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Message: [QUOTE="ctchamps, post: 667275, member: 37"] Regarding business, ND and the BE did exactly what they felt was necessary at the time. ND was in a strong position in football and needed a home for its olympic sports. The BE was new and needed cache. So they made a deal that was mutually beneficial. What many of us are warning our ACC friends about is the combination of purely business attitude and arrogance that ND has towards other entities. There was a loose cultural federation of universities in the BE that was beginning to develop stronger bonds. Had any of a number of things taken place the BE could have reached the level of other conferences. Those included ESPN offering more in the way of $$, the BE bb and football schools resolving their enmity and/or ND offering to go all in the conference. Any of those plays and the BE would not be just a bunch of Catholic schools. There was/is a stronger cultural federation of alliance in the ACC. It was the four North Carolina schools, Virginia, and Maryland. If someone included GT in this cultural mix I wouldn't argue. The remainder of the ACC is not nearly as strongly connected culturally. It is why the Maryland's defection hit the ACC so hard. It struck at the cultural underpinning of the conference. It is why the Maryland alumni are so angry. There is definitely a lot of division amongst the various power brokers in that university who are divided over cultural vs. financial issues. How the future plays out for that University and it relationship to the B!G is uncertain. ND gives an increase financial benefit to the ACC. And it gives the ACC greater exposure nationally. This is offset by the attitude ND has towards everyone else. It wouldn't align itself with universities in it's geographical footprint. It wouldn't align itself with entities that were culturally similar, the Catholic schools. It will never align itself with schools that have a different geographic footprint and religious perspective. ND was not entirely innocent in the BE's demise. The are very capable of playing the business game that benefits them. They astutely evaluated the disharmonies within the BE and they utilized those disharmonies to their advantage. It would be correct to state that the individuals who are making decisions at ND are astute business people. It would also be correct to say that ND is exploitive and is burning a lot of bridges. Entities that are me, myself and I can benefit others but they can be very dangerous if people are unaware of their nature. So ACC be aware of what the B!G already knows! Delaney would offer Buffalo a bid before ND. And those ND alumni that love sports should be aware of the future as well. There could come a time when ND's actions will create a backlash that will relegate the University as a backwater in sports. Personally I think the individuals making decisions at ND either don't believe this or believe that they can always do a mea culpa and cause those animosities to change before the situation for them reaches this point. Maybe they can, but that is an equally dangerous stance as the ACC believing ND will help them relative to the other power conferences. [/QUOTE]

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