Yesterday a full page ad ran in the Sunday edition of the Austin American Statesman. The headline read:
“An Open Letter from Business Leaders Concerning the Big 12”
The headline was followed with copy that explained how the writers valued the tradition of the Big 12 and how we as a conference need to unite in order to keep our conference alive. It was signed by Red McCombs, Drayton McLane, Past Gov Mark White, and the Past Mayor of San Antonio Phil Hardberger. You can head here to download a PDF of the ad (not very good quality). If I can find a good quality image, I’ll post it later.
This ad was brought to class by a professor of mine today and sparked quite the discussion.
Who is this ad talking to? They are running it in a dying medium… It’s obviously not the students– we don’t really read newspapers — so possibly the alumni. Is it worth what they paid for? From the little information I’ve found online, this ad also ran in the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and the Oklahoman. It could have even run on the West Coast to show the Pac-12 that we aren’t 100% sold just yet. And if they’re smart, they’ll run it again — because frequency is the key to a medium as cluttered with advertisements as the newspaper.
This sounds expensive, though. They can only hope that their ad with their letter creates enough buzz about the topic to be picked up by different publications to create enough sentiment about the issue to influence the real decision maker at UT… Bill Powers. As of right now, it’s gotten a few mentions, one on the Dallas Morning News website and one on ESPN. The only other place I’ve found it mentioned online is a few Aggie forums… needless to say, they are whining about “Texas whining” and ready to throw away a 100 year old rivalry in favor of the SEC. (Guess its time to change your fight song and the fact that you use the defaced version of our logo on A&M merchandise more than your own)
Personally, I’d love to see the Big 12 stay in tact with the addition of a few new teams. I love the rivalries we have with Oklahoma and A&M — it makes football season that much more fun. I love the tradition of it all. Here’s to hoping.
I agree that the Big 12, or what is left of it, needs to unite and resolve around the remaining universities. Right now 5 of the top 17 teams in the polls are from the Big 12 including the #1 ranked team. The SEC and all of it’s hyped glory can only boast 4. Now if the big 12 can add a few teams such as TCU, Houston and SMU it will bring back memories of the glorious Southwest Conference and boast a very exciting brand of football. Hopefully our new commissioner has a similar thought process.
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