Stan the Man

With the baseball Hall of Fame voting (or lack there of) over and all the hand ringing regarding the fact that none of the nominees received enough votes for entrance continuing, the passing of Stan Musial should serve as a reminder of what a true Hall of Famer is.

I read what Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian said about the PED boys Bonds, McGuire and Clemens and that's a debate for another time. It's the writers that vote for and try to justify entrance for player like Craig Biggio, Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell that need to be reminded about Musial and his greatness.

Stan Musial was selected to the All Star team 24 times (a record). Stan Musial compiled 3,630 hits (4th all time, most with career on one team), he hit 475 home runs and was named MVP three times and won three world series championships. At the time of his retirement, he held or shared 17 major league records, and 9 All-Star Game records.

Three thousand hits, nearly five hundred home runs, three MVP's and three world championships. Now we are expected to welcome those listed above into the same club. Additionally, some writers voted Mike Piazza, Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker and Fred McGriff as Hall worthy.

Stan Musial/Craig Biggio....really? Stan Musial/Edgar Martinez...come on. Stan Musial/Fred McGriff...even their nicknames are no contest (the Man vs. Crime Dog).

For me Hall of Fame induction should be based on a couple factors:
1. Were you the best at your position in the league and era you played (i.e. all star, gold glove)?
2. Did you accumulate awards (i.e. MVP/Cy Young, batting title, etc.)?
3. Did you lead your team to the world series and/or have a noteworthy accomplishment (i.e. triple crown, no hitter, etc.)?

There were guys on this years ballot I liked a lot. They don't come better than Dale Murphy or Don Mattingly. Good players and good guys. They probably meet most of my induction criteria, but when compared to Stan Musial, sorry.

The notion that it was a bad thing no players were admitted this year needs to be dismissed. It a good thing that no one qualified, because outside of the PED guys, no one was qualified. Don't induct someone because they are the best of the rest, they must be the best of the best.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon commented " Stan Musial was a great American hero who-with the utmost humility-inspired us all to aim high and dream big. The world is emptier today without him, but far better to have known him. The legacy of 'baseball's perfect warrior' will endure and inspire generations to come."

Who on this years list of candidates could inspire words like that ?

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Readers of this space probably think I am obsessed with USC Coach Lane Kiffin. The following will do little to detract from that notion. From time to time I have chronicled some of his more questionable decisions and actions. I suppose some of my interest is linked to trying to somehow rationalize the behavior of the son because of the reputation of the father.

Monte Kiffin is widely considered to be one of the preeminent defensive coordinators in modern football, as well as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in NFL history. The inventor of the widely imitated "Tampa Cover 2" defense, Monte Kiffin's philosophy is one of the most influential in modern college and pro football. The respect with which he is spoken of by colleagues makes me think I am missing something.

I remember in 1995 the Saints acquired Kiffin Sr. to run the defense. The fact he lasted only one year actually had me gain some respect for him. In '95 the Saints were a mess and I read his "one and done" as a pro's pro getting away from a rinky dink organization. Remember he went on to join Gruden in Tampa and there they won a Super Bowl.

So where am I going with this....remember the dilemma was how did a respected pro like Kiffin Sr. have a cry baby/cheater son like Lane. Like Paul Harvey said "Now the rest of the story."

In 1960, the NCAA placed the University of Oklahoma on indefinite probation, which prohibited the football team from participating in bowl games and appearing on television. The NCAA investigation revealed that Bill Jennings, a former OU player and assistant coach, had received funds for recruiting athletes between 1952 and 1954. Jennings had moved on to coach at Nebraska, denied receiving money from Arthur R. Wood, an Oklahoma City accountant and OU booster.

Wood admitted that he and Jennings collaborated to help recruit players for the football team in 1953, the money was to help defray travel expenses for prospective athletes. The NCAA proposed to drop the probation charges if Wood divulged financial details of the recruiting fund. Wood refused to reveal the details, stating that doing so would be professionally unethical.

In his book, Presidents Can't Punt, OU President Dr. George Cross wrote:"In the spring of 1958 the department of Intercollegiate Athletics received a phone call, a letter and a visit from a Nebraska high school athlete named Monte Kiffin, who expressed an interest in attending Oklahoma. Later, by invitation from the boy's parents, OU coaches visited with the family at his home." Legendary coach Bud Wilkinson, after the visit, said he had encouraged the boy to attend Nebraska.

"Wilkinson later received a letter from Jennings in which he said that if Kiffin enrolled at Oklahoma, it would be necessary for him, Jennings, to give information to the NCAA which he had withheld at the time of the investigation in 1954."

So the college football program, that owns the record for the longest winning streak, was put on probation for recruiting violations. Not an earth shattering revelation. However, that the center of this recruiting battle between two heavyweights was Monte Kiffin, is just too perfect. In one swipe a recruit got a little payola from the Sooners and the scholarship from the Cornhuskers. The hometown team got the player and the rival got probation.

I guess Lane learned from the best.

College Football Conferences and TV Money

With the Bowl season behind us (told you Notre Dame was over rated) let's look at how the college football landscape will change for next season . Below are the conference members now and for the future. Below the chart are some thoughts on the role television plays in conference alignment.

                                 Conference Realignment for 2013

.	ACC Now	Future ACC		Big East Now	Future Big East
.	Boston College	Boston College		Cincinnati	Boise State
.	Clemson	Clemson		Louisville	Cincinnati
.	Duke	Duke		Pittsburgh	Connecticut
.	Florida State	Florida State		Rutgers	East Carolina
.	Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech		Syracuse	Houston
.	Maryland	Louisville		Temple	Louisville
.	Miami	Maryland		UConn	Memphis
.	N.C. State	Miami		USF	Navy
.	North Carolina	N.C. State			Pittsburgh
.	Virginia	North Carolina			Rutgers
.	Virginia Tech	Pittsburgh			San Diego State
.	Wake Forest	Syracuse			SMU
.		Virginia			Syracuse
.		Virginia Tech			Temple
.		Wake Forest			Tulane
.		*Notre Dame (sorta)			UCF
.					USF
.	Big Ten Now	Future Big Ten		Big 12 Now	Future Big 12
.	Illinois	Illinois		Baylor	Baylor
.	Indiana	Indiana		Iowa State	Iowa State
.	Iowa	Iowa		Kansas	Kansas
.	Michigan	Maryland		Kansas State	Kansas State
.	Michigan State	Michigan		Oklahoma	Oklahoma
.	Minnesota	Michigan State		Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State
.	Nebraska	Minnesota		TCU	TCU
.	Northwestern	Nebraska		Texas	Texas
.	Ohio State	Northwestern		Texas Tech	Texas Tech
.	Penn State	Ohio State		West Virginia	West Virginia
.	Purdue	Penn State
.	Wisconsin	Purdue
.		Rutgers
.		Wisconsin
.	C-USA Now	Future C-USA		MAC Now	Future MAC
.	East Carolina	Charlotte		Akron	Akron
.	Houston	East Carolina		Ball State	Ball State
.	Marshall	FAU		Bowling Green	Bowling Green
.	Memphis	FIU		Buffalo	Buffalo
.	Rice	Houston		Central Michigan	Central Michigan
.	SMU	Louisiana Tech		Eastern Michigan	Eastern Michigan
.	Southern Miss	Marshall		Kent State	Kent State
.	Tulane	Memphis		Miami (Ohio)	Miami (Ohio)
.	Tulsa	MTSU		Northern Illinois	Northern Illinois
.	UAB	North Texas		Ohio	Ohio
.	UCF	Old Dominion		Toledo	Toledo
.	UTEP	Rice		UMass	UMass
.		SMU		Western Michigan	Western Michigan
.		Southern Miss
.		Tulane
.		Tulsa
.		UAB
.		UCF
.		UTEP
.		UTSA
.	MWC Now	Future MWC		Pac-12 Now	Future Pac-12
.	Air Force	Air Force		Arizona	Arizona
.	Boise State	Boise State		Arizona State	Arizona State
.	Colorado State	Colorado State		Cal	Cal
.	Fresno State	Fresno State		Colorado	Colorado
.	Hawaii	Hawaii		Oregon	Oregon
.	Nevada	Nevada		Oregon State	Oregon State
.	New Mexico	New Mexico		Stanford	Stanford
.	San Diego State	San Diego State		USC	USC
.	UNLV	San Jose State		UCLA	UCLA
.	Wyoming	UNLV		Utah	Utah
.		Utah State		Washington	Washington
.		Wyoming		Washington State	Washington State
.	SEC Now	Future SEC		Sun Belt Now	Future Sun Belt
.	Alabama	Alabama		Arkansas State	Arkansas State
.	Arkansas	Arkansas		FAU	FAU
.	Auburn	Auburn		FIU	FIU
.	Florida	Florida		Louisiana-Lafayette	Georgia State
.	Georgia	Georgia		MTSU	Louisiana-Lafayette
.	Kentucky	Kentucky		North Texas	MTSU
.	LSU	LSU		South Alabama	North Texas
.	Mississippi State	Mississippi State		Troy	South Alabama
.	Missouri	Missouri		ULM	Texas State
.	Ole Miss	Ole Miss		Western Kentucky	Troy
.	South Carolina	South Carolina			ULM
.	Tennessee	Tennessee			Western Kentucky
.	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
.	Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt
.	WAC Now	Future WAC		Independents Now	Future Independents
.	Idaho	:(		Army	Army
.	Louisiana Tech			BYU	BYU
.	New Mexico State			Navy	Navy
.	San Jose State			Notre Dame	Notre Dame
.	Texas State
.	Utah State
.

  While the Big East scrambles to stave off its imminent collapse, whether it's by enticing Fresno State and UNLV to join up or begging UConn and Cincinnati to stay put, it can make no tangible promises because there's no TV dollars to back any such pledge.

Television money is the lifeblood of college sports - specifically college football, the second-most valuable property to television networks after the NFL. With the advent of DVRs and streaming services, sports is about the only thing left that can still deliver huge live audiences that advertisers crave. And that, in turn, brings in big bucks.

The Los Angeles Lakers signed a 20-year, $3 billion exclusive deal with the fledgling Time Warner Sportsnet, which commands a whopping $4 per subscriber fee and won a staredown with DirecTV. Just up the street, the Dodgers are expected to one-up that, with a new 25-year deal expected to be worth north of $6 billion. And then there's the mother of all monster deals - the NFL's next TV contract, scheduled to kick in for 2014, is worth about $5 billion annually.

College football has gotten in on the act, with the five major conferences each inking billion-dollar deals in the past two years. The annual payouts roughly go like this:

• Pac-12: $250 million ($20.83 million per school)
• Big Ten: $248 million ($20.67 million)
• Big 12: $200 million ($20 million)
• ACC: $240 million ($17.14 million)
• SEC: $205 million ($14.64 million)
• Notre Dame: $15 million

And please don't cry for the SEC, which is certain to renegotiate its current deal with CBS and ESPN before the next season and launch its own network by 2014. The new pact is expected to bring each SEC school more than $20 million per year.

So who's missing here? Yep, the Big East, the erstwhile member of the big boys' club that's about to get tossed out on its ear after the 2013 season.

The Big East was essentially done in by its own greed. In April 2011, the much-maligned former commissioner John Marinatto had a nine-year, $1.17 billion deal with ESPN on the table, which would've paid its full members about $13.8 million per season and the basketball-only schools $2.5 million. While it wasn't Big Ten money, it was more than commensurate with what the Big East was worth.

But the Big East presidents, including the ones in the "Catholic 7," rejected the deal, thinking they would be able to squeeze more out of it. Turns out, it was a gargantuan miscalculation that left the Big East in today's mess.

The Big East's current TV deal expires after this basketball season and the next football season. With the mass defections this past month, the value of that next contract is dwindling, and no network is all that eager to jump in to make a deal when more schools might abandon ship before long. The latest estimate has the conference getting about $40-$50 million per year - and that's assuming everybody stays put.

An optimistic model of $50 million yields a payout of about $4.17 million per year for the nine full members and $3.13 million per year for the four football-only schools (Boise State, San Diego State, East Carolina and Navy in 2015). It's dwarfed by the payouts in the major conferences, though it's still substantially more than what the Mountain West currently pays, which is around $1 million per school per year.

There is a tug-of-war between the remnants of the Big East and the MWC, vying to be the kingpin of the Group of Five in BCS 2.0. The Big East wants to continue to raid the MWC to pump up its value to potential TV suitors, while the MWC aims to lure Boise State and San Diego State back (though technically they haven't left yet). Both conferences would love to pick off BYU, but neither is likely to succeed because the Cougars are getting about $5-6 million per year from their own TV deal with ESPN as a football independent.

But the MWC apparently has gained the upper hand, according to reports Friday night. The conference's TV deal with CBS, which was to run three more seasons, is being redone as a make-good for the network's decision to shut down The Mtn. While terms of the new deal are undisclosed, its value would only increase if the Broncos decide to stay in the conference. That's why the MWC is now aggressively (re)-courting Boise State, which is clearly the kingmaker in the "Group of Five" universe though it must make a decision on its future soon.

As for the Big East, being demoted in the new BCS landscape is the lesser of its problems, as it's at risk to further disintegrate from more defections the longer it takes to lock down a TV deal. And if the worst-case scenario should happen - UConn and Cincinnati find new homes while Boise State and San Diego State get cold feet before next July - the Big East becomes Conference USA Lite, circa 2004. In that case, it should expect not much more than Conference USA money.

How much is that? C-USA signed its most recent TV deal in early 2011 with FOX and CBS, worth $14 million per year, total.

Reprinted from College Conference Realignment:The TV Money Game in 2013 by Samuel Chi in Sports Nation December 26, 2012