Monday, June 30, 2003

A poster over at Rutgersfan.com put up a funny set of lyrics set to the tune of Eric Clapton's Layla: "Sha-lay-la, you got me on my knees, Sha-lay-la, beggin' darling please, Sha-lay-la, darling won't you ease my worried mind?" "I tried to give you 90 million, When Ol' Swofford came around, Like a fool, I really trusted you, Now you're friggin' ACC bound!" Sha-lay-la.... File under From The Sports Desk. 11:30:29 PM

You be the judge. On March 6, 2002 at the CEO meeting of the Big East Conference, Donna Shalala, the University of Miami's president, reiterated Miami's commitment "in the strongest terms possible, emphatically stat[ing] that the University of Miami is in the Big East Conference and has no interest in leaving it for any other conference." I wonder if being a former Clinton appointee has anything to do with Ms. Shalala's version of what a promise is? On June 8, 2003, Charles W. Steger, Virginia Tech's president, stated on a conference call with 31 participants including 10 reporters that "if [Virginia Tech] received an offer [from the ACC] today, we would not accept it." Virginia Tech actually beat Miami out the door by accepting the ACC's belated offer over the weekend. According to Steger, in a letter to VT supporters, "the context of that discussion [on the conference call] is now lost, but at the time we truly thought that would be the appropriate course of action." Well what the hell was the context Mr. Steger? Could it have been that you didn't believe at that time the ACC would make Tech an offer? Way to stab your "buddies" in the back. Virginia Tech was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by the remaining football members of the Big East against the ACC, Miami and Boston College. Big time college sports is nothing more than minor league professional sports, except the "student" athletes don't get paid. File under From The Sports Desk. 8:11:07 PM