Mike Slive’s defensive tackle can beat up Jim Delany’s honor student.

What is it with Jim Delany coming off like a suburban mom driving a Chrysler minivan sporting one of those “my kid is an honor student” bumper stickers?  He’s done it before and he’s doing it again.

Despite the championship drought, the Big Ten’s core objective hasn’t changed.

“Being viewed as the gold standard of athletic and academic balance,” Delany said.

Such a mission statement might draw eye-rolls among college football fans and some media, but the Big Ten will continue to trumpet its success with graduation rates, broad-based athletic programs and other traits that are overshadowed by the race for the crystal football. Delany certainly wants more titles in the major sports, but he notes, “Sometimes when you win championships, you may lose sight of [the core message].”

Yeah, that’s it.  The Big Ten gets smoked in the postseason because its players are too smart.

If that gold standard is how Delany wants his conference seen in the public eye, there’s another Bowl Delany could bring to the Big Ten Network.

15 Comments

Filed under Big Ten Football

15 responses to “Mike Slive’s defensive tackle can beat up Jim Delany’s honor student.

  1. Ruteger

    Hey, that’s not alright! That’s not OK! We’re going to work for them some day.

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  2. Spike

    My douche detector went off again.

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  3. Scorpio Jones,III

    Interesting interpretation of “gold standard” by Delany….Only because of Notre Dame is the Big Whatever not leading the NCAA hit parade.

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  4. Cousin Eddie

    Meyer now coaches in that conference, his argument is no longer valid

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    • cube

      Don’t forget Jim Tressel before him.

      And then there’s Gordon Gee, who was glad that the football coach didn’t decide to fire the president of the university. Yep, that conference has the right balance with athletics alright.

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  5. Otto

    Graduation rates would drop if they had more players worth drafting. Isn’t the point of college to learn marketable skills?

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  6. cube

    You would think the years of sexual abuse of countless boys at Penn State would have made this clown cut his act…but you would be wrong.

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  7. Bulldog Joe

    Substitute “Georgia” for “the Big Ten” in the article. Unfortunately, it fits.

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  8. Nat Dawg

    Should I bring up 90s Michigan basketball now or later?

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    • BMan

      Clem Haskins is certain that someone at the University of Minnesota was paid to write a paper on this subject. He’ll send it to Delany as soon as he finds it.

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  9. Always Someone Else's Fault

    It’s amazing how often Delaney and his minions try to substitute “B1G” for “Northwestern.”

    Where would you rather send your kid on a full academic ride:

    Lincoln, Columbus, Happy Valley, Ann Arbor

    vs

    Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, College Station, Athens

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  10. Big 10/11/12/14

    I was going to bring up Nebraska getting kicked out of the AAU but then I realized that is actually in line with academic/athletic balance. Their football program has been going downhill for a while, so it only makes sense that their academics slide too.

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  11. Gravidy

    I’m still trying to wrap my feeble brain around the fact that he ACTUALLY SAID he wanted his conference to be the ‘gold standard of balance’. Holy crap.

    Like