"Longhorn Network" To Televise Two Texas Games, Not Just One
by Husker Mike on Jul 7, 2011 12:53 PM CDT
in Conference Realignment
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It didn't take long for the "lovey dovey" relationship between the remaining Big XII schools to start to disintegrate. On Tuesday, ESPN announced that they were subletting ABC's rights to televise a Big XII game to the Longhorn Network, thus giving LHN two Texas games this season.
And the second game will be a Big XII conference game. LHN had previously announced plans to televise the Texas/Rice season opener on September 3rd. Now, it appears that one of Texas' home games against Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, or Baylor will end up on LHN as well. And while ESPN is required to make their "best effort" to get the game televised near the campus of the visiting team, there is no guarantee. And for college football fans outside of that visiting teams' campus, there is only one option to watch the game. Subscribe to the Longhorn Network. (Or just cut out the middleman, and make your check payable directly to DeLoss Dodds.)
Isn't this the type of rule gaming that Husker fans have criticized about for years regarding the Big XII?
Two weeks ago, Daily Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel tried to paint Nebraska as the true source of discord in the conference. Today, he admits that, well, Nebraska fans were right all along. It was interesting reading the takes from around the conference last week, as many seemed to be very content with Nebraska's departure. If not downright thrilled. (I loved the idea that one Kansas City Star writer thought that Nebraska was leaving because they were struggling with Iowa State.) It was a completely different take from the rest of the college football world; take for example, this "Memo from Dan Beebe" by South Carolina's SEC blog "Team Speed Kills."
How do you explain this disconnect of opinions?
It finally struck me earlier this week. It's not so much revisionist thinking, but rather a mild form of Stockholm Syndrome. When people are held captive, they become dependent on their captors and tend to develop positive emotions towards them. In the case of Texas, the other schools are grateful that Texas chose to remain... and thus, the Big XII is happily continuing their existence under Austin's control. Oklahoma wasn't willing to escape Texas. Texas Tech wasn't. Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, and Iowa State can't. Deep down, Missouri wishes they could, though they now know better.
And thus, we now have situations like this, where the rules of the game change to benefit the interests of Texas. It's been the rule of the Big XII ever since the conference formed, and will continue as long as Texas wants it to. That's the reason why Nebraska moved to the Big Ten. While yes, it could be argued that the Big XII is fine now, if Texas changes their mind, that situation changes faster than the weather. And when the opportunity opened up for Nebraska to find a more stable arrangement last year, Nebraska jumped at the opportunity. (And deep down, most of the Big XII schools probably would do the exact same thing, if they only could.)
You all know what's coming next. "We told you so."
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Man.
What kind of a douche is Barry Tramel? As for the whole Texas screwing everybody over(again) thing and them all finally realizing it:
Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like someone just walked over your grave.
Okay - Question totally unrelated to this story...
…How do I delete BHGP from my Blogs?? I have been a bad boy and they banned me from their site. lol. Yes, pathetic, I know. On their part for sure. Ha Ha.
Sucks to be a little sister in the little 12
but no one can say they didn’t ask for it.
Don't Forget
Only ONE week ago, Berry Trammel also said “Nebraska fans are insufferable” and that Husker fans have “a complex about being mistreated…. it’s all nonsense”
Hope the Big XII has fun paying Texas to watch it’s own teams’ games. Good riddance.
this is very poorly made
But regarding the Stockholm syndrome, I threw this up at rockmnation when they were discussing something similar. (and huskerfanclub, I’m yumtoad there)
Google's homepage celebrates too much shit.
It's sad really
The Big 12 holding together and putting together it’s own network would’ve been good for all teams, and frankly a fun thing to be a part of. Unfortunately he who has the gold gets to make the rules and Texas has the gold. Glad we got out when we did.
"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne
And we're surprised because?
Well, this wasn’t exactly a, “I never saw that coming!” moment, but it still shows why we left when the opportunity presented itself. While I do not think that we are completely faultless in this entire saga (I believe it was Osborne himself who said that our good ol’ Nebraska U was trying to start its own network a la Texas) we now at least have the position to look down on them and say told you so.
It’s all about the Benjamins, right? And that’s why I think we need to kinda let it go at this point. I mean, I want to see Texas lose (often) as much as the next person, but we did the same thing Texas is doing, we followed the money. If ESPN would’ve approached TO and said, “Look, here’s $300 million, just sign on to us for the rights,” would he have turned that down? I truly feel bad for the old North brethren because they’re getting screwed in this deal.
As for solidarity, then. Let’s be real. We had outs. I know that. You know that. KU? KSU? ISU? Not so much. They were doing what was best for them, and that’s not a bad thing.
As for Trammel? He writes what gets a rise out of fans. He is usually trash, and even when he’s insightful, he tends to recant or invalidate it all within the week. Even Oklahoma fans seem disenchanted with him.
by KennardHusker on Jul 7, 2011 3:26 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
We're Surprised Because
Berry ranted on and on about how “lovey dovey” everything was with us gone! So I for one am absolutely shocked, I tell you. Shocked!
"What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion." Thoreau
by UltimaRatioRegum on Jul 7, 2011 6:53 PM CDT up reply actions
Well said
Kansas would be an interesting expansion target (their basketball team generates football level revenue which offsets the fact that their football team generates less revenue than Iowa basketball). As long as KState is tethered around their neck it won’t matter though.
I agree here that the story is not that Texas is evil and that they did what everyone else would do. My opinion is that the real story here is the fact that people are surprised about this. Sorry but how thick can you be to not see this coming? If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want a glass of milk. If you give Texas their own TV network, they are going to want more games on it to increase its’ value.
No there weren’t a lot of options for the North schools, but it doesn’t change how idiotic it is for them all to suddenly act like nobody saw this coming. The schools involved are going to bend over and take it until the next school that can decides to leave and they have to sweat out another expansion. It isn’t healthy for anybody (except maybe Texas) and probably won’t end well (unless your Texas). No it isn’t the Longhorn’s fault for seeking out the best deal, but you have to wonder about the other schools who handed the Horns the keys to the kingdom and seem to just now be realizing the implications of that.
http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/
by KC_HAWKEYE on Jul 7, 2011 8:19 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Exactly
There is a perception that Texas just throws its weight around for the hell of it. I don’t think that’s it at all. In a world where collegiate sports at the D1 level are becoming more and more competitive, expensive, and really central to success on both the academic and athletic level, you gotta do what you gotta do. We here in Nebraska know this firsthand. Look at what UNO did by gutting their football and (national championship) wrestling team for a chance to make a few extra dollars. I don’t knock ’em for it, I just shake my head because that was a necessary evil in the long run.
I hate Texas sports because they beat us all the time. That’s pretty much where it stems from. If they made $300 million, forced us out of the Big XII, and we beat the crap out of them year in and year out, well, I wouldn’t care about them or their stupid network (and by the way, it is ridiculous. how many dumb ads do we need on ESPN during the CWS. I get it. Texas has its own network). We tend to tie these two together as if they actually are connected.
I am, however, worried about what happens next. These are the precepts to bigger problems across the entire landscape. So Texas gets away with it this time. Great. What do you think Moneybags Byrne is thinking over at aTm? How about the boys at Missouri? While we all knew this would happen, the dominoes are teetering and all it will take is one for this to be another giant free-for-all.
by KennardHusker on Jul 7, 2011 8:47 PM CDT up reply actions
Well
I don’t agree with the UNO analogy, all reports seem to indicate that they had better options and that losing the wrestling and football squads wasn’t the best choice. If they think UNO basketball is going to drive the bus revenue wise then maybe, but having your only two generator sports playing at the same time (basketball, hockey) seems like a really bad business move.
As for aTm and Mizzou, they and Oklahoma would be my top candidates to jump ship (don’t think for a second Oklahoma isn’t watching the Pac 12’s media rights grab and thinking what a potential move could mean. The thing is, it isn’t up to those schools. The real balance of this thing is controlled by the other conferences who have the choice to expand or not expand. The longer they wait, odds are the more likely schools in the Big XII will be more ready to accept any deal that gets them out from under the Longhorns. As long as nobody is looking to expand they are fine, but if it happens the league is going to be ripe for the picking.
Not that it matters to Texas. They can do just fine as an independent should it all fall apart, but the heads that are going to roll are going to be the ones from the smaller schools who helped enable this whole debacle. In a sinister way, I am ok with the idea of KState one day being relegated to the Mountain West but I worry about Iowa State (I respect their fan base for sticking it out but they would be lucky just to find a I-A conference to pick them up based on their weak revenue and bad geography). This is what they asked for though, so if they choke on it that is their problem.
http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/
Regarding UNO...
If you are talking about the espn report, realize what they mentioned as “missed revenue” were actually student fees allocated to the program. I think Alberts made the right call in not thinking that is was a dependable source of revenue. (or that he shouldn’t depend on it anyway)
Not to mention that the “economist” on the story is actually a guy PhD in Business Admin who works for a law firm, which is very different than an economist that is active in research. He trying to drum up business, not trying to be objective.
Google's homepage celebrates too much shit.
Not quite
The ESPN OTL report was terrible and the economist and his firm actually happen to be on my list of bogus sources that ESPN uses for stories. They are the same “experts” who get quoted as saying the BCS would make more money as a playoff yet provide no data to support that claim. They are media whores, nothing else.
What I was referencing was the OWH articles which questioned whether cutting wrestling was actual a necessity and the general logic behind cutting a football program that clearly has booster support. It seems like a fiscally shortsighted move since both programs seemed to be popular and had revenue generating potential. Cutting them to make an improvement on sports with less revenue generating potential is a bad business move.
Also, nobody is going to say this, but it is a Title IX nightmare. Title IX requires you treat both genders equally and cutting opportunities for men’s sports without cutting women’s programs (I am not sure if they did) would be really bad if they were originally operating in compliance with Title IX. It is possible that it will all work out (Title IX is not strictly enforced anyway so there are numerous loopholes with which to climb through) but I am betting if you asked anyone who was involved with Title IX they would tell you that this is not in the spirit of the rule.
http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/
by KC_HAWKEYE on Jul 8, 2011 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
UNO had much fewer outs than it seems
ESPN sucked on that report, and UNO sucked even worst in replying (or choosing not to reply) to it. While it sounds like a bad business move to have only two generator sports, they were realizing the logistics of having a football team here in Omaha was probably not going to work long term. Trust me, I’ve been to UNO games (for free as a student because no one went) and they were… well, they were a bit quiet. Moving to D1 would have required not only more scholarships to compensate the football team, but UNO has been under ridiculous scrutiny for Title IX compliance (or lack thereof). They would have needed to add additional women’s sports and the costs involved with that as non-generating would have been brutal.
As for wrestling… Well, that could have been avoided, but it’s truly non-generating and moving to a conference without wrestling would mean splitting up the conference ties a la Big East schools. It was a decision made out of ease in that case. Still, like I said before, this is all business now. Hockey will make money, especially if they build an arena on campus (which they will, and I will buy season tickets and watch UNO host B1G schools who have no idea why they are playing hockey in Omaha). Basketball can make money because it’s leaner to run and the guaranteed games are easier to come by (who won’t want to play AND destroy an easy out? RPI be damned, you gotta have early season games).
You do bring up an interesting point. I don’t think any of these teams have power either. The Pac-? will expand again eventually because their commissioner is crazy. The Big East proves geography is an overrated idea, and the SEC won’t let everyone else push them around. The Big XII fix won’t be longstanding, and if TV ratings go down (no offense, Texas-Kansas every year isn’t the ratings boom they were hoping for when FOX signed on), stuff will change.
by KennardHusker on Jul 8, 2011 10:05 AM CDT up reply actions
I should have waited
A lot of what I said in my previous reply is covered here.
Still, I find it hard to believe that the transition to Div. 1 was worth it. Hockey already competed on that level, and adding D. 1 opponents in basketball probably won’t cover the hit they are going to take from losing donors loyal to football and wrestling. Dropping football makes some sense, but it had the most growth potential. No it wouldn’t be an easy job, especially in a small state with a major program down the road, but it could be done.
Wrestling may not be a major revenue generator but they really missed the boat on that one. I don’t buy the lack of conference opponents argument. Lot’s of schools wrestle outside their conference and it would be likely that the Big XII would be willing to tab UNO for wrestling given that there are only four programs left in their conference. Throw in home in homes with teams like Iowa who will actually send traveling fans and you have plenty of opportunities to generate fan interest and revenue. If the program is competitive (which based on their pedigree should be expected) Wrestling may never be a major revenue generator but given how competitive UNO has been there is a great shot it could have at least been self-sustaining.
In short, I am not sure if the move to Div. 1 is going to be worth it long term for UNO and even then it doesn’t seem to justify them dropping wrestling.
http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/
No, you're probably right
I had some friends who played/have played sports at UNO, and this whole move is pretty devastating (minus the hockey team… they couldn’t care less). My gut feeling is that the wrestling move was a vendetta more than anything (Trev never seemed to like the coach and vise versa), but football in Omaha was never really going to grow. The biggest hit to donors is probably Sokol, but he’s going to go down in a ball of flames for screwing Buffet, so yeah…
Trashing wrestling was not only a bad idea, but a horrible PR move. It wasn’t necessary, and minus the fact that it was relatively easy (not a ton of collateral damage there), it did not make Mr. Alberts look very good. He’s always been a bit arrogant (ESPN anyone?), and this very well could bite him later. Still, I think Omaha wants to be good at something, and they’ll get behind basketball like they’ve gotten behind hockey (controversial when it started). There’s definitely an air of “we’re better than Lincoln” in Omaha that will parlay into blindly supporting bad ideas. And hey, I think it was Northwest Missouri State that got a SHINY NEW WRESTLING TEAM out of the deal.
by KennardHusker on Jul 8, 2011 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions
It was Marysville University in St. Louis...
…that got the wrestling program.
I don’t have any ins to the program, but the numbers I’ve seen were pretty damning to the football program. Namely, UNO football was being outdrawn by high school teams and no matter what they did, they couldn’t draw more than 3,000 people except when Kearney or Northwest Missouri State came to town. It’s not all UNO’s fault… not when Nebraska football is playing at all hours of the day on Saturdays making it impossible to set a time that doesn’t conflict regularly with a Husker game.
As for wrestling, while Mike Denney didn’t endear himself to anybody in charge, in the end, it was a bad fit for a division 1 athletic program. UNO likely could only support one non-Summit League sport. So which one stays: football, wrestling, or hockey. Football was losing well over $1 million a year. Wrestling was losing a little bit of money, but would have needed additional funds if they went D-1. Hockey is already D-1, is the school’s highest visibility program, and at it’s worst, is a break-even proposition. (And looking at the future, appears to be poised to be a big money maker.)
Did this change make Trev Alberts look bad? To wrestling backers, yes. But there are some big changes afoot with hockey that’s making Alberts look very smart.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want a glass of milk
Well, I can now cross ‘If you give a Mouse a cookie’ off my list of things I’d never expect to see referenced in a college sports blog.
I watched Air Force One over the weekend
The reference in that movie is probably what made me think of it.
http://victorypolka.blogspot.com/
I think that most of us have let it go.
Or at least fundamentally don’t really care. Its more of a schadenfreude thing now. I rather enjoy thinking that the forgotten four have succumbed to “hook’em skelter”. Do I really think that they are state school versions of Patti Hearst? No, but I hope so.
Google's homepage celebrates too much shit.
I'll Just Refer To My "Farewells And Adieus" Fanpost
http://www.cornnation.com/2011/6/30/2252705/farewells-and-adieus
Paddle faster, I hear banjos!!
Props to Dave
On ESPN blog – “Is this an example of trickle down economics?”
HA
"What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion." Thoreau
by UltimaRatioRegum on Jul 7, 2011 6:56 PM CDT reply actions
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
To those who wouldn’t listen then (everybody except Texas) but are perking up now:
Told you so.
Nana nana nana boo boo, stick your head in doo doo.
No texas is are friend right??
this sounds or reminds me of that toxic relationship that you saw in high school and everybody warned that guy/girl that the other person was bad n will cause problems in the long run. of course that person ignores it and the signs until its too late…….
they might as well cause this conference the blind12 or texas ten.
by Jae Dread-head Danso-Danquah on Jul 9, 2011 6:51 AM CDT reply actions
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