Filed under: Big 10, General CFB Insanity
When the Big Ten unveiled its new logo and divisional names (Leaders and Legends) this week, the public reaction was swift, merciless, and mocking. Conference commissioner Jim Delany has certainly gotten an earful and now tells ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg he's willing to reconsider the division names.Rittenberg reports that Delany told WGN-AM radio in Chicago, "(T)o get a 90 percent non-approval rating was really surprising. It showed that we didn't connect with our fans in a way that we wanted to. It's humbling, to say the least, because we're trying to build fan bases, not push them away."
There won't be an immediate change, Delany said. "Eventually, we're going to have to address the issue of whether or not it's sustainable, but I don't think that's a decision for today. We have to listen and we have to be humble about the reactions we've gotten." About that reaction, Rittenberg writes, "It's important to note that the Big Ten reached out to fans for suggestions, and a lot of folks felt misled when the names came out."
An informal survey of reaction via Twitter and blogs shows that "East" and "West" would suit a lot of folks just fine, with "Plains" and "Lakes" making a strong showing as well. There are potential problems with those names (Wisconsin is west of half the schools in the proposed "West" while Michigan touches four Great Lakes but isn't on the plains) but there may not be a perfect solution to this perfect problem. There has to be a better solution than Leaders and Legends, though. I'm pretty sure Leaders and Legends was the name of my 8th grade history textbook.
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