Well, it didn't happen as I was afraid it would. The Big Xll, minus Colorado and Nebraska, is still in tact thanks to commissioner Dan Bebe and to Texas for deciding to stay.
Texas would not be able to have its own TV network if they had joined the PAC 10. They will be able to do that by staying. It makes sense also for parents of the student-athletes not having to travel to Oregon or Washington to watch their kids play. Texas and Oklahoma will still have their "Red River War" rivalry, one of the fiercest rivalries in all of College Football. To me , their are more positives for keeping the Big Xll in tact than not. A 16 team conference just doesn't make sense.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Dismantling of Big Xll Has Begun
About 14 years ago, the old Southwest Conference, which included Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Texas Tech, SMU and TCU was broken up. Just about every school in that league had been cheating by breaking NCAA rules left and right. SMU and TCU went there separate ways, eventually ending up in the WAC and Mountain West respectively.
The old Big Vlll Conference which included Kansas, Oklahoma, OK St., Iowa St., Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas St. and Colorado merged with Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor to form the current Big Xll back in 1996. Now, the Big Xll is headed to join the Southwest Conference as ancient relics of college athletics. Nebraska has decided to join the Big 10, making it the Big 10 + 3. Colorado is joining the PAC 10, which is poised to add Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, OK St. and Baylor making it the NCAA's first ever 16 team conference.
So what does Kansas, Kansas St., Iowa St. and Missouri do? Texas A&M is considering joining the SEC. The Mountain West Conference, who added Boise St to the fold over the weekend, is also courting the Jayhawks, Wildcats, Cyclones and, perhaps, the Missouri Tigers. This will certainly improve the MWC as a basketball conference. The addition of Kansas and K St. along with New Mexico, BYU and Utah. The MWC is a better football conference for Boise St. It gives them more legitimacy in the eyes of the BCS, as if they really needed more legitimacy. The new PAC 10 as a basketball conference would certainly be improved on with the arrival of the Longhorns, Bears, Cowboys and Sooners to go along with the traditions of UCLA and Arizona, and a solid Washington program.
But here is my question. Why won't the Big Xll fight for its survival? It has been a very successful conference. In football, its members, such as Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas have played for the National Championship numerous times and have won the trophy at least twice in the decade. They've also had tremendous success as a basketball conference reaching the Final Four and winning a national title (Kansas) in 2008. If its about money and the large television markets, they have the Dallas / Fort Worth area, Houston, which is the fourth largest market in the country, St. Louis, Kansas City, San Antonio and Denver. I guess that's not enough.
I would like to see the Big Xll fight to survive. Why not try to grab TCU away from the MWC, or UTEP from the WAC, or Tulsa from Conference USA. They could at least be a decent basketball conference if not football. It seems as if this came on so sudden and out of nowhere. That's impossible, however. This has been talked about for a long time, probably at least 5 to 10 years. The Big Xll is doomed, but it was a tremendously successful conference. I hate to see it go.
The old Big Vlll Conference which included Kansas, Oklahoma, OK St., Iowa St., Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas St. and Colorado merged with Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor to form the current Big Xll back in 1996. Now, the Big Xll is headed to join the Southwest Conference as ancient relics of college athletics. Nebraska has decided to join the Big 10, making it the Big 10 + 3. Colorado is joining the PAC 10, which is poised to add Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, OK St. and Baylor making it the NCAA's first ever 16 team conference.
So what does Kansas, Kansas St., Iowa St. and Missouri do? Texas A&M is considering joining the SEC. The Mountain West Conference, who added Boise St to the fold over the weekend, is also courting the Jayhawks, Wildcats, Cyclones and, perhaps, the Missouri Tigers. This will certainly improve the MWC as a basketball conference. The addition of Kansas and K St. along with New Mexico, BYU and Utah. The MWC is a better football conference for Boise St. It gives them more legitimacy in the eyes of the BCS, as if they really needed more legitimacy. The new PAC 10 as a basketball conference would certainly be improved on with the arrival of the Longhorns, Bears, Cowboys and Sooners to go along with the traditions of UCLA and Arizona, and a solid Washington program.
But here is my question. Why won't the Big Xll fight for its survival? It has been a very successful conference. In football, its members, such as Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas have played for the National Championship numerous times and have won the trophy at least twice in the decade. They've also had tremendous success as a basketball conference reaching the Final Four and winning a national title (Kansas) in 2008. If its about money and the large television markets, they have the Dallas / Fort Worth area, Houston, which is the fourth largest market in the country, St. Louis, Kansas City, San Antonio and Denver. I guess that's not enough.
I would like to see the Big Xll fight to survive. Why not try to grab TCU away from the MWC, or UTEP from the WAC, or Tulsa from Conference USA. They could at least be a decent basketball conference if not football. It seems as if this came on so sudden and out of nowhere. That's impossible, however. This has been talked about for a long time, probably at least 5 to 10 years. The Big Xll is doomed, but it was a tremendously successful conference. I hate to see it go.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wooden Among Greatest Coaches / Managers Ever
Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said. Last Saturday, the sports world, yea the world in general, lost perhaps one of the greatest men to ever live. John Wooden, who won 10 NCAA National Championships while coaching at UCLA, died at the age of 99.
Perhaps even more important than his success on the court was the success in the lives of his players. Ask anyone of them; Bill Walton, Marcus Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabar and the Rev. Doug Mcintosh, a member of Wooden's first championship team. Rev. Mcintosh happens to be the Father of a friend of mine, Tim Mcintosh. They will all tell you of the profound, positive influence that he made on their lives far beyond Basketball.
The success that Wooden achieved on the court was staggering. Not only did he win 10 national titles at UCLA, he went through a period where his teams won 88 straight games. He is right up there with the great coaches and managers at any level, any sport and on any continent.
Name all of the great coaches at the armature or pro level: Don Shula in the NFL, Phil Jackson and Red Aurbach in the NBA, Joe Torre of the Yankees, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno in College Football., Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. Wooden is right up there with all of them. In fact, several college and professional coaches from other sports, such as New York Giants Head Coach Tom Caughlin, sought his advice.
John Wooden is famous for his proverbs such as "Be quick, but don't hurry", "You play like you practice", "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail", and several more. He is known for his famed "Pyramid of Success".
We just didn't lose a legendary coach, we lost a legendary human being.
Perhaps even more important than his success on the court was the success in the lives of his players. Ask anyone of them; Bill Walton, Marcus Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabar and the Rev. Doug Mcintosh, a member of Wooden's first championship team. Rev. Mcintosh happens to be the Father of a friend of mine, Tim Mcintosh. They will all tell you of the profound, positive influence that he made on their lives far beyond Basketball.
The success that Wooden achieved on the court was staggering. Not only did he win 10 national titles at UCLA, he went through a period where his teams won 88 straight games. He is right up there with the great coaches and managers at any level, any sport and on any continent.
Name all of the great coaches at the armature or pro level: Don Shula in the NFL, Phil Jackson and Red Aurbach in the NBA, Joe Torre of the Yankees, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno in College Football., Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. Wooden is right up there with all of them. In fact, several college and professional coaches from other sports, such as New York Giants Head Coach Tom Caughlin, sought his advice.
John Wooden is famous for his proverbs such as "Be quick, but don't hurry", "You play like you practice", "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail", and several more. He is known for his famed "Pyramid of Success".
We just didn't lose a legendary coach, we lost a legendary human being.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Expansion: College Football Musical Chairs
I never thought it would come to this. The PAC-10 wants Texas, Oklahoma, OK. St., Texas Tech, Colorado and , I believe, Baylor to all join their conference. The big 10 wants Nebraska and Missouri, and Kansas, Kansas St. and Iowa St. may be "homeless".
This 21st Century version of "Land Grabbing" is ridiculous! Isn't college football fine as it is? Except for the fact that we don't have a playoff, Div. 1-A Football is fine as it is. It's exciting. You have the top conferences like the SEC, Big Xll and Big 10 rise to the top every year. You have non-BCS schools like Boise St. and TCU who go toe to toe with and even beat those schools in the BCS. Do you need a 16 team conference. It's all for money just like everything else in life. All 16 teams won't even be able to play each other, so you may still not get an accurate assessment of how good the conference's top team is. The PAC-10 and Big 10 are trying to loot the Bi9g Xll because they cant deal with the fact that, in football at least, they are both mediocre. You don't have what you want so, instead of working for it like the other guy did, you try to steal it from him. this sounds like what our current government is trying to do.
From what I hear from the "experts", it all depends on what Texas and Nebraska do. Supposedly, the Big 10 has given Big Red until 5 pm this Friday to decide whether or not to join the Big 10. If Texas decides to jump to the PAC 10, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, OK St. will follow, so they say. Creating 16 team conferences is a bad idea. Many corporations in the past tried to monopolize an industry such as the Aircraft industry. In the past, the government broke up the monopolies for the sake of fair competition. Would the government try to do this again if the PAC 10 and Big 10 are able to loot and destroy the Big Xll by taking their teams? I'm not in favor of expansion. Twelve teams in one conference is enough. That's my opinion and I welcome yours.
This 21st Century version of "Land Grabbing" is ridiculous! Isn't college football fine as it is? Except for the fact that we don't have a playoff, Div. 1-A Football is fine as it is. It's exciting. You have the top conferences like the SEC, Big Xll and Big 10 rise to the top every year. You have non-BCS schools like Boise St. and TCU who go toe to toe with and even beat those schools in the BCS. Do you need a 16 team conference. It's all for money just like everything else in life. All 16 teams won't even be able to play each other, so you may still not get an accurate assessment of how good the conference's top team is. The PAC-10 and Big 10 are trying to loot the Bi9g Xll because they cant deal with the fact that, in football at least, they are both mediocre. You don't have what you want so, instead of working for it like the other guy did, you try to steal it from him. this sounds like what our current government is trying to do.
From what I hear from the "experts", it all depends on what Texas and Nebraska do. Supposedly, the Big 10 has given Big Red until 5 pm this Friday to decide whether or not to join the Big 10. If Texas decides to jump to the PAC 10, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, OK St. will follow, so they say. Creating 16 team conferences is a bad idea. Many corporations in the past tried to monopolize an industry such as the Aircraft industry. In the past, the government broke up the monopolies for the sake of fair competition. Would the government try to do this again if the PAC 10 and Big 10 are able to loot and destroy the Big Xll by taking their teams? I'm not in favor of expansion. Twelve teams in one conference is enough. That's my opinion and I welcome yours.
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