Breaking: Miami Herald & sports editor Jorge Rojas already in mid-season form as they ignore BigTenNetwork's nationally-televised football games.
"Breaking," that is, if by breaking you mean every Big Ten football and basketball game they've televised for the past three years, whose games have never been listed in theHerald's dailySports on TV.
Right, because there's nobody in South Florida who's originally from the Midwest, or who are alums from those eleven schools in South Florida. I mean I only know about 100-125 myself, many of them well-known names locally. Brilliant!
That's why the folks at the Herald and likely many of you with DirecTV in South Florida also missed the phenomenal Appalachian State upset of Chad Henne's over-rated Michigan team in the very first BTN broadcast, because the Herald didn't list it. But I saw that amazing game LIVE. I was laughing to myself in the fourth quarter as the game went "Instant Classic," knowing that the Herald had, once again, been caught with its pants down. Par for the course over there in the Sports Dept., as the details of the Marlins finances coming from DeadSpin and not them proves rather conclusively. http://deadspin.com/5619235/florida-marlins-financial-documents/gallery/ How does a supposed media reporter/columnist like Barry Jackson continue to not just ignore but act seemingly oblivious of the BTN, month-after-month, year-after-year, when other college conferences desperately want to emulate the cash-cow and national coverage the Big Ten teams already provides?
Good question, why don't you ask him? But before you do that, consider the chicken-and-the-egg of this paradox: that's why he's Barry Jackson, that's why it's the Miami Herald, and that's why he's there and not somewhere else.
Once again, if you think about it a bit, you answer your own question! You remember the BigTenNetwork, don't you? They're the Chicago-based TV network beloved by advertisers that is one of the main reasons that the University of Nebraska leaves the Big 12 Conference effective next Fall for the national exposure and TV money that comes from having their football and basketball games available ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. Where each of the current eleven member school gets roughly $22 million a year?
Plus, traditional non-revenue sports, where Nebraska excels and actually make money, like Men's Baseball and Women's Volleyball, where they're multiple NCAA Women's Volleyball champs, will also get seen all over the country, even in California and Hawaii and New England.
That's the sort of thing that helps national recruiting, don't you think? A not insignificant consideration for a small state like Nebraska, whose state population is less than Miami-Dade and Broward's combined, and who has thus always had to recruit nationally, especially in Texas, for football. And what does the University of Miami have again in terms of a TV deal? Is that game of theirs tonight against FAMU on TV anywhere? No.
The Randy Shannon TV Show is on what channel on what date at what time? Nobody even knows whether he has one!
But in the Midwest, among real sports fans, they know exactly what time and when and where the myriad coach's TV show comes on, and the BTN even repeats the shows during the week for national coverage, which is how I came to watch the Bill Lynch Show this week.
Meanwhile, the Herald has NEVER written a serious article specifically about the BTN, which I know for a fact because I've checked their archives so many times. The answer is always the same: ZERO. Congrats One Herald Plaza!
Another David Landberg and Jorge Rojas success story! That's why your sports section is so decidedly third-tier.
Tonight: Marshall at Ohio State on DirecTV Channel 610 Towson at IU on DirecTV Channel 611 at 7:30 pm.
With encore showings in the days to come for folks like me.
Chicago Tribune Big Ten could see TV money skyrocket with expansion As number of subscriptions rise, multiplication adds up to considerable sum May 13, 2010 By Teddy Greenstein | Tribune staff reporter http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-13/sports/chi-100514-big-ten-expansion-greenstein_1_btn-big-ten-network-tv-executive Chicago Tribune Big Ten big winner in divisional set up Hard to find downside in way league divided while protecting most rivalries September 01, 2010 By Teddy Greenstein | ON COLLEGES, ON GOLF http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-01/sports/ct-spt-0902-greenstein-big-ten-footba20100901_1_dave-brandon-pat-fitzgerald-ryan-field
Chicago Tribune Rosenblog by Steve Rosenbloom Big Ten's new set-up: NU wins, Illinois loses again (and again and again) http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2010/09/big-tens-new-set-up-nu-wins-illinois-loses-again-and-again-and-again.html
The New York TimesCollege Football homepage and blog, The Quad: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/ncaafootball/ http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/
The Dallas Morning News'sinfluential College Sports blog and Sports Media blog: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/ http://sportsmediablog.dallasnews.com/
Mr. College Football blog by Tony Barnhart: http://blogs.ajc.com/barnhart-college-football/
The BigTenNetwork'sKara Lentz profiles Indiana Hoosier Field Hockey star Mutsa Mutembwa, a math and economics double-major and now a Rhodes Scholar, leaving Harare, Zimbabwe and Bloomington behind for her two years of study in Oxford.The daughter of Amman and Priscilla, she plans to become a financial economist and return to her native country to help solve Zimbabwe's profoundly tragic struggle with hyperinflation.
For more on Head Coach Amy Robertson'sIU Field Hockey team, including roster and 2010-11 schedule, seehttp://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/sched/ind-w-fieldh-sched.html
See an early profile of Mutsa here:http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/spec-rel/100807aaa.html
See more news on Indiana University athletes and teams at http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/index-main.html and http://www.bigtennetwork.com/schools/indiana/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfEevQvdp0w IU AthleticsYouTube Channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/IUAthletics IU Athletics Dept.website: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/index-main.html
Over the next few months, I will be tuning-up my other blog, South Beach Hoosier, http://www.southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/
It's my expectation that by the time the college football preview magazines are starting to crowd bookstore periodical shelves and Dolphins pre-season football is looming,South Beach Hoosier will not only be updated and have a more attractive look, but will also have features, stories and anecdotes that you won't find elsewhere in South Florida.
Truth be told, I literally have dozens and dozens of sports-related blog posts that I have just sat on over the past year that I never posted here, about all manner of sports and personalities and issues, not least of all conference expansion, contraction and extinction.
Today, Nebraskaformally asks for admission to the Big Ten Conference, Colorado leaves the Big 12 in the dust and heads for the Pac-10, and Texas and Texas A&M fans and alumni wait to see what they do next week, with Aggie fans afraid they will be left in the dust with Kansas and Missouri if the Longhorns head west for greener pastures.
As usual, The Dallas Morning News is all over the story, as they have among the best college football reporters in the country: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/
Sources: Texas, Texas A&M may head in different directions 12:40 PM CDT on Friday, June 11, 2010 By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/061110dnsporealignment.19064ac.html I agree that A&M is a better fit for SEC, and if that happens, Utah would be a good fit to move to the Pac-10 also, which fits given their recent football, basketball and gymnastics success.
Columnist Tim Cowlishaw gives his take here: Cowlishaw: 16 things to ponder about life with the Pac-16, without the Big 12 10:38 PM CDT on Thursday, June 10, 2010 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/061110dnspocowlishaw.ffc3a1.html Not surprisingly, one of the constants of those particular posts I never posted here are what I believe to be the rather low-caliber of South Florida sports reporting and writing, and its increasing turn towards corporate sycophancy, leaving real sports fans the losers. The multiple golly-gee stories last year about Dolphin owner Stephen Ross' dim-witted marketing ideas were the most egregious.
I know, I know.This hardly represents a surprising admission from me, given my previous negative comments here over the years, especially about local sports radio and the Miami Herald's very erratic and myopic sports section.
With all the changes afoot for the conferences, with TV money and TV markets the principal driving force on this issue, how difficult must it be for the Herald to report on this story given their consistently dreadful coverage of The BigTenNetwork since it started with a bang and Appalachian State's victory over Michigan at Ann Arbor? A game that didn't appear in the sports section's TV schedule. Though they've existed for a few years now, despite the particular demographics of South Florida, the Herald hascompletely ignoredit, not even bothering to run their TV schedule in the Sports Today graphic, even when they have Top 10 teams playing each other in football or basketball. For instance, the first time the Heraldever mentioned the BigTenNetwork, they got a very basic fact WRONG:
COLLEGE FOOTBALL FIU
September 5, 2008
By PETE PELEGRIN
O-LINE MIGHT GET A MAKEOVER The FIU offensive line could have a new look when the Golden Panthers visit Iowa on Saturday.
Coach Mario Cristobal said redshirt freshman right guard Chris Cawthon has "caught up to" junior starting right guard Joe Alajajian, and both players are now co-starters, with the decision on the starter expected to be made before kickoff. * Starting left guard Mario Caraballo, who missed camp and the opener at Kansas with a foot injury, began jogging, and Cristobal said he "will definitely" be ready for the Golden Panthers' first home game Sept. 20 against South Florida.
A TV HIT OR MISS Depending on the type of cable package they have, FIU fans might be able to see Saturday's game against the Hawkeyes on the Big Ten Network. The game is being transmitted among the local Big Ten affiliates, meaning only in Iowa and Florida. However, most sports bars use DirecTV and not local cable boxes. DirecTV boxes get the Big Ten national signal, not the local one, so they will show Marshall vs. Wisconsin instead. Fans who have the Big Ten Network with local cable companies will be able to watch the game at home.
Actually, fans like me who have the package can watch any of the games they want, which is why they have the overflow channels, and not just Channel 610.Real sports fans know that, but not the very people writing about it. Par for the course at the Herald.
Then, the BigTenNetwork doesn't get mentioned again in the Herald for another 17 months, despite all the stories last year about conference expansion and Notre Dame or Rutgers or Pittsburgh. WTF kind of self-respecting newspaper Sports Dept. completely ignores the largest college conference TV network in the country for YEARS?
Talk of Big Ten expansion doesn't have everyone's support
From Miami Herald Wire Services
February 28, 2010
Big Ten university presidents and athletic directors said a handful of factors will determine whether the conference expands. Listen closely, though, and it sounds like one outweighs them all: Money.
The Big Ten generates more money than any other conference, thanks in part to its one-of-a-kind Big Ten Network. And no one in the conference, not even enthusiastic expansion advocates such as Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, wants to sacrifice a dime of the roughly $22 million each school gets a year.
"You just don't jump into the league and get a full share of what everyone else in this league has established over time," Alvarez said. "I think someone has to buy their way into the league."
Alvarez sees expansion as a path toward the kind of football title game that keeps the SEC and other conferences on national TV and fans' radar after Thanksgiving, when the Big Ten typically begins a multiweek break before the bowls.
"You take a look at the championship week in December and we're non-players," said Alvarez, the former coach who led Wisconsin to football prominence. "We're irrelevant."
Texas, Missouri, Rutgers, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame have all been mentioned as possible targets since the Big Ten announced in December that it was evaluating the possibility of expanding the 11-team conference.
"If you look at the college landscape across the country, look at television contracts that are coming up over the next 5-8 years, this is probably the right time for us to see if there is any value in trying to add a team or teams," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said at the time. The three big factors Big Ten presidents and ADs said any new member would have to bring to the discussion are academic credentials, a strong geographic fit and money.
Stanley Ikenberry was the president at Illinois the last time the Big Ten expanded, adding Penn State in 1990. He said the decision to admit Penn State was driven less by money than by academics.
---------- Despite all the fervent emotions expressed on ESPN and on sports talk radio as well as well-known national sports blogs, the Herald's most recent story on college athletic conference expansion is this one -from last Thursday!Guess they're stuck in a time warp, which seems to be a real problem over at One Herald Plaza, as you will soon see me demonstrate here to a rather convincing and embarrassing degree.
Miami Herald SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SPRING MEETING: SEC playing waiting game on decision whether to expand - Like the other major football conferences, the SEC is watching the Big Ten closely before deciding on possible realignment.
By Joseph Goodman June 3, 2010
The Southeastern Conference has a plan to keep up with the Big Ten if the latter expands.
Now the waiting game begins for the SEC, one of college football's most powerful leagues -- its teams have won the past four BCS national championships.
SEC officials, athletic directors and football coaches met Wednesday during the annual spring meeting at the Sandestin Hilton to discuss league rules and current contracts with ESPN, CBS Sports and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. Also on the day's agenda: the hot topic of expansion. Although the possibility of adding new members was discussed by league officials, talks were preliminary, according to Alabama athletic director Mal Moore.
The outcome of any expansion or contraction among the NCAA's major conferences, including the SEC, hinges upon the Big Ten.
The 11-member Big Ten, which owns the Big Ten Network and would like to increase TV revenue and add a conference championship game, announced in December that it would study the possibility of expansion.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said his league might consider expanding to 12, 14 or 16 teams. Since then, speculation has been rife and multiple scenarios have been bandied about, including Notre Dame joining the Big Ten; the Big Ten dismantling the Big East; or the Big Ten and Pacific-10 cherry-picking teams from the Big 12.
According to commissioner Mike Slive, the SEC will act proactively if the Big Ten attempts to increase its size, power and revenue.
''If there's a significant shift in the conference paradigm, we will be thoughtful,'' Slive said. ''We'll be strategic, and our goal is for us to maintain our position as one of the most successful conferences in the country.''
In other words, if the Big Ten grows into a mega-conference of 16 members, then the SEC will not sit idly by while a rival attempts to become the most powerful conference in college football.
The SEC would not reveal its preliminary plan for conference expansion if the dominoes actually begin falling, but a source familiar with the SEC's vision said the league might consider ''expanding its nine-state footprint.''
Notre Dame is considered the wild card in conference-realignment speculation. If the Big Ten adds Notre Dame and two or four other major football powers, bringing its league total to 14 or 16 teams, then the SEC might follow suit in a revenue-driven chess match of major college football.
Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick has stated his university would like to remain independent.
Alabama coach Nick Saban, who coached at Big Ten member Michigan State from 1995 to '99, said Tuesday that he believes most of the conference-expansion chatter is being driven by the possibility of Notre Dame joining the Big Ten.
''Even when I was back in the Big Ten, and I really think that's the key to all this stuff, it was always about Notre Dame then,'' Saban said. ''Each year, there was a big discussion about trying to get Notre Dame to join the Big Ten, and I think that's a lot of what it's about now.''
In the event of a realignment, the SEC would prefer to add major programs from states with universities currently not aligned with SEC, according to a source, but the source emphasized that ''it's all speculation at this point.''
For their part, most SEC college football coaches prefer the status quo, a 12-team SEC divided into two competitive six-team divisions.
Florida coach Urban Meyer indicated Tuesday that he would not be in favor of conference expansion. Georgia coach Mark Richt said he isn't necessarily against conference expansion, but does not like the idea of adding another conference game.
For the latest move in the conference chess match, see the New York Times College Football webpage: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/ncaafootball/index.html
The BigTenNetwork
The BigTenNetwork - My lifeline to the normalcy of the American Midwest and college sports.
NCAA Women's Lacrosse Final Four, Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, Md. -Home of the Tigers
Friday on CBS College Sports, DirecTV Channel 613 5:30 p.m. #1 Maryland (20-1) vs. Syracuse (15-6) 8:00 p.m. #2 Northwestern (19-1) vs. #3 North Carolina (17-2) Sunday on CBS College Sports, 5:30 p.m. Division I Championship
I'm pretty sure that Maryland will win the first game since I've seen Georgetown play Syracuse twice in the past few weeks, including for the Big East title two weeks ago where they beat the Orange, so I'm mostly waiting for the second game and here's why.
The Terps lost to the Tar Heels in last year's Semifinals which was brutal for Terp fans to take since many really thought they'd do the Field Hockey & Lacrosse double-championship thing -again.
But it didn't happen, though they could at least take solace in the Wildcats beating UNC in the final, for their fifth straight NCAA title.
The Tar Heels beat the Terps in the NCAA Field Hockey championship in November, scoring the winning goal with just 11 seconds left. More brutality for Turtle fans!
Back on April 18th, I watched the Tar Heels' huge victory at beautiful Lakeside Park in Evanston on The BigTenNetwork, their first live Women's Lacrosse telecast since the network started, and what a match to start with. http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-lacros/recaps/041810aaa.html
Megan's from perennial lacrosse power Mt. Hebron in Howard County, MD, where my sister's family lives, one of the real traditional lacrosse and field hockey hot houses on the East Coastthat exports talent to teams all over the country. My two oldest nieces played field hockey for Glenelg, playing in the state championship game for their division three times in five years.
Bosica's ability to find a hole in the defense or pass like a laser-beam reminded me of Isiah Thomas going thru the lane for the Hoosiers, once-upon-a-time, always getting that second defender to follow him, leaving someone wide-open for the pass. She's uncanny and never stops hustling!
I'll have some comments about the Men's NCAA Semifinals at M&T Stadium on Saturday morning.
You're not really surprised, are you, that the geniuses over at the Miami Herald's Sports section didn't even bother to list these NCAA Women's Semifinal matches in the paper today? It's par for the course at one of the WORST-designed and edited sports sections in the entire country.
They're the same geniuses who had nothing in the paper about the UEFA ChampionsLeague title game the day before it was played. Yeah, that's normal at newspapers that think they've got something to brag about. See for yourself:On TV / Radio Today http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/28/1652417/on-tv-radio-today.html
Breaking: Miami Herald & sports editor Jorge Rojas already in mid-season form as they ignore BigTenNetwork's nationally-televised football games.
