(03-23-2013 10:35 AM)boss man Wrote: (03-22-2013 09:48 PM)miko33 Wrote: (03-22-2013 09:33 PM)boss man Wrote: It was a parting cheap shot thrown at UConn. Unnecessary and arrogant; and shows a lack of class. Syracuse is pretty much known for that. But the man's program is being investigated, so what do we expect? Pressure affects people differently. Another thing to consider is Boeheim might be showing early signs of dementia, he might require a neurological exam.
Why do you care so much about what Boeheim says about UCONN?
Why do YOU care so much about what I say about Boeheim or Syracuse? It's a message board, you fool. Opinions are expressed here.
Is it conference pride or something?
No, just an old fashioned sense of right and wrong.
Conference pride will begin next year when the Huskies and TIGERS are in the Metro.
It's too damn bad Pitt didn't embrace the concept of conference pride. Instead, Pitt stabbed the Big East in the back by secretly forging a deal with the ACC while encouraging the 2011 ESPN offer to be rejected by the Big East. Pitt is a MAJOR reason the Big East was decimated.
As Knightsweat noted, Pitt's motive was a money grab.
Everyone wants to assume that Syracuse is being terrible by twisting the knife in UCONN's guts while walking out the door.
And damn near everyone is right.
Did you ever stop to consider that UCONN actually stabbed Pitt, Syracuse, WVU and Rutgers in the back when they thought it was a brilliant idea for Villanova to be invited as a FB playing member of the BE? That was a giant kick in the balls that greatly contributed to the ultimate demise of the conference.
BS. Typical Pitt diversion attempt to cover up your own pathetic backhanded ACC deal.
UConn might have suggested it but it got rejected. Nova FB never happened; it really never had a chance. Everyone knows that.
No, the TRUTH really is simple. Once the 2011 ESPN offer of $115mm/year was rejected - led by Pitt, Syracuse, and Georgetown with their hidden agendas - basically everyone started making side deals. ESPN was equally complicit; they were embarrased by the 2011 rejection. Once the crack was exposed, it split open and brought the Big East down.
You greedy backstabbers did it to yourselves. All of you could have prevented it; you had a damn good conference. But, NO, Pitt was a ringleader of the alternative agendas done in secret.
You basically threw UConn, Cincinnati, USF, and Temple under the bus. Hell, I don't blame them for being bitter. MEMPHIS, UCF, SMU, and Houston will join them to forge a new conference (re-birth of Metro, I suppose).
Pitt will have its payday - it really IS all about the $$$, right? - but get humbled repeatedly by the ACC competition.
1. I know that you talked a lot about Pitt, but Pitt and SU are very connected. What applies to one will apply to the other to at least some extent, so I'll start by explaining SU's departure from the BIG EAST and then I will briefly show how that relates to Pitt.
I don't think that it was ever a secret that Syracuse wanted to leave the BIG EAST for the ACC. We've had bags packed for the last decade. The ACC first approached Syracuse in '91 when the were thinking about adding FSU. SU was open to the idea but wanted to be woo'd, and the ACC wasn't willing to woo. In '03, the ACC approached Syracuse again when they wanted a partner for Miami. That deal fell through when the governor of Virginia, via UVA's vote, threatened to block any deal without Virginia Tech, so VT took Syracuse's spot. SU then felt jerked around and decided that it wasn't going to lobby to leave the BIG EAST, which opened the door for BC to push their way into the ACC in '04. SU then had a changing of the guard in '05 and brought in a chancellor from the University of Illinois who had also worked at the University of Michigan (both B1G schools) and an AD from USCalifornia. Both the new chancellor and the AD were fairly overt about wanting to be in another conference and there was a push to get in the B1G which was halted by ND (I think) and then there was a push to get into the ACC. None of that was behind closed doors. Pitt was part of SU's push to get in the B1G, and obviously part of SU's push to get in the ACC. Those aspirations weren't really secret either. Sure the timing was a shock, but the intention was not.
2. It isn't all about the money. The ACC is actually a great cultural fit for both SU and Pitt (that's why SU and the ACC have been talking since '91, before there was a big $$$ difference). Pitt has a history of being good in football, an excellent (regular season) basketball team, very strong academics, and a history of being private (it's still only semi-public). The ACC has a ton of tradition in football (unfortunately, most teams are down right now), the ACC has elite basketball, the ACC has the best undergraduate academics out of any conference, and the ACC has more private schools than every other "Power 5" conference combined. Also, playing in the ACC exposes Pitt's name to an area of the country that is experiencing a demographic boom right now (population and money), which furthers the school's academic goals. The same goes for Syracuse. This isn't a simple money grab.
3. I think that you misunderstand the power dynamics and politics of the old BIG EAST. It really was complicated and it was far from a simple as you make it sound. Just because something didn't happen doesn't mean that it didn't have implications, because it suggested a tendancy to vote a certain way, and that had hurt the BIG EAST in the past (
see PSU application for membership).
4. The ACC and Fox are what brought the BIG EAST down. The ACC wanted Miami for BCS bucks and a conference championship game. That cause the BIG EAST to lose a LOT of value, and it improved the ACC, causing a gap to appear between the BIG EAST and the ACC in terms of fan support and name recognition. For obvious market reasons, that gap turned into a financial gap, and as the market heated up, that gap widened causing Syracuse and Pitt to look for other options. After Pitt and SU left, WVU was th eonly big name in the BIG EAST, so they jumped ship too. Then Fox encourage the B1G to expand, which caused RU and UL (via UMD) to leave the BIG EAST and Fox wanted a bunch of high quality matchups (as opposed to just high quality teams), so Fox caused the C-7 to split off. The Evil Empire's role in this is overstated.
5. Boeheim's comments were simply the words of a tough and angry old man shooting off at/because of another tough and angry old man. Boeheim and Calhoun have a LONG history, they are both very tough, and they both have big personalities. They started in the 70's, which seemed to be the era of big personalities (see Al Davis, Jerry Jones, Steinbrenner, and so on) and they built the BIG EAST and they gave the conference its tough reputation. BIG EAST basketball has been compared to galadiator fights and boxing matches more than once.
