"Requiem for the Big East"

[GoldenWarrior11]

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/02/espn-films-announces-next-30-30-documentary-requiem-big-east/

ESPN announced today a new 30-for-30 special on the rise and fall of the Big East.

It should be interesting, considering the fact that ESPN played the key role in the destruction of the league and refuse to acknowledge it's current existence.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I think your teal font thingy is broken

[MUCam]

I was going to write something clever about ESPN being the evil empire whose not-so-hidden agenda clearly is interested in dealing the death blow to the Big East and Fox Sports 1. Instead, I'll just state it simply as such: ESPN sucks dong.

Please pardon my crassness.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I just have a bad feeling that they are just gonna rip the Big East a new one. Hopefully whoever is directing has a pro-Big East bias.

[JoBo2756]

Live by the network, die by the network.

We are in a much better spot financially with FS1 but it sucks not ever being featured by ESPN anymore.

[77ncaachamps]

I just have a bad feeling that they are just gonna rip the Big East a new one. Hopefully whoever is directing has a pro-Big East bias.

JoBo just chimed on it.

No doubt the old BE is much better than the current one, but this is ESPN producing a spot on a former high-profile basketball league that spurned ESPN for FS.

I expect blood and lots of it with no positive spin at all.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I think most forget that ESPN offered the Big East a contract.  A nice bump from the previous contract, and the Big East turned it down.  The Big East has most of the blame of the league becoming what it became.

After the Big East said no, ESPN is going to go to plan B.  It's easy to rip on ESPN because of who they are, but the first dominoes of destruction lay elsewhere and where tumbled often by Big East officials and members of the Big East. 

[GoldenWarrior11]

From what I recall, it was ESPN that was pushing Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC.   Is that incorrect?

[GGGG]

I think most forget that ESPN offered the Big East a contract.  A nice bump from the previous contract, and the Big East turned it down.  The Big East has most of the blame of the league becoming what it became.

After the Big East said no, ESPN is going to go to plan B.  It's easy to rip on ESPN because of who they are, but the first dominoes of destruction lay elsewhere and where tumbled often by Big East officials and members of the Big East.  

The current BE members are making an estimated $4.2M per year from Fox.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/03/20/new-big-east-adds-xavier-butler-creighton-signs-tv-contract/2002227/

Under the proposed ESPN contract, they would have only made just over $2.4M.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19145336/having-gambled-on-better-media-pot-big-east-facing-deal-of-its-lifetime

[Aughnanure]

I think most forget that ESPN offered the Big East a contract.  A nice bump from the previous contract, and the Big East turned it down.  The Big East has most of the blame of the league becoming what it became.

After the Big East said no, ESPN is going to go to plan B.  It's easy to rip on ESPN because of who they are, but the first dominoes of destruction lay elsewhere and where tumbled often by Big East officials and members of the Big East. 

Voted down by who? Oh yeah, that's right. Many of the same teams ESPN was working to poach to the ACC.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The current BE members are making an estimated $4.2M per year from Fox.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/03/20/new-big-east-adds-xavier-butler-creighton-signs-tv-contract/2002227/

Under the proposed ESPN contract, they would have only made just over $2.4M.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/19145336/having-gambled-on-better-media-pot-big-east-facing-deal-of-its-lifetime

That is correct.  The emergence of the FS1 and the bidding wars that came helped out tremendously, but FS1 didn't exist back then...2011 when ESPN offered the $1.17billion deal.  My point is that ESPN was a willing partner, though they weren't going to overpay back in 2011.  Its not as if ESPN didn't want the Big East.  The stars helped align for us with FS1 emerging and, quite frankly, overpaying for the league's rights.  All good for now for the hoops schools.  The football schools, I would wager, are thrilled as well.

But it wasn't until after the Big East said no that the conference started to unwind for good on the football side and months later the basketball side.  Shanks left DTV for Fox Sports in the Summer of 2010, by 2011 FS1 was an idea that was going to likely become real.  By March of 2012, it was basically green lit.  More than likely the Big East schools knew it was in the works, though even if they didn't the football schools certainly knew they would do better by going to other conferences with bigger deals. 

[Atticus]

Voted down by who? Oh yeah, that's right. Many of the same teams ESPN was working to poach to the ACC.

How did we vote?

Since ND and Georgetown voted against it, I'm going to guess that we followed their lead.

[GGGG]

That is correct.  The emergence of the FS1 and the bidding wars that came helped out tremendously, but FS1 didn't exist back then...2011 when ESPN offered the $1.17billion deal.  My point is that ESPN was a willing partner, though they weren't going to overpay back in 2011.  Its not as if ESPN didn't want the Big East.  The stars helped align for us with FS1 emerging and, quite frankly, overpaying for the league's rights.  All good for now for the hoops schools.  The football schools, I would wager, are thrilled as well.

You mean the schools that left?  Sure I bet Syracuse and Pitt are fine.

But the AAC schools that got left behind, like UConn, aren't really raking it in.  They are making less than than  $3M per school per year, and that includes football.

[Aughnanure]

How did we vote?

Since ND and Georgetown voted against it, I'm going to guess that we followed their lead.

I forget. I thought I remember Pitt rallying the troops to reject it.

My point was not that the traitors were the ones who voted, but that trying to act like the Big East did this to themselves and that ESPN was not heavily involved is ridiculous. Around the same time, the Big 12, with less schools, and a significant prestige hit, got 2 concurrent deals worth $2.6 billion. When the Big 12 was in trouble, ESPN came in and saved it with a larger deal. ESPN never once tried to save the Big East with a larger deal to keep its members happy - it did the opposite instead.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Agreed. I feel like this whole conference reallignment thing got really out of hand when Texas made their own network and Nebraska left for the Big 10. Thats when everything got screwy and teams started jumping left and right. This is in no way the Big Easts fault. They did what they could with a crappy situation.

[Atticus]

I forget. I thought I remember Pitt rallying the troops to reject it.

My point was not that the traitors were the ones who voted, but that trying to act like the Big East did this to themselves and that ESPN was not heavily involved is ridiculous. Around the same time, the Big 12, with less schools, and a significant prestige hit, got 2 concurrent deals worth $2.6 billion. When the Big 12 was in trouble, ESPN came in and saved it with a larger deal. ESPN never once tried to save the Big East with a larger deal to keep its members happy - it did the opposite instead.

They did it to themselves when Tranghese proposed merging BE football with the ACC. If that's not the ultimate sign of weakness then I don't know what is. Why merge when it became obvious to the ACC that they could take whomever it wanted?

[mu03eng]

That is correct.  The emergence of the FS1 and the bidding wars that came helped out tremendously, but FS1 didn't exist back then...2011 when ESPN offered the $1.17billion deal.  My point is that ESPN was a willing partner, though they weren't going to overpay back in 2011.  Its not as if ESPN didn't want the Big East.  The stars helped align for us with FS1 emerging and, quite frankly, overpaying for the league's rights.  All good for now for the hoops schools.  The football schools, I would wager, are thrilled as well.

But it wasn't until after the Big East said no that the conference started to unwind for good on the football side and months later the basketball side.  Shanks left DTV for Fox Sports in the Summer of 2010, by 2011 FS1 was an idea that was going to likely become real.  By March of 2012, it was basically green lit.  More than likely the Big East schools knew it was in the works, though even if they didn't the football schools certainly knew they would do better by going to other conferences with bigger deals. 

That's all well and good, but you can't ignore the reason behind why the Big East said no.  Pitt and Syracuse rallied teams to shoot it down, while working with ESPN and the ACC to upgrade that conference.  Essentially, ESPN threw a FU offer out that in the hopes they could get Big East at a discount with the ultimate goal of locking down the ACC with a big contract to avoid them spinning off into another Big Ten network type.  If Big East accept they got a discount, if they turned it down that sowed the seeds of the mega-ACC by poaching the "best" from the Big East.  It's shrewd tactics and negotiation but they also can't act as if they are an innocent bystander casually documenting history without bias

[Atticus]

That's all well and good, but you can't ignore the reason behind why the Big East said no.  Pitt and Syracuse rallied teams to shoot it down, while working with ESPN and the ACC to upgrade that conference.  Essentially, ESPN threw a FU offer out that in the hopes they could get Big East at a discount with the ultimate goal of locking down the ACC with a big contract to avoid them spinning off into another Big Ten network type.  If Big East accept they got a discount, if they turned it down that sowed the seeds of the mega-ACC by poaching the "best" from the Big East.  It's shrewd tactics and negotiation but they also can't act as if they are an innocent bystander casually documenting history without bias

Except Syracuse voted for it. As did USF.

[mu03eng]

Except Syracuse voted for it. As did USF.

Quick read between the lines indicates UConn, Pitt, and Syracuse scuttled the deal

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/7001193/football-kills-big-east-basketball-tradition

[GoldenWarrior11]

Regardless of what happened, Marquette and the current Big East came out as a winner in the realignment shift.  No, we no longer get to play Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, or Rutgers, but we are now set in a conference with like-minded institutions, in big cities, with a clear focus on basketball.  I'm just thankful we didn't get stuck in a basketball conference with Tulane, East Carolina and Tulsa.  My God, would our program have suffered...

The only losses I still really feel bad about are Notre Dame and Louisville.  Louisville may be tough to schedule now that they are a premiere team, going into the ACC, but I see us partnering with Notre Dame down the line.  Mike Brey, I believe, has been on the record saying that as well.  

I still feel bad for UCONN and Cincinnati.  They are stuck in realignment-limbo...

[GGGG]

I thought I would miss playing Notre Dame.  But I really don't.

[wadesworld]

Regardless of what happened, Marquette and the current Big East came out as a winner in the realignment shift.  No, we no longer get to play Syracuse, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, or Rutgers, but we are now set in a conference with like-minded institutions, in big cities, with a clear focus on basketball.  I'm just thankful we didn't get stuck in a basketball conference with Tulane, East Carolina and Tulsa.  My God, would our program have suffered...

The only losses I still really feel bad about are Notre Dame and Louisville.  Louisville may be tough to schedule now that they are a premiere team, going into the ACC, but I see us partnering with Notre Dame down the line.  Mike Brey, I believe, has been on the record saying that as well.  

I still feel bad for UCONN and Cincinnati.  They are stuck in realignment-limbo...

They could always drop football and be members 11 and 12!  (Hell will have frozen over...but dang, that'd be nice)

[GooooMarquette]

I thought I would miss playing Notre Dame.  But I really don't.

Same here. 

I mostly miss playing Louisville.

[wadesworld]

Same here. 

I mostly miss playing Louisville.

I don't.  Hated getting smoked by them 90% of the time, and giving up 17 point leads.

[BrewCity83]

I just have a bad feeling that they are just gonna rip the Big East a new one. Hopefully whoever is directing has a pro-Big East bias.

Well, based on his quote, the director sounds like he loved the conference...

“Having grown up on the East Coast, I’ve spent most of my life as a dedicated fan of the Big East and I, like so many others, was saddened by its split last year,” said director Ezra Edelman. “In setting out to make a film about the league, I hoped to not simply tell a story about the rise of a great basketball conference but also understand and ultimately convey the causes of its fall. “