The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(10-05-2015 08:17 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(10-05-2015 08:10 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(10-05-2015 04:12 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I hope this puts an end to the complaint (and I know it won't) "Why don't they pick up the phone and schedule so and so." "It's ridiculous that we have such a weak home schedule. They should schedule bigger names"

You can't schedule them if they won't play you.

That's fine. Haase needs to stop making one of his talking points playing a tough schedule then.

Win the C-USA Tourney or bust.

That wasn't Haase who said it. It was Wilbrun. In the video in the other thread, Haase's explanation is more realistic. He said that because we finished strong and have so many returning players, no one wants to come here. He said it is a testament to the program they are building that people wanted to play them when he first got here and now it is harder to schedule.

This isn't just a Haase problem. It was a Davis problem, it was a Anderson problem, it was a Murry problem and even a Gene problem.

It's also a problem with schools like Gonzaga, Wichita State etc.

Wichita state doesn't have a schedule that looks like ours. My problem has never been with getting or not getting power 5 schools to bartow, it has been not getting games with other schools in our situation. Load the schedule with teams that will likely finish inside the top 150. It's a good way to play the rpi game, and it gives you a shot at some decent, if not great wins.

(10-05-2015 06:42 PM)rook360 Wrote:  

(10-05-2015 05:17 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  The complainers will say Watts is responsible for bad scheduling.

They'll complain about that and not having an OCS....

The latter part of your comment is incorrect.

when we dumped ESPN we sealed our fate on getting big home games against P5 powers that didn't have personal connections to our coach.

(10-06-2015 05:34 AM)bladhmadh Wrote:  when we dumped ESPN we sealed our fate on getting big home games against P5 powers that didn't have personal connections to our coach.

Did we dump ESPN or do you mean when C-USA dumped ESPN?

I think ESPN dumped CUSA is more likely.

I think he means for our radio broadcast license. We used to be affiliated with ESPN, but we switched to IMG several years ago.

ESPN Has a division similar to IMG. When we used them we got some favorable treatment by ESPN Network including them setting up some major home opponents for tv. When Watson's lackey rigged the bidding towards another company that all went away

That would be one Lee Moon.

(10-06-2015 02:25 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  That would be one Lee Moon.

I thought his name was moon but was not sure did not want to trash the wrong person. If I had time I would have googled for an arrest of a Pelham mom buying alcohol for minors

Yup. We've rolled the scheduling rock uphill ever since, because we didn't have ESPN trying to broker attractive TV match-ups any longer.

I've heard it said that Lee Moon made out pretty well on that decision.

(10-06-2015 09:21 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I think ESPN dumped CUSA is more likely.

I seem to recall an issue regarding the CUSA Championship football game being awarded to someone else (CBS?) when ESPN claimed to have a valid contract. ESPN sued CUSA, won, got the rights to the CUSA football championship game(until when I don't know) for which CUSA was to get absolutely no revenue. For some time afterwards CUSA was persona non grata on ESPN. Some of that may still be around...

There was a reason a cheer went up when he left.

The story is when it was time to renegotiate CUSA TV deal, ESPN offer an amount, Fox offered a better amount and CUSA went with Fox. ESPN countered by saying they were not giving the opportunity to match the offer from Fox as stipulated in the contract. CUSA and ESPN struck a deal that resulted in ESPN getting the CUSA FB Championship Game in lieu of fighting it out in court.

(10-06-2015 02:51 PM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  There was a reason a cheer went up when he left.

I'd cheer again if he left this board.

(10-06-2015 09:21 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  I think ESPN dumped CUSA is more likely.

Nope. CUSA dumped ESPN.

http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal...f-USA.aspx

Not so fast: Conference USA/Fox deal faces scrutiny

By John Ourand & Michael Smith, Staff Writers

Published February 28, 2011 

The $43 million media rights deal that Conference USA signed with Fox last month may not be as final as the two sides originally thought.

The conference’s incumbent rights holders — ESPN and CBS College Sports — are questioning C-USA’s new deal with Fox, which was signed the first week in January.

ESPN believes its contract with C-USA gave it the right to match any offer. CBS College Sports, which has its own separate agreement with C-USA through 2016, believes it had the first crack at the package if it ever left ESPN, according to sources.

ESPN would never had paid it they just took the opening to screw with their competition.

http://g5conferencenews.blogspot.com/201...-most.html

CLUE 3: ESPN IS THE GODFATHER OF SPORTS AND THE GODFATHER MAY NOT BE PLEASED WITH CONFERENCE USA: In 2011 ESPN and Conference USA settled a law suit in which ESPN claimed Conference USA ditched its tv contract agreement with them. As a result, Fox Sports won the right to broadcast most of the Conference USA games leaving ESPN with only the Conference USA Title Game.(the ESPN title game ends in 2015) Conference USA gambled that Fox Sports would soon rival ESPN and put most of its proverbial eggs in the Fox basket. In hindsight, this was as bad as betting the house on the XFL( a horrible league pro football league that folded almost as quickly as it started) vs the NFL. In short, Conference USA rolled the dice and made a mistake in not keeping ESPN as its money maker. Now ESPN is even stronger, more powerful and most importantly in a position to make or break College Conferences. Conference USA challenged the bull, and the bull won.

Now instead of having the full weight of ESPN behind it, even it meant playing week night games, ESPN seems to have chosen the AAC as its most important G5 portfolio product. Does ESPN have room for Conference USA to come back? Of course it does , but Conference USA would most likely be stuck with a majority of its games on ESPN 3, and on Tuesday and Wed nights. This strategy has worked for the MAC, it remains to be seen however, if it would work for Conference USA.( ESPN's cheap gamble on the AAC seems to be paying off, as the highest rated bowl games among the G5 belonged to the AAC)
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CONFERENCE USA: Unfortunately the one network that could provide long term stability to Conference USA seems to have no interest in the conference at the moment. With its current contacts with the MAC, the AAC, the SunBelt and The MWC, it seems unlikely that Conference USA would benefit financially or from the limited exposure ESPN would be willing to give the conference in a new tv deal.