Here is my column that ran today’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang on the potential impact college conference expansion could have on Wyoming and the Mountain West Conference.
Been getting a good stream of comments and feedback on it. Would love to hear what you think.
http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/05/13/sports/19sports_05-13-10.txt
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I’m disappointed you would even chase these type of expansions rumors which has little merit to them RIGHT NOW and little foundation in truth, and actually write a story like this is legit news.
A lot of very wild things would need to happen for this superconference to happen that leaves Wyoming in the dust.
Most of these media predictions are wild and have no basis.
I think you are like many others in the media that are chasing internet rumors and speculation.
Surely expansion could happen and it’s probably more realistic on a smaller scale. Maybe you need to concentrate on more realistic scenarios in your next column, instead of drumming up the worse case scenario.
Thanks
Jon
The liklihood of monumental expansion across the board may not happen, but to think that it won’t is being naive.
I hope none of this happens for UW and the MWC, but it could and simply ignoring it or not thinking about it won’t make it go away.
Thanks for the post and the comment, it is always appreciated.
RG
You hit it right on the head in my oppinion. If the State of Wyoming does not view UW athletics as a big business to be funded proactively and at or near the top level in the MWC your senerio WILL playout someday and that will be the end of fans like me. I have better things to do than travel 6 hrs one way to watch us play SoDak St, or New Mexico St. every year while haveing no chance of seeing the big show. I hope the powers that be see the writing on the wall and make the right choice because the wrong one is do nothing and hope something good happens.
Thanks NE! If major change is coming, this could be the time.
RG
I wasn’t saying it won’t happen, but it’s unlikely a major superconference will materialize anytime in the near future, if you’ve been reading into what the true insiders are saying insead of presuming some writer from Scout.com has all the answers. Please read recent the exact quotes from the Big 10, Big 12, and PAC 10 commissioners who are a little in the know how versus the less credible Scout.com writer. I’m just disappointed Robert you aren’t doing more diligent research on this topic and deciding to write something on the first speculative rumor you find on the internet.
There is a lot of information and research out there that supports little change to significant change. All I tried to do was present a look ahead to what significant change could mean for UW and the MWC.
These were not the first speculative rumors I saw on the internet or just ramdomly ran across. These were my thoughts of what could happen if some major changes occurred.
But I enjoy the dialogue and conversation this topic has generated. It’s a fun and iteresting topic to discuss. I hope, with all the progress the MWC has made in recent years it doesn’t get completely trucked. And in some instances, expansion in other leagues could help the MWC, especially if the Big East gets gutted.
As always Jon, I appreciate your knowledge, feedback and interest on this, this blog and other stories and items I’ve posted here. I look forward to more comments and conversation down the road.
Have a good one.
RG
This sounds like it is going to happen. No more Mountain West Conference, just like no more Western Athletic Conference, Skyline, and Border conferences as were known in the past. Change is an eternal part of the college sports landscape as the quest of the almighty dollar inevitably takes precedence over everything, including tradition and rivalries at some point. Go back and look at a newspaper from 40 years ago, 60 years ago, 75 years ago and see what were the big college rivalries and traditions. They are largely gone with some exceptions of course. We here in Wyoming have got to get to used to some big changes, something most Wyomingites fight tooth and nail endlessly as this state labels itself as America as what it was or used to be. Not entirely true but probably more so here than most every other state. In time Wyoming will develop new rivalries and traditions in college football and other sports as it has in the past.