(10-03-2014 07:30 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(10-03-2014 05:30 PM)At Ease Wrote:  

(10-03-2014 04:21 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  1. The ESPN contract, which is the remnants of the old Big East contract, expires this season. I very much doubt ESPN is going to re-up, especially with Louisville and Syracuse now in the ACC.

2. Since when does UCF, South Florida, UH, Memphis, Tulane, Cincy and ECU have greater name recognition. Yes, most are bigger schools than Rice with far bigger alumni bases, but none of them (save for perhaps ECU) attracts large attendence figures and none of them boast big TV audiences. Yes, they are a far superior basketball conference, but basketball really doesn't drive conference alignment despite being the #2 revenue sport with the #2 TV market.

The AAC's deal with ESPN was a multiyear deal only signed last year?

Those schools have greater name recognition the moment they're compared to the FCS startups and SunBelt teams that now dominate CUSA.

Several of those schools are among the largest drawing for attendance in the G5.

Basketball $$ is a big deal for the have-nots.

You do realize both UCF and South Florida are former Sun Belt teams, as well?

And I believe the ESPN 5-year contract expires this year.

UConn and Memphis have name recognition in basketball only. The others don't have name recognition any moreso than current CUSA team, and you're kidding yourself if you think they do.

I find it VERY hard to believe the Big 12 (let alone UT) would vote in favor of expanding with UCF, Cincy, UConn an ECU, as they do absolutely nothing to their brand or their revenue in take. In fact, doing so would diminish per school revenue and tarnish the brand, not to mention significantly increase traveling expenses. Sorry, makes no sense whatsoever.

Agree completely. This is a stupid rumor. There's no way anyone in the Big 12 goes for asking these four schools. Laughable.

As we watch Baylor and TCU play this week as a top-10 match-up, one cannot feel both good for the Texas private schools but also bad for Rice for years/decades of poor management top-to-bottom.

Was not that long ago where Baylor, TCU, and Rice were toss-up games and for many years over the past 20+...W's for Rice. While both TCU and Baylor did the micro things right (invest, win, etc.) there is no question the macro things have given them a tailwind in the present that Rice does not have. A chicken/egg debate about P5 micro success by both programs vs. macro advantages they have b/c of superior resources but nevertheless the facts are both teams are nationally ranked in the top-10 in the country.

Rice does have unique macro benefits. Disagree w/ the 'entitlement' post as those macro things matter. The micro things clearly matter (win, invest, etc.) but it is not about micro only. Macro dynamics (H-Town market, need for big schools to regain H-Town, academic tenants, etc.) matter as well. It is political and financial. We need to play both sides of the coin.

We are playing big-time catch-up. On one-hand very sad on how Rice Athletics has been managed for past two decades but on other hand, does show that it is possible.

(10-08-2014 09:01 PM)owl40 Wrote:  On one-hand very sad on how Rice Athletics has been managed for past two decades but on other hand, does show that it is possible.

I think it's more like 4 or 5 decades than 2. The last two have probably been managed better than the 2 or 3 before them. Comparing Bobby, Chris, and Dr. K to their predecessors is your basic slam dunk. Even with Ranger Rick in the mix, it's still pretty one-sided. Rick would probably have been above average compared to what we had in the late 60s, the 70s, and the early 80s.

Agree that it is possible.

(10-08-2014 05:22 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:19 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Frankly, I'd wish the conference talk here would just quit. We apparently don't have the alumni numbers or $$, administrative will and TV/fan-volume pull to make any moves soon. So, as many have said, just concentrate on winning and doing the best we can -- which our coaches and athletes seem to be doing quite impressively -- improve the marketing etc. to build a larger Rice fan base to give us a chance for something better in the future. The athletes deserve our support now, regardless of the conference, of course.

Yes!

Me too, er , three!

(10-08-2014 09:42 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:22 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:19 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Frankly, I'd wish the conference talk here would just quit. We apparently don't have the alumni numbers or $$, administrative will and TV/fan-volume pull to make any moves soon. So, as many have said, just concentrate on winning and doing the best we can -- which our coaches and athletes seem to be doing quite impressively -- improve the marketing etc. to build a larger Rice fan base to give us a chance for something better in the future. The athletes deserve our support now, regardless of the conference, of course.

Yes!

Me too, er , three!

Plus 1

(10-08-2014 09:44 PM)fortheplayers Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 09:42 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:22 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:19 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Frankly, I'd wish the conference talk here would just quit. We apparently don't have the alumni numbers or $$, administrative will and TV/fan-volume pull to make any moves soon. So, as many have said, just concentrate on winning and doing the best we can -- which our coaches and athletes seem to be doing quite impressively -- improve the marketing etc. to build a larger Rice fan base to give us a chance for something better in the future. The athletes deserve our support now, regardless of the conference, of course.

Yes!

Me too, er , three!

Plus 1

" Gentlemen. Can I get a HARUMPHHH ! "

(10-09-2014 07:07 AM)Da.Owl Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 09:44 PM)fortheplayers Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 09:42 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:22 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 05:19 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Frankly, I'd wish the conference talk here would just quit. We apparently don't have the alumni numbers or $$, administrative will and TV/fan-volume pull to make any moves soon. So, as many have said, just concentrate on winning and doing the best we can -- which our coaches and athletes seem to be doing quite impressively -- improve the marketing etc. to build a larger Rice fan base to give us a chance for something better in the future. The athletes deserve our support now, regardless of the conference, of course.

Yes!

Me too, er , three!

Plus 1

" Gentlemen. Can I get a HARUMPHHH ! "

Exactly my viewpoint.

As for independence, (1) why would anyone want to schedule us, and (2) how exactly are you going to schedule teams like Stanford, etc. once they get into conference play? You think some school like Vandy is going to leave a spot open in November so they can play us?

For the most part, the management has been disappointing since Neely was forced to retire after the 1966 season because he had reached a mandatory retirement age for Rice. Probably the worst was Bo Hagan from 1967 to 1970.

(10-08-2014 09:27 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-08-2014 09:01 PM)owl40 Wrote:  On one-hand very sad on how Rice Athletics has been managed for past two decades but on other hand, does show that it is possible.

I think it's more like 4 or 5 decades than 2. The last two have probably been managed better than the 2 or 3 before them. Comparing Bobby, Chris, and Dr. K to their predecessors is your basic slam dunk. Even with Ranger Rick in the mix, it's still pretty one-sided. Rick would probably have been above average compared to what we had in the late 60s, the 70s, and the early 80s.

Agree that it is possible.

Rice will never jump through hoops for anyone. It's a highly respected academic institution with integrity. The admission requirements for athletes are brutal. Rice administrators don't even care about power conferences, they just want a healthy athletics department that loses a lot less money. They want a good football program because it's an integral part of college life in Texas, not because they want to play in the Big 12. Accept it.

With the odometer change to 2020, should we be starting to hear Big XII breakup rumors again? My, to look back and see where we thought we were in 2014. A lot has changed again.

I just miss Rick Gerlach

(01-16-2020 07:33 PM)owl95 Wrote:  I just miss Rick Gerlach

Last Saturday, I had a nice chat with his son, Daniel, who's still in high school. His two daughters attend Trinity University.

(10-09-2014 10:56 PM)75src Wrote:  For the most part, the management has been disappointing since Neely was forced to retire after the 1966 season because he had reached a mandatory retirement age for Rice. Probably the worst was Bo Hagan from 1967 to 1970.

Agree. Bo was a terrible football head coach, but even worse as an AD. He took over an athletic program that was nationally relevant in several sports, including football, and made it irrelevant in all of them, from which it has never really recovered. The joke was that Bo had to drag every other sport down to football's level. Everybody who followed Bo has had to spend at least some effort digging out of the hole he dug.

Around 1970, the AD job changed from kicking an old coach upstairs to CEO of a multi-million dollar business. The leaders were people like Don Canham at Michigan. Stanford and Duke got on that train and began marketing their athletic programs properly. Northwestern and Vanderbilt were late-comers, but eventually got there. Rice never really got on board until maybe CDC.

Bobby was a great guy and did a tremendous job holding the fort, but he wasn't really a visionary leader. He pretty much spent his whole adult life in "the Rice way." I have often wished that he could have spent some time working for Canham, or at Stanford or Duke. If he had only experienced that things did not have to be done "the Rice way," and in fact were better not done that way, I think he could have been an amazing AD, and one whose loyalty to Rice would have kept him from leaving for TCU or TexasU.

Fake News again.

(10-03-2014 12:24 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Interesting tweet re:B12

https://twitter.com/TuxedoYoda/status/51...1254376448