FreakTalksAboutSU
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No...not really. Anyone looking at this objectively. realistically, and logically, can understand full well that Syracuse and Pitt both made moves for the preservation of their programs, bailing on a football conference that was falling apart, probably on the verge even if they stayed of either losing their BCS bid, or at the very least, being put into some sort of arrangement with other lesser conferences in which they were forced to compete based on top finisher for that spot.
The conference was falling apart at the seams, and the leadership was doing virtually nothing to save it. The die was cast long ago. This game of musical chairs was started by Miami, BC, and VT years ago (although, admittedly, it could and should have been us then).
That said, let there be no mistaking it. Every bit if vitriol that we felt for those 3 8 years ago is now being hurled at us by all sides. We never applied true levels of logic toward the argument. Our anger was based purely on disappointment and, more specifically, anxiety over where we were going to be left in the equation.
Our move now actually, in my opinion, comes at a time when, while there is more instability, there may also be fewer destination options to consider for many programs. If I am Rutgers...there are basically the 2 spots in the ACC, or a hail mary that the Big 10 decides they want a football bottom feeder...thats IT. There is nothing else. So...if I am a Rutgers fan, I am pissed. Pissed that SU and Pitt are bailing, getting a ticket to the big time, and my own path there is questionable at best. I dont give two shits about SU and Pitt "doing what is best for their schools". Just as we didn't give two shits about BC, Miami, and VT doing the same thing. If I am West Virginia, who has been 3 times the football program we have been over the last decade, and I just saw my SEC application rejected, and I know that the ACCs academic standards make it a longish shot, I am incredibly pissed off at SU and Pitt. Why should these inferior programs get this lifeboat? While our competitive, complete program is left twisting in the wind. Why is that fair? The fact is, they have a right to be pissed. These are the same barbs we were throwing at the other 3 schools when they bailed. I can't tell you how many snarky Donna Shalala remarks I made back then.
If I am ESPN, and Dana O"Neil specifically...does it make sense to write the real article about who destroyed the Big East as it stands now, that being about the teams that left in 2003? No. Thats not the story people care about today. Thats not the glamorous story. And, frankly, why should ESPN care about that today? ESPNs cash cow when it came to the Big East is the Big East Tournament. Those 3 marginal at best Big East Schools were merely a ripple in the pond when it came to their little gem. It still went on as scheduled, and they still made their millions. But now, with 2 of the conferences 4 best hoops programs over the past decade leaving, and UConn potentially on the way out as well, the whole thing is probably over, at least in its current form. And yet we wonder why E$PN is churning out story after story, especially out of glorified lifestyle reporters like Dana O'Neil, ripping Syracuse for doing what every single level-headed school would do in this scenario?
We are Darth Vader. We are the bad guys. We need to accept it. The preservation of our own self interests has come at the expense of many others'. And we need to understand that when the shoe was on the other foot, we did not use logic to determine whether or not we would be pissed off at anyone else. We used our own bruised psyche and our own sense of shattered loyalty to get there.
We should expect no more from anyone else, particularly given this simple fact: the once lilting Big East ship is now irreparably sunk.
The conference was falling apart at the seams, and the leadership was doing virtually nothing to save it. The die was cast long ago. This game of musical chairs was started by Miami, BC, and VT years ago (although, admittedly, it could and should have been us then).
That said, let there be no mistaking it. Every bit if vitriol that we felt for those 3 8 years ago is now being hurled at us by all sides. We never applied true levels of logic toward the argument. Our anger was based purely on disappointment and, more specifically, anxiety over where we were going to be left in the equation.
Our move now actually, in my opinion, comes at a time when, while there is more instability, there may also be fewer destination options to consider for many programs. If I am Rutgers...there are basically the 2 spots in the ACC, or a hail mary that the Big 10 decides they want a football bottom feeder...thats IT. There is nothing else. So...if I am a Rutgers fan, I am pissed. Pissed that SU and Pitt are bailing, getting a ticket to the big time, and my own path there is questionable at best. I dont give two shits about SU and Pitt "doing what is best for their schools". Just as we didn't give two shits about BC, Miami, and VT doing the same thing. If I am West Virginia, who has been 3 times the football program we have been over the last decade, and I just saw my SEC application rejected, and I know that the ACCs academic standards make it a longish shot, I am incredibly pissed off at SU and Pitt. Why should these inferior programs get this lifeboat? While our competitive, complete program is left twisting in the wind. Why is that fair? The fact is, they have a right to be pissed. These are the same barbs we were throwing at the other 3 schools when they bailed. I can't tell you how many snarky Donna Shalala remarks I made back then.
If I am ESPN, and Dana O"Neil specifically...does it make sense to write the real article about who destroyed the Big East as it stands now, that being about the teams that left in 2003? No. Thats not the story people care about today. Thats not the glamorous story. And, frankly, why should ESPN care about that today? ESPNs cash cow when it came to the Big East is the Big East Tournament. Those 3 marginal at best Big East Schools were merely a ripple in the pond when it came to their little gem. It still went on as scheduled, and they still made their millions. But now, with 2 of the conferences 4 best hoops programs over the past decade leaving, and UConn potentially on the way out as well, the whole thing is probably over, at least in its current form. And yet we wonder why E$PN is churning out story after story, especially out of glorified lifestyle reporters like Dana O'Neil, ripping Syracuse for doing what every single level-headed school would do in this scenario?
We are Darth Vader. We are the bad guys. We need to accept it. The preservation of our own self interests has come at the expense of many others'. And we need to understand that when the shoe was on the other foot, we did not use logic to determine whether or not we would be pissed off at anyone else. We used our own bruised psyche and our own sense of shattered loyalty to get there.
We should expect no more from anyone else, particularly given this simple fact: the once lilting Big East ship is now irreparably sunk.
