[The_Blur]

I can't let this go on any longer. I am joining this discussion.

I am absolutely devastated that the Big 12 is not a sustainable conference.

Think about what could have been. I will present a hypothesis: that teamwork could have saved the Big 12 but obviously didn't.

In a time when all we think about sports has been turned on its head; when people dream of playing pro but don't care if they play for their home team; when we read headlines day after day about excessive spending, team lockouts, greedy owners, money, money, and more money, I wonder what happened to sports. I wonder what happened to loyalty and the love of the game. You don't see kids growing up these days dreaming of being pitchers because these poor kids can't keep up with what team each favorite pitcher represents. There's no love for the team. It is a bunch of individuals with agents and their greedy managers, owners, and advertisers trying to make the most out of their overpaid talent. Do they deserve that money? I'm not talking about the players. I'm talking about the guys in the suite upstairs. They need that money to pay for their bottomless glasses of Chateau Douche cabernet for the next game they don't bother watching from the tinted windows of their executive suite overlooking the field. This is sports news, and it kills me. That is why I watch college sports.

Ah, college sports—free from the crazed greed that so dominates professional sports. Teams and conferences work toward goals, and they don't involve contracts the same way. I've known for years that the Big 12 wasn't where the money was, despite the millions that fans pour into Kansas basketball merchandise.

Imagine a PR campaign by the Big 12's remaining teams after Colorado left and Nebraska abandoned over 100 years of heritage for another conference. All of the teams say that this is great. In fact, they say they're better without those teams. They even go so far as to say, "We're together because we love sports, and that's all we need." The press would ask Texas A&M, "Are you sure you don't want to get out of Texas' shadow?" They would respond, "Tell them to get out of ours!" The press would laugh, then asking Iowa State, "Are you concerned since you're such a low performer and you might not have an alternative?" They'd say, "We're not concerned. The Big 12 is strong, and who are you calling a poor performer?" The press would respond with articles proclaiming that the Big 12 is what all sports should be. Investors would go nuts because sports are like the stock market, and stability is money. They'd say they don't want our money, but they'd collect it like a robber at the bank. It would work, and the Big 12 could be even stronger than it already was.

It didn't happen. Everyone said, "We're considering our options." If I'm Kansas and I hear Oklahoma State say, "We're considering our options," I'm scared, so I start considering my options. I ask other conferences. Suddenly, someone gives me a good offer, and I stop wondering what Oklahoma State is doing. It becomes selfish. That's not how team sports work.

Kansas, Missouri, and Kansas State acted like a team last year. They made a pact. If one team goes, they all have to go. That's bold. That's how teams work, and it's truly remarkable since the original jayhawkers were people who massacred Missourians in retaliation for raids by Missourians doing the same thing to Kansans. Their histories are written in blood, and their fans aren't much nicer to one another these days. Yet, I can attest—a Jayhawk myself—that Kansas Jayhawks want that rivalry, and Missouri Tigers feel the same way. We want to play one another. We want that tradition, even if both school frown on the MUCK FIZZOU shirt I wore to every Mizzou matchup or the incredible obscenities that fans shout at one another. We're on the same team, and we hate one another, and yet it doesn't stop us from wanting to continue that relationship. Texas A&M's athletic department can learn a lot from that.

A good, team-oriented PR campaign could have taken the Big 12's remaining 10 teams and made them look like heroes to all their fans. Fans wouldn't just be arbitrary in-state students but people who appreciate the love of the game as much as they appreciate their teams for their cultures and traditions. It wouldn't be just about basketball or football anymore. It would be about love, and that's what sports needs in a time when all we discuss is money. It could have been great, but soon it might not be anything at all.