With expansion news and leaks accelerating on a daily basis, I couldn't have picked a worse time to pick up a large project, but that's exactly what's kept my head down the last couple of months as I've been working with the crew from Maple Street Press putting the finishing touches on The Buckeye Battle Cry 2010. Luckily, the rest of Team 11W stepped up and and the magazine has received the proper amount of love.
The 128-page annual will be available at bookstores and other fine retailers across Ohio in mid-July, but you can
pre-order it now to be sure it's in your hands well before camp resumes in early August. The ad-free format enabled us to tackle all of the key issues facing the 2010 Buckeyes and I think we've lined up a pretty stellar group of contributors in addition to your friends at Eleven Warriors:
It's been an amazing process -- not in a million years did I think I'd ever be editing a magazine with my 5th-grade grasp on the English language -- but it's also been very rewarding. If you like the articles half as much as I do, you're going to be in for a treat. So, yeah, pre-order one for every member of your family and we'll try to talk Alex into doing a book-signing at the next 11W tailgate.
Blogs With Balls 3 (or drinking with other bloggers)
Over the weekend, the third installment of Blogs With Balls was held in Chicago and besides being a great excuse to get to know some of our frenemies over rounds of adult beverages, also served as a great way for bloggers to share
best-practices and other tips for success with each other. The Captain Morgan Club at Wrigley was the venue and thanks to meeting up with my fellow college football bloggers Friday night at a bar that was selling $3 Chimay (!!), I arrived bright and early with one of the worst hangovers of my entire life on the day of the conference. Luckily I wasn't alone -- Spencer Hall from EDSBS, MGoBlog's Brian Cook and the boys from BHGP all streamed in after me, in similar shape.
What makes the event really interesting (besides the verbal jousting between Spencer and The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre over the latter's eagerness to publish unfounded rumors), is what I believe to be the world's first
icing in a conference setting. Nearing the end of the session Spencer moderated, I submitted the following question:
This one is more for Spencer. I was wondering if this was the first time he's been iced in the city of Chicago.
I passed the dreaded drink up and, to his credit, he consumed the warm Ice with a quickness before getting a blast off about how it was the first time a Buckeye had ever been faster than a Gator. Yes, you beat us on the field, but we will ice you three years later. Never forget.
If you're so inclined,
Justin.tv has video online from the event. Be sure to check out Brian's Kim Jong-il moment.
And Finally, Some Expansion Talk
The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors met at league offices in Park Ridge and though rumors of Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick's attendance later proved false (though he may have dialed-in via conference call), Gordon Gee said
discussions were "substantive". There is clearly more of a sense of urgency now after the Pac-10/Big 12 news hit last week and ESPN's Rittenberg has
done a great job of wrapping the weekend up. Right now, there are three things that are somewhat amusing to me:
- When expansion talk started last December, there was a school of thought that believed the conference might not expand at all. There's about a 2% chance of that happening now. I only hope the Big Ten isn't forced to settle for teams they wouldn't have had to settle for previous to the Pac-10 kick-starting things from their end. And you know Mike Slive isn't going to wait too much longer in the SEC.
- I know the press likes to do press-like things like confirm truths with quotes, but the news of the Big Ten accelerating their process was out on Friday when the Dispatch published emails between Gee and Delany. I'm not sure how much clearer Delany's "We are fast tracking it..." could have been.
- Speaking of the emails, the Plain Dealer has graciously put them online for us (PDF) and Delany is evidently so gangster, he has two emails (office and mobile) and has a personal assistant (automated or not) forward incoming and outgoing mail between the accounts. Maybe it's an infosec policy for guys likely to get their mail subpoenaed or hit up with an FOI request, but wow.
I Lied, There is One More Final Item
The Cavaliers are
reportedly making a run at Tom Izzo. Will Izzo bite, and if so, would that be enough to keep LeBron/get the team over the hump?
Comments
I love reading the Buckeye Battle Cry. Even when I own a blog, it's a cool thing to read. I've bought the first 2, now looking for the third. Anyone who likes Ohio State blogs should really check this out. Good job Jason!
I wonder if the B10 and Pac-10 are conspirators.
Perhaps, the B10's Texas-talk was just a bluff, to make ND squirm. The Big Ten wants bigger markets. Nebraska doesn't follow that definition. But, Missouri and Rutgers (via location) and ND (via scope), certainly do:
"Is it Minutes to Midnight for the Big 12 Conference?"
by Law Buckeye from The Rivalry, Esq. on Jun 7, 2010 4:24 AM EDT
We've been relatively silent on the expansion subject for the past month and a half and the reason is simple. No real, substantiated developments have occurred, at least publicly. That all changed over the past week.
First, Dan Beebe's attempt to create a handshake consensus at the Big 12 league summit dramatically backfired after Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden refused to be pigeonholed. Then, a report from Texas' Rivals.com website Orangebloods.com announced that five Big 12 South schools and Colorado were being targeted by the Pacific 10. The report had the same effect on the league's presidents and athletic directors as a 1,000 point drop in the Dow has on investors: allegiances went by the wayside. Seemingly Lame Duck Commissioner Dan Beebe canceled a press conference where he had been scheduled to appear with Texas President William Powers -- chair of the Big 12 Board of Directors. When Beebe finally spoke, he expressed confidence in a vague "process," alleged to save the league.
At the same time The Columbus Dispatch published the results of an Ohio State FOIA request for correspondence related to Big Ten Expansion. Several e-mails between Ohio State's President Gordon Gee confirmed the Big Ten's interest in Texas but emphasized baggage in the form of Texas Tech and Texas A&M.
Still, Delaney's response was the real gold mine. Within an hour of receiving Gee's e-mail the commish responded "We are fast-tracking it but need to know the $ and observe contracts," Delany wrote. "Also need to make sure we leverage this to increase chances of hr additions. Finally double chess # of moving parts including not harming brand as we executy."
Jim Delaney understands the value of the ripple effect.
Three broken sentences say volumes about an otherwise closed process: First, the charge towards expansion is a rush and the Big Ten is moving with all deliberate speed. Second, Delaney is purposely making waves across the college football landscape by courting chaos, and encouraging other conferences to join in the dance. By inciting panic across the nation, the Big Ten can effectively force resistant target institutions (e.g. Notre Dame) from the apparent safety of the shallows and into the open water. Third, the Big Ten is thinking big big. This isn't just about nabbing a couple of minnows. The conference is after home run additions.
Yesterday morning, Pac 10 Presidents gave Commissioner Larry Scott the green light to proceed with expansion. It's not clear whether his express authority requires any additional approval before actual invitations can be extended. At the same time, the Austin American-Statesmen reported that Nebraska and Missouri were given an ultimatum by Big 12 Presidents to declare by Friday whether they were in or out. The tactic is apparently a last ditch effort to keep the young league in tact. If Missouri and Nebraska are truly risk adverse, they may decide that a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. After all, if the deadline holds fast, the schools might be in the unenviable position of having to abandon ship without lifejackets. Still, we know that Jim Tressel and Tom Osbourne met, so there's no question that the league is interested in the Cornhuskers. And, Michigan State President Lou Anna K. Simon admitted that the actions of other conferences might affect the league's original 12-18 month deadline. That means the Big Ten will do what it has to do to secure a favorable outcome. Could that mean inviting one or both Missouri and Nebraska to apply for admission as soon as this week?
I can't help but feel that the last 72 hours have been great for the Big Ten.
Texas to the Pac 10 = No Problem
I know, I know. We've had our eyes on Texas since the beginning. The Longhorns have gone from a closet pipe dream to a serious contender to a long shot and back to a possibility in less than three months. Still, despite Texas' obvious competitive and economic appeal, the reality is that an addition of the Longhorns would mark a serious departure for the Big Ten. Not only would a strange island separated by no fewer than three states suddenly appear to the southwest on the Big Ten atlas, but the conference's core Midwestern ethic would be supplanted by boots and spurs. Let's face it: fall foliage just doesn't mix with tumbleweed.
Still, I bet you want to fight for Texas. Here's the reality: The Pac 10 is the only conference that might have a better shot at the Longhorns than we do. (Yes, SEC fan, you read that right). Sure, we can guarantee more television money right now, but if Texas joined the Pac 10 they could create a Pacific Network that would include no less than 40% of the major metropolitan areas in the United States. That would certainly be profitable in the long term. Then there's the fact that the Pac 10 measures up to the Big Ten academically. That mitigates our normal trump card.
Sure, I see these all the time in East Lansing.
Not only is Texas socially and geographically more similar to Arizona and California than Ohio and Pennsylvania, it looks like they'd be able to take their rivals with them to the Pac 10. There's been no mention of accommodating Oklahoma or any of the Texas schools in our invite.
Finally, I just don't want to deal with the "Tech problem." The prospect of having to take Texas A&M, and Texas Tech to saddle the Longhorns is like getting the hottest girl in school to go with you to the prom and having her mom and dad tag along as chaperons for the entire night. Your chances of seeing her naked are zilch, just like our chances of maintaining a historic and cohesive brand with the Red Raiders in the fold.
Close your eyes and think about it for a second. Texas in the Pac 10 makes more sense and that's why if they go anywhere I think it'll be west.
But that's not the end of the world.
The More Chaos, The Better
That's because Notre Dame remains the Golden Ticket. And the more dominoes that fall (or appear to be imbalanced), the better the chances that we can "force" the Irish's hand. Now look, I'm not saying the Big Ten should maliciously wrestle a proud independent tradition from the cold bony fingers of Domer alumnae, but I am saying that if superconferences are to be the new status quo in college football, South Bend is going somewhere. It might as well be the same place they've already been hanging out for the past century.
Destiny?
If the Pac 10 goes to sixteen teams, they'll kill the Big 12 in the process. They'll only get the chance to do that if Missouri and Nebraska remain defiant. The Tigers and the Cornhuskers will only hold out if the Big Ten promises them seats at the table. That means the Big Ten is going up at least by two. But an odd number, of course, makes no sense -- so we have to assume that the conference will grab someone else. Let's say it's Rutgers for our purposes. Now the Pac 10 has 16 members and the Big Ten has 14. The SEC isn't going to sit idly by and watch their hegemony go down the drain. The Sesch will add either 2 or 4 new members, and they'll take them from the ACC. How will the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East cover their losses? Simply: by merging together.
There you have it. Four superconferences. One in the west (Pacific). One in the Midwest (Big Ten). One in the East (Atlantic). And one in the South (SEC).
Now, if NBC has the chance to sign an exclusive agreement to broadcast the action of any one of these giants do you really think it says no so it can extend its coverage of a single school? And do you really think that the BCS will continue to give deferential treatment to the Notre Dame brass when the system has to allocate a finite number of bids among four dynamic entries?
I say no. And that's why Notre Dame will be forced to join the Big Ten.
Still, is Bigger Really Better?
In the proceeding paragraphs I discussed what is likely to happen to the college football landscape if and when the Pac 10 pawn strikes. Still, let me add a word of caution.
What makes college truly special, and in many ways what separates it from the cluttered morass of professional sports, is its regional character. From the classic land-grant rivalries in the North, to the electric night lights in the South, our sport is defined through a rich web of proud generational identities. To the extent that the Big Ten and the Pac 10 expand at all, they should tailor their reach to respect regional barriers.
After all, I don't ever want to see Texas Tech representing the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. And Southerners sure as hell don't want to have to root for a school above the Mason-Dixon. Especially in the national championship game...
i love how jim delaney has such piss poor effort that gordon gee is now partially doing his job for him. while delaney sits and twiddles his fingers and riding out his power trip acting like he "doesn't need" the expansion, gordon is being proactive and trying to convince the biggest fish in the pond to come join us. i admire gee for reaching out when he didn't need to- it shows he's never content and always looks to expand the brand and better the conference in any way possible even if that means bringing in tOSU's biggest competitor. delaney is pissing down his leg and severely crippling the b10 not just for the current time, but for future generations.
$3 Chimay?
Fo real...where was this, Candyland?
Pretty chill icing there, brah.
Judging by Spencer's reaction, I'm guessing there was very little 'chill' about it.
I hope the Big Ten didn't F5 itself by handling its expansion the way it plays football - slow, pound it out, try to control the clock. Because the Pac-10 is firing shots at the end zone, the Big 12 is forcing teams to decide where their loyalties lie, the SEC may get antsy...
Saying, "We're thinking of expanding...but maybe not until 2012 will we have an idea of what we're really going to do" has forced a panic nationwide. It might very well backfire.
I've seen the debate about geography time and time again. I maintain that it is totally irrelevant these days. Not only are there not that many differences between Texas and some of the Big 10 schools, but with in the conference there are teams and cities that are much different. State College is going to be much much different than Minneapolis or Madison. I live in Kentucky, which some wrongly consider the south. But Kentucky and Ohio aren't much different. However, both are much different than Minnesota and Iowa. So within the region the Big 10 covers, there is not one particular culture if you ask me. Why would Rutgers be such a better fit than Texas? I don't blieve New Jersey is considered midwest, and I really don't care if it's bordered by a state in the big ten or not. If I had a choice I'd take Texas any day over Rutgers. I saw go for Nebraska, Mizzou, Texas/Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Pitt. Leave the riff raff from New York and New Jersey where it's at now. Those teams are a joke and would become instant bottom dwellars fighting for 12 place in a 16 team conference.
I have one more thought on Geography and then I'll be finished. Let's look at other conferences and tell me what is so similar that unifies the whole conference. The ACC Stretches from Boston to Miami. The Pac 10 goes from Seattle to Tuscon. The WAC has Hawaii literally on an island 3000 miles from it's closest competition. It seems to me that the only conferences that really care about Geography are the SEC and Big 10. Some say it's tradition, some say it's southern unity that stretches back for 150 years. I don't really know or care what the deal is, but in this day and age, you h ave to forget about geography, $$$$$ and quality football should be the 2 deciding factors.
...Or maybe this is going to work out exactly the way we wanted. Big 10 expansion ends with 1 if it is ND. Right now every team in the Big 12 is calling ND and telling them to take the B10 invite. Every team in the Big East is doing the same thing. Bruce Feldman just tweeted that ND is now on the clock with the B10. It would not surprise me to see ND accept our offer. Delaney needs to tell ND- You have once chance to join our league, if not, we are going to offer to 5 teams, none of which are you. B10 to 16, P10 to 16, SEC to 16, ACC to 16- ND left out.
Charlie, with all due respect ... you are an idiot.
You have no clue what Delaney is doing behind the scenes, and in case you can't fathom it ... Presidents & Chancellors work behind the scenes as well.
-10
+1 would work Jim jim, only IF there weren't increasing signs of other conference expansion.
Or do you really think that we would only add one if another conference, or two goes to 16?
I kind of think the whole expanding to 16 talk from other conferences is a reaction to the Big 10. If the Big 10 only takes on Notre Dame right now, I think the push for the Pac 10 to expand slows some. The SEC will have no need to expand and the Big East is still intact. I really think The Pac 10 /Big 12 joining together was a reaction to Missouri and Nebraska being "locks".
Texas prefers to remain in the B12. If Nebraska stays, Texas stays. If Texas stays nobody leaves and the B12 remains intact.
Certainly. Contrary to the way ESPN is spinning this it is the B10 that holds the cards.
You're right that a great deal of cultural/regional variation already exists within the major conferences. That's not an issue. However, travel costs are a real concern. Sending the women's gymnastics and men's lacrosse teams, etc., to Texas will entail greater travel expenses, although it would be worth it because of all the plusses Texas would bring - If (and I mean big *IF) the BT could get Texas solo, w/out the little Texas siblings.
The ACC - one of your examples - is definitely struggling with travel costs among other issues.
And I question whether a Pac 16 would be sustainable, especilaly if they get stuck with not just TT + TAM but also Baylor. Texas and Colorado might be considered "western" states, but the geographical expanse of the Pac 16 would be unprecedented even compared to ACC. Meanwhile, the Pac 16 Network could be a big flop.
Maybe when Delaney talks about phasing he is looking down the road: the BT expands to 14, waits for the Pac 16 project to implode (8 - 10 yrs down the road), then the BT gets Texas without having to add the little siblings.
The only school to generate more revenue last year than OSU was Texas. Why wouldn't they want to join forces? I'll take all 4 Texas teams anyday. Thats a revenue juggernaut.
+10 (taketh from Charlie and giveth to Jay)
I agree with your points, except if the BT can get both ND and Nebraska, I sense they'll go for it. Yes, they'll be more fallout that way, but the talk about demographics/economics shifting toward the Sun Belt probably was not just part of a ploy to prod ND. The BT powers-that-be believe that they must strike while the iron is hot. The BT would probably get lambasted as homewreckers, etc., but if they could get something like Nebraska, ND, Virginia Tech (not AAU but would move into top 50 if in BT) and (optional) two of Virginia, Mizz, Rutgers, UNC - the BT probably goes bigger.
But they are by no means determined to go 14 - 16. The BT might take Nebraska ONLY before going Nebraska + Mizz + Rutgers or some other similar package.
Maybe, maybe not. You'd have to run some numbers. Texas brings a lot, but if landing Texas means you have to add TT, TAM, Baylor, the added revenue might not be so attractive, once you factor in travel costs. Also, the BT academic leaders will not be crazy about the little Texas siblings.
Living in Chicago, I feel I need to ask which bar was selling you $3 Chimay...and is this a regular occurence?
I'm just saying that the Pac-10 didn't f'ck around with the Utahs, the TCUs, the Boise States like we thought they would...they went straight for destroying the Big 12. The Big Ten was wandering around smelling the flowers of attention, and it might get beat to the punch.
exapnsion breaks down as thus:
if programs were sex-tapes, ND would be Pam Anderson and Texas would be Kendra Wilkinson. Sure ND was once sought after, and you can see as much from the video evidence, but today...ND is worn down, infected with hep C, and irrelevantly living in a trailer park with a prestigous zipcode. Kendra is the girl of the moment. She still has looks, relevance, and flattering media attention as well as a much publicized new video to prove her best revenue generating days are ahead of her.
Based on the P10 offers I say we are obligated to go to 16. Maybe not in one step, but eventually and hopefully in a timely manner. Why waste time? Why not go get what you want right now and leave the others to react? I think its very clear that the P10 wants 16, if that is the case, then we should go to 16 as well.
best. analogy. ever.
Well, if we go PG-13 . . .
Texas is like a young Raquel Welch, with decades of appeal still ahead of her.
Rutgers is like Adriana from the Sopranos, if she had lived for another 10 years or so and had five kids with Christopher Moltisanti. Oh, no, now I'm a racist . . .
Thanks, man.
ESPN's policy seems to mandate steady jabs from its anchors and analysts, at the B10 - in part, because the network is obnoxious and because the Big Ten Network involves a rival, Fox.
Murphy's Bleachers had a 30th anniversary thing going on. When I double-checked with the bartender, his response was "Why not!" and that was all I needed to hear.
Unless we take only ND and allow the B12 to survive.
I Blame that doucher Josh Elliot. And his stupid $100 hair cut and LA homerisms.
I think ND - even to this day - attracts a bigger NYC crowd, than TX. Combine that with a burgeoning Rutgers fanbase, New York=lots of cable subscribers.
From the market share perspective, why wouldn't the B10 go for: MO (Kansas City/St. Louis), ND (Nationwide), Rutgers (NYC/Nj), Maryland (D.C./Baltimore) and...Boston College. That's forty-percent of the national audience, at least.
from a market share perspective that makes sense, from a football perspective *PUKE*
If you jump to 16 you really have to be sure that each school will benefit financially from that move. Jumping to 16 because everyone else is doesn't make sense if each schools take goes from 22 million to 18 millino or something like that. Sure added TV sets and advertising dollars will help, but to split the pie 5 more ways means they will have to really boost revenu just to keep things as they are now.
TL; DR
Swallow your pride. Why would you root for Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl but not Texas Tech? Because they fall on different sides of an imaginary North-South line?
Are the travel costs really going to be that much more? I just don't think it's that far away to go to Austin. Especially if adding the Texas schools opens the BTN up to basic cable for 30 million new subscribers. The revenue would get quite a boost from that. Advertising dollars would go up significantly, the BTN take for being on basic cable goes up. That would be more significant than adding the New York Market and 2 crappy teams from New York/New Jersey.
First, I insist that any expansion be skewed WEST. Thats the only way the greatest rivalry in sports can stay intact unlike the demist of Oklahoma v Nebraska when the B12 was formed. With that in mind... 3 west and 2 east is probably the way to go.
Missou is a foregone conclusion. They've wanted in for awhile now. Add Nebraska and ND and you've got 3 western schools. Now add Rutgers (meh) and Maryland and you've taken flagship schools from two of the largest metropolitan areas (NYC and Balt/DC).
What the fuck do we want Boston College for. They don't match the academic OR athletic profile. Plus, their greatest football star was a midget theif who stole Keith Byars' Heisman. Fuck Boston College. I'd rather take Harvard.
I don't know why people think Rutgers is going to deliever the NYC market. I just don't see it at all. Infact, I would contend that Penn State has more interest in New York than Rutgers does. I know Penn State has quite a following in Buffalo and other aeras of New York. So I'm not sure how Syracuse/Rutgers Combo gives the New York City market.
The Pac 16 deal only forces the BT's hand in terms of timing. The Pac 16 would not be a threat as proposed. All along, the BT has probably wanted Texas without its siblings and Texas has probably wanted the same, but I'm guessing it can't be arranged, A 12 team BT would be on a much stronger financial footing than a Pac 16. Yet the B12 ultimatum could force the BT to make decisions on Nebr and Mizz this week, if it's seen as a credible ultimatum.
The threat was Texas to the SEC, but I'm not sure if UT's academic people would have gone for it, and besides the SEC did not want the Texas siblings, either. Also, the SEC will still be an increasing threat if the BT expands in a way that weakens its per-insitution financial leverage, such as Mizz, Rutgers, Pitt.
Yes, the BT might stand pat if it could land ND this week, but if the BT might be prodded into committing to Nebraska now. Then, they would go beyond 12 only if they could get another big fish.
It's a longshot, but maybe enough Texas legislators will realize that they can't keep living in a dream world. The BT and the SEC don't want their 3 little siblings. The Pac 16 will fail. TT and Baylor do not belong in major conferences, but if they insist on packaging them together, the strings will end up dragging UT down. Now that I think about, that's probably good for Ohio State, though. Also, the BT holds the best cards.
interesting tidbit of new info regarding expansion
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.c...
I am sure you saw this:
http://deadspin.com/5557348/th...
Ironic that today was the day Drew officially became Buzz Bissinger.
Was that written by the adult that goes by "Balls Deep"?
Shoot, I had a comment to this..it was pretty good.