Chicos and Sultan of South Wayne.....

[duanewade]

Why is it every time someone posts something hopeful and/or optimistic about the survival of The Big East as we currently know it you two are always and I mean always there to burst their bubble?  For example if someone says Big 10 will stop expanding or the Big East might expand to 20 and add Kansas you both immediately jump in how that won't happen, won't last, won't work, won't make enough money,  and then spew more doom and gloom while praising the concept of the "mega-conference" expansion. 

No matter how much I might be against Nancy Pelosi and her agenda to sell the merits of her national health plan I knew her motivation as she had skin in the game and her legacy to her far left supporters was attached to getting it passed.   What I don't understand is why someone who posts 20 times a day about Marquette basketball would also be someone who constantly lays out their destruction.....seems counter-intuitive to me.

This current conference realignment is the biggest threat to the future of Marquette that we may ever have faced in our history.  This is bigger than any NCAA tournament game, bigger than losing a coach, a star player, recruit, etc.  If things spin not in our favor then we'll become at best a nice little mid-major like Dayton or something like that who gets some ok recruits and has a couple "big" opponents a year like Xavier that get the local alumni's dick in a knot but no national attention or viewers otherwise.  If things spin in our favor I think Buzz can win a national championship as I've mentioned before that I think Buzz is a budding basketball legend who does everything well from recruiting, to coaching to having a killer instinct.

I'm fully aware of the ramifications of all this potential movement and how it could impact a basketball only school like Marquette no matter how many strong selling points Marquette might have on the basketball front.   Marquette basketball is one of my passions that gives my life zest ....few things make me jump up and down and scream in joy like a Jimmy Butler buzzer beater. 

Having said the above all I can do is to be optimistic (fool that I may be) and hope we are stay "safe" and enjoy when people post happy/positive scenarios  that can keep us on our current plateau that won't have us on the outside looking in.  If you were a Wisconsin fan I could understand your posts as they will be sitting pretty if Marquette gets hurt and won't be losing any more key in-state recruits to us.  However if you're a Marquette fan do you really want to be one of ten posters left on this board in five years from now if Marquette is in a conference with Duquesne and St. Bonaventure?

[ChicosBailBonds]

I don't know...because we're realists.  Because the name of the game is money and of the 6 BCS conferences, the Big East is dead last by a HUGE margin in money.


Listen, I hope KU and KSU or some other combination can make a go of it, but in the end it seems patchwork to me and not long term.

[Clam Crowder]

The History of the Big East for basketball is gonna do more than you think. Jimmy B and Dixon are gonna have their way and keep their teams in the Big East

[ChicosBailBonds]

The History of the Big East for basketball is gonna do more than you think. Jimmy B and Dixon are gonna have their way and keep their teams in the Big East

I hope you are right, but college basketball revenue is a spec of dust on an elephant.  That's why this is happening.

Don't believe it....why is one of the 3 greatest basketball programs of all time right now about to be WITHOUT A CONFERENCE or have to go to the MOUNTAIN WEST?  I'm talking of Kansas.

Because football runs the show gents.

[GGGG]

Sorry but I'm realistic.  I don't think many on here have a good grasp on the resources that the SEC, Pac 10 and Big 10 will generate that the Big East will not be able to.  And we are getting all excited because a couple of schools that were rejected by the above three *might* join the Big East?  And that we are competing with a conference with membership the likes of Wyoming and New Mexico who doesn't even have a BCS bid?  Not to mention that if any of the big three invited them they'd turn the BE down pretty much instantly.  C'mon....

Even if the BE survives in a decent form, and MU stays part of it, the playing field has become even more skewed.  We will be playing against schools that are leveraging massive resources that we cannot touch.  Believe me, there is nothing I want more than status quo.  But the big schools are using their popularity to cause even more differentiation in revenue, and that is only going to hurt us in the long run.

The History of the Big East for basketball is gonna do more than you think. Jimmy B and Dixon are gonna have their way and keep their teams in the Big East

Well, considering that not of the big conferences seems to want their schools, that's an easy thing to say.

[duanewade]

I don't know...because we're realists.  Because the name of the game is money and of the 6 BCS conferences, the Big East is dead last by a HUGE margin in money.


Listen, I hope KU and KSU or some other combination can make a go of it, but in the end it seems patchwork to me and not long term.

Chicos you remind me of a guy at the airport with me when I was once stranded at an airport in Cancun, Mexico for 12 hours.  Every 30 minutes he came back with more bad news and had a big smile on his face each time.  He was getting pleasure from bursting everyone's bubble and was almost crestfallen when a plane finally did come as he had no more bad news to deliver and had to go home and have a good night's sleep like the rest of us.  Sure he was a realist too and doubt he would even hold a job at Disney.


So I guess it's over......a sport where top coaches make $3MM a year and fill college arenas throughout the winter is "spec of dust on an elephant" and is not a profitable or sizeable niche of any kind worth preserving. 


Hopefully you'll read about a Texas sized meteor headed for earth tomorrow that will extinct the planet......that should be worth another 100 bubble bursting posts that you can provide about how we're all doomed.....an early Xmas present for you. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chicos you remind me of a guy at the airport with me when I was once stranded at an airport in Cancun, Mexico for 12 hours.  Every 30 minutes he came back with more bad news and had a big smile on his face each time.  He was getting pleasure from bursting everyone's bubble and was almost crestfallen when a plane finally did come as he had no more bad news to deliver and had to go home and have a good night's sleep like the rest of us.  Sure he was a realist too and doubt he would even hold a job at Disney.


So I guess it's over......a sport where top coaches make $3MM a year and fill college arenas throughout the winter is "spec of dust on an elephant" and is not a profitable or sizeable niche of any kind worth preserving. 


Hopefully you'll read about a Texas sized meteor headed for earth tomorrow that will extinct the planet......that should be worth another 100 bubble bursting posts that you can provide about how we're all doomed.....an early Xmas present for you. 

Duane, I'm actually quite a positive guy for most things.  I hope this all works out, nothing would make me happier.  The last thing in the world I want for MU is to be disadvantaged which is why all of this stuff breaks my heart.  I'm only taking my years of experience sports and television and coming to a realistic conclusion.  It's certainly nothing I'm cheering for, that I can assure you.

My opinion, however, is that some of you don't realize that basketball revenue is such a small thing that it doesn't matter much.  It matters a crapload to you, to me, to MU fans....but in the world of big time college athletics, it is a small small matter.  If it wasn't, Kansas and Kansas State (two top 5 programs last year, one top 3 all time) would not be sweating like crazy...would they?

[duanewade]

Sorry but I'm realistic.  I don't think many on here have a good grasp on the resources that the SEC, Pac 10 and Big 10 will generate that the Big East will not be able to.  And we are getting all excited because a couple of schools that were rejected by the above three *might* join the Big East?  And that we are competing with a conference with membership the likes of Wyoming and New Mexico who doesn't even have a BCS bid?  Not to mention that if any of the big three invited them they'd turn the BE down pretty much instantly.  C'mon....

Even if the BE survives in a decent form, and MU stays part of it, the playing field has become even more skewed.  We will be playing against schools that are leveraging massive resources that we cannot touch.  Believe me, there is nothing I want more than status quo.  But the big schools are using their popularity to cause even more differentiation in revenue, and that is only going to hurt us in the long run.


Well, considering that not of the big conferences seems to want their schools, that's an easy thing to say.

No you're not a realist at all....a realist knows to expect the unexpected as there is no such thing as a sure thing and to never underestimate your enemies. 

Japan became an economic world power within 20 years after their country was decimated by war and did it by having to import all their natural resources and the extra expenses associated with this.....no one was predicting the "Japanese Miracle" and no one was predicting Butler to be a basket from winning the national championship three months ago in spite of the big resource disparity you eluded to. 

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Chicos, I for one appreciate your posts and have no idea why this guy is busting your chops over this.

[HouWarrior]

Fanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, ...(wiki)
Skepticism  is an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object.(Id)

You guys in this thread are "fans", in the truest, pure sense, who are critical of skeptics, that frustrate or force the restraint of our fanatical hopes and desires.

I see both sides to be needed--- maybe even on the same side of the coin--example: having rooted for teams intensely, but sufferring so much from losses, my skeptic overcomes my fan...so I tape the show...too nervous (or jinxing) to watch it, until I know I can "live" with the outcome. Time tested,extreme fans are coping by the healthy use of skeptic responses....both sides contribute to this board.

I trust both Chicos and Sultan have seen me disagree w/them too but I try to lay out facts, links or reasons...your personal frustrations are pointless, personal and counterproductive. And...in defense...I have never seen either of them  not be very open and responsive to factual inquiry and discussion (look at a current post betw each of us to see gentlemanly disagreements--now pending-lol).
Lets back it down and restrain from frustrations coming from all our extreme fan based views---we all are MU fans, never wanting anything but the best for us.

[Dr. Blackheart]

The monopolies will decide all this.  We heard from BTN/DTV.  PAC 10 is Fox Sports but Texas is the power player with where they want to go with a TV deal.  The East Coasters are with Disney.  Next up Comcast/NBC/Versus.  SEC with CBS.  ND far more important in all this than they are given credit for with their NBC deal.  Comcast and DTV/BTN have been at odds at every deal (NHL/BTN).  There is a reason Tagliabue is involved with the BE.  

Chicos is the expert here but I somehow don't think that Disney/ESPN/ABC is gonna let go of their East Coast trenchhold very easily...and the NBC/Comcast deal is the new wildcard.  

[ChicosBailBonds]

No you're not a realist at all....a realist knows to expect the unexpected as there is no such thing as a sure thing and to never underestimate your enemies. 

Japan became an economic world power within 20 years after their country was decimated by war and did it by having to import all their natural resources and the extra expenses associated with this.....no one was predicting the "Japanese Miracle" and no one was predicting Butler to be a basket from winning the national championship three months ago in spite of the big resource disparity you eluded to. 

Of course, because they got to rebuild their entire nation, start over, no legacy systems.  Tons of money was poured into Japan.


Let's be perfectly clear on the basketball situation, I have not (nor has Sultan...that I'm aware of) said that you can't compete if you're not a BCS member.  All we said is that it's EASIER to compete as a BCS member.  Butler is a fine example.  Gonzaga.  Xavier.  George Mason.  By no means does it mean the program is dead or screwed or whatever, nor has anyone said that.  However, if you have a choice to be in a BCS conference or not in a BCS conference....you take BCS 100 times out of 100 times.  That is the concern.  For every Butler, Gonzaga, and George Mason....almost every other Final Four slot has been filled with a BCS school.

That's all anyone is saying.  MU is still going to spend a ton of money on basketball and will still be very viable, but if they are not in a BCS conference, it will be tougher.  I think you would agree with this...maybe not.  My position is that it will be tougher....tougher to get bids...tougher to schedule....tougher from a financial perspective.

[babytownfrolics]

Chicos you remind me of a guy at the airport with me when I was once stranded at an airport in Cancun, Mexico for 12 hours.  Every 30 minutes he came back with more bad news and had a big smile on his face each time.  He was getting pleasure from bursting everyone's bubble and was almost crestfallen when a plane finally did come as he had no more bad news to deliver and had to go home and have a good night's sleep like the rest of us.  Sure he was a realist too and doubt he would even hold a job at Disney.


So I guess it's over......a sport where top coaches make $3MM a year and fill college arenas throughout the winter is "spec of dust on an elephant" and is not a profitable or sizeable niche of any kind worth preserving. 


Hopefully you'll read about a Texas sized meteor headed for earth tomorrow that will extinct the planet......that should be worth another 100 bubble bursting posts that you can provide about how we're all doomed.....an early Xmas present for you. 

It's not just the Big East/conference expansion rumors.

Every time I see a "Buzz is great" thread, there invariably is a Chicos post with something along these lines:  "yeah he's great, but I'm such a hardcore realist, I'm going to reserve judgment...so that, if the day actually comes when Buzz lets us all down, I can say ha ha, I told you so, and then I will feel great about myself, b/c it's really all about me..."

[HouWarrior]

The monopolies will decide all this.  We heard from BTN/DTV.  PAC 10 is Fox Sports but Texas is the power player with where they want to go with a TV deal.  The East Coasters are with Disney.  Next up Comcast/NBC/Versus.  SEC with CBS.  ND far more important in all this than they are given credit for with their NBC deal.  Comcast and DTV/BTN have been at odds at every deal (NHL/BTN).  There is a reason Tagliabue is involved with the BE.  

Chicos is the expert here but I somehow don't think that Disney/ESPN/ABC is gonna let go of their East Coast trenchhold very easily...and the NBC/Comcast deal is the new wildcard.  

I second the Comcast point. My Brother is the news editor at the Houston NBC affilliate owned by post/newsweek/CNN , and he indicated NBC sources indicate Comcast may be ready with big $ to jump into multi channel sports packages , like ESPN/ABC. How can they  bet on just Leno--lol?

[GGGG]

No you're not a realist at all....a realist knows to expect the unexpected as there is no such thing as a sure thing and to never underestimate your enemies. 

I understand that.  But that doesn't mean that blind hope and optimism will rule the day.

I think you also have to understand that Chicos (I believe) used to work in athletics and currently works in television.  I work in university administration and in fact am participating in a meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00 where we are talking about this very topic.  I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, and I very well could be proven wrong, but don't get on my case for being negative when I look at the universe of higher education, a universe I live and work in every day, and see how the trends are going.

The schools in the Big Ten, SEC and the potentially new Pac Ten are huge.  They have large, wealthy alumni bases who are loyal and love to watch their teams on television.  They give a lot of money to support their athletic programs.  They generate a huge amount of research dollars and the indirect resources that come from that.  The gap between these schools and schools like MU have been growing continuously over the past few decades.  Butler was such a neat story last year because they have become the exception.  

Do you realize that the last non-BCS school to win the NCAA tournament was UNLV in 1990?  Despite being the majority as far as the number of schools in D1, only six non-football, non-BCS schools have made the final four in the last ten years.  6 out of a possible 40.  

Do you see a trend there?  Isn't it simply logical to assume that concentrating more resources at the highest levels is just going to continue those trends?

[duanewade]

Of course, because they got to rebuild their entire nation, start over, no legacy systems.  Tons of money was poured into Japan.


Let's be perfectly clear on the basketball situation, I have not (nor has Sultan...that I'm aware of) said that you can't compete if you're not a BCS member.  All we said is that it's EASIER to compete as a BCS member.  Butler is a fine example.  Gonzaga.  Xavier.  George Mason.  By no means does it mean the program is dead or screwed or whatever, nor has anyone said that.  However, if you have a choice to be in a BCS conference or not in a BCS conference....you take BCS 100 times out of 100 times.  That is the concern.  For every Butler, Gonzaga, and George Mason....almost every other Final Four slot has been filled with a BCS school.

That's all anyone is saying.  MU is still going to spend a ton of money on basketball and will still be very viable, but if they are not in a BCS conference, it will be tougher.  I think you would agree with this...maybe not.  My position is that it will be tougher....tougher to get bids...tougher to schedule....tougher from a financial perspective.

I agree with this and you're logic above but what I don't understand why you get a woody every time our BCS affiliation becomes in jeopardy.....come up with a plan of action to potentially save us no matter how far fetched it may be rather than costantly being the "Debbie Downer" of the board.  

[GGGG]

I agree with this and you're logic above but what I don't understand why you get a woody every time our BCS affiliation becomes in jeopardy.....come up with a plan of action to potentially save us no matter how far fetched it may be rather than costantly being the "Debbie Downer" of the board.  

Well, I have said this.  What I think MU needs to do is have conversations with the other "basketball schools" of the BE and see where they stand.  They can be powerful as a bloc.  They can either be part of the BE, or be a significant force in the creation of a conference that includes the plumb basketball schools outside of the BCS.

Anything more far-fetched than that isn't really worth anyone's time.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The monopolies will decide all this.  We heard from BTN/DTV.  PAC 10 is Fox Sports but Texas is the power player with where they want to go with a TV deal.  The East Coasters are with Disney.  Next up Comcast/NBC/Versus.  SEC with CBS.  ND far more important in all this than they are given credit for with their NBC deal.  Comcast and DTV/BTN have been at odds at every deal (NHL/BTN).  There is a reason Tagliabue is involved with the BE.  

Chicos is the expert here but I somehow don't think that Disney/ESPN/ABC is gonna let go of their East Coast trenchhold very easily...and the NBC/Comcast deal is the new wildcard.  

No question that tv companies will play a role, but many are set in stone contractually.  The Pac Ten, for example, is with Versus and Fox because that's where they got the best deal.  ABC\ESPN also pays the Pac Ten for football.   So they are getting dollars from a number of broadcasters.

Comcast NBC is going to be very interesting because Comcast has been so anti-sports rights for so many years.  They have always complained very loudly on the costs of sports fees.  That deal has a long way to go before it's approved, and if it is there will be considerable strings attached to it on the part of Universal\Comcast.

Conferences go where the money is.  ESPN has the SEC signed up long term as well as the Big East.  The Fox Sports deal comes due for the Pac Ten next year, as does the Pac Ten ESPN deal.  The SEC is signed on through 2023-2024 season.  Big Ten through the 2016 season.  ACC through 2023.  Big East through 2013.

The interesting one is the Big 12...the television deals from Fox expire in 2012 and the ABC\ESPN deal expires 2016.  What will ESPN do with that money if the Big 12 implodes in one year or two years?  It's about a $500 million deal (not per year)


Just to give you an example of the ESPN dollars at stake (doesn't include Fox or other deals)

Big Ten: $242M
SEC: $205M
Big 12: $78M
ACC: $155 M
Pac 10: $58M
Big East: $33M

[Dawson Rental]

No you're not a realist at all....a realist knows to expect the unexpected as there is no such thing as a sure thing and to never underestimate your enemies. 

Japan became an economic world power within 20 years after their country was decimated by war and did it by having to import all their natural resources and the extra expenses associated with this.....no one was predicting the "Japanese Miracle" and no one was predicting Butler to be a basket from winning the national championship three months ago in spite of the big resource disparity you eluded to. 

My recollections are that both Chicos and Sultan share your enthusiasm for Buzz.  Butler has had tremendous success coming from a mid-major conference with few (if any) recruits that made any of the Guru's top 100 lists.  If a poster on this board stated that with all the changes in conferences, Marquette was doomed to never have an impact on the national level, I believe that neither Chicos or Sultan would endorse that position.  One or both of them might bring up Butler, Xavier, Northern Iowa, and Memphis as counter examples.  Yet, they are both too in touch with the realities of how the BCS schools' can best optimize their cash and national exposure from their athletic departments primarily from football on TV, to not note that the fortuitous circumstances that led to the Big East becoming a 50/50 football & basketball/basketball conference may well be disappearing.  If that comes to happen, Marquette and a lot of (if not all) other quality basketball programs from schools without football will not be in a BCS conference.  

As a member of a basketball only conference we won't get anywhere near the same revenue from TV as the BCS guys, but we'll still get recruits, we'll have being the "top dogs" on campus to use as a selling point, we'll be okay.  We were fortunate to be a part of a BCS conference because the football guys needed some more schools to ensure their survival.  When that is no longer the case, it will be inevitable that the basketball only schools will be squeezed out.  Chicos and Sultan are only the messengers of what is likely to happen.  If you want fantasy, I honestly don't know what to tell you, this board isn't going to give it to you.  If its just too tough to hear that Marquette may have to face greater, but by no means insurmountable challenges in the future, I suggest that you take a three week hiatus from the board.  When the conference stuff is all shaken out, I'm sure you'll find plenty of posters here talking about how Marquette will be able to handle the changes well.  Although if posters wander off into fantasy land positive OR negative Chicos, Sultan, and who knows who else will probably still be here to provide perspective.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Comcast NBC is going to be very interesting because Comcast has been so anti-sports rights for so many years.  They have always complained very loudly on the costs of sports fees.  That deal has a long way to go before it's approved, and if it is there will be considerable strings attached to it on the part of Universal\Comcast.

Interesting insight on all this Chicos--don't know why everyone's shorts are in a bundle about your expertise as this is all complicated.  With the NHL ratings for the SCF the highest in 36 years...and with the Versus ratings up, they may be a bit less selective.  The Versus model to be very targeted has been very successful and interesting but let's see how that translates to mainstream TV.  The network deals are as fractured as the conferences as all this technology melds.  It is so uncertain, I think it is wiser for these conferences to go slowly.  

[chapman]

My opinion, however, is that some of you don't realize that basketball revenue is such a small thing that it doesn't matter much.  It matters a crapload to you, to me, to MU fans....but in the world of big time college athletics, it is a small small matter.  If it wasn't, Kansas and Kansas State (two top 5 programs last year, one top 3 all time) would not be sweating like crazy...would they?

I understand that.  But that doesn't mean that blind hope and optimism will rule the day.

I think you also have to understand that Chicos (I believe) used to work in athletics and currently works in television.  I work in university administration and in fact am participating in a meeting tomorrow morning at 9:00 where we are talking about this very topic.  I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, and I very well could be proven wrong, but don't get on my case for being negative when I look at the universe of higher education, a universe I live and work in every day, and see how the trends are going.

The schools in the Big Ten, SEC and the potentially new Pac Ten are huge.  They have large, wealthy alumni bases who are loyal and love to watch their teams on television.  They give a lot of money to support their athletic programs.  They generate a huge amount of research dollars and the indirect resources that come from that.  The gap between these schools and schools like MU have been growing continuously over the past few decades.  Butler was such a neat story last year because they have become the exception. 

Do you realize that the last non-BCS school to win the NCAA tournament was UNLV in 1990?  Despite being the majority as far as the number of schools in D1, only six non-football, non-BCS schools have made the final four in the last ten years.  6 out of a possible 40. 

Do you see a trend there?  Isn't it simply logical to assume that concentrating more resources at the highest levels is just going to continue those trends?

This is why there's a lot to be concerned about.  1/4 to 1/3 of revenue matters a whole lot, especially when the margins are better.  But it comes easily, and at a higher margin when football is already in place.  Basketball is a great business when it's an "add on".  In a conference without football schools, without the large, interested alumni bases, it's tougher to compete and get the "easy money".  MU currently has some of that "add on" advantage without the football investment.  In a way, the Big East as a whole is a little backwards - the "basketball tradition" mentioned might be a decision some of the Big East schools make, but that's a "keep the family business" decision, not based on money and not all that realistic.

If I can try an analogy, think of this (without overthinking it  ): football is a big expensive office printer, basketball is the ink cartridge.  The company makes more margin on the ink cartridges, but without selling the big printer the ink doesn't matter all that much.  MU's currently making branded ink just like the printer companies, which is a pretty sweet deal.  If things change, a basketball school in a conference with only basketball teams trying to get a television deal and make a name for itself is like the ink refill service at Walgreen's: selling another product cheap, only found in a couple of places, and only works for certain home deskjet models.  Even being in a football conference but not a BCS conference is still like making branded ink for Lexmark or Epson when the BCS conferences are Xerox, HP, and Canon.

[duanewade]

As a member of a basketball only conference we won't get anywhere near the same revenue from TV as the BCS guys, but we'll still get recruits, we'll have being the "top dogs" on campus to use as a selling point, we'll be okay.  

Speaking of fantasy......come to Marquette and play against St. Louis but be "top dog" on campus.  I'm sure that will play great with the next potential Vander Blue who has offers to play at MSU who play OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc. twice a year on national TV while Marquette will be playing in the new Atlantic 10 in stature even though we might be still called the Big East in name. 

If all this happens Marquette basketball as we currently know and love it will be damaged.....that is the message....being unemotional and analytical about it and talking about the lesser aftermath to me is futile....what we should talk about is how to save our butts.....I don't want to see Marquette going from having consecutive top 20 recruiting classes, top 10 attendance figures and five straight NCAA appearances and on a consistent uptick every year and then turn around and go to a team that is on a permanent down tick.  In other words after dating Christy Brinkley she ends up dumping me and breaks my heart I don't have any interst in dating Roseanne Barr instead and rather go without another girl again even though Roseanne is also a female celebrity who is 5'8 inches tall.  Michael Jordan's fervor for his job was based on winning championships and my fervor for Marquette is watching us be able to compete at the highest level and not be an after thought program like we were in the early 90's.     

[ChicosBailBonds]

I agree with this and you're logic above but what I don't understand why you get a woody every time our BCS affiliation becomes in jeopardy.....come up with a plan of action to potentially save us no matter how far fetched it may be rather than costantly being the "Debbie Downer" of the board.  

You think I'm happy (get a woody) over this?  Good Lord.  Sorry, I'm anything but excited about this. Not sure where you get the idea I'm happy about any of this.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Speaking of fantasy......come to Marquette and play against St. Louis but be "top dog" on campus.  I'm sure that will play great with the next potential Vander Blue who has offers to play at MSU who play OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc. twice a year on national TV while Marquette will be playing in the new Atlantic 10 in stature even though we might be still called the Big East in name.  

If all this happens Marquette basketball as we currently know and love it will be damaged.....that is the message....being unemotional and analytical about it and talking about the lesser aftermath to me is futile....what we should talk about is how to save our butts.....I don't want to see Marquette going from having consecutive top 20 recruiting classes, top 10 attendance figures and five straight NCAA appearances and on a consistent uptick every year and then turn around and go to a team that is on a permanent down tick.  In other words after dating Christy Brinkley she ends up dumping me and breaks my heart I don't have any interst in dating Roseanne Barr instead and rather go without another girl again even though Roseanne is also a female celebrity who is 5'8 inches tall.  Michael Jordan's fervor for his job was based on winning championships and my fervor for Marquette is watching us be able to compete at the highest level and not be an after thought program like we were in the early 90's.      

Well Duane, you and I agree....this is why I said "I hope Cottingham and MU have a plan".  Of course, as soon as I said that I get slammed.  Go figure.

Besides, Buzz said he would stay at MU as long as we want him.  So he won't be leaving.  (I did not put that in teal, and I'm not sure if I should or not because I don't know what Buzz would do.  I have to take him at his word, he seems like an honest fellow...if he can continue what he's done so far, then he'll be able to keep things going at MU.  If he left, and was dishonest about what he said, then that would suck and things could be different.)

[Dawson Rental]

Speaking of fantasy......come to Marquette and play against St. Louis but be "top dog" on campus.  I'm sure that will play great with the next potential Vander Blue who has offers to play at MSU who play OSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, etc. twice a year on national TV while Marquette will be playing in the new Atlantic 10 in stature even though we might be still called the Big East in name. 

If all this happens Marquette basketball as we currently know and love it will be damaged.....that is the message....being unemotional and analytical about it and talking about the lesser aftermath to me is futile....what we should talk about is how to save our butts.....I don't want to see Marquette going from having consecutive top 20 recruiting classes, top 10 attendance figures and five straight NCAA appearances and on a consistent uptick every year and then turn around and go to a team that is on a permanent down tick.  In other words after dating Christy Brinkley she ends up dumping me and breaks my heart I don't have any interst in dating Roseanne Barr instead and rather go without another girl again even though Roseanne is also a female celebrity who is 5'8 inches tall.  Michael Jordan's fervor for his job was based on winning championships and my fervor for Marquette is watching us be able to compete at the highest level and not be an after thought program like we were in the early 90's.     

Xavier has been getting some very nice recruiting classes even though its stuck in the Atlantic 10.  Memphis seems to still recruit (ahem) well as a member of CUSA.  What if all the non-BCS basketball powers linked up?  Good recruiting classes would not be a fantasy.  Jeez, I thought you had faith in Buzz.