ROANOKE TIMES
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 14, 1993                   TAG: 9303140012
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


TIMING WRONG FOR ANY MERGER

As readers of The Roanoke Times & World-News sports pages know, Bill Brill has had a love affair with the ACC for years. His column about a possible ACC/Big East merger was his most recent biased reporting on his perceived greatness of the ACC.

Brill states that the Big East is struggling with its football TV package and that they did not bring anything to the table when compared to the lucrative TV package that the ACC has. Brill did fail to mention that the Big East will not play its first full season of round-robin scheduling until this fall. You have got to believe that since the Big East has not yet played a full schedule and is still in its infancy, that just maybe this has some bearing in those problems.

When Mike Tranghese and Gene Corrigan discussed a possible Big East/ACC merger, many concerns were addressed, among them TV. I do not believe that the lack of a great TV package for the Big East, at this time, was high on their concerns list. They both knew the unlimited possibilities for Big East football and that a lucrative TV package will become a reality in time.

Brill states that "Miami figures to have more trouble sustaining its position than Florida State or Florida." I am at a loss to figure out what he means. I presume that he means Miami, the most successful Division I-A football program in the last decade, will suddenly lose its position among the nation's elite, or that the other programs in the Big East will begin to compete at or near Miami's level. In all probability, Miami and Florida State will continue to be the premier programs in the Big East and ACC, and the other teams will improve, if only to survive.

There is no question that the ACC is a fine conference, but it does not call the shots. The timing, at present, is not right for a Big East/ACC merger. There may never be a Big East/ACC merger, but I do not believe that because the Big East football TV package is not lucrative at this time had much bearing in the discussions. TYLER WILL RADFORD



by Archana Subramaniam by CNB