jerseyguy: OLD Big East move forward–quickly

[wtm97]

All along, Mark 'jerseyguy' Blaudschun has been one of the few supporters of the Big East (meaning before the split hoops/football) Big East. Here is his game plan for Mike Aresco and the remainder of what was the Big East...ajerseyguy.com/


Big East needs to move forward–quickly
March 5, 2013 – 8:59 pm

The final issues should be hammered out on Wednesday, some of the financial numbers still need to be worked on, but at the end of the day the deal should be signed and the divorce between the Big East football and Catholic 7 will be official.

Both sides can make their announcements on Thursday.

And then what?

If I am Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco, who has worked his butt off for the past six months to make things work, this is what I would do.

1. Announce that Big East football is moving on and the Catholic 7 group is also moving on and that you wish them well.

2. Turn next week’s Big East tournament–the last model off the original line which was created 34 years ago, into an Irish Wake. Tell stories, shake hands, laugh and promote a good week of basketball for a great conference taking its last bow on Broadway.

Celebrate the Big East as it was. As it is. And as it can be. Embrace the Catholic 7 group and wish them well and mean it.

3. Gather the new troops together–UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Temple, Memphis, Houston, Tulane, SMU, East Carolina, Central Florida, and Navy. Give a wink to Tulsa and say, be patient

Tell them they can be the best of the rest–meaning the WAC, the Mountain West, Conference USA, the Sun Belt and all the others who aren’t part of the BCS 5. And that in any given year, they can have one or two or three teams in football or basketball which can look anyone in the eye and play on a big stage.

4. Give the name of Big East to the Catholic 7 with your blessing and baptize a new league which will include the characteristics and profile of its members.

Start with the name Metro–as in the once fledgling and ambitious Metro Conference, which passed away 18 years ago. Look at the schools and the cities. Cincinnati, Tampa, Philadelphia, Memphis, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Washington-Baltimore (Navy), Orlando, Hartford (UConn). Only East Carolina is Metro stretch.

Go beyond that. Keep the Big Name. Call it an Athletic Conference. BMAC.

People will call it the Big Mac, which works. Go beyond that and quickly sign up McDonald’s as a sponsor and partner. That brings in money and recognition and a younger target audience. Have BMAC t-shirts available at McDonald’s. BMAC mugs.

If you want to go basic, Call it the Metro 10, 11 or 12 to match the number of schools in the league–but that can be risky. It should be noted that Louisville won a pair of national championships as a Metro Conference member. Memphis made it to the Final Four as a Metro Conference team.

5. Take the Basketball tournament and make it a moveable feast. Start it in Hartford for symbolism sake. But then move it to Memphis, Cincinnati, into Texas, into Florida, New Orleans, Philadelphia and even New York.

6. Promote the hell out of Memphis, Temple, UConn and Cincinnati at the start in basketball and hope that SMU and Houston revive their programs to some previous glory days. Push the upgrades at Tulane.

Talk about success of South Florida and Central Florida in basketball and how it is a work in progress.

In football, increase non-conference games prime time games. Use the new ESPN forum to stage games that people will watch. Promote the hell out of Central Florida and South Florida and talk about creating the next FSU-Florida or Miami-Florida State rival in a talent rich area.

And then step back and wait. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won’t. Maybe the conference raids will continue and UConn and Cincinnati will take the first bus out-of-town. But with millions of dollars of Big East money in their pockets they might think about their next move.

But it will be fun. People will have a good time doing it, hoping it works.

And if doesn’t, at least you can say you gave it your best effort.

[dmac80]

He wants them to call it the 'Big Mac" and partner with McDonalds? HAHA!

[dmac80]

expect announcement today


Big East, Catholic 7 ready to make split official
March 6, 2013 – 10:05 pm

Barring a last-minute snag, the Big East is expected to make a formal announcement on Thursday that the Catholic 7 group of schools–DePaul, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Providence, Villanova and St. John’s will leave the conference, effective June 30th.

The Catholic 7 are expected to also announce that their new conference will be called the Big East (effective July 1) and they will immediately pursue plans to add additional members, who will join the conference and begin play next season.


rest of story:

ajerseyguy.com/

espn:

espn.go.com/ncaa/conversations/_/id/9026064/catholic-7-reaches-agreement-leave-big-east-summer-sources-say

[TheInfoMan]

So we're about to leave the Big East in order to join the Big East?

[wtm97]

So we're about to leave the Big East in order to join the Big East?

yup...

Not only that info - those who stay in the Big East will no longer be called the Big East and have to come up with a new name....go figure

*

Hopefully once we, (once again), become the Big East a measure of stability takes hold while all this re-alignment muddle continues,,,

[dmac80]

The C7 are keeping the Big East brand, name, history, records, etc. So when you really think about it, the C7 are kicking out the "leftovers" and keeping the Big East in many ways.


This post from a few days ago over on the Boneyard conference realignment forum sums it up nicely:

"This is Bizarro World reality. Providence College & the rest of the C-7 get everything of value: MSG for tourney, Big East name, & UConn and the rest of the leftovers get closet space in downtown Providence for their fax machine. Is Suzie REALLY agreeable to this just to keep the monies that UConn rightfully earned?
WOW! "

[TheInfoMan]

So, in many ways I guess you could say that we huffed and we puffed out one Big East doorway in order to huff and puff through another Big East doorway so that we could sit at a table with a wealthy Fox, but in-between, out in the hallway, we pretty much got our pockets picked by a band of pigskinned castaways? I hope this bedtime story has a happy ending.

[bostonfriar]

Yes, big problem. We got the brand name (estimated by Wall Street Journal as worth $50M), MSG, out a year early, $1.5M per team and a $500M contract for 12 years to be split 10/12 ways. We really got hosed on this deal versus getting $500K from TV is 2013/14 and who knows what after that - total America 12 contract is $2.5M per year for FB AND BB versus PC gets something like $40M over 12 years from Fox.

Mar 7, 2013 14:49:55 GMT -5 TheInfoMan said:

So, in many ways I guess you could say that we huffed and we puffed out one Big East doorway in order to huff and puff through another Big East doorway so that we could sit at a table with a wealthy Fox, but in-between, out in the hallway, we pretty much got our pockets picked by a band of pigskinned castaways? I hope this bedtime story has a happy ending.

[friartown]

Ceese Carcieri ‏@cespn1
The Big East is eyeing 'America 12' as their new conference name. (football schools)

[friar82]

As much as I would have loved for the windfall of cash ($100m) to fall to PC and the other 6 in our pack, it's time to move on - and in doing so, recognize all that is GOOD about this move:

The future "BigEast" is back where it all started - without the taint of football/BCS fantacies;

The future "BigEast" had the leverage and clout to strike a much better Television Contract than what could have been expected of the amalgamation of geographically dispersed misfits that were going to treat basketball schools as doormats;

The future "BigEast" has cohesion and a soul, that feels pure and unadulterated by the divergent interests and clandestine maneuvers of dilusional, 2nd Tier football schools;

The future "BigEast" has a smaller footprint, lessening the operating expenses of non-revenue sports (which would have consumed the windfall of NCAA shares we left behind in just a few years);

The future "BigEast" recaptures my sense of imagination - with hope that the parity and quality of competition will result in another magical trajectory that was witnessed during the initial years of Dave Gavitt's experiment;

This is a great day... PC and the other 6 have finally stepped forward and "controlled their destiny before someone else did". On balance and with sustainability and excellence in mind, the Program landed right where we needed it to come out... and with Ed Cooley at the helm, ready to ride this next wave.

Witnessing the unravelling at UConn and reading the potential turmoil ahead at SU while we move on to a cleaner path, I can only think that Dave Gavitt is looking down and smiling. His vision for the BE - which began to rot at its core the day after his death, has been restored, offering PC and its band of basketball-only peers the change to do something special.

Order has been restored...sustainability will become the order of the day...no looking back, as it's about the future now... together with the BE Brand and The Garden - which is a truely special venue and part of the magic that has been - and will continue to be...

Check out this article, if you have any misgivings.

sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaab--death-of-big-east-tournament--not-so-fast-004710289.html;_ylt=As8VZhuRds5xsbVSXHfe2jMLcykA;_ylu=X3oDMTFoZnA0Y2I3BG1pdANCbG9nIEluZGV4IGJ5IEF1dGhvcgRwb3MDMQRzZWMDTWVkaWFCbG9nSW5kZXg-;_ylg=X3oDMTFrODdzYXZuBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANhdXRob3IEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3


Kudos to the architects of this next chapter of the BE Conference

[wtm97]

Wentzel's article nails it '82 and so did you.

Consider we did not PAY to get out - we GOT PAID. The 110 mil is funny money for the soon to be anointed "America 12" to divvy up whatever the left-over league will cling to as the purchased identity nobody cares about - NOBODY.

They have no tradition nor any cohesive reason to exist other than chasing a fool-hearty piece of an elusive pie from the yet to be determined BCS alignment (re).

They may do OK - and good for them; we should have no feelings other than saying 'Best Wishes" and "BYE-BYE"

Meanwhile so many others driven by football are settling in amongst conferences that are diluting their sense of tradition/cohesion for perceived value of media market shares - so we have far traveling WVU in the Big 12; BC, CUSE, PITT ACC; Rutgers/Maryland BIG 10 etc.

Yet the back-biting and looking over the shoulder will continue - they are starngers together invading established settings - loyalty/tradition/commonalities all concepts banished; words meaningless and never to be used.

Yes, football is King and much bigger than hoops - BUT not here; not in the North East - never has been; never will. it is also much more costly, especially now with this far flung patch-working, (WVU's closest BIG12 opponent is 8-900 miles away) + add in the costs to now support all the non-revenue sports traveling around mindlessly....lots of fun setting up a mid-week minor sports event far-far away; makes a lot of sense -NOT.

God Bless them ALL - have at it.

*

All we should care about is little PC who did little, (if anything), to EARN any of that $110 - all deriving from NCAA credits and exit fees from others departing...yet we emerge whole and able to continue as a very small college continuing to be able to play on the big stage.

We have a plug-in BIG EAST and all the trimmings, now back to it's Gavitt-Vision core BASKETBALL, unfettered from the continuing mess of footballer's re-alignment.

And we will have MSG and the BET, which as Wentzel's article points out:

It's what Boston College wishes it never lost, what West Virginia will miss desperately this year and what Syracuse, Notre Dame and the others know, deep down, that Greensboro or wherever can never match.

[wtm97]

latest from a jerseyguy...

WHOOPS!

Football family squabble holding up Big East deal
March 7, 2013 – 8:58 pm

The divorce between the Catholic 7 group of Big East schools and the football side of the family has been settled, but an internal problem about distribution of the money remaining in the Big East reserve fund is holding up the announcement.

Welcome to the college version of the Hatfield and McCoys.

What should have been a perfunctory announcement that the Catholic 7–Seton Hall, Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Providence, St. John’s and DePaul–was leaving the conference on June 30th form its own basketball dominated conference has spilled over into a family football fight among the old Big East schools–Connecticut, Cincinnati, and South Florida–and the new group, who will be joining the league on a full-time basis on July 1.


The issue: the nearly $100 million of actual and projected money that the Big East has and will collect in terms of exit fees and NCAA basketball shares. When the distribution percentages are settled, the payments will be made over 5-to 7 year period, according to a report in USA Today

The argument: The new schools, headed by Memphis, SMU and Central Florida, objected to a distribution plan which would have given the old schools as much as 90 percent of that total.

The new schools wanted a much more even distribution, arguing that the Big East conference which existed when they made the decision to join had change dramatically in the past several months. So much in fact, that they should be compensated on a more equitable basis.

The old schools said that that none of the schools–with the exception of Temple which joined as a member in football last July–had done anything to contribute to the money that was in the fund and did not deserve a greater share than the $10 to 15 million which had been originally proposed.

The new schools countered with the argument that had they known about all of the defections and the drastic reduction of the television deal the Big East signed–a drop from a previous offer by ESPN of $151 million a year to slightly less than $30 million–they might not have agreed to join the league and that without their participation, Big East football would not even exist.[/u]

The old schools said that none of the new schools were being courted by the major BCS leagues and the best offer they could have received was from the Mountain West, whose new contract is still LESS per year than the deal ESPN and the Big East agreed to last month.

The two sides talked Tuesday. They talked Wednesday. They talked Thursday and continue to talk, with the expectations that some compromise on the ratio of the payouts can be reached.

While this was going on the Catholic 7 schools were saying, this isn’t our fight. Sign the deal to let us leave and then take your fight to another room and settle it.

They were also saying this was exactly the reason why the divorce proceedings began. Too many football dominated issues.

A side issue was the potential new name of The America 12 Conference for the football league–the Catholic 7 will take the “Big East” name as part of the deal–which was floated on Thursday was hardly a slam dunk to be accepted.

Although the projections of a 12 team football league by 2015 remain, more than a few schools are nervous about putting a number total on a league which could shrink as easily as it could expand.

The issues will be resolved, hopefully in the next few days. The question at what cost, both real and perceived.

Right now, the Big East doesn’t look good in any areas.

[thewalk]

exactly why the hoops schools should split the new contract equally once the start up costs are absorbed...

[oaklawnbob]

This shouldn't hold up the split IMO-hopefully.

[TheInfoMan]

Mar 8, 2013 6:47:16 GMT -5 wtm97 said:

All we should care about is little PC who did little, (if anything), to EARN any of that $110 - all deriving from NCAA credits and exit fees from others departing...yet we emerge whole and able to continue as a very small college continuing to be able to play on the big stage.

Well, I wasn't happy at all regarding the enormous stack of funds the C7 left on the table, but WTM97 raises an excellent counter-point. As a result, I may may continue to dream of what could have been, but I won't complain any longer.