Pretty good summary of why the comments from the Big 12 brass in today's article from Vahe Gregorian are so laughable. The ones creating the scenario where MU, NU, and CU are likely to leave are the ones blaming those three schools for the breakup when the B12 leadership is the one to blame. From Mike DeArmond's blog at the KC Star.......
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From the Post Dispatch:
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MU's posturing, said one Big 12 source, is comparable to being in a marriage but openly seeking another partner, creating an impression that it is both whining and rattling a tin cup to the Big Ten — acts that could backfire both in terms of how the Big Ten sees MU and the omelette MU could be scraping off its face if the apparent gambit fails.
"It's your history; it's your culture," one source said. "The Big 12 shouldn't be a second option."
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I don’t have a problem with Big 12 - office staff and school officials - feeling that way. But the fact that some of them don’t see themselves as part of the problem is the elephant they don’t seem capable of admitting is in the room.
If the Big 12 shared revenues equally, and protected the integrity of the bowl selection for all its conference members, certainly Missouri and perhaps Nebraska would have no need to look elsewhere.
The truth is, the Big 12 does neither of those things and shows no willingness to start doing them.
Instead, hiding behind anonymity and whispering petulant criticism is the way to go?
It reminds me of a telephone call I received from Ed Stewart - Big 12 assistant commissioner for football and student services - right after I ripped the league for its bowl lineup, including a new one set for December of 2010 in Yankee Stadium in New York City between the fourth-place Big East finishers and the seventh-place team from the Big 12.
Stewart didn’t like my saying the bowl lineup - site heavy and partial to inviting Texas schools - “stinks,” and that the Yankee Bowl wasn’t going to change that.
What ails the Big 12 is the inability to see that all members of a conference need to benefit equally. Go ahead and tell Missouri and Nebraska and Colorado (exploring Pac 10 options) to shut up. Just don’t blame anyone but yourself if the Tigers, Cornhuskers or Buffaloes react by finding a better playground.
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