Less than two months after the Ivy League announced a new push to secure a national TV sports deal, News Corp is reportedly about to launch a new national sports network.
This network will probably be called "Fox Sports."
Simple math says this will improve the odds of the Ivies getting the coveted deal, and those of us old enough to remember can recall the days when an upstart TV network named ESPN started to make strides in college football by carrying Ivy games.
The channel is expected to begin broadcasting by the end of this year, which would probably keep football out of the equation in 2012, but basketball certainly could get into the mix.
Another possible opportunity for the Ivies could be soccer.
FOX's global strength in world soccer coverage is expected to be a major cog in the new network and Ivy League soccer could be a product the network covets.
Most people would consider the Ivies one of the top 10 college soccer conferences, so this would hardly be starting at the bottom for what is already an under-covered sport in America.
Spring Updates... Sort of
There's definitely a bit of radio silence in effect as the team begins its fourth day of spring practice.
I can report that the first few days have predictably been spent mostly on conditioning and player evaluations. next week will begin the harder work of learning the new playbook, particularly the proposed H-back-centered offense Head Coach Pete Mangurian wants to install.
But for now, we're not even seeing any tweaks to the player roster.
Remember Me?
On the Other Hand...
Rutgers understands something about publicity.
That school is already out with several reports on its spring practices, including some pieces today about former Columbia Head Coach Norries Wilson working with the Scarlet Knights' talented running backs.
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