Robbins, Thamel and Lucci have all been pretty good in covering this story, and all seem to be within shouting distance of each other in terms of the facts they are reporting. And then there is ESPN.
The problem with all these writers (and each of them has been wrong on more than one occasion) is that they rely on a source that has a dog in the hunt.
Thamel is parroting the Marinatto view. Now, that source is invaluable because it provides an insight into what Marinatto is planning.
For example, just recently on October 7th, Thamel wrote of the Big East President's conf call/meeting that was held that day :
"A
small portion of the conversation Friday revolved around the issue of how much the league’s exit fee should be, a tricky topic as it now has just six universities that play at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, and some of them are contemplating leaving."
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Now contrast that article with the one that Brendan Prunty wrote in the Newark Star Ledger about the same conference call:
http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2011/10/big_east_conference_trying_to.html
"One day after the Big East sustained another loss, the league's presidents huddled once again, on a morning conference call.
While reports late Thursday night speculated that invitations to potential new league members would be discussed — or even handed out — that turned out not to be the case.
According to one person familiar with the topics discussed on the call, the talk was not about expansion, but raising the exit fee to leave the Big East."
Who to believe? Thamel was the one who tweeted that invites might happen at the Friday conference call on Thursday night, October 6th. He was told that by Marinatto or someone in the BE because that's what they wanted to happen. The meeting happens, no invites happens, exit fees become the big stumbling block, so Thamel writes exit fees were a "small portion" of the meeting.
Well, looking back at how events transpired, exit fees have loomed pretty darn large, while Thamel's credibility has been diminished.
