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http://www.firethemtn.com/

Firethemtn.com was founded and is run by a group of concerned fans of Mountain West Conference institutions who believe that the current television agreement between the mtn. and the MWC could put the long term health of the conference in jeopardy.

While we are critical of the tv deal and its implications for our schools, we are not trying to make personal attacks against the below the line staff at the mtn. or their on-air talent. These are probably all hard working, decent folks and we’re not out to get them.

We wish we could say the same, however, about the top leadership at the MWC, the mtn., CSTV and Comcast Sportsnet. The deal they have put in place, and the manner in which they have negotiated with the satellite companies, has put in jeopardy the long term health of the conference. This we can’t take.

The mtn. was launched in September of 2006 and can only be called an utter and absolute failure so far. Neither major satellite carrier has agreed to offer the mtn. as part of its programming, and even some cable systems within the “footprint” of the conference have declined to carry the channel. Our initial estimates show that the mtn. is likely viewed by fewer than 10,000 people at any one time. This is crippling recruiting, neutering national exposure for our programs and limiting access of MWC fans to MWC athletics.

This website is offered as an outlet for fans within the MWC to take some positive action to avoid following MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson off the cliff like a bunch of lemmings. We will not waste your time by asking you to take sand pounding actions like calling the satellite companies to complain. From what we understand, the position of the satellites has not been unreasonable.

What we will ask is that you help spread the word about what’s really going on with the mtn. We’ll provide links to email the presidents of each member university. We’ll provide links for you to email Craig Thompson and MWC staff, and we’ll compile contact information for newspapers and talk radio outlets within the MWC.

You will also see some advertising on this site. Believe me, we’re not doing this to get rich. Revenues generated by the advertising and the eventual firethemtn.com store will go to the Wounded Warrior Foundation, an outfit founded to provide support to the families of those who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat operations.

If you are just as frustrated about this as we are, and you want to join the site as a contributor, please just email us here. This is a hobby for most of us, and we need all the help we can get.

Thanks for visiting!

____________________________________________...

After deleting some of my posts and closing the offending SteveAztec thread, a couple of elites have been able to open it long enough to respond to me anyway.  And since I can’t respond on a closed thread, here is my response…

Other than the initial inquiry, this has never been about letting Steve post again; I doubt that he even wants to post here.  My complaint is about his treatment on this board and the failure of admins to control attacks on him – and worse, to sometimes participate in those attacks.

Steve was first banned on the SDSU board.  When he was banned, it was a sufficiently controversial that they started what became an 8 page thread on the topic to justify the decision (https://aztecmesa.proboards.com/thread/9747/steve-aztec-longer-member-board).  It is clear that Steve had support in the community and there was some criticism for the Board Administrators for having failed to “expel the dozens of people who've been taunting him.”  (And take a look at the thread that I bumped; initially it was supporters happy about Steve getting a radio show.  Then the haters arrived.)

I can’t say if Steve took it too far in response, but I will say that he denies most of various accusations and adds important missing context to others.  But I wasn’t a party to any of the events and can’t say who is in the right and who is in the wrong.  And I have to admit that if half of what has been said about him is true, depending on context, I might well have banned him too.  Or more likely I might have banned those who were taunting him.  (Steve had lost a brother-in-law to suicide and there have been a number of memes of people blowing their brains out, as well as posts blaming Steve or his sister for the suicide – and admins apparently let it go.)

I am in no position to evaluate the truth or falsity of the laundry list of claims made on this board about how Steve responded to all this.  My complaint, however, is about his treatment on this board.  I may be wrong, but his banning on this board at least appears to have been less about what he did on this board and more a carryover from the SDSU banning.  The same taunting continued – more suicide memes – apparently ignored by the admins. Utenation supposedly posted the first and it is explained away because he didn’t know about the suicide.  But was the post taken down?  Was an apology issued?   Indeed, for years, admins on this board have allowed Steve to be vilified based on little more than anecdotal hearsay.  This is a privately owned board, but it is not a private board – anyone can join.  And more than that, It’s not an anonymous board; people know who Steve.  You have a duty to protect your posters from libelous statements and unproven allegations -- especially when, having been banned themselves, they have no ability to defend themselves.

Even Retrofade (who says he’s not a mod but can post to closed threads) put up a “blowing his brains out” meme several years ago.  He knew that Steve lost his brother-in-law to suicide, and he now says that “Steve is a mentally disturbed individual”, which is libelous by the way, but excuses his meme as nothing more than being in “poor taste”.  Apparently it is okay with the board's current admins to taunt a "mentally disturbed person" because the post has never been taken down.  The poster has never been admonished.  And there has been no apology, unless you consider "he deserved it" to be an apology.

In my view, you owe Steve an apology for the treatment that you have tolerated and, in some cases, engaged in.  A former Aztec board went out of business when sued (not by Steve).  It won’t be the last one.  You need to fix this.  You need to administer your board and prevent libelous and incendiary attacks -- hearsay-- on posters. 

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So... What's your point? Every fan of the MWC already knows this. :huh:

"Make a mistake once and it becomes a lesson, make the same mistake twice and it becomes a choice."
 

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So... What's your point? Every fan of the MWC already knows this. :huh:

We already know the Comcast game plan. They will allow DirecTV and Dish plus all the cable outlets within the MWC footprint access to the mtn. when they have the 4 million cable subscribers within the MWC footprint buy the mtn. They say it will take five years to get the 4 million subscribers on line. In the mean time, those who don

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We already know the Comcast game plan. They will allow DirecTV and Dish plus all the cable outlets within the MWC footprint access to the mtn. when they have the 4 million cable subscribers within the MWC footprint buy the mtn. They say it will take five years to get the 4 million subscribers on line. In the mean time, those who don

"If you can't answer a man's argument all is not lost you can still call him vile names" Elbert Hubbard.

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I disagree... MWC recruiting will suffer if the current lack of coverage continues. I used the links on the noted web site to send an email to TCU AD Dr. Morrirson and I CC Craig Thompson and the rest of the MWC staf. I received an encouraging reply from Dr.Morrison. No results yet, but Dr. Morrison and others are actively working on this very issue.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

My message:

Hello Mr. Morrison

I am a loyal TCU fan and have been a season ticket holder for a few decades. Like many other fans I am concerned about the TV contract and lack of coverage TCU has with the Mtn. I realize there are legal issues that hinder the conference and TCU from being able to do anything about it, but I am concerned when I cannot find any MWC football games on Charter Cable (with the Sports Tier) on a Saturday when several important conference games are being played. Meanwhile, I turn to channel 27 or 21 here in the DFW area and see SMU games and I find Southland conference games almost every week.

Not too many years ago TCU away games could be seen on these regional channels when they were not carried by a major network. My question is can TCU, BYU, Utah and other MWC schools develop regional TV deals to televise our away games when CSTV, the Mtn and Versus will not be showing our game locally? That seems like a reasonable work-around while CSTV and the Mtn work on broader distribution that will make TCU and other MWC games accessible to Texas residents.

Beyond my desire to watch TCU and MWC games, I am concerned about the impact this will have on recruiting. It has to have a negative impact on some recruits. I have talked to Direct TV and Charter and neither company was able to provide me with any hope that the Mtn will be carried in my area (Weatherford Tx) any time soon. I hope TCU and the rest of the conference will be able to find a way to resolve this problem while the Mtn continues to work to develop a national presence.

Best Regards and see you in Houston

xxxxxxxx

=====================

Dr. Morrison's response:

Thanks for your thoughtful note---you accurately described some of the issues that we are facing---the conference and TCU are continuing to work on broading the distribution---once that happens, more flexibility should result in the contract---we were in Austin today to present some of the issues to the House Committee that had a hearing on this (most of the attention was on the NFL Network but the issues are similar)---appreciate all of your support---

Danny

EdB, you say broader distribution means better recruiting. That is not necessarily true. The recruit

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That is what they SHOULD be providing MWC sports fans. To date they haven't been doing so. I was only able to see 6 of BYU's games this season and had literally ZERO access to the rest unless I went in person (which I did for many).

Thanks for posting EdB. I don't doubt that they're working on "broading" the distribution, I just want to see it get done. We'll be moving into year 3 of this mess next September and I really don't see any conclusion of it prior to that time.

I was able to see 6 of TCUs games. The mtn. broadcasted only 3 of which I attended 1 and the other 3 weren't on TV and one of those had nothing to do with the MWC TV deal . Compared to the days of ESPN that is great. The only gripe that I can think of is that 3 of the 6 on TV were on Thursday night which is better than the years I was in school and ESPN had TCU playing on every day of the week.

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EdB, you say broader distribution means better recruiting. That is not necessarily true. The recruit

"If you can't answer a man's argument all is not lost you can still call him vile names" Elbert Hubbard.

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Lobomonstro

I didn't say broader distributioin means better recruiting. I said a lack of coverage can hurt recruiting with at least some recruits. Is there any doubt about that?

I live about 30 miles west of the TCU campus and i have Charter Cable with all the sports channels they provide. They are my only choice for high speed internet so changing to satelite is not necessarily a good option for me and others who live near me. I do not get the Mtn or Versus on Charter. For some reason Versus was dropped from Charter this past year. I do get CSTV.

My concern as it relates to TCU recruiting is when you cannot find any MWC games on TV there is a problem. The conference needs visibility in Texas for the sake of the conference and TCU. There were weekends when there was no MWC games televised in my area. Many casual fans and parents of potential recruits may not have access to all three MWC TV outlets. I know they will not have access to the Mtn and they may not have access to Versus. I am glad Frog(Doc) and others were able to see more TCU games than were available to me and some others like me. But I am also glad to know the TCU administration as well as the administration at other MWC schools are actively working this issue.

You and many MWC fans don

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Dr. Morrison's response:

Thanks for your thoughtful note---you accurately described some of the issues that we are facing---the conference and TCU are continuing to work on broading the distribution---once that happens, more flexibility should result in the contract---we were in Austin today to present some of the issues to the House Committee that had a hearing on this (most of the attention was on the NFL Network but the issues are similar)---appreciate all of your support---

Danny

From Dr. Morrison's Bio:

As the seventh commissioner of the Southern Conference, the nation's fifth-oldest Division I collegiate athletic association, Morrison established numerous progressive initiatives including strategic partnerships with corporate and educational entities; a stronger television schedule for Southern Conference schools through partnerships with ESPN, College Sports Television (CSTV) and Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS); an internship program in conjunction with NFL Europe; and coordination of the conference's strategic planning efforts with the NCAA.

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