Tag Archives: Dan Beebe

Texas Tech Stands Strong in Face of lhn!

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I have to hand it to Texas Tech. They are standing strong against ESPN and the now failing network lhn. For those of you who do not know, lhn is the “longhorn network,” a television network started by ESPN that was to cover the texas longhorns exclusively. In other words, 24 hours of longhorn coverage 7 days a week. (Sounds like purgatory to me!) The idea was to market this o so wonderful brand of t.u. to the nation, sort of like NBC did with Notre Dame.

The problem for ESPN is that they didn’t realize the resolve of other schools in the great state of Texas. The resolve is so great that the alumni for those schools called up their local cable networks and told them that if they carried lhn at all, they would go and find another provider. To this date, only two cable networks are providing lhn, and the network is dying a quick death (not quick enough as far as I’m concerned).

The lhn was the straw the broke the camel’s back concerning Texas A&M, and the reason they left the Big 12 conference for the SEC. The problem was that Dan Beebe, then chairman of the Big 12, would bend over backwards to do what was necessary to make t.u. happy. This was why Colorado, Missouri, and Nebraska all left the Big 12 as well. The rest of the schools were simply pawns in t.u.’s quest to exalt itself.

Until recently at least. In an attempt to keep the lhn alive, ESPN is trying to designate the network as a regular ESPN platform sort of like ESPN2, or ESPNU in order to expand coverage. They have added football games from the Western Athletic Conference in order to do this because there just isn’t enough t.u. to fill 24 hours of programming for even the most avid t.u. fan.

It seems that one of the games that the lhn wants to broadcast is the Texas Tech game with Texas State University, which is a member of the WAC. When Texas Tech learned of the possibility of it being aired on the lhn, they stated that they would cancel the game and pay the buyout costs rather than appear on the lhn. Red Raider Sports reports:

ESPN announced earlier this month that the game would be carried on one of its platforms, but did not specify which.

Tech learned of this possibility several days ago, and according to the source, is “adamantly opposed to playing on the Longhorn Network” and is “putting serious consideration into canceling the game and playing an 11 game schedule” this fall.

“We are extremely disappointed,” the source told RRS. “Our hope is that the Texas State game will be played on a primary ESPN platform.”

Can you see some of the passion that is dooming the lhn? Tech would rather pay the buyout costs than do anything that would aid and abet the lhn in it’s survival. What do you bet that there were quite a few Red Raiders calling their cable companies, along with Aggies, Sooners, Cowboys, Bears, Cougars, Horned Frogs, Mustangs, and others telling them “no lhn!”

That is because we know the diseased underbelly known as t.u. We know how their recruiters will badmouth other schools to prospective recruits. We know the giant-sized egos down at that junior college in Austin who think the entire Big 12 exists for the purpose of exalting t.u. We know how they believe we should just bow down in humble compliance with the demands of their athletic department. We also know we are not going to. Nothing would say this more than the failure of the lhn.

I’m glad Texas Tech is standing strong against the lhn, just as I rejoice that A&M bolted the Big 12 for the SEC. Hopefully, the Big 12 will become a thing of the past in the future and t.u. can have their ultimate desire, to become independent like Notre Dame, and end up with the same record. It is sad that schools like TCU and OU are nothing more than canon fodder for the egos in Austin. May the canon fodder humble those involved with t.u. and the ill-advised lhn.

Big 12-2 On the Verge of Collapse Again???

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Last summer I predicted that the Big 12 would completely collapse after Nebraska and Colorado left for greener pastures. I had to admit that I was wrong in my prediction. But maybe I wasn’t. If you follow college football at all you know that Texas A&M took the next step in leaving the conference to head for the SEC. They formally issued a leader to the lemmings in the head office of the Big 12-2. This means that the Big 12-2 would become the Big 12-3 if they don’t find someone to replace A&M. Given that Dan Beebe of the Big 12 is proactive in only seeking to keep his job, the conference is doomed.

Now this just in: Oklahoma is toying with the idea of leaving the Big 12-2 as well.

University of Oklahoma president David Boren says multiple conferences have shown interest in the Sooners recently and he expects to decide whether to leave the Big 12 or not within the next three weeks.

Boren said Friday that Oklahoma is seeking stability in its conference relationship with ”partners that are both outstanding athletically and academically as well because a conference that’s strong is not only stable but it’s one in which there are multiple relationships, along with sports, between the university members.”

This cannot sit well with other members of the conference. The move to leave the sinking ship all starts with a simple desire to be a part of a ship that isn’t sinking. Once the desire is uttered, the forces behind that desire surface and that ship on the horizon looks so much more appealing than the one with the hole in under your feet.

I imagine that with this utterance by Boren, there will be those alumni who like the idea of bailing on a failing conference. Let’s face it, they can always play t.u. as a non-conference game. They did it for years before the formation of the Big 12, so it is nothing new for either group of fans.

If Oklahoma leaves, you can count on OSU leaving as well, since they are the little brother of that state joined at the hip known as the state legislature. There are just too many OSU alums in the state legislature that will insist upon OSU going wherever OU goes. If that happens, so goodbye to the Big 12. The rest of the teams will scurry off that ship like rats leaving the Titanic.

The Big 12 may survive. But it will be t.u., U of Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas State, North Texas, etc. And everyone will sit back and wonder if t.u. will ever lose their conference championship again.