The Pete Bevacqua Thread

[IrishinSyria]

SIAP

Somewhere at a country club in North Carolina about 25 white dudes started sweating through their Sperrys.

 

[stlnd01]

Is the ACC not good at lacrosse? I don't really pay any attention to it, but thought like UVA and the Carolina schools would be. And Syracuse.

Whatever, though, fuck ACC lacrosse. And fencing too.

 

[Huntr]

Is the ACC not good at lacrosse? I don't really pay any attention to it, but thought like UVA and the Carolina schools would be. And Syracuse.

Whatever, though, fuck ACC lacrosse. And fencing too.

They are, and he's getting push back in the replies.

But, like, it will have no bearing on what happens or doesn't.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

He’s trolling, and it’s magnificent.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

SIAP

My wife made this point the other day. The ND brand alone with all the other women's and men's sports undoubtedly prints cash for the ACC. If they break off entirely, not only do they lose ND, they have to go out and find a replacement member to fill that void.

Can't do it.

 

[thekid33]

Is the ACC not good at lacrosse? I don't really pay any attention to it, but thought like UVA and the Carolina schools would be. And Syracuse.

Whatever, though, fuck ACC lacrosse. And fencing too.

The B1G is good too. Maryland is the best team in the country (other than ND). Hopkins has been up and down but still has the potential to be very good each year. Same with Penn St., Michigan, and Ohio St. The entire conference is essentially Top 20 any given season. No different than the ACC and possibly even better.

If we leave, I wonder if the ACC would try to make Hopkins an offer to flip for lax. They play UVA, Syracuse and UNC every season anyway.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

My wife made this point the other day. The ND brand alone with all the other women's and men's sports undoubtedly prints cash for the ACC. If they break off entirely, not only do they lose ND, they have to go out and find a replacement member to fill that void.

Can't do it.

I thought about this too. People are downplaying other ND sports. No they don't bring in millions in revenue like football. But lacrosse, soccer, women's bball (I'm probably missing others), have been pretty dominant. ACC shouldn't take that for granted.

 

[Irish#1]

I would think Swarbrick would be advising Pete through this.

I've thought the same thing. I have to believe Jack went over the contract with Pete before exiting, but I think Pete called Jack to get his feel on personalities involved and the discussions that happened but don't get put in the contract.

 

[RDU Irish]

The ACC did not have to target ND in the way that it did to promote Miami. Instead they focused solely on ND. When one business partner does that to the other it usually creates animosity.

Stop pretending that playing the Miami/ND game for 48 straight hours was innocent promotion. You sound disingenuous as fuck and should understand our gripe before telling us how to interpret what we witnessed.

Why not alternate the FSU/Bama game (that they had rights to as an FSU home game) with the ND/Miami game on ACC network if they weren’t colluding against ND?

 

[luckofirish8]

Why not alternate the FSU/Bama game (that they had rights to as an FSU home game) with the ND/Miami game on ACC network if they weren’t colluding against ND?

It's simple really. The ACC knew Miami was their best team and once they decided they were not going to change the tiebreaker rules mid-season, then the head-to-head win was the best talking point they had to get Miami in the dance. Right or wrong...it was their only play at that point.

Was it a costly one? We'll find out in due time.

 

[RDU Irish]

It's simple really. The ACC knew Miami was their best team and once they decided they were not going to change the tiebreaker rules mid-season, then the head-to-head win was the best talking point they had to get Miami in the dance. Right or wrong...it was their only play at that point.

Was it a costly one? We'll find out in due time.

Simpler still - ACC Network is owned by ESPN and they were no going to disparage their top property.

 

[ACamp1900]

I’ll say this, someone compared this to politics and in one regard that’s dead on, perception is reality… and the facts are Notre Dane is getting massacred in the perception realm right now…. For every article or talking head or post mentioning how screwed up this all is there are a dozen plus dunking on ND and celebrating like this is the greatest thing to happen to humanity since the polio vaccine. Any good Will Freeman and our run last year brought to the program is ashes right now

 

[RDU Irish]

I’ll say this, someone compared this to politics and in one regard that’s dead on, perception is reality… and the facts are Notre Dane is getting massacred in the perception realm right now…. For every article or talking head or post mentioning how screwed up this all is there are a dozen plus dunking on ND and celebrating like this is the greatest thing to happen to humanity since the polio vaccine. Any good Will Freeman and our run last year brought to the program is ashes right now

Some of us are used to filtering through media bias and apoplectic bullshit narratives. ND will be fine.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

I’ll say this, someone compared this to politics and in one regard that’s dead on, perception is reality… and the facts are Notre Dane is getting massacred in the perception realm right now…. For every article or talking head or post mentioning how screwed up this all is there are a dozen plus dunking on ND and celebrating like this is the greatest thing to happen to humanity since the polio vaccine. Any good Will Freeman and our run last year brought to the program is ashes right now

We are back to villian mode, and that is fine.

 

[Hautian Domer]

Is anyone getting a little nervous or antsy? Do we have a direction or plan in place? I'm hoping Bevacqua isn't shooting from the hip here. Someone calm me down. I used to subscribe to the there's no such thing as bad publicity, but we're getting cooked from all over and every direction. Media, former players, former coaches, talking heads ...

 

[tko]

This is an extension of the coordinated blitzkrieg we faced the last two weeks. Like you, I'm getting nervous, but I feel like we'll hear more post Heisman.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Is anyone getting a little nervous or antsy? Do we have a direction or plan in place? I'm hoping Bevacqua isn't shooting from the hip here. Someone calm me down. I used to subscribe to the there's no such thing as bad publicity, but we're getting cooked from all over and every direction. Media, former players, former coaches, talking heads ...

Honestly, our plan seems to be unfolding as we go. It has been clucky, but I believe Pete will figure it out. We can't cower in the corner though. If we wave the white flag that will be bad and embarrassing.

 

[IrishLax]

Is anyone getting a little nervous or antsy? Do we have a direction or plan in place? I'm hoping Bevacqua isn't shooting from the hip here. Someone calm me down. I used to subscribe to the there's no such thing as bad publicity, but we're getting cooked from all over and every direction. Media, former players, former coaches, talking heads ...

Don't think any of this will move particularly fast, and obviously the #1 priority right now is getting whatever terms in the Freeman deal to keep him away from the NFL.

 

[IRISHbluehen]

Is anyone getting a little nervous or antsy? Do we have a direction or plan in place? I'm hoping Bevacqua isn't shooting from the hip here. Someone calm me down. I used to subscribe to the there's no such thing as bad publicity, but we're getting cooked from all over and every direction. Media, former players, former coaches, talking heads ...

We witnessed a weeks long smear campaign and an embarrassing utilization of ND as a plot twist on a TV show. Our immediate options were bend over and take it or voice our frustrations. Its not as simple as just telling the ACC/ESPN to pound sand and we're going to find somewhere else to play. These agreements and plans take months/years to craft. Pete was a major exec at one of the largest sports agencies and one of the largest sports media companies. If he can't navigate it, I am not sure else would have done better. Expecting a gravitational shift in 48 hours is unrealistic.

Now if all that comes from this is being pissy and complaining in press conferences, then that will be incredibly disappointing.

 

[Canes4theWin]

Yeah, moving Alabama up after that Auburn game of all things was the most obvious ploy to protect Alabama imaginable. There was zero justification for it and that's why there will never be a good answer for it, because they can't give an honest answer. As soon as UVA threw a pick on that asinine trick play in OT, they knew what they were going to do, they only "deliberated until 2:30 in the morning," so they could try to come up with a rationale for it all.

The whole 15 minute preface to the rankings reveal was to lay the groundwork for the screwjob in the public's mind by reiterating what a "difficult decision" it was. It wasn't a difficult decision, at all. Any non-ESPN employee or SEC affiliated hack would tell you that Miami and ND were the obvious choices.

Looking back, they telegraphed it the whole time and it makes me wonder how far down they filter out these talking points because this year I started hearing terminology coming from ESPN people but also non-ESPN affiliated podcasters like Clay Travis, Pate and J.D. Pickell, specifically such terms as referring to Alabama as the "#1 seed" in the SECCG, referring to CCGs a "bonus game" (or Pickell's favorite term, "extra credit"), the way the last week Alabama's win over UGA in Athens was referred to constantly as "the best win the country by any team."

It all just felt very coordinated and it felt like there was an ecosystem that extended beyond just ESPN. And it flowed both ways. By yesterday you had the CFP committee chair using Miami media douchebag talking points in their justification for swapping us with Miami.

100% true but it’s still buIIshit that they didn’t penalize Bama at all for losing. They should’ve fallen a spot or two after getting pummeled.

Embarrassing they didn’t even move them down one spot

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

100% true but it’s still buIIshit that they didn’t penalize Bama at all for losing. They should’ve fallen a spot or two after getting pummeled.

Embarrassing they didn’t even move them down one spot

Yes, the Canes belong in and I have zero issue with it. The Bama getting thumped and the whole Auburn crap along with other big issues is where my problem lies.

 

[Canes4theWin]

Yes, the Canes belong in and I have zero issue with it. The Bama getting thumped and the whole Auburn crap along with other big issues is where my problem lies.

when both teams finished 10-2 with similar SOS I think H2H is enough for Canes to be in over ND, but they should’ve made that decision after we played our last games.

The sec corruption and getting 5 teams in is BS. Ole miss not being penalized for losing their hc, Oklahoma sucking, bama being blown out without consequences and being horrible the last month of the season, etc.

i believe the committee would’ve kept nd above Miami had Duke not won but they didn’t want to screw over the ACC and there would’ve been a lot of controversy surrounding Miami not getting in over ND with the H2H + ACC not getting any playoff representation

Personally I thought we’d both be in after bama got their butt blasted by Georgia (their best win which was what made up for losing to an fsu team that has won 7 games in two years)

 

[tirishman505]

I think that there was no way that the SEC was going to get less than 5 teams this year. I think that was decided last year. Josh Pate said as much in the immediate aftermath of the playoff selection last year. The committee implemented specific rules changes in the offseason regarding metrics to make that happen. I hear a lot of the more "respectable" ND voices in the media saying something akin "i don't really like to believe in conspiracy theories..." but then on the Independent they'll report that the heard from a source that as soon as the Arkansas AD took over the committee that there was no way Bama was getting left out.

As much as I would love ND to pull the nuclear option and sue the ACC/ESPN because the discovery around the playoff has the potential to be explosive, that probably isn't in ND's best interest moving forward.

But don't tell me that the fix wasn't in from the jump.

 

[BoredIrish]

The ACC's best contribution to ND is not ponying up enough NIL money to keep ND from pilfering the best high school players in their states.

 

[Bane]

Yes, the Canes belong in and I have zero issue with it. The Bama getting thumped and the whole Auburn crap along with other big issues is where my problem lies.

In a vacuum I don't really have any more of an issue with Alabama or Miami being than I do with OU (who I'll never let go of the fact they just got to sail in without a single question when their offense is maybe the worst unit in the field), it was the way in which it all went down. Alabama started ahead of us and had they not dropped behind us after the OU loss (which I didn't expect necessarily) it would have been more understandable at the end.

Same with Miami, had they jumped ahead of us 3 weeks ago when they entered into our "tier" it would have been frustrating but understandable.

It was the manner in which you could see clear manipulation of the rankings the last 2 weeks that pissed me off. As Pete B. said, it was a game of "musical chairs," and Andy Staples said we were "used a plot device in a reality TV show." That is what pisses me off. Every team ranked like 8-13 has reasonable arguments to be made for their inclusion, having 2 losses means you can just miss the cutline, that's fine. What's not fine is how we were going to be in until it became inconvenient for ESPN and their investments and we were manipulated.

All that being said, Alabama is the least deserving team in the field and maybe the weakest P4 team in, and I resent the methods undertaken to give them what amounts to an autobid so I hope OU destroys them. And no offense to our resident Canes fan who seems reasonable, but this season made me utterly hate that fanbase and it's entire media infrastructure in a toxic way (plus, I've just always hated Mario Cristobal, he rubs me the wrong way, extremely arrogant for a coach with no real accomplishments), so I will be pulling for A&M over them.

 

[IrishLax]

So I guess all of the P4 commissioners are in Vegas and Yormark made those comments after meeting with Phillips lmao

 

[BoredIrish]

So I guess all of the P4 commissioners are in Vegas and Yormark made those comments after meeting with Phillips lmao

I dont recall Bevacqua ever mentioning Jim Phillips though?

 

[NDPhilly]

I think that there was no way that the SEC was going to get less than 5 teams this year. I think that was decided last year. Josh Pate said as much in the immediate aftermath of the playoff selection last year. The committee implemented specific rules changes in the offseason regarding metrics to make that happen. I hear a lot of the more "respectable" ND voices in the media saying something akin "i don't really like to believe in conspiracy theories..." but then on the Independent they'll report that the heard from a source that as soon as the Arkansas AD took over the committee that there was no way Bama was getting left out.

As much as I would love ND to pull the nuclear option and sue the ACC/ESPN because the discovery around the playoff has the potential to be explosive, that probably isn't in ND's best interest moving forward.

But don't tell me that the fix wasn't in from the jump.

Yeah they specifically implemented SOR and SOS as metrics to be emphasized. It appears that “game control” and FPI were deemphasized as we saw it significantly less this year when they would have benefited us both greatly.

Also worth noting OSU, IU, Oregon, ND, TT (non SEC teams) were pretty consistently at the top of the advanced metrics this year and they were rarely referenced by the committee.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

They CC'ed ND on conference wide emails and people were replying all saying dumb shit with regards to their social media campaign.

Fucking amateurs. Bevacqua showed tremendous poise and restraint publicly if that's the case.

You've got to be kidding me. The ACC fucked up "reply all". Brilliant