Craig Thompson gave his State of the Conference address this morning, one that was entirely predictable and sad to watch. A summary of what he said, can be found here, however, if you didn't get to follow my tweets this morning, I was frantically trying to sum up everything he said.
Before he went on, I was feeling sad and lonely and had made the mistake of listening to Garth Brooks last night...then I realized
The Hair will be giving his state of the conference address soon...it'll be like a bad Garth Brooks song: depressing and relevant in 90s
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
Follow for more 140 character summary after the jump:
The good commissioner didn't disappoint with my Garth Brooks analogy. As he started and talked about losing and gaining teams, it was best summed up as so:
"What it means is..." "AND I, I'M GLAD I DIDN'T KNOW THE WAY IT ALL WOULD END THE WAY IT ALL WOULD GOOOOOOOOOO!"
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
The Hair continued his statements, and rambled on into national conference expansion/realignment to which he said, and I paraphrased:
"At least 10 rivalries are gone..." AND NOW LEARNING TO LIVE AGAIN IS KILLING MEEEEEE
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
Yes, you are right about the rivalries Craig, but none of those rivalries except BYU and Utah existed in your conference, oh, and guess what they left last year!
He eventually got back on topic, which was adressing the state of the conference. One word was prominent throughout his whole talk, and funny enough, it wasn't "geography" (which was also mentioned many times).
"Change" has now been mentioned at least 10 times
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
However, change isn't in the immediate future for the Mountain West, according to the commish:
Idaho and NMSU? You guys are officially screwed...Craig likes 10 teams for a long time
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
This is how bad it is for Idaho and New Mexico: Craig Thompson, commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, quite literally stated they will not be members of the MWC so "go on to Plan B." It should be interesting to note, that the Hair was talking about Texas schools and media markets, and how he would like to have a Texas team in the future...
Some time after this, Thompson addressed the BCS' rejection of the one-year AQ waiver. He talked about how it was a huge disappointment to him. By that point, I was very happy I didn't travel to Vegas because I'm sure I would have been kicked out of media days...
Disappointment was losing the AQ waiver? Really? Not The Mtn. folding? Not losing BSU/TCU/SDSU/Utah/BYU?Those weren't disappointments?
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
The one thing that the Hair did get right, and as Jeremy touched on earlier, the MOUNT AMERICA merger will most likely not happen. Garth, buddy? Please indulge me with your 90's awesomeness:
No merger right now with CUSA...IF TOMORROOOOOOOOOW NEVER COMES!
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
Addressing the playoff issue, our dear commissioner talked about the bowl rotation and the spots, and compared it to building a house, or something like that. I was confused, obviously:
Why areyou talking about building a house? Are y'all looking to get one of those spots for the 6 bowl rotation?
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
This was a very interesting segment, simply because the Las Vegas Bowl had already stated that because of their facilities, they were not looking into bidding for the rotation spot. Which now leaves us to the Poinsettia Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl, the Armed Forces Bowl, the Independence Bowl and the Hawaii Bowl. The only one of those I see bidding for the rotation is the Poinsettia Bowl, and if that's the case, they'd have to compete with big brother Holiday Bowl.
The final statement that Craig made before the panel was opened for questioning, was the issue of the TV contracts, or lack thereof. Saying that you haven't made a deal yet, and that you're in no rush, angers some people Craig...like me.
Additional 30+ games on local/regional channels...BUT NOT NATIONAL! JUST MAKE A DAMN DEAL WITH SOMEBODY
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
That's how the actual State of the Conference went. Then, there was the question and answer session. Kelly from Ft. Collins (I have to figure out what paper he works for, because I want to subscribe) called out the Hair by asking him whether there was hope for a contract of any sort:
Kelly from Ft. Collins...you're my new favorite person: What hope is the re for contracts out there? The Hair starts talking about geography
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
More specifically, Thompson talked about how the geography and uniqueness of the locations of the Mountain West should be a reason as to why we should get a contract of some sort. In other words, we have natural beauty, not football, people want to see beauty, therefore we should find a contract with the Travel Channel.
The other viewing option he talked about was digital, meaning to show the games only on the Internet or Smartphone, etc... to which I was silently yelling:
Digital options? WHAT ABOUT THOSE ELDERLY WHO CAN'T USE A COMPUTER OR AN IPHONE OR ANYTHING?
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
That was probably unnecessary, but you can see my point. The older alumni of these schools would have a very difficult time viewing the games.
After relaying another couple questions, he left for the press room, leaving me in a state of twitchiness and extremely fearful for the future, maybe because he is optimistic for the future...
that went over well...and by well i mean very poorly: CAUSE WHAT HAIR'S DOIN NOW IS TEARIN ME APART. FILLIN UP MY MIND AND EMPTYIN MY HEART
— Christopher Hondros (@greekpadre) July 25, 2012
Did you watch the State of the Conference address this morning? What were your thoughts. Am I freaking out for no reason? Have at it!