Beebe cancels 6pm press conference

[TheCheshireCat]

He cancels it along with the Texas president huh... this is turning into a real sh#t show.

[Ringer02]

best off season ever? or worst off season ever?

[huKSer]

He cancels it along with the Texas president huh... this is turning into a real sh#t show.

He The puppet cancels it along with the Texas president puppet master huh... this is turning into a real sh#t Punch and Judy show.

 

Fixed it for ya

 

[irafreak]

With the exception of the national championship offseasons...this IS the best offseason ever! What a ride!

[sarge87]

Hot off the ESPN Big 12 Blog.....

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After daylong discussions regarding the possible breakup of the Big 12, a scheduled news conference was abruptly canceled, fueling speculation that the 12 schools are far from agreement.

 

A short time earlier, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione had indicated the member schools did not reach the unity that many had hoped these meetings would achieve.

 

Perhaps also complicating the process was a report out of Texas on Thursday afternoon that the Pac-10 might invite six Big 12 schools to join and form two eight-team divisions. Some Big 12 and Pac-10 officials met informally several few weeks ago to discuss a possible scheduling and television alliance between the leagues.

 

Speculation of a possible breakup of the 14-year-old Big 12 exploded this spring when the Big Ten said it might expand and Nebraska and Missouri indicated interest.

 

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and Texas president Bill Powers had been scheduled to brief reporters at the end of the day on Thursday, the third day of the league's spring meetings.

 

But after a separate meeting of the presidents ran an hour long, Beebe emerged to say -- as he was pursued by reporters into a waiting elevator -- that the news conference would be on Friday.

 

"The board is still in session. We won't conclude until tomorrow and we're not going to have any kind of comments about anything the board has been considering or acting upon until tomorrow."

 

He refused to elaborate.

 

In Thursday's joint meeting of athletic directors and presidents, Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione said the ADs all gave their recommendation about whether the league should stay together.

 

Apparently, the unanimity that many members were hoping to forge proved elusive.

 

"We all had a chance to express our thoughts," Castiglione said when asked if any of the athletic directors indicated they might want to leave.

 

So does that mean not everyone was united?

 

"Everybody expressed their thoughts," he said.

 

Castiglione and Oklahoma president David Boren have been adamant in their desire to keep the league intact.

 

"Each athletic director had a chance to convey their thoughts about the future of our conference, and that was great," Castiglione said. "A lot of passion about the Big 12 in that room, I can promise you that."

 

More...

 

 

[Nexus]

He said "no comments until the meeting concludes tomorrow" and hopped in an elevator.

 

I got this from Dave Matter's twitter. He covers Mizzou athletics in Columbia.

 

EDIT: Here's the detailed story from Matter.

 

KANSAS CITY — A bizarre day at the Big 12 meetings just unofficially concluded in an elevator. Commissioner Dan Beebe and Texas President Bill Powers abruptly canceled a news conference that was originally scheduled for 5 p.m. and pushed back to 6 p.m. ... then pushed back until Friday.

 

"There will be no further comments until the conclusion of tomorrow's meetings," Beebe told a crowd of reporters in the pavilion floor of the Intercontinental hotel.

 

As reporters continued to fire questions at Beebe, mostly in response to the Pac-10 expansion report, the commissioner smiled and said, "I used to be an investigator, so I know how to ask all the good questions." And with that, he stepped into the elevator, the doors closed and the college sports world froze for at least another day.

 

Interpret the abrupt exit at your own risk — there are plenty being floated here — but it doesn't exactly inspire hope in the future of the Big 12.

 

As I wrote earlier, Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione was the day's most vocal advocate of the conference, marking the second consecutive day that Castiglione was the most forceful speaker here.

 

Also, the Pac-10 report is very credible. Put it this way, another news outlet will soon be confirming it based on a conversation with an athletic director from one of the targeted schools.

 

LINK