HedleyLamarr

Often, there are events and conventions that are purposely not listed on the arena's published calendar. These can range from schools playing scheduled games or large ceremonies to big-name businesses renting the building for a convention, etc. There are many events that take place at Philips Arena that aren't listed on the arena's website. I can almost guarantee that there's some sort of events taking place in Jobing.com Arena that simply aren't listed or advertised. And it's tough to blame the folks running Jobing.com Arena for few events outside hockey taking place during the season. For one, those in charge of the arena have to assume that the full schedule gets played, and also have to assume that their team could be playing hockey when the Stanley Cup Final takes place. Secondly, there are some shows and concerts, etc., that simply don't like having ice on the floor. Thirdly, there are other options in the Phoenix area (the arena where the Suns play, in particular) that are in competiton with Jobing.com Arena for hosting events. Fourth, many shows and conventions and concerts are planned out 8-12 months in advance. It's not very often a show/event can get squeezed in on very short notice.

Seeing as how a lot of these soon-to-be-newcomers to the Big East are joining as football-only interests shows you that Big East football will be a dying ember once the 4-team playoff era begins.

Florida State's not moving. Unless y'all got 50 million dollars to blow, it's the ACC. Getting out of buyouts is easy. FSU's president called it "punitive" and said a good businessman never puts himself in something he can't get out of. Hell, the two new ACC teams got their buyout reduced. Even got to come over a year early. Huh? We had to pay more (I think we paid $10M to get in 2013 either instead of or on top of the $5M after an agreement) to get into the ACC early. Also, I don't think the $50M part is getting to you. That's two years of athletic revenue you're talking about there, plus the fact that it's a public school means anything outside of athletic money isn't going to fly over well. I mean, yeah there's still the idea of FSU jumping ship, but it's looking way harder to pull that off the longer this goes, plus I'm sure FSU could try to get their way again with TV contract re-renegotiations on the way with ND coming in. $50 million can be easily picked up by the new conference the school is entering and the school's generous donating alumni/supporters. If you follow the money trail, the SEC funded TCU and West Virginia to move to the Big XII.....

You can thank the BCS and the ridiculous poll system for this crap - everyone's trying to climb up the ladder now hoping for one of the limited spots in the favored superconferences, in order to ever have a chance at a national title or at least a decent bowl invite. It sucks, but this crap is going to keep happening until it all gets figured out. No. You can thank ESPN and CBS and conference-specific networks and the bigger money involved with TV (remember, it's the conferences wanting to expand to new markets....not schools begging to be accepted) that led to expansion. Does it not ring any bells to you why Boise State wasn't wanted by the Pac-12, Big Ten, or even a then-desperate Big XII? If it were strictly about football, a better conference than the Big East would have taken BSU long ago. It's about money and TV viewership, and Boise State simply doesn't generate in either category. Do you actually think before you post? You're starting to become a lot like Tnak, typing in absolutes....

Financially-speaking, it may not be so bad. Idaho now has 7-8 opportunities to collect 6-figure paychecks from SEC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 teams looking to fill out a schedule.

I wonder if Bettman has the cajones to use the contraction of the Coyotes as a trump card against the NHLPA in these negotiations.....

Is that a joke or is there a real article saying that? There was an article that, more or less, whined about the Jets not making enough of a deal about their time in Atlanta. What's to make a big deal about? The Thrashers sucked, their owners were pathetic, and their fan support was tepid. How would you feel if the Anaheim Kings virtually shunned the team's history in Sacramento? The Thrashers did win a division championship, and a couple players did win some awards that the league hands out annually. It's not like nothing happened. They're a step below what the Kings have been in their time in Sacramento..... It's not an illustrious history, but it is the franchise's history nonetheless. But I don't really care if the Jets consider it their history or not.

It was during the 1-2 year period where the Thrashers were actually a somewhat competent team on the ice. Tkachuk played like 20 games or so with the Thrashers in their lone playoff season. He was then traded back to St. Louis right before that summer's draft (or right before free agency opened, one of the two) to recoup a draft pick.

Heh...I stayed in Bridgeview when I went to Chicago last summer. Wasn't a very exciting place. I thought the GPS lady was screwing with me when I was driving through a few apartment complexes and neighborhoods to get to the CTA station near the airport.....

Notre Dame football won't be joining a conference until any playoff system is "conference champions only". As long as there's a "wild card" spot, Notre Dame won't need to join a conference. Furthermore, Notre Dame can cut a deal with a few big-time bowl games (Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, etc) that'll pay up so that their game remains relevant once a 4-team playoff comes to fruition. They still have enough beef on the annual schedule (Michigan, Southern Cal) and enough schools that would love to do a home-and-home to always keep themselves on the big-picture radar screen. Notre Dame's not hurting for money. They still have plenty of name-value and prestige and a national following that'll keep plenty of coin in their bank accounts.

"Death to tradition" began when Oklahoma and Nebraska stopped playing annually, despite playing in the same conference....

Notre Dame. Since geography isn't as much of a restriction it seems (although Indiana does share a border with Kentucky), why not go after the richest school that's available? The SEC would pull in the Indianapolis and Chicago markets immediately, and due to their "prestige".....a nationwide TV following as well. Any TV network would just give the SEC a blank check to give themselves should they get Notre Dame. Notre Dame isn't going anywhere until the FBS postseason gets finalized. They've no reason to go find a conference right away due to their sweetheart of a deal with the BCS. Duke and UNC are pretty much tied together. You aren't getting one without the other. These two schools wouldn't mind a smaller-sized conference, anyway. NC State is very similar to Texas A&M in that they're viewed as the "little brother" to North Carolina, and they're getting tired of it. They're pretty much begging the SEC or Big XII or Big Ten to extend them an invite.

Who would take Boise State? Honestly. The Pac-12 and Big Ten prefer that their members not be "community colleges" in terms of academics. BSU ain't going there. The SEC could essentially bring in any school they want. There are tens of schools higher in the pecking order than Boise State. Ain't going there. The Big XII wouldn't take Boise State at the conference's lowest point. Why would they take them now that they seem to be on the uptick? Boise State is basically in the same position pre-realignment....except now they're paying more in road game expenses by playing a Big East schedule, for a conference that's got about as high a ceiling as the WAC and Mountain West has. Boise State simply doesn't add much of anything to these elite conferences. The Big East took on Boise State as football-only as an act of desperation to keep their bigger programs in place. With Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia already gone, that move clearly didn't work. Once the Big East falls apart, Boise State will be worse off than they were before.

Whether it be the Big XII or Big Ten or even the SEC....I can totally see NC State wanting out of the ACC if a big-time conference calls on them. They're basically in a position like Texas A&M was with the Big XII: always overshadowed by "big brother" North Carolina. I think NC State, despite all their traditions and history and such, will be the next ACC school to leave the conference. I'm almost positive that they're one of the 7 ACC schools with an interest in the Big XII. The independent school is most likely BYU....Notre Dame may be interested, but they'll want the conference to come after them. Not sure who that Big East school would be....gotta figure it's Cincinnati or Louisville. I'm not sure South Florida has enough clout....they're just now finding their way in the Big East. The 7 ACC schools.....probably NC State, Florida State, Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Virginia. I'm not sure Georgia Tech would want to go to the Big XII....they're either heading for the Big Ten or staying in the ACC. Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest aren't leaving. Boston College likely isn't wanting to leave now that Pitt and Syracuse are coming in. We all know who that mystery 10th team is.....Boise State. There's a reason why only the football team is playing in the Big East....BSU has to believe that there's a really good shot that the Big East may not be around much longer, at least in the football spectrum. BSU doesn't want to get left out in the cold.

I'm sure that $170 million will include an unofficial, unmentioned "relocation fee", and paying back the owners of the other 29 teams for helping fund the Coyotes while the league owned them.

For those of you that weren't keeping up with the meetings in south Florida this week...... All parties involved are in favor of a playoff, specifically a 4-team playoff. Over the next two months, the conference commissioners will present two-to-seven options of these four-team models to their respective leagues, with the goal of a consensus being agreed upon by July 4th.

Don't the owners still have to agree to fund the team for Phoenix to stick around?

At most, it's going to be a 4-team playoff. There's some talk that the format would be taking the three highest BCS-ranked conference champions and one "wild card" team.

For those of you interested....this week is key for what happens to college football beginning in the 2013 (or 2014) season, as far as the postseason goes. "All parties involved" (BCS officials, conference commissioners, bowl game reps, the TV networks, etc.) are meeting in South Florida this week to discuss a multitude of issues, the most of which includes a modified system of determining a national champion.

For what it's worth, those $40 seats were in the corners of the upper bowl, which tend to be the cheapest ticket locations for just about any arena. There were also $60 tickets for upper bowl seats, and $275 tickets for sale in the lower bowl. I wasn't able to find a full ticket-pricing map for Coyotes playoff games.

Problem: The Coyotes' most likely opponent next round is Nashville. Just based on ticket sales, teams take in nearly $1 million. Add in whatever concessions get sold, and that number just goes higher. Based on TicketMaster's site, Game 5 is sold out. I assume Games 1 and 2 were also sold out. Just based on tickets, that's already nearly $3 million taken in. And since the Coyotes are guaranteed at least one more home game after today, they'll most definitely take in another $1 million in tickets, whether it be a Game 7 vs. Chicago or two games in the second round. I'm not sure what the average ticket price is for Phoenix home games, so I used their cheapest available ticket price for a possible Game 7 vs. Chicago ($40) as the average price, which I think is a little on the low side to begin with. Per game, just on ticket sales, that's $685,000. To reach $1 million, they would need each fan to spend roughly $18.50 on food/drinks or items in the team's store.

I don't remember "Chris Petersen to Florida/North Carolina" stories ever being more than message board topics.

Not really. Just means his buyout clause becomes steeper for whichever big-time school wishes to hire Petersen. Not that a big-time school will scoff at paying Boise State a little more to hire Petersen....

Glendale was short $5 million, right? Considering that they aren't paying the players in the playoffs, and that they're playing a team that's got a lot of road fans.....the NHL can milk this series to go the full 7 games, let Phoenix win, then have Phoenix be able to host at least two more home games in the West semis..... ...that's how you can generate $5 million to cover what Glendale can't come up with.

The Thrashers did that every February in their existance.....