Boy if you thought Providence and Seton Hall were bad before.....

[GGGG]

I would have liked to see UCONN, Cincy, Memphis and Temple at least approached about the idea of joining. Please, spare me the "no more football" refrain. They could park their FB elsewhere, then it's like they don't have football.

Well, not really.  Just because you don't see their football team, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  Furthermore they still would have primary interest in promoting their football team and would let the future of that program determine their conference affiliation. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I would have liked to see UCONN, Cincy, Memphis and Temple at least approached about the idea of joining. Please, spare me the "no more football" refrain. They could park their FB elsewhere, then it's like they don't have football.

They aren't going to any major conference...no one wants those FB programs, and besides, you make them sign a grant of rights and make it a moot point. I also wanted to see Gonzaga. Geography be damned in their case. It's not like you are going there more than once a year. Bite the bullet and do it. The value they could have brought to the conference would have been immeasurable to me.

They might have been "approached" a long time ago (unofficially)... My bet is that they weren't interested.

Memphis worrying about their basketball team would be like MU worrying about their Lacrosse team.

They are only worried about football. Everything else will take care of itself.

It's about $. $.$.$.$.

[4th and State]

It's impossible to argue this conference will be better the current Big East right off the bat.  However, it's not nearly as bad as some here are saying.  Lets not forget that Xavier is a MAJOR addition.  One of the most successful programs over the last 10 years with consistent deep runs in the tourney.  They lost Mark Lyons and Dezmine Wells this year.  That's comparable to us without Blue and Wilson.  They will be fine going forward.  

St. Johns is also going to be a top 25 team next year and could become one of the faces of the league if Lavin can continue to bring in big time recruits.  MU, Nova, GT very good programs, maybe not in terms of perennial National Champion contenders like the BE has had in the past, but great tradition there.  In my mind it really comes down to DePaul, Providence and Seton Hall.  These programs are the key to rebuilding the conference as the premier basketball league.

[tower912]

Lets not forget that if everything had remained status quo, MU would have conference games with Tulane and SMU in their future, all to appease the god of college football.   And Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville and ND were leaving.   This is better.   

[Norm]

Lets not forget that if everything had remained status quo, MU would have conference games with Tulane and SMU in their future, all to appease the god of college football.   And Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville and ND were leaving.   This is better.   

+1

[robertoc]

I particularly hate the shots at Obama in this.  No matter what your political leanings- just stupid to bring this stuff up in a sports column...  I get so aggravated by posters everywhere trying to bring their political stances into everything.  Really annoying!

[Sunbelt15]

This is the link

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/9032205/brighter-future-big-east-divorce

If you look at the second poll, and answer that one, the fans believe the left over Big East (America 12) will be a high major conference.

This is a classic example of the dumbing down of America and the low information voter.  They don't even know who is in the leagues, simple as that.

Definitely a "Rush Limbaugh" conservative. I listen too.

[MU B2002]

I particularly hate the shots at Obama in this.  No matter what your political leanings- just stupid to bring this stuff up in a sports column...  I get so aggravated by posters everywhere trying to bring their political stances into everything.  Really annoying!

What am I missing?  I don't see him mentioned 1 time in this thread.  Other than when you did.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

I particularly hate the shots at Obama in this.  No matter what your political leanings- just stupid to bring this stuff up in a sports column...  I get so aggravated by posters everywhere trying to bring their political stances into everything.  Really annoying!

I blame Bush for poisoning our political atmosphere.

[jt92]

Don't worry everyone...if Buzz were to leave we could always offer Michelle Obama's brother Craig Robinson a job.  He is doing one heck of a job at Oregon State.  Thus, even if we lose we can all feel good about ourselves!

[robertoc]

What am I missing?  I don't see him mentioned 1 time in this thread.  Other than when you did.

"Well unfortunately the board boobs that populate and try to dominate the thinking of this site and say Detroit Mercy would be an exciting potential addition with a straight face aren't as clueless as the rest the US population where more than 50% of them acknowledge the new conference (see attached) will be considered mid-major or worse.  That is especially scary in that over 50% of the population was dumb enough to vote for Obama twice so were not talking about a very savvy pubic.  "

That part...

[MU B2002]

Yep.  Missed that.

[Avenue Commons]

It's just keefe/warthog, etc. trying to troll me.

Not gonna work.

Definitely Keefe. The solid writing + business analysis might as well be a photograph of him.

[keefe]

Definitely Keefe. The solid writing + business analysis might as well be a photograph of him.

Sorry. Commons. I have no problem signing my work. If you read through that piece you will note it is not in my style. For instance, I would never use as banal a term as "Board Boobs." There are far more eloquent ways to articulate that sentiment.

[Pakuni]

Sorry. Commons. I have no problem signing my work. If you read through that piece you will note it is not in my style. For instance, I would never use as banal a term as "Board Boobs." There are far more eloquent ways to articulate that sentiment.

"Forum funbags"?

[keefe]

Definitely Keefe. The solid writing + business analysis might as well be a photograph of him.

I actually just read the OP for the first time. The author cites The Limited's retail traffic strategy but the pioneer of that was PepsiCo. There is an HBS case on Competitive Traffic Analysis which cites the significant investment in Site Planning and Traffic Flow made by McDonald's and Starbucks. Both companies apply different parameters as target demographic consumption patterns are different and vary by market but both have mastered this domain and use the intelligence for rooftop specific portfolio and pricing. McDonald's spends heavily to understand traffic patterns and knows which street corner is optimal by time of day and customer interaction. PepsiCo watched McDonald's invest heavily in creating the requisite metrics then apply the methodology in the field. A strategic decision was made by PepsiCo to forgo making that same investment and simply bracket the McDonald's with Pizza Huts, KFC's, and Taco Bells. Brilliant move that saved tens of millions each year and enabled them to cannibalize through diversity and saturation.

I would disagree that The Limited had the idea of parasitic retail siting as that is precisely the purpose of the large regional mall. Each mall has 4 anchor tenants and space is sold based on proximity to those anchors. What Wexner did was he built a stable of niche brands - The Limited was for young women, Victoria's Secret, Limited Too for younger women, A&F for teens, Bath & Body Works that saturated space around the anchors. In many cases Wexner had multiples of a brand with different product and pricing - ie The Limited outside Lord & Taylor had a different portfolio than The Limited outside Penneys.

[The Process]

A&F for teens

https://www.youtube.com/v/NHuGG_FsC20

[Skatastrophy]

https://www.youtube.com/v/NHuGG_FsC20

This is the best post in the thread so far.

Carry on.