MIKE GARRETT HAS TO GO, BOISE ON THE MOVE, JETS SLASH PRICES & HOW DID IT ALL GO WRONG FOR THE BIG-12?
** UPDATE @ 4:20PM CDT
Today is Black Friday, Bad Day at Black Rock, no T.G.I.F. to be sure. Way too much negativity going on right now. Nebraska had their regents meeting this afternoon & it's clear, they're leaving for the Big-10. Chancellor Harvey Perlman said today "this will bring Nebraska the stability the Big-12 cannot." Athletic Director Dr. Tom Osborne added a direct salvo aimed directly at Texas "One school leaving a conference doesn't break up a conference. Two schools leaving a conference doesn't break up a conference. Six teams leaving a conference breaks up a conference & that's the threat we've had to face for some time now" Osborne added. The Longhorns & commissioner Dan Beebe both released statements ignoring Nebraska's departure, instead reiterating their desire to "keep the Big-12 intact." If you believe that crap from Texas A.D. DeLoss Dodds or Beebe, I think you should seek professional help.
Texas A.D. DeLoss Dodds
When the NCAA started off their 67-page report on all the things USC did wrong, in the first paragraph the words "lack of institutional control" jumped off the page. With all the free cars, airline tickets, limos, hotel rooms, furniture, appliances, a rent-free home & cash flowing to Reggie Bush, no one at USC saw anything wrong? With movie stars roaming the sidelines at practice, Snoop Dog a regular in the Trojan locker room as well as shoe company guys strolling in, no one at USC saw anything wrong? The statements made by former coach Pete Carroll yesterday were absurd, he fails to take any responsibility, he never mentions Reggie Bush by name, just basically that the NCAA overreacted. The punishment was unusually harsh, I'll go along with that, but I think it was to show the rest of the college sports world that even the "Big Boys" have to play by the rules. Reggie Bush released a ridiculous statement in support of his old school, the school that was instructed in writing to ""dis-associate the school from Reggie Bush." He knew full well of most of these violations because he was on the receiving end of this treasure. The crowning touch to this exercise in zero accountability was athletic director Mike Garrett, who spoke last evening regarding the sanctions from the NCAA. To say Garrett was defiant is a real understatement, but they should be his last comments as an employee of the University of Southern California. He started off with "As I read the decision by the NCAA, I read between the lines & there was nothing but a lot of envy. They wish they all were Trojans." The zero accountability continued with "I felt invigorated by this stuff, with the penalty we got today I know we're bigger than life." Garrett finished his short pep talk to boosters with "today I got a purpose for really wanting to dominate for another 10-years." Zero responsibility, zero accountability & zero clue. Mike Garrett, former Heisman Trophy winner, former Kansas City Chiefs running back & if there is any justice, former USC athletic director.
The expected move of Boise State into the Mountain West Conference was delayed a few days, but it happened today officially. The Broncos, 13-0 last season, will join the conference on July 1, 2011. This was a smart move, with the impending demise of the Big-12, an automatic BCS qualifying conference, the Mountain West can now challenge for that vacated BCS guaranteed slot. With the addition of another winning program after the Big-12 implodes, they could cinch that bid.
The New York Jets have slashed prices on the unsold PSL's. They are still holding 9,000 of the peaky licenses required to buy a season ticket. Because of this "fire sale" on the remaining 9,000 seats in the lower deck, they are going to refund the money on the other 9,000 seats season ticket holders have already paid full pop for, a smart move. Most of these seats are in the endzones.
The Raiders have signed DE/DT/NT John Henderson to a 1-year deal today. This is a smart move & the price is right. I don't understand what happened with his visit to Kansas City last month, he just fell off the radar until he surfaced today in Oakland. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop out west, seems like the Raiders are doing a lot of smart things since the end of last season which is certainly out character for them of late.
Chad Ochocinco continues to dance & date, anything but play football & Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer is growing tired of it. He's missed every OTA this season in addition to all of the off-season conditioning program. Palmer commented yesterday "it sure would help if we had our #1 receiver here, working, learning, helping the team get better." Chad defended himself on ESPN yesterday, saying if Palmer would call him, they could work out their differences. Why the hell should Palmer have to call him?????? Is Chad a football player or a quasi-celebrity? Only Chad can answer that question, but I suspect I know what it is.
I told you yesterday Charger GM A. J. Smith was looking for a veteran wide receiver in the event starter Vincent Jackson continues his contract holdout well into training camp. Today he did what he said he would do, signing 9-year veteran Josh Reed, formerly of the Bills. Tho not in Jackson's class as a receiver, he has 311 lifetime receptions & 10 touchdowns always as a third or fourth receiver.
As I was writing yesterday's post, I had Jim Rome on the TV & one of his guests was Bear's linebacker Brian Urlacher. Considering the snarky remarks he made in reference to Bear Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, Rome asked him if he regretted the comments. Urlacher leaned back in his chair, grabbed his foot & shoved firmly into his mouth with "I shouldn't have said what I did, but nothing I said wasn't true." As I snapped my head around to see the TV, I caught a glimpse of Rome's expression, it was of disbelief. Urlacher continues to tarnish his image with Bear fans with his contempt for Sayers. When other Hall of Fame former Bears, like Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka & Dan Hampton, offer their advice to Urlacher, which always includes the words 'shut-up', he just digs himself into a deeper hole. I always thought he was an exceptional player with a good head on his shoulders, but with each comment, I question that insight.
How does a lesser conference derail a better one? One with better TV revenues, one that has played for the BCS title 7 times in 12 years? A conference that can boast 4 Heisman winners & 7 runner-ups in it's 14 years of existence. A conference that has 17 BCS Bowl appearances over the last ten years. How does this happen? Let's start with extremely poor leadership, an intimidated leadership, scared to stand up to 3 of the 4 teams that joined the Big-8 in 1996 making it the Big-12. A conference that was originated in 1907 as the Big-6 with Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas & Colorado. In less than 3 hours, Nebraska has scheduled a press conference to announce their move to the Big-10 & that should trigger five of the South Division teams to move to the PAC-10, the lesser conference I spoke of earlier. With USC in the toilet for a few years & the California budget crisis, the PAC-10 needed an influx of football power & money, the Big-12 helped with the PAC-10's "bailout." In 2007, the Big-12 was offered a deal to start their own network, a deal that would have boosted revenues dramatically but Commissioner Dan Beebe & the Texas threesome(Texas, A&M & TTech) wanted no part of it, just too risky, the way the TV revenues were cut up, they got bigger shares than everybody else except Oklahoma anyway, so why take a chance. They convinced 2 other members to vote against it & the proposed Big-12 network was no longer discussed. The Big-10 took that risk in 2008 & that foresight paid off in a big way, $22 million last year per school in football revenues alone. That's $22 million for each team, an equal split, what a concept! Missouri earned slightly more than $9 million last year from their 'lesser share'. The Big-10 splits their TV revenue equally as I said, so does the SEC & the conference's overall TV revenue is way more than the Big-12's. Why? Well both have larger population bases, but fewer teams. Bottom line is the Big-12 is going to dissolve very soon & instead of being absorbed, they should have been the ones dictating realignment, dealing from strength. But the powers that be made bad decision after bad decision & now a few are left holding the bag in a very embarrassing way. Tell me how Texas Tech is in anyway superior to Missouri or Kansas as an institution of higher learning or as an athletic force in college sports? How about A&M? The PAC-10 takes Colorado which just lost 4 football scholarships due to their APR(academic performance rating) being the lowest in Division I football, their players don't go to class & when they do, apparently get little out of it. What both Tech & A&M have all over Mizzou & Kansas is Texas likes playing them every year, that's it in a nutshell. If the Big-12 were to survive, after the expected loss of Nebraska, the TV revenues would probably slide & Texas would want to keep the same share they have now, so everybody else(outside OU, TTech & A&M) would have even less to divide than they have right now. It's a crime what has happened to the Big-12 & I hope the castaways will learn from it. Allowing the Texas foursome to be absorbed by the Big-8 & then giving them 'everything' to make them happy was a poor choice by the members of the Big-8. In essence, they gave away their conference, a conference that was started in 1907. And soon it will be wrecked beyond repair.
Today is Black Friday, Bad Day at Black Rock, no T.G.I.F. to be sure. Way too much negativity going on right now. Nebraska had their regents meeting this afternoon & it's clear, they're leaving for the Big-10. Chancellor Harvey Perlman said today "this will bring Nebraska the stability the Big-12 cannot." Athletic Director Dr. Tom Osborne added a direct salvo aimed directly at Texas "One school leaving a conference doesn't break up a conference. Two schools leaving a conference doesn't break up a conference. Six teams leaving a conference breaks up a conference & that's the threat we've had to face for some time now" Osborne added. The Longhorns & commissioner Dan Beebe both released statements ignoring Nebraska's departure, instead reiterating their desire to "keep the Big-12 intact." If you believe that crap from Texas A.D. DeLoss Dodds or Beebe, I think you should seek professional help.
Texas A.D. DeLoss Dodds
When the NCAA started off their 67-page report on all the things USC did wrong, in the first paragraph the words "lack of institutional control" jumped off the page. With all the free cars, airline tickets, limos, hotel rooms, furniture, appliances, a rent-free home & cash flowing to Reggie Bush, no one at USC saw anything wrong? With movie stars roaming the sidelines at practice, Snoop Dog a regular in the Trojan locker room as well as shoe company guys strolling in, no one at USC saw anything wrong? The statements made by former coach Pete Carroll yesterday were absurd, he fails to take any responsibility, he never mentions Reggie Bush by name, just basically that the NCAA overreacted. The punishment was unusually harsh, I'll go along with that, but I think it was to show the rest of the college sports world that even the "Big Boys" have to play by the rules. Reggie Bush released a ridiculous statement in support of his old school, the school that was instructed in writing to ""dis-associate the school from Reggie Bush." He knew full well of most of these violations because he was on the receiving end of this treasure. The crowning touch to this exercise in zero accountability was athletic director Mike Garrett, who spoke last evening regarding the sanctions from the NCAA. To say Garrett was defiant is a real understatement, but they should be his last comments as an employee of the University of Southern California. He started off with "As I read the decision by the NCAA, I read between the lines & there was nothing but a lot of envy. They wish they all were Trojans." The zero accountability continued with "I felt invigorated by this stuff, with the penalty we got today I know we're bigger than life." Garrett finished his short pep talk to boosters with "today I got a purpose for really wanting to dominate for another 10-years." Zero responsibility, zero accountability & zero clue. Mike Garrett, former Heisman Trophy winner, former Kansas City Chiefs running back & if there is any justice, former USC athletic director.
Before I climb down from my soapbox, let me throw a big shoutout to Pete Carroll & Reggie Bush. Both are making millions of dollars, suffering little ill from the crimes they allowed/perpetrated on USC. Both claim their deep loyalty to Trojan nation, yet neither suffer any consequences from what USC is now facing. Pete Carroll is among the top-5 paid coaches in the NFL & Reggie Bush won a Super Bowl ring & received an $8 million roster bonus this past March. Where's the downside? A damaged reputation? Think they care? For Bush, he could lose his Heisman Trophy. Vince Young finished second to Bush in the voting, could he be given the award? I doubt it, but he certainly deserved it. Young got the ultimate revenge for not winning the Heisman, he almost single-handedly beat the Trojans in the BCS title game. The BCS will wait until USC's appeal is heard & ruled on until they convene to decide whether or not to vacate the 2004/2005 BCS national title. The other players from that team will now have a championship ring that is meaningless thanks to the selfish acts of a few. Please don't lecture me on the "look at all the money Reggie Bush made for SoCal theory." He made a deal, he offered his athletic skills to USC & the university offered a good college education in return, plus he could be groomed for the NFL if he was talented enough & worked hard. How many college football players play pro football? Less than 1%. I know many, many people who had their college education paid for by an athletic department somewhere. Many of those people went onto to success in business, medicine, law etc. Don't tell me USC owed him anything other than what he received from them, educational opportunities & a nationally ranked football program to excel in, excellent prep for the NFL. The whole thing turns my stomach. This guy has very little credibility, same goes for his former coach, they're parasites, admittedly very rich parasites, but parasites nonetheless. Parasites that are glorified, looked up to, thought of as role models at one time. I hope all the adoration they received is tempered now that the facts are known.
The expected move of Boise State into the Mountain West Conference was delayed a few days, but it happened today officially. The Broncos, 13-0 last season, will join the conference on July 1, 2011. This was a smart move, with the impending demise of the Big-12, an automatic BCS qualifying conference, the Mountain West can now challenge for that vacated BCS guaranteed slot. With the addition of another winning program after the Big-12 implodes, they could cinch that bid.
The New York Jets have slashed prices on the unsold PSL's. They are still holding 9,000 of the peaky licenses required to buy a season ticket. Because of this "fire sale" on the remaining 9,000 seats in the lower deck, they are going to refund the money on the other 9,000 seats season ticket holders have already paid full pop for, a smart move. Most of these seats are in the endzones.
The Raiders have signed DE/DT/NT John Henderson to a 1-year deal today. This is a smart move & the price is right. I don't understand what happened with his visit to Kansas City last month, he just fell off the radar until he surfaced today in Oakland. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop out west, seems like the Raiders are doing a lot of smart things since the end of last season which is certainly out character for them of late.
Chad Ochocinco continues to dance & date, anything but play football & Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer is growing tired of it. He's missed every OTA this season in addition to all of the off-season conditioning program. Palmer commented yesterday "it sure would help if we had our #1 receiver here, working, learning, helping the team get better." Chad defended himself on ESPN yesterday, saying if Palmer would call him, they could work out their differences. Why the hell should Palmer have to call him?????? Is Chad a football player or a quasi-celebrity? Only Chad can answer that question, but I suspect I know what it is.
I told you yesterday Charger GM A. J. Smith was looking for a veteran wide receiver in the event starter Vincent Jackson continues his contract holdout well into training camp. Today he did what he said he would do, signing 9-year veteran Josh Reed, formerly of the Bills. Tho not in Jackson's class as a receiver, he has 311 lifetime receptions & 10 touchdowns always as a third or fourth receiver.
As I was writing yesterday's post, I had Jim Rome on the TV & one of his guests was Bear's linebacker Brian Urlacher. Considering the snarky remarks he made in reference to Bear Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, Rome asked him if he regretted the comments. Urlacher leaned back in his chair, grabbed his foot & shoved firmly into his mouth with "I shouldn't have said what I did, but nothing I said wasn't true." As I snapped my head around to see the TV, I caught a glimpse of Rome's expression, it was of disbelief. Urlacher continues to tarnish his image with Bear fans with his contempt for Sayers. When other Hall of Fame former Bears, like Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka & Dan Hampton, offer their advice to Urlacher, which always includes the words 'shut-up', he just digs himself into a deeper hole. I always thought he was an exceptional player with a good head on his shoulders, but with each comment, I question that insight.
How does a lesser conference derail a better one? One with better TV revenues, one that has played for the BCS title 7 times in 12 years? A conference that can boast 4 Heisman winners & 7 runner-ups in it's 14 years of existence. A conference that has 17 BCS Bowl appearances over the last ten years. How does this happen? Let's start with extremely poor leadership, an intimidated leadership, scared to stand up to 3 of the 4 teams that joined the Big-8 in 1996 making it the Big-12. A conference that was originated in 1907 as the Big-6 with Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas & Colorado. In less than 3 hours, Nebraska has scheduled a press conference to announce their move to the Big-10 & that should trigger five of the South Division teams to move to the PAC-10, the lesser conference I spoke of earlier. With USC in the toilet for a few years & the California budget crisis, the PAC-10 needed an influx of football power & money, the Big-12 helped with the PAC-10's "bailout." In 2007, the Big-12 was offered a deal to start their own network, a deal that would have boosted revenues dramatically but Commissioner Dan Beebe & the Texas threesome(Texas, A&M & TTech) wanted no part of it, just too risky, the way the TV revenues were cut up, they got bigger shares than everybody else except Oklahoma anyway, so why take a chance. They convinced 2 other members to vote against it & the proposed Big-12 network was no longer discussed. The Big-10 took that risk in 2008 & that foresight paid off in a big way, $22 million last year per school in football revenues alone. That's $22 million for each team, an equal split, what a concept! Missouri earned slightly more than $9 million last year from their 'lesser share'. The Big-10 splits their TV revenue equally as I said, so does the SEC & the conference's overall TV revenue is way more than the Big-12's. Why? Well both have larger population bases, but fewer teams. Bottom line is the Big-12 is going to dissolve very soon & instead of being absorbed, they should have been the ones dictating realignment, dealing from strength. But the powers that be made bad decision after bad decision & now a few are left holding the bag in a very embarrassing way. Tell me how Texas Tech is in anyway superior to Missouri or Kansas as an institution of higher learning or as an athletic force in college sports? How about A&M? The PAC-10 takes Colorado which just lost 4 football scholarships due to their APR(academic performance rating) being the lowest in Division I football, their players don't go to class & when they do, apparently get little out of it. What both Tech & A&M have all over Mizzou & Kansas is Texas likes playing them every year, that's it in a nutshell. If the Big-12 were to survive, after the expected loss of Nebraska, the TV revenues would probably slide & Texas would want to keep the same share they have now, so everybody else(outside OU, TTech & A&M) would have even less to divide than they have right now. It's a crime what has happened to the Big-12 & I hope the castaways will learn from it. Allowing the Texas foursome to be absorbed by the Big-8 & then giving them 'everything' to make them happy was a poor choice by the members of the Big-8. In essence, they gave away their conference, a conference that was started in 1907. And soon it will be wrecked beyond repair.
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