Requiem for the Big East

[stever20]

for those not watching- turn onto ESPNU. Some great snippets

[billyfa]

Johnnies fan here...

Fun watching that and brought back a lot of memories. I want nothing more than the current Big East to do well. It may never match the peak of of the OBE but I don't think ANY conference can in today's landscape. Multiple outlets stating the Big East Is dead is extremely annoying. The conference will evolve and I expect Fox to spearhead its rebirth with the current head coaches. I love the basketball centric idea and would love nothing more than to stick it to the football universities. There is no reason coaches can't sell same idea to current recruits. We still have large cities with a lot of viewing eyes. Hopefully, the great recruiting continues because having the best talent will attract more. Here's hoping it begins this year. Good luck to the teams in the tournament.

[stever20]

Johnnies fan here...

Fun watching that and brought back a lot of memories. I want nothing more than the current Big East to do well. It may never match the peak of of the OBE but I don't think ANY conference can in today's landscape. Multiple outlets stating the Big East Is dead is extremely annoying. The conference will evolve and I expect Fox to spearhead its rebirth with the current head coaches. I love the basketball centric idea and would love nothing more than to stick it to the football universities. There is no reason coaches can't sell same idea to current recruits. We still have large cities with a lot of viewing eyes. Hopefully, the great recruiting continues because having the best talent will attract more. Here's hoping it begins this year. Good luck to the teams in the tournament.

To me a few things are vastly different...

1- the coaches are no where near as eccentric as Thompson, Boeheim, Rollie, Louie were. That helped things out so much.
2- tv is just a lot different than it was back then. A whole lot more competition than early 80's. Also, like I've said before, ESPN didn't have to go up with the 2 ton gorilla known as ESPN back in the day. Fox does.
3- the old big east was so much more compact than it is now. going DC to Boston and pretty much on a straight line. Now, it's a lot more spread out.

[Demon22]

I liked it... and I hated it. Let me explain.

I thought a large part of what the documentary covered, they covered very well. That said...

1. My guess is that if you're a fan of Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John's, or maybe Villanova, you really enjoyed it.

2. My guess is also that if you're a fan of Boston College, Seton Hall, Providence, Connecticut, or PIttsburgh, you felt short-changed.

3. Seriously, how do you produce a documentary on the Big East and skip over UConn's three National Championships entirely?

4. And how do you produce a documentary on the Big East and reduce guys like Pitino and Calhoun to supporting characters? And barely mention PJ Carlesimo or Gary Williams? These are names that basketball fans recognize, and they were all in the conference together.

5. Tranghese and DeGioia are the only administrators that you interviewed when the league was falling apart? Where were the interviews with Presidents/ADs from the schools that left? What does Calhoun or the AD at UConn have to say about Boston College? Where's the interview with people pointing the finger at Nordenberg? No mention of the flat-out hypocrisy from the Pittsburgh and Syracuse camps?

6. You skip over the fact that as late as 2010, people were still talking about the Big East as the best conference in the country, and maybe the best of all time? No mention of the fact that right before they broke up, they put eight teams in the NCAA Tournament?

[ElDonBDon]

I liked it... and I hated it. Let me explain.

I thought a large part of what the documentary covered, they covered very well. That said...

1. My guess is that if you're a fan of Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John's, or maybe Villanova, you really enjoyed it.

2. My guess is also that if you're a fan of Boston College, Seton Hall, Providence, Connecticut, or PIttsburgh, you felt short-changed.

3. Seriously, how do you produce a documentary on the Big East and skip over UConn's three National Championships entirely?

4. And how do you produce a documentary on the Big East and reduce guys like Pitino and Calhoun to supporting characters? And barely mention PJ Carlesimo or Gary Williams? These are names that basketball fans recognize, and they were all in the conference together.

5. Tranghese and DeGioia are the only administrators that you interviewed when the league was falling apart? Where were the interviews with Presidents/ADs from the schools that left? What does Calhoun or the AD at UConn have to say about Boston College? Where's the interview with people pointing the finger at Nordenberg? No mention of the flat-out hypocrisy from the Pittsburgh and Syracuse camps?

6. You skip over the fact that as late as 2010, people were still talking about the Big East as the best conference in the country, and maybe the best of all time? No mention of the fact that right before they broke up, they put eight teams in the NCAA Tournament?

8? One year we put 9 in and I think the following year we put 11 in

[Demon22]

That's right! 2011, I believe.

My memory isn't what it used to be.

How about instead of closing with the end of the Big East Tournament, you close with the fact that in the last year of the "Old" Big East, they won a National Championship? Big East basketball was phenomenal right up until the plug got pulled.

[redmen9194]

It seemed the focus of the documentary was how and why the league was formed, and then how it became this giant of college sports so quickly. I don't think it was so much about the overall success of the league as it was about how quickly that success occurred from nothing. In that vein, the main players at the time were Cuse, G'Town, Nova and St. John's. When you think about it, it really is amazing how quickly the league rose to prominence. In just ten seasons, six of the nine teams made at least one final four (SJU, Cuse, Prov., Hall, G'Town, Nova), four teams made it to the Championship game a combined six times (G'Town 3x, Cuse, Hall, Nova) and two won championships (G'Town and Nova. That is remarkable.

[cu blujs]

Really enjoyed it, right up to where they started tearing up the floor with the obvious intention of making the point that the Big East is dead. I also didn't think the spin at the end that the Catholic 7 broke away and bought the name, implying we are no longer the Big East. Perhaps technically accurate, still a mischaracterization in my opinion as the core of the old Big East other than the Catholic 7 had already broken away (or were on their way out). Rather, I like it to the old guard cleaning house and starting anew.

[micgoG'town]

Lot of good stuff in there. Seemed like a mash-up of three separate documentaries. 1. The early years of The Big East 2.G'town/Syr. 3. The last 20 years, condensed to 2 minutes. Would love to see all three complete versions.

[ElDonBDon]

Lot of good stuff in there. Seemed like a mash-up of three separate documentaries. 1. The early years of The Big East 2.G'town/Syr. 3. The last 20 years, condensed to 2 minutes. Would love to see all three complete versions.

Fantastic idea!