Conspiracy Theory

For those who have been following the lawsuit against Boston College filed by the remnants of the Big East, you might think that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is a bumbling idiot. Having lived in Connecticut for the past six years, I can assure you that he is.

Apparently, on their way to the greener pastures of the Atlantic Coast Conference, BC and Miami conspired with the ACC to bring down the Big East. Since Blumenthal filed the lawsuit, those inside the BC community have replied that the lawsuit is consistent with the political ambitions of the state in which the lawsuit was filed.

You might say that the state's "political ambition" is that the University of Connecticut will one day take over the world. Suffice it to say that UConn will not be doing so in the Big East, and thus a lawsuit is the best remaining course of action.

Soon after filing the lawsuit, Blumenthal said, "Most people in Connecticut think the chief lawyer ought to be punishing wrongdoing." A primary claim in the lawsuit is that the Big East schools will lose out on revenue as a result of the exodus to the ACC.

I can understand that Connecticut would like to think that its efforts were not in vain. The state spent $90 million to build Rentschler Field, UConn got its football program ready to join the Big East, and then they watched the Big East get disassembled by the ACC. Now they have filed a lawsuit against the defectors.

They seek "unspecified financial damages" for the future revenues out of which they feel they have been cheated. This is a bad precedent to set; we don't need every school that switches conferences getting sued.

While we're on the topic of money, the legal bills aren't going to be paid for by the state government of Connecticut - this is, after all, the same state that took roughly a twelvth of this fiscal year to make its budget. Here's another unplanned expense for the notorious budget: suing BC, Miami, and the ACC.

What a lovely paradox for the parents of my fellow Nutmeg Staters here at BC: paying their state of residence to sue the university that they pay to educate their children.

There are four universities listed as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit but let there be no doubts: This is Connecticut's lawsuit. Seeing as how it is the public university that the state hangs its hat on, Connecticut's politicians don't want to see UConn get hung out to dry. The other remnants of the Big East, in addition to the lawsuit, can have their revenge in a more appropriate manner - on the field.

Pittsburgh visits Chestnut Hill this coming weekend, hosts Virginia Tech the week after, and ends the season at home against Miami. West Virginia gave Miami a major-league scare on Oct. 2, and throttled Virginia Tech last week. They come to Alumni Stadium in two weeks. Rutgers - fresh from its first Big East win of the century - still has BC and Miami to play, and I'm sure we won't get a warm welcome in Piscataway on Nov. 15.

Syracuse is not a part of the lawsuit. Either Syracuse officials are not at all bitter about what has happened (unlikely), they were prepared to ditch the Big East as well, or they want to take the high road and avoid the legal circus (most likely).

As this lawsuit drags on, a few burning questions remain. Will Blumenthal broaden the scope of the conspiracy? Will he accuse Syracuse of treason against the Big East, for its lack of solidarity in the lawsuit? Will the judge throw this case out and tell the remaining Big East schools to stop crying?

Very few schools can maintain as high a profile as UConn and still only have one major revenue-producing sport. The move to build up its football program was driven by pleasant visions of revenue, and the lawsuit is driven by unpleasant visions of lost revenue.

The lawsuit may call it disloyalty on our part, but we may as well call it jealousy on their part. Once Miami and Virginia Tech had left, I refuse to believe that any Big East school, if given the chance to join the ACC, would remain loyal to its fledgling conference.

Among the many things BC has that UConn does not, the primary one might be a secure future in a secure conference, with the strong prospect for increased revenue and a broader recruiting base.

Even as we live the high life in the ACC, UConn will still have two things that BC does not. First, as Storrs rests in the pastoral region of northeastern Connecticut, they have the cows on site to make their own ice cream. Second, they have the incessant urge, during the fall, to ask, "When does basketball the season start?"

It was supposed to become New England's major college football rivalry. It still can - and likely will - become such, but BC vs. UConn won't have the Big East as its backdrop. It was also supposed to be a move to bring UConn to our level, but now, as well it should be, BC is still an object of envy to the University of Connecticut.