Details About the Notre Dame - Big East Football Deal

Notre Dame has agreed to play three games each year against Big East teams starting in 2009. At least one of the games will be played in Giants Stadium and will Notre Dame will play all eight teams in home and home series over the life of the agreement, according to the details of the agreement released following the Big East meetings last week.

The Expanding Empire of the Pumps

The Pump Brothers of Southern California have long been known in the college basketball world for their relationship with addidas, their string of AAU teams filled with some the nation's top high school talent, and their ticket procuring of Final Four tickets that endeared them to the nation's coaches while drawing the close attention of the NCAA. As the Los Angeles Times relates, the twins have embarked on a new endeavor that is sure to bring them new attention, not all of it welcome. They have entered the search business for college basketball coaches. I suspect that despite the presence of former NCAA president Cedric Dempsey on the roster of the Pump's search business, the NCAA will be paying closer attention to the operations of this business then that of all of its competitors put together.

Spotlight on How A University Makes Money in Basketball

As previously discussed, the University of Louisville is in discussion for a new arena. The Governor of Kentucky has appointed a task force led by the Lt. Governor to examine alternatives and decide where it should be built and exactly what the facility should be like. In today's Louisville Courier-Journal the paper sheds light on how the Cards have managed to produce the nation's most profitable basketball program while still playing in a more than 50 year old facility. It makes for some very interesting reading.

Catching Up with a Few Highlights

I've been a bit remiss in posting the past few days as a heavy workload has kept me from my computer, well at least this part of my computer. To catch up with a few highlights of stories that caught my eye, here are a few quick links. For starters, here are a couple of stories from the New York Times. It seems that the NBA is looking for a new revenue source and may have found it by selling space on players jerseys. Why not, the Europeans do it for almost every sport and in high level soccer leagues, sponsors pay a great deal for the right to put their name on the right jersey. Look at NASCAR and how much they have tied into sponsors, with logos splashed all over cars and drivers. Besides, since the league and the union appear to be talking again, David Stern may well be needing all the new sources of money he can find.

It seems that former Secretary of State Colin Powell has found at least one thing he would enjoy doing during his retirement. He has joined one of the groups bidding to buy the Washington Nationals. There are at least 9 groups known to have put down the required $100,000 non-refundable deposit to take part in the bidding.

Grambling University will be unveiling a new logo this fall in time for the start of football season. However, this is not necessarily by choice, nor has the idea been warmly greeted by alumni. You see, Grambling lost the rights to their famous "G" logo several years ago and has now decided to protect the University's revenue stream by adopting a logo it can protect.

All Teams Not Created Equal Under Bain NHL Bid

New details of Bain Capital's bid to purchase the NHL and turn it into a single entity league have emerged. According to the Wall Street Journal (sub req.) the bid would divide the league into three tiers with a different price for each tier. 10 teams in the top tier would bring $2.25 billion, the next 10 would divide $1 billion, while the bottom 10 would split $750 million. The 2004 Forbes valuation for the NHL teams totaled $4.9 billion, well in excess of the Bain bid, but that was of course before the lockout, the lost season and the consequent loss in value of the franchises. It is also clear that any new television deal, assuming there is a 2005-06 season, will be much less valuable to the league than past deals, furthering decreasing the teams value.

Santos, Funny Cide Owners Sue Herald

The owners of the 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide and his jockey , Jose Santos have sued the Miami Herald for defamation after the Herald published a story alleging that Santos carried an illegal object in his hand during the race. The article was based on a photograph which the Herald also published.

A storm of controversy ensued, including an investigation and hearing by the Kentucky Racing Commission. The Commission found Santos completely innocent of any wrongdoing and that he carried nothing in his hand but a whip. The Herald published a correction but not until two weeks later, after a request from Santos and the horse's owners and after the story had spread around the world.

A good synopsis of the case and the story leading up to the case can be found at this article on law.com

Santos is a public figure and that will be his chief hurdle to overcome in this suit. He will have to prove that the Herald acted with reckless disregard for the truth or maliciously. In this case, he may well be able to show that the paper acted recklessly, since it appears that little investigation into the photo was done. Also, the story alleges that the mysterious object was a cue ring, but no one seems to know what that is. That fact should also help Santos' case. If no one in racing circles can indentify a cue ring, the Herald should certainly have paused before rushing to print with the story. It seems clear to me that the Herald smelled a story that was almost too good to be true and just couldn't wait to get into print. Well, you know what they say about something being too good to be true, it usually isn't, and that is a lesson the sports editor forgot.

Bain Ups the Ante

It appears that Bain Capital has not gone away as many had predicted and in fact has upped its offer for the NHL. From our friends at Off Wing Opinion comes word that Bain has increased its offer by $500 million to $4 billion in an effort to turn the NHL into a single entity. This may be nothing more than a negotiating ploy on the part of Gary Bettman but it seems to me that while the price may be a on the low side, the concept makes a great deal of sense.

The owners will not be able to gain long-term leverage over the players until they can adopt a single entity, which will remove the large market vs. small market battles for talent. It is those battles that plague the league and give the stars the negotiating leverage. It removes the constraint placed on small market teams with limited revenue competing for talent. A single entity can turn the tables on the players and strengthen the league in ways that no collective bargaining agreement ever could.

Congratulations

My congratulations go out to Afleet Alex and his connections on a thrilling Preakness win despite my cop out pick of him to come in second. A special congratulations to Jeremy Rose for an amazing ride for the ages that not only won the race but probably saved him from major injury.

Congratulations also to the Northwestern University Womens Lacrosse Team for their undefeated NCAA National Championship season. This program, only four years revived after a many years absence, became the first team west of the eastern time zone to win the national championship revenging a defeat last year at the hands of the University of Virginia. Congratulations again to Northwestern's first national champions in 64 years.

Preakness Day - Are There Many More in Pimlico's Future?

Today's is Preakness Day at Pimlico near Baltimore and as Giacomo chases the second jewel in racing's triple crown, the question being asked by many around Maryland's racing scene is how much longer will the Preakness be run at Pimlico. The track is a local institution and dates since to 1873 and the race draws a crowd. In fact, it has never been better and the race supports the track for the balance of the year. That is in fact the problem.

Pimlico is owned by Magna Entertainment Corporation, a company controlled by the Canadian Stronach family, whose fortune came from auto parts. Most importantly, Magna owns several other race tracks and made no secret of buying Pimlico with the intention of installing slot machines. For any number of reasons, as detailed by John Eisenberg of the Baltimore Sun slots have yet to come to the Maryland tracks owned by Magna and that is what is leading many to think Magna may move the Preakness. The likely destination: Gulfstream Park, in Florida, which is conveniently undergoing about a major renovation. Will the Preakness leave Baltimore, its home for 130 years? I don't really think so, but only if the politicians in Annapolis and the folks at Magna can get together and agree on a plan to install slots. Without slots, we won't be hearing Maryland, My Maryland at too many more Preakness post parades. We may all have to learn the words to Moon Over Miami.

Oh yeah, and today's winner Closing Argument, Afleet Alex, Giacomo. Sorry no $800,000 superfectas today.

Angels Name Change Not Really Making Sense

The Angels of Southern California's owner, Arte Moreno, claims that he changed the team's name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to reflect that the team was really part of the greater Los Angeles metropolis and to convince advertisers and sponsors that they should be paying him what they pay the Dodgers. If that is truly the reason, then it would appear that the move does not make sense or cents. Moreno's revenue has not kept pace with Dodgers although it is up from last year. His sponsorship, advertising and media revenue show no increase as a result of the name change and the people responsible for paying those bills say that the name makes no difference to them. They make their buying decisions on the number of fans in the seats and watching or listening to the games. Common sense, no? If you look at the baseball markets with two teams, the traditional "second" team, whether it carries the same city name, always lags substantially behind in revenue. Check the differential in the figures at the end of the LA Times article. Moreno has to have made this ridiculous name change for ego and nothing more. It sure wasn't for dollars and it sure makes no sense.

Is Glazer the First of Many Takeovers?

The reason that Malcolm Glazer was able to takeover Manchester United despite strong opposition from its supporters was simple really. Man U was publicly traded company and the fans failed to buy the necessary percentage of the stock to keep him from gaining control of the company. In this case, he needed 75% of the stock to take the company private and while the fans mounted a months long campaign to stop Glazer, they couldn't muster enough shares to prevent the takeover. Given that, I don't have a lot of sympathy for them. That is not however the purpose of this post.

This article from the Toronto Star poses the very interesting point that Man U may just be the beginning. Why was Glazer so interested in the club in the first place? Premiership clubs may be the best value in professional sports at the moment. The television rights contract is up in one year and there is no guarantee that the league will decide that it must be done collectively the next time. The European Commission normally looks with great disfavor on collective agreements but the Premiership may be different. Right now, there may not be enough clubs willing to break off and bargain separately, but with a few takeovers between now and the end of the television rights deal, that could change. There are also untapped marketing resources in ancillary revenues from the larger clubs, such as naming rights, merchandise and sponsorships that have not been pursued as actively in the past as many people believe they could be. I would not be surprised to see some of the biggest names in English soccer in the sights of sports bankers in North America right now who are crunching numbers to see what clubs might be the most attractive targets.

Will the NBA Follow the NHL?

The NBA has issued a statement indicating that no further meetings or negotiations with the players union will be held. At this point, it looks like a lockout when the present collective bargaining agreement expires on June 30 is almost inevitable. While a summer lockout does not have the same dramatic impact that the NHL lockout has had, it is not a good sign for a league that has tried to portray itself as having stable labor relations. The lockout, if it comes, will disrupt summer league games and summer camps, but would have the potential of carrying into the early fall season. The NBA doesn't believe its players association is as strong a union as baseball or hockey. David Stern has to be gambling that the union will fold before the season starts next October.

This is a fight that has already degenerated. ESPN is reporting that Billy Hunter is charging the NBA with racism by alleging that the league is trying to divide the players union through claiming that it is the agents that have taken control of the negotiations and not the union executives. Hunter is charging the league with racism by pointing out that the majority of agents are white, while a majority of both the union's executives and the players are African-Americans. Clearly, that is not the way to a quick settlement of their differences.

The Angels of Southern California

The Angels identity crisis has now found its way to Sacramento and the attention of the California General Assembly. That august body has passed legislation requiring the Angels to include disclaimers on their tickets and in all their ads to indicate that they play in Anaheim and not Los Angeles. Greg at the Sports Law Blog discusses some of the ramifications of this legislation on teams playing in other suburban locations.

Hugs to Coach On Two Year Deal

Much to my surprise, the University of Cincinnati and basketball coach Bob Huggins reached agreement today that he would continue to coach for the remaining two years of his contract. The school made no announcement about what will happen when the two years are up. The contract was stripped of its automatic rollover provisions when Huggins was picked up for driving under the influence last year. Discussions were held last week about a possible buyout of the remaining two years. How this will affect UC performance as the team moves into the Big East this year will be interesting to see. It is bound to have a very negative effect on recruiting as Huggins will not be able to assure recruits of being their coach for more than one season. I have to say that I think UC blew this decision. The buyout would have been best for all concerned.

NCAA to Consider Banning Indian Nicknames

According to this morning's USA Today the NCAA will decide this summer whether it can or should try and force member institutions to quit using Indian nicknames. Options range from doing nothing (unlikely) to yielding to individual campus authority with strong directives from the NCAA (likely) to leverage the granting of NCAA tournament sites like it did with Confederate symbols (highly likely).

Sure, the use of nicknames and more often mascots has proved to be controversial and divisive in some cases. The most recent and obvious example is the University of Illinois whose mascot is so divisive the school didn't even bring him to the Final Four. However, this is no one size fits all drama. Several schools have worked closely with nearby Native American tribes to make sure that everything they do is not only respectful of the tradition but honors it. Florida State has longed worked with the Seminole Nation, for example.

There is a great deal of political correctness at work here as well. Who is to say for instance that Warriors automatically refers to Native Americans if the mascot is changed to one that is not an obviously Native American reference. Marquette which dropped the Warrior name in the early 1990s has refused to consider returning to it, despite its fans and alumni desires even if it is divorced from Native American imagery. To me, that is nonsensical. In fact, this whole debate is one of emotion not reason. The NCAA should stay out and let each school deal with this on its own and come to whatever decision its community feels is appropriate for that institution. It is just not for the NCAA to legislate its members "morality" when it comes to nicknames.

Glazer and Man U (cont.)

It's now over and the Glazer family has formally notified the London Stock Exchange that they own in excess of the 75% of the outstanding shares of Manchester United needed to delist the company and take it private. That is also sufficient to place the debt incurred to finance their stock purchase onto the company's books, which if this story from the BBC is to be believed, may turn out to be a very good thing. It appears that the NFL is now going to be nosing around to see if the Glazers used the Bucs as collateral to raise money to go after Man U. Now, I would imagine that Glazer used anything he had to use as collateral, but that he was very careful not to exceed the $125 million debt limit that the NFL places on its franchises. Anyway, now the deed is done and it's going to be fascinating to watch the Glazer boys take on the stodgy old boy club that is the Premiership and see if they can bring them into the 21st century. Many others have tried and failed. I have serious doubts that a couple of upstart Americans will do it, but it sure will be fun to watch them try.

Is Huggy Bear Gone?

All signs are pointing to a divorce between the University of Cincinnati and basketball Bob Huggins following a meeting between Huggins and the university president last week. At the meeting, the president informed Huggins that she was not extending his contract and offered him a $1.4 million buyout of the two years he has remaining. What the UC should do with Hugs is the talk of Cincinnati and has dominated the sports pages and talk radio for days. While most fan sentiment is running strongly in favor of Huggins, I think the athletic director should start drawing up a list of available coaches.

The Cincinnati Enquirer today ran an interesting story on the results of several schools that have replaced long time coaches over the last several years and what has happened under the replacements. It just shows how tough it is to replace legends.

Memphis Starts a Heisman Campaign

University of Memphis opened it first ever Heisman campaign for running back DeAngelo Williams by sending out die cast 7 1/2 inch model NASCAR cars with the Williams' 20 on them painted the school's colors of steel grey and blue. I would have been more impressed if they had sponsored an actual NASCAR car running in a Nextel race. That would have been a unique Heisman campaign.

Man U follow up and Weekend Musings

The week's biggest sports story has barely gotten a whisper American sports pages while occupying the front page and sports pages of every newspaper in Britain and much of Europe - the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer, the owner of the Tampa Bay Bucs. As the Glazer nears ownership of the 75% of Man U's publicly held shares he needs to take the company private, it's time to consider the impact he might have on the club and its fans. The Telegraph wonders how Glazer will cope with a sport without a salary cap, will he sell naming rights to Old Trafford and will he bust out of the Premiership's league wide sale of broadcasting rights. The Independent looks into the impact on fans, believing that Glazer will raise ticket prices to match those of London clubs as well as merchandise and ancillary services. It also believes that a break with Premiership over TV is likely.

Man U's avid fans have still not conceded defeated. The Manchester Guardian and the Independent describe some of the club's supporters efforts to prevent the Glazer family from completing the takeover or maximizing their return. My guess is that in the end the fans will return to Old Trafford, the games will continue to sell out, the legion of supporters around the world will continue to buy the Manchester United kits and other paraphernalia and, ultimately, the Glazer family will make another fortune from this investment. It will prove to have been a good thing for them to not have bought the Dodgers, but to have made this deal instead.

In the end, paying $1.4 billion for Manchester United will prove to have been a bargain, because this sale will mark the start of a new day for English football just as surely as did the creation of the Premiership. Glazer knows the power of television rights to create value in professional sports and he knows the judicious use of a salary cap. He may not be able to bring a salary cap to the Premiership, but I think he will be able to bring a new method of dealing with broadcasting rights. He will see that he gets full value for his rights, whether that is within the league or outside remains to be seen.

The Last Shirt Holdout in Soccer May Be No Longer

Barcelona, who has just won the Spanish soccer league for the first time in six years is apparently about to break a 105 year old tradition. Since the club was founded, it has never had advertising on its jersey. The club is owned by its 125,000 members and has long prided itself on it ability to compete without having to sell its soul by selling out its jersey to commercial elements. Apparently, the high cost of today's salaries has left Barcelona with little choice but to investigate an advertising deal.

However, since this is Barcelona, nothing is ever the way it is done anywhere else. The New York Times reports that Barca is in secret talks with the Beijing Olympic Committee to put Beijing on its shirts for between $22.5 and $112.5 million for five years. Assume the price is closer to the latter figure. Still, as Franklin Foer points out in his remarkable book, How Soccer Explains The World, a change like this strike at the very heart of not just the Barcelona soccer club but at Catalans everywhere who are bound up with Barca. It has long represented Catalan nationalism and pride and the lack of an advertiser's name on the jersey was a symbol of the ability of Catalan to generate whatever was necessary to battle Madrid without the help of outside forces. It remains to be seen how much will be lost by the addition of a single word.

What Would You Pay for a Uniform Number?

Have you ever played on a team and wanted a specific number that was already taken? Ever tried to talk somebody into trading numbers with you or offered to buy a number? Well, it seems that the price for numbers in professional sports has reached astronomic proportions and has now led to a court case over non-payment. According to New York Times, former Washington Redskins defensive back Ifeanyi Ohalete has sued running back Clinton Portis for failing to pay the full $40,000 Portis allegedly agreed to pay in return for Ohalete giving him number 26 last year. Ironically, Ohalete was released in August and Portis could have ended up with the number for free. I guess that is what he is trying to do, or so alleges Ohalete, who has sued Portis in Maryland District Court.

Glazer Makes Formal Bid for Man U

To update earlier posts, Malcolm Glazer, the owner of the Tampa Bay Bucs, has reached agreement with the other principal shareholders of Manchester United to purchase their shares, taking his holdings up to at least 70% of the outstanding stock. He has now launched his formal public tender offer for the balance of the shares, and according to the Telegraph "it is now inevitable he will get total control." That will place an American in control of the world's largest and richest soccer club, continuing him on a sure collison course with Man U's extraordinarily devoted fans.

Marquette: No Gold No More

Marquette University's Board of Trustees dropped the new nickname of "Gold" just one week after the new name had been selected. Realizing that the new nickname had not only not been embraced by the Marquette community but was in fact actively opposed by most and the object of derision by many, the Board threw in the towel and dropped the name. Exercising the same lousy judgment it used in picking the name Gold in the first place, the Board chose not to go back and use Marquette's old nickname of Warriors, as many alumni, students and fans wanted but to let the community pick a new nickname by voting over the internet. You can see the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story and participate in its poll here.

In a fit of political correctness, the school will not even let Warriors appear on the ballot, as it has determined that the name offends Native Americans. Now, for those of you who may remember Marquette's old mascot, the profile of a Native American chief in war paint and feather, the association may seem understandable. However, that is only the case if the name and the mascot are voted in together. There is nothing written in stone that requires that Warriors needs to refer to Native Americans. In fact, our fighting men and women overseas are referred to as warriors by the folks in Washington practically everyday in one press briefing or another. I think the Marquette Board and administration are running away from something here, and Journal Sentinel has joined them in their editorial found here.

Toronto MLS Bid in Doubt

Toronto's bid for an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer suffered a major blow yesterday when York University pulled out of a planned stadium project. This followed the Toronto Argos, the local CFL franchise, decision to remain in Rogers Centre (known to most of us as SkyDome), according to this report. MLS has consistently said a soccer specific stadium, or concrete plans for one, is necessary before any will be awarded a new franchise. So, the Argos not only have cost York a new stadium, but Toronto a new soccer team and for what - 20 years in the drafty and dingy SkyDome.

Baseball World Cup

It appears that the long awaited World Cup of Baseball may finally be on the way. According to this post from Baseball Musings Major League Baseball and the Players Association are about to announce the format for the World Cup to take place during spring training in 2006. It will be a 16 team tournament run jointly be MLB, the players union and the international baseball federation.

College Docket

This week has been a busy one on the docket of the nation's courts with colleges and universities athletic departments featured participants. Among this week's highlights were dismissals of cases in Columbus, Ohio that led to the dismissal of former basketball coach Jim O'Brien, see this story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
The judge threw out her suit against Ohio State because her alleged contract to be paid for taking care of basketball players needed to be in writing since it was for longer than one year, under the Ohio statute of frauds requirements governing contracts.

In Indiana, a judge upheld the authority of Myles Brand to fire Bobby Knight and found that the IU Board of Trustees did not violate the state's open meetings law by meeting in small groups to discuss firing Knight so that they would never have a quorum present at any one time, see CBS Sportsline.

It's a big news day in Columbus as unfortunately an Ohio State placekicker was arrested for trafficking in marijuana. See the story here. He was suspended indefinitely from the football team. Unfortunately, by Buckeye standards, this is not too terribly much of an infraction. I mean, it was only marijuana after all and he wasn't even the number one kicker.

Does MLS Get the Media Coverage it Deserves?

In his weekly column on Fox sports.com, Sean Wheelock raises a question that has troubled me for some time: where is the media coverage of America's fourth major league sport - Major League Soccer. Now, some would argue that it doesn't really deserve the title of a major league sport, despite its title, much less that of the fourth major league, but with hockey imploding clearly the NHL is vacating what little hold it had on the American public. Now, soccer is the sport of the suburbs and the immigrant community but is not found anywhere in the print media or on SportsCenter despite the ESPN contract to broadcast an MLS game of the week.

In fact, it is difficult to find national coverage of MLS in any of the traditional media outlets. SI.com has one columnist devoted to coverage, CBSsportsline basically ignores it as does the Sporting News. ESPN.com has coverage but it's not prominently placed or promoted.

The question that I have is why? Both the print media and the local tv stations will argue that they have few resources to devote to a sport that doesn't draw well. Wheelock argues and I agree that when any team comes to town in any other sport, local coverage miraculously appears, but not in soccer. Is it because the editors don't know or like soccer? Is it still a foreigner's game? Generating attendance and fan interest and support is a mutual effort of the media and the league. If the media continue to ignore the league and then only write stories about the lack of fan support, they will become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Urban Meyer's New Contract: It's Good to Be A Gator

Urban Meyer's new contract at the University of Florida makes him the highest paid football coach in the state, for now, and in Florida, that's saying something. Details of Meyer's contract were released on Friday. Meyer's deal carries some generous perks. Besides the usual bonuses for winning SEC championships and the BCS title, he has a $100,000 educational expense account for his family and a $500,000 apparel expense account. I don't know about you, but there is so much orange and blue clothes you can wear and besides, Nike gives the school all of that stuff anyway. So, that just another 1/2 million in Urban's pocket, right there. All in all, he's doing pretty well for someone who hasn't won a game in the SEC yet.

NFL: Colts Get a Stadium: Fowler Bid for Vikes in Trouble?

The Indiana General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed the financing plan for the Indianapolis Colts' $600 million 63,000 seat new stadium which is part of a complex financing package with contributions by the state, city and the Colts. This Indianapolis Star story details the stadium development plans and what lies ahead to get it built. It looks like the Colts have pulled off a great deal for the team as they are being delivered perhaps the best stadium in the NFL at almost total taxpayer expense. Jerry Jones will be very envious.

Meanwhile, up in the Twin Cities, it appears that Reggie Fowler's bid to buy the Vikings may be in trouble. According the Washington Post, Fowler's proposed stake in the team will be reduced to a minority position and New Jersey real estate developer Zygmunt Wilf will become the lead owner. As Wilf is reportedly a billionaire, this move should satisfy league concerns about Fowler's finances. Lost in the ownership shuffle would be Fowler's groundbreaking status as the first African-American lead owner in the NFL.

College Football News and Notes

The four Big East schools which sued the ACC, Miami and Boston College over the latter two's departure have settled the lawsuit according to a report in the Hartford Courant. The settlement is worth about $5 million and calls for all litigation to be dropped. An unknown amount of money will be paid to the four schools and who is making the payment is also unclear. The settlement includes the scheduling of nine football games between the Big East and the ACC. Also included is the exit fee owed by Boston College to the Big East. Good to see that the adults finally got in the room.

The AP added that the football games included home and home series between Florida State and West Virginia, UNC and Rutgers, NC State and Pittsburgh and Virginia and Connecticut. Also scheduled was a single game with Miami playing at Pitt for a $225,000 guarantee. Interestingly, the story was first reported by the Hartford Courant, which obtained the settlement following a freedom of information request made to Connecticut after learning of the settlement on a UConn fan message board, "The Boneyard". The AP obtained the settlement following the Courant story.

If you have ever wondered why the bowls have been such willing partners with the BCS in opposing any attempt at instituting any form of football playoff, maybe this article in the New Orleans Times Picayune will shed some light on the matter. Any event that can make a $200 million impact on a city over the course of a couple of days is bound to get the attention of the folks who wield power.

With the addition of the (are you ready for this)San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, the lineup for the upcoming season is now set. The Mountain West Conference, however, still basking in the reflected glory of Utah's run to the Fiesta Bowl last year has yet to finalize its bowl lineup. It is still negotiating with the Liberty Bowl which has been the destination of its champion since the MWC was created. The conference however wants to renew its relationship for one year only as it wants all of its bowls to be out west. Although the MWC may re-up for a year with Memphis, the short-term goal is work out a deal with the Insight Bowl in Arizona while the long-term goal is an automatic invitation to the BCS. Good luck with that and better hope that Utah wasn't a one-trick pony.

It's Derby Week

It's Kentucky Derby Week and that means it's time for Churchill Downs to announce sponsorship renewals and television contracts. Visa has announced that it will no longer sponsor the Triple Crown but has agreed to sponsor the Derby only for the next five years. This is the year for changes in thoroughbred racing as television contracts for the Triple Crown and the season ending Breeders Cup are also up for renewal and changes are in store for both the Belmont and the Breeders Cup. New York's final jewel of the Triple Crown returns to ABC while the Breeders Cup moves to ESPN after spending its entire existence on NBC. Both the Derby and the Preakness have just signed renewals with NBC.

Why all the movement in racing? Thoroughbred racing has received renewed interest over the last couple of years, especially last year as television ratings reached their highest levels in years. The public fell in love with Smarty Jones last year and came to the track and tuned in their tv sets in big numbers to watch him try and win the triple crown. That he came so close only to fall short probably has kept that interest alive, or so the networks hope, which explains why more than one wanted in on what only a couple of years ago was considered a dying sport.