Non-Key Tweets

[Kolumbo]

There is too much uncertainty now and things are going to likely change over the the next several years. The AAC may not be viable long term but things will change and the AAC is the best place to be today in anticipation of those changes. Don't prematurely pull the rug out by leaving the AAC.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So cancel football and give up any chance of getting to a league where that doesn't happen. Your face is going to miss your nose.

Making things up. Not what I said.

 

[Husky25]

Show stoppers can be mitigated by poison pills.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Typical Muntz straw man...

I did not say no conference wants UConn. I said the Big East does not want one-off FBS football schools - with monster budgets by comparison - in their basketball only (on a revenue generating basis) conference.

Try comprehending what others are writing for a change instead of twisting opposing arguments into your false narrative. You seem a relatively intelligent person until you morph into Anne Savoy. "Having a conversation with you is like a Martian talking to a fungo."

I suspect each BE Basketball program is more profitable than all but the Top 3-5 G5 football programs. They are not afraid of anyone.

Fox would have to make the call, but as so many on here point out, Fox is not getting great ratings for the Big East so maybe they would like a 4 time NC winner to juice them. PC, SJU, SHU and Georgetown certainly liked selling out arenas for the Huskies.

 

[CTMike]

GUYS ITS BAD FOR US IF WE STAY IN THE AAC! WE SHOULDNT KEEP DOING THAT!

Thanks for that clarification, Nelson. Nobody is happy to be here and nobody wants to be here a minute longer than absolutely necessary. But every single alternative you propose is as bad or worse. Repeatedly saying we should do something about our situation doesn't make you the smartest man in the room. Of all our options (and they are all very ), the AAC is the least at this time.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Show stoppers can be mitigated by poison pills.

Aresco had a window to take a poison pill and as far as I know it never even came up. NBC put in the dogspit bid, ESPN matched it, and everyone shrugged their shoulders and Aresco said "now pay me $1 million".

The AAC should have dissolved when that happened, because that TV deal is the league's biggest problem, by far.

 

[whaler11]

Making things up. Not what I said.

Yes because you pretend this idiotic independence scheme is something other than ending the football program. It's the exact same thing.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

GUYS ITS BAD FOR US IF WE STAY IN THE AAC! WE SHOULDNT KEEP DOING THAT!

Thanks for that clarification, Nelson. Nobody is happy to be here and nobody wants to be here a minute longer than absolutely necessary. But every single alternative you propose is as bad or worse. Repeatedly saying we should do something about our situation doesn't make you the smartest man in the room. Of all our options (and they are all very ), the AAC is the least at this time.

You are describing inertia. That is a terrible reason to do anything.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yes because you pretend this idiotic independence scheme is something other than ending the football program. It's the exact same thing.

Staying in the AAC = ending the football program. Why do you hate football so much?

 

[Husky25]

I suspect each BE Basketball program is more profitable than all but the Top 3-5 G5 football programs. They are not afraid of anyone.

Fox would have to make the call, but as so many on here point out, Fox is not getting great ratings for the Big East so maybe they would like a 4 time NC winner to juice them. PC, SJU, SHU and Georgetown certainly liked selling out arenas for the Huskies.

You can't even remotely prove this since most school in the Big East are private and do not have to publicize financials. Your speculation is not fact, and I will not be compelled to take it as such on this topic.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You can't even remotely prove this since most school in the Big East are private and do not have to publicize financials. Your speculation is not fact, and I will not be compelled to take it as such on this topic.

It is easy to prove that almost all G5 football programs lose mountains of money.

 

[HistoryMajor]

The right of first refusal is a show stopper for anyone looking at buying the AAC TV rights. It was a stupid clause to have agreed to, and discourages any other network from seriously bidding on the property. Why would NBC or CBS go through the trouble of pricing out the Big East and putting a bid in if ESPN can just take it? I would be surprised if there are any other bidders next time around. ESPN will be able to get the entire league rights for $10MM a year if they want to. The AAC is absolutely crippled by this clause. It is a death sentence by itself, and if Aresco had two brain cells he would dissolve the league solely to avoid this clause.[/QUOTE]

Nelson - right of 1st refusal was indeed a death sentence for the AAC getting a good TV contract. No argument. BUT unless I've missed something, the current TV contract has no such Right of Refusal. Did I miss something?

Regarding staying in AAC vs exiting, no one is arguing AAC is great. The argument is that AAC is the best place for us at this time. In addition to the bowls, etc. , being in AAC maximizes our potential to get into a P5.

Nothing is forever. Your arguments do make sense but I believe your timing is off.

 

[noeynox]

The right of first refusal is a show stopper for anyone looking at buying the AAC TV rights. It was a stupid clause to have agreed to, and discourages any other network from seriously bidding on the property. Why would NBC or CBS go through the trouble of pricing out the Big East and putting a bid in if ESPN can just take it? I would be surprised if there are any other bidders next time around. ESPN will be able to get the entire league rights for $10MM a year if they want to. The AAC is absolutely crippled by this clause. It is a death sentence by itself, and if Aresco had two brain cells he would dissolve the league solely to avoid this clause.

Nelson - right of 1st refusal was indeed a death sentence for the AAC getting a good TV contract. No argument. BUT unless I've missed something, the current TV contract has no such Right of Refusal. Did I miss something?

Regarding staying in AAC vs exiting, no one is arguing AAC is great. The argument is that AAC is the best place for us at this time. In addition to the bowls, etc. , being in AAC maximizes our potential to get into a P5.

Nothing is forever. Your arguments do make sense but I believe your timing is off.[/QUOTE]
The right of first refusal was negotiated by his heroes at the old Big East.

 

[Exit 4]

Do we play Houston and Tulane in hockey? Can you name any non-revenue sports that would be better off in the AAC than the Big East?

The NCAA BB $$$'s are going to shrink rapidly, and we are in year 2 post Big East. The Big East's BB units are going to outpace ours by a lot going forward. We wouldn't realistically leave for another 2 years, so the exit fees are going to be mostly paid out by that point.

Your argument is pinned on the BE taking us back as a full charter member. I don't see that happening. We no longer fit their profile - small Jesuit schools w/o state backing. All but one is affiliated with a church. Even if we begged and denounced football before the Pope himself, the BE would refuse because we no longer are a match for the long run. And politically would it make sense for a state funded flagship university to be bound to a league of where 9 of 10 schools are catholic? Seems like a misfit and no longer befitting of a state funded institution. Once you accept the fact that the BE ship has sailed and that rebuilt BE ship never really had a seat for us, then what? What conf can we park our sports which are not football (to run independent per your plan) and hockey (has a home).

 

[Husky25]

It is easy to prove that almost all G5 football programs lose mountains of money.

You cannot prove that athletic departments at private schools are "profitable" without subsidy.

Un-provable premises are not evidence.

 

[NYUConn]

You cannot prove that athletic departments at private schools are "profitable" without subsidy.

Though he conveniently omits the fact that G5 school UConn did not in fact lose money last year.

So yeah, when UConn becomes FIU then let's talk.

 

[Kolumbo]

We avoided this Bottom 10, but did not escape the waiting list...
http://espn.go.com/college-football...s-scarlet-knights-move-bottom-10-another-loss

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Though he conveniently omits the fact that G5 school UConn did not in fact lose money last year.

So yeah, when UConn becomes FIU then let's talk.

What was UConn's subsidy, and how much of the revenue was exit fees?

40 years ago, Xerox could have creatively destroyed its business and harvested the incredible innovations coming out of its PARC facility, or it could have focused on selling more toner and paper. If it had done the former, today it would have been bigger than Google, Apple and IBM combined. It chose toner and paper. I see a lot of arguments here that are the realignment version of choosing toner and paper.

 

[Fishy]

So what's your plan, sport?

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Did the B1G designate the whole AAC as P5 qualifiers, or just UConn?

How did that AAC do on selection Sunday last March?

You would think it would be easy to understand.

WHAT?

Again, if independence is so great...nevermind man.

 

[NYUConn]

So what's your plan, sport?

Step 1: Leave the AAC.

Step 2: ???

Step 3: POWER CONFERENCE.

Cue the Underpants Gnomes.

 

[Dooley]

So let me get this straight: UConn's football program is showing a pulse for the first time in 3 years (including a substantial uptick in recruiting), the university is continuing to build academic relationships with other top AAU research universities (latest are Yale and Wisconsin), UConn hoops recruiting is back to elite levels, and now, the B1G just announced that we meet their "P5 profile" for scheduling IN FOOTBALL...and we are discussing crushing football and hoops again?!?!

NOBODY WANTS TO STAY IN THE AAC. NOT ME. NOT NELSON. NOT AACMAN. NOT WARDE. NOT DIACO. NOT HERBST. NOBODY. We are not discussing the benefits of staying in the AAC...we are discussing what is best for UConn to get into the P5. Shuffling around our entire athletic department (and paying unnecessary exit fees) when we're building so many relationships with the B1G is not the answer. Moving football Independent and permanently disabling our hoops program and sentencing it to a mid-major conference is not how to build relationships with the B1G.

 

[Kolumbo]

This game started when UCONN made the commitment to go D1.
We are at half-time.
It ain't over till it's over.

 

[Point6]

We avoided this Bottom 10, but did not escape the waiting list...
http://espn.go.com/college-football...s-scarlet-knights-move-bottom-10-another-loss

We are getting some crappy ass press for losing to a top 25 SEC team at their home by only 3 points and being in the game until the last play.

 

[Dooley]

We are getting some crappy ass press for losing to a top 25 SEC team at their home by only 3 points and being in the game until the last play.

Just one cranky Syracuse grad wanting to crack a joke at UConn's expense while he still can. Nothing to see here.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So what's your plan, sport?

1) Get 2-3 more leagues to designate a handful of P5 teams as "P5 Opponents" for the purposes of conference scheduling rules. This effectively gives UConn scheduling preference, and given that we still kind of suck, I imagine Warde's phone was ringing off the hook yesterday with Big 10 teams looking for an easy win that would count towards their P5 scheduling requirement. ACC, SEC and Big 12 are obviously the next targets. I would like 2 of 3.

2) Circle with the other teams that have "scheduling preference", which will likely be Army, Navy, BYU, Cincinnati and Boise, about forming a scheduling alliance or full blown football only conference with a separate TV contract. Throw UMass in there as a warm body. Scheduling alliance can do the same thing.

3) Find basketball homes for the respective teams. BYU, Army and Navy are set. Boise would probably prefer WCC to MWC. UConn and Cincinnati would have to work the Big East. 2 years ago, the Big East was a hard "no", but 2 years of poor ratings and half full arenas may be turning folks around.

Outcome: Better schedule for football and light years better schedule for hoops. More money. Better positioned for future P5 expansion.

Alternative:

1) Stay in AAC. Not so slow death, or UConn loses $100 million over the next 10 years to keep athletic program "P5 caliber" in the hopes that the ACC or Big 10 expands in 2025. How long do you think the state will support that? Fan interest wanes, basketball program withers, after a decade of playing southern mid-majors.

My option may fail, but status quo is certain death.

 

[FDNY99]

So what's your plan, sport?

Fishy his plan is to smoke a LOT more of this stuff!!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This game started when UCONN made the commitment to go D1.
We are at half-time.
It ain't over till it's over.

We are late in the third quarter and we are down 3 TD's. The last round of TV contracts are going to enable 65 programs to pull far ahead of the rest. UConn is already in the hurry up.

 

[Kolumbo]

A

We are late in the third quarter and we are down 3 TD's. The last round of TV contracts are going to enable 65 programs to pull far ahead of the rest. UConn is already in the hurry up.

Agreed, UCONN is in the hurry up, and punting is not an option.

 

[Point6]

What about a fake FG where we pretend to go independent?


respectfully submitted,