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Realignment talk not going away


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3 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

It was quite literally rated the best a few times.  PreCovid and over a decade ago.  But I did like it back then.  

MCI, formerly KCI was progressive years ago. Went through recently and they are really struggling with security requirements given their layout. The use terminal pods. (No pods thread)

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2 minutes ago, UncleBuck said:

Somebody hasn't had a layover in Memphis. oof

 

btw everyone: SEC votes tomorrow on UT/OU

I used to live in Memphis (terrible experience, but at least I was on Mud Island). It's bland, but it's nowhere as bad as Kansas City's airport.

Another reason not to apologize for relocating the Big 12's offices from Kansas City to Dallas. Good lord I can not imagine having to travel through that airport regularly.

Edited by UDontKnow
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20 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

He has 2 Gs, sir.

I ran into Steve on 6th Street on Halloween night, 10/31/94. He literally bumped into me coming out of a bar and then I recognized him and we shook hands and bullshitted for a minute in the middle of the chaos. I was a freshman and he was super nice, loved Austin, girls were around in the crowd basically circling the guy and his buddies, it was fun and funny. And, hey, I'm guessing everybody got laid that night, as the whole town was fucking insane.

Is it still crazy on Halloween? I've always assumed so. There were over 100,000 people there that night, per the news. 

Also, dude was like 6'. Taller than you'd figure after seeing him in the movies, including the greatness that is Cocoon. 

Ggutenberg? Doesn't seem right, but I'll take your word for it.

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NSIAP. Pat Forde nails aggy's place in the big picture...

Even in the SEC, Texas A&M Can't Escape the Longhorns: https://www.si.com/college/2021/07/24/texas-am-cant-escape-sec-shadow-longhorns

Spoiler

Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC nearly a decade ago with plans to become the dominant athletic program in its state. So much for that.

On the night of Sept. 7, 2012, Texas A&M officials hosted Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive for a lavish dinner in an on-campus reception hall. The occasion: the Aggies would play their first football game as an SEC member the next day. I had accompanied Slive on this trip for an all-access story, but was politely kicked to the curb when it was time for him to dine with the A&M power brokers.

When dinner had wrapped, I was ushered into the room to resume my assignment. The mood was celebratory, smiles were everywhere. A pair of cowboy boots with the SEC logo on them, a gift from A&M, sat at Slive’s feet.

Bottles of wine were on the table. Lips were loosened. Egos were stoked.

One of the A&M officials made a pronouncement that articulated everything about the school’s acrimonious parting with the Big 12 and desire for this new start in the SEC. “Fifty years from now,” the man said, “we will be the controlling brand in this state.”

Welp. Texas A&M’s control issues have resurfaced.

After less than a decade apart, Texas—the cursed burnt orange, the hated Longhorns, the cancerous conference partner—is poised to re-enter Texas A&M’s life and scuttle its 50-year plan. The school that has always had the most clout and prestige in the Lone Star State has conspired with fellow Big 12 blueblood Oklahoma to seek entry into the SEC, a blockbuster development that could change just about everything in college athletics.


Including the fate of their rivals from College Station. What a staggering potential reversal of fortune. What a repudiation of A&M’s power play. What a cautionary tale for universities that view everything through the lens of outperforming their rival.

Starting fresh now looks like starting over, in an arrangement the Aggies do not want in the least. Nothing like getting divorced, moving away, then having the new neighborhood welcome your ex to move in next door.

On a festive 2012 night when the commissioner of the SEC went to Kyle Field and marveled at Midnight Yell practice, the future seemed unlimited for the Aggies. Now, the next commissioner of the SEC—and the rest of the league—seems prepared to ignore their wishes and serve them a humbling reminder of their place in the college athletic hierarchy.

The messages to that effect are clear. SEC message No 1: We like you, Texas A&M, but we love the idea of Texas in our league.

The Aggies have done what they can to slow the train that is prepared to run them over, refusing to let this stealth power play unfold behind closed doors. It seems highly likely that the school leaked the initial bombshell to the Houston Chronicle, igniting a furor that has at least put all involved parties in an awkward position.

When the story broke, athletic director Ross Bjork was near all the microphones at SEC media days to voice A&M’s desire to remain the only Texas member of the league. Football coach Jimbo Fisher issued a warning: “Be careful what you wish for if you jump in this league.” And former school president R. Bowen Loftin, who was in charge when A&M made its SEC move, declared that Texas joining the league would violate a “gentleman’s agreement.”


What a quaint concept: gentlemen and college athletics. How cute.

Loftin cited an unofficial veto power for SEC East schools in regard to their in-state rivals from the Atlantic Coast Conference: Florida could block Florida State; South Carolina could block Clemson; Georgia could block Georgia Tech. He said that Slive extended that same latitude to A&M when it comes to its state. But none of those ACC schools—not even Clemson—brings to the table what Texas does. And A&M’s nine-year membership in the SEC doesn’t seem like near enough to have established the clout to derail this potential move.

SEC message No. 2: Thank you for making your feelings known. We will now trample over them in pursuit of even more power and revenue. You’re on a need-to-know basis going forward.

This is a reinforcement of who remains the controlling brand in Texas, even if its football program has done nothing to justify that status for more than a decade. Texas football currently is the rich kid that keeps wrecking the family Ferraris, but it also is old money, big money, big tradition, big fan base, big market draw.

If Texas knocks, every conference in the country opens its door and tells everyone inside to make room. Harvey Schiller, who was SEC commissioner in the late 1980s, told me there was chatter even then about adding the Longhorns and Sooners.


Texas A&M is in a better place than Texas in terms of program development right now—and don’t underestimate the impact of the Aggies’ surge into the national top five last fall on Tom Herman’s job security in Austin. But it is still the school with one football national title, in 1939, which barely counts. For all of its institutional and fan self-importance, the historic resumé lags in the sport that matters.

They’re trying, almost painfully hard. They made the bold move to a new league. They spent jaw-dropping sums for massive facility upgrades; for a $75 million fully guaranteed contract for Fisher; for all the necessary outlays for support staff and assistant salary pool.

And then the return on investment started happening. They went 9-1 last season, losing only to juggernaut Alabama, and at least made the College Football Playoff selection committee squirm a bit in deciding on Notre Dame over Texas A&M for the fourth spot.

All that work, all the progress, all those steps toward becoming the controlling brand in Texas. Where is the love from our league? We deserve more respect than this.

 

Edited by wood
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35 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

He has 2 Gs, sir.

I ran into Steve on 6th Street on Halloween night, 10/31/94. He literally bumped into me coming out of a bar and then I recognized him and we shook hands and bullshitted for a minute in the middle of the chaos. I was a freshman and he was super nice, loved Austin, girls were around in the crowd basically circling the guy and his buddies, it was fun and funny. And, hey, I'm guessing everybody got laid that night, as the whole town was fucking insane.

Is it still crazy on Halloween? I've always assumed so. There were over 100,000 people there that night, per the news. 

Also, dude was like 6'. Taller than you'd figure after seeing him in the movies, including the greatness that is Cocoon. 

I have a similar story involving Woody Harrelson.  Have no idea what decade it happened in, but probably the 90s.  He was absolutely blasted out of his mind as you can imagine.  I was with a buddy of mine and the girl that was with us had this throwback voluptuousness from the 60s.  He could not take his eyes off her beautiful breasts. Long story short, he followed us her around all night and we partied and smoked until the sun came up.

Oh, and to make it more relevant to your story, he was short.

p.s. Dude was so hammered; me and my friend just kept going through Cheers references and he kept motorboating and filling the bong; it was fucking surreal.

Edited by NoctambulantBrobdingnagian
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4 minutes ago, wood said:

NSIAP. Pat Forde nails aggy's place in the big picture...

Even in the SEC, Texas A&M Can't Escape the Longhorns: https://www.si.com/college/2021/07/24/texas-am-cant-escape-sec-shadow-longhorns

  Hide contents

Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC nearly a decade ago with plans to become the dominant athletic program in its state. So much for that.

On the night of Sept. 7, 2012, Texas A&M officials hosted Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive for a lavish dinner in an on-campus reception hall. The occasion: the Aggies would play their first football game as an SEC member the next day. I had accompanied Slive on this trip for an all-access story, but was politely kicked to the curb when it was time for him to dine with the A&M power brokers.

When dinner had wrapped, I was ushered into the room to resume my assignment. The mood was celebratory, smiles were everywhere. A pair of cowboy boots with the SEC logo on them, a gift from A&M, sat at Slive’s feet.

Bottles of wine were on the table. Lips were loosened. Egos were stoked.

One of the A&M officials made a pronouncement that articulated everything about the school’s acrimonious parting with the Big 12 and desire for this new start in the SEC. “Fifty years from now,” the man said, “we will be the controlling brand in this state.”

Welp. Texas A&M’s control issues have resurfaced.

After less than a decade apart, Texas—the cursed burnt orange, the hated Longhorns, the cancerous conference partner—is poised to re-enter Texas A&M’s life and scuttle its 50-year plan. The school that has always had the most clout and prestige in the Lone Star State has conspired with fellow Big 12 blueblood Oklahoma to seek entry into the SEC, a blockbuster development that could change just about everything in college athletics.


Including the fate of their rivals from College Station. What a staggering potential reversal of fortune. What a repudiation of A&M’s power play. What a cautionary tale for universities that view everything through the lens of outperforming their rival.

Starting fresh now looks like starting over, in an arrangement the Aggies do not want in the least. Nothing like getting divorced, moving away, then having the new neighborhood welcome your ex to move in next door.

On a festive 2012 night when the commissioner of the SEC went to Kyle Field and marveled at Midnight Yell practice, the future seemed unlimited for the Aggies. Now, the next commissioner of the SEC—and the rest of the league—seems prepared to ignore their wishes and serve them a humbling reminder of their place in the college athletic hierarchy.

The messages to that effect are clear. SEC message No 1: We like you, Texas A&M, but we love the idea of Texas in our league.

The Aggies have done what they can to slow the train that is prepared to run them over, refusing to let this stealth power play unfold behind closed doors. It seems highly likely that the school leaked the initial bombshell to the Houston Chronicle, igniting a furor that has at least put all involved parties in an awkward position.

When the story broke, athletic director Ross Bjork was near all the microphones at SEC media days to voice A&M’s desire to remain the only Texas member of the league. Football coach Jimbo Fisher issued a warning: “Be careful what you wish for if you jump in this league.” And former school president R. Bowen Loftin, who was in charge when A&M made its SEC move, declared that Texas joining the league would violate a “gentleman’s agreement.”


What a quaint concept: gentlemen and college athletics. How cute.

Loftin cited an unofficial veto power for SEC East schools in regard to their in-state rivals from the Atlantic Coast Conference: Florida could block Florida State; South Carolina could block Clemson; Georgia could block Georgia Tech. He said that Slive extended that same latitude to A&M when it comes to its state. But none of those ACC schools—not even Clemson—brings to the table what Texas does. And A&M’s nine-year membership in the SEC doesn’t seem like near enough to have established the clout to derail this potential move.

SEC message No. 2: Thank you for making your feelings known. We will now trample over them in pursuit of even more power and revenue. You’re on a need-to-know basis going forward.

This is a reinforcement of who remains the controlling brand in Texas, even if its football program has done nothing to justify that status for more than a decade. Texas football currently is the rich kid that keeps wrecking the family Ferraris, but it also is old money, big money, big tradition, big fan base, big market draw.

If Texas knocks, every conference in the country opens its door and tells everyone inside to make room. Harvey Schiller, who was SEC commissioner in the late 1980s, told me there was chatter even then about adding the Longhorns and Sooners.


Texas A&M is in a better place than Texas in terms of program development right now—and don’t underestimate the impact of the Aggies’ surge into the national top five last fall on Tom Herman’s job security in Austin. But it is still the school with one football national title, in 1939, which barely counts. For all of its institutional and fan self-importance, the historic resumé lags in the sport that matters.

They’re trying, almost painfully hard. They made the bold move to a new league. They spent jaw-dropping sums for massive facility upgrades; for a $75 million fully guaranteed contract for Fisher; for all the necessary outlays for support staff and assistant salary pool.

And then the return on investment started happening. They went 9-1 last season, losing only to juggernaut Alabama, and at least made the College Football Playoff selection committee squirm a bit in deciding on Notre Dame over Texas A&M for the fourth spot.

All that work, all the progress, all those steps toward becoming the controlling brand in Texas. Where is the love from our league? We deserve more respect than this.

 

LOVE IT! 

 

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1 minute ago, cashman said:

Haven't really been following this closely, and sorry if this has already been discussed, but what is the actual timeline for Texas to get into the SEC? No way we wait until 2025 right?

I find it highly dubious that you don’t know how this will play out with that username.

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32 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Man, I thought he was a little guy.  He was in Three men and a baby and I'm pretty sure he was the shortest of those three.

I mean, Tom Selleck is like 6'5 and Ted Danson is pretty fucking tall, so being the shortest of those guys at 6 foot seems reasonable. 

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35 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

He has 2 Gs, sir.

I ran into Steve on 6th Street on Halloween night, 10/31/94. He literally bumped into me coming out of a bar and then I recognized him and we shook hands and bullshitted for a minute in the middle of the chaos. I was a freshman and he was super nice, loved Austin, girls were around in the crowd basically circling the guy and his buddies, it was fun and funny. And, hey, I'm guessing everybody got laid that night, as the whole town was fucking insane.

Is it still crazy on Halloween? I've always assumed so. There were over 100,000 people there that night, per the news. 

Also, dude was like 6'. Taller than you'd figure after seeing him in the movies, including the greatness that is Cocoon. 

 

(25 seconds)

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2 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

We've been discussing it on the left behind thread, but I think the current best option for the remaining 8 is:

  1. Add two schools that are at least equivalent TV draws to the remaining 8 (e.g., BYU, Houston, UCF). This keeps the games inventory quantity the same by staying at 10 teams.
  2. If as it's been widely reported Texas and OU bring half the conference eyeballs then the above could mean that during negotiations the new Big 12-2-2+2-2 can credibly and justifiably argue that the modified terms of their contract that goes through 2025 should be at least 62.5% of the value of the existing contract. That would mean each team would get about $12.5M from TV versus the current $20M.
  3. As that's a loss of only $7.5M per year they are covered for their losses if Texas and OU pay the roughly $160M total buyout amount. That's $20M per remaining 8 school versus the $21.5M they lose on the contract over the last three years of the GOR.
  4. The two new teams don't get a split of that, but they get higher revenues than they do in their current conference or independent TV deal.
  5. So now the remaining 8 are basically cash neutral through the 2024-25 school year. That gives them 4 years to figure out what in the hell they're going to do at that point while feeling out the new landscape and where things are headed.

This could work, but it would require cooperation and strong central leadership from the Big 12 office. They would need to all understand and openly communicate that this is in their best interests as a group, it is only through 2024-25, and that if they are going to bolt to another P5 conference it will be starting with the 2025-26 school year. I give it a 0.05% chance of happening and working because the Big 12 office sucks ass and that's exactly why they're in this situation.

 

Didn't ESPN and Fox admit that they gave more than the Big 12 was worth to try and keep it together during the last round? I thought I read Texas and OU finding out that this next round of money correcting course was the impetus for bailing. 

 

2 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

They won't draw only 800K if they're on ESPN. We have to be realistic, part of the reason that Texas and OU draw so much more is that they're so much more frequently on the main channels. But they're on the main channels because they draw so much more, so it's a chicken and egg thing to some extent. But an Iowa State/Oklahoma State matchup for the new Big 12 title on ESPN will draw well over a million viewers.

Why would the powers that be put a matchup between the remaining 8 on a main channel? I guess if two are ranked in the top 15 they could probably get a time slot, but there's about to be a ton of content in the secsecsec, and the ACC and Big 10 will come next in the pecking order. 

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27 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

It was quite literally rated the best a few times.  PreCovid and over a decade ago.  But I did like it back then.  

It's built for pre-9/11, and there's still that aspect of not walking far for your flight, but a delay or arriving early at MCI is absolute purgatory. There is NOTHING to do in those little post-security pod sections. 

Luckily it's getting rebuilt: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kansascity.com/news/local/article250461491.html

Edited by texifornia
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1 minute ago, texifornia said:

It's built for pre-9/11, and there's still that aspect of not walking far for your flight, but a delay or arriving early at MCI is absolute purgatory. There is NOTHING to do in those little post-security pod sections. 

Luckily it's getting rebuilt: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kansascity.com/news/local/article250461491.html

MCI is a fucking beating. Aside from the security hell, it's far out in the middle of nowhere, damn near in Iowa and it looks like it was built by communists. 

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4 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

not sorry if already posted

https://streamable.com/dbjm7a

crap. Didn’t imbed.  Whatever. 

 

2 minutes ago, GreenspointTexas said:

https://streamable.com/dbjm7a
 

damn this is hilarious

There nees to be an auto-neg function for specific pieces of text just baked into the site.

Like when I broke my company email by using the word "smorgasbord" which had apparently been used as some kind of trigger by the IT dept.

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1 minute ago, texifornia said:

 

There nees to be an auto-neg function for specific pieces of text just baked into the site.

Like when I broke my company email by using the word "smorgasbord" which had apparently been used as some kind of trigger by the IT dept.

And that’s fair…..

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18 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Have you been to Nashville?

Right. Just went there a few weeks ago for 4th of July weekend. If you don't like Nashville, he most likely fucking hates Austin too. I found them very similar. The women to men ratio was very favorable to the men. If I was single I could do some serious damage there.

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With the eating, drinking and smoking habits of the degenerates on this board, most of the people posting in this thread would never see a down of Texas football in the SEC if things get prolonged to 2025. Half of you won't make it to 2024. I am highly confident in our lawyers, and fully expect Texas to play a full SEC schedule next season. However, it is not a 100% lock. For that reason, most of you need to drop whatever you are doing at the moment, and get yourself frozen ASAP. There is an Episcopal Cryogenic Freezing facility in Port Lavaca that will give you a 5% discount if you are a Texas-Ex. 

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1 minute ago, Hookah Horns said:

Whole lotta process to go after that. 

very true, im talking more about the actual joining process.  after that there will be a 2 or 3 month legal process to determine when we start(itll be 2022 just a question of how much it costs us.)

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Just now, Gidnik said:

very true, im talking more about the actual joining process.  after that there will be a 2 or 3 month legal process to determine when we start(itll be 2022 just a question of how much it costs us.)

It'll be very interesting to see how long it takes. Lotta tension between (1) everyone wanting this to be resolved and their future secured (to the extent it's possible) asap and (2) everyone trying to get/pay as much/little as they can. 

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