John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Thinking out loud…and wondering if true loyalty lies anywhere except in the form of a check book…
• Et tu, Notre Dame? Just sayin’…
• If the Fighting Irish feel their athletic future lies on the eastern seaboard with largely southern schools after 17 years in the Big East, great. The ND brand has lost some national luster through the years, especially in football, and I can certainly understand the move since they already have ACC football schools scheduled. But send them out now (rather than wait the league-mandated 27 months), make them pay through the nose for it (3x the $5 million fee sounds about right), and the remaining eastern schools in Hockey East should seriously consider kicking them out as well. Or, risk being jilted at the altar, too. What? You don’t think the ACC is contemplating hockey? Bet on it…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST• The Irish departure does hurt the Big East from a national perspective. Especially since the negotiating window just opened up for the league in its media rights negotiations with ESPN – and perhaps others. ND’s move does not affect football, per se…but it sure could in the coming weeks and months. The ACC now has 15 members, they have said they’re done at 15…but how can they be trusted? There are schools on their knees…right UConn?
• Three things that bother me about Notre Dame’s move…one, the timing – I know they needed to do this now, since the Big East is negotiating new media rights…and they did not want to guarantee they would remain a part of that new deal. They couldn’t. The timing could not be worse for the schools they’re leaving behind, however. Two, the Irish athletic department has always maintained the reason they wanted to stay in the Big East was for their Olympic and non-revenue sports. What changed, or were they lying? And three – UConn, Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati…they’ve all got to be looking for another landing spot, don’t they?
• Can’t help but think here’s what changed – after listening to ND athletic officials speak this week…they’re trading SMU, Houston and UCF for North Carolina, Duke and Georgia Tech. That’s not a slap at anyone – it’s simply reality…
• I did get a small chuckle, however, over the announcement on Wednesday when the ACC’s Council of Presidents said this – “We are committed to keeping the Atlantic Coast Conference a vibrant and competitive league dedicated to ensuring the appropriate balance of academics, athletics and integrity.” North Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorpe, who leads this distinguished group, is embroiled in his own academic fraud scandal on the UNC campus – and presided over Notre Dame’s welcoming news conference…
• Are here is the great “unsaid.” There are many within the Big East (coaches, schools, administrators) who are glad ND is gone, and certainly don’t believe this is a big hit. Why? Partly because the Irish no longer occupy a Big East bowl “slot” for football. The Irish will now take that away from an ACC school, as part of their new deal. Picture this – a choice between 6-6 Notre Dame or 8-4 Boston College? Who do you think a bowl goes with? Notre Dame is now the ACC’s “problem.” Be careful what you wish for…
• Additionally, you can make an argument that incoming Big East schools Memphis, Temple and even Houston add to the hoop picture as much as Notre Dame. Even ND coach Mike Brey said as much a year ago…
• Former CBS college hoop broadcaster Billy Packer told USA Today “it’s basically over,” when asked about the Big East. Hey, welcome back from the dead yourself, Billy…
• While Big East commissioner Mike Aresco’s job may have just gone from tough, to Mission Impossible, he has certainly said the right things in the aftermath. He’s shown leadership, and a little competitive fire.
• Not for nuthin’…but if there were ever a time for the Big East’s smaller, Catholic schools to band together and scream “enough!” it might be now. They’re feeling the ND departure more than anyone else, because they simply enjoyed the rivalry. To thine own self, be true…
• Which is ultimately what Jim Calhoun decided. If Notre Dame’s Brutus-like exit wasn’t enough, Big East tradition took another hit with the retirement of UConn’s hall-of-famer. You have to believe that seeing what he’s seen happen recently in the league, coupled with his battles with cancer and his bike accident (resulting in a broken hip) this summer HAD to have an effect on him…
• This season will truly be a swan-song in the Big East, for many reasons. Jim Boeheim and Syracuse depart, Pittsburgh follows, Jim Calhoun steps down, ND steps out. As for Calhoun, his career has been memorable for so much more than the three national titles…turning a smallish, Yankee Conference school into a national power. Six OT’s against Syracuse in 2009 – a game I called for national radio. What a memory…my throat still tightens when I think about that one. Calhoun also had one, memorable (albeit R-rated) moment after a loss to PC in 2004…
• Calhoun’s legacy in New England – in college basketball overall – is unquestioned. He delivered relevance to Northeastern, he delivered prominence to UConn. He commanded respect, and earned it as well. Coach Calhoun would have been tremendous as a military field general. A Hall-of-Famer in every sense of the phrase. Kevin Ollie was a good player for him a little more than a decade ago, and he may have been a good assistant on the bench. But he was only there two years. Ollie, and the program, is facing a mighty big fall – having to live up to this legacy with a cupboard that is half empty…
• Speaking of field generals…it hasn’t gained the attention it probably should have, but the job done by Arnie Beyeler in leading the Pawsox to the International League title – only the second in franchise history and the first since 1984 – is a remarkable story. And a remarkable job done by the manager. 69 different players coming through the McCoy clubhouse this season? Injuries, rehabs, trades. And yet they still managed to win on the field? All future excuses for losing have now just been blown out of the water…
• A great TV moment occurred in Wednesday night’s Red Sox-Yankees’ game. No, no big hits, or runs scored, or strikeouts. It was the moment Dustin Pedroia learned his wife Kelli was going into labor with their second child...
• It was also the same night Bobby Valentine set the Red Sox single-season record for managerial ejections, with six…but really, who could blame him?
• Here’s what it’s really all about. This is what the Red Sox have received in return for the final four years of the six-year Daisuke Matsuzaka contract: 17 wins, a 5.52 ERA, a 1.52 WHIP. For $37 million. Matsuzaka, Lackey, Beckett. Boy, the Red Sox really know pitching…
• It sure makes sense (and cents) to put the Red Sox “out there,” to see what they could fetch in the marketplace. Even though a Fox Business report this week said John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group were quietly shopping the team, Henry denied any funny business was going on. I suppose they take us all for rubes then, considering they just dumped a quarter of a billion dollars from the payroll…and continue to charge the prices they do…as the team continues to stink it up as much as it does. They’re just mad someone figured it out…
• Baltimore’s Orioles now have their first non-losing (as in “winning”) season since 1997, after their 3-game sweep of Tampa Bay this week. 14 straight losing seasons? Hey, Sox fans may think they have it bad this year…but, no…
• The Patriots’ win over Tennessee was Tom Brady’s 125th of his career as a starter, and he reached the milestone in the fewest starts (160) in NFL history. The previous mark was held by Peyton Manning (184). Brady’s 125 wins are the fifth-most in NFL history among starting quarterbacks, passing Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton (124) and trailing only Brett Favre (186), Hall of Famers John Elway (148) and Dan Marino (147). Pretty good company…
• Loved this largely overlooked tidbit from Logan Mankins this week - "The fans are always pumped up for the first game," Mankins said, before adding in a tell-us-what-you-really-think way: "They're always pretty quiet for the preseason, which I don't blame them."
• Troy Brown gets his due Saturday as he is inducted into the Hall at Patriot Place. The consummate Patriot, who embodies just about everything we’d like to see in our professional athletes…class, integrity, ability, a willingness to do whatever it takes to win…and a sense of humor. Bingo!
• Anyone see Chicago QB Jay Cutler scream at one of his linemen for missing a play in the Bears’ loss to Green Bay Thursday night? And did anyone see a lineman scream back at Cutler for throwing four interceptions?
• A spot-on Tweet this week from former Score compatriot and The Sports Hub’s Scott Zolak: @ScottZolak “(Tyler) Seguin here for less than 40 mill for next 6 years...wow, 2 youngest stars in this town (Gronk) locked up for a long time...now that's value” Couldn’t agree more. Smart business moves made by the Bruins this week…and the Pats over the summer…
• Although, if the NHL and its players don’t agree to go back to work…how much value could there really be? Hockey doesn’t seem to fear the fans’ coming back…so it’s easy to shut it down for a year, if they have to…
• Talk about reality TV…last Monday night on WWE Raw, Jerry “The King” Lawler suffered a heart attack – while the show was in mid-match – and had to be revived on the spot. Fortunately, he is recovering, thanks to the quick attention paid to him by ringside doctors…
• Savannah State has been a convenient whipping post for teams like Oklahoma State and Florida State so far in this college football season…to the point of controversy, as they rake in big paychecks and subject their athletes to 84-0 losses and being 70 point underdogs. But you want to know why they do it? Ask Arkansas State. This week, they’re guaranteed $1 million to play at Nebraska – the highest guarantee ever paid to an opponent in Lincoln. Stupid is as stupid does? Nope…
• Good thing it’s guaranteed. My buddy Statbeast sez it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, in money or love…like the friend who asked his wife if she could learn to love him, and she asked how much he was willing to spend on her education…
• Syracuse University just announced they have met – and surpassed – their goal of raising $1 billion, all but $28 million earmarked for academic needs and concerns. So, athletics was shut out? Is this why they made the money-grab move to the ACC? Way to be true to your school…
• Loyalty is money, and money means loyalty. There simply wasn’t going to be enough for Notre Dame in a revamped Big East for them to be happy. Best guess? They didn’t want to take the chance that a new deal wouldn’t bring in what they feel they deserve, even though they have their own network (NBC) still in place. Moving for academics? For their Olympic sports? YAWN...
• The Big East had been rumored to be contemplating a name change, and while that idea has been dismissed by the conference, I did see a funny one suggested this week – the All Coast Conference – since the new league will feature teams on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Hey, the ACC has some Big East teams in it, the least they can do is share the name…
• Our mailbag question/comment this week comes from Susan in Orange, TX via Facebook: On the Notre Dame move to the ACC - “What do you think of this, John?” Susan: Previously in this space, when much of the shifting of the landscape in college athletics was taking place a year ago, I mentioned the Big East should force Notre Dame to commit in ALL sports, or get out. Show some loyalty, or leave. In effect, that’s exactly what happened this week. But because the Irish took off, rather than be shown the door, perception of the Big East is poor…when it shouldn’t be. ND’s move this week really matters little in the bigger picture, except in the court of public opinion. The move to the ACC doesn’t affect Big East football, except to give them a potential additional bowl slot…and as we’ve all come to know…football drives the monetary bus in college sports these days. Big East basketball and several other sports may feel the hit somewhat, but the Fighting Irish didn’t exactly set the league on fire. Good, yes. Elite? No. Will they be missed? Probably not…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @jrooke0722…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
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