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Big news dropped overnight namely that the Crosstown Shootout is being moved downtown to US Bank Arena for the next two seasons. It is not all that surprising to me. Disappointing yes, but not a surprise. Something had to be done to improve the climate of the game which obviously reached a boiling point last year. As much as I would love to return the favor to the imploding Muskie program for the antics that have became the norm at Cintas Center in this game. I get why that won't happen next year.
The key to remember is that there is no guarantee that the series will continue after the two year run at US Bank. We all know that it is nearly certain to remain a yearly contest. But at the very least the threat of cancellation is real. Whether that will have any effect on the behavior of Xavier fans, or to a lesser extent UC fans is debatable.
On to expansion news/rumors/bullshit (pardon my french). For the Big East It was never in doubt, not really, but San Deigo State and Boise State are officially all in with the Big East. The move for both schools was dictated by two factors, increased TV money and AQ status. Everyone and their mother knows that AQ status is going away, not just for the Big East, but for every school throughout the country so its a non factor. Which brings us to the Big East and it's TV deal. The deal already is triple what SDSU and BSU get from the Mountain West for its deal and that gap is only going to widen with the next deal. So obviously the Aztecs and Bronco's are coming to the continent spanning Big East. Why? TV money ya'll
But why am I confident that the TV will get better? 1) Because it's easy to get better than bad and 2) because NBC and Fox both had representatives in attendance at the Big East meetings. Not just that, but they both made presentations to the audience. Tell tale indications that both have an interest in the Big East's rights should the Big East officials take the issue past ESPN's exclusive negotiating window which opens in September. A simple rule of economics is that the more bidders involved the higher the price goes. And thus concludes the expansion rumor/bullshit roundup for Tuesday, moving on...
Video of Interest
Et Cetera
Derek Wolfe is now well off after signing his 5.2 million dollar contract of which 3.2 million is guarantees...UC has made a pair of offers to Tampa prospects in the class of 2014. Mason Cole and Artavis Scott to be specific...Pam Ward out of College Football coverage on ESPN. and there was much rejoicing...Black Heart Gold Pants is on fire (literally) with their Illinois Pro Combat motif...Ex-WVU coach Bill Stewart has passed away of an apparent heart attack...the SEC is now looking into starting their own network of course they are....More expansion rumors? Sure, why not, this time of an SEC variety... for what it's worth Clemson Administrators are claiming no contact with the Big 12. Yet...International Sporting Events > International Diplomacy fact...
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