Yet another Marinatto screw up

"The Big East's settlement with West Virginia, allowing the Mountaineers to leave, comes after commissioner John Marinatto steadfastly said for the past five months that the league would hold any departing schools to the 27-month exit penalty. Under league bylaws, West Virginia was obligated to remain in the Big East through July 1, 2014.

But Marinatto may have undermined the league's efforts to hold West Virginia in the league because of the precedent he set by allowing TCU to leave the Big East without ever playing a game. The Horned Frogs will start play int he Big 12 this season. "

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2012/02/rutgers_scrambling_to_fill_two.html


Since Marinatto couldn't competently run the conference while it was somwhat stabilized, I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that he would still be incompetent during its disintegration.

And for the Marinatto apologists out there, Marinatto is part and parcel of the Providence gang that steadfastfully refused to recognize the importance of football to the conference. The statements that Tran-gees-ee made in the fall are the views of Marinatto.

At the risk of repeating myself, Providence today, Providence tomorrow, Providence
Forever.

I agree that he was not proactive enough regarding expansion and stabilizing the football product but I just don't get this whole TCU set a precedent assertion. TCU was never a member. They signed a contract to become a member on July 1, 2012, a date that still has not yet come. Yes, they had to pay the exit fee for breaking their contract to join the BE in the future but they were never Big East members. I just don't see what it has to do with the WVU situation.

TCU had a contract with the BE (same as WVU), they were bound by a 27 month notice requirement and an exit fee and the BE let them off the hook for the exit fee only. While the 2 situations are not completely equal, the question of the precedent of allowing a team to leave outside the terms of the contract is there. So now, if you are the BE and you are faced with an increased probability of losing in court, you are forced to settle. By being nice guys to TCU (who wanted in the BE really bad until the Big12 came calling), it opened the door way open for the Big 12 to grab anyone they want for money.

The big question now, does Cuse or Pitt want out so bad this year that they pay $20 million to leave right now? The BE screwed this up and it started way before TCU.

Marinatto didn't agree to allowing WVU to leave without either:

a) having assurances someone like Boise St. will be able to replace them next year, or

b) knowing the Big East won't lose the BCS-bid just because it drops under 8 teams (assuming no one replaces the Mounties)

... or did he?

The article also states that Pitt and Cuse go in 2013, so at a minimum Marinatto's bold pronouncements ring hollow. In honor of President's day: "it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak out and remove all doubt."

You guys are a tough audience. I'd hate to be a defendant with you on the jury. I can feel the rope now.

Saying that TCU was ever a BE member is like saying that Pitt and Cuse are currently ACC members or even that WVU is currently a B12 member. The fact is that TCU never joined the Big East and just for that fact their situation is completely different. They had a contract to join the Big East in the future which they backed out of and had to pay a penalty. They were never a member of the league to be bound by it's bylaws.

They were formally invited and accepted entrance into the BE. They were introduced at a press conference. They had a start date. Plans were made based on them being a member. That they never played a game in the BE is not the issue, they were expected to be a member of the BE just as WVU was expected to be a member of the BE.. They were let out of the contract immediately based on payment of a fee. That is the precedent WVU was using to look for the same type of exit requirement. I am not saying the BE would not have prevailed in court should it have gone that far, but if you are the BE, you injected a significant amount of uncertainty into your position by your own prior actions. The BE established a precedent for exiting a contract with TCU by allowing the buyout. That the final amount will be $20 million, should be seen as a win for the BE because it will give them enough cash to buy the early entry of at least 1 team next year. And if Pitt and Cuse want out of the ACC today, they would need to buy their way out too, just like TCU and WVU. Remember, all of this only about money.

You need to worry about Pitt and Cuse leaving in July 2012 under the exact same terms of this settlement. That is the true doomsday scenario. The BE can buy 1 new team for 2012. I find it hard to believe that they can buy 3 teams for 2012. I feel that it is 50/50 that they tell the BE they want out under the exact same terms as WVU. At the very least, both will be gone in 2013 for less than $20 million.

I get the feeling you've been doing a lot of pacing and wall-punching in the past few months.

He's 6'6" and 250 lbs. Of course he was punching something. Maybe his keyboards or PC screens. lol

If Cuse and Pitt leave now the precedent is at least set at $20M to leave for 2012. With $60M the BE could buy all of the new schools, especially the new all-sports members since they don't have to deal with other conferences for other sports. I would honestly prefer to get it over with at this point and get as many in for next season as possible. Really, why wait? Houston and SMU will probably be a lot better than Cuse and Pitt next year anyway. Let SyraPitt go stink it up in the ACC and drag them down.

Think rationally not emotionally for a minute. If the BE tries to hold TCU and they skip off to the Big 12 anyway we'd have had another suit. Courts look at these things dispassionately and say, "What are your damages?" Since they never played in the Big East it would be impossible to show that TCU's failure to enter the league was worth more than the $5M they paid anyway. Bottom line: If you want to criticize Marinatto do it for something he actually had control over. TCU's entrance into the Big 12 is not one of them.