So, while I’ve missed countless news stories, events,
Harbaugh news items (I think JH averages 1 news item a day) and God only knows
what else, I’ll see if I can’t sum everything up from the time I took off
blogging till now. But in an extremely
short, succinct fashion.
A
Michigan school lost to 15th seeded Middle Tennessee State in
this year’s NCAA tournament. I’m not
saying that’s embarrassing, but….Aw, Hell, let’s just say it:
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA!!!!
Yep! It’s
embarrassing and it’ll never get old!
I love the fact that Sparty is now in a class of approximately 7
Universities that have lost as a
2 seed since the tourney was increased to 64 teams. Sparty shares the air with some big names, so
I guess you could say it could happen to anyone. I’m just tickled it happened to Sparty!!!
Harbaugh
pissed some people off. I
believe when Michigan hired him I stated that he’s an Asshole, but he’s OUR
KIND of Asshole. In that sense, Harbaugh has NOT LET US DOWN!!!!
Harbaugh’s first season was a rocky but successful one yet
Michigan has still not defeated their Arch Rival and have yet to put Little
Brother back in his place. I’ll take the
10 wins. But I can’t wait for this
season and the opportunity to avenge so many, many wrongs that have transpired
over the last few years!
Did I mention that Harbaugh pissed some people off? And also made other newsy type people look
like complete dolts (Finebaum, Dodd and others) for coming out AGAINST satellite camps and giving the
smaller D1 schools a chance to look at players while visiting the larger D1
camps. What really cracked me up? The NCAA, and this shouldn’t have surprised
anyone, came out against the satellite camps once they “felt” that they were
somehow being abused by Harbaugh. And
this speedy ruling was led by the MAN himself, Mark Emmert, President of the
NCAA.
And was immediately overturned by the oversight committee
and University Chancellors.
And camps are back and Harbs looks like a Hero-Genius for
wanting to do the right thing for all the players of this great game of
football.
What’s funny is the SEC coaches were doing all the bitching
and complaining and Emmert saw to it that this villain of college football
(Harbs) be dealt with quickly and any of the illegal activities that he was
conducting be squashed like a bug. But
cooler heads prevailed and yet there’s no talk of Emmert resigning his post,
even though he was clearly WRONG and did not have the greater good of the
Sudent Athlete in mind.
IF THERE’S EVER ANYTHING FISHY THAT COMES OUT
OF THE NCAA THAT SEEMS TO FAVOR THE SEC, THIS IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW:
When
in doubt, remember this:
Mark Emmert was the Chancellor at LSU and he’s the guy that originally
hired Satan away from MSU. Emmert and
Satan are very good friends and talk often.
They still visit each other regularly with their families and have done
so since they were both at LSU.
Have I ever mentioned in this blog or in person that I hate
the hypocrisy of the NCAA and what they stand for? That a big part of the reason that I hate
schools like Bama, LSU and Ole Miss is that they routinely cheat and never,
ever get caught and punished for cheating?
That the NCAA is essentially a con game; a way to collect and distribute
money that in no way has the best interest of the student athlete in mind, but
rather has the interest of the large universities that pay the bills in mind
whenever they make a decision….Sigh…If I have mentioned, sorry for mentioning
it again.
This deposition statement (and that’s all the detail there
was) just doesn’t pass the sniff test for oh so many reasons….How does a child
get an audience with the Head Football Coach at PSU? How does that child even enter into that
conversation if he was in fact molested?
If the kid has figured out that he’s been molested and is ready to talk
to someone, ANYONE, why doesn’t that child go first to his parents or some
other authority and tell his tale vs. going to the head coach and telling him
about the encounter? Because the head
coach would be more accessible and easier to talk to?
Somebody’s lying here.
In a sworn deposition to the court.
I’m not saying the above didn’t happen, I’m just saying that as a
gambler, I’d be a lot more inclined to bet that this DIDN’T happen vs. that it
DID happen. The meeting with Joe. I’m not saying a child couldn’t have been
molested in 1976. I actually kind of
believe that.
I guess what really grinds my stones is that it’s a great
big fight to determine who’s on the hook to pay all this money to the real
victims. And that’s a shame. PSU and the insurance company both ought to
take a long hard look in the mirror and figure out a way to get through this
mess quietly and without dragging the Paterno name and the PSU name through the
mud anymore.
What happened was criminal.
That particular individual is paying for that with his life for the next
30-60 years behind bars (and for some people, that’s not nearly enough
punishment for this individual). The guy
he reported to that may or may not have been complacent in letting the
perpetrator get away with this crime for years has passed away. Other people who were considered negligent in
the process are still waiting for their criminal trial(s). PSU (the institution) has paid the monetary penalty
($60M), damages to victims (undisclosed) and also suffered through several
seasons with post season bans and the loss of scholarships. So, to all the renewed voices, haters and
general fans that want to see the PSU name and institution scrubbed from the
face of the Earth and stricken from all the history books (and I get it – it
was a heinous crime. As cringe-worthy as
they come):
Let
it go. Just let it go.
Let PSU become great again and stop wanting to destroy an
institution that has done a lot more good than this harm would lead you to
believe. It’s over. We need to assist the victims, get them made
whole, and move on. Continuing to bring
this story up every couple of years or so is not doing anyone any good.
Michigan
Women’s Softball clinched another out right B1G Championship on
Saturday. I think they had actually won
it before the Rutgers game, but Saturday sealed the deal. I believe there was a scenario where the
Golden Gophers could have won out and Michigan would have needed to lose 3 to
Rutgers (Wasn’t going to happen) and there could have been a tie for the
B1G? Anyway, congrats to the Soft
Ballers and Hutch on 9 STRAIGHT B1G TITLES!!!! I doubt that a similar accomplishment in NCAA
softball will ever be achieved again.
History has been made.
Unfortunately, the Michigan Softballers couldn’t get the
job done at the CSWS where they came up just ever so short in securing another
National Title! Gotta score runs to win
ladies! Nevertheless, it was a great
season and I’ll miss a lot of those players!
John
Belien did the best he could with what he had to work with this
past hoops season. I’m still excited for
next year, but it’s going to be weird (and really, REALLY hard) watching Spike
Albrecht in a Purdue jersey next season.
Something about that just doesn’t’ seem right. And it’ll probably make me a little ill….
The Big XII has a 10-15% better chance of making the 4-Team
College Football Play-Off if they have two more members and a Conference
Championship game.
…Duh…
When I see stuff like this it really, really makes me sad
to think that there’s people in charge of stuff for no other reason than they
happened to be around when someone needed to be put in charge of stuff. If I’m a president or AD at one of the Big XII
universities I’m seriously questioning the conference commish Bowlsby and
wondering why in the hell he’s in charge and spending our money foolishly on
such nonsense.
Anyway, The MMQ is here to tell you everything you need to
know about Big XII expansion (AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN) in several easy
to follow bullet points that will assist you in ANY discussion that comes up
regarding the idiocy that seems to continuously surround this issue.
1. Texas is very happy with the current arrangement
that they have with the Big XII and the LHN (LongHorn Network – ESPN
based). First, they get an equal share
of all revenue generated by the Big XII (something on the order of
$10-$15M/year). Second: They will collect $300M over the next 20
years from ESPN on the LHN deal, and it’s back loaded. So UT’s only getting around $10M/year now and
they will get more as time marches forward.
Yes, the LHN (ESPN) is losing money.
Lots of money. Due to the un-recovered
high launch costs and the paltry amount they charge per household ($3.50 in
Texas, $0.29 outside of Texas) with somewhere between 6M and 12M households
that are buying it (ESPN claims 20M subscribers…..and admits that number is
falling) - they’re losing somewhere between $7M to $13M annually, for a total
loss of $50M+ since the network was launched.
Add to that the lack of watchable content for a 24 hour day cycle which often
shows UT women’s field hockey, UT women’s tennis, and back to back re-airings
of the National Title game against USC and actual viewership is not
measurable. Therefore, ESPN can’t sell
advertising, and what they do sell they can’t charge a lot for. Doesn’t matter. ESPN is paying UT and UT is Happy. Result: Nothing will happen in the Big XII until
UT decides it needs to happen. Unless
ESPN reneges on the deal as the losses continue to mount….which, it could
happen. Just not today. (Ironic note:
Same article I pulled LHN data from cites that both Mizzou and TA&M will make $5M-$7M
more per year from the SEC Network than UT and will be seen in 65M
households, which adds to recruiting and brand recognition. If that isn’t a slap in the face, I don’t
know what is.) But, barring a collapse
of the LHN, Texas isn’t going anywhere.
2. The
only other Big XII player, Oklahoma, is
at war with itself. The Prez wants
expansion and the regents don’t want to bring in a “lesser” member and have to
dilute the pie even more. Meaning: Any University that Oklahoma thinks is good
enough for the Big XII probably figures they have just as good a shot at
joining the PAC, B1G, SEC or ACC. So why
look at the Big XII? Currently, only UT has
a stadium with over 100K. Oklahoma is
80K. Everyone else in the Big XII drops
down to below 70K with Baylor and TCU being the smallest (I think) at 45K. The most realistic candidate, Memphis, lacks
the “Increased footprint” appeal that the rest of the BigXII desires, even
though their stadium size (60K) and enrollment (20K) sort of qualify them for
inclusion.
3. In
addition, Oklahoma has an Okie State
problem. IF (big “if”) Oklahoma would
get an invite from someone – ANYONE – they probably have to bring Okie State
and the smaller revenue/brand that they generate along with them or face the
wrath of T. Boone Pickens and the governing body of Oklahoma. That’s not going to sit well with any
conference. And don’t forget that Oklahoma
is still NOT AAU accredited (at least to my knowledge) which more or less
immediately rules out the B1G and the ACC (Except that the B1G did take a non
AAU Nebraska)…Leaving the SEC and the PAC.
Granted, the best move forward for the B1G (After a Norte Dame/Texas
combo) would be Oklahoma and Kansas, probably, and tell Okie State to pound
sand. Which I think Oklahoma would do
and thumb their collective noses at anything the state guv of Oklahoma would
take away from them. And the B1G is the
one conference with that kind of power. The
B1G really wanted Maryland and North Carolina in the last adder, but settled
for Rutgers once UNC threatened it’s “big-little private brother Duke”
with leaving tobacco road and taking the rivalry with them and also going with
fellow power ACC school Maryland. Duke
gave up some control and UNC got a little more ACC control out of that deal. You’re welcome, Tar Heels.
4. Possible candidates that are constantly
thrown around for Big XII inclusion (kind of in order depending on
who you read and trust – and the guys I read and trust nailed WVU to the Big
XII and Maryland and Rutgers to the B1G):
Memphis, Houston, Cincinnati, BYU,
UCF, Colorado State, UConn….But again, while this would help expand the Big
XII footprint, some of these schools have to ask themselves, “Do I really want
to join a conference that could potentially go the way of the SWC and Big East
in 10 years, if one of two power schools leave???” Granted, I believe that most, if not all, of
these schools would jump at a Big XII Power 5 Conference offer, but should
they? Think of the famous Groucho Marx quote,
“I don’t think I want to join a club that would have me as a member.” Immediate contradictory thought: If the Big XII were to make a REALLY BOLD MOVE and add ALL 6
teams (taking them to 16) that included everyone listed above in order
to create more content and a truly national footprint, well…then Big
XII expansion MIGHT happen. And
frankly, that’s probably the best way to do it.
That would be a 60% content increase in a conference that is starving
for relevant content when it comes to TV rights negotiations. That would be a lot of wheeling and dealing
to pull off, and I just don’t think Bowlsby has the chutzpah to make it happen. But then again, I was in the original camp
that Harbaugh wasn’t coming….so there’s that.
5. Re-read
the first paragraph of this Big XII
summary and the answer lies in the Consultant’s advice, it’s just not
obvious because it’s the opposite side
of the coin. Instead of “adding members” in order to have a conference
play-off, the Big XII should hang on to their “advantage” of having to play one
less game annually. And they would be
much better off fighting City Hall and the “4-Team Playoff”. Meaning: Force the CFP to expand to at least 6 games
in order to include an automatic bid to all the Power 5 conferences and one at
large bid. But City Hall includes
the Big Bowls as the addition of two teams to the CFP will “probably” result in
a home play-in game(s) at the stadium of the team having the better record or
higher rank. And you can bet that the Bowls will fight that with everything they
can throw at it because the first time it happens and everyone sees the fan
attendance and atmosphere that a “home play-off” game generates, you can
bet that the semi-final teams (Money Grubbing AD’s) will be screaming to play
the semi-final games at home as well.
So there you have it.
In a nutshell: In the MMQ’s
humble opinion, Big XII expansion won’t happen anytime soon. But, maybe CFP expansion happens sooner than
we think! I also don’t think
Texas or Oklahoma are bolting for another conference, not immediately, anyway. CFP expansion to 6 teams is more of a reality
than Big XII expansion. I originally
said it would take 10 years for the CFP to go to 6 teams and that time table
would only accelerate if the B1G or the SEC were left out of the play-off for
multiple seasons in a row. But I think
the CFP Committee is slightly wiser than we give them credit for and they know
where the viewers eyes are (and are not), not to mention the money. With the Big XII getting left out repeatedly,
there’s just not quite enough anger and angst to move the needle to expand to 6
teams. And that suits the other Power 4
conferences just fine.
Getting
ahead of myself (should save this for the Pres-Season Spectacular): Michigan is 7:1 odds of winning a National
Title in Football this season (Alabama is the favorite at
5:1). Which puts Michigan at Number
2. Does the FMQ (recall the gambling
version of the MMQ) agree with this?
Well, I WOULD have grabbed 15:1 or
20:1 odds that Michigan opened with only because I thought Michigan would
end up ranked in the top 10 at the end of this season. 7:1?
Nuh-uh….Not even if you were letting me bet with your money. I mean, yes, I think Michigan will be a very
good team and the pre-season will go into why but winning a NC in Jimmy’s 2nd
season? With the luck you need and the
chance of losing any game at any time in college football it’s just hard to
predict…..but wow….Hmmmmmm….I’m dreamin’ and I’m believin’ and that NC would
just be SLAPPY!!!!
The
Domers (JEEZ I HATE THESE GUYS!) are Back on The Schedule for 2018-19. Away and Home. Frist: An acknowledgement to mgoblue.com for a
wonderful collection of memories of the Michigan-Domer series. Here’s the link:
Arkansas gone and Michigan has to pay $2M for the right to
dump the Razorbacks meaning everyone believes there’s more money to be made
with a Domer Game that will cover that buyout.
So, okay. I’ll go with the good first:
Even though I gripe about hating these guys (and I do – more on that in
a minute) I guess I’m glad to see the Domers back on the schedule so Michigan
can go back to routinely pounding them mercilessly and killing their dreams
early in the season. That’s about it on
the good….
The Bad
list is somewhat more compelling: First,
the odd years of season Tix just got that much better for two huge gaffes by
Brandon and now I’ll say Manuel: Sparty, The Suckeyes, and the Domers are
all in the same season leaving 4 or 5 homegames that will pale in comparison! Unfortunately, the even year season tix just
look sick without any decent B1G game or Non-Con opponent. Let’s give Ward a little more time, but he
needs to fix that and quick.
Bad
Item #2. 2018 is early in the season at the domers
(September 1), but the Home game is right in the middle of the B1G season on
October 26th!!!! Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot! I’m not sure why Michigan accommodated the
domers – the Arkansas game was scheduled for September, but Michigan felt it
was necessary to make the move and put the domers right in the middle of the
B1G season. Kind of a slap in the face
to the B1G, but maybe they had it coming anyway for screwing Michigan’s odd
year season schedule…Dunno
Bad
Item #3: This one is ticky-tack, but if I had been
Ward, I would have wanted that last home game imbalance back for the
indignity that the Domers had the audacity to walk away from Michigan
with. I’m sure Ward tried, but there’s
no way Swarbucks was going to let that happen – not on his watch. And I doubt there will ever be an early out
clause in any contract between the two schools ever again. You’ll see a lot of this in the future – two game
deals that waste a lot of lawyer’s time and money….but then you’re protected, I
guess.
And
yes, I hate the Domers…I know I’ve penned it before, but the days
of my formative youth where you spent the end of summer reading every little
thing you could get your hands on about the upcoming season of promise and hope
only to have it upended by the domers is probably what did it for me. I mean, Michigan always beat Sparty; it never
an issue and the Suckeyes was a coin flip.
Yes, I hate them both, too. But beating or not beating the Domers was
huge. I remember sanding and painting
the bottom of the ole Chris Craft with the Old Man on a September afternoon in
1978 and listening as Ufer painfully announced the 51 yard Figgie that was good
at the end of the game to beat Michigan…To Hell With Harry Oliver. Then in
1982, Steve Smith and AC went to south Bend to play in a night game that I had
to listen to on the radio while I was driving the family home from a wedding in
Kokomo, Indiana. Best part of the
evening was driving right by South Bend and seeing the lights on. Worst part:
Michigan lost and there were iffy calls throughout the game….Yes, I hate
the Domers. For ruining promising
seasons, their hypocritical nature and all the catholics that seem to side with
the domers for no other reason than they’re a catholic school….
Anything I missed? I
don’t know how the College Sports world managed without me all this time! I’m finally back to restore order and make
sense of everything goofy!
Or not….
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