Columnist Steve Carp: Bitterness seems to be on the rise

Steve Carp

Thursday, June 11, 1998 | 10:42 a.m.

FORGET ALL THAT posturing you read last week from Monterey, Calif., about the presidents of the Western Athletic Conference being all polite and friendly and professional toward each other.

When you're talking about suing someone, the notion of civility goes out the door. Or in this case, the back door, as half the WAC's schools have decided to bolt after next season.

Obviously, some of the eight remaining CEO's remain miffed about the split, which was announced two weeks ago. One, Hawaii president Dr. Kenneth Mortimer, decided to do a little local sabre-rattling, letting his people know that he's not going to be left on a deserted island without a legal fight.

It's a good thing Mortimer doesn't engage in poker, because his miffed look in Monterey was a dead giveaway to what he had in his hand -- that being an empty bag. And when he popped off in the press a few days ago about an agreement the 16 schools had signed, stating they would stick together through at least 2001, that didn't sit well with his colleagues.

After all, if you're going to take someone to court, why let them know in advance? That would be like Jeff Horton telling everyone about the first 20 plays he's going to run in UNLV's football opener against Northwestern and it appears in print, so Wildcats coach Gary Barnett can react to them.

So the other WAC presidents told Mortimer to shut up while SMU's Gerald Turner tried to soft-peddle the litigious line to the media.

Too late. The discontent clearly is evident, especially in Honolulu.

Ultimately, the new league is going to have at least two bowl ties, the Holiday Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl. It likely will have a basketball TV contract with ESPN, which could mean the WAC losing its spot on Big Monday.

The WAC will already be losing its football title game once the league splits, which means $1 million down the tubes. Its basketball tournament may not be as lucrative because most of the glamour schools are leaving.

So it's little wonder the remaining eight are circling the wagons, trying to keep the renegades from stealing what assets remain.

And that's why you hear talk of going to court, of possible lawsuits, of economic impact studies and the like. Money, as it has been from the beginning of the WAC's expansion in 1994, is the driving issue here.

Commissioner Karl Benson confirmed that the other day when he said, "The presidents are concerned about protecting their interests."

And that's why there's so much bitterness. You're the president of a university that just saw his financial nest egg reduced. How do you think that's going to sit with your boosters and alumni? How are you going to make up the difference when it comes time to pay the bills? How sympathetic will the state legislature be when you go to it hat-in-hand, asking for more support?

These presidents don't like being put in such a compromising position. That's why they're angry and bitter. Hell hath no fury like a WAC president scorned.