Big Ten and other Conference Expansion

[ScriptOhio]

Baylor President Ken Starr holding a press conference at 5 pm EST. Presumably not to discuss Lewinsky.

FWIW, here's what Starr said on June 4, 2010:


Ian McCaw, our athletic director, and I have made our case clear: Baylor emphatically supports the Big 12 Conference and wants to see it prosper. In particular, we appreciate our fellow Texas institutions in the Big 12 and the special rivalries that entertain our state and energize our alumni.
We are aware of the intense speculation surrounding the possible expansion of other conferences. We remain hopeful that the Big 12 will remain intact and continue to be one of the nation's foremost athletic conferences.

Entire letter: Baylor University || Marketing & Communications || News

 

[OSU_D/]

Baylor Regent Pushing For Bears In Pac-10 Package Deal

Jones argues that Baylor is better than Colorado as a potential Pac-10 team because, "Baylor is superior to Colorado academically. Baylor has athletic facilities superior to Colorado. Colorado doesn?t participate in the number of sports that Baylor does. Baylor?s overall record in all collegiate sports dwarfs that of Colorado."

Entire article: Baylor Regent Pushing For Bears In Pac-10 Package Deal

News to my ears. CU delivers Denver and most of the state of Colorado. Favorite 5 of the minute: CU, Nebraska, GT, Maryland, ND. Of course the preceeding is if Texas is out of play.

Will be very interesting to see if Baylor can leave the other 3 Texas schools behind.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Baylor trying to push Colorado out of Pac-10 expansion

Nebraska is Colorado's archrival in the fall, but it appears Baylor has replaced the Cornhuskers this summer. As the conference landscape begins to tremor this week before a possible earthquake, Baylor is trying to elbow inside Colorado for possible membership in the Pac-10.
Powerful Baylor alumni said today that the Texas State Legislature is looking into ways to help their alma mater.
As Kip Averitt, who retired in March after 17 years as a state senator and is a 1977 Baylor grad, told The Denver Post: "If it's one or the other, I'd rather it be us than you."
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"I think there's a desire to have regional participation in all of the athletics," said State Rep. Jim Dunnam (D-Waco), Baylor class of '86. "If you don't have Texas and Texas A&M and Tech and Baylor playing one another, you lose the regional nature of your conference.
"It's fun to play Ohio State every now and then but people come in day in, day out for that regional competition."
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continued

Entire article: Baylor trying to push Colorado out of Pac-10 expansion - The Denver Post

 

[PlanetFrnd]

As would I, but it's a little easier losing the best looking girl after one realizes that she's a manipulative, arrogant bitch who's also demanding that her three sisters--a crazy religious zealot, a neo-nazi and a retard--all move in with her.

GMFPA

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

News to my ears. CU delivers Denver and most of the state of Colorado. Favorite 5 of the minute: CU, Nebraska, GT, Maryland, ND. Of course the preceeding is if Texas is out of play.

Will be very interesting to see if Baylor can leave the other 3 Texas schools behind.

What matters to the Pac 10 is Texas. Getting Texas is their only possible home run in expansion. CU is a better academic fit, and an almost perfect cultural fit, than Baylor and brings the Denver metro area along with. Also the West Coast is full of CU alums. It all doesn't matter, if Texas tells the Pac 10 that they need to bring along Baylor, Colorado gets the shaft.

I still feel that any combination of Stanford, Cal, UCLA and Washington might still balk at Baylor. Under P10 rules, it only takes one to kill the whole deal.

 

[zincfinger]

As would I, but it's a little easier losing the best looking girl after one realizes that she's a manipulative, arrogant bitch who's also demanding that her three sisters--a crazy religious zealot, a neo-nazi and a retard--all move in with her.

Honest question: why do you equate Texas A&M with neo-nazis? I saw something similar on one of the UT boards, where someone referred to A&M as the "self-styled shock troops of the GOP" (not an exact quote, but pretty close). Is it just that political views at A&M trend conservative, or is there something more to it?

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

I dunno about 'neo-nazi', but this video disturbs the hell out of me:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMmhnqUXseE]YouTube - Aggie Squeeze[/ame]

 

[ScriptOhio]

Re: Missouri has rubbed some of its Big 12 colleagues the wrong way by appearing willing to crawl on broken glass to get to the Big Ten. The Tigers won't promise the Big 12 anything right now.

and

Re: An athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten's plans said he's been told the Big Ten would shut down its expansion at one school if that one school was Notre Dame.
And contrary to reports, Notre Dame is still listening to the Big Ten about possibly joining that league, the athletic director said. Notre Dame's governing board is apparently split down the middle on the decision.
The AD said the Big Ten is focusing solely on Notre Dame right now before addressing Nebraska or Missouri.

Entire article: Orangebloods.com - Pac-10 ready to make moves; Nebraska's decision is key

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Re: Missouri has rubbed some of its Big 12 colleagues the wrong way by appearing willing to crawl on broken glass to get to the Big Ten. The Tigers won't promise the Big 12 anything right now.

and

Re: An athletic director with knowledge of the Big Ten's plans said he's been told the Big Ten would shut down its expansion at one school if that one school was Notre Dame.
And contrary to reports, Notre Dame is still listening to the Big Ten about possibly joining that league, the athletic director said. Notre Dame's governing board is apparently split down the middle on the decision.
The AD said the Big Ten is focusing solely on Notre Dame right now before addressing Nebraska or Missouri.

Entire article: Orangebloods.com - Pac-10 ready to make moves; Nebraska's decision is key

Just show the domers this picture as a metaphor for what will happen to their happy little safe-house in the Big East if they don't play ball.

 

[jwinslow]

Honest question: why do you equate Texas A&M with neo-nazis? I saw something similar on one of the UT boards, where someone referred to A&M as the "self-styled shock troops of the GOP"

A&M has ongoing struggles with homophobia & racism.

Racism/ Religious Intolerance/ Homophobia at Texas A&M | Facebook

This is about an alleged joke video that went too far, but the responses dive into the underlying issues:

Texas A&M racist video - College Confidential

It's tough for a Texan, like me, to criticize A&M because it is a good school. BUT, the truth is they do have a problem. Watch the video of the student protest; only the occasional Anglo face in the crowd, but plenty of Anglos casually walking by. The apathy and disinterest is overwhelming...and this is far worse than any overt act of racism by some idiot-moron.

A&M IS a very, very good school, but it has to be a good school for everyone. There ARE powers that be at A&M who recognize this and are working extremely hard for diversity at the school. The question is... do they have priority?

I am currently aware of a situation where a professor at A&M College Station selected (4) Asian F1 Students who are here under very strict VISA requirements, and has dumped all of his homework corrections and grading off on these students. It's a modern method of slavery. Instead of the professor getting to know his own students and correcting their homework, he has F1 VISA students with very delicate immigration status, working for him free. They have no choice but to do his work for him. He can enjoy travelling around the world, ignore his students and their homework, while at the same time indulge in slave labor of students who have no choice but to do his work for him free, otherwise face sub-standard grades and ultimately deportation, if they refuse or complain. It causes them to have to work endless hours for him, to the point that they have no time for their own studies, once again putting them in grave danger of failing.

As an American, and friends with one of the students being abused, I am very ashamed of A&M. She worked very very hard to come here and get an education, and I am sickened at how she is being taken advantage of. I have more copies of the student homework than what the "Professor" has ever seen, and I am very tempted to dump ALL of it on the Internet.

So Gates is suddenly outspoken about racism at TAMU when he is leaving, due to some stupid youtube video about blacks (I have seen it and it is a joke, sick yes, but a joke) while on his watch he has Asian F1 students being basically enslaved right under his very eyes?

Gates Continues to Address Racism at Texas A&M - The Blotter

Texas A&M racist video - College Confidential

The two-minute production depicted a mock master-slave scene complete with shoe polish blackface, a banana and simulated sexual abuse.
“I saw it last night. It was just a blatant premeditated form of racism. The idea was to depict a slave and a supposed master who was beating the slave,” said Richard Sanchez, 21, a senior from Laredo.
In the video, the authors made no effort to hide their identities or their connection to Texas A&M, a campus with fewer than 800 African Americans and 3,200 Hispanics among its 33,400 undergraduates.
“The supposed master had a ‘12th Man' towel hanging from his pocket. At the end of the video, he sodomizes the slave while covering his head with the towel, which clearly says Texas A&M,” said Sanchez, the director of Hispanic Presidents Council. And although the video was condemned harshly on campus by university President Robert Gates and the student newspaper, it's unclear what consequences the three students will face.

Or if you want some reading for the rest of the hour, here's a long piece by an Aggy PhD holder:


Reconstructing Homophobia In The Bible Belt

 

[zincfinger]

A&M has ongoing struggles with homophobia & racism.

Racism/ Religious Intolerance/ Homophobia at Texas A&M | Facebook

This is about an alleged joke video that went too far, but the responses dive into the underlying issues:

Texas A&M racist video - College Confidential
Gates Continues to Address Racism at Texas A&M - The Blotter

Texas A&M racist video - College Confidential
Or if you want some reading for the rest of the hour, here's a long piece by an Aggy PhD holder:


Reconstructing Homophobia In The Bible Belt

I read the first sentence of that homophobia seminar, and didn't feel much need to read on. "At Texas A&M University, home of the George Bush Presidential Library and other monuments to conservative social values, especially misogyny and homophobia..." Please. And then the fact that not a lot of persons of pallor showed up to protest a moronic video? Maybe there's something to it, but this evidence seems like weak tea to me.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I just read through a long thread on a Baylor board and came away with a few very interesting perspectives.

There seems to be a perspective that UT is more than happy with the TX legislature getting involved. It gives them cover to jettison CU--a school that they viewed as one who would side with existing Pac 10 schools on conference matters--and substitute Baylor who will be a reliable rubber stamp vote (as will A&M and Tech) on any issue of importance to UT.

I hope the Pac 10 really understands what it's getting itself into. I'm certainly beginning to get a better understanding of why the notion of being a sole entry (or possibly with a combination of ND/Big East schools) into the Big Ten seemed to not interest UT in the least.

 

[ScriptOhio]

FWIW, here's what Starr said on June 4, 2010:


Ian McCaw, our athletic director, and I have made our case clear: Baylor emphatically supports the Big 12 Conference and wants to see it prosper. In particular, we appreciate our fellow Texas institutions in the Big 12 and the special rivalries that entertain our state and energize our alumni.
We are aware of the intense speculation surrounding the possible expansion of other conferences. We remain hopeful that the Big 12 will remain intact and continue to be one of the nation's foremost athletic conferences.

Entire letter: Baylor University || Marketing & Communications || News

Here's what Starr added today (June 7, 2010):

Only a few short hours later, I would be marshalling all that enthusiasm and working to counter a significant and historic threat to the University. Our opposition has come in the form of a possible realignment of the Big 12 conference and, with it, the separation of Baylor from its fellow Texas universities in the Big 12.
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The situation is extremely fluid right now. It is our understanding that the Pac-10 Conference may be preparing to invite six Big 12 members to join a proposed 16-team megaconference, Recent news reports have indicated that Baylor's stock is rising and that it could be included among the teams invited to form a new conference. What we do know is this: the Lone Star state schools of the Big 12 should stick together. That's what's in the best interests of Baylor, of Texas and of our own community, here in Waco.

Entire letter: Baylor University || The Lariat Online || News

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Honest question: why do you equate Texas A&M with neo-nazis? I saw something similar on one of the UT boards, where someone referred to A&M as the "self-styled shock troops of the GOP" (not an exact quote, but pretty close). Is it just that political views at A&M trend conservative, or is there something more to it?

The neo-nazi reference is based on more than just a&m's political conservatism. They're probably no more conservative than Baylor and not much more so than most B12 schools other than Colorado and UT. It's more about the rather clownish military fetish on the campus along with some of the racism and homophobia issues (they're referred to as "closet station" within TX) that JWin alluded to that invites parody. Does this make them neo-nazis? No. Texas Tech grads are generally not retards. Baylor, while a ridiculously strict (almost antiquated) Baptist college are not "religious zealots." Parody is taking a core element and exaggerating it for comedic effect.

 

[jwinslow]

VY was commonly known as Radio or Monkey on TexAgs during his time at UT.

Hornfans has a million links to their racism:
TexAgs.com - A&M Football.

I'll find more if you like, but this about sums up their approach on that website:

And then the fact that not a lot of persons of pallor showed up to protest a moronic video?

Did you read the responses from folks at A&M who responded to this topic?

I'll admit I just threw that last link in there. Toss it out if you wish.