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Saturday, June 19, 2010
Big 12 Breathes On
Big 12 football and basketball games were quite a change this year for a kid who was raised in the Big 10. In Indiana the Big 10 is huge with the in-state rivalry of IU and Purdue. My mother graduated from Purdue and my father from Indiana, so I saw the rivalry at its finest. I usually was a Purdue football fan and an IU basketball fan. Now experiencing both conferences being a Mizzou student neither is particularly better than the other, but both are special in their own ways. The Big 10 was looking to expand to at least 12 teams so they could hold a championship game and was looking for a big name team. Missouri, Nebraska, Cincinnati, Rutgers, and Notre Dame were all suggested teams. So initially, the talks of my Missouri Tigers leaving the Big 12 for the Big 10 sounded very attractive to me. I was as “gun-ho” as anyone hoping that Missouri would leave the Big 12 for the Big 10.
The Big 10 had a lot of leverage in the teams that could be selected to join the conference because they received the most money due to television deals. Nebraska was the first team invited to the Big 10 and they decided to leave the Big 12. Colorado also left the Big 12 for the Pac 10 conference, which is now at 11 teams. The Big 12 now down to ten was in chaos. Texes, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma were all considering leaving the Big 12 which would have destroyed the conference, leaving schools like Kansas and Missouri lost. Texas was the key to the entire deal and it all depended on how much money they would get. It’s quite sad when college athletics comes down to which conference can send you the largest check at the end of the year. Nevertheless commissioner Dan Beebe of the Big 12 presented a plan for TV deals in the future that would make the Big 12’s money comparable to the other conferences. This last stab to save the conference was successful and the Big 12 will breathe on.
When Dan Beebe was scrambling to save the conference he had a lot of help. Media giants like CBS and ABC did not renegotiate TV deals for the upcoming season due to the loss of two teams for the Big 12. That could have hindered the Big 12’s revenue even more. It’s funny how quick people, including myself, switch sides when the circumstances change. I wanted as much as anyone to jump ship from the Big 12 for the Big 10, but when I was on the other side waiting to see if Texas and the others would leave it was a terrible feeling. In the end, it all worked out. Texas will get its money, Missouri has a conference, and the Big 12 lives on with 10 teams. I’m sure in a few years we will be looking to expand once we have the “Big 12 Network”, and sure enough we will cause another shake up. Maybe next time since Mizzou didn’t join the Big 10 one of my Indiana teams could possibly join the Big 12.
Assignment for Journalism 2000
Brian Bondus
J2000 Summer10
Dr. Frisby
Brian Thom Bondus
My mother was watching out for me even before I was born. My father’s plan for me was to be Thom Bernard Bondus IV. He was the third and that was something very special to him. He lost the battle, despite his best efforts and I cant say I was upset. The compromise is that my middle name is Thom. Now you may be wondering why I’m spelling Thom with an H. The H comes from our family from Norway. Still today in Norway there is a glacier named after our family. Our last name as well had an H in it when my family came over. They originally spelled it Bondhus, but when Thom Bennard Bondus Jr. enlisted in the army they dropped the H. That is how my name was formed to be, Brian Thom Bondus.
I really like my name due to its use of alliteration. B squared was a popular nickname growing up in the neighborhood. Also in elementary football games the girls were known to due a “Bondo” chant to the melody of “Bingo” during recess football games. That nickname stuck with me until high school. I can often tell when I met a person by what name they call me. Even my teachers from Jr. High call me Bondo. In high school most people called me Bondus, just my last name because that is what I was called on the football team. Other people called me plain Brian and often when people call me Brian I am caught off guard because so many people don’t call me by my first name. I’ve had my fair share of nicknames growing up including “Broadway Bondus,” and most recently “Rajon Bondo.” I even remember on swim team another fellow six and under swimmer called me “Brian Butthead” which upset me every time.
Despite all of the ups and downs of my nicknames and different titles at different times I could not ask for a better name. I am a broadcast journalist and hope one day to be on TV. I think Brian Thom Bondus is a good TV name and much better than Thom Bennard Bondus IV.