When The Lone Star Network All Came Apart

“words, words, words, bullshit, graphs, profit, market share, words, words, bullshit, bullshit. Reading dulls my instincts, DeLoss. Summarize, please."

Bill Byrne would read the Oxford Dictionary if he could make enough money off of it to clean the bat guano from Kyle Field.

I’m not buying that A&M was ever offered a viable piece of the Longhorn Network or whatever it was to be called …

This…just made my day. I…words escape me.

Fantastic

Scip, you’re operating at a very high level right now. I am in awe.

ha very very funny stuff, awesome write up, and really good writing btw.

“These bats are everywhere and they drink blood and battle werewolves and they make rich guano and they buzz Lady Reveille. And then they wake up the crickets. The crickets. Sometimes I think they’re watching my movements…they’re clever, the crickets, the way they regard you, the way they observe."

Pure gold, Scip. Made this long night shift all the more bearable.

The whole crickets bit reminded me of the AgAssist piece y’all did a couple years back. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as hard in my life after reading some of those comments from that post. Making fun of little brother is going to be a pastime I will miss for sure.

Learn about the famous Ag Assist
 
If y’all recall Byrne had a piece the following Wednesday decrying the abuse of the system by outsiders and threatened prosecution. One of my prouder moments.

Aggie retardation over the Longhorn Network perfectly distilled.

Did you see Lowell Galindo’s tweet aimed at Dollar Bill? He said he was sorry that the dual network didn’t work out but wondered if it had, would the Ags still be butthurt over high school games. Nice to see ESPN joining us in the laughs.

When Dollar Bill started spouting off random words, it reminded me of when Ron Swanson found an old typewriter and decided to type every word he knew.

“Rectangle. America. Megaphone. Monday. Butthole.”

Epic shit there Scipio, well done sir.

"Let me tell you what I do understand. I understand you come into this office thinking you’re better than me with reading, and paper, and talking, and things, and figures, and reckoning of sums, and networks, and ideas, and I feel threatened. I really do." <—dont you hate the people in your life who feel this way, but are too damn dumb to realize it's true. Thank God for the comical relief it provides.

wow.

one of the best works

evar

Efficient work, as usual, Scip. Bravo! Lozenge!

Excellent piece, sir. Why do I feel that this conversation pretty much mirrors the actual conversation that took place? Art imitating life or life imitating art?

“Our state name is actually tu.”

Pure unadulterated greatness. Pulitzer indeed.

Channeling Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry.

Sounds ta me they needs ta put Bill Byrne in the nervous hospital.

I knew about 1/3 of the way through reading this, that I had one of two choices.
I could stop reading, or I could continue to read knowing that I would laugh so hard that I would eventually throw up.

I didn’t stop reading.

I can pay no higher BC compliment than to say this is in parlin’s league. Very well done.

Driving to work this morning, the Ticket morning show hosts were discussing how the Big 12 turmoil is caused by Texas throwing its weight around. The examples they used were NU and TAMU being frustrated by Texas.

There is a common thread here. Nebraska’s frustration began with the Big 12 formation. Texas was very clear about not wanting to join a conference with unlimited PQs. The Big 8 agreed. At the first league meeting, NU proposed reallowing unlimited PQs (one of the Husker program cornerstones). Texas made it clear that we were out if it passed. It was voted down 11 – 1. The NU AD? Bill Byrne.

Now, the Ags are po’ed about how Texas tried to sneak a fast one by them- this 5 years in the making, openly developed LHN. It seems to me that Bill Byrne has made a career of leveraging institutional jealousies as cover for his strategic incompetence.

This seems pretty accurate.

Just finished watching season 1 of HBO’s outstanding “Game of Thrones,” and reading this piece reminded me of a few of the characters…

Bill Byrne = Lysa Arryn (she of the 10-year-old still-breastfeeding son)
DeLoss = Eddard Stark

You are no Fake Ken Tremendous! Lozenges!

Very well done.

Now, if we can get a few contract details worked out by Saturday, life will be grand (a Clipper Cooper appearance wouldn’t hurt either)!

Hook ’em!

That was pretty slick. Enjoyable.

Par excellence, per usual.

Pulitzer or ESPY or Herbie. WTF …National Lampoon

awesome post, thought drawings conjures up Charlie’s lyric page from Nightman on It Always Sunny

I’ve got to agree with an earlier poster: you’re really in the zone right now.

You are aware, are you not, that there are legal strictures against the release of privileged information? You are placing both yourself and this valuable bit of virtual real estate at risk, sir. Be warned.

When I read this I read Bill Byrnes parts in the voice of Ron Burgundy. This is funny stuff

Big Ern was impressed. He liked how Scipio had made so many words.

TaylorTRoom writes “Texas was very clear about not wanting to join a conference with unlimited PQs.”
I’m lost, what does PQs mean?

Great work Scipio. The visual on this got me:

“The man called Byrne placed both hands under his chin and closed his eyes, his elbows finding worn grooves in the mahogany. He called it Listening-Face. The groove of his chin-hands would route the words to his ear holes, where his instincts resided.”

That was awesome. Except now every time an SEC team wins a game I’m going to think “Mastadon!”

This was a good article except for the rampant racism.

PQ – partial qualifer
Texas wanted higher entrance standards for the conference.

If you raise the bar any higher we’re going to have to call Sergei Bubka out of retirement.

Just wonderful.

PQ — Palomino Quarterhorses. Nebraska built their program with those things.

Or it could mean academic Partial Qualifiers. Either one.

Sorry. I was a little late.

Wow. Impressive. The thought-drawing of Bill’s glistening thighs makes me want to vomit.

Beats the hell out of that goofy “American Pie” satire song that I saw some ags tossing around the other day.

Well done, sir.

“Some of you have asked me, ‘Isn’t it true you had a chance to join Texas in the ESPN venture and would have had a joint channel?’

Three or four years ago we talked about doing a joint flagship channel. I liked the idea, but our fans should know me better than to think I would pass on a $150 million deal for Texas A&M. That never happened."

http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205264518

"Some of you have asked me, ‘Isn’t it true you had a chance to join Texas in the ESPN venture and would have had a joint channel?’

Three or four years ago we talked about doing a joint flagship channel. I liked the idea, but our fans should know me better than to think I would pass on a $150 million deal for Texas A&M. That never happened."

Someone’s getting some heat.

Funny article but maybe ease up a bit on the Simple Jack bashing.

I didn’t read all that nonsense but I would like to see evidence that a joint network was ever seriously discussed and if so what the basic outline was.

I can’t figure out which is harder to believe: A&M would indeed pass on a profitable opportunity OR the UT fanbase is so myopic to believe such a tall tale urban legend without any evidence.

Charley Atkins – your AD implied that a deal was offered – see the Orangeblodd post above for the link. He just says he did not turn down $150 million. I agree though, I am curious as to what joint tv deal was actually discussed.

Byrne’s wording has a Nixonesqe look to it.

“Three or four years ago we talked about doing a joint flagship channel. I liked the idea, but our fans should know me better than to think I would pass on a $150 million deal for Texas A&M. That never happened."

So it was discussed 3 or 4 years ago, correct? You liked the idea, correct?

But you did not pass on an offer of $150 million. Interestingly, this seems to confirm everything that has been said about A&M being offered a part in the network. Of course there was not a $150 million offer as, at that time, nobody expected it to be that profitable.

I believe Byrne just confirmed the story with a lame attempt to frame it as a denial.

http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205264518

That link was hilarious. A&M is taking the public position that they’re leaving for the SEC because of the LHN. They’re trying so damn hard to win the public opinion war that they won’t admit they see an opportunity to earn more money in the SEC. They’re willing to look petty and foolish to those of us that pay attention in order to convince idiots that they’re battling the greed of ESPN/UT.

Amazing how different the landscape of college football would be if Dodds had only thrown in some Chockapockets.

I like how the Ags need to have specific details regarding what Dodds and Byrne discussed and feel that UT should have offered the Lone Star Network to A&M multiple times. But the Ags are quick to jump to SEC without any public invitation from the SEC on two separate occasions. Why is A&M breaking up the Big 12 without the rest of the conference being given a basic outline of what is planning, why weren’t we given this timeline 5 years ago when we know Dodds and Byrne talked LSN?

ADT2 said:

September 1st, 2011 at 5:19 am

Just finished watching season 1 of HBO’s outstanding "Game of Thrones," and reading this piece reminded me of a few of the characters…

Bill Byrne = Lysa Arryn (she of the 10-year-old still-breastfeeding son)
DeLoss = Eddard Stark

Considering Stark’s fate, I doubt Dodds would consider the comparison a compliment.

I think the lotion deal is an exaggeration.

Youre twisted man. Awesome.

Re: Partial qualifiers

To be eligible for NCAA competition, you must have: 1) a certain minimum GPA in certain “core” classes; & 2) a certain minimum score on either the SAT or the ACT. Obviously, graduation from high school is a must.

A partial qualifier has achieved only 1 of the 2.

The Big 8 didn’t place any limits on PQs. That’s why NU got so good.

The SWC didn’t allow for PQs. Therefore, UT didn’t want the Big 12 to allow for them either. As a compromise (Husker fans ALWAYS miss this point), for each academic year, 4 PQs are allowed, 2 women + 2 men, but for each gender, they can’t be from the same sport (e.g., you can’t have 2 male basketball PQs per year).

Tom Osborne knew he wouldn’t be able to compete when the pipeline of PQs turned into a trickle. That’s why he retired so early & that’s why he’s ALWAYS had it in for UT. Since the NU fan base regards him as their spiritual & earthly leader, they hate UT as well. Going 1-9 against UT doesn’t help, either.

I don’t know the policy on PQs or non-qualifiers of the other conferences. But that’s what google is for.

Actually, the wise Ags are playing the “more money in the SEC” card. Those sticking with the LHN are highlighting Byrne’s incompetence on this issue.

SEC allows PQs.

probably not too far removed from what happened. : )

i was thinking of the negotiations for carrying lhn just now and imagined a time in the not very distant future when this era is looked at in toto. (no, not that damn dog).

what i think will be said is that . . .

. . . negotiations went on longer and were less remunerative, initially, than espn was hoping for. numerous fan groups around the country lobbied hard to keep the longhorn network off their cable providers, but the ironic effect was that it had essentially no impact on the longhorn network — it already existed — except that it materially slowed the espn movement toward offering the exposure to other programs — essentially guaranteeing a monopoly for the texas program for an extended period. for the various fan bases, it was the functional equivalent of calling an airstrike onto their own coordinates.

Fan-farkin-tastic

This was an official transcript, right?

Interesting point about in the comments about Byrne being the AD at Nebraska. I has forgotten about that. Hmmm.

Did you obtain this document through Wikileaks?

The only valuable thing aggy is taking with them when they finally (FINALLY!) leave is their unparalleled standing as a joke-butt.

The “Simple Bill” riff was hilarious, and the first part put me in mind of a true Rob Reiner classic (“Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”)

I just wanna watch the Rice game.
I don’t have cable OR satellite, so it might be tricky.
Scrying, maybe? I think that’s how Scipio got his info on this.

SEC might actually work out for Aggy in financial terms, but their football fortunes will be shit.

@ BiH – I was browsing through the SEC’s constitution & bylaws. They don’t mention PQs, so I guess they don’t have any restrictions on PQs.

Interesting note, though – they allow two NON-qualifiers in FB per academic year (Section 14.3.2.1©). The SEC – where the tail (football) wags the dog (university).

Brilliant, Scipio, and thanks for the link to Ag Assist. I can’t wait to read it.

Genius

Freaking hilarious Scipio.

Not to pick nits with such a work of art, but shouldn’t the title of the article be “When the Lone Star Network All Came Apart”?

This will be printed and posted in the break room at our office. I’m going to hide behind the copier to watch the old aggie down the hall when he reads this. Discussion with him yesterday ended with him screaming “Potato Salad!!”

I’m not an Aggy but I find it hard to believe the following sequence of events:
- UT offered A&M an equal partnership in BuckleVision
- A&M turned it down
- A&M sat around with their tumbs up their asses
- UT collected $15M/year for an Aggie-less BuckleVision
- A&M got pissed

I guess it’s feasible, but that would indicate an unmatched level of ineptitude.

Charley: Byrne is correct that he did not turn down what Texas eventually ended up with, and it may or may not have been an equal partnership. But the rest of your sequence is dead on.

He is giving away third-tier events on line.

“it may or may not have been an equal partnership”

This is the key point. I’ve yet to see UT suggest ANYTHING that was an equal partnership with ANYBODY. This is why you aren’t in the PAC. They insisted on equality, you insisted on BuckleVision.

Charley, that isn’t how it went down. The events are ordered thusly:

1. A&M was pissed. They have been at least since 1998.
2. UT offered A&M an equal partnership in a LSN.
3. A&M turned it down, probably in large part because they were pissed.
4. UT collected $15M/yr for the LHN.
5. A&M got even more pissed.

I don’t think Dodds got any farther than saying UT and A&M should team up on a regional network before Byrne turned him down. Byrne would have said that he turned down UT because Dodds offered an unequal share. Its too easy of an out to pass up if it really existed.

Charley, can you provide me the quote where anyone in the Pac 10 said that the deal was killed because of the LHN? I don’t think the negotiations even got that far. I seem to remember UT and OU backing away from the Pac 10, not the Pac 10 saying they weren’t going to take OU because Texas had the LHN.

I think you can tell all you need to know about the accuracy of Byrne’s side of the story by his opening statement- “Three or four years ago…”. What was it, Bill? 2008? Or 2007? That he can’t remember shows how much attention he paid at the time.

I really think Byrne’s “analysis” never got past “Can’t trust them t-sips.”

Even if it was unequal (which it seems Byrne would have mentioned in his attempt at cya), don’t you think that an unequal share of something is better than an equal partnership in nothing?

“in toto (no, not that damn dog).”

This is PQ – Partially Qorrect.

TOTO is the new name for the conference, an acronym for Texas Oklahoma and Them Others. Please note that it is intended to be capitalized (much like TU) and that it is not to be thrown around lightly. Also, I believe the damn dog’s name is Revileme, or something along that line.

Further, thanks to Charly for providing an unmatched level of ineptificationalistic ramblitude.

All of the agy skreeching about “See? We’re really leaving! You’re sorry now, huh? Aren’cha? Huh? Huh? Bastard!” puts me in mind of a song from yesteryear (can’t remember if it’s C&W or Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks Featuring the Lickettes, or both), titled How Can I Miss You, When You Won’t Go Away?"

I am not saying there were not sticking points in the UT to the PAC negotiations last year, but to say the LHN killed the move is absurdly simplistic. Can’t find the link right now, but the Statesman interview with Bill Powers after everyone agreed to stay in the Big 12 pretty clearly laid out that once A&M said they would not go to the PAC and the Big 12 presented what future TV revenues would be, UT backed away from the PAC.

The idea that the PAC felt the LHN was a deal-breaker is revisionist history.

Great piece. After months of basically ignoring what the Ags were up to, I looked between the hilarious lines of this piece and bestowed understanding upon myself.

Thanks. So well done.

Someone needs to archive that weekly wednesday so when the ags say the LHN broke up the big 12 we can just post the link. That thing is gold essentially $bill turned down a joint network because he didnt think it was worth anthing. Then when it becomes a 300 million dollar deal for UT gets pissed at us for his lack of foresight! Unbelievable. You cant save aggie from themselves.

I don’t know, or care, whether A&M was offered an equal share. After all, why should they get an equal share if they aren’t an equal asset?

What I do know is that reading this was pure bliss. Excellent work, as always.

Texas Oklahoma and Them Others

i love it.

in what would appear to be a thoroughly unrelated note, a few of the younger generation are aware there was a major conflict in the ‘40s involving a considerable portion of the people of this planet. a very highly decorated national guard unit from texas played significant and heroic roles in several parts of europe. it was the 36th infantry division, the so-called t-patchers. those gentle readers in austin can drive to the capitol and see a large memorial just west of the capitol building commemorating the courage and sacrifice of those remarkable individuals. the stone memorial is the ’t-patch’ shoulder insignia proudly worn by texas guardsmen to this day.

this is what it looks like:
http://www.agd.state.tx.us/36id/Sections/about/

reason it occurs to me is that the original guard unit was intended to be a texas-oklahoma unit, but it outgrew expectations and became just a texas division. the t-patch features an arrowhead pointed down with a prominent T superimposed. the arrowhead was to signify oklahoma and the T, of course, was T for texas.

i was proud to wear that insignia, but my unit was called the 71st airborne brigade at that time. late in my time with them we were re-designated the 36th inf bde, but oddly did not wear the t-patch.

anyway, i submit that the new toto conference adopt the t-patch into the conference logo, lawyers willing, of course.

Here’s the link again:

Here’s the link again… http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205264518

Here’s what Bill said that’s particularly interesting:

"Some of you have asked me, "Isn’t it true you had a chance to join Texas in the ESPN venture and would have had a joint channel?"

Three or four years ago we talked about doing a joint flagship channel. I liked the idea, but our fans should know me better than to think I would pass on a $150 million deal for Texas A&M. That never happened."

He admits they talked about the joint channel. He then claims he would have accepted an equal share of the $300M pie, but UT didn’t offer that.

Just pointing that out since there appears to be some confusion.

Scipio… as has occurred so many times in the past. I salute you!

Ricky: not hard to find many quotes supporting that fact:

“What killed the Pac-12′s Texas deal was the Longhorn Network.” http://blogs.denverpost.com/colleges/2011/08/15/smart-money-is-on-pac-16/19650/

and there’s others.

You can already count on the fact before the recent Big 12 expansion efforts started, DeLoss already asked Larry Scott of he could bring 3 friends and BuckleVision to the PAC and was told no on BuckleVision.

“I don’t know, or care, whether A&M was offered an equal share. After all, why should they get an equal share if they aren’t an equal asset? "

In business, sometimes you compromise on a small issue for a greater goal. I guess Texas doesn’t teach that in their business school.

With an ear of corn and a cotton boll, crossed by wheat stalks…

… and surmounted by a cyclone…

… under a magnifying glass (show me)…

asnyone feel left out?

Maybe just a question mark to signify them other’ns.

“I am not saying there were not sticking points in the UT to the PAC negotiations last year, but to say the LHN killed the move is absurdly simplistic. Can’t find the link right now, but the Statesman interview with Bill Powers after everyone agreed to stay in the Big 12 pretty clearly laid out that once A&M said they would not go to the PAC and the Big 12 presented what future TV revenues would be, UT backed away from the PAC.

The idea that the PAC felt the LHN was a deal-breaker is revisionist history."

A&M could clearly have gone to the SEC last year had UT/TT/OU/OSU gone to the PAC. BuckleVision killed the deal. Plain and simple. A&M’s inclusion was a footnote.

You were far too kind to Byrne, Scip. This would have been exceptional if you’d taken off the kid gloves.

Charles, what in the hell makes you think that aTm would deserve an equal share of profit when they don’t even remotely generate an equal share of value? What does that say about your grasp of business? UT, after all, now has an extra $300M and pooooooor aggie has jack shit.

This is not rocket science — although maybe it is for Byrne.

The deal wasn’t close to $300 million when DeLoss approached A&M. ESPN was not involved — Fox was supposedly be Involved for a lot less money.

A&M is pissed because ESPN decided to step in and stunned even Texas with their proposal.

So now A&M takes their ball and goes to the SEC — with this cover story.

“Even if it was unequal (which it seems Byrne would have mentioned in his attempt at cya), don’t you think that an unequal share of something is better than an equal partnership in nothing?”

Seems like Texans of all alma maters seem to have difficulty with the concept of compromise. Yes, UT you have your BuckleVision. But you have pissed off your conference mates, and their squealing is directly proportional to their options. You have about 15 people that are able to watch your game on TV Saturday. You are in a weaker conference as a result.

Worked out just swimmingly. But you will never admit it.

you mean ed asnyone? didn’t he play mary tyler moore’s boss when i last paid any attention, to speak of, to tv?

other than him, i think you’re on it.

if the ags sneak back into the new toto, all tails-between-the-legs-like, the boll could sport a weevil to account for them.

“Charles, what in the hell makes you think that aTm would deserve an equal share of profit when they don’t even remotely generate an equal share of value? What does that say about your grasp of business? UT, after all, now has an extra $300M and pooooooor aggie has jack shit.”

I would suggest to you that A&M is now in a much superior conference than UT and stands, over the long haul, to make much more via their SEC affiliation than UT does remaining in the Big 12. Let’s say BuckleVision with A&M was worth $350M and UT ended up with $125M less over 20 years by compromising. You don’t think the continued erosion of the Big 12 is worth $6M/year to UT?

In business, sometimes you compromise on a small issue for a greater goal. I guess Texas doesn’t teach that in their business school.

If not for the 2nd sentence, I would have assumed you were talking about A&M needing to accept the reduced share in order to reap the benefits of the increased exposure. Just sayin’.

“Seems like Texans of all alma maters seem to have difficulty with the concept of compromise. "

Seems like Texans of one alma mater are totally irony deaf. You also seem to think “compromise” means giving things to A&M where they give up nothing.

Agree with Beowulf. The way you set the scene up and the structure of the dialogue was very McCarrhy-esque. Of course, McCarthy wishes he had your comedic chops, Scip.

Seems like Texans of one alma mater are totally irony deaf. You also seem to think "compromise" means giving things to A&M where they give up nothing.

Even by that definition of compromise, didn’t we do exactly that when we proposed the deal to A&M? Even if A&M would have been 20% partners, they had to do nothing in order to receive badly needed revenue and exposure.

Holy shit, that was funny.

I would suggest to you that A&M is now in a much superior conference than UT and stands, over the long haul, to make much more via their SEC affiliation than UT does remaining in the Big 12. Let’s say BuckleVision with A&M was worth $350M and UT ended up with $125M less over 20 years by compromising. You don’t think the continued erosion of the Big 12 is worth $6M/year to UT?

Please — even Gene Stallings gets it. As he said, there will be 4 super conferences, and the Big 12 will not be one of them.

A&M made a move that secures their future — good for them.

Texas is continuing to prepare for the long haul as well, and while you and your Aggy mates may think Texas has stepped in it and will regret this, I believe that it will work out just fine — over the long haul.

Verizon has 390,000 subscribers in North Texas, and 3.7 million subscribers nationally. Texas subscribers can watch the Rice game for free. Out of staters can watch it if they upgrade their HD package. This notion that 30 people will be able to watch the Rice game is ridiculously stupid. Take that shit to TexAgs.

What the fuck is BuckleVision? Another retarded Ag creation on par with “Ole Butter Teeth?” Just take your ball and go home Aggies. You’ll find crying on LSU and Bama’s shoulder ain’t the same as mama’s.

Clearly we need to spell this out again because the aggies are to stupid to understand $bills spin.

One UT approached ATM with the idea of a JOINT network. At this stage it was just an idea they probably had some estimate of what it would be worth but that n umber was no where near 300million $bill has admitted this in his weekly wed blog.

TWO it is not clear if the offer included a fifty fifty split of the profits or a requirement for equal investment. Its also not clear if there were any significant attempts to negotiate a better deal for ATM. THREE: ATM declined the offer, probably because they did not think their ROI would make it worth the effort. FOUR: UT spends 3-4 years developing BevoD and taks it to thed open market

I think the BuckleVision retardation is because he assumes everyone in Texas has big belt buckles. I assume that even aggies realize that UT students and alums probably don’t wear big cowboy-style belt buckles.

And Chuck, I think Texas doesn’t particularly care about sustaining the Big 12 long-term, so hell yes it’s worth $6M a year.

Why equal sharing, when you don’t bring equal revenue?

UT gets $300 million by itself. A&M can’t even get their own network and that’s their bullshit excuse for leaving.

If A&M could get $150 by itself, there would be a Farmer’s Network.

To clarify: Chucky is not an aggie, and says as much earlier in the thread.

great read, very funny.

although the original premise never even happened.

Chucky or whatsisname is belaboring an opinion from a specific angle using a broken cudgel. Some massive insecurity in his psyche – likely having to do with completely understandable lack of self-esteem – causes him to insist that his opinion and only his opinion is the correct one. He may not be agy, but he will certainly be admitted easily to onorery agy status.

If this forces Texas into a Pac-12 sooner rather than later, with a more limited network… and then you compare that to where we were last week, at least on paper… then I really can’t say AM blew this. The only Texas school in the SEC? A quick hop over the Gulf the longest road trip? One of the premier academic institutions in its new conference? That’s a lot to sell recruits.

Maybe the Pac-12 does have significantly superior academics — but I doubt USC’s fine arts school or Berkeley’s gradate programs will refine their thinking about schools in states in the middle of the country, no matter a conference affiliation.

Honestly, we sort of forced their hand: “be second fiddle in the current situation or see if you can find something better somewhere else.” I would respect them more for the latter than the former, and now that they’ve done it, I can’t blame them.

Charles you’ll have to do better than your revisionist article from Denver. I didn’t see any quote from Larry Scott saying the LHN killed the deal to the Pac 10, only an assumption by the author of the blog post. Quoting from what is basically an opinion piece is not evidence.

Scott has said something to the effect that the LHN was one hurdle in negotiations… he said that a few months ago, well after the dust had settled on the prior talks.

My understanding, and I could certainly be wrong – but this is the story that was printed during the last realignment talks – is that Scott flew to Austin and made his pitch for UT to the PAC. The next day, after meeting with Beebe, seeing the updated projections for the Big 12 tv contracts, and talking with OU and A&M, Powers called Scott and told him we were staying put.

The revisionist history is that now bloggers like the guy on the Denver Post that you quoted say that the LHN was the impediment for UT to the PAC. I am calling BS on that. UT said no to the PAC last year. Many are now arguing that the LHN will be able to be rolled into the PACs new television framework.

If Larry Scott would allow BuckleVision in the Pac, then as soon as the A&M letter was faxed in, you would have saw UT/TT/OU/OSU faxing theirs in.

But you didn’t see that. Why? UT wants to hold only league together that’s willing to play by their rules. So they are trying to convince BYU to join. If BYU joins, then the Big 12 will try to get a couple more and hold the league together with bubble gum and wire hangers. If not, then anybody with options bolts. OU/OSU to either PAC or SEC. Mizzou (maybe) to the SEC. Tech to the PAC if they will take Tech without UT. KU to the PAC if they will have them and UT not compromising. UT ONLY to the PAC if BuckleVision is shitcanned for the UT/TT RSN, otherwise indy.

So the fate of the conference is in the hands of the Mormans. LOL

And don’t try to sell me on the loads of Verizon FIOS subscribers. 390K in Texas? YOu got what, 27 million people there? It’s in 390K homes? Now I fully realize it will eventually be available throughout Texas, but still. What a freaking joke.

Bill Powers on the realignment decision last year:

“The number one topic of discussion was the impact it would have on the student-athletes and their families. From scheduling, to travel, to course disruption to ability of their families [to] drive to the game or at least a lot of the games,”

Definitely has some truth to it, but how much?

There is something to being able to offer recruits are more regional conference based on those advantages which may cancel some of the SEC1 the Aggies claim will be able to tip the scales in recruiting.

*a more

that is some funny shit!!

What the fuck is bucklevision?

Why would Byrne throw out the $150M number if Dodds didn’t approach him to even split whatever proceeds the LSN would have generated. Byrne looks like the idiot he truly is with his comments.

Charley,

You have it wrong. Legislative interference played arguably the largest role in killing Texas to the west. Baylor was going to be left behind (and likely also Tech) and legislators and lawyers were dispatched forthwith. Then A&M got the bright idea that the SEC was better for them because they did not want to be seen as Texas’ tag along.

Texas to the PAC-10 was going to happen with the still unfinished “longhorn network” as an issue to be negotiated. It was a minor issue at that. The network has only become a lightning rod because ESPN (they have guys who went to business school) saw $$$$$ and threw it at us.

While many Aggies to tend to demonstrate hilarious myopia, monomania and downright moronical mutterings when Texas and sports in general come into play, I do have genuine respect for A&M as an academic institution and am proud of the contribution they make to our state in that regard. That’s why I was excited to learn that A&M is apparently not responsible for churning out someone as willfully obtuse and unequipped with the basics of logic as our new friend Charley.

All public posturing aside, Texas has zero interest in the long-term future of the Big XII – at least not with respect to most of the flotsam and jetsam that populate it currently. The demise of the Big XII and the Aggies running off to duel Mississippi State for bottom-tier SEC bragging rights may have been part of Dodds’ long-term Machiavellian master plan.

Or he and the Texas powers that be might simply not have given a shit.

Those of us fortunate enough to have attended a credible institution of higher learning are able to process abstract concepts such as “long-term strategic planning” and “Mayan calendars aside, college football will not end after 2012.” As Texans, we also tend to be a hospitable bunch and extend courtesy to our guests, even those who blatantly lack advantages such as the one just discussed. In that spirit, I’ll endeavor to explain Texas’ long term strategic thinking simply, and using small words, so we can clear up the confusion our guest seems to be experiencing.

Texas is good.

Texas is, and will be, one of college football’s absolute elite brands.

Texas is not married to the long-term viability (OK, this one is tough, but it basically means ‘how good they will do’) of the Big XII.

These facts mean that Texas has an array (that means ‘lots’) of attractive options available to it in terms of its long-term athletic affiliations (who you play sports with).

Super conferences are inevitable.

One of these will be in the West, evolving from the Pac-12. One will be in the Southeast, evolving from the SEC. One will be in the North/Northeast, evolving from the Big Ten. There will be one or two more, the makeup of which are much more speculative at this point.

Every one of these entities will want Texas to join them.

Texas is very unlikely to choose the SEC because they cheat and are, on average, pretty stupid.

Texas may go West. Geographic (think maps) and program prestige realities mean that there is only one program that can help the Pac-16 not sit third for the next 20 years behind the Big 16 and Super-SEC in terms of prestige, cachet and the attendant TV dollars. That program is Texas. The Pac folks will not squander this opportunity because they don’t like the Longhorn Network. The exact ‘why’ of this starts to get slightly abstract, but sum it up with ‘the people in charge are smarter than you.’

Texas may go North/Northeast. If both Texas and Notre Dame join the Big 16, they will be on at least equal footing with the Super-SEC over the same time frame. The Big folks will not squander this opportunity because they don’t like the Longhorn Network. Same reason as above.

Texas may decide to be the centerpiece of the fourth superconference. This would likely include programs with nationwide brands like BYU and Notre Dame with several other cherry-picked upper-tier programs and the requisite lower-tier geographic throw-ins endemic to every conference. Think this conference will have a problem with the Longhorn Network?

To sum up, Texas good. Longhorn Network good for Texas because of $ and brand building. Texas does not value the opinions of the people who are upset about it. Texas’ many, many advantages will put it in a very favorable situation for its interests in the long term, and if that means riding out a couple of years of a substandard conference while the moves are being made then so be it.

Hope that helps.

Now Dodds says that Byrne came sniffing around last summer when rumors of big $$$ for the network were out after rejecting it 3 years earlier. The more I see Byrne operate the more I think Scip’s write-up is more like the truth.

Nobis,

All Charley heard in that wonderful summary was “words, words, bullshit, facts, figures, bullshit, words.”

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6918208/texas-aggies-had-chance-partner-longhorn-network-deloss-dodds-says

Dodds takes a swing back: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/09/01/texas-texas-am.ap/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a7&eref=sihp

Highlights:
“Dodds said Texas has been unfairly cast as greedy for pursuing a network that has been blamed for shaking up the Big 12. “It’s not about what we did,” Dodds said. “It’s about what they didn’t do – create their own network.”

“Dodds told The Associated Press he first met with Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne about the idea of an Aggies-Longhorns network about four years ago but Byrne didn’t seem interested. At the time, the Longhorns weren’t sure they could carry a network on their own.”

Maybe he was inspired my Jenkins’s rant.

Scipio Tex. Not only blogger Emeritus but prescient as well.

 I think the Dodds article is very well timed, brief and to the point. No accident, that. Now that Aggy has formally stated they will be leaving, given a date, and exposed themselves as a lying bunch of cunts, we are officially on the offensive!

The SI piece is quite well done.

Charley is certainly obsessed – right down to the vintage nickname. (What the hell does “Bucklevision” even mean?)

Aggy all the way, protestations to the contrary notwithstanding.

Go to the SEC now, Charely. Rejoice in your gone-edness. Begone. Go.

nobis60,

Sincerely, you might be my favorite poster on this site. You’re in the Top 5, no question.

Admire that post like Albert Pujols 90 feet from Brad Lidge.

Wonderful explanation Nobis, but you used too many three syllable and above words for him.

What in the hell is “bucklevision”? Is there some team in Texas called the buckles? Somebody’s been spiking the maroon Kool-Aid.

By the way, this is probably wasted on the maroon Kool-Aid set, but not long after the PAC deal was shelved last year, Scott did an interview in which he said the perception that the LHN killed the deal was erroneous, that in fact, the PAC would have dealt with it to get UT in. THAT’S the real story, not what’s come out of Dysfunction Junction these last few weeks.

Bravo to Dodds for finally striking back in the perception battle that’s been waged lately in the media. It’s about time these myths aggy has been spreading are debunked. I understand why Dodds waited until the die was cast, but it’s good to see us getting out the real story now.

nobis60 – you won’t be in the PAC with BuckleVision and you won’t be in the B1G with Tech. You won’t go to the SEC because they cheat but you’ll pardon me for giving the same credibility to an ex-SWC member criticizing cheating as I would Heidi Fliss extoling the evils of prostitution.

Right now you are hoping the Mormons bail you out before you take a bite of humble pie, dump BuckleVision and go crawling to the PAC

Scipio: Might have been off about ESPN being specifically involved at that stage and Dodds venturing to the land of aggie, but another fine creation on your part. Byrne may even provide additional statements to fuel a follow-up.

Charley Atkins: “I can’t figure out which is harder to believe: A&M would indeed pass on a profitable opportunity OR the UT fanbase is so myopic to believe such a tall tale urban legend without any evidence.”

I’ll address the latter then the former aspects of your disbelief.

Dodds and Bryne have both said on the record that A&M had an opportunity to be a part of a Lone Star Network. Unless you’re under the impression they were having fun with the media as an inside joke or think it is mutually beneficial for them to lie, I don’t think it should be all that difficult to believe as a fact. The details of those talks haven’t been laid out, but does it really matter? TAMU, like the rest of the universities in the Big XII, have the right to start their own network if the parameters of a joint network weren’t to their liking. Regardless, all conference parties knew and approved of Texas’ pursuit of a network prior to the inking of a deal. Trying to re-write history and pretend otherwise is silly as everyone knows it was a key factor in Texas remaining in the conference when the realignment discussions cropped up previously.

As for the keen business acumen in College Station; the TAMU athletic department is in debt to their general fund. The UT athletic department has enough money to endow academic chairs. If you can’t figure out which group doesn’t know what they’re doing, I’m not precisely sure what to tell you. Reflect a bit longer on some of Byrne’s thought-drawings? No, that’s too cruel a fate for all but the worst criminals. Oh well. I hope sense finds you. Goodbye.

Out of idle curiosity, I looked at the travel distances the Aggies will be facing in their wonderful new conference, compared to the Big XII – whatever.
Closest opponent before – Baylor, 86 miles. Closest in SEC – LSU, 343 miles. (No less miles jokes allowed, they wouldn’t get them anyway.) LSU is the only conference opponent they will face that is closer than Lubbock, which was their longest trip in the old Big XII South.
Next closest opponent before – Texas, 103 miles. In SEC, Arkie at either 420 or 507 miles, depending on whether they are playing in Little Rock vs Fayetville.
Greatest distance in old Big XII South – TTU, at 435 miles. In SEC West – Auburn at 759 miles.
Other than LSU, they will not have a single conference opponent in reasonable (can I use that word when talking about Aggies?) driving distance.
As far as flying, I suspect that finding cheap airfares between aggieland and Auburn might be a problem. I will leave that research to someone who cares.
Part of the fun for me of being a student at UT was going to road games, as well as home games. Have fun in the Ess-Eee-Cee, Aggies.

Canada: There’s not going to be much Longhorns can say about travel if Texas goes to either the Pac or the Big Ten.

Bob – Except the availability of actual airline flights to places like LA, San Francisco, etc. Plus, if TTU, OU and OSU come with us, we would still have some closer games.
I agree with your point, except that the Aggie administration and fans are making such a big thing about how this benefits them. If Aggie doesn’t leave, the Big XII might (I said Might) have lasted for some time.

Plus, of course, the fact that once you fly to California, Oregon or Washington you are in a place you might want to go. Arizona, not so much, but have you checked out the talent? As opposed to Starkville, etc. I’ll give you Baton Rouge – some of the best food anywhere. The other SEC towns/cities? Bleh.

nobis,

I think Charley pretty clearly got the point. No need for extra tutorials.

But remember: BUCKLE. VISION.

“As for the keen business acumen in College Station; the TAMU athletic department is in debt to their general fund. The UT athletic department has enough money to endow academic chairs. If you can’t figure out which group doesn’t know what they’re doing, I’m not precisely sure what to tell you. "

This.

Also, keep in mind A&M is one of the largest universities, with one of the largest alumni bases in the country. Given that built-in advantage, they managed less profit than every Big 12 South team last year except Baylor.

Charley,

You are funny. I like your posts. The Buckle Vision thing has legs.

Well charley we’ve tried to be polite, but its pretty clear you’re fucking retarded or a troll. Yeah Texas is really going to drop the 300 million LHN because aggie left the big 12.

What you can’t seem to understand is that every bit of that value is completely independent of Aggie. In fact the LHN will actually be worth more if Texas can televise all our football games on the LHN. So you’re helping to increase the value of LHN by speeding the end of the Big 12.

Thank you, now go the fuck away you moron.

http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205225202

On June 16, 2010, Byrne expresses his belief that the LHN is a red herring, that there is no money in such things, and that the Ags have the right strategy. Per Staples’ SI article, about 4 months prior, Byrne had approached Dodds to see if the Ags could still get in on the LHN. At this point, with all the work done, and Texas starting to see what it was worth, he was rebuffed. No free-riding. What does that say about his later expressed belief that networks should only be for conferences?

Byrne is a tool, and he is whining about the LHN out of “sour grapes”. His resentment of Texas has poisoned the once healthy relationship.

Bob in Houston wrote: SEC allows PQs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bob, others… The SEC has not allowed PQs nor do they allow NQs. HOWEVER….

The Jerrell Powe/Ole Miss case of 2008 has made things a bit more confusing.

Post-Powe, the SEC’s initial eligibility rules will generally mirror the NCAA’s, which allow some non-qualifiers to attend school and try to get their grades up before competing. The one caveat being that any non-qualifier has to be approved by the SEC commissioner.

P.S. Fortunately (for a lot of kids), the SEC has also stopped the practice of over offering ’ships. That was sleezy.

P.S. (I hit send a bit too quick)….

Before the 2005-06 academic year

The NCAA eliminated the term "partial qualifier" before the 05-06 year but there’s still an appeal process for enrollment. The new category is a bit quirky, where a true non-qualifier can now appear to the conference and NCAA, get a waiver, enter college and work his butt off to earn sports eligibility. I know, what’s the point? Just call him a ‘partial’ and be done with it. So there are three categories now: qualifier, nonqualifier and nonqualifier with a partial waiver. There are examples out there but the practice doesn’t seem to be that prevelent or abused (that I know of).

Roach – Yes the value of BuckleVision to ESPN may improve with more games to televise, but at the expense of Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights.

UT could go independent and likely make the most cash, but there are lots of downsides there, not the least of which are the inability to compete for conference championships and marginalizing your relevance in years you aren’t competing for a national championship. Essentially your games as an indy in non-national championship caliber years will be reduced to exhibitions.

You guys had it sweet in the Big 12 the way it was 18 months ago. If you just would have compromised SLIGHTLY and showed a little bit of leadership in making the conference you were a member of stronger it could have stayed that way.

2nd best option was to join the PAC with some of your traditional rivals. That seems like it would have been a pretty good deal for you guys. But again, you couldn’t settle for Larry Scott’s RSN with Tech and split the money, you had to have it all. The current options seem to be:

- Convince BYU to join and have a shittier Big 12
- Go to the PAC with Tech and give up BuckleVision
- Keep BuckleVision and go independent
- Go to the SEC with A&M and keep BuckleVision (if I’m not mistaken SEC schools own 3rd tier rights)

The B1G ain’t an option as long as you have a “Tech problem”. By the way, love that quote. Shows just how much your leadership values it’s conference and in state partners… referring to them as a “problem” in correspondence with an outside university president.

Notice all of the options above have tremendous disadvantages for you. You are in the enviable position of having multiple options, but it’s going to be difficult to choose, because all require COMPROMISE (well unless the Mormons bail you out).

Charley, what specific SLIGHT compromises would have made the B12 such a cheery place?

This is always the hard part.

Magical leadership rays will make Tammy forget its teeny peeny problem.

Or something.

Chucky’s just a dipshit troller now.

@ TTR – Thanks for the link.

There’s no way Byrne or the aggies can deny the truth now.

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