's pushing the Nova upgrade as hard as he could up until he got shut down. It was that point that the football schools realized they were on an island by themselves with no one in Providence having their back. If he had actually took the time to realize what was going on instead if pushing that assinine Nova upgrade maybe he would havr come up with something more creative. Honestly better, more creative ideas come out of this board than from BE HQ! This conference was doomed to it's present disposition the day Tranghese retired and handed over the reigns to that idiot. And don't think for one second he would look out for the best interests of UConn as a loyal member of the BE...he already showed his hand by hiring Hathaway for his $1 a year salary. That alone reinforced my opinion that we need to any and everything to get out of the BE. If the men's team doesn't make a run and we end up on the bubble...no way We get in to tourny if Hathaway has anything to do with it. What better way to stick it to Calhoun and Herbst...have the last laugh!

How did hiring Hathaway so he could chair the NCAA selection committee harm UConn?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Enlighten us...

What did you want Marinotto to do?

The facts are he has to:
1) He has to act in the best interests of ALL the schools.
2) USF, Louisville and Cincy have been nothing short of great for the BE.
3) He tried to add TCU - but was raided.

What did you want him to do - added Memphis and Temple instead of Depaul and Marquette back in 2003? Would have that changed anything?

It's the school Presidents that have all the power - he acts based on how they direct him to. He's the figure head so that's why people will bash him - but realistically what should/could have he done?

 

[OHusky]

I don't post often and certainly don't try to flame. That said, it is incomprehensible that anyone can defend the guy that was asleep at the switch.

 

[huskymedic]

Fair enough... I agree it's a thankless job and one that has to deal w/ egos galore (presidents, coaches, ADs) I just don't get the sense that strategic planning is his strong suit.

 

[junglehusky]

FDNY, I agree partially about Nova being the straw that broke Pitt and SU's back, and being an example of thinking inside the box, but I also think Marinatto didn't have much of a choice because he didn't have any other good cards to play at the time. If you have a 5-6 offsuit you're going to play the straight... and in this game you can't fold. Well technically you could, I guess, but the end result would be the same.

Don't forget, at the time not just Marinatto but many others thought Nova and especially TCU were okay options (or a good option in the case of TCU) and that it would result in a bump in the TV contract. Hindsight is 20/20 and we now know Pitt was dead-set against Nova, and once they decided their course SU and WVU followed suit. Should Marinatto have anticipated Pitt's inclinations and handled the matter more delicately? You could argue that, I guess. It was a complicated political calculation based on the Big East membership. But once Swofford and the ACC made their move, Marinatto had no moves left to keep the Big East intact.

Then everything blew up and we morphed into CUSA 2.o which SUUUUUCKS. But, there were more factors (and possibly more failures of leadership) than just the botched Nova upgrade as the main reason we're stuck with Memphis today.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I don't post often and certainly don't try to flame. That said, it is incomprehensible that anyone can defend the guy that was asleep at the switch.

The ACC has better prestige, academics, national perception, better exposure and most importantly a substantially better tv contract.

The ACC asked Syracuse and Pitt to join. They did.

What the hell did you want Marinotto to do?