Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Phil Paligraf Dies in One Car Crash in Montgomery County

by Kent Sterling

There are a lot of morons in media management these days – dopey folks who earn big coin for eliminating jobs without vision or compassion. As a regional vice president for Comcast and previous work as general manager for WTTV-4, Phil Paligraf was never one of those guys. His death is a shocking reminder that tomorrows aren’t guaranteed.

He died as the result of a single car crash in Montgomery County. He was a young 58. His family reported him missing when he didn’t return on time as he was returning home from a trip to Crawfordsville.

To imagine the increased levels of worry as the minutes ticked by until finally a call was made to the police is unimaginable, and then the heartbreak of learning that the worst fears were justified should send us all to our knees to request strength for his wife Meg.

Phil and I were dads of Cathedral basketball players at the same time, and we ran into each other at games quite often. I worked as a radio program director at the time in Indianapolis, so we would talk about our sons, hoops, and media. He was always a fun parent to talk to, and always so proud of Patrick, who could flat out shoot.

He has another son, Matt – a sophomore at Cathedral next month, who plays basketball and can also shoot it. My son was lucky enough to coach Matt this year as a junior varsity assistant, and when he told me their was another Paligraf in the pipeline, I asked, “Can he shoot?”

Ryan answered, “What do you think?” There aren’t many certainties in basketball, but Paligrafs being able to drop three-pointer after three-pointer is one of them.

I would show up for games when I was in town to watch Ryan coach, and had a chance to talk to Phil a few more times. His thoughts on media were always sound, smart, and honest. His work at WTTV-4 and Comcast set him apart among his peers.

He will be missed as a media company leader, and as good company at Cathedral basketball games.

Indiana Basketball – Tom Crean Talks About Leadership and the NCAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L964AgKfrxI

by Kent Sterling

Indiana Basketball coach Tom Crean is an interesting guy. Regardless of whether you like, love, or loathe him, he’s a lightning rod in Indiana sports who is impossible to ignore. Heading into his sixth year, the challenges of being the head coach at IU will evolve toward a new level of pressure.

For the first four years, the immediate challenge was to improve from the previous season after the program was thrown into a full scale reversal that forced it to hit bottom.

Now, the challenge is to rebuild again, but not from his predecessor’s amoral and arrogant mopery, but from the successes that landed his two best players in the top four of the NBA Draft.

Crean initially built with an indomitable energy, and that’s the way he’s attacked this process as he and his staff built an excellent class of incoming freshmen.

For a few years, Crean was able to survive and be embraced because he was so completely unlike Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson. He’s also very unlike Bob Knight, which is either great or awful depending upon who you talk to. Now, Crean starts down the road where he will be compared to himself, and that will make the reception to his work much different.

The next couple of years will be different for Indiana Basketball and Tom Crean – not necessarily better or worse, but every bit as unique as the previous five.

Mike Wells Leaving Indy Star for ESPN – Lots of Seats to Fill at the Star

by Kent Sterling

Bob Kravitz (left) with Mike Wells, who will start his new gig with ESPN one week from tomorrow.

Former Indiana Pacers beat reporter and briefly the new lead Colts guy Mike Wells, will begin work covering the Colts for ESPN on August 5th. Terry Hutchens is gone as the Indiana University beat reporter, and Wells former spot on the Pacers beat is being manned by Michael Pointer on an interim basis.

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That’s a total of three holes in major beats, and sports director Ronnie Ramos is in a position to make some interesting choices in deciding who gets to man those positions. The excellent Zak Keefer has filled David Woods spot covering Butler, and he must be getting close with IU and the Pacers as the positions have been open for a month.

Ramos has a lot of work to do to fill the three most important beats at the paper, but with columnist Bob Kravitz, Phillip B. Wilson, Curt Cavin, Phil Richards, Mike Chappell, and the rest of the staff still churning content and not much going on right now, he has time to be able to find the people he feels will be the right fit for three major jobs.

This gives Ramos the opportunity to put his mark on the sports product. I’m sure he wasn’t hired to maintain the status quo or Hutchens wouldn’t have been moved out, and Wells would have continued covering the Pacers.

The toughest part of the sports editor/director job today is in trying to hold onto solid reporters and columnists as the online efforts of ESPN, Fox, Yahoo, and a dozen other online only content providers scour the withering staffs of daily newspapers for multimedia pros with access to unique information and athletes.

That’s what happened to the Star when Wells announced his move to ESPN. Wells is a pro, who not only did a great job covering the Pacers for the Star, but has shown himself to be a very adept guest and co-host on local radio shows. He’s knowledgeable, diligent, and most importantly interesting with a solid sense of humor.

Without a doubt, the most fun responsibility for a person in Ramos’ position is hiring people. There are so many meetings to discuss cuts in media today, and so many plans to execute to manage expenses that the time spent evaluating and deciding who to hire is the highlight of the year.

My hope is that the Star begins to increase the level of perspective, rather than simply a source for information readily available elsewhere. Over the last 15 years, according to some research made available to me last week, the percentage of media consumers who rely upon newspapers as their first source of information has plummeted from 64% to 16%. While online offerings from newspaper sports departments are part of the reason that the internet has skyrocketed as a source, finding unique opinions is a driver of audience. Minus Kravitz, the Star isn’t staffed to tell fans why or how – just who and what.

One person who is definitely worth reading when he writes is assistant sports editor Mark Alesia, who is an exceptionally knowledgeable source regarding the complicated evolution of the NCAA. He has a great faculty for communicating simply and infusing his work with the perspective needed to understand the direction of collegiate athletics.

There are people at the Star plenty capable of doing more, but until they are pushed to publish their insight, the Star’s management will continue to talk about cuts in internal meetings instead of product development and audience growth.

For the next few weeks, Ramos will be ale to have some fun, make some hires, and put his mark on the department he runs. I hope he gets the right people, turns them loose, and finds a way to get the resources he needs to hold on to them – so the next Mike Wells doesn’t jump to greener and more stable pastures.

Larry Bird Goes All in – Indiana Pacers Get Luis Scola for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and Future #1

by Kent Sterling

Luis Scala may be 33, but he has the hair of a 25 year old.

Pacers President Larry Bird wants to win now. After years of trying to find the right starters for the Pacers, Bird is adding outstanding veterans to fill a second unit that will push the Pacers closer to the Miami Heat in 2014.

Today, Bird added Phoenix Suns power forward Luis Scala to fill out a second unit that has already been helped by the acquisitions of point guard C.J. Watson and small forward Chris Copeland. The Suns will take Green, 2012 first round pick Miles Plumlee, and a lottery protected first round 2014 pick off the Pacers hands for their trouble.

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If Scola plays with the same enthusiasm with which he spoke about the deal today, the Pacers have dealt well, “I’m very, very excited to play for the Pacers,” said Scola. “They are one of the top three teams in the NBA with a good shot to win a championship. I think it’s a great team and this is a great opportunity. I can’t wait.”

Bird made it perfectly clear what Scola’s role will be – as if there could be any confusion that David West in the starter, “Luis will be a very important asset to our team and to our bench. He has NBA experience, international experience and is the type of player that will fit in nicely on our roster.”

The difference between the moves in previous off seasons and this one is that the Pacers are adding guys who they know can play a specific role. In the past, they went out and got players hoping they would fit and contribute.

Live in hope – die in desperation.

This change in focus from the Pacers shows Bird’s belief that building is over, and the finishing touches on a winning team is the goal. The Pacers are good enough so that first round picks who can immediately contribute will not be forthcoming, and luring a top line free agent is difficult in Indianapolis, so finding the pieces to polish the roster is how the Pacers will evolve forward.

The second unit that included disparate parts like D.J. Augustine, Tyler Hansbrough, and Green, has been dismantled like roadies breaking down a stage after a concert, and now the second unit will be manned, barring more moves, by players who are no longer playing to earn starter’s minutes. Mature players Watson, Copeland, Scola, and Mahinmi will know and happily accept their place as a second unit needed to play hard and well for eight minutes each half.

Potential acrimony exists in the decision coach Frank Vogel will need to make between Danny Granger and Lance Stephenson as a starter to join Roy Hibbert, David West, Paul George, and George Hill. If healthy, Granger is not going to be happy coming off the bench as he plays for his next contract, and the mercurial Stephenson won’t either.

If that’s the biggest problem Vogel, Bird, and GM Kevin Pritchard face in getting ready for a 2014 playoff run, the Pacers are in great shape. Too many really good players for too few minutes beats the hell out of too many minutes without enough good players.

Bird is going all in on his young corps of players, and it’s up to them to repay the trust. If George and Hibbert can take another step forward in their development, and the new pieces mesh, this is going to be a very good team that could become a 60-game winner.

In the Pacers way stand the Miami Heat, who seem to decide at their will when they will dominate anyone in their path, but they were one missed Ray Allen three pointer from losing the NBA Finals in six, and being cast as underachievers ready to be dismantled.

Bird seems to believe the Heat can be had.

Bird has been decisive and confident this offseason. Come fall, the players will either justify that bravado or face a very unpleasant summer of 2014. At the end of the journey, Bird hopes is a trip the to NBA Finals.

To get there, George and Hibbert will need to go from good to great, and the rest of the Pacers will need to make Larry Legend look as smart as he feels after a very productive July.

Nationwide Series Driver Joey Gase Hits Fence, Joins Hagan & Sterling Minutes Later

by Kent Sterling

Joey Gase looks younger than he is, but his behavior reflects a maturity few realize regardless of his age.

Joey Gase is only 20 years-old, used to attend races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a fan, and looked forward to running in this afternoon’s Indiana 250 Nationwide Race later today. His car got loose in Turn One, he hit the wall, and the dream of running at the World’s Greatest Race Course will have to wait for another day.

A guy as young as Gase is will have plenty of chances to qualify for events at the IMS. What he won’t have to wait for is to use his celebrity to make a difference in the lives of those waiting for transplants.

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Gase’s Mom passed away from a brain aneurysm two years ago, and because she had earlier made the unselfish decision to be an organ donor, over 60 people were positively affected by the tissue and organs that were harvested before she was taken off life support.

When Gase gets an opportunity, he steps in front of a microphone and tells his mother’s story, hoping that others might be moved to donate their organs should a tragedy occurs, so that their lives don’t end without improving the length and quality of life for many others.

That’s what being a celebrity can do for those who are smart and generous enough to understand the good that can come from being available to the media.

Of course, people should donate organs they are no longer able to use themselves. Thousands and thousands of people are on transplant lists for kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, corneas, and more, and the gift of the phone call to one of them saying that crucial organ is waiting is a life changing event only made possible by the decency of an individual who has his or her eye on the big picture.

That Gase, a barely out of his teens driver in the Nationwide Series, is mature enough to stop by a radio show only minutes after his Donate Life Indiana Chevy got loose and smacked ass first into the Turn One wall speaks to the king of guy he is. He promised “Ahead of the Curve” co-host Chris Hagan (Saturdays, 11a-1p on 1070 the Fan) that he would do the hit so he could compel the listeners to re-evaluate their indifference to the plight of those praying for a second chance at a better life. That speaks to the quality of his spirit, and the work his Mom did in raising him before she was taken.

Later in the show today, we found out that Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne was coming to training camp in Anderson on an Indiana University Lifeline helicopter along with a patient from Riley Hospital is another example of a guy who also understands that the chance to help those in need.

There are so many stories of athletes engaged in idiocy that it’s nice to be able to tell the stories of a couple of people who absolutely get it.

Gase spoke in our interview about the need to grow up fast as both a racer and the son who loses a mother. Take a listen to this young man, and if you are moved by his story, make the choice to become an organ donor today.

Ahead of the Curve at Brickyard Today – Indiana Pacers – Reports: Gerald Green to Suns for Luis Scola

by Kent Sterling

The Phoenix Suns are rebuilding, and if reports on espn.com are accurate, have no use for 33 year-old power forward Luis Scola.

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Scola has been dealt, according to reports to the Indiana Pacers for “Launch Ready” Gerald Green and future draft considerations.

Not the player he used to be at 33, Scola still had a bit of a bounce back season in 2012-2013 for the Suns. A reduction in minutes should help Scola stay strong throughout the season.

Last year, playing 26.6 minutes, Scola averaged 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He’s not a great defender on stretch fours and doesn’t block shots, but he does what he does quite well, and that is working the left block as a scorer.

Gerald Green will not be missed by Pacers fans, who loved him when he made shots and hated him when he missed. Unfortunately, Green hit only 364% of his shots.

Team President Larry Bird’s goal entering the offseason one month ago was to beef up the second unit, which now stands as C.J. Watson at the point, Lance Stephenson at the two, Chris Copeland at the three, Luis Scola at the four, and Ian Mahinmi at center. That’s several levels better than what led to the Pacers doom in the seven game loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

The rest of the show today will be devoted to the Brickyard 400 and today’s opening of camp for the Colts.

Fox 59 sports director Chris Hagan and I will host “Ahead of the Curve” from 11a-2p from Pagoda Plaza at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so if you’re out at the track for the Nationwide race and Sprint Cup quals, stop by and say hello.

Jimmie Johnson Will Win the Brickyard 400 on Sunday

by Kent Sterling

Is this Jimmie Johnson, or a VP of marketing at Eli Lilly?

Telling you that Jimmie Johnson will pilot his #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy to a fifth Brickyard 400 win shouldn’t spoil the surprise for you.

Johnson has won four of the last seven Brickyards, and that is reason enough to predict with confidence that it will happen again on Sunday.

Winning at the Brickyard requires a driver who does not screw up, a crew that executes flawless pit stops, and drives a nice smooth race. Johnson does that better than anyone at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since Al Unser, Sr. did it to win four times at the Indianapolis 500.

Johnson is not an exciting driver or person, and looks like an exceptionally normal 37 year-old guy, which is exactly what Unser has always been – only older. Johnson is a little better with the media, but for a guy who has won five straight Cup

This is Jon Miller, VP of Marketing at Marketo.

championships, two Daytona 500s and four Brickyard 400s, he might be the least polarizing champion of all time in any sport since Earl Anthony took the Pro Bowlers Tour by calm.

While Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Danica Patrick are cheered and booed by the beer fueled crowds at NASCAR races throughout the south, polite applause greets Johnson. He is the anti-Tiger Woods, who is never the guy on Sportscenter for flinging helmets at cars, or flipping off photographers.

He calmly goes about his business, wins races and championships, and smiles while ordering a Beef & Cheddar at Arby’s without anyone noticing he’s in the store.

If Johnson went to a ballgame at Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, he could sit unbothered. Even after introducing himself, people would leave the game believing they had met a nice polite guy, without any notion they had just met the most successful NASCAR driver of his generation.

This is VP of Marketing Sandhya Iyer of Imagine. He, Johnson, and Miller would look right at home on the sitcom “New Girl” with Zooey Deschanel on Fox

He’s going to win because while others get aggressive or make a small mistake in the pits, Johnson will just keep turning left 640 times in exactly the same way he’s done it before. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway rewards mistake free driving and penalizes guys who try to win the race early. The best teams tend to win, whether in IndyCar or NASCAR, and that points to Hendrick and Johnson too.

The weather is supposed to be incredible, and after so many scorchers, it will be incredible to have a raceday without a chance of rain and temps in the 70s.

Get out there and enjoy it – not because it’s a great race to watch, I would be lying if I said it was and you would know it – but because it’s a great event at a wonderful facility. Pack a cooler full of sandwiches and beer that is exactly the right size, and watch the cars and people. When Johnson wins, tell them you knew he would.

The people in the suites will look a whole lot like Johnson, and so will the guy sitting next to you. I swear I saw six guys in the Media Center eating a delicious and free Fazoli’s for lunch that could have passed for Johnson.

Aaron Rodgers, Tarell Brown, and Weslye Saunders Are the Three Dumbest Athletes in Sports This Week

by Kent Sterling

For those who haven’t seen what a guy who lost $2 million for missing a day’s work, here he is!

Professional athletes are a bunch of pampered and self-indulgent rubes who rely on others to make decisions and provide them with a worry free life. That’s their reputation anyway.

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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown, and former Indianapolis Colts tight end Weslye Saunders have done nothing to disprove that over the past week.

1070 the Fan midday host Dan Dakich is a smart guy, and I spent a few minutes with him on his show today, and if you are smart enough yourself to invite Dan into your home, office, or car you know that you learn something about sports and life every time, and today was no different.

Dan decided that among these three outstanding examples of entitled fools who believe they are not subject to meaningful consequence if a detail falls through the cracks or a trust is betrayed, Rodgers is the most deserving of being the dumbest guy in the world.

Rodgers claims to feel betrayed by suspended Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun because he trusted Braun’s claim of innocence when he beat an earlier rip because of a technicality. Rodgers guaranteed Braun’s innocence with a seemingly facetious bet of a year’s salary, and expressed surprise about Braun’s guilt today, “Well, I was shocked, I really was, just like I know many of you were.

“I was backing up a friend, who looked me in the eye on multiple occasions and repeatedly denied these allegations, said they weren’t true,” Rodgers continued, “So it is disappointing, not only for myself as a friend but for obviously Wisconsin sports fans, Brewer fans, Major League Baseball fans. It doesn’t feel great being lied to like that, and I’m disappointed about the way it all went down.”

Never trust an athlete, Dan says, and he’s mostly right. There are a few willing to honestly represent who they are, but without a consequence for being a pretentious ass, many choose that route. Rodgers, more than most, should know better, and that makes him an idiot.

The strange case of Tarell Brown involves an escalator clause that triggered a $2 million salary bump if he had attended voluntary workouts at the team facility. Apparently, he was unaware that the escalator had been engaged, and perhaps unaware it existed. Maybe his recently terminated agent missed that too.

I don’t know about you, but if I had a small clause in a contract that paid me $500 if I showed up on the steps of south Monument Circle in Indianapolis wearing only a speedo at 2:00 p.m. on January 14, 2016, I would enter it in my calendar, and show up 15 minutes early.

Brown, of course, blamed his agent for not telling him because why should a professional athlete be responsible for his behavior? I’m not sure many athletes understand that agents are really their employees, and they need to be managed just as employees should be. For Tarell Brown, that lesson came with a $2,075,000 price tag (there was another bonus of $75K he would have received had he attended the workouts).

To add insult to injury, Brown found out that he is out the two-plus REALLY large on Twitter.

If I were the owner of the 49ers, I would have been out front of the facility with a checklist of the players to be bonused or with escalators for attending a voluntary workout, and marked names as I saw the players show up. If Brown hadn’t shown, and I got to keep $2.075 million of my money, I would have partied like a Powerball winner.

Weslye Saunders made a more typical error in behavior. He tested positive for adder all after already being suspended for four games for taking it while a Pittsburgh Steeler. If you are a third string tight end, life in the NFL is a relentlessly worrisome existence. You are one of the most expendable men on the roster, and among the easiest to replace.

Being so close to the precipice of doom should result in a motivated and well-behaved employee. Not so with Saunders. If this is the result of an addiction, that’s unfortunate, but hardly an uncorrectable problem. If the difference between a career in the NFL with a $555,000 annual salary and being a cashier at CVS for $12 per hour is 28 days at Hazelden, you get your ass to treatment and work your program.

Saunders was suspended for eight games as the result of his positive test, and that made the call by the Colts to waive him easy. They drafted Justice Cunningham at the end of the seventh round for the same reason Foghorn Leghorn keeps his feathers counted – “for just such an emergency.”

Athletes in the media are convinced that because people hold microphones in front of them that they have something smart to say, and some fans believe that because the athletes are on TV, they must be saying something important. Wrong, and wrong.

There are exceptions, but there is always a long line of athletes vying for the dope of the week. Which of these three is your dope of the week. Vote now, and tomorrow during “Ahead of the Curve” from 11a-2p on 1070 the Fan, Chris Hagan and I will have the winner.

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Alfonso Soriano Trade Complete; Jim Hendry Era Happily Ends, or Did It?

by Kent Sterling

This was not a slider low and away because it appears Soriano is going to make contact.

The players former Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry signed are all gone, but the bills will keep coming for another 14 months as Alfonso Soriano has been dealt to the New York Yankees.

The Cubs will pick up $17.7 million of the $24.5 million he is owed, according to reports, and for that cash they get to not watch Soriano wave at low and away sliders, plus a reportedly mediocre prospect from the Yankees farm system.

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Hendry seemed to be paid to execute bad contracts during the latter half of his tenure with the Cubs. Free agents like Milton Bradley, Kosuke Fukudome, and Carlos Pena (in a bizarre deal that paid him $10 million over two years to play just one year), joined guys with bloated expansions like Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano to provide Chicagoans with a TJ Maxx team at Sak’s Fifth Avenue prices.

Let’s not forget the Hendry drafts. His first rounders were Ryan Harvey, Mark Pawelek, Tyler Colvin, Josh Vitters, Josh Donaldson, Andrew Cashner, Ryan Flaherty, Brett Jackson, Hayden Simpson and Javier Baez. Quite a legacy.

And they named a street after him in Park Ridge. What’s next, Rickard Speck Way in Flossmoor?

What GMs throughout Major League Baseball should have learned from the Soriano (and all other long-term deals inked by Hendry) deal, combined with those of Alex Rocriguez and Albert Pujols is that with every additional year of a top dollar contract the chances of buyer’s remorse escalates to the point where after five, the team inevitably wants to end the relationship.

Pujols hasn’t been a bust yet, but his slugging percentage and OPS have dropped consistently since 2009, and he’s hitting .259 with 17 home runs at the age of 33, and while the final chapter of his great career has not been written, the $212 million the Angels have committed to Pujols through 2021 makes the Soriano deal look like a stroke of genius.

By the way, the Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said goodbye to Pujols rather than pay him crazy money for ten years, and the Cards have the best record in baseball. That appears to be the way to run a franchise.

The Cubs current brain trust has signed extensions to young players through their 30th of 31st birthdays, but appear committed to not paying played giant chunks of cash as they enter their mid-30s, and that avoids the kind of stupidity that Hendry waved proudly.

Youth is coming to Chicago – as much a result of the old guys being shipped out, and it is because they acquired young talent.

Incredibly, the starting eight in the field just three years ago were Geovany Soto, Derrick Lee, Ryan Theriot, Starlin Castro, Ramirez, Soriano, Malon Byrd, and Fukudome. The starting rotation was Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Tom Gorzelanny, Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Carlos Silva (who came to the Cubs in a swap of misfit toys for Bradley).

The longest tenured Cub is Jeff Samardzija, who made his first appearance in 2008. He is the only Cubs who was on the team the last time the Cubs qualified for the postseason.

The deconstruction of the Cubs is almost complete, and two pieces of the next disappointing puzzle (I would apologize for my pessimism, but I’ve seen enough of Castro to know any building in which he is a brick will crumble eventually) are in place.

Fans are counting the days until Baez, Albert Almora, Kris Bryant, and Jorge Soler make the jump to the bigs. With Mike Olt and C.J. Edwards coming over in the Matt Garza deal, there are two more to hope for. Interestingly, Garza was acquired for a kid named Chris Archer, who was the top prospect at the time of the deal. The Tampa Rays have won the last six starts by the now 24-year-old Archer.

The Cubs are in a nether region the likes of which Cubs fans have not experienced since the 1950s, and that assumes that Castro is the next coming of Ernie Banks – a Hendryian leap of faith.

Fans knew that the team was incapable of winning with Soriano, so why not save the $7.7 million. It’s not addition by subtraction, but subtraction by subtraction to save a chunk of his deal at least makes business sense.

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Texas to the Big Ten? Delany Offers Clues to Who’s Next for Big Ten Expansion

by Kent Sterling

One thing about Jim Delany, he does not speak in code. Information is offered, and through a Monday Sudoku series of simple deductions, the truth is revealed.

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In his statement yesterday, Delany identified Association of American Universities membership, contiguous state to existing members, population, and federal research dollars as criteria for consideration for membership in the Big Ten, “I’d like to talk just a little bit about expansion. Rutgers and Maryland will join us on July 1, 2014. They’ll join 12 other members. And it’s sort of interesting. We were so fortunate that two AAU flagship institutions in contiguous states were able to join us.

“Interestingly, New Jersey and Maryland combined are only half the size of our smallest state, Indiana, but at the same time have provided us an incredible increase in ability to recruit students, student-athletes, have relationships with a lot of Big Ten people who already reside in that corridor, but we’ve had a 30 percent increase in the conference’s population footprint. So three percent in geographic territory, 30 percent in population in an area that I would argue is one of the most important areas, not only in America, but in the world.

“So we’re going to be working very hard with Rutgers and Maryland and with our own institutions to make friends, build relationships, and create some momentum for our Big Ten conference athletics in that region.

“When everything is finally completed and all 14 members are here, we’ll have in excess of $9 billion in federal research. The conference will span over 550,000 square miles, about 15 percent of the Continental United States. We’ll have 520,000 students under roof and 350 teams and almost 10,000 student-athletes and over $150 million in financial aid.”

In 2011, the University of Texas was ranked 26th in federal research money with just over $309 million, and was the 20th overall research institution in America. Texas has been a member of the AAU since 1929. From a population standpoint, Texas brings 26 million people to the party. Not all are Longhorn fans, but they increase the population footprint considerably.

Unfortunately, there are a minimum of two states between the closest Big Ten state (Nebraska) and Texas. It’s hard for me to believe that Texas would be DQ’ed because the plane ride from State College to Austin is 30 minutes farther than the trip to Lincoln, but Delany seems very proud of the connectivity of the states in the Big Ten’s footprint, a footprint that would be increased from 550,000 square miles to 819,000 or 28% of the land mass of the lower 48 states (not sure why that is interesting to Delany, but these are his metrics).

It’s been my theory that Texas would be selected by the Big Ten as one of the final two schools as the Big Ten becomes the Big 16. Texas is a serious research institution, is a member of the AAU, and brings with it enough top 100 TV markets currently unserved by the Big Ten Network that it seems a logical choice despite the geographic disconnection.

Texas is a part of a conference that was hanging on by a thread two years ago, and was saved temporarily by the Big 12 allowing Texas to form the Longhorn Network, which provides disproportionate wealth, and may ultimately cause other conference members to bolt for the Pac 12. TCU and West Virginia have been added to bring the total of schools to 10, but those are small and ill-fitting bandaids on a gaping wound.

The ACC isn’t going anywhere after gathering some of the refuse from the inevitable Big East implosion, but it might be possible for the Big Ten to take on Virginia (AAU since 1922, and #52 in federal research dollars with $218.5M). North Carolina would have made for a nice target, but the ongoing academic fraud scandal, which seems to get worse by the day, isn’t doing the Tar Heels any favors.

After the bizarre turn of events at Rutgers over the past four-and-a-half months, it’s unlikely the Big Ten wants to court a school that seems eager to avoid admitting to or correcting serious errors in providing ghost classes for athletes.

As a conference that is weighted more toward basketball than football, the ACC isn’t able to garner nearly the same level of revenue as the Big Ten, and with Maryland, Rutgers, and potentially Virginia, they would fit as AAU members (since 1922), federal research players (#17 – $431M), connected to Virginia, and the 10th most populous state. If the Big Ten wants UVA and UNC, it would seem all Delany would need to do is ask.

The Big 12 is held together with bailing wire and fraying duct tape. Unless there is a way for the members not Texas to level the financial playing field with the Longhorns, it will spin like an out of whack fan until the gravity pulls the poorly balanced blades to fly from its axis.

The first order of business for all the conferences will be to help the NCAA evolve toward a legislative separation among the haves and have lesses among the 348 Division One schools. That begins August 8 with a meeting of the executive committee and the D-I Board, and will continue through next January, according to an excellent piece by Mark Alesia on indystar.com.

Once that’s in the rearview mirror, the conferences can return to the work of recasting their membership. My money is on Texas and Virginia moving to the Big Ten before the end of the decade, but neither appear to be close to the sure thing it appeared they were one year ago. North Carolina is a dark horse.

One debate about which we no longer need to speculate is whether Texas would move into the Legends or Leaders Divisions. See, eventually logic prevails in the Big Ten.

[ed. note: I’ve gotten a few questions and comments about the grant in rights signed by the ACC in April that would prohibit the schools fram taking their broadcast rights out of the conference to the Big Ten or another suitor. I’m not convinced that the Big Ten wouldn’t move to take Virginia anyway because there are a good fit in every other area, so I didn’t mention the grant in rights because the explanation of what the hell it is and how it affects the conference realignment issues would have taken another 500 words. The Big 12’s grant in rights lapses in 2025, but there are ways that that could fall apart or be circumvented.]