re: Facts about Texas “destroying” two conferences.

Jimbo and A&M just got off probation earlier this month, right? Anyone seen Charles Alan Wright around?

You have to take Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds' word that he's not lying through his teeth! Over A&Ms' Byrne who said .. "Our fans should know me better than that," Byrne wrote. "That never happened."

You need an 'independent' source that says ..At the time network was being put together, UT offered A&M ...

Your source is BS!

Everyone was cheating in the SWC, but because some of the little brothers got caught, it is UT's fault? Give me a break. The oil money was flowing like a river and none of the boosters were keeping it a secret they wanted to buy the best team. SMU and TCU benefitted from that the most...Everyone knew the SWC teams were cheating, it was like a national big joke. Everyone acts like it was some big secret and somehow UT spilled the beans.

When Aggie left for the SEC, nobody cared. But when Texas is leaving, all he’ll breaks loose. Who’s the big brother?

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The reason the SWC (most fans weren’t born or in diapers back then) failed, was not because of Texas. SMU had received the death penalty. TCU and A&M were both place on probation by the NCAA. All for illegal recruiting violations. TCU and A&M were denied TV games and limited scholarships. Texas was actually offered then to go to the SEC, but they remained loyal to their SWC teams. Arkansas was offered to enter the SEC and jumped at the chance.
The Big 12 was a cluster frick. The true story of the Longhorn Network was a main factor but here is the rest of the story. Texas offered TT and A&M a partnership in a Lone Star Network. Both Tech and A&M turned it down. So Texas went out on its own and got a huge contact from ESPN. After the contract was signed, all other Big 12 members wanted a share. Since Texas took all the risks, they told the other members, “No!” Btw right before the LHN was created, the SEC offered Texas an invitation. Texas again remained loyal to their conference and declined. Nebraska, Colorado , Missouri and A&M got their feelings hurt (knowing they couldn’t compete with the dollars) all bolted to different conferences. How did they work for them? Missouri has two eastern division titles and that’s it.

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CLIFF notes version:

"Hey there Texas, we will give you literally anything you want" ~Big 12.
"Great! I want it all" ~Texas
"you got it!"~Big 12
"we are out of here" ~A&M, Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri
10 years later
"this place sucks, hey OU, let's get out of here"~Texas

The big 12 disintegrated because you morons plotted and schemed behind closed doors to break it in half to the pac 12 in 2010.

Then the pac 12 rejected you twice

Arkansas fled Texas.

And so did Nebraska and Colorado and Missouri and Texas A&M.

After the 3rd or 4th divorce, you need to start considering that it actually might be you, not them...

"Texas started their own TV station just for more money thus costing other teams money. If they can't control it they destroy it."

Of all the talk about it here, there was another missing important overall thing about the LHN, and the larger network it could have become if the others invited had the confidence and willingness to invest in themselves.

I'm personally not that fond of ESPN, but here are the facts as I understood them. Starting a network from the ground up took not only a lot of effort, it took belief in yourself--a belief large enough to bet big $ on it.

ESPN was going to do a fair amount of heavy lifting, but all the upgrades, changes, and upfront $ necessary to pull it off, all in the dark and ahead of the action, required a huge effort. Along with a belief that risking that much was worth doing. As mentioned above, if we weren't also trying to get much sunshine onto all of our other non-revenue sports, it is likely even Texas wouldn't have done it. But we reached down into our deep sack, and showed our balls in risking it.

I don't blame others for not having the fortitude or the guts to put so much at risk. And as noted, we tried to get them to be a part of it, as there was much to gain if it worked. Only after all the internal heavy lifting and changes were made, THEN the Aggy AD (and Mizzou, etc.) and others start saying, "well, why didn't you let us ride in the cart you built, after you set it up alone and invested and believed in yourself? If we KNEW it was all going to work, we'd have joined in earlier, instead of pissing our pants."

That's the true story. We as Longhorns believed in ourselves, put our $ where our mouth was when it mattered, and it paid off handsomely. This revisionist BS history reminds me of every mouse that squeaks when a business owner has a vision, puts sweat and risks big on that vision, and then when it pays off handsomely, they jealously wonder why they didn't get a cut, for doing absolutely NOTHING. Even after they were invited in before it started.

You can have your narrative, even widely held and falsely and unfairly recounted. But facts are stubborn things. Some of us remember...

Texas turned SMU in for cheating after losing to them. SMU getting the death penalty helped end the SWC.
Can't recall his handle but there's poster on surlyhorns that worked on Pony Express documentary. He has said that everyone was cheating with the exception Rice.