Boston College AD Apologies For ACC Expansion Comments
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 7:50 PM EDT
in Conference Expansion
Email
PrintWell, that didn't take long.
After the very public backlash from Mark Blaudschun's Power Move by ACC article, Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo has sent a letter of apology to the presidents and ADs of the ACC. In his statement, GDF apologizes for any "negative effects" his comments had and said he "spoke inappropriately and erroneously regarding ESPN's role in conference expansion."
DeFilippo did, however, acknowledge that there is still some "ill feelings" towards UConn, saying that it was
"inappropriate to express personal feelings that might have been construed as the position of Boston College or the Atlantic Coast Conference."
The New York Times Pete Thamel tried to also get a statement from Boston College basketball coach Steve Donahue, but he politely dodged the question.
"I don't know if I have a stance. I don't mean to sideswipe the question, having not been through the history of it, I don't know the program and where it fits."
So UConn and the rest of the ACC now have their public apology for GDF's statements over the weekend. And now, we wait on Blaudschun's public apology for his incoherent, thinly-sourced "Big East destruction at the hands of ESPN / ACC" article and UConn's public apology for the school's actions in the wake of Boston College's departure from the Big East in 2003.
60 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
As much as I would love to be a University president or AD at an ACC school … no, sorry.
Editor, BC Interruption
Pete Thamel got the letter because GDF was smart and went through the AP this time and not some old timer at the Globe that supposedly covers the Boston College football beat.
Editor, BC Interruption
Funny
“While I harbor some ill feelings toward the University of Connecticut regarding the lawsuit, depositions and derogatory comments from UConn officials when we announced our decision to join the ACC, it was inappropriate to express personal feelings.”
Gene makes it clear, still hates UConn.
Editor, BC Interruption
I think he should own it
And while if I think that if the ACC goes to 16 schools, and UCONN will be one of them; I think BC should make it hell for UCONN until they do get in. It will make for a good potential rivalry, keeps the school in the headlines in the pro-sports crazy NE media, and remains one of the many reasons why I’m glad BC was added in the first place. Keep kicking dirt, and then when its over, help them up dust them off, welcome them to the league, and then continue beating them in everything
Don't give up, don't ever give up ~ Jim Valvano
Artless GDF
Why do it again GDF????
Now you seem even more bitter and petty and your apology wholly insincere.
By opening your yap once more you are adding fuel to the bonfire of BC detractors. To them, you are the gift that keeps giving.
And, instead of ACC as a whole absorbing ‘blame’ for UConn’s bogus complaints,, BC is now shouldering all the negative publicity and our fine school is being painted as petty and worse. That is a disservice to BC
Crawl into a crevice GDF and shut up!!!
And people still..
insist it was all about being the King of New England? Please. People get sued. Get over it. No one likes getting sued. Get over that too. And the apologies? Just save them. Especially, when you don’t mean them OR they just aren’t necessary.
Not just a lawsuit
UConn repeatedly accused GDF of being a dishonest person and a thief of BE secret info. In other words, UConn endlessly attacked GDF’s integrity and honesty – and BC’s integrity too
That does not get swept under the rug. So suffice it to say GDF is right to remain opposed to doing biz with UConn ( and for other biz reasons) but he is artless
I haven't read the Blaudschun piece
but taking 5 Big East schools is still taking 5 Big East schools. When you take 62.5% of a conference over a decade, it has some effect. No one has to apologize. The ACC didn’t invent cherry-picking, but they aren’t unfamiliar with it.
Big East, 2003
Boston College
Miami
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Syracuse
Temple
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
your comment is irrelevant to the article
Perhaps because you didn’t read it.
Don't think of it as poaching
poach-ing (noun) – the illegal practice of trespassing on another’s property to hunt or steal game without the landowner’s permission.
It’s not like the ACC stole Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Syracuse and Pittsburgh against these school’s will. I think it’s pretty telling that the Big East has now managed to run off every college football program of worth (except for West Virginia) based on mismanagement and complete ineptitude.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
The ACC didn’t invent cherry-picking
You mean, like the Big East poaching:
- Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida from Conference USA
- Georgetown, Rutgers and Villanova from the ECAC
- Seton Hall and St. John’s from the New Jersey-New York 7
- UConn from the A-10
You mean that type of cherry-picking?
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Oh, and don’t forget cherry-picking West Virginia from the Southern Conference. Mustn’t forget the couch burners!
Editor, BC Interruption
Conn AG makes ominous statement.
The shock is not that ESPN, which denied DeFilippo assertions, would exert some influence, it’s that one of the BCS athletic directors would boldly announce his school is doing what ESPN tells him. It introduces questions about collusion and business practices. “It would be unproductive and irresponsible to speculate about violations of law based on the minimal information publicly reported,” Attorney General George Jepsen said.
Jepson is successor to Blumenthal, and very liberal dem. Here we go again???
What is to be gained by Congressional inquiry into the BCS? It’s not like Congress is going to hand down an ACC invite to UConn. I must be missing something.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions
The most that would happen is a slap on the wrist. These same corporations which fund these public officials in Washington happen to be the same financial backers of the BCS.
If anything, Gene will finally be fired and publicly humiliated.
I certainly hope so. I’m tired of being semi-rude to the undergrad telemarketer soliciting my donations.
He is Connecticut's AG
He is a populist. Pretends to be for working families.
A lawsuit could bring nice publicity
But before that he can use his investigative powers and subpoena BC, ESPN and ACC to see if there is anti competitive collusion. GDF served up the need to investigate by being an absolute jackass about motive(hAtes UConn and wants NE cash to be his ‘turf’) and means (E$PN)
Congressional or state oversight investigations are very powerful tools to embarrass targets and force compromise. Ask Eric Holder if Dan Issa is naming him squirm.
GDF cannot un-ring the bell. He has brought some very powerful eyeballs looking at ACC. Powers at ACC cannot be pleased.
I can’t think of any plausible reason other than self-preservation and profound arrogance behind his motives. What possible up-side is there in exposing so much to a Hack like Blauds?
I’ve been on a regular on the Globe site for years prior to the paywall and most casual readers even agree with my assessment.
So I hope the BC Board of Trustees, boosters and Fr. Leahy come to their collective senses and show Gene the door.
True
Self destructive urges of a highly immature man???
Think about him publicly stating that the man he just fired – Jags – was his good friend. oMG
Fire GDF
The thing is, Gene is not a bad AD. He made some bad decisions but for the most part, the rebuilding of Hoops behind the new Coach is good. He’s left York alone. God knows what would happen if he dared interfere with Hockey.
After he fired Jags, he was pinned into an impossible corner. The entire premise was based on trust and principles and loyalty. So he had little choice but to go with the drone who was loyal to the school.
Gene’s main problem is his character flaws. He allows pettiness to get in the way of sound, fundamental decision-making and this unfortunately has major-league consequences.
If allowed to snowball, we could end as Temple-redux.
“based on the minimal information publicly reported.”
Right. If you want to have Congress start looking into the BCS based on Blaudschun’s article, you’re probably going to need something a little more substantive than a few cobbled together quotes from GDF and a boilerplate statement on ACC expansion from John Swofford.
Blauds would also probably have to expose his anonymous Big East and ACC (but really, just Big East) sources.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions
The quote shows the AG himself, not a junior or deputy, is interested in the issue and is speaking to the media about the issue.
Read btw lines: present public information insufficient to draw- conclusion, so AG will need to unleash his investigators and subpoenas to get the info needed to determine if violation of law may have occurred. A long investigation will leads to press leaks to guess who – the Courant.
It all works so well together when a dope Feeds the machine
Or...
Jacobs came up with the idea of “collusion” on his own and went to the AG for a quote.
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
START NEBRICH
18-1
1967: Embrace it
My guess is a few publicity-seeking clowns in DC will go on high-profile crusades. They’ll open hearings and repudiate BCS Execs.
And at the end of the day, we’ll get dense “reforms” but nothing will impact the super conferences.
UConn will remain in the insolvent Big East.
Insolvent?
Army, Navy, Air Force, East Carolina, Central Florida and Temple beg to differ.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Eventually, they’ll be insolvent regardless of who they dupe into their roster.
It’s obviously a poorly-run, insignificant conference in Football which is losing whatever shred of credibility it has.
It’s unfortunate because despite what’s become of the BE, I still hold good memories of the conference.
I hold good memories of the Big East too. It’s just a shame that the leadership is more interested in basketball and getting played by Notre Dame instead of in football, where all the money is.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions
The BE is headquartered in Providence. The city is not exactly a beacon of objective moral standards if you catch my drift.
Heck, I’m old enough to remember what the goal post felt like on that cold November night when we Glenn Foley drove us close enough for a Dave Gordon kick.
I remember every local news channel was already waiting for us in Lower when the entire Campus erupted into untrammeled bliss which of course, resulted in damage to Coughlin’s ride.
ND has always been about ND. They speak in platitudes about this and that but when money is involved, they act more like a SEC School.
I freely confess. I stirred the pot in the Boneyard UConn site earlier today.
Much to my surprise, I found little weight, substance or logic behind any of their comments, musings or slams.
Is it a legit site or is it a hub for Townies who live near Storrs?
Their argument for ACC inclusion—UConn’s 8-4 BCS year. So therefore, they’re a “Football School”.
#Temple4ACC
They lost to Temple last year.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions
Rutgers finished 11-2 in 2005.
Louisville finished 12-1 in 2006.
UConn finished 8-5 in 2010.
It would seem there are two other “football schools” left in the Big East that have had far more successful seasons over the last few years.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't see what the big deal is
You’d have to be fairly dense to not have seen the value in what ESPN was doing. They potentially saved themselves hundreds of millions of dollars by incentivizing the ACC to destabilize the Big East.
Frankly, I’m a little shocked it took this long for the government to stick its nose in the affair.
I doubt it goes beyond a little sabre rattling and some minorly embarrassing notes from the discovery process (if one occurs).
My guess is government knows. They only act when they’re compelled to act. And when they do, it’s usually for their own benefit and their corporate sponsors—the same benefactors of the BCS.
However, Blumenthal will surely use this opportunity for another one of his crusades on behalf of the “people”.
You think if the service academies gain access to the BCS and cash in that the government is still going to look into the BCS?
C’mon.
So long as every current school who has access to the BCS continues to do so going forward — and there’s no reason to think that Big East football doesn’t survive — then this is all a non-issue.
The BCS will have simply expanded the pie to the few schools that could put up a stink (Utah, BYU, TCU, Boise State, UCF, ECU, service academies).
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions
ESPN didn’t tell the ACC what schools to invite. The ACC was simply incentivized to expand to renegotiate its TV rights media deal with … guess who? … ESPN. The only way the ACC could get more cash was by expanding and renegotiating with its current contractual partner.
The ACC can’t just expand, say the hell with ESPN and put its TV rights back on the open market. They have to work with ESPN.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions
I wasn't suggesting foul play on the ACC's part
It’s just what happens when there are few players in the market. It’d be interesting to see which arms of ESPN handled Big East vs. ACC negotiations. My guess is it was the same crew.
Few players in the market, true. But in the ACC’s case, there was only one player — ESPN — since the contract was off the market.
Editor, BC Interruption
No big deal? Look what politics did last time >>>>>
>>>>>>>Syracuse disinvited, VTech forced into ACC
A publicity seeking Connicut AG may think he can push for a similar result. He has enormous power at his finger tips.
How’d Orrin Hatch’s inquiry into the BCS go?
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 11, 2011 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions
WW – your Congressional inquiry conspiracy theories are sounding too Blauds-ish for my tastes. :)
Editor, BC Interruption
Not Congessional (federal), but State investigation
Conn AG is already personally making remarks about the situation. State AGs don’t just make personal public comment for the heck of it. This is far from over.
by waterwater on Oct 12, 2011 9:49 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
State governors also typically don’t make public statements on which conference he feels his state university should be playing in.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 12, 2011 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m still failing to grasp what a state investigation will do for Connecticut.
Best case is there’s another ugly, prolonged lawsuit that (again) gets dismissed and settled out of court for far less than the cost of multiple years worth of litigation. I’m not sure the state is in a position financially to take another hit like that.
Blumenthal got what he wanted. I doubt the new Conn AG has very much to go on here.
Editor, BC Interruption
by Brian Favat on Oct 12, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Worst case scenario, someone steps down
Politicians want scalps. They aren’t interested in change.
so how did VTech get muscled into the ACC over BC and Syracuse?
Pols do want change for their constitutuents
Seriously?
I really really want to post a tin foil hat picture here, but I’ll refrain.
The sweeping generalizations you make to prove your point are ridiculous. I feel fairly confident in saying you are blowing this simple comment way out of proportion for the reasons stated by Brian below. And I will go on record now as saying that if the UConn AG does in fact go about conducting an investigation I will eat my hat.
2011 National Champs in Men's Basketball
START NEBRICH
18-1
1967: Embrace it
Could this really be the true Gene?
I’m not sure if people remember this video from a few years back, but now it all seems so revealing.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6559836909060357386
Buried in this post is the fact that Donahue hasn’t heard of the UConn basketball program. Chuckles.
“I don’t know the program and where it fits.”
Editor, BC Interruption
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on BC Interruption
Related FanShots on BC Interruption
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
