ESPN Matches NBC's Offer For Big East

[PonyKai]

Analysis: Big East TV Will Be Where It Needs to Be

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... n/1938503/

"When the deal finally gets signed, and it really could be any minute now, the told-you-sos and revisionist histories will be easy to find because no matter how much of the Big East's misfortune in conference realignment was its own fault, sportswriters rarely pass up the opportunity to pick off such low-hanging fruit.

So yes, as the Big East closes in on a media rights contract - likely with ESPN, for a reported $22 million annually - prepare for another round of snarky stories about how the league turned down a $130 million deal from the same company just two years ago.

That narrative, of course, presumes taking the ESPN deal in 2011 would have prevented the departures of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, followed by West Virginia, then Louisville and Rutgers and ultimately the seven Catholic non-football schools. It seems unlikely, but we'll never know for sure. And so whether the Big East is a victim of horrible luck or gross mismanagement no longer matters, really, because this is what it is today: The sixth-best conference that will have to earn its way on merit, fighting it out with the Mountain West, Conference USA, the MAC and the Sun Belt for one lucrative spot in the new playoff system that arrives in 2014......"

[EastStang]

One good thing is that once we're part of the ESPN family, they won't continue to have the incentive to #%34# us over. They engineered the ACC raid of the BE.

[SMU_Alumni11]

I'm so glad we are not going to be the POS liberal channel known as Nothing But Crap. I'm not huge fan of ESPN so my hope is we get shipped off to fox sports 1 l!

[whitwiki]

Because politics and football are so closely related...

[SMU_Alumni11]

Because politics and football are so closely related...

Sadly closer than they should be...

Bob Costas and his lecture of why the second amendment should be abolished, deciding where Tim Tebow is allow to go to church etc etc... It's why fox sports and Espn have such high ratings... CBS is going down the tube as well

[Stallion]

ESPN, Big East and others confirm that Contract with ESPN is official

[RGV Pony]

Adab

[CA Mustang]

Bob Costas and his lecture of why the second amendment should be abolished, deciding where Tim Tebow is allow to go to church etc etc...

If that's a demonstration of your grasp of the "facts", then nothing else needs to be said.

[East Coast Mustang]

Alumni11, please let the grown ups discuss this without your political commentary. It's not like Fox News is going to start showing Thursday night games after the O'Reilly Factor

[Oldmins]

Bob Costas and his lecture of why the second amendment should be abolished, deciding where Tim Tebow is allow to go to church etc etc...

If that's a demonstration of your grasp of the "facts", then nothing else needs to be said.

And your grasp of the "facts" tells us that....?

[CA Mustang]

Bob Costas and his lecture of why the second amendment should be abolished, deciding where Tim Tebow is allow to go to church etc etc...

If that's a demonstration of your grasp of the "facts", then nothing else needs to be said.

And your grasp of the "facts" tells us that....?

He has a unique interpretation of those two events.

[GiddyUp]

Back on topics, I say we get really [deleted] off at Pitt & Cuse & Georgetown. They lobbied hard to reject the old ESPN offer and then promptly jumped ship. Had the Big East accepted it, nothing would have changed- save for the Big Priest not bailing on the conference. Same teams would have left, same teams would have joined, and we'd be sitting on a pile of money (relatively speaking). I say, fu*k Cuse, Pitt, and Georgetown.

True - the rejectors are gone and leave the rest with crap

[RGV Pony]

Cya thread

[Stallion]

When did SMU start graduating kids that have no idea who George Will is? May need to revamp the curriculum again. Do I want to get into a political debate with someone who doesn't know who George Will is? Hmm-I think I'll pass!!!

[Clown College]

What's wrong with a philosophy degree?