Thank you, Dr. Hearn

[Freakindeacon33]

I don't know if the late, great T.K. Hearn even grasped the impact of his decision when he voted in favor of ACC expansion in 2003. And while John Swofford has taken a lot of heat on here and around the conference for damaging the conference's basketball tradition, I don't know how anyone could say now that Swofford was not a visionary.

Not to be dramatic, but if they hadn't been ahead of everyone with expansion, the ACC and Big East very easily could be in reversed situations. You look at a team like UConn, desperate for a spot in a major conference but so far unable to find one. Then you look at Wake Forest and think, man, there's no way in HELL we'd get a spot. We have a tiny fan base and crappy football and basketball teams.

If the ACC had tried to stick with its original nine teams, then I'd guess that F$U and Clemson would be in the SEC right now, possibly UNC too. Duke probably gets into the Big East. NC State, UVA and GT find homes somewhere, the first two due to their size and GT due to its market. The ACC would either turn into the A-10, like the Big East has become C-USA, or it would just dissolve, and Wake would be left begging for a spot in the A-10... and probably unsuccessfully because they'd want a more competitive basketball team (OK, maybe that's over the top).

My point is, living near Villanova and hearing people fret about the demise of the Big East (they added freakin' Tulane!), I'm just so thankful that we are in a stable (knock on wood) conference. And Dr. Hearn and John Swofford are due those thanks.

Sidenote: I love taking Louisville over UConn. Hearing that it's what F$U and Clemson wanted for football, which is fine by me - and I'll take Pitino over Kevin Ollie any day.

 

[BeachBumDeac]

I thought this was going to be about how Hatch's awfulness made you realize how great Dr. Hearn was.

 

[PhDeac]

Swofford just added teams but kept the league under ESPN's thumb. Not exploring a TV network was a huge mistake.

 

[Go]

I thought this was going to be about how Hatch's awfulness made you realize how great Dr. Hearn was.

About time people are realizing Hatch stinks.

 

[Go]

Swofford just added teams but kept the league under ESPN's thumb. Not exploring a TV network was a huge mistake.

That's some serious Monday Morning QB stuff Ph, everyone laughed at the Big 10 when they created their network. Even the SEC was late to the party, I don't think the ACC ever had a shot at getting something like those 2 conferences.

 

[raf44]

Swofford just added teams but kept the league under ESPN's thumb. Not exploring a TV network was a huge mistake.

There's chatter out there that the league is in discussions with ESPN/NBC about an ACC Network, so this still may happen.

@DavidTeelatDP: ACC commish John Swofford told me last month league is exploring possible channel with ESPN.

 

[PhDeac]

That's some serious Monday Morning QB stuff Ph, everyone laughed at the Big 10 when they created their network. Even the SEC was late to the party, I don't think the ACC ever had a shot at getting something like those 2 conferences.

Heck, you could probably still find my posts on the Scout board working with Chrispy to break down what a Pac-10/ACC "Coast-to-Coast" sports network would look like including the programming schedule. That was at least before the most recent round of expansion.

Any plan strictly with ESPN is doomed to pay us far less than the Big Ten and SEC.

 

[Pilchard]

The fact is that the Big 10 had the balls to make the commitment to start a network and bear all the upfront costs that it required. The ACC chose not to go that that route as it was unwilling to risk short term cost for a massive future reward. It's embarassing that the ACC is considering starting its network now in a desperate attempt to stay competitive. Classic too little too late move.

 

[Dented]

I thought this was going to be about how Hatch's awfulness made you realize how great Dr. Hearn was.

yeah HatchOut

 

[bym051d]

How much does a TV network cost? Does $50M make a dent?