OT: Stewart Mandel revisits inviting Rutgers to the Big Ten (it's still a bad decision)
Paywalled article, but for those with access to the Athletic, definitely worth a read.
The TL:DR is that this move never made sense, in hindsight, is confirmed to make no sense, and should be basically be considered Delaney's biggest gaffe.
it's a fair question...i think it started out as a "hey, this is disposable writing on my part, why be formal" thing, on my part. it's how i write social media, message board comments, etc. i usually use capitals when i'm creating a board topic here, and definitely do so when i do the occasional diary entry, simply because those seem less...heck, "temporary?" i guess?
at least, that's how it started. now it's just pretention, but by this time i've committed to the bit so i can't go back.
thanks for the thoughts, by the way. i'm not kidding about any of this. i honestly believe that it's long past time for colleges to divest themselves of their football and basketball teams, and have thought so for years. at this point they relate to the educational mission of a University in name only (non-revenue sports are a different conversation). don't get me wrong - i'm as big a fan of the football and basketball teams as anyone i know, but the disconnect between those particular athletes and the student body gets wider every year.
i'd also say - this is not a knock against the athletes themselves, nor is it a suggestion that they don't "deserve" to be there. this isn't that. i'm aware, and proud, of the fact that hundreds of kids have gotten michigan degrees that otherwise wouldn't have gotten a sniff from the greatest university in the world. this is a knock against the athletic-industrial complex that is driving every conversation about the sport.
August 7th, 2023 at 11:20 AM ^
Not that he's wrong here, but Stewart Mandel is one of those people on social media who has the wrong opinion on things an impressive amount of the time
August 7th, 2023 at 12:26 PM ^
I read the article and while I don't know that you could say he got any one thing wrong in the article, what he did get wrong was not making a real argument. It was basically: (1) Rutgers was a terrible fit from the start (2) Rutgers has sucked at sports since they joined (3) Rutgers athletic department is losing money. Okay. Was joining the B1G supposed to make them better? How? Why didn't it work then? And how on earth do they manage to lose money? Because they are getting too much of it? I came away with more questions than answers.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
It's all true. But I like to look at the upsides. It did make the conference a boatload of money keeping it far ahead of the SEC in revenue. Plus, Rutgers (and Maryland) offer us alums on East Coast an easy ticket and travel day to see Michigan on an away game. And what amounts to a week off in season allows bench players to get experience and/or starters to run up stats for Heisman/All American consideration. Lemonade from a big scarlet lemon.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:21 PM ^
They weren't my choice by any means but I don't get all the angst. They open up New Jersey (a talent-rich state) to Big Ten recruiting, give our East Coast alums a road game to attend, and if they never take advantage of their in-state talent and become good, then they're a breather in the schedule. You have to have some of those.
August 7th, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
Somewhere, Jim Delany is pleasuring himself while watching his basic cable subscription
August 7th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
Agreed....
August 7th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
How does NYC equal the San Francisco Bay Area? They don’t care greatly about college athletics - and don’t change their weekend routines to watch games.
The issue isn’t “who watches”, it’s - how many tv’s have subscribers from which you can draw a monthly fee. In this aspect - NYC and DC are attractive / appealing markets.
Northern California becomes interesting. Why is that? I would guess - since there’s a lot of innovation in tech, generically speaking, that number of households which have dropped “cable” and shifted to only streaming services is greater than in any other major US market.
So, this makes the Northern California traditional media market a bit less attractive - unless Fox insists on the BTN as part of its streaming package / content / monthly subscription.
Oh, and what do Bay Area sports fans love? It’s the 49ers - which can still be watched on over the air television, without a Fox subscription of any kind.
Regarding Rutgers, I’m not a fan - but - no other desirable team is closer to the NYC market. UVA would challenge the DC market - but, Maryland attracts that well enough.
Actually there's an even better article from The Athletic this morning on the bigger picture of realignment, TV/streaming, and the likelihood that the bottom feeders (ie. Rutgers and others) will eventually be cast aside as consolidation continues:
https://theathletic.com/4750009/2023/08/07/college-sports-realignment-tv-revenue/
A money quote from author Chris Vannini: "This is my third annual Realignment Sucks column, and there’s no reason to think The Great Consolidation that I warned about two years ago will stop. Don’t be naive: That process could very well lead to the superconference bottom-feeders getting kicked out. If TV money is worth killing a century-old conference and older in-state rivalries, what’s to keep the next shift from kicking out the schools that don’t bring as much value as the big brands? If I’m Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers, the Mississippi schools or anyone on that level, I’d be very worried about the end of the path I’m speeding down."
Won't happen, for the same reason that teams don't schedule many good OOC games. It's not in their interests.
Which would Michigan fans prefer?
A. Michigan plays 3-4 marquee games a year and regularly wins 10 games.
B. Michigan plays nothing but marquee games and regularly goes 6-6.
Fans like big games, but they like winning more.
If there is one thing that we all should have learned by now . . . never say "won't happen"
Eh, I’m not going to use hindsight to critique Delaney’s foresight. Adding Rutgers made the Big Ten a ton of money and helped separate us financially from the PAC 12, big 12, and ACC. Obviously, they add little value now, but I think Mandel is seriously undervaluing the financial stability acquired by adding the New York and DC markets in the pre-cord cutting era. It’s well known that the Big Ten feared Penn State would leave for the ACC; adding Maryland and Rutgers ended that possibility
And for everyone saying we should kick them out, be serious. Every conference needs doormats. Rutgers fits their role quite nicely.
Rutgers brought the B1G a boatload of revenue. That alone made the move worth it for every school in the conference.
From the perspective of fans, the move hasn’t been great from a competitive standpoint but you also can’t just add powerhouse. At some point, some of those powers will fade into mediocrity. The SEC can’t even maintain Bama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn and Florida as true power programs. Tennessee faded in the early 2000s. Now you’re adding Texas and OU to the mix as well. It’s just not sustainable.
Looking at the new B1G, it’s not realistic to expect the likes of USC, Michigan, OSU, PSU, Washington, and Oregon to all win 9+ games every year. And that’s ignoring Nebraska, which has already faded to mediocrity as a traditional power. It’s just too difficult to compete against each other, not to mention the random years where Iowa, MSU or Wisconsin decide to be really good.
Rutgers accomplished exactly what they were brought in to do. Bring in boatloads of cash and be a punching bag.
I believe Maryland's a significant net positive for our conference. They bring competitive sports across the board, a smart, passionate alumni/fan base, and first-rate academics (pretty sure it's a nouveau Public Ivy). They hold their own in a market with 5 pro teams (and I'm including the successful and popular Mystics). The location, of course, goes without saying.
They, IMO, shouldn't ever be considered - if we somehow ever got to that point - as a possible relegation/removal from the B1G.
Aside from the 1st paragraph's last sentence, Rutgers brings none of that. They can go whenever.