Revisionist History by OU, OSU? We’ll See
A high-ranking source at Oklahoma told me earlier today that the school has been working with Oklahoma State behind the scenes on reforming the Big 12 and that OU and OSU used their seeming interest in the Pac-12 as leverage in those discussions.
Sounds like spin, huh?
What else would they say after the Pac-12 shut the door on expansion Tuesday night, only a day after it sounded like the Sooners and Cowboys were as good as gone?
Listen, I’m a reporter who hears all sorts of stuff, so believe me, my spin detector was high as I listened to the story of what happened. I know it could be revisionist history. I understand that it could be a source trying to make OU and OSU look as good as possible.
But here’s the thing — there’s a truth serum for all of this.
The Big 12′s board of directors is meeting Thursday afternoon. The board, which consists of the schools’ presidents and chancellors, will consider half a dozen issues, including the ouster of Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and the adopting of common rules for any individual network such as the Longhorn Network. If OU and OSU have really been working behind the scenes, if what that high-ranking source said is true, there will be some major decisions at the board meeting and some major reforms in the conference.
After all, there’d been no talk in the Big 12 until recent days about major reform. It had all been about expansion. Add a team or three. Keep doing business as usual. That sums up the “fixes” that had been discussed.
But now, we’re hearing talk about real and meaningful change, reform that might actually fix this broken conference.
And sources are saying that OU and OSU have been the ones working to make it happen, that they have favored such reform in the Big 12 instead of moving to the Pac-12.
Either way, we’ll know it tomorrow afternoon.
That board of directors meeting will be all-telling. If it brings about a bunch of the changes that OU and OSU seem to be behind, then we’ll have a pretty good idea that all of this has been more than talk. But if not, if that meeting is a dud, if nothing major is adopted, then we can chalk all this up as revisionist history.
I’m not ready to say that OU and OSU saying that they preferred the Big 12 all along is spin doctoring.
I’m not ready to say it isn’t either.
That board of directors meeting will be our litmus test.
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Comments
It’s all spin.
Any decisions the board of directors reaches will be for show. It will be some grand “compromise” by Texas that will leave Texas firmly in charge of a conference where the rules are stacked to have Texas firmly in charge.
We won’t know any more about what really happened after the Big 12 meeting than we know now. The remaining schools practically have to do what it takes at this point to rescue what’s left out of self preservation. They’ll do it because its all they can do, not because it was plan number one all along. Fact is the Sooners are in a pickle and stuck with Texas in what’s left of the Big 12 because they have always mistakenly believed themselves Texas equal when nothing could be further from the truth. Its all about money and TV and Texas has ten times the population of Oklahoma and that’s the truth and it ain’t gonna change. So OU is along for the ride with the Horns and their network just like OSU and all the rest. The hyper-inflated ego of OU is the culprit here.
Considering the fact that the Kansas schools, Iowa State, and Baylor would likely sell their souls to salvage the Big 12 as a means of assuring their continued inclusion in the BCS and the fact that those four plus the Oklahoma schools make for a 6/9′s majority, I don’t know that the results of this upcoming meeting provides the honesty indicator that you purport it to, Jenni.
It seems to me that this meeting could result in the referenced reforms regardless of revisionism.
While all the players signed off on it originally at the inception of the Big 12, OU was one of the few that enjoyed a greater share of unequal distribution at their insistence. For them to now assume the role of Champion of equal distribution is a bit more than an irony.
Regardless of the politics, to presume that there is a Big 12 “fix” in the current landscape of continuing realignment is quite a leap, IMO.
Realignment is driven by a push to consolidate the BCS into 4 Super Conferences of 64 teams even further segregated from the rest of the FBS.
If at its foundation the BCS is corrupt by nature, how can any of its components be fixed?
An elitist and exclusionary Union built upon greed (the BCS) in which its four sub-unions are held together by the principles of social equality, redistributed wealth and community property????
The principle foundation of the BCS is the antithesis of the principles employed to glue its components into Super Conferences… and that is supposed to work?
Robin directed his Merry Men to take from the rich and give to the poor until there were no rich no more… and in the end… were any one of the Merry Men equal to Robin?
Equal OPPORTUNITY for ALL! Principled foundations!
Boren and OU took the Big 12 down from the second or third best sports conference in the country to the point where nobody believes it will survive for more than maybe 2 or 3 yrs and every member is now trying to find a decent conference that will take them if and when it falls apart. Look at the real facts. OU has always seen itself on par with Texas and trusted that Texas would want to take OU along wherever they might go. Dodds comes along with the Horn network to get Texas a cool $300 million over the next, what is it, 6,7 or maybe 10 yrs and they don’t have to share it with anyone else because Beebe, (who OU and Boren voted to give a contract extension and big raise in salary only a year ago), and Boren neglected to get a sharing provision on such marketing in the conference contract. So Nebraska and Colorado, who were ridiculed by the OU crowd, bolted a year ago because they saw the demise of the Big 12 coming and were sick of Texas dictating everything. Boren and the OU crowd did nothing but re-up for the Big 12 (10) without those guys and crowed as to how smart they were. Fast forward less than a year hence and the Horn network lis launching and aTm has had enough and calls the SEC and makes a deal and again who ridicules them? Boren and the OU crowd, and they go into this PAC 16 charade and as recently as a WEEK AGO tout as to how the PAC has personally assured Senator Boren that OU and OSU can still come out there even if Texas won’t. THE BLUFF FAILED and the PAC says, “Sorry Senator but your prediction as to what Texas would do was wrong and we aren’t about to share our FOX money with you guys when your gonna expand our number by two schools from the same small State with less than 4 million people! That’s quite a lot fewer TV sets than you promised if Texas and Tech come too from a State with ten times that many people! (You see, it’s all about TV money and that comes from population. with a PAC 16 with Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and California you have a total population of around 75 million citizens. Without Oklahoma and Texas its more like 51.5 million. If they added only Oklahoma w/o Texas its about 55 million. What would you do? If Boren really believed the PAC 12 would vote to take OU and OSU without Texas and its 20 million population he’s a fool. And if he thought he could bluff Texas into believing the PAC would do that so that Texas would give up it’s $300 million ESPN deal because they thought OU would go and the Big 12 would crumble then he’s an even bigger fool. Spin 24 hours a day that OU and Boren pulled off exactly what they wanted but only and idiot would believe that. What has been accomplished exactly? aTm is leaving and the Big 12′s money is diminishing as is it’s stature and Texas still has it’s network and the money that it brings, and we’re talking about begging schools like W. Va. or Louisville to come to our rescue? As an OSU fan and alum I call for the Bd or Regents to ask Burns Hargis for his resignation for being an absolute idiot for allowing David Boren to make these decisions for us. Boren couldn’t have failed worse if he had gone on vacation.
I think this has been a wise decision by both OU an OSU the pro’s of staying in the Big 12 verses going else where out weigh it 10 to one.With the ACC expanding it’s conference it just seems wise for the BIG 12 to do the same.I also think that there isn’t much difference between ESPN deal with Texas than what the ole boy from Miami was doing with the Canes.If Texas can’t get recruits and win then we will”pay”high school kids to be on our network by giving them air time they will want to play here because of it.I think this is an excellent opportunity for the NCAA to pass out rules for a network. If ESPN and Texas could have stayed out of the closet and played all the cards in the poker game instead of CHEATING then maybe Nebraska,Colorado and definitely Texas A&M stay in the conference but Texas got greedy and wanted to make the playing field uneven again(cheat) to make the most and now look what it has done. #1 It has weakened the conference #2 It has made it to where now nobody wants any members of the conference I don’t know why but Texas doesn’t call the shots and if Oklahoma had of stood up when Colorado and Nebraska did we wouldn’t be in this mess but we are and it’s time for the Longhorns to do what is right and get with ESPN and do what was to have been done all along and create a Big12 Network and share the revenue from it. Texas come on grow a set and do what is right there is no reason to act like kids in all this!!!! Texas the ball is on your Field so don’t fumble it do what is right.Now Sooner’s let’s not get complacent let’s rock the boat here a little and see if we can’t recover this fumble and go win the game he is my challenge to the University of Oklahoma LEAD THE CHARGE by making the Big 12 stronger go recruit schools like West Virginia,South Florida and Cincinnati and make the big 12 strong again I am not saying that West Virginia will be a Texas A&M but considering where A&M have been since the 1996 season and Colorado has been about where South Florida has been Cincinnati has been good in recent years so I think this could be a good fit for the league however Texas has got to do something about the “Network” but I think it’s going to flop anyway since NOBODY has subscribed to it”lol”. Mr.Beebe thanks but no thanks it’s time for you to go GOODBYE, Now let’s go find some leadership that is a GO GETTER quit beating around the bush and waiting on whoever or whomever you are waiting on go after it and get this done to stabilize the MIGHTY BIG12!!!!!!