gangrene

Good question...apparently A&M AD, Bill Byrne, didn't see the same issues with the one-hour time zone difference of the SEC as he did with the two-hour difference with the Pac 10 schools. Plus, Gene Stallings was really pushing the Aggies to join the SEC because of his past relationship there. Pac-10 and Big 12: Will It Be a Partnership Or a Raid? Texas A&M reportedly still considering SEC

I forgot to add that if the remaining Big XII schools had concerns over time zone differences for student athletes (a highly publicized concern for Texas A&M) and travel costs to the west coast schools (and Beebe must have felt they were valid concerns to include them in his plea), shouldn't UNT be even more concerned about those issues in regards to the WAC for the same reasons?

beebe.pdf Documents show inner dealings to keep Big 12 alive This story, and Beebe's "confidential white paper" in particular, is an interesting read. In my opinion, Beebe's plea was desperate, full of speculation and relied heavily on conjecture intended to frighten and/or panic the Big 12 ADs into believing the formation of 16-team super conferences would result in congressional intervention, pressure to pay student-athletes, tax consequences, public scrutiny and increased pressure on ADs and HCs to compete and win. He even cited the Big 10's loss of population, Pac 10's "fair-weather" fans and travel costs/time zone differences and the southern/Sun Belt region fans' geographical pride as reasons to ponder when exploring conference options. Seriously? Is that what kept the Big 12(-2) together? Aside from being well-written, this reads like any message board thread on conference realignment...heavy on opinion and light on facts.

FOOTBALL: NCAA denies redshirt to Ball State tight end Grant I feel bad for Grant to have to end his college career, and probably football career, in that way...and then he wasn't even honored on Senior night. I guess the MAC doesn't get any more preferential treatment from the NCAA than the SBC does.

I wonder if June Jones had a change of heart on this kid? If the reports of the great friendship between Todd Dodge and Brenham HS head coach, Glen West, have any truth to them, I'd bet that West has already made a phone call to Dodge. If we were able to get Hall, it sure would make for a great story when we play SMU in 2014.

What would it take to get UNT to join the WAC? A WAC TV package with assurances of up to $20 million per year and the guarantee that UNT will be allowed to pursue our own TV network.

Maybe I'm naive, but I guess I just don't understand why so many automatically assume that allowing beer sales in the stadium translates to a stadium full of drunkards. I know binge drinking is common in college but is it really that unreasonable to expect people to have 2-3 beers and enjoy the game without being any more obnoxious and annoying than some fans tend to be already? I really don't think we'd see any beer bongs, keg stands or drinking games. I have a three-year old and I don't want her around a bunch of drunks either. We've been to many different events where beer or alcohol is served and, so far, my only complaint has been with the Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day parade. We've never had any issues at a sporting event or amusement park.

Valid concerns but let me ask you, do you consider a Ranger's game "family friendly"? How about Six Flags Over Texas? State Fair of Texas? Schlitterbahn? I'm not sure allowing alcohol sales within the stadium would result in any more or any less "rowdy drunks" than we already have. Many of those that want to drink within the stadium already do so and many college students wouldn't be served because they are under age. Besides, the beer could be sold for $8 a cup, which would keep a lot of the budget-conscious college students from over-indulging. Also, most sports venues that serve alcohol have implemented texting services that allow fans to report disorderly or disruptive behavior directly to stadium security. Personally, I don't really care one way or the other. I voted yes because I don't mind having a beer or two while I watch the game, just as I do at UT, Mavs, Rangers and Cowboys games, but it's not something I desperately desire. However, I think there are some major financial benefits of allowing alcohol sales within the general concession areas. I propose a one-season test, positioned as a Fouts farewell party. If it generates a major bump in revenue, without too many undesired side effects, then it should be considered for the new stadium as well. We're not SMU or TCU in that we don't have to answer to a major religious group. Would it make the post-loss fireworks shows more interesting?

The University of Houston's Robertson Stadium is on the UH campus. Same for UT (where beer sales are allowed, but limited to certain areas) and most every other public campus in Texas. In fact, UNT even has a beer and wine license:

Nope, and the linked stories I posted are regarding several universities that allow beer sales at football games. I think the number of FBS schools that allow beer sales at general concession areas is 18, while the number that sell beer in private suites/boxes is over 50. The NCAA only bans beer sales at NCAA championship games and has advertising limits of 60 seconds/per hour for TV broadcasts (as well as in-stadium bans) of NCAA championship games. They have no authority to regulate regular season or even bowl games, nor can they ban cities or universities from selling alcohol in their stadiums/arenas. Now, for obvious reasons, they will publicly distance their organization from supporting alcohol sales but they also know where the money is - which is why they still allow the TV advertising. The official NCAA response is, "The NCAA is concerned about alcohol abuse linked to athletics events," according to spokesperson Stacey Osburn. From the WSJ article I previously posted:

I know this is another common off-season topic, but it's better than expansion talk, right? Please state your preference and rationale. Below are several articles on what other programs are doing or have done over the last few years. Keep in mind, while the NCAA does not encourage alcohol sales at sporting events, they do not regulate school activities during the regular season in any sport, so the decision is at the discretion of the individual institution. Beer sales at Memphis opener provide a boon to city's coffers (USA Today) Beer Sales Make a Comeback at College Stadiums: Struggling Cities and Schools Hope to Cash In While Avoiding Underage Drinking and Violence; No Suds After Halftime (Wall Street Journal) University (La-La) decides to allow beer inside stadium Last Call? Administrators continue to struggle with decisions regarding the sale of alcohol at sporting events. Policy evokes sobering reply Texas colleges see no need for Minnesota-like program since logistics and responsible drinking by fans make it untenable (Houston Chronicle on UH-Robertson Stadium)

Here

Yes, that's a good option. TVersity is another one that basically offers the same service. It allows you to view streaming content from your PC (including photos, music etc, that's on your PC's hard drive) on your TV without requiring a gaming console and is especially cool if you have your TV service connected to a wireless home network. While they offer a free version, you have to pay a "license fee" ($40) to view premium content such as Hulu.

Exactly. I'll agree that Tech has definitely drawn more interest in the last 3-5 years than A&M, but that's what happens when you win. Nope, that's not surprising at all. Those ratings are ONLY for the Houston DMA. It was a damn good game and Houston was ranked #17 at the time. It was also a night (prime time) game. Besides, a lot of Longhorn fans may have had interest since they didn't get to watch Texas vs. UTEP that day (Texas played UTEP at 2:30 on 9/26 and a lot of people (DirecTv customers) didn't get to see it because it was on Vs. which was taken off the air by DirecTv because of a contractual dispute. The other Tech games on that list were against opponents who have large fan bases in Houston themselves - Texas and Nebraska in 2010 and Oklahoma TWICE in 2008?? Hmm, something tells me that's not right and where's 2009? You certainly don't see any Tech vs. Baylor, Kansas or Colorado or even Oklahoma State, like you do with the Texas games. Also, ALWAYS take Nielsen ratings with a grain of salt. Sure, they're still widely accepted as gospel in the advertising/marketing industry. But, even now that they have eliminated the paper diaries in most of the larger DMAs, the LPMs (local people meters) only represent about 2% of the entire nation's TV households. How many decisions do you make in your own life based on a 2% sample size?

Nope, it's an exclusive, multi-year agreement between ESPN and Microsoft for Xbox Live Gold subscribers ($99 per year for family membership) but I haven't been able to find the contract terms to determine the exact length of the exclusivity agreement. As a PS3 owner myself, I'd like to see ESPN3 become available on PS3 too, but ESPN and Microsoft have had various exclusivity arrangements since 2007. So, I won't get my hopes up. However, there was some good news for PS3 owners announced just today. Hulu Plus ($10 per month) will soon be available on PS3 consoles. Like the Xbox, PS3 charges a subscriber fee ($50 annually) for Playstation Plus, which will be required to view Hulu.

From the Denver Post blog on 6/28:

The original author does mention UNT in the comments section when another reader states that UNT is the WAC's best option:

I say no. None of the non-AQ conferences have national credibility or respect based solely on their own merits, and that includes the MWC. ONLY non-conference wins against quality, ranked BCS opponents, combined with a flawless conference record put any of the non-AQ schools in the same league with the Pac-10(+2), Big XII(-2), Big Tentwelve, etc. etc. Even then, it still takes a couple of seasons to earn that respect and prove the success is not a fluke. Losing all, or even half, of the non-conference games and going undefeated in a non-AQ conference will do very little to increase the prestige or national recognition of a non-AQ program. Now, as far as which conference is better for UNT, I think it's a toss-up. If we were winning all of our non-conference games, the stronger conference would be whichever conference UNT chooses to belong. As it stands now, I think you have to base the strength of the conference on how many ranked opponents our conference-mates are capable of defeating in a given year. The SBC has more potential because all football members traditionally play brutal non-conference games against top 10 programs. At the same time, that's exactly the reason why the SBC is largely considered the weakest FBS conference because the SBC schools rarely, if ever, win non-conference games against those ranked BCS opponents. Some of the "quality" SBC opponents for 2010 include: Georgia, Oklahoma State, Auburn, Michigan State, Texas, South Florida, LSU, Nebraska, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Clemson, Ole Miss and South Carolina. The western WAC schools play a few games against the MWC, but I'll exclude them. Some of their "quality" non-conference opponents are: Virginia Tech, USC, Alabama, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, California, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Illinois and Nebraska. So, to me, it's still a toss-up, based wholly on how well the conference, or even an individual team, performs against ranked non-conference opponents. Boise State didn't get where they are today by simply winning only their WAC games. I think nearly every team from both the WAC and the SBC would make a lot of noise on the national scene if they were to complete a season with 11 or 12 wins and a bowl victory.

Technically, "future results" are guaranteed, regardless of past performance since the type of results aren't specified. I think you meant to say Past Performance Does Not Guarantee Future Success.

LOL No kidding. KRAM - what's that supposed to mean?? yaSaahtT I hope you didn't just activate an Al Qaeda sleeper cell.

Tuberville sees short Big 12 future It hasn't even been a month yet and there is already dissension in the ranks. Self confident about Big 12's staying power Hmm...interesting.

The non-AQ conferences need to merge and hire Vince McMahon, Gene Simmons, Steve Jobs and Tex Schramm to promote and market them. Maybe they could even make a reality TV program out of it?

A fan comment on the linked article: Now I've heard it all. I have to admit, the WAC certainly doesn't have a shortage of interested programs. Unfortunately for them, those programs have very little to offer.

What more can you expect from a commuter school!!!???

Will fans and/or media be allowed inside the chain link fence to observe practices??