You are herePitt Official Derides Internet Speculation on Pitt to Big Ten
Pitt Official Derides Internet Speculation on Pitt to Big Ten
UPDATED:
E.J. Borghetti, associate athletic director/media relations for Pitt, has posted this twitter message concerning speculation that Pitt had agreed to join the Big Ten Conference.
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"Now hear this: rumors on Internet message boards should be read for amusement purposes only, and not consumed as responsible journalism."
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Here is what that speculation was over the weekend. And let me put this up in CAPITAL LETTERS. At this point it looks like sheer speculation, but I wanted people to know that and to get a wiff of what is out there.
As posted on Bleacherreport.com and Buckeyebanter.com, and discussed at length on sever Pitt interent boards:
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"According to several reports, including personal statements by student athletes on Twitter, Pittsburgh athletic department officials held closed door meetings with all of the University's student athletes last week about the potential move.
Pitt message boards lit up with the news and the validity of the rumor, and though not verified by the University or the Big East or Big Ten, the rumor was somewhat reinforced when those Pitt athletes who posted about the meeting on their Twitter accounts were forced to remove the posts."
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Posted in
I think most people watching the Big 10 situation figured that PITT was probably 1B after Notre Dame. Adding PITT would finally give Penn State a geographical rival in the Big 10 and would also raise the Big 10's profile on the east coast. PITT has a massive endowment, the academics, and the football team plays in Heinz Field in front of a pretty rabid football loving crowd. Plus, the Big East can lose PITT and still have a conference title game.
...that hack blogger from Bleacher Report is on my Facebook and Twitter and he basically stole the story I wrote several hours before his.
http://buckeyebanter.com/2010/01/31/pittsburgh-to-join-big-ten/
Yes, Buckeyebanter.com has its own story on the subject.
At any rate, the story is out there. Now we'll see if it has any legs.
Pitt message boards lit up with the news and the validity of the rumor, and though not verified by the University or the Big East or Big Ten, the rumor was somewhat reinforced when those Pitt athletes
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Thanks
Mikes Auto Classifieds
If this information is true, it's sad on several levels.
One, whether you guys like it or not, a move to the Big Ten would grow the Mizzou name in TV exposure and market share. We are MIZZOU first, Big 12 member second.
Two, it destroys any effing negotiating power we would have against the Big 12. Without that, no real shot at a 7-5 vote, which keeps the Big 12 exactly where everyone south of us wants it.
Sorry guys, but a Big Ten offer was our way out of a conference we weren't 100% on board with in the first place 15 years ago.
Someone needs to debunk this story and find out if it's true--or we just wait until Thursday.
but mizzou is not in the top 5 of the Big Televen's wish list. It isn't going to happen and now you get to come back to the big 12 after having tried to flirt with every other guy in the bar. I so wish we could get Louisville to sign on and drop the drama queen of the conference.
This speculation. But say it is a total fabrication. Get ready for more. With a story like Big Ten expansion and schools leaving other conference, it is inevitable.
You are a better reporter than this.
The lessons in Walt Williams Hall didn't take?
A rumor started on the Pantherlair message board, picked up on other message boards, reposted to the Pitt board with some additional piece of fiction. Then blogs pick it up. Then you.
Call it high tech rumor mongering or an internet rumor gone viral.
I can find a bunch of internet rumors about most any piece of wild speculation. That doesn't mean a respected reporter should pick them up and re-post on a respected news site.
And the "bleacher report" doesn't have much credibility -- come to think of it, it has about as much credibility as you do after your Pitt blog entry.
You and Pitt fans got punked. Pitt fans have figured it out now. When will you?
Come on Mike. You are better than this.
What I put it up here for was to inform some readers who might be interested in the subject of what is out there.
I didn't say it was true or false. I said it was out there. I pointed out the plus side of Pitt and the oddity of this coming out now when the Big 10 said it might take up to 18 months to decide.
If you want to criticize my reporting ability, that's fine. But I'm not reporting this. I'm saying this is the speculation that is out there.
I don't know at this point, if it is true or false. And neither do you. Thanks to me, you know its out there.
as responsible journalism." Not me.
That's from Pitt's associate AD (SID)
http://twitter.com/PittBorghetti/status/8481753217
I did not find out about the speculation from you. I back-tracked to the "campus corner" when message posts started posting that "The Kansas City Star has confirmed ..."
One reporting-type phone call to Borghetti could have stopped the rumor. No one -- including many reporters -- made that call.