New BE TV Deal Expected to Top $2B

[WestCoastHusky]

Man it amazes me how few people understand that we are selling time around which a network can wrap commercials in markets in which their are a lot people. That has value. Man you nattering nabobs of negativity are just going to keep pissing in the Cheerios. Lighten up. The mere fact that they were there is good news in times that good news is tough to come by. Amazing, simply f ing amazing.

ND wants to leave, fine, I've always hated them. Louisville wants to take it's leg dribble on the road (which incidently I don't think will happen - too many better choices if the **** is really hitting the fan), feel free. In the end we'll be fine, maybe not positioned for 4 team playoff in the near future, but no one thought that was a possibility anyway.

Just chill. What will be will be.

I think our choices are fairly clear. We should make our choices only after we know what the value of the new BE TV deal will be like. If it is set up like the PAC-12 and the B12, there is value since we can get more money off our tier-3 rights. If it is like the ACC deal, we should leave at first sign.

We definitely should not jump to the ACC especially if FSU and Clemson both bail. With those 2 gone, you know every other school will be looking at the exit just like the old BE. We would just be jumping from one frying pan to another.

This BE national conference for FB has potential. It can develop into a great thing once given some time. There could be some great TV match ups that can translate into major $$$$$$.

Of course, if B1G comes calling, we will be gone in an instant.

 

[CL82]

With all respect, we are so duck*ing far from fine that it's not even worth putting "us" and "fine" in the same paragraph. There's nothing fine here and there's no good news - a conference meeting, some forced smiles and a throw-away line in a puff piece article does not constitute fine.

Unless there's some soft landing out there that has yet to materialize, we're going to be marginalized in a big, bad way - not just in terms of a four team playoff, but in access to decent bowls, prominent media coverage and despite silly fantasies to the contrary, revenue. We're not raising the UCFs and San Diego States of the world up to our perceived level, we're falling to theirs. Big Monday is not in our future.

There's a reason UConn, Louisville, Cincy and Rutgers have not stopped reaching out to other conferences. It's because they don't speak Spackler, they tend to deal in reality and they know that 'in the end' we won't be fine unless we're somewhere else. They don't want to end up pissing in a bowl of store-brand Oat-eeos because they couldn't afford Cheerios anymore.

So every whisper of bad news is gospel and positive statement of value is worth shit? I'm not ready to go that route just yet. Seriously Fishy quit breaking the meds in half. It just isn't getting the job done. For me, at least, I'm going to trust that Herbst and Manuel are doing what can be done. If we are stuck in a POS conference whose sole value is a ton of product spread over a lot of time zones, I can live with it. We're still in better shape than if we hadn't upgraded. If we can't find a better home, then we play ball, get better and build a history. This university has beaten odds time and time again. No doubt about this is the biggest hill we've tried to climb but we'll get it done. I'm tired of the pissing and moaning. I'm tired of shooting down every positive piece of news. What ever happens, happens and we'll deal with it. I've watched too much crappy football in Memorial stadium not realize how far we've come. We've done well for the relitively short time we've be FCS and we've only just begun. Man conference realignment has turned college football fans into a bunch of neurotic whining . Everyone needs to man up, grow a sack and root for their team. Let's just keep getting better and let the rest of the bullshit sort itself out.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

So every whisper of bad news is gospel and positive statement of value is worth ****? I'm not ready to go that route just yet. Seriously Fishy quit breaking the meds in half. It just isn't getting the job done. For me, at least, I'm going to trust that Herbst and Manuel are doing what can be done. If we are stuck in POS conference whose sole value is a ton of product spread over a lot of time zones, I can live with it. We're still in better shape than if we hadn't upgraded. If we can't find a better home, then we play ball, get better and build a history. This university has beaten odds time and time again. No doubt about this is the biggest hill we've tried to climb but we'll get it done. I'm tired of the pissing and moaning. I'm tired of shooting down every positive piece of news. What ever happens, happens and we'll deal with it. I've watched too much crappy football in Memorial stadium not realize how far we've come. We've done well for the relitively short time we've be FCS and we've only just begun. Man conference realignment has turned college football fans into a bunch of neurotic whining . Everyone needs to man up, grow a sack and root for their team. Let's just keep getting better and let the rest of the bull**** sort itself out.

Good post. It is one thing to be negative, but it is ridiculous to put down every piece of possible good news to ts even when it came from reasonable sources.

One thing is clear for UCONN is that we got to grow our FB program. We need to expand the Rent to 55K and pack that stadium. Our basketball is strong, but what's creating this realignment frenzy is football. Our new conference mates already got plans. Boise is expanding their stadium to 55k, Houston is building a brand new stadium, UL just expanded their place to 55K and RU expanded theirs to 50K+. UCONN needs to expand our stadium to over 50K ASAP.

 

[RS9999X]

. I've watched too much crappy football in Memorial stadium not realize how far we've come. We've done well for the relitively short time we've be FCS and we've only just begun. Man conference realignment has turned college football fans into a bunch of neurotic whining . .

The last time teams left we benefited. Our young program was given some space to breathe. One thing I know about CT--they like a winner. A 9-game BE season? Rutgers, Temple, USF, Cincy, Navy, and Lousville every year? .

So the schedule looks something like this in 2015-20?

Maine
@Tennessee
UCF
@BC
Houston
Boise
@Rutgers
Temple
USF
@Cincy
Navy
@Louisville

 

[Adios]

False. I think Memphis, San Diego State, Temple, SMU, UCF are .

I guess you don't know all those schools except UCF won a national title, made it to a national title game or produced Hall of Famers. Yes, they all have less athletic tradition than USF. What kind of hallucinogenics to you take?

 

[Fishy]

So every whisper of bad news is gospel and positive statement of value is worth ****? I'm not ready to go that route just yet. Seriously Fishy quit breaking the meds in half. It just isn't getting the job done. For me, at least, I'm going to trust that Herbst and Manuel are doing what can be done. If we are stuck in a POS conference whose sole value is a ton of product spread over a lot of time zones, I can live with it. We're still in better shape than if we hadn't upgraded. If we can't find a better home, then we play ball, get better and build a history. This university has beaten odds time and time again. No doubt about this is the biggest hill we've tried to climb but we'll get it done. I'm tired of the pissing and moaning. I'm tired of shooting down every positive piece of news. What ever happens, happens and we'll deal with it. I've watched too much crappy football in Memorial stadium not realize how far we've come. We've done well for the relitively short time we've be FCS and we've only just begun. Man conference realignment has turned college football fans into a bunch of neurotic whining . Everyone needs to man up, grow a sack and root for their team. Let's just keep getting better and let the rest of the bull**** sort itself out.

"Let's just keep getting better"? WTF

First, this isn't a pep talk at your sorority and it has nothing to do with rooting for UConn. Why not just tell us to take lemons and make lemonade?

Second, there've been no 'statements of value" - some reporter scribbling a notebook-style article for a south Florida paper flips the $2B figure out there and people grabbed hold of it like the last piece of driftwood after a shipwreck. There's spin in Florida, not news - I assure you that UConn and Louisville were not 'all smiles' walking out of the room today. That's a room full of people who either want to be somewhere else or who are worried that those people will have the opportunity to go somewhere else.

Odds are that this conference will break apart in five to fifteen years. We'll either lose certain members which causes the hoopies and the newbies to realize what we already know - that they have no reason to be together. Or, after being marginalized, we'll all contract into smaller, regional conferences - as Nelson says, the Yankee Conference, but with a little more shine.

The best thing for UConn - which I want - is that the jigsaw pieces come together in such a way that we're not here when it all goes fatally sideways. If that dumps too much sand into your undies, click the ignore button and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I guess you don't know all those schools except UCF won a national title, made it to a national title game or produced Hall of Famers. Yes, they all have less athletic tradition than USF. What kind of hallucinogenics to you take?

I never said USF has more tradition than Memphis basketball for christ sake.

I just said its proposterous to me that people would rather play these community colleges that sucks, flat out suck than our traditional Northeast rivals.

 

[The Funster]

I just want UConn to land in a spot that helps maintain relevancy. I don't care how it happens. I don't care what bodies we have to step over. I don't even care if we have to litigate ourselves into a seat at the table.

 

[CL82]

"Let's just keep getting better"? WTF

First, this isn't a pep talk at your sorority and it has nothing to do with rooting for UConn. Why not just tell us to take lemons and make lemonade?

Second, there've been no 'statements of value" - some reporter scribbling a notebook-style article for a south Florida paper flips the $2B figure out there and people grabbed hold of it like the last piece of driftwood after a shipwreck. There's spin in Florida, not news - I assure you that UConn and Louisville were not 'all smiles' walking out of the room today. That's a room full of people who either want to be somewhere else or who are worried that those people will have the opportunity to go somewhere else.

Odds are that this conference will break apart in five to fifteen years. We'll either lose certain members which causes the hoopies and the newbies to realize what we already know - that they have no reason to be together. Or, after being marginalized, we'll all contract into smaller, regional conferences - as Nelson says, the Yankee Conference, but with a little more shine.

The best thing for UConn - which I want - is that the jigsaw pieces come together in such a way that we're not here when it all goes fatally sideways. If that dumps too much sand into your undies, click the ignore button and you won't have to worry about it.

I get it. UConn has gotten more, way more than its share of bad new lately. The NCAA is looking to sanction the hoops program if a coach walks away from a urinal without flushing. Realignment has been brutal to follow and our program has been on the short end of the stick too often with the changes in conference affiliation. It's been tough but that doesn't mean that you've got crap all over every piece of good news. No one believes that that the statements coming out of day #1 of the winter meetings mean that Big East has become a power conference. But the fact that reps of two networks were there is positive. The fact there was talk as to decent numbers was positive. Why not accept that? There's enough bad news around the program. We don't need to manufacture it. There's been little enough good news. We don't need to minimize them. That's the point.

Thanks for the tip at the end of your post. Here's one for you. If you don't want anyone to comment on your opinion, don't post it on a message board. Just mumble it to yourself, kick your dog and be done with it. I wouldn't suggest sharing it with your wife as she's probably fed up with it as well.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Market, market, market. That is the defining factor of success and failure in most businesses. Being really smart and having a good product is helpful, but the biggest determinant of success in most businesses is dynamics of the market the business is addressing. That is true in spades in college athletics.

If the market was shrinking, the ACC would have been sitting pretty with their long term deal they locked in years ago. The Big East would have been more screwed than it already is, and the Big 12 would no longer exist. But the media rights market isn't shrinking, it's growing. And any conference with product to sell is looking pretty good right now.

The biggest failure of most business people is to drive the business through the read view mirror. Xerox should be the largest market cap company in the world today, but its leadership developed, then gave away, virtually every major IT innovation between 1970 and 1985, while Xerox focused on selling toner and paper.

There is a lot of "toner and paper" thinking on this board. Syracuse is an afterthought who hasn't been good since today's recruits were 5-6 years old. Dan Marino's eligibility was used up a long time ago. Schools like Boise and SDSU are the future, in the fastest growing part of the market with weak incumbents in the Pac 12 who seem more focused on cashing checks than on putting quality product on the field and court.

Would I like to be in a regional conference or division with Pitt and Syracuse? Of course, but not at the expense of signing a bad deal with ESPN (which may be negotiated down if FSU leaves) with a league where the rest of the schools are clogging up the exits.

 

[mattp]

It's laughable that the Big East would leak this. If the ACC knows that the NBE will get paid, all the more reason to destroy it. Very odd how the Big East has diarrhea of the mouth over and over.

the last time we were crowing about the big deal we were going to get Cuse and Pitt defected.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

the last time we were crowing about the big deal we were going to get Cuse and Pitt defected.

On the other hand, the league has to hold a carrot out to its fans and even the other schools to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope no Big East team is stupid enough to leave for an ACC that could lose half its members without a) getting some binding commitment from whoever is left in the ACC that they will actually stay, and b) knowing where ESPN will settle on the contract. The $17MM/school deal has not been signed, and ESPN probably won't sign it without a GOR. The ESPN could revert back to $13MM a school if there are departures, and the ACC couldn't do a thing about it.

 

[junglehusky]

Do people really believe UCF, Memphis, Houston, SMU and SDSU will be crappy forever?

Not forever, no. But how long can we (UConn) afford to wait to find out? 10 years? 30 years?

 

[junglehusky]

On the other hand, the league has to hold a carrot out to its fans and even the other schools to show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope no Big East team is stupid enough to leave for an ACC that could lose half its members without a) getting some binding commitment from whoever is left in the ACC that they will actually stay, and b) knowing where ESPN will settle on the contract. The $17MM/school deal has not been signed, and ESPN probably won't sign it without a GOR. The ESPN could revert back to $13MM a school if there are departures, and the ACC couldn't do a thing about it.

Can't say I disagree with any of that.

Earlier in this thread or another one, there was a guess as to the breakdown of the BE deal - I can't find it at the moment but it was $6 million for the bball schools and (if I read it correctly) $12 million per football school. I have to say it doesn't sound impressive one way or the other, at least to me.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Can't say I disagree with any of that.

Earlier in this thread or another one, there was a guess as to the breakdown of the BE deal - I can't find it at the moment but it was $6 million for the bball schools and (if I read it correctly) $12 million per football school. I have to say it doesn't sound impressive one way or the other, at least to me.

if the split is equal among football and basketball teams then the football schools need to walk. there is no reason to subsidize them any further; they should get market value for their product (football schools getting 3 shares and bball only 1 - or something comparable). Providence bball does not equal louisville football...hell georgetown bball does not equal usf football.

 

[Pudge]

whats our athletic tradition? we are a rising stud in college sports. don't hate on other schools that are a couple years behind us. they all have the same dreams as us. those rpivate schools are living on the paychecks being earned by public schools in there league. they are living in the past. they are the occupy wall st ppl. they want $$ but won't work for it.

Ha ... this is as confused as I get.

The Private Schools = the Occupy Wall Street?

WTF? I continue to think the Tea Party & the OWS are country cousins. Screaming about nearly the same Ol stuff. Meanwhile, the WALL STREET I know & teach about are the clowns who put together Trillions of Mortgage Backed Securities (Commercial & Residential ... then securitized virtually anything else that had CF) have skated SCOTT-FREE. I don't get how we can get outraged by the OWS on one hand ... or have the bumper sticker against the Tea Party; then, just not focus on true fraud. Securitizing CDOs when you know you have a crap asset is wrong; then, the Rating Agencies slapped on an Investment Grade.

Back to Football ...

FOR all the Whaler fans, let's remember 6 months of comments. We (the BE) are going to get a big contract: Fluke of timing. Maybe more value than BE is worth; ACC will be undervalued at that point having signed up too early. Where do I want my Huskies? I kinda like playing the Traditional Catholics in hoop; being amongst the up&coming Boise/Houston/USF. I despise John Swofford & Chuck Neinas. And, I don't think we have seen anywhere near what this whole spinning Conference Realignment can go. Does the SEC/B12 understand their effect on Title IX? On massive dollars being swayed. That the Iowa States & Kansas get rewarded & valuable eyeballs get left out (umm ... Notre Dame). Stay tuned.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

One thing is clear for UCONN is that we got to grow our FB program. We need to expand the Rent to 55K and pack that stadium. Our basketball is strong, but what's creating this realignment frenzy is football. Our new conference mates already got plans. Boise is expanding their stadium to 55k, Houston is building a brand new stadium, UL just expanded their place to 55K and RU expanded theirs to 50K+. UCONN needs to expand our stadium to over 50K ASAP.

THERE IS NO DEMAND

 

[Pudge]

THERE IS NO DEMAND

WRONG

See in Capital Markets (and as it relates to our Football Stadium), there are unique circumstances that you need to exploit when that window is open. That window was 2003-2008. Rutgers, with a horrendous capital structure (led by Mulcahy & Pernetti & McCormick), understood that. Hathaway (and whatever President he was talking to) never quite got the full picture. WE have in Rentschler a Public Authority structure that allows us to expand when we have Cash Flow. Clearly, we have OVERproduced Cash Flow from the models done when the Stadium was initially conceived. We easily (far more easily than Rutgers OR probably Louisville) could have done the 10-15,000 seats. We still can. Demand? We were at 36-38,000 (about 94% of capacity) through most of this period ... with tty marketing.

It'd be harder now. Far more of an uphill lift. PR. But, to be in the Big Leagues, we do need to be at 50,000+ IMO.

 

[CL82]

WRONG

See in Capital Markets (and as it relates to our Football Stadium), there are unique circumstances that you need to exploit when that window is open. That window was 2003-2008. Rutgers, with a horrendous capital structure (led by Mulcahy & Pernetti & McCormick), understood that. Hathaway (and whatever President he was talking to) never quite got the full picture. WE have in Rentschler a Public Authority structure that allows us to expand when we have Cash Flow. Clearly, we have OVERproduced Cash Flow from the models done when the Stadium was initially conceived. We easily (far more easily than Rutgers OR probably Louisville) could have done the 10-15,000 seats. We still can. Demand? We were at 36-38,000 (about 94% of capacity) through most of this period ... with tty marketing.

It'd be harder now. Far more of an uphill lift. PR. But, to be in the Big Leagues, we do need to be at 50,000+ IMO.

Too many other athletic upgrades (like baseball and soccer and of course the BB practice facility) ahead of it. It's not going to happen in the near term. UConn has ignored it athletic facilities for too long. There's too much to do. Football has gotten a lot of capital thrown it's way with the Rent, Shenkman and Burton facilites. It will be a while before the university turns its attention back to it.

By the way, I fully understand that football is likely to provide the best ROI for capital improvements. I just think that other areas have been so neglected that the university's attention will be directed toward them for a while. Herbst has a vision of what she wants UConn to be. She understands what first class athletic facilities look like. She'll get back to the Rent but, absent a white knight coming in to foot the bill (or a waiting list for season ticket holders), it's not going to happen for a while.

 

[Jericho]

Not really. If they wanted that, they could have signed with the ACC prior to the current ESPN contract. Also, why would joining a conference with OU and Texas excite them if they might only play one of them per year in a cross-over game? Maybe a Conf. championship? You have to understand that in order to do that, ND throws away most of the following scheduled games (from this coming season):

Navy / Purdue / Michigan State / Michigan / Miami / Stanford / BYU / Oklahoma / Pitt / BC / Wake Forest / USC

The teams in bold are teams that ND will NEVER throw away. NEVER. I cannot be more clear about that. You might laugh about the Navy game being a must-have, but there is a history there. As the story goes, Navy essentially saved ND when they couldn't pay their bills by making it a Navy training facility. From that point on, ND said they would ALWAYS schedule them, even after winning like 30 in a row or whatever it was. The other games in bold are must-have rivalries, including BCU, the fellow Jesuit college.

There are what I would consider somewhat serious talks of the Michigan series ending or at the very least going on hiatus (which is in the current contract). The problems are coming from Michigan, which does not want to schedule away out of conference games given the new Big 10 schedules. And this was before the deal with the Pac 12 kicks in where they may have yet another away game against a Pac 12 opponent. Michigan wants some patsies on their schedule and ones that will come to Ann Arbour to lose. Notre Dame does not fit this definition.

We'll see how it plays out, but I don't think Michigan or MSU are locks. Only USC and Navy are real locks, IMO.

 

[Jericho]

With all respect, we are so duck*ing far from fine that it's not even worth putting "us" and "fine" in the same paragraph. There's nothing fine here and there's no good news - a conference meeting, some forced smiles and a throw-away line in a puff piece article does not constitute fine.

Unless there's some soft landing out there that has yet to materialize, we're going to be marginalized in a big, bad way - not just in terms of a four team playoff, but in access to decent bowls, prominent media coverage and despite silly fantasies to the contrary, revenue. We're not raising the UCFs and San Diego States of the world up to our perceived level, we're falling to theirs. Big Monday is not in our future.

There's a reason UConn, Louisville, Cincy and Rutgers have not stopped reaching out to other conferences. It's because they don't speak Spackler, they tend to deal in reality and they know that 'in the end' we won't be fine unless we're somewhere else. They don't want to end up pissing in a bowl of store-brand Oat-eeos because they couldn't afford Cheerios anymore.

I must say I love this post. A touch of comedy too. Plus. I like the generation progression of posts (on this and many other topics): 1) general vague rumor surfaces; 2) positive spin on how this helps UConn (generally by the same people); 3) counter-post on how UConn is still stuck riding the short bus; 4) Complaints about post #3 and how it's not cheery and sunny and drinking the UConn is okay Kool-Aid. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

 

[Carl Spackler]

WRONG

See in Capital Markets (and as it relates to our Football Stadium), there are unique circumstances that you need to exploit when that window is open. That window was 2003-2008. Rutgers, with a horrendous capital structure (led by Mulcahy & Pernetti & McCormick), understood that. Hathaway (and whatever President he was talking to) never quite got the full picture. WE have in Rentschler a Public Authority structure that allows us to expand when we have Cash Flow. Clearly, we have OVERproduced Cash Flow from the models done when the Stadium was initially conceived. We easily (far more easily than Rutgers OR probably Louisville) could have done the 10-15,000 seats. We still can. Demand? We were at 36-38,000 (about 94% of capacity) through most of this period ... with tty marketing.

It'd be harder now. Far more of an uphill lift. PR. But, to be in the Big Leagues, we do need to be at 50,000+ IMO.

50,000 makes UConn the largest division 1-A football stadium east of the Hudson River. It most definitely is a project that needs to be addressed, and I'm guessing now, but my opinion is that getting the expansion done, is going to be significantly less in cost than the basketball facility, or what it would take to upgrade the hockey facility on campus to hockey east standards, as I don't believe that facility, which is essentially brand new too, was built with any foresight into increasing seating capacity.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

50,000 makes UConn the largest division 1-A football stadium east of the Hudson River. It most definitely is a project that needs to be addressed, and I'm guessing now, but my opinion is that getting the expansion done, is going to be significantly less in cost than the basketball facility, or what it would take to upgrade the hockey facility on campus to hockey east standards, as I don't believe that facility, which is essentially brand new too, was built with any foresight into increasing seating capacity.

Incorrect, UMass plays at Gillette. And being the largest stadium east if the hudson is absolutely nothing to crow about.

 

[whaler11]

Incorrect, UMass plays at Gillette. And being the largest stadium east if the hudson is absolutely nothing to crow about.

Thank you.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Incorrect, UMass plays at Gillette. And being the largest stadium east if the hudson is absolutely nothing to crow about.

UMass has zero intention to continue to play at Gillette, and if you think that when you walk a recruit out onto the field, and say -" this is the largest college football stadium in New England" - it's not a big deal....well then you must be a boston university sports fan.

 

[CTMike]

Yale Bowl?

 

[Carl Spackler]

Yale Bowl?

not division 1-A.

 

[coachcap]

not division 1-A.

Really should be. They, Harvard, Princeton, & Penn can all afford it.

 

[UConnDan97]

There are what I would consider somewhat serious talks of the Michigan series ending or at the very least going on hiatus (which is in the current contract). The problems are coming from Michigan, which does not want to schedule away out of conference games given the new Big 10 schedules. And this was before the deal with the Pac 12 kicks in where they may have yet another away game against a Pac 12 opponent. Michigan wants some patsies on their schedule and ones that will come to Ann Arbour to lose. Notre Dame does not fit this definition.

We'll see how it plays out, but I don't think Michigan or MSU are locks. Only USC and Navy are real locks, IMO.

If it is coming from the Michigan / Big10 side of things, then so be it. I will still believe it when I see it. But I would be absolutely shocked if it was dropped from the ND side of things.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

UMass has zero intention to continue to play at Gillette, and if you think that when you walk a recruit out onto the field, and say -" this is the largest college football stadium in New England" - it's not a big deal....well then you must be a boston university sports fan.

It has absolutely nothing to do with BU, especially since I've been a UConn fan my whole life so your potshot attempt missed worse than Randy Edsall's attempt at pin the tail on the dream job, and everything to do with that being the biggest of three stadiums in a narrowly defined region, out of ~120 total across the country, once again, is absolutely nothing to crow about. These are totally irrelevant points and serve nothing more than to advance this complex some people have on here with BC. If we have the biggest stadium in BCS conference X, that's something to be proud of, if we have the biggest stadium on the east coast, that's also something to be proud of. Being the biggest stadium among UMass and BC is like being the car with the best paint job at the junk yard. I am extremely glad you're not the one recruiting for this program, because you'd get laughed out of a recruits living room if you tried to pump your chest about having the biggest stadium in the most irrelevant part of the nation with respect to college football, and where there are only TWO other competitors for that title! And the biggest overall stadium is an FCS school! How can you not see how utterly absurd your statement is?