Monday Moaning

Well, yesterday I covered some of the college football highlights, but I have to start Monday Moaning off with the news that broke last week about Notre Dame...I wanted to write about it then, but I had my hands full with the kids, and the wife out of town...

For those who didn't hear, Notre Dame will be joining the ACC in 2014, for all sports, except Football...Now, while they aren't joining for Football, there are stipulations regarding Football...The Irish must schedule 5 ACC opponents each season, and must play each ACC team withing a 3 year period...It's as close as anyone was going to get ND Football to commit, right now...I feel this is just a stepping stone for the Irish to join fully...I'll get to that in a minute...

This is huge for the ACC...ND fans travel, so those ACC schools that aren't really Football schools will have packed houses when the Irish come to town...Also teams like Maryland for example, will face ND at a larger stadium like M&T Bank Stadium (home of the Ravens)...Which means more ticket sales...

Also in the deal, if ND doesn't qualify or get selected for a major BCS bowl, the ACC can use them for one of their automatic tie-ins with certain bowls...Which is good for the bowls, and the ACC, because the Irish travel well...

This deal also makes the ACC the elite Soccer and Lacrosse conference, already having a number of schools that are strong in those sports...Two sports the Irish have been doing very well in...Plus, with Pitt and Syracuse joining the ACC in 2013, and the Irish in 2014, it becomes an even bigger monster in College Basketball...Which will bring in more money from ESPN and their contract with the ACC...

The Big Ten went hard after Notre Dame, but made it clear, it was all or nothing...If the Irish didn't get in with football, then they weren't welcome...Great stand by the Big Ten, which can afford to make enemies since their conference makes the most money...Yes, SEC guy, you may kick them all over the field, but they manage to make more money then you...

The Big 12, also went after ND hard, and most likely would have given them a similar deal as the ACC, but Notre Dame wanted to stay East-ish...

Before I mentioned this being a stepping stone for Notre Dame eventually going all in, with the ACC...It's my opinion that within 5 years or so, we will see 4 "SUPER CONFERENCES"...We'll see Louisville, USF, Rutgers, and Cincinnati taken from the Big East...I would guess mainly by the ACC...Louisville possibly by the SEC...

The Big-12 will get chopped up and spread among the Big Ten, SEC, and Pac-12...Oklahoma, Texas, TCU, West Virginia, Kansas State, Kansas, (because of basketball) Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech...Maybe even Iowa State (built in rivalry with Iowa in the Big Ten)...And then a few others will find their way in, like Boise State, Fresno State, and BYU...Possibly a few others...

I know Big-12 people don't like what I just said, but I think that is where we are heading...I think we were on our way when Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado, and Missouri all split, but the conference came out swinging, and managed to keep itself alive...But I think the men hold the power will convince the conferences that there is too much money to be made with 4 "SUPER CONFERENCES" and a sexy playoff system, that many fans have been clamoring for...

I'd love to hear what you think about this...

The other big story on my mind this week, is the NHL owners have locked out the players after the two sides couldn't agree on a new CBA...The clock ran out at 11:59PM Saturday...What I find even more ridiculous about this, is all day Friday, and Saturday teams were signing, and re-signing players to multi-million dollar contracts...The same type of contracts these owners have been bitching about...

The last lockout, the players swallowed a good deal of pride, and left a good deal of money on the table, thinking they were doing the best thing for the game...After a few years of struggling to get the media attention Hockey deserves, things started getting better for the NHL...The sport seemed to be on the rise the last couple years...

And now this happens...The mainstream media will be turning it's back on Hockey again...Fans like me will be pissed...I already canceled my Center Ice package...I was really excited to see Rick Nash playing for my New York Rangers...Now, I'm pissed...I plan on spending my money on some College Hockey and some AHL Hockey...It's going to be awhile until the NHL sees a dime from me...I don't think the players should get screwed...And I think the owners need to look in the mirror...Because they and that douchebag Bettman are the biggest problems with their business of Hockey.

Lastly, the Cleveland Browns lost Sunday to the Bengals...I'm not surprised, are you? And while the defense didn't play nearly as well as they did last week, the offense showed some real improvement...Trent Richardson rushed for 109 yards and a TD...He looked like a different guy out there this week...And speaking of looking like a different guy...Brandon Weeden passed for 322 yards, and 2 TD's...And he threw no Interceptions...He actually didn't look like a high school kid, shitting his pants...Does that mean there is hope for this team? I don't know...I stopped getting my hopes up years ago...I'll just watch and see what happens...


That's it for now...Have a week...

The Beeze.