Dear Mountain West Conference Fans:

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006 | 7:47 a.m.

Editor's note: Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson posted the following letter on the conference Web site urging fans to get involved in the going-nowhere-fast negotiations with Cox Cable and satellite TV providers. Sun columnist Ron Kantowski begged to differ .

Aug. 15, 2006

Dear Mountain West Conference Fans:

IT'S NOW TIME FOR YOU TO GET INTO THE GAME! As you know, the Mountain West Conference and its member institutions have embarked on an exciting new television adventure with CSTV, Comcast and the mtn. You've been wondering what you can do to help and when you can get started? Now is your opportunity.

The mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network - the brand-new sports and lifestyle network from Comcast and CSTV, is the first-ever 24-hour sports network devoted exclusively to a single collegiate athletic conference. Included in 2006-07 are 30 football games and more than 60 men's basketball games. Please visit our Web site for more information at www.themtn.tv.

Broad distribution for the mtn. is critical to ensuring that you can see all the Mountain West action, including the upcoming start of the football season. This network will capture the passion and excitement across all sports that make the Mountain West Conference and its schools among the best in the country.

Currently, the mtn. will be available on Comcast Cable in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico when it launches on September 1. You need to help us make sure it will also be available to satellite subscribers and on those cable systems that have not yet agreed to carry the mtn.

Whether cable providers and satellite companies decide to carry a particular channel is largely a consumer-driven decision. This is where you come in. While negotiations are ongoing, you can help us "turn up the volume" by letting your cable or satellite company know that you as a subscriber want to see the mtn.

Please call your local television provider today and tell them you want the mtn. The satellite company numbers for you to call are listed below. If you are a cable subscriber, just check your bill or the phone book to find the number. Don't be deterred if the person you talk to may not know about the mtn., since it doesn't launch until September 1. You can educate them. And, be sure the customer service representative forwards the following specific request to their supervisor:

Please add the mtn. to my cable or satellite lineup on the lowest tier possible.

Thanks for your support!

Aug. 23, 2006

Dear Craig:

IT'S NOW TIME FOR YOU TO GET A CLUE! As you know,

The mtn. is a brand new sports and lifestyle network that, like CSTV, is not available in Las Vegas and San Diego - you know your two marquee cities with the bright lights and the sandy beaches. Because CSTV, which has been bought by CBS, apparently would rather show Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt or similar games featuring SEC also-rans, you apparently have no recourse but to show 30 football games - including seven involving our beloved Rebels - on the Wayne's World Channel - er, the mtn.

Broad distribution for the mtn. is critical to ensuring that we can see all the Mountain West action. Last year all we needed to do is tune to one of the ESPNs or Channel 6. As I write this, only one Rebels game (Texas Christian University on Nov. 4) will be available to cable and satellite subscribers in Las Vegas. Last year, virtually the whole season was.

You say the mtn. will be available in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. You say you need us to make sure it will also be available to satellite subscribers and on those cable systems that have not yet agreed to carry the mtn. I say you need to spend some of that $82 million you made on this cash grab and send us plane tickets to Salt Lake City or Albuquerque so we can watch the games.

Whether cable providers and satellite companies decide to carry the mtn. is largely driven by average football fans deciding whether they'd rather watch Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt or San Diego State vs. UNLV. Unfortunately, this is where you lose. Most fans in our markets, sad to say, would rather watch "Mr. Ed" reruns on Nick at Nite than the Aztecs and Rebels on Craig at Day. Had you done your homework, you would have known that you wouldn't have a leg to stand on in these negotiations that are supposedly ongoing.

So please call ESPN today and tell them you didn't mean it.

Thanks for nothing!

Sincerely,