The resulting stories have been eye-opening -- none more than a report in this weekend's Boston Globe that featured the following quote from Boston College athletic director Gene DeFilippo on the subject of the ACC's decision to poach Syracuse and Pittsburgh from the Big East: "We always keep our television partners close to us. ... TV -- ESPN -- is the one who told us what to do."

Is this surprising?

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketba...-thinks-so

Could there be a lawsuit brewing???

Listening to the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN...all they do is bash the Big East, saying they should just give up ...and that they are pathetic...all while ESPN may be one of the reasons it is in this situation.

(10-10-2011 01:45 PM)bcat80 Wrote:  Could there be a lawsuit brewing???

I hope so

I have noticed over the last few years espn broadcasts what they want to see happen. Seems they are the ones pushing conf into these mega conf. espn = what is wrong with sports.

Also the Boston Globe story that started this is now a national story although you of course won't see any mention on ESPN.

Pitt's Pres or AD was one of the lead negotiators with the 1.5 Billion Dollar offer, over the summer, to the Big East.
He is one the who recommended that the Big East hold off until November of 2012.

I don't watch that God forsaken network anymore, unless it's UC, and maybe one other game during that day I'm really interested in (and even those in the latter category are getting fewer and fewer every year).

The whole thing just puts me off anymore. If we are stuck in the BE, I pray that we take it over to Comcast.

Baylor had the balz to sue and lay out in clear terms how they were going to be damaged by all of this.......and by doing so, unbelievably, they saved the Big 12 from extinction. Baylor, K-State, Kansas, and Iowa State were on the verge of irrelevance. Now it's UC and USF.

ESPN and the ACC can deny all they want, but these are public institutions who MUST make all communications public record if requested. If the result of this is not a weakened Big East, but rather a destroyed Big East, then UC and USF should strongly consider sueing for damages. It seems like it wouldn't be too difficult to lay out a case.

The risky move was deciding to bail on ESPN's offer w/o something else contractually in hand. Rumors were that Notre Dame was "helping" connect the Big East to Comcast/NBC given their relationship there. Marinatto/Tagliabue should have moved faster to somehow get an agreement in princple in place w/ NBC that could have been used to convince schools to hang in there for the future pay day.

ESPN is scared to death that the monopoly they created is about to come crumbling down. Fox, CBS and now NBC are all trying to get into the college football world. More hands in the pot means the money for the conferences are going to shoot up.

The least surprising thing is that ESPN decided to try and kill the Big East when the Big East said thanks but no thanks to their offer. This has got to be in the same category as Insider Trading. Pitt was in a position of power in the Big East and stabbed that conference in the back. There has to be some sort of lawsuit.

ESPN fuels everything.