September 20, 201115 yr Who do I blame for the latest phase of conference realignment? Don’t look at the guys in College Station, Norman or Austin. The blame rests squarely on the folks in Bristol, Conn. Think otherwise if you want, blame one school or another. But it’s really, truly all on the shoulders of ESPN. The blame resides with ESPN for reasons many may not understand. ESPN giving Texas a whopping $15 million a year over 20 years to create the “Longhorn Network” is not the root cause of the latest in the realignment shuffle. People will talk about Texas’ avarice or greed, but that’s not what "tick"ed off the Aggies and Sooners – and really the rest of college football as a whole. After all, Oklahoma and Texas A&M themselves were both aware of Texas’ intent on securing a stand-alone network for its Tier 3 rights prior to the three power schools deciding to reconstitute the Big 12 into a 10-team league last summer. The real problem stems from ESPN openly flaunting to break NCAA rules. Not long after the agreement between Texas and ESPN was reached, ESPN executives and Texas administrators started talking about what kind of content would be on the Longhorn Network. Texas administrators would talk about how football practices would be broadcast, the spring game, maybe a real football game or two and several basketball and home baseball games. They’d even have a nightly Longhorn-specific SportsCenter and maybe some academic programming designed as an institutional feel good. A&M and OU administrators weren’t mad at Texas’ good fortune. They may have been understandably jealous because of the money it generated, but Texas was already the richest athletic program in the country. So the Longhorn Network was just more of the same - the Longhorns getting richer. Then ESPN executives added something to the equation that turned jealously into contempt. ESPN announced that as part of programming on the Longhorn Network, they would televise high school football games of elite recruits, like those of Johnathan Gray, one of the nation’s top running backs. They were contemplating recruiting shows with recruits who were undecided on which school to attend. They weren’t only saying these things behind the scene, they were also saying them publicly. By doing so, ESPN displayed utter contempt for NCAA rules, maybe not the letter of them but certainly the spirit. http://247sports.com/Article/Only-one-party-to-blame-40803
September 20, 201115 yr As soon as a writer blames a network they lose all credibility with me. ESPN makes their decision bases off of US fans. They show what will get the most eyeballs. If checkers got the most eyeballs that's what ESPN would be showing (including youth checker tourneys and highlights). ESPN is us. So we are to blame.
September 20, 201115 yr Author As soon as a writer blames a network they lose all credibility with me. ESPN makes their decision bases off of US fans. They show what will get the most eyeballs. If checkers got the most eyeballs that's what ESPN would be showing (including youth checker tourneys and highlights). ESPN is us. So we are to blame. It is no coincidence that once NBC/Comcast made it known they were going to go after the Big East TV deal that the Big East is about to vanish. We want to see sports. ESPN is to show them, not determine who plays in what conference based on what is best for them...
September 20, 201115 yr It is no coincidence that once NBC/Comcast made it known they were going to go after the Big East TV deal that the Big East is about to vanish. We want to see sports. ESPN is to show them, not determine who plays in what conference based on what is best for them... ESPN can't make a school Prez do something against his/her will. If we're looking to lay blame that's where it lies - in the ivory tower.
September 20, 201115 yr Author ESPN can't make a school Prez do something against his/her will. If we're looking to lay blame that's where it lies - in the ivory tower. No doubt. But on the flip side what ESPN has done is perpetuate the panic of making sure you aren't left standing when this multi billion dollar game of musical chairs ends. ESPN is controlling the sports landscape across the spectrum from the boardroom...
September 20, 201115 yr No doubt. But on the flip side what ESPN has done is perpetuate the panic of making sure you aren't left standing when this multi billion dollar game of musical chairs ends. ESPN is controlling the sports landscape across the spectrum from the boardroom... Only for those that want to or will them themselves be controlled(or are greedy).
October 10, 201114 yr Author The AD at Boston College said that ESPN told the ACC who to raid from the Big East. Plain and simple. With the Big East getting ready to land a huge deal with NBC/Comcast, it was ESPN that tried to kill the league off...
October 10, 201114 yr I think it's the NCAA's fault for not instituting a football playoff ... the superconferences wouldn't exist if each league had access to an automatic bid to an NCAA tournament with a lucrative TV deal.
October 10, 201114 yr If the argument is that ESPN is looking out for its own best interests then I'm not sure why that's even a debate. Every business does that. However, to imply that college presidents and ADs are so powerless that they simply do what anyone tells them is asinine. Any school that "killed the Big East" by moving away did so on their own. If the Big East was a better product ESPN would have wanted them to stay intact. It's not. They didn't. Schools left to chase the buck. Shocking.
October 10, 201114 yr Author If the Big East was a better product ESPN would have wanted them to stay intact. ESPN didn't want them to stay intact because they were going to the competition. With that in mind ESPN went to the ACC and told them who and how to put the nails in the coffin to kill the chance NBC/Comcast made a run at them. Collusion comes to mind if what the BC AD said is true...
October 10, 201114 yr ESPN didn't want them to stay intact because they were going to the competition. With that in mind ESPN went to the ACC and told them who and how to put the nails in the coffin to kill the chance NBC/Comcast made a run at them. Collusion comes to mind if what the BC AD said is true... Does the Big East charter allow for ESPN (or Comcast) to force teams to stay or leave?
October 10, 201114 yr Author Does the Big East charter allow for ESPN (or Comcast) to force teams to stay or leave? Pitt President led the charge to turn down the ESPN billion dollar deal. Pitt President led the charge to bolt from Big East from nowhere. ESPN conspiring with ACC to kill Big East. 1+1=3 to you???
October 10, 201114 yr ?Pitt President led the charge to turn down the ESPN billion dollar deal. Pitt President led the charge to bolt from Big East from nowhere. ESPN conspiring with ACC to kill Big East. 1+1=3 to you??? What it sounds like is Pitt's President thought he/she could get a better deal. Can we agree on that?
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