Interesting article on the addition of Memphis

[metsfan2323]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/12/tigers-big-east-intrigue-pursuit-cloaked-in/

Fedex CEO was at the table during Memphis' final pitch.

 

[Dann]

John Marinatto, the commissioner of the Big East Conference and a wide-faced Rhode Islander, sat in front of his steak.

thats where i left it

 

[Fishy]

It is a good article.

It highlights the contrast in perspective.

The schools in the Big East cannot get out fast enough. A school like Memphis cannot get in fast enough. Grown men are crying when their school is invited here. It is good to see on some level - it has not changed my mind - but good to see.

 

[TRest]

It is a good article.

It highlights the contrast in perspective.

The schools in the Big East cannot get out fast enough. A school like Memphis cannot get in fast enough. Grown men are crying when their school is invited here. It is good to see on some level - it has not changed my mind - but good to see.

It is funny to see how excited the new BE fans are on other boards. I don't want to act like SU fans from 2003 and piss in their cheerios, so I only bitch about it here.

 

[coachcap]

So when does FedEx buy up 50% of the signage at the Rent & repaint the building Orange & purple?

 

[RioDog]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/12/tigers-big-east-intrigue-pursuit-cloaked-in/

Fedex CEO was at the table during Memphis' final pitch.

"Small but influential team landed University of Memphis in league of its dreams"

Thats it! Thats our new name!!!

The League of Dreams

 

[zls44]

So when does FedEx buy up 50% of the signage at the Rent & repaint the building Orange & purple?

I guess UPS won't keep delivering the game ball.

 

[HartbeatHusky]

It was a good article and really shed some light on the whole process. It also makes it perfectly clear that ECU and S. Miss and the like have no prayer of getting into this league anytime soon. If you aren't in a big TV market and don't have corporate backing forget about it.

 

[CL82]

From a different article...

A clause on the sixth page of the agreement requires the U of M to "use best efforts to cause FedEx Corporation to provide the Conference with appropriate levels of sponsorship, advertising and similar commitments."

Interesting. LINK

 

[junglehusky]

John Marinatto, the commissioner of the Big East Conference and a wide-faced Rhode Islander, sat in front of his steak.

thats where i left it

Then you missed this part:

But Johnson showed Marinatto around the building, including the Tigers' locker room, where the commissioner lunched on a bag of chips and a sports drink.

What kind of chips were they??? Barbecue? Sea Salt & Vinear? Sour cream & onion?I bet they were barbecue.

 

[Dann]

Then you missed this part:


What kind of chips were they??? Barbecue? Sea Salt & Vinear? Sour cream & onion?I bet they were barbecue.

wow, what a joke. Quinnipiac could get a BE invite if they just take him to downtown new haven for a pizza dinner.

 

[Waquoit]

"Small but influential team landed University of Memphis in league of its dreams"

Thats it! Thats our new name!!!

The League of Dreams

I like it. The League of Dreams! I actually feel a bit better.

 

[MattMang23]

My favorite quote of that article was "no one had dessert." I call BS. You're telling me John Marinatto didn't help himself to some dessert?? There's no way in this world that John Marinatto did not have dessert. I refuse to believe it.

 

[Chin Diesel]

My favorite quote of that article was "no one had dessert." I call BS. You're telling me John Marinatto didn't help himself to some dessert?? There's no way in this world that John Marinatto did not have dessert. I refuse to believe it.

I'm sure Meatball discreetly asked the wait staff to wrap up a couple of cannoli's and put them in a "to go" box for him.

 

[RS9999X]

It's rumored Marinatto leaves breadcrumbs so he can find his way home. According to his wife he'd never come home again without food to entice him. "I leave a cannoli every 100 yards" she says. "John thinks it s football field and the cannoli is in the end zone. He really likes football" she added possibly referring to rumors that the Big East Commissioner is a basketball-only Commissioner. "Cannoli football is his favorite sport".

 

[Waquoit]

I'm sure Meatball discreetly asked the wait staff to wrap up a couple of cannoli's and put them in a "to go" box for him.

Class guy that he is I'm sure he wrapped 'em up in a napkin and stuck it in his pocket.

 

[huskymedic]

I'm sure Meatball discreetly asked the wait staff to wrap up a couple of cannoli's and put them in a "to go" box for him.

Cannoli's from Memphis???? No thank you!

 

[Chin Diesel]

Cannoli's from Memphis???? No thank you!

They use a delicious dry BBQ rub on them.

You might could learn to like 'em.

 

[mattp]

Then you missed this part:


What kind of chips were they??? Barbecue? Sea Salt & Vinear? Sour cream & onion?I bet they were barbecue.

i think chips is what Marinatto calls ribs

 

[businesslawyer]

I'm sure Meatball discreetly asked the wait staff to wrap up a couple of cannoli's and put them in a "to go" box for him.

LOL. You would have to believe that he would be the dumbest person on earth to try to get a good cannoli in Memphis, instead of waiting until he got back to Providence.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

While the article didn't spell it out, Fedex's sponsorship of the Orange Bowl was likely a huge factor in Memphis getting picked. At the end of the day, the Big East decided it needed some allies among the major bowls, and Memphis could bring one of the most important. The problem with this thinking is that Delaney's recent comments about the 4 team playoff are a clear indication that the entire bowl system is going to go the way of the Polaroid within 10 years. We added a school with a lot of issues to solve a problem that won't exist in 10 years.

 

[Druken Friar]

Memphis was added to get to 12 football schools and position the conference with another decent TV market. The future of the Big East will depend on what kind of TV deal is struck. The Big East is the only league available for the near future and with NBC adding an all sports network is in a strong negotiating position.

If the conference gets a great deal, all the complaining will stop. If the deal sucks, the instability of the past 12 months will continue.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Memphis was added to get to 12 football schools and position the conference with another decent TV market. The future of the Big East will depend on what kind of TV deal is struck. The Big East is the only league available for the near future and with NBC adding an all sports network is in a strong negotiating position.

If the conference gets a great deal, all the complaining will stop. If the deal sucks, the instability of the past 12 months will continue.

As long as we are in a league with Memphis, Houston, San Diego State and Boise, all complaining will not stop. I don't care about the money, I care about our image and reputation. Navy, SMU and even UCF I can live with.

 

[Chin Diesel]

While the article didn't spell it out, Fedex's sponsorship of the Orange Bowl was likely a huge factor in Memphis getting picked. At the end of the day, the Big East decided it needed some allies among the major bowls, and Memphis could bring one of the most important. The problem with this thinking is that Delaney's recent comments about the 4 team playoff are a clear indication that the entire bowl system is going to go the way of the Polaroid within 10 years. We added a school with a lot of issues to solve a problem that won't exist in 10 years.

Speaking of bowls. For the record, we've lost teams from Syracuse, Morganstown and Pittsburgh which host a grand total of zero bowl games in or near their cities.

We've gained teams from Memphis, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, San Diego and Boise. The first five cities all host bowl games.

Add in USF which is in a city that already hosts a bowl and Uconn/RU's proximity to NYC.

That means the newest BE membership has eight teams in or near cities hosting bowl games. A big bonus for putting fans in seats. It won't happen overnnight, but it will be an improvement.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Speaking of bowls. For the record, we've lost teams from Syracuse, Morganstown and Pittsburgh which host a grand total of zero bowl games in or near their cities.

We've gained teams from Memphis, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, San Diego and Boise. The first five cities all host bowl games.

Add in USF which is in a city that already hosts a bowl and Uconn/RU's proximity to NYC.

That means the newest BE membership has eight teams in or near cities hosting bowl games. A big bonus for putting fans in seats. It won't happen overnnight, but it will be an improvement.

Syracuse and Pitt are bowl poison too. I have no idea how the new schools will travel. My bigger point is that bowls are getting shaved off and I think may be obsolete in the not too distant future. Making an expansion plan around bowls is like Xerox running their copier business in the 90's in order to sell more ink. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but was fatal in the long-term.

I think TV is the only thing that should have mattered, which leads me to think Temple or UMass would have been much better choices for expansion. I am confident that the Big East will have fair access to any future playoff system, so in a post-bowl world the Big East will actually be on a more even playing field than they are now with WVU, Syracuse and Pitt. TV contracts are what will decide who wins and loses in the future, and the linked article did not focus on TV at all as a factor.