Now is the time for Blumenthal to declare war

[nelsonmuntz]

Yeah. Probably not.

The last thing we need now is more enemies. That play should have been made years ago or even last summer.

Reports coming out that McConnell played a big role in getting Louisville into the ACC.

 

[nomar]

When there was true war (see Vietnam) Blumenthal was nowhere to be found. He tried to napalm the ACC when BC left and we're still dealing with the cancerous fallout. Blumenthal needs to stay the **** out of this

If you look up the word "irrelevant" in the dictionary, there is a screen shot of your comment.

 

[8893]

Reports coming out that McConnell played a big role in getting Louisville into the ACC.

It's been widely known that he's been lobbying for them since 'Cuse and Pitt bolted.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It's been widely known that he's been lobbying for them since 'Cuse and Pitt bolted.

So what's your problem with Blumenthal?

 

[whaler11]

To paraphrase Otter in Animal House, and to some degree, "NelsonMuntz is right. Psychotic, but absolutely right."

This isn't about bringing a lawsuit, but I can tell you how I would play it. I would be exploring three things. (And I do say exploring because, based on Aresco's omission of UConn the other day, I am not sure that the STate and University still don't know things that we don't):

1. There is one -- one -- women's athletic program, pro or college, in the entire United States of America that young girls all over the country look at and aspire to. And it is being shut out of the big time for reasons having nothing to do with women's sports and everything to do with football. I would be asking every female U.S. Senator and Congressman, and I would be asking the justice department and white house, how that can possibly be o.k. under Title IX. How Title IX can be limited to funding, but can have no rule over broader actions that universities are taking that are telling female athletes that you don't matter -- you are only around for the ride because you have to be.

2. I would now be looking at if not suing ESPN at least stopping their state subsidies. I doubt they did anything wrong this go round (having been more careful), but we sue them for breach of implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing both in their contract with the Big East and their corporate welfare contract with the State based on last year's round. Just DeFillipo's prior statements get us to a jury on that one.

3. It is time to call antitrust counsel. Antitrust laws are very complex and I am not an expert, but someone here illustrated that since '04 exactly one school that was playing BCS level football has now been pushed out. That would seem from a distance to be such an easy case.

Number 2 is such a land mine though. Obviously ESPN can't leave Bristol without a huge investment - but they can leak jobs to Los Angeles pretty easily. In this climate you can't put it past a state just spending huge dollars to pay them to move the Bristol operations elsewhere.

1 and 3 bang away.

 

[whaler11]

I hope in an anti-trust settlement that UConn does better than the USFL. Unless a legal victory is the goal - I don't think $3 makes much difference.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

The Tax-exempt status of athletic departments is the gamechanger, and one that the Senate actually can influence. That is the biggest hammer Blumenthal can wield, and he can do it from the standpoint of fiscal responsibility.

Agree 100%. Not sure how many allies Blumenthal would be likely to get here though (outside of New England) given that we are basically the only major state university on the outside looking in at this point.

The second is anti-trust. Most sports leagues are anti-competitive, which is why they usually lose anti-trust cases. The BCS generally just throws more money at the have-nots, which is what they would likely do in this case.

Leagues themselves aren't anticompetitive. College football is "an industry in which horizontal restraints on competition are essential if the product is to be available at all." That's not me saying that, it's the Supreme Court (NCAA vs. Board of Regents, 468 U.S. 85).

Professional leagues generally lose cases when the owners get together and agree to limit competition for player salaries. College athletes are amateurs, so throw all those cases out -- they don't apply here. The NCAA lost its landmark antitrust case against Oklahoma for trying to limit the total number of college football games that individual schools could televise. The problem was that the rule restricted the supply of televised games to consumers. Again, that's not what's going on here. There's nothing in the antitrust laws that gives us a right to be in a power conference for football (unfortunately).

 

[normaliswear]

Please PLEASE, for your own good... keep the giant Dick out of things. You'll get a spot. But if you have Dick trying to collapse the free market, again, you'll lose and just make enough enemies to be locked out for good.

 

[ThetaZoo]

are you talking about Rambo or Blumenthal?

 

[normaliswear]

are you talking about Rambo or Blumenthal?

Blumethal... his actions the first time are half the reason you're in this mess.

 

[traitor71]

How about instead of worrying about suing people, blah, blah, blah, we look at the important stuff. How about having some vision and getting out in front to talk up the athletic program? How about not hiring a zombie like Pasqualoni to head the football program? How about not having a basketball coach that is on a one year deal. We can talk about all the good things that have happened with this athletic department, but I defy anyone to tell me that it appears to be headed in the right direction. Now, it may very well be headed in the right direction, but the perception is that it isn't, and that has to hurt when it comes to being considered for any expansion into another league.

 

[epark88]

Simple solution: let Murphy be the point man on all of this. He can start his term off with a bang...

 

[nelsonmuntz]

How about instead of worrying about suing people, blah, blah, blah, we look at the important stuff. How about having some vision and getting out in front to talk up the athletic program? How about not hiring a zombie like Pasqualoni to head the football program? How about not having a basketball coach that is on a one year deal. We can talk about all the good things that have happened with this athletic department, but I defy anyone to tell me that it appears to be headed in the right direction. Now, it may very well be headed in the right direction, but the perception is that it isn't, and that has to hurt when it comes to being considered for any expansion into another league.

Really? No one had thought of any of that, except in the other 200 threads on this board on exactly the same topic. But thanks for setting me straight.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Please PLEASE, for your own good... keep the giant Dick out of things. You'll get a spot. But if you have Dick trying to collapse the free market, again, you'll lose and just make enough enemies to be locked out for good.

I have had enough of BS posts like this. You are saying that you would rather have a Republican Senator help Louisville than a Democratic Senator help UConn. The Right is so insanely partisan that even when it comes to something that is personally important to someone, like say their college athletic team, you would rather see a Republican hurt you than a Democrat help you. You are nuts.

 

[normaliswear]

I have had enough of BS posts like this. You are saying that you would rather have a Republican Senator help Louisville than a Democratic Senator help UConn. The Right is so insanely partisan that even when it comes to something that is personally important to someone, like say their college athletic team, you would rather see a Republican hurt you than a Democrat help you. You are nuts.

No <facepalm>... I would rather you not make yourselves look like hypocritical whiners that nobody will ever want to be associated with in the future by embarking on a suicidal campaign of destroying your own image. UConn will have a seat at the table... so long as you don't have Gov a$$hats from either party run around with gas cans burning the few bridges you have left from the last time Dick stuck his nose into things.

 

[BG79]

Nothing good would come of this, it's way after the fact and would only hurt future invites. Threatening ESPN would only chase them out of the state along with their jobs.

 

[spsct]

I have had enough of BS posts like this. You are saying that you would rather have a Republican Senator help Louisville than a Democratic Senator help UConn. The Right is so insanely partisan that even when it comes to something that is personally important to someone, like say their college athletic team, you would rather see a Republican hurt you than a Democrat help you. You are nuts.

I honestly don't understand where this Republican vs. Democrat stuff comes from; the only person bringing it up is you. I think the point is that Blumenthal (rightly or wrongly) is wearing the black hat for the last lawsuit that pissed a lot of people off. Having him do it again will accomplish nothing. It is non-partisan.

 

[Druken Friar]

Sorry Nelson, I usually agree with your points but not this time. The smart move right now is to silently bury the hatchet with BC and start scheduling them. The ACC is due to be raided by the SEC, B1G and maybe the Big 12 somewhere down the line. When that happens, UConn needs allies not more enemies.

 

[Oxford Bob]

UConn was playing nice because that is what the ACC wanted. Didn't do us a bit of good.

I expect that every poster that doesn't like this idea will feel that way primarily because Blumenthal has a "D" next to his name. More party first, even on something like this. For what its worth, Orrin Hatch was a monster pain in the ass to the BCS prior to Utah's admission to the Pac 12, and it definitely got everyone's attention.

The "D" next to his name is for , many here (myself included) feel we would be in the ACC now if he didn't file the stupid F@#$%^g lawsuit last time. We would have been added last year with Syracuse.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

UConn was playing nice because that is what the ACC wanted. Didn't do us a bit of good.

I expect that every poster that doesn't like this idea will feel that way primarily because Blumenthal has a "D" next to his name. More party first, even on something like this. For what its worth, Orrin Hatch was a monster pain in the ass to the BCS prior to Utah's admission to the Pac 12, and it definitely got everyone's attention.

Couldn't agree more. Orrin Hatch is the model that needs to be followed. And besides if the old relic from Pennsylvania could tie up Congress with steriod issues (who cares if Raphael Palmeiro was juicing?), this is way more important. This touches on Antitrust issues.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Blumenthal should sit down with a senator from a few key states in the next few days and tell her to deliver the following message to the respective BCS commissioners:

1) Either UConn is in the ACC in 3 months, or he will burn college football to the ground.
2) He will get whatever subcommittee chairmanship he need to continue hearings on the anti-competitive BCS.
3) He will badger Obama's anti-trust division to investigate the anti-competitive BCS. This means that criminal penalties attach if there is found to be anti-competitive behavior.
4) He will start an investigation into the tax status of the BCS.

And when some smartass reporter asks Blumenthal if he has something more important to do, Blumenthal can honestly answer "no". Murphy can help him.

There is no reason to play nice any more. There is no reason to "wait for next time", because this was next time and it didn't happen. This is time for extortion and blackmail by our state's most powerful elected officials. Give them 3 months, then burn the entire sport to the ground.

Blumenthal saved the Big East's BCS bid 9 years ago, it is time for him to save UConn today.

I absolutely agree with you on this. Taking this in stride, is based on the same thinking that Paul Pasqualoni needs another year and that fallacy that winning takes care of everything (if that was the case, Boise State would already be in a major conference).

This needs to be pursued if it ends up with college football being destroyed. UConn has done everything needed to have been included at the grown up table. Nevermind taking your ball and going home. . . . . I'm for destroying the playing field and outlawing the sport and anything else that punishes those behind this. Greed, Greed and More Greed. Sportsmanship, a healthy outlet for students, etc . . . all BS.

 

[normaliswear]

Couldn't agree more. Orrin Hatch is the model that needs to be followed. And besides if the old relic from Pennsylvania could tie up Congress with steriod issues (who cares if Raphael Palmeiro was juicing?), this is way more important. This touches on Antitrust issues.

Well I'm sure UConn can produce all the emails and documentation of its efforts over the last 30 years to get UMass, and New Hampshire, and Vermont, and Maine etc etc into the BE when the BE was a power 6 conference. This idea that the Government is going to ride in and force the ACC or B1G or whoever to take UConn is the dumbest concept since Custer said "Ehhh there can't be THAT many Indians up there, we'll be fine." If you want to close down your athletic department and then just sue out of spite, ok sure, enjoy. But if you actually want to have athletics, you'll need someone to agree to play with you. Not only will you burn conference bridges, you'll torch the idea of any power conference team ever playing you OOC in any sport ever as you and Dick would be trying to kill off ALL of their golden geese. Have the patience and intelligence enough to recognize that so long as the ACC survives, and there are 5 solid tables at which to have a seat, UConn will eventually have a seat at one of them. UNLESS, they do something stupid like call up the giant Dick and have him break out his bridge burning gas can... again.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Well I'm sure UConn can produce all the emails and documentation of its efforts over the last 30 years to get UMass, and New Hampshire, and Vermont, and Maine etc etc into the BE when the BE was a power 6 conference. This idea that the Government is going to ride in and force the ACC or B1G or whoever to take UConn is the dumbest concept since Custer said "Ehhh there can't be THAT many Indians up there, we'll be fine." If you want to close down your athletic department and then just sue out of spite, ok sure, enjoy. But if you actually want to have athletics, you'll need someone to agree to play with you. Not only will you burn conference bridges, you'll torch the idea of any power conference team ever playing you OOC in any sport ever as you and Dick would be trying to kill off ALL of their golden geese. Have the patience and intelligence enough to recognize that so long as the ACC survives, and there are 5 solid tables at which to have a seat, UConn will eventually have a seat at one of them. UNLESS, they do something stupid like call up the giant Dick and have him break out his bridge burning gas can... again.

Umass (until this season), UNH, Vermont and Maine never took steps to upgrade to D1. Never invested, never were part of a major conference.

 

[normaliswear]

"This needs to be pursued if it ends up with college football being destroyed. Nevermind taking your ball and going home. . . . . I'm for destroying the playing field and outlawing the sport and anything else that punishes those behind this."
Geee no irrational bitterness here. Screw doing whats good for UConn, lets just Destroy those who have annoyed me for the moment, even if it destroys all UConn athletics along with it YAY!!! And I'm sure the power brokers and Senators from ALL the other states with schools you want to take down will join in your noble efforts to shoot everyone in the collective head. Sure its not only something that means a lot to all their voters, but would mean destroying a multi-billion dollar industry during a near depression. But I'm sure they'll all decide UConn was wronged and fall on their swords willingly ensuring no backlash results for UConn or the state whatsover.


"UConn has done everything needed to have been included at the grown up table."
Again, so long as UConn can produce all the evidence of its continued effort over the decades to include all the non-BCS schools at the power 6 table during the BE hayday it wont appear to be a hypocritical whine-athon. On the off chance they can't show that though, it may get looked at as a tantrum from people you don't ever want to be associated with and turn the perseption around the country of UConn from a deserving program who should be next in line to a bunch of Dicks thats more trouble than their worth.

 

[normaliswear]

Umass (until this season), UNH, Vermont and Maine never took steps to upgrade to D1. Never invested, never were part of a major conference.

Ahh ok... so I'm sure UConn fought HARD to get Temple back into a power conference all these years. And there must be stacks of documentation of UConn's battle to restablish SMU and Houston as power players. And with all the effort Memphis and East Carolina have made over the years I'm positive UConn was their shining champion crying "All those who wish a seat of power MUST be given one!" to all who would listen. Right? In fact I'm sure if I go back to all your old posts here, you yourself have sworn over and over that not only UConn, but all your new BE bretheren who also want seats at the table must ALL be taken as well or out of solidarity UConn MUST turn any B1G or ACC offer down! Right?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Normal is trolling, so this is my last response:

I don't care if college football doesn't exist anymore in 5 years unless UConn has an opportunity to compete at the highest level. If the BCS says UConn is on the outside, tough luck, than I say burn the whole sport to the ground.

 

[normaliswear]

Normal is trolling, so this is my last response:

I don't care if college football doesn't exist anymore in 5 years unless UConn has an opportunity to compete at the highest level. If the BCS says UConn is on the outside, tough luck, than I say burn the whole sport to the ground.

Right... you want to destroy your school's athletics and a large chunk of your state's economy in a futile attempt to take down all college athletics instead of just waiting for your seat at the table... and I'm trolling. lol. I guess if a restraunt gets your order wrong instead of sending it back you just burn the place down, with yourself still inside.

 

[ZooCougar]

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

 

[ASweet3781]

Where are all these fine CT politicians the last 48 hours? Malloy too busy stuttering? Blumenthal too busy looking in the mirror? Lieberman looking to start another middle east war before he retires?

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Normal is trolling, so this is my last response:

I don't care if college football doesn't exist anymore in 5 years unless UConn has an opportunity to compete at the highest level. If the BCS says UConn is on the outside, tough luck, than I say burn the whole sport to the ground.

Agreed. UConn should never have been put in this place. This exclusionary practice needs to be imploded.