Tranghese talks UCONN, ACC and Boston College

[brasssbonanzaa]

So you think it will be harder to grow hockey than it was football or basketball at UConn? C'mon.

yes. bc is far and away the best program in the country over the last 10-12 years, bar none, and one of the top five of all time. uconn is one of the four or five worst. surpassing bc's hockey program is decades away at the least, if ever.

 

[mattp]

yes. bc is far and away the best program in the country over the last 10-12 years, bar none, and one of the top five of all time. uconn is one of the four or five worst. surpassing bc's hockey program is decades away at the least, if ever.

you're likely correct, but you never know. it's always possible their hockey could implode like the rest of their sports; never underestimate Gene's incompetence. i think it's telling that their most successful and popular athletic endeavor is in a regional conference

 

[SAMCRO]

BC hockey fans' worst nightmare is Gene finding out we have a hockey program.

I literally just laughed out loud. Good stuff.

 

[freescooter]

BC hockey fans' worst nightmare is Gene finding out we have a hockey program.

To put it in perspective, since the turn of the millenium, BC has won more HE championships than everyone else in the conf combined and there's a 50/50 shot BC will be in the National Title game.

If you want to see a BC fan go into full panic mode, tell him you just saw Gene at a a learn to skate program at Hockeytown over on Route 1.

 

[freescooter]

BC has probably the best hockey coach in the country right now, too but he is getting close to retirement, I'd guess he's 67-68ish. Just as UConn fans worry about who will replace Calhoun, BC fans have to be nervous about who replaces Jerry York. Especially if Gene is the one who picks the replacement...I also think it might not be unheard of for a post-York BC program to take a few steps back. And if Gene is doing the picking he might just bring back Steve Cedorchuck...

 

[Dann]

if i ever saw gene i would buy his fine ass lunch

 

[freescooter]

York shows no sign of slowing down, despite his age (just look at his record as he's gotten older). My guess is he's still 5+ years away from it but no one really knows whenever it's brought up he talks about how much he loves going to the rink every morning, etc .

His replacement is already behind the bench with him and has been for a decade+ which is huge.

But don't worry BC hockey fans have been hating Gene long before you guys did -he got booed at the hockey parade this past April.

While I get that you expect that his assistant will replace him, that only works on occasion. I don't expect him to retire soon either, but as he gets closer to 70 it becomes more and more problematic. And I don't care who replaces him, Jerry York is one of the best coaches of all time. Assuming his successor will also be one of the best coaches of all times too is a bit over enthusiastic...

 

[observer]

'You reap what you sow'

BC and other schools in the ACC still want no part of UConn as a member because of the lawsuit. Yes, Pitt joined in the lawsuit but the ACC perception is that the lawsuit was a UConn production and people generally do not want to do business with people who have sued them previously.

Now not to say that the other ACC schools would not have exerted their influence and tried to get the schools that oppose UConn to accept them as a member if UConn had been a better choice based on TV markets, etc. but that was not the case. Conferences add the most attractive teams first and the ACC did so in adding Miami, BC, VT, Syracuse and Pitt and the Big12 took TCU and WVU from the BE.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

'
BC and other schools in the ACC still want no part of UConn as a member because of the lawsuit.

K and Roy's public comments after SU and Pitt were added very much make this point quite untrue. Unless they were talking about some other "east coast school with a rich and strong basketball tradition" as member 15/16. Perhaps they were lobbying for Central.

 

[CL82]

if i ever saw gene i would buy his fine ass lunch

funny, disturbing but funny

 

[uconnbaseball]

When/if UConn gets into a major conference, Observer will disappear.

To be fair, we have a number of excellent BC posters here. We also have to put up with CTeagle and obsverer.

 

[Husky68]

'You reap what you sow'

BC and other schools in the ACC still want no part of UConn as a member because of the lawsuit. Yes, Pitt joined in the lawsuit but the ACC perception is that the lawsuit was a UConn production and people generally do not want to do business with people who have sued them previously.

Now not to say that the other ACC schools would not have exerted their influence and tried to get the schools that oppose UConn to accept them as a member if UConn had been a better choice based on TV markets, etc. but that was not the case. Conferences add the most attractive teams first and the ACC did so in adding Miami, BC, VT, Syracuse and Pitt and the Big12 took TCU and WVU from the BE.

BCU attractive?

 

[The Funster]

'You reap what you sow'

BC and other schools in the ACC still want no part of UConn as a member because of the lawsuit. Yes, Pitt joined in the lawsuit but the ACC perception is that the lawsuit was a UConn production and people generally do not want to do business with people who have sued them previously.

Now not to say that the other ACC schools would not have exerted their influence and tried to get the schools that oppose UConn to accept them as a member if UConn had been a better choice based on TV markets, etc. but that was not the case. Conferences add the most attractive teams first and the ACC did so in adding Miami, BC, VT, Syracuse and Pitt and the Big12 took TCU and WVU from the BE.

OMG, just go away. You have no clue what you are talking about and the school you root for has slid into the crapper. Please, take your bleating someplace else. You add nothing to the conversation and if you're just trying to troll, you're failing at that as well.

 

[Penfield]

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Blargh, that's from the Beanpot final day this past year.

 

[TRest]

Photoshopped or realz?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

funny, when i saw the first one, i wondered how long it'd take you to post this. i would've done it at work but they block collegehumor there.

trest - for realz, was done by a few northeastern kids.

 

[UConn9604]

BC and other schools in the ACC still want no part of UConn as a member because of the lawsuit.

Just wondering -- what makes you think that you have the capacity to speak for other schools in the ACC? You're only attractive to Donna Shalala (which speaks volumes). If they could have taken Miami without you, they would have done it. (Oh, wait. They did: http://www.bceagles.com/genrel/063003aaa.html)

Anyway, I think Mike Krzyzewski has certainly earned the right to speak for others -- and which schools do you think he's referring to in this passage, anyway?

If the two schools are to join the ACC, Krzyzewski doesn't want the conference to stop at 14 teams. He said he'd like to see 16 teams, taking two more schools that have comparable rich basketball traditions and are in the Eastern time zone.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...-pittsburgh-panthers-syracuse-orange-coup-acc

 

[Marty Jackson]

Just wondering -- what makes you think that you have the capacity to speak for other schools in the ACC? You're only attractive to Donna Shalala (which speaks volumes). If they could have taken Miami without you, they would have done it. (Oh, wait. They did: http://www.bceagles.com/genrel/063003aaa.html)

Anyway, I think Mike Krzyzewski has certainly earned the right to speak for others -- and which schools do you think he's referring to in this passage, anyway?



http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...-pittsburgh-panthers-syracuse-orange-coup-acc

everyone knows that Coack K was referring to PC and Seton Hall...

Kidding aside, I didn't understand when the article was originially published why the author thought Uconn and Rutgers... Rutgers? they have been the defintion of underachievers in the BE since they have been members. Their motto is "Do less with more".... Their slogan is "Over promise, under deliver"....

Under a bb lense, Uconn is an obvious ACC target. But would Rutgers really be the 16th team? from a BB perspective? I would think Louisville, but is that too far out of the ACC footprint? ignore academics...

 

[IMind]

I do not follow hockey too close. I will now with the upgrade. Did BC try to keep Uconn out of Hockey East ?

Actually I think I read that BC supported UConn joining Hockey East. If there's any indication that hockey is an entirely different animal, it's this.

 

[Hoophound]

everyone knows that Coack K was referring to PC and Seton Hall...

Kidding aside, I didn't understand when the article was originially published why the author thought Uconn and Rutgers... Rutgers? they have been the defintion of underachievers in the BE since they have been members. Their motto is "Do less with more".... Their slogan is "Over promise, under deliver"....

Under a bb lense, Uconn is an obvious ACC target. But would Rutgers really be the 16th team? from a BB perspective? I would think Louisville, but is that too far out of the ACC footprint? ignore academics...

A lot of people just presumed Rutgers because K loves to play in NYC when he can and Rutgers has adequate academics. It was probably UConn and Louisville he was referring to. Coack K knows UConn and UL (and JC & Pitino) deserve to play with the very best. He is a purist and he has respect for the elite few who are his peers/rivals. Love him or hate him, you have to respect Coach K, he certainly isn't running from the competition by lobbying for adding more super powers to his conference.

 

[CL82]

Actually I think I read that BC supported UConn joining Hockey East. If there's any indication that hockey is an entirely different animal, it's this.

Kind of support for the notion that fear is the BC motivator, not hurt feelings. They have no problem with us joining hockey east because they are confident that we aren't a threat to them in hockey. In everything else...

 

[IthacaMatt]

HA! When the PSU stuff came down, I told upstater I think, (not sure who I was writing back and forth with) that somwehre, Mike Tranghese is sitting in a corner, and telling anyone who will listen, that he was right about .....x.y.z......things. Blaudschaun was the guy, and it was in a little cafe in Newport probably a short walk from the press conference going on at the Viking. Classic.


I've been crystal clear, many times, that I"m not a Mike T fan. I simply don't believe that he really cares about football at all, beyond the fact that he knew that it was important to maintaining the Big East as the premier basketball conference.

Athletics people, should be running intercollegiate athletics, but it's not that way - university presidents are in charge, and in too many instances, university president's are subject to teh whims of the coaches of the football (and in some cases - basketball) programs at their schools, and that's a big branch of root system of all the problems that exist in intercollegiate athletics.

I disagree with Mike T on the demise of the bowl system, with a growing playoff. The demise will be in teh corruption of the bowl system, and the majority of meaningless bowls will go away. Instead of 35 bowl games, I'd rather see a 15 game playoff system for a champion (with revenue distribution similar to teh BCS) and another 12-15 bowl games for the non-qualifiers to the playoffs that still had great seasons. THose bowl games, would actually have to be viable, and not based on a corrupt money making system.

The bottom line, is that we all know that the ACC has had an inferior complex to Big East basketball for a long, long time, and that football was the tool by which they've done the most damage they possibly can to the Big EAst conference, adn in this last round, of the east coast basketball war, the big east is once again, coming to come out stronger and better, thanks to the timing of the television market, and the value of live sports broadcasting.

An interesting omission from Mike T in that interview is what happened in 2003 when the first raid took place. A split between the remaining football schools and basketball onlies nearly took place, with the discussion led by Jake Crouthamel. Tranghese offered to resign, but then everyone backed away from the split. Not sure where the remaining football teams would have gone at that point, as there was no place but to form their own all-sports league.

At the time, that would have been Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College (they hadn't gone Fredo yet), Temple was still a football only, IIRC, and they probably would have recruited 3 more schools with the 2 most likely being Cinci and Louisville, and the third being chosen among UCF, USF, E. Carolina or maybe the military academies. They might have invited UConn to step up to Div. 1, but I think that was a few years before you guys were ready to do so. If you had, that would have made a pretty nice league. Wouldn't likely get any BCS bids, but it would be a leaner and better conference than what has been left behind.

Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, Rutgers, BC, UConn, Cinci, Louisville and Temple. Not bad, and none of the schools. Too bad.

 

[SAMCRO]

An interesting omission from Mike T in that interview is what happened in 2003 when the first raid took place. A split between the remaining football schools and basketball onlies nearly took place, with the discussion led by Jake Crouthamel. Tranghese offered to resign, but then everyone backed away from the split. Not sure where the remaining football teams would have gone at that point, as there was no place but to form their own all-sports league.

At the time, that would have been Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College (they hadn't gone Fredo yet), Temple was still a football only, IIRC, and they probably would have recruited 3 more schools with the 2 most likely being Cinci and Louisville, and the third being chosen among UCF, USF, E. Carolina or maybe the military academies. They might have invited UConn to step up to Div. 1, but I think that was a few years before you guys were ready to do so. If you had, that would have made a pretty nice league. Wouldn't likely get any BCS bids, but it would be a leaner and better conference than what has been left behind.

Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, Rutgers, BC, UConn, Cinci, Louisville and Temple. Not bad, and none of the schools. Too bad.

UConn was already announced as joining the BE at the time of the raid. That was part of the reason the BE wanted to file the lawsuit in CT (I believe)The school and state had been making investments and commitments to upgrade FB when this all happened. We actually joined the BE a year ahead of schedule due to UM and VT leaving the year before BC did.

MT and the BE missed their window several years prior to that when they could have made a serious run at FSU, and maybe 2 or 3 other ACC teams (any non NC based schools) to join the BE in all sports. Instead, MT was doing the transparent thing in working to form a FB alliance between the ACC and the BE. Swofford had another idea in mind.

 

[ScottVib]

At the time, that would have been Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College (they hadn't gone Fredo yet), Temple was still a football only, IIRC, and they probably would have recruited 3 more schools with the 2 most likely being Cinci and Louisville, and the third being chosen among UCF, USF, E. Carolina or maybe the military academies. They might have invited UConn to step up to Div. 1, but I think that was a few years before you guys were ready to do so. If you had, that would have made a pretty nice league. Wouldn't likely get any BCS bids, but it would be a leaner and better conference than what has been left behind.

Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, Rutgers, BC, UConn, Cinci, Louisville and Temple. Not bad, and none of the schools. Too bad.

A couple of factual corrections as the minutes of these meetings have been widely available for years.

1.) UConn was already Division1A and slated to join the conference in 2005. The raid moved up they're joining to 2004.
2.) The split was proposed and had support, Tranghese didn't "offer" to resign, but instead stated that he would resign before siding with either faction.
3.) Louisville had already been tapped as a replacement and Cincinnati was seen as a shoo-in. The other candidates you listed were rejected flatly (including USF, until after BC left). Retaining Temple was also rejected which ultimately left open the slot that went to USF
4.) The remaining schools were still clinging to the theory of Notre Dame saving the football side. Instead Notre Dame proved instrumental in brokering the compromise which set things up as they were until the latest raid.
5.). Crouthamel lived up to his statement that he would resign if the split football-basketball conference remained.

 

[upstater]

Athletics people, should be running intercollegiate athletics, but it's not that way - university presidents are in charge, and in too many instances, university president's are subject to teh whims of the coaches of the football (and in some cases - basketball) programs at their schools, and that's a big branch of root system of all the problems that exist in intercollegiate athletics.

They ran intercollegiate athletics since forever. ADs are often former athletes, raised up in the departments, often beholden to coaches. I'd say in fact that these people are even MORE beholden to coaches than Presidents already are.

Remember, Cedric Dempsey, a sports person, was in charge of the MCAA a decade ago. When he left his job, he went to work for the Pump Brothers AAU scammers. Shows you what kind of mentality the leadership had at the time.

Myles Brand on the other hand, really seemed to put his principles into action at Indiana. The same cannot be said for mark Emmert who fired coaches for not winning at LSU and he presided over a cover-up of rapes by U. Washington football.

 

[businesslawyer]

this is correct. when were we ever behind bc in basketball?

Seriously? We were behind BC in basketball in the pre-Calhoun days of the Big East.

 

[businesslawyer]

the one thing Tranghese said that I agree with is that realignment has killed any chance of generating interest in college football in the northeast. There are millions of people, most of whom have significantly higher household incomes than those people who live in the south, that just don't care a all about college football. They care a lot about the Giants, Jets, Patriots, Cowboys, Bears and Packers. It's too bad.

Thi is where I think the admin at BC made a mistake with UConn. HAving a local rival increases the interst in your team dramatically. It is what drives college sports. Not having Duke play hoops on your campus every two years or FSU come every two years. Its playing a blood rival every year. BC has one potential blood rival...Uconn

This is a great post. And this is what the Big Ten may not have thought through enough. The issue was never were their members as popular in the Northeast as Big East members (yes) or were eastern college football audiences small or large (small). The issue was what if you took UConn and RU and Syracuse and one of MD, Pitt or BC and you had your midwestern football schools playing eastern schools on the east coast regularly -- would that have created a market that you could then sell to?

I still think the answer was that that plan had a good chance of working, but it may be too late now.

 

[pj]

This is a great post. And this is what the Big Ten may not have thought through enough. The issue was never were their members as popular in the Northeast as Big East members (yes) or were eastern college football audiences small or large (small). The issue was what if you took UConn and RU and Syracuse and one of MD, Pitt or BC and you had your midwestern football schools playing eastern schools on the east coast regularly -- would that have created a market that you could then sell to?

I still think the answer was that that plan had a good chance of working, but it may be too late now.

I've argued before and firmly believe that taking UConn/Rutgers to enter the NY/NJ/CT media market would be a very smart move for the B1G.

I think it would generate huge revenue for them, but (a) it wasn't clear until the last two years how much money there was in capturing big TV markets, and probably most college presidents only realized it in the last eight months; (b) most Big Ten schools feel a strong Midwest identity and don't feel a kinship to northeastern schools. So Nebraska -- small market, big football, midwest -- seemed a more natural add to them than UConn/Rutgers -- big market, small football.

If they could go back and do it again the result might be different. Now they are waiting to see how the dominoes fall I think -- Notre Dame, big state ACC schools, and UConn/Rutgers may all be in play for them.

 

[UConnDan97]

Hammer time!!