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"Long term...I think football is screwed."
A sobering look at the concussion problem in youth football.
A sobering look at the concussion problem in youth football.
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Big12 schedule released:
*Oklahoma hasn't announced two additional non-conference games.
September 1
Marshall at West Virginia
Missouri State at Kansas State
Northwestern State at Texas Tech
Savannah State at Oklahoma State
South Dakota State at Kansas
SMU at Baylor
Tulsa at Iowa State
Wyoming at Texas
September 8
Grambling at TCU
Iowa State at Iowa
Miami-FL at Kansas State
New Mexico at Texas
Oklahoma State at Arizona
Rice at Kansas
Texas Tech at Texas State
September 15
TCU at Kansas
James Madison vs West Virginia (FedEx Field)
Louisiana-Lafayette at Oklahoma State
New Mexico at Texas Tech
North Texas at Kansas State
Sam Houston State at Baylor
Texas at Mississippi
Western Illinois at Iowa State
September 22
Kansas State at Oklahoma
Baylor at Louisiana-Monroe
Kansas at Northern Illinois
Maryland at West Virginia
Virginia at TCU
September 29
Baylor at West Virginia
Texas at Oklahoma State
Texas Tech at Iowa State
TCU at SMU
October 6
Iowa State at TCU
Kansas at Kansas State
Oklahoma at Texas Tech
West Virginia at Texas
October 13
Kansas State at Iowa State
Oklahoma vs Texas (Cotton Bowl)
Oklahoma State at Kansas
TCU at Baylor
West Virginia at Texas Tech
October 20
Baylor at Texas
Iowa State at Oklahoma State
Kansas at Oklahoma
Kansas State at West Virginia
Texas Tech at TCU
October 27
Baylor at Iowa State
Texas at Kansas
TCU at Oklahoma State
Texas Tech at Kansas State
Notre Dame at Oklahoma
November 3
Kansas at Baylor
Oklahoma at Iowa State
Oklahoma State at Kansas State
Texas at Texas Tech
TCU at West Virginia
November 10
Baylor at Oklahoma
Iowa State at Texas
Kansas at Texas Tech
Kansas State at TCU
West Virginia at Oklahoma State
November 17
Iowa State at Kansas
Kansas State at Baylor
Oklahoma at West Virginia
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
November 24
Baylor vs Texas Tech (Cowboys Stadium)
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma
TCU at Texas
West Virginia at Iowa State
December 1
Kansas at West Virginia
Oklahoma at TCU
Oklahoma State at Baylor
Texas at Kansas StateGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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"Give schools greater discretion to provide financial relief to family members of an athlete who are sick or injured. The bylaws would remove the reference of "life-threatening."
Guess I didn't realize this was even part of the NCAA bylaws. Not sure I fully understand it but don't see why schools should even be involved in providing financial support to family members for any reasons. Sure seems like this one would give many universities a foot up in recruiting or keeping kids from transferring i.e. hey, we'll give you mom, dad, etc. $5000 to help with those medical bills. Again, the devil is in the details but just doesn't seem like something that schools should be in the business of doing however well intended.Last edited by Mackenzie; February 14, 2012, 03:10 PM.Comment
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JRB Check out this one over on the Lions forum
Benny Blades~"If you break down this team man for man, we have talent to compare with any team."Comment
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This is the lineup the Big 12 is going to run up against the CCGs from the other leagues? LOL. Says a lot that this is the best they have to offer.Originally posted by entropy View PostComment
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I don't know-- Oklahoma-TCU ought to be a pretty good game this year. Texas-Kansas State would figure to be worth watching, too, if Texas can get things sorted out.Comment
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I read an article yesterday that suggested that Oklahomais getting desperate enough to consider playing AT UTEP. I guess they approached Rutgers but Rutgers refused to play a home-and-homeComment
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Also, the Mountain West and CUSA announced they are dissolving and will mergeComment
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UT to the eyes of Texas on Longhorn Network: Be patient, understanding
Associated Press
Published: 14 February 2012 03:29 PM
AUSTIN , Texas — When ESPN and the University of Texas announced their 20-year, $300 million partnership for the Longhorn Network a year ago, they created the wedge that nearly split apart the Big 12.
The Big 12 is still going, with Texas A&M and Missouri on their way out the door and TCU and West Virginia coming aboard. But ESPN is still struggling to find wide distribution for a sports channel that is all Texas, all the time.
Texas officials are pleading with Longhorns fans to be patient.
Since launching the network in August 2011, “delays in distribution have overshadowed the network's many positive aspects and impact,” Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds and women's athletic director Chris Plonsky said in a joint statement last week.
“We ask our fans for patience and understanding,” they said. “Distribution will happen, but the business negotiations process is painfully slow.” “
So slow that football season came and went without a major cable or satellite distributor. The same thing will likely happen with basketball, although both the men's and women's teams are struggling to build NCAA tournament-worthy resumes.
That's an awkward start for a network that was supposed to be an unbeatable attraction for recruits. Texas A&M and Missouri felt the balance of power had tipped so far toward Texas that they left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference and were willing to give up 100-year traditional rivalries with Texas and Kansas, respectively, in doing so.
So far, the LHN is anything but the behemoth it was predicted to be when ESPN officials joined Texas President Bill Powers, Dodds and Plonsky and others at Royal-Memorial Stadium to unveil the deal.
The largest carrier to date is Verizon, which includes the LHN on its FiOS TV sports package with a potential reach of about 4 million subscribers in about a dozen states. The handful of other carriers are smaller providers that reach parts of the Austin, San Antonio and Houston markets, and smaller towns such as Bay City, Longview and Edna.
The nation's biggest distributors, such as Time Warner Cable Inc., Comcast Corp. and DirecTV Inc. have stayed away.
“We continue to have active discussion with distributors to secure as wide a distribution as possible,” ESPN said this week in a statement. “Our discussions are ongoing and productive.”
Time Warner spokeswoman Maureen Huff said “negotiations are ongoing but there is no agreement at this time.”
A big challenge for the LHN is that it serves a niche market, said Adam Swanson, a cable television industry analyst with SNL Kagan. While Texas is a big name with a famous logo and tens of thousands of alumni from coast to coast, it's still just one school.
Major cable and satellite providers can look at regional or national networks such as the Big Ten Network, now called BTN, or the soon-to-launch Pac-12 Network and see more programming punch, Swanson said. Time Warner, Comcast, Cox and Bright House all have deals to carry the Pac-12 Network. Those carriers are in about 40 million homes, although the Pac-12 Network will only be on a sports tier outside the Pac-12 area.
“Having just one school to get content from … they are not going to see the value across the country to carry a channel like that,” Swanson said.
LHN lost valuable content when the NCAA banned school-affiliated networks from broadcasting high school games and the Big 12 banned even showing high school highlights, Swanson said.
The struggling economy also could be working against ESPN and LHN. ESPN has reportedly sought to have LHN included in basic cable packages and not as a premium add-on at a time when many customers are scrutinizing their monthly bills as a way to save money.
“Customers are more price sensitive today,” Swanson said.
The ability to create its own network was a major reason Texas balked at the idea of joining the Pac-12 or the Big Ten. ESPN promised that LHN would offer Texas fans unparalleled reporting on the program with behind-the-scenes coverage of one of the wealthiest, most prominent and successful athletic programs in the country.
The Longhorn Network broadcast two Texas football games, and by seasons' end will have broadcast 26 men's and women's basketball games. More than 60 baseball and softball games will be on the LHN this spring.
It would be far too early to call the LHN a failure: Startup networks have to prove their value and the LHN is barely off the ground. For proof of tough negotiations can be, the NFL Network still isn't on Time Warner cable systems eight years after it launched.
ESPN and Texas have invested a lot in the LHN. The network hired a staff of about 50 and built a studio close to the Texas campus.
Dodds has never wavered in his belief the LHN will thrive.
“Our coaches and student-athletes are ecstatic with LHN and they tell us it is helping in recruiting and will do so now in the future,” Dodds and Plonsky said.
Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Texas+ESPN = ND+NBC. May their communication satellites burn up in the atmosphere on the day of their biggest games.“Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho MarxComment
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How bout those two satellites collide with each other.Comment
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Yes, folks, be patient. I'm sure that the major carriers will be snapping up the LHN so that they can broadcast Texas vs Rice in football and a bunch of other sporting events that only hardcore Texas fans care about.Comment
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I am convinced is it going to fail. The question is does Texas stay in the Big12 when ESPN says they've had enough?Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Isn't ESPN obligated to fulfill the contract?Comment
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Its a huge success for the Longhorns as its guaranteed money (no risk, huge payday), for ESPN its a big coup as it saved the Big XII (kinda)...
Oklahoma (& arguably Oklahoma State) are the only top 30 quality programs left in the Big XII anymore with Missouri, Texas A&M, Colorado & Nebraska leaving... Oklahoma seems tied to Texas (& OklaSt) at the hip, everyone else is just riding the Big XII/Texas media deals while it lasts as they don't have anywhere better to go without taking a massive pay-cut as they would if their likely landing for most is the Big East...
Any buyouts on this LHN deal?Comment
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