MIZZOU COULD SAVE THE BIG-12 OR PUT IT OUT OF IT'S MISERY & WHY IS TRASHING AN ICON THE GOAL OF SO MANY WRITERS?
Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star made an excellent point in his column today. Mizzou could force the Big-12 to get it's act together or by leaving for another conference, they could effectively wreck it. It's about time someone forced the hand of Texas & OU, they've bullied the rest of the conference for far too long. The Big-12 is the only major conference that doesn't practice equal revenue sharing. The Longhorns have the largest sports budget in college sports & they are intent on making that gap even wider. If the Tigers can force real stability into the remaining nine-team conference, they should be able to attract 1-3 more teams with little trouble. The TV deal they've negotiated with ESPN/ABC & FOXSports require a 10-team league. Plus there's a real possibility the BCS would remove the conference's automatic bowl bid. But here's another example of Texas' arrogance, they don't want TCU in the conference, they'd rather not compete in-state for athletes who want to play in the Big-12. With A&M leaving, Texas' recruiting should improve, like it was a problem before.
If Mizzou bolts the Big-12, this conference will need to recruit 2 new teams & they'll know coming in, Texas has everything their way. Not a big selling point & realistically, the conference becomes the Big-3, Texas, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State. Exactly when do the ego & money-driven administrators at Texas catch on that no one is going to take their crap anymore. The Longhorn Network is precisely the reason nearly every university president in the PAC-12 told conference commissioner Larry Scott, "thanks but no thanks." Mizzou has taken the stand & as Mellinger wrote in his piece, they should be celebrated for standing up to Texas & forcing their hand.
This conference has a storied history, part of that history is gone now, Nebraska & Colorado, part of the old Big-8, got sick of Texas' shenanigans & paid the exit fee to leave. This has long been an excellent basketball conference too, college hoops just wouldn't be the same. Much of Missouri's defiance began with coach Gary Pinkel's comments last week. For all the crap I gave him for freezing kicker Grant Ressel in Tempe, I'm behind him all the way on this issue. He said the Big-12 was "embarrassing" & "we all know the source of the problems." University President Brady Deaton made it clear last week he wasn't sold on staying in the conference "as long as some of our differences cannot be settled. We have to look out for what's best for Missouri." He's right, it's way past time for this conference to shape up or just fold it's tent. I think we're going to know what the future is within a week.
What does it say about our society when every other biography about a deceased celebrity or athlete is an exercise in character assassination? It is so easy to do, speak to a few people, especially folks who didn't care for the person. It's easier when they're no longer around to defend themselves or to refute the authors version. One such book will hit the shelves next week, "Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton." Penned by Jeff Pearlman, who's written numerous other hit piece books. I read a large excerpt from the book & I have to say it made me ill. What purpose does it serve, 12 years after Payton's death from cancer of the bile duct, to purposely trash someone's reputation? Is Pearlman's goal to not only wreck Payton's legacy, but hurt his million's of fans as well? Why else would he write this book? Oh yeah, for money, no one's reputation is safe when we're talking about money. I'm not going to go into all the dirt Pearlman has written about the Bears' Hall of Fame running back, if you want to read it, be my guest. The Walter Payton Award is given annually to the player who most exemplifies Payton's unselfish work in the community. So many people held Payton in such high esteem, a close friend of mine calls Payton his favorite player of all time. So Joe's image of Payton will be forever tarnished. What purpose does that serve?
Maybe most of what Pearlman puts in his book is true, but how many people were thirsting for a lot of negative stuff about one of their heroes? To give you an idea of Pearlman's writing, catch these titles:
"Love Me, Hate Me - The Unauthorized Biography of Barry Bonds"
"The Bad Guys Won - A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-Chasing & Championship Baseball with the '86 Mets."
"The Rocket That Fell to Earth - The Roger Clemons Story."
See a pattern here? There are no heart-warming stories, nothing but character assassination. I'm not defending his subjects, they're still alive, they can defend themselves. But not Payton. Asked if he worried about the damage this book could do to Payton's children Pearlman said:
"I sure do, it hurts me this book will hurt his kids. It really does because Jarrett & Brittany are wonderful, fun, caring, engaging people & they're really uplifting people in the Chicago landscape. That said, I set out to write a definitive biography, period."
So kids be damned, this is about me & money. I read a decent sampling of the book in Sports Illustrated & there's not a chance in hell I'd spend a dime to read this book. I don't expect people to lie when they write a biography, but I say again, what purpose does it serve to trash someone's reputation, long after they're gone, even if some of it's true? Why? Is our society really hungry for the TMZ/trainwreck/tabloid-type of journalism? Must we know everyone's private business? I realize I'm showing my age. But in these rocky economic times, I want something more positive & fulfilling in my spare time than one of Pearlman's trashy biographies....... you know.......... like watching the Chiefs. Oh God, I am sick.
If Mizzou bolts the Big-12, this conference will need to recruit 2 new teams & they'll know coming in, Texas has everything their way. Not a big selling point & realistically, the conference becomes the Big-3, Texas, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State. Exactly when do the ego & money-driven administrators at Texas catch on that no one is going to take their crap anymore. The Longhorn Network is precisely the reason nearly every university president in the PAC-12 told conference commissioner Larry Scott, "thanks but no thanks." Mizzou has taken the stand & as Mellinger wrote in his piece, they should be celebrated for standing up to Texas & forcing their hand.
This conference has a storied history, part of that history is gone now, Nebraska & Colorado, part of the old Big-8, got sick of Texas' shenanigans & paid the exit fee to leave. This has long been an excellent basketball conference too, college hoops just wouldn't be the same. Much of Missouri's defiance began with coach Gary Pinkel's comments last week. For all the crap I gave him for freezing kicker Grant Ressel in Tempe, I'm behind him all the way on this issue. He said the Big-12 was "embarrassing" & "we all know the source of the problems." University President Brady Deaton made it clear last week he wasn't sold on staying in the conference "as long as some of our differences cannot be settled. We have to look out for what's best for Missouri." He's right, it's way past time for this conference to shape up or just fold it's tent. I think we're going to know what the future is within a week.
What does it say about our society when every other biography about a deceased celebrity or athlete is an exercise in character assassination? It is so easy to do, speak to a few people, especially folks who didn't care for the person. It's easier when they're no longer around to defend themselves or to refute the authors version. One such book will hit the shelves next week, "Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton." Penned by Jeff Pearlman, who's written numerous other hit piece books. I read a large excerpt from the book & I have to say it made me ill. What purpose does it serve, 12 years after Payton's death from cancer of the bile duct, to purposely trash someone's reputation? Is Pearlman's goal to not only wreck Payton's legacy, but hurt his million's of fans as well? Why else would he write this book? Oh yeah, for money, no one's reputation is safe when we're talking about money. I'm not going to go into all the dirt Pearlman has written about the Bears' Hall of Fame running back, if you want to read it, be my guest. The Walter Payton Award is given annually to the player who most exemplifies Payton's unselfish work in the community. So many people held Payton in such high esteem, a close friend of mine calls Payton his favorite player of all time. So Joe's image of Payton will be forever tarnished. What purpose does that serve?
Maybe most of what Pearlman puts in his book is true, but how many people were thirsting for a lot of negative stuff about one of their heroes? To give you an idea of Pearlman's writing, catch these titles:
"Love Me, Hate Me - The Unauthorized Biography of Barry Bonds"
"The Bad Guys Won - A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-Chasing & Championship Baseball with the '86 Mets."
"The Rocket That Fell to Earth - The Roger Clemons Story."
See a pattern here? There are no heart-warming stories, nothing but character assassination. I'm not defending his subjects, they're still alive, they can defend themselves. But not Payton. Asked if he worried about the damage this book could do to Payton's children Pearlman said:
"I sure do, it hurts me this book will hurt his kids. It really does because Jarrett & Brittany are wonderful, fun, caring, engaging people & they're really uplifting people in the Chicago landscape. That said, I set out to write a definitive biography, period."
So kids be damned, this is about me & money. I read a decent sampling of the book in Sports Illustrated & there's not a chance in hell I'd spend a dime to read this book. I don't expect people to lie when they write a biography, but I say again, what purpose does it serve to trash someone's reputation, long after they're gone, even if some of it's true? Why? Is our society really hungry for the TMZ/trainwreck/tabloid-type of journalism? Must we know everyone's private business? I realize I'm showing my age. But in these rocky economic times, I want something more positive & fulfilling in my spare time than one of Pearlman's trashy biographies....... you know.......... like watching the Chiefs. Oh God, I am sick.
I don't understand the interest in garbage. Why are the shortcomings of others interesting? I think it's really sad people are more interested in trashing someone like Walter Payton than celebrating either of the Medal of Honor winners from the past year. You never heard a damn thing about them 5 days after they received their medals, but raking Walter Payton over the coals is considered interesting? How G. D. sad is that? When this passes for journalism, it shows how far our society has fallen.
And Rich, watching the Chiefs can be harmful to your health as my wife reminds me every Sunday.
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I'm not naive enough to doubt some of what Pearlman has written isn't true about Payton, but I just don't understand why dredging all this negativity up 13-years after his death accomplishes anything. I posted on another site I hoped Walter's children, Jarrett & Brittany, write a tell-all book about Pearlman. What goes around..........
What's ridiculous about Pearlman is he is shocked at the terrible feedback he & the book has received. He'll only be truly shocked if it doesn't sell very well, he doesn't give a damn about Payton, his children or anything that could interfere with book sales.
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