Post by Mr Doom on Sept 1, 2011 13:34:14 GMT -5
The Philadelphia Inquirer PhillyDeals column [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
09/01/2011 4:19 AM ET
Sept. 01--The Big Five men's and women's basketball conference, in hopes of polishing its old reputation for dramatic rivalries at a time when fat TV contracts have made bigger state-school programs rich and well-known, is negotiating a fall 2012 basketball tournament that would pit Philadelphia's schools against a band of New York schools.
Tom Muldoon is leading the effort. It proposes that Penn, Villanova, St. Joe's, Temple, and La Salle have tournament-style, head-to-head matches with Fordham, Columbia, Manhattan, Iona, and another New York City-area schools.
Why pick on New York? "It's a great time for that," Brooklyn-bred Muldoon told me. "Who is better today, the Yanks or the Phils? Who is better, the Eagles or the Giants? You've got these rivalries of quality."
Muldoon, who for 25 years was head of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau -- and relentlessly advocated construction of the sprawling Convention Center to its completion -- spoke between visits to Philadelphia banks and corporate leaders that he is hoping to line up as marketing sponsors to raise $250,000 for an expanded Big Five program next year.
Big Five games were long scheduled as doubleheaders, attracting masses of fans. Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Wells Fargo Center, "would like to do that again," Muldoon says.
The board leading Muldoon's effort includes Phillies boss David Montgomery, representing Penn; Citizens Bank CEO Dan Fitzpatrick, a La Salle alum; David Resnick, a donor for the sports program at Temple; Villanova donor Bob Melchionni; and investor John J. Griffin, a St. Joe's booster. Others prominent in sports and business are involved as well.
Why not a fat TV contract? Muldoon has been talking to ABC-TV, whose senior executives include "a lot of people from Philly," according to Muldoon, and to NBC-TV, owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp.
Muldoon is meeting next week with the New York colleges at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
09/01/2011 4:19 AM ET
Sept. 01--The Big Five men's and women's basketball conference, in hopes of polishing its old reputation for dramatic rivalries at a time when fat TV contracts have made bigger state-school programs rich and well-known, is negotiating a fall 2012 basketball tournament that would pit Philadelphia's schools against a band of New York schools.
Tom Muldoon is leading the effort. It proposes that Penn, Villanova, St. Joe's, Temple, and La Salle have tournament-style, head-to-head matches with Fordham, Columbia, Manhattan, Iona, and another New York City-area schools.
Why pick on New York? "It's a great time for that," Brooklyn-bred Muldoon told me. "Who is better today, the Yanks or the Phils? Who is better, the Eagles or the Giants? You've got these rivalries of quality."
Muldoon, who for 25 years was head of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau -- and relentlessly advocated construction of the sprawling Convention Center to its completion -- spoke between visits to Philadelphia banks and corporate leaders that he is hoping to line up as marketing sponsors to raise $250,000 for an expanded Big Five program next year.
Big Five games were long scheduled as doubleheaders, attracting masses of fans. Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Wells Fargo Center, "would like to do that again," Muldoon says.
The board leading Muldoon's effort includes Phillies boss David Montgomery, representing Penn; Citizens Bank CEO Dan Fitzpatrick, a La Salle alum; David Resnick, a donor for the sports program at Temple; Villanova donor Bob Melchionni; and investor John J. Griffin, a St. Joe's booster. Others prominent in sports and business are involved as well.
Why not a fat TV contract? Muldoon has been talking to ABC-TV, whose senior executives include "a lot of people from Philly," according to Muldoon, and to NBC-TV, owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp.
Muldoon is meeting next week with the New York colleges at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
