If ever the annual Mountain West Front Range Kickoff Luncheon needed the comic relief of former Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry, it was Thursday.
The stalemate in satellite distribution of the league’s dedicated cable-only network, The Mtn., is no laughing matter. MWC commissioner Craig Thompson didn’t address the issue in his formal statements, although he discussed it after the program.
“I know that Dish and DirecTV have at any given time about 100 proposals sitting on their desk,” Thompson said. “Why is The Mtn. any different than the fourth cooking show or the third QVC jewelry show? They have to make a determination. How they make a determination is ‘Will I lose subscribers if I don’t have it or will I gain subscribers if I do have it?’ ”
To that end, he is delighted with an online petition (addthemtntosatellite.blogspot.com) that has collected nearly 9,500 signatures from across the country.
A majority are disenfranchised BYU fans – whether in Utah or across the country – and fans of other schools have made their comments known.
Thompson, a University of Minnesota grad, had a rare laugh when he received a mass e-mail to Minnesota alums, urging them to contact Comcast about carrying the Big Ten Network that debuts next month. The Midwest league has an agreement with DirecTV but not with major cable carriers or Dish. The Mtn. is co-owned by Comcast but unable to get on the satellite carriers.
The irony isn’t lost on Thompson that he will be able to get Big Ten Network broadcasts on his DirectTV but cable-subscribing relatives in the Midwest will be blacked out.
Still, Thompson said the fact both satellite companies continue to talk shows hope. It’s his understanding the year-old negotiations have moved to programs packaging between the cable giant and the satellites.
While the annual Denver event for Wyoming, Colorado State and Air Force fans drew numerous tributes to DeBerry, his successor Troy Calhoun showed he is more than up for the task of replacing the legend, even at the podium.
Opening his remarks with “Speaking of dadgumit” (a signature DeBerry word), Calhoun shared a number of classic DeBerry malaprops.
CSU coach Sonny Lubick and Wyoming’s Joe Glenn were relatively tepid in their traditional jousting. Lubick recycled last year’s jokes while Glenn, the consummate showman, kept tradition by pounding out “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” on the piano and offering new material.
