Hi -
 
On Fri, 24 Jul 1998, Craig Roberts wrote:
> Despite the fact that MSC's deal with the University of Minnesota includes
> covering women's events, the men's games take precedence and we adjust our
> start times occassionally to fit MSC's needs.
  ....
> Check out the Gophers on the Web at http://www.gophersports.com
> Or call the Diet Coke Gopher Sports Hotline at (612) 626-STAT
 
<mount soapbox>
 
  I know that college sports has now crossed a Rubicon re: their incestuous
relationship with the marketeers (and there'll be no turning back), but it
still pains me to see to what degree so many of the 'Big State U's (including
my own beloved UNH, better classified as a 'Little State U', or "Rhode Island,
New Hampshire, what's the difference") have succumbed to the lure/pressure of
advertising dollars.  Pristine white boards are now as rare as hen's teeth
even in the college game, and while I've grudgingly accepted the privilege
(since transmuted into a right) of the TV contractor of record to juggle
start times to its (but not necessarily the fans') benefit, the "Diet Coke
Gopher Sports Hotline" just doesn't sit well with me.  Leigh Montville
(former Boston Globe sports columnist) had a piece on CNN-SI some weeks
back lamenting the stampede to spot-market "anything and everything in
sport," and noted the sad, inevitable capitulation of the Rose Bowl to the
marketeers.  Is there nothing our own colleges/universities won't sell
naming rights to in the headlong pursuit of yet more $$$.  At what point
is enough enough ??
 
<dismount from soapbox>
 
  Jim "living in a fantasty world" Love
 
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