Craig Thompson and the MWC... - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Cali Coug · 10-27-2008, 02:03 AM

Thompson has taken a ton of heat from BYU and MWC fans, including myself. I was extremely frustrated at the way the mtn negotiations were handled, and I think they turned into a PR nightmare. The Big 10 Network may have saved the mtn for all of us.

That said, Thompson deserves credit for getting the mtn deal done. I hear from many fans of big name BCS programs who can't get their team's game on tv on a particular Saturday. It is really good to know that I won't ever have that problem (at least for the near future). Props to him for inking the deal, even if he was awful for most of the process.

He has expanded our bowl tie-ins, and I suppose that is to be commended. We don't go to the Liberty Bowl anymore, and that is fantastic. However, the quality of our bowl tie-ins is very low. Barring the BCS, the best our champ can hope for is a trip to Vegas to play a 4th or 5th place Pac 10 team. Is that really the best the conference can hope for? Then we have the Poinsettia Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl (are you kidding me?), and the Armed Forces Bowl (yikes). None of those are appealing in the least, particularly with the Pac 10 being as bad as it is (will they even have 5 bowl eligible teams this year?).

The MWC has not found a way to promote the Vegas bowl better. It needs a larger payout, which means better sponsors. It needs a better date (it is on December 20th this year, who is even watching college football on December 20th?). Vegas is a nice venue, and the bowl could work. Sam Boyd Stadium needs big upgrades, though, and they aren't likely to come anytime soon. Thompson has done nothing to improve the Vegas Bowl or its venue.

One way to increase interest in the conference would be through expansion. This is largely an issue of the presidents, but adding BSU and FSU/Hawaii makes a ton of sense. Wyo shouldn't be in the conference. It is in the middle of nowhere, they are lousy every year, they add nothing to tv revenue, and do nothing for recruiting. And who wants to go to Wyoming in November for a game? They are all around a lousy school and a drain on the conference. Get rid of them. Thompson needs to show some leadership on the expansion/kicking out front.

The MWC basketball tournament shouldn't be held on UNLV's home court. Yes, it is a nice location for bball, but it really benefits UNLV. At the least, the conference needs to add some security for the bball events.

Overall, I would give Thompson a C+, maybe a B-. If it weren't for the mtn, I would give him a D-.

Mormon Red Death · 10-28-2008, 03:10 AM

When it comes to bowl games I always wondered why the freedom bowl failed (after Xmas bowl game in Anaheim against the pac 10) but the New Mexico bowl, humanitarian bowl survive.

If I was Craig Thompson I would do the following things (besides admiring my hair):

1. Convince WYO to go to Div IAA in Football. They stay in the other sports but in Football they get play teams like N. Colo, Montana and Montana st.

2. Add Fresno, the Potato Zoobies, Hawaii and Houston/Utep. Play the championship game at the home field of the highest ranked team.

3. Lobby like Hell to get an Auto bid to the BCS...

4. If that doesnt work lobby like hell to our champ into either the Holiday bowl or the Cotton Bowl (in that order)

5. If that doesn't work Lobby like hell to get into the Insight.com bowl or the emeral bowl (in that order)

6. If that doesn't work Get the poinsettia bowl to move to Armed Forces bowl slot and make a deal with the Conf USA, ND or #3 in the big 10 or Pac 10 for the game.

7. Get the Sun Bowl to invite our conference (the only reason for Utep)

8. Cancel the New Mexico and Humanitarian bowls and move them to either SoCal (Dodger Stadium, The Big A or the coliseum) or Arizona or the Nocal and the new Niners stadium

9. Create a MWC - Pac 10 challenge in Bball. Every team in the pac-10 gets a home game and an away game. The 4 lowest finishers in Bball the year before get away games at the pac 10

Venkman · 10-28-2008, 04:55 AM

Some good ideas.

AMEN on getting Wyoming into the Big Sky for football. I'm not a big fan of the super-conference, so I'd like to keep the MWC at ten teams. With the pokes out we can add two: I'd vote for Fresno and Boise.

DrumNFeather · 10-28-2008, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venkman

Some good ideas.

AMEN on getting Wyoming into the Big Sky for football. I'm not a big fan of the super-conference, so I'd like to keep the MWC at ten teams. With the pokes out we can add two: I'd vote for Fresno and Boise.

If the MWC kept Wyoming in all other sports, I'd be in favor of trying to get Gonzaga out of the WCC for basketball. It would probably never happen as they've got a sweet deal...but that's another one of those things that just "makes sense."

10-27-2008, 02:03 AM	#1
Cali Coug Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 5,996	Craig Thompson and the MWC... Thompson has taken a ton of heat from BYU and MWC fans, including myself. I was extremely frustrated at the way the mtn negotiations were handled, and I think they turned into a PR nightmare. The Big 10 Network may have saved the mtn for all of us. That said, Thompson deserves credit for getting the mtn deal done. I hear from many fans of big name BCS programs who can't get their team's game on tv on a particular Saturday. It is really good to know that I won't ever have that problem (at least for the near future). Props to him for inking the deal, even if he was awful for most of the process. He has expanded our bowl tie-ins, and I suppose that is to be commended. We don't go to the Liberty Bowl anymore, and that is fantastic. However, the quality of our bowl tie-ins is very low. Barring the BCS, the best our champ can hope for is a trip to Vegas to play a 4th or 5th place Pac 10 team. Is that really the best the conference can hope for? Then we have the Poinsettia Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl (are you kidding me?), and the Armed Forces Bowl (yikes). None of those are appealing in the least, particularly with the Pac 10 being as bad as it is (will they even have 5 bowl eligible teams this year?). The MWC has not found a way to promote the Vegas bowl better. It needs a larger payout, which means better sponsors. It needs a better date (it is on December 20th this year, who is even watching college football on December 20th?). Vegas is a nice venue, and the bowl could work. Sam Boyd Stadium needs big upgrades, though, and they aren't likely to come anytime soon. Thompson has done nothing to improve the Vegas Bowl or its venue. One way to increase interest in the conference would be through expansion. This is largely an issue of the presidents, but adding BSU and FSU/Hawaii makes a ton of sense. Wyo shouldn't be in the conference. It is in the middle of nowhere, they are lousy every year, they add nothing to tv revenue, and do nothing for recruiting. And who wants to go to Wyoming in November for a game? They are all around a lousy school and a drain on the conference. Get rid of them. Thompson needs to show some leadership on the expansion/kicking out front. The MWC basketball tournament shouldn't be held on UNLV's home court. Yes, it is a nice location for bball, but it really benefits UNLV. At the least, the conference needs to add some security for the bball events. Overall, I would give Thompson a C+, maybe a B-. If it weren't for the mtn, I would give him a D-.

10-28-2008, 03:10 AM	#2
Mormon Red Death Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Clinton Township, MI Posts: 3,126	When it comes to bowl games I always wondered why the freedom bowl failed (after Xmas bowl game in Anaheim against the pac 10) but the New Mexico bowl, humanitarian bowl survive. If I was Craig Thompson I would do the following things (besides admiring my hair): 1. Convince WYO to go to Div IAA in Football. They stay in the other sports but in Football they get play teams like N. Colo, Montana and Montana st. 2. Add Fresno, the Potato Zoobies, Hawaii and Houston/Utep. Play the championship game at the home field of the highest ranked team. 3. Lobby like Hell to get an Auto bid to the BCS... 4. If that doesnt work lobby like hell to our champ into either the Holiday bowl or the Cotton Bowl (in that order) 5. If that doesn't work Lobby like hell to get into the Insight.com bowl or the emeral bowl (in that order) 6. If that doesn't work Get the poinsettia bowl to move to Armed Forces bowl slot and make a deal with the Conf USA, ND or #3 in the big 10 or Pac 10 for the game. 7. Get the Sun Bowl to invite our conference (the only reason for Utep) 8. Cancel the New Mexico and Humanitarian bowls and move them to either SoCal (Dodger Stadium, The Big A or the coliseum) or Arizona or the Nocal and the new Niners stadium 9. Create a MWC - Pac 10 challenge in Bball. Every team in the pac-10 gets a home game and an away game. The 4 lowest finishers in Bball the year before get away games at the pac 10 __________________ Its all about the suit

10-28-2008, 04:55 AM	#3
Venkman Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South Jordan, UT Posts: 1,799	Some good ideas. AMEN on getting Wyoming into the Big Sky for football. I'm not a big fan of the super-conference, so I'd like to keep the MWC at ten teams. With the pokes out we can add two: I'd vote for Fresno and Boise. __________________ WWPD?