So, how do some other teams and their local coverage view the goings of BE Media Day?
You would think Rutgers, after beating Pitt, having a winning record for the first time since 1992(?), and its first bowl game since 1978 that Rutgers would be a little annoyed to be picked behind Pitt for 4th place in the Big East. You don’t know the disturbingly relentless optimism that comes from Rutgers — shining through the cynicism, bitterness and toxic fumes associated with the NY/NJ pro sports scene (and I type this as a Yankees fan).
Following up its first bowl game since 1978, Rutgers was selected No. 4 in the Big East preseason poll as voted by the media.
It’s the first time they’ve been included in the upper half of the conference in the preseason.
The Scarlet Knights received 125 points, just two shy of No. 3 Pittsburgh. With a 4-3 conference record, Rutgers finished tied for third last season, the first time it finished in the top four since 1992.
“It’s a huge shot in the arm for the program. Winning begets winning,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said at Big East Football Media Day here yesterday. “It helped in recruiting. The more we can win, the more we can leverage that and continue to build a program.
“All along, that’s been the plan. To have any success we had to build an infrastructure of a program that was missing. It took some time but I really enjoy our football team.”
You know, when I first came to Cleveland in ’94, I likened the residents to beaten puppies still trying to get affection and validation. We’re an up and coming city, we’re coming back! Really! We have the Indians winning, the Browns are close (whoops), we have the Rock Hall, the Flats are awesome, there’s so much here! There’s no burning river! Doncha’ agree?
There’s a bit of Rutgers in that kind of attitude. Even the NY Post can’t seem to help itself when it comes to Rutgers.
Instead there was great celebration on the banks of the old Raritan. Rutgers played in the first legitimate bowl game in history, losing 45-40 to Arizona State in Phoenix’s Insight Bowl. Surely Rutgers has passed the critical stage.
“I never looked at it that way,” said Schiano, who will take part in Big East Media Days today and tomorrow here. “We set out to build a championship program and that’s not about one season. Last season was great for the program and for the university and what it created was a window of opportunity. We have a foundation. Now we have to keep building on it.”
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The days of walking into a recruit’s house and not being able to satisfy the question why the Scarlet Knights don’t play in late-December or January are over. Rutgers plays in a BCS conference, has state of the art facilities, and now expects to go to a bowl every year.
“We’ll have to play better in every game this year than we did last year,” Schiano said. “I was on the other side and I know there were programs out there that no matter what the score, believed they would beat Rutgers. Those days are over. People know they have to play a complete game, which means we have to be better.”
For UConn, their coach just wants to get them out there playing soon.
“I know I’ve been champing at the bit since the end of last season to go out and play,” Edsall said. “None of us were satisfied with what happened last year. The best way to get past that feeling is to get back on the field and compete.”
I was hoping to find out about the TV deals for the Big East, but they are keeping that underwraps for a bit longer.
“The football deal alone will surprise a lot of people because we weren’t supposed to be able to sell Big East football according to the doom and gloomers,” said associate commissioner Tom Odjakjian, who deals mostly with the conference’s network partners. “The football deal is very good. It will guarantee a lot of exposure for our programs. The basketball deal, however, is off the charts. Any questions about our conference, if there are still any out there, will be put to rest.”
Odjakjian said the new football contract, which begins in 2008, will still have weeknight games. But the ratings for those games have been very good, he said, and they have been national broadcasts. The game of the week package will remain with ESPN Regional but will include more networks because the Big Ten is moving a lot its games to the newly formed Big Ten Network.
Translation: get ready for plenty of weekday games and expect the Big East to be one of the last conferences to get their own channel. So much for being proactive and forward thinking with media delivery to fans and viewers.
