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Message: [QUOTE="atom58, post: 1773779, member: 7262"] Your man Muntz gave an accurate assessment IMO of internet journalism (such as it is) when he wrote "All these reporters are just mouthpieces for their benefactors' agendas." Basically that means they are simply propagandists who will not bite the hand that feeds them. The marked influence of ESPN is also clear from the Big 12 history lesson originally posted by someone else: [URL='http://www.campusrush.com/big-12-conference-oral-history-swc-merger-1974972078.html']The oral history of the birth of the Big 12[/URL] In particular, there is this quote: [I]Chuck Neinas, Big Eight commissioner from 1971–80, executive director of the CFA [/I][now defunct College Football Association][I] from 1980–97: ESPN did not want all the members. They wanted eight from the Big Eight and they'd take four from the Southwest Conference [/I][SWC][I]. Obviously, the two they wanted most were Texas and Texas A&M. I received a call from Loren Matthews, who was a key executive with ESPN with whom I had developed a good relationship. And Loren told me, he said, "Here's my problem. We want the Big Eight, but we don't want all of the Southwest Conference." I said, "Well, just let me make some phone calls, and I'm sure they'll get back to you." So I called DeLoss Dodds at Texas, Donnie Duncan at Oklahoma and Bill Byrne at Nebraska, and the rest is history. [/I] (Originally, the two conferences were talking about a 16 team merger of the old SWC with the Big 8 but ultimately 4 SWC schools were left behind.[I] ) [/I]If I ran the Big 12[I],[/I] I would worry more about survival and less about what ESPN thought[I], [/I]and as long as Texas and OU can keep it running, there will be no huge breakup. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach