Big East Officials and ND Not Happy

[tipphill]

no empathy at all for notre dame----nuff said without profanity

 

[Jake]

Here's the thing with ND. I had heard lots of behind the scene's theories that ND was hitched to SU at SU's request when lobbying for the Big 10 last year. Now it appears we ditched them to go to the ACC and did not let them know. Thats my guess as to why ND is sorta pissed. I bet all of their scenarios had SU and maybe even Pitt tied to ND.

 

[omniorange]

Here's the thing with ND. I had heard lots of behind the scene's theories that ND was hitched to SU at SU's request when lobbying for the Big 10 last year. Now it appears we ditched them to go to the ACC and did not let them know. Thats my guess as to why ND is sorta pissed. I bet all of their scenarios had SU and maybe even Pitt tied to ND.

Or perhaps this is "faux" surprise on Swarbrick's part? The "stealth" aspect of this gives ND plausible deniability, so to speak.

The dominoes are still falling and even after they have all fallen we may never know the full truth.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[MiniCuse]

Notre Dame. They are a large part of why the BE is/was not a viable conference for the long term. Oh well. Same with BE officials who slept while their house was being robbed and then lit on fire.

 

[orangecuse]

Swarbrick's statement is quite amusing and pompous. ND's complete arrogance and greed is a huge reason why many of the BE football schools have been exploring other options for sometime. All ND had to do was commit to the BE in all sports and this does not happen. BC likely never goes to the ACC either and who knows whether ND's commitment wouldn't have gotten other -more prominent schools- to likely jump ship to the BE, i.e. Penn State, Maryland, etc. And, as Bees has eluded, ND has done/is doing the same thing...positioning themselves for their best case scenerio...

If this actually bothers ND it's because they've kind of been beaten to the punch...trumped to some extent. The reality of losing the perception that everyone (at least in the BE) will just follow their lead and be left to react to whatever they choose to do first is somewhat diminished.

The spoiled/priviledged child has just lost some of its trust fund...formerly known as the Big East...the golden child, however, will more than just land on their feet in the BiG...

 

['72 Orange]

ND can go screw themselves if they don't like anything that happens.

After all, one can argue they are the root cause of it with the long-standing, lucrative TV deal.

For years the only thing driving NDs decisions was its own financial well-being and to hell with everyone else. When some other schools have the nerve to do the same thing, ND gets their panties in a knot and scream foul! The height of hypocracy!!!
Not only can they **** in their hat, but they can also pull it down over their ears!

 

[rrlbees]

Here's the thing with ND. I had heard lots of behind the scene's theories that ND was hitched to SU at SU's request when lobbying for the Big 10 last year. Now it appears we ditched them to go to the ACC and did not let them know. Thats my guess as to why ND is sorta pissed. I bet all of their scenarios had SU and maybe even Pitt tied to ND.

Not that ND will end up in the ACC but ND along with SU had numerous conversations with the ACC over the past year which included scenarios with ND not being a full member of the ACC just like they aren't with the BE. I have no doubt Swarbick was aware of our intentions. Maybe we just didn't tell him we said yes.

 

[BleedsOrange44]

The Big East has only themselves to blame. Rejecting a $1 billion television contract as the weakest BCS conference in the sport with the biggest revenue and popularity was a big mistake and ultimately their undoing. Marinatto has a false sense of the strength of the Big East, and acts like it's the SEC football wise. SU and PITT did what they had to in order to ensure their long-term viability in athletics. The Big East failed to provide that and therefore this is the result. The Big East caused this. This was NOT a "fast one."

 

[RoysRunts]

Agree fully with O.C. If Notre Dame Football would have joined the BE Miami/VATech/BC would have stayed and in MHO possibly MD would have joined. The Conference would be Fighting off members just for a chance to play ND. R.I.P. Dave Gavitt

 

[44USMC]

For years the only thing driving NDs decisions was its own financial well-being and to hell with everyone else. When some other schools have the nerve to do the same thing, ND gets their panties in a knot and scream foul! The height of hypocracy!!!
Not only can they **** in their hat, but they can also pull it down over their ears!

Ding!!!

 

[007]

Or perhaps this is "faux" surprise on Swarbrick's part? The "stealth" aspect of this gives ND plausible deniability, so to speak.

The dominoes are still falling and even after they have all fallen we may never know the full truth.

Cheers,
Neil

Agree with this take, Neil. Not only "plausible denialibility," but also momentarily diverts some national focus of attention away from ND's culpability in the demise of the BE. It's more than a little hypocritical to cast stones like that at SU and Pitt when you live in the ultimate glass house surrounded by the ultimate golden parachute. ND is the driver's seat when it comes to the fact that they will never be left without a chair at the table if and when they want one, any one. There is no way in hell that they do not already have multiple contingency plans in place with multiple conferences. And there is no way in hell they will not negotiate that position to their maximum benefit if and when their hand is forced. The other BE schools have good reason to be very upset. ND does not, knows it, but will spin the PR.

 

[ruthetiger]

RU fan here.

Well anyone can say that this was going to happen. There's a lot of people to blame here, and really, now that I think about it, I can't fault you guys or PITT for doing this.

Marinatto, and some of the bb catholic schools are to blame, they thought that bb drove the bus, and got something else in return. It's a conglomerate of both sports. Let's face it, there was a lot of irresponsibility in all of this, and half of the blame has to go to them.

Here's what I posted on my board about this other teams self succinct decision:
"there is one school that could have prevented all of this. With the decision that this particular school remain an independent and try to reap the rewards for doing so, ND could have joined the BE (or what's left of it) outright, and made the conference formidable, but it didn't. Now, how much of ND and the rest of the conference football schools stay out in the cold remains to be seen. BUT, had ND played football in this conference, there could have been other teams, and BIG NAME teams willing to join. That's just my theory."

 

[OttoMets]

I feel for some of our Big East brethren, I really do. We've been in their shoes, and it sucks.

ND though can go **** up a rope.

Ditto. I feel bad for West Virginia, and for the Big East as a whole. Notre Dame, not so much. They contributed heavily to this mess.

 

[JoeSU]

Here is a quote from NJ.Com. I love the fact that the AD from Notre Dame even makes a comment when his school reaps the benefits of seperate television contract for football and then play hoops in the Big East.

"One person with knowledge of the Big East's thinking, who did not want to speak publicly on the topic said: "A lot of people in that that room (other Big East schools) are going to feel that Pittsburgh and Syracuse pulled a fast one. It's pretty clear they've been working with each other on this."

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick seemed to echo those sentiments in comments to a small group of reporters Saturday afternoon: "I probably had a lot of scenarios in mind and this was not one of them."

ND has nobody to blame but themselves.

 

[Marsh01]

ND can stick it up their ass. them

 

[cmr27]

SU also couldn't risk letting the politicians get into this. The stealthier, the better.

 

[fanfanclubclub]

what BS. This didn't sneak up on anyone.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

ND could have SAVED the BE by deciding to go all in, and drag in say Texas, or appeal to PSU, or hell, even go to BC. They were, as always, about themselves.

 

[rrlbees]

ND could have SAVED the BE by deciding to go all in, and drag in say Texas, or appeal to PSU, or hell, even go to BC. They were, as always, about themselves.

Yep. Now they care??

 

[orangephan]

RU fan here.

Well anyone can say that this was going to happen. There's a lot of people to blame here, and really, now that I think about it, I can't fault you guys or PITT for doing this.

Marinatto, and some of the bb catholic schools are to blame, they thought that bb drove the bus, and got something else in return. It's a conglomerate of both sports. Let's face it, there was a lot of irresponsibility in all of this, and half of the blame has to go to them.

Here's what I posted on my board about this other teams self succinct decision:
"there is one school that could have prevented all of this. With the decision that this particular school remain an independent and try to reap the rewards for doing so, ND could have joined the BE (or what's left of it) outright, and made the conference formidable, but it didn't. Now, how much of ND and the rest of the conference football schools stay out in the cold remains to be seen. BUT, had ND played football in this conference, there could have been other teams, and BIG NAME teams willing to join. That's just my theory."

This is a well known fact. ND used the BE and Texas used the B12. With power and influence comes greed and abuse. The sad truth is the BE and B12 allowed the special privalages to occur. Now the consequences are what they are. Good luck to the BE FB schools and the remainder of the B12, I hope they find a strategic solution soon and bounce back the way the BE did after the initial ACC raid. Unfortunately, change will continue to be in the wind and it's every man for themselves from here on out.

 

[orange79]

Why?

ND wants games in the NYC area against BCS teams, and both UConn and Rutgers refused to play them in the Meadowlands.

That might have to change in a hurry. If they remain in the BE, they will need games of this magnitude. No matter where they are played.

 

[SaltineWarrior]

Notre Dame has nobody to blame but themselves. They could have made this thing work, especially when a university like Syracuse BUILT the Big East (has always been a major draw in hoops, was the #2 draw in football behind Miami for years and is the only reason a Big East lax conference was considered legit). If ND was top 5 every year, then I could understand. But times have changed and they refused to get their heads out of the sand. Well guess what guys, Syracuse and Pitt and I'm sure many others don't need to subsidize your basketball and Olympic sports while our football team suffers.

 

[chakka3421]

Screw ND and UT - why do we want either of them taking the best players in each state every year? I vote not that it counts either UConn, RU, KU or Lville

 

[sufan]

Here's the thing with ND. I had heard lots of behind the scene's theories that ND was hitched to SU at SU's request when lobbying for the Big 10 last year. Now it appears we ditched them to go to the ACC and did not let them know. Thats my guess as to why ND is sorta pissed. I bet all of their scenarios had SU and maybe even Pitt tied to ND.

---------------

Good explanation: but ND's AD comments actually say more about ACC: The ACC wasn't holding its breath waiting for or begging ND to join. The ACC by inviting SU and Pitt decided its primary goal is to become a true Atlantic coast conference, north to south.


From SU perspective:

All of this apparently happened pretty fast.

SU couldn't wait till doomsday for ND to move; and unless SU and Pitt moved, the ND fans and alumni wouldn't support a move that gave up their independant status. And they still might not. Even today, it's not like ND actually wants to join a conference without special terms.

Finally, the ACC seems to fit SU a lot better than the Big 10; if ND wants the Big 10, they are fine; if they want the ACC they are fine and will find SU and Pitt there; if they want to stay with a reformulated Big whatever, they are fine.

 

[Brunco]

Is the real situation that the leaders at Notre Dame want to be in the Big Ten or ACC, but they have to wait until their alumni/donors agree? As a group can't they appreciate that ND will one day have to be in a conference? Seems like by joining the Big East before or after the 2003 raid, or working with Texas to create a new conference they could have created the situation they want to be in, under their own terms. Now to join a superconference they'll have to meet someone else's terms.