Gerald Turner on with Norm

[Stallion]

There are so many inaccuracies in Mexmustang's usual diatribe against Turner that it constitutes nothing more than a load of crap. The most laughable are 1) that Turner did nothing to change admission standards until the day Junseus forced SMU probably at gun-point to yield to his admission demands and 2) this crazy, loon idea that Turner secured Tulane behind the backs of the actual voting members of the Big East in a nefarious plot as head of the Television Committee

[West Coast Johnny]

Funny how people on this boad blame Tulane for the Big East problems.

[JasonB]

Don't disagree with your other arguments, but to say that Turner had the ability to pass Tulane through on his own is laughable. Tulane was voted in by a majority. Turner may have lobbied on their behalf, but the only fact we actually know is that some of the C7 have to have voted Tulane in and then left.

[Grant Carter]

Once again, to say Turner or SMU didn't have the power to push for Tulane was the issue here. He is head of the Television Committee of the conference--the most important committee to ensure the conference's survival. Pretty significant post for a school without a "vote".

The Holy Seven had no interest in lowering their RPI and no interest in Tulane--neither did a single other school. Name one. My speculation is simply SMU is the only school that could have had a personal interest in Tulane because of president's relationship with theirs.

18 years at the helm, not one basketball or football championship of any kind says it all. Beginning and end of argument!

So you just stated that your argument for Turner having been the driver begins and ends with no football or basketball championships in 18 years? That is certainly not a feather in Turner's cap but I cannot see how you make the leap that that fact offers any evidence of him ramming Tulane down the throats of an unwilling conference. Seems more like a sign that you have personal animosity towards Turner and for some reason have latched on to the Tulane argument as something to pin on him.

Why do you say that no one else in the Big East has any connection with Tulane (not that it matters)? Have you done any kind of research on this or do you just know Turner is on a commission with their president and assume there is literally no other connection between Tulane and any of the other schools in the Big East?

And again, even in your scenario where SMU and UH have the power, why do you pin the blame entirely on Turner rather than splitting it between him and the UH leadership.

[GiddyUp]

Mex has a personal vendetta against Turner thats well documented here and Rivals. To claim he is personally responsible for adding Tulane is hilarious.

[Stallion]

Tulane had played in the Metro Conference with several members of Big East-how about those connections

[EastStang]

I wonder if Mexi Stang is affiliated with UNT. Those guys seem to think we control all things.

[stc9]

My oberservations (since I cannot help but throw my ignorant two cents around):

1) If any realignment was about academics, then SMU would be banging on the door of the Patriot League begging for admission. Its not. To say other wise is disingenuous. Realignment is about money, exposure and presitge. They still speak about academics out of habit.

2) I am not a Turner fan, nor am I particularly against him. Athletics is one small part of his job that takes a disproportionate amount of time. He was slow to realize the money and prestige aspects of sports. That has cost our beloved alma mater dearly. Now that he understands, he has to fight all of the political battles to make it successful. This takes time. An athletic department that costs more money than it provides gets trumped in every politcal/money battle with the phrase, "Isn't SMU's primary goal to educate?"

3) I am sure that Turner and the other incoming presidents were asked their opinion of Tulane. If for no other reason than common courtesy - Turner was asked. The Catholic Schools had all of the votes they needed to block the invitation and they decided against doing so. Now they claim this was "the straw that broke the camels back"? That is a public relations excuse. They had all of the power they needed to stop it. Traditionally they have always voted in a block anyway. What is more likely to have happened is that somebody from a TV Network reached out to the C7. ESPN has a history of interfering with conferences and I am sure they are not alone. A big, big booster friend at BC told me that when first approached BC's AD rejected (out of hand) the addition of Syracuse and Pitt in the ACC. Executives from ESPN showed up on campus two days later and BC became the biggest champion of the new members. I find it more than likely that something similar happened here. TV execs decided they could act like KKR and slice the nBE into tiny parts and take only what they wanted, such as the C7 Hoops. Dump all of the unwanted parts back into the nBE and walk away clean.

Just my uniformed, dare I say ignorant, two cents

[bubba pony]

This story has begun to take on a different turn. I heard Turner on the radio/internet. What I hear him say is that the schools in the North East (not directly saying the BE conference) are higher in educational stature over the schools in the Mountain Time zone. That SMU exposure to this area will lure better professors; expand our reputation to an area more in line with what SMU desires over what the Mountain Time Zone could offer.

I did not hear him say the Big East Schools are educationally superior to the MWC.
He is correct: in the top 50 National Universities listed in US News and Report
most are in the Big East foot print, zero, zip, none are in the Mountain time zone

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandrevie ... iversities

[GiddyUp]

Tulane had played in the Metro Conference with several members of Big East-how about those connections

And once part of the mighty SEC

[Hoofprint]

There are so many inaccuracies in Mexmustang's usual diatribe against Turner that it constitutes nothing more than a load of crap. The most laughable are 1) that Turner did nothing to change admission standards until the day Junseus forced SMU probably at gun-point to yield to his admission demands and 2) this crazy, loon idea that Turner secured Tulane behind the backs of the actual voting members of the Big East in a nefarious plot as head of the Television Committee

And it was another post that contained inaccuracies?

[goldenstang]

The Turner-Tulane conspiracy theory is one of the more ridiculous things I've heard.

[Treadway21]

While I am sure Turner had some influence since he is tied to the hip with Tulane, stc9 ESPN theory of Cth 7 manipulation is the most plausible explanation of the Catholic schools bolting. They must have gotten an offer they could not refuse and it dilutes The basketball side for the nbe a win win for ESPN. These two scenarios are not mutually exclusive.

Remember, ESPN told BYU to go independent and off they go. ESPN pulls the strings in realignment.

[Clown College]

What always fascinates me is some of you guys' animosity towards Turner. About 7-12 of you clowns that regularly post have ever been in a relevant meeting regarding SMU athletics. The rest...meh.

You honestly think Turner doesn't get the value of our FB program? Amazing. Another fun fallacy: Turner has absolute power to make changes at SMU. This isn't UT. The athletic dept doesn't operate in a vaccuum. Some of you old pack mules who post on this site should get your dementia back to 2013 instead of 1983.

No point in arguing your specific points. If you understande above, perhaps it will frame your argumments ([deleted]) in a more plausible context. Until then, you're spilling all of your cabbage soup on your keyboard.

[Grant Carter]

The Holy Seven had no interest in lowering their RPI and no interest in Tulane--neither did a single other school. Name one. My speculation is simply SMU is the only school that could have had a personal interest in Tulane because of president's relationship with theirs.

You are right, no school besides SMU could have had a interest in Tulane and no other president could have had a personal relationship with Tulane.

Quoting from the Orlando Sentinel Article linked below. Hitt is John Hitt, the President of UCF. I could be wrong, but I read this as saying he has a personal relationship with Scott Cowen, the president of Tulane:

In another example, Hitt texted the commissioner of the Big East about interest from Tulane University in joining the conference.

"Scott Cowen at Tulane wants to talk with me about possibilities for Tulane in the Big East. Scott is a friend. Will listen and then call you. John," Hitt wrote to Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco.

Aresco responded, "This would be a big one for us, important market, great school academically, and Scott would be in our tent on the BCS revenue share matter we have to deal with as well as other things."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... ory?page=2

Just for kicks I googled John Hitt. From his wikipedia page:

Raised in Houston, Texas, Hitt graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. He continued his education at Tulane University, where he completed both his Master of Science and his Ph.D. by 1966. He would stay at Tulane, where his career as an assistant professor began.

Obviously he has no connection with Tulane at all and only Gerald Turner has any connection with Tulane as you stated.