Villanova: Never forgive, never forget

With Temple in the BE, Villanova  basketball now becomes as irrelevant as DePaul.

The definition of  charade is an absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.
I've never seen a more apt word describing the press conference to introduce Temple as the newest Big East member a couple of weeks ago.
Don't let Villanova being at the table confuse you.
The part of the press conference (really, too much) that promoted Villanova's involvement in this was a complete charade.
And Temple should never forget that.

Villanova resident Andy Reid will be rooting for the Owls.

Villanova fought tooth and nail to keep Temple out of the Big East in football, basketball and hop-scotch (if the BE offered hop-scotch).
In early October, the Owls were all set to be introduced as a new member but, as Lenn Robbins of the New York Post reported, the "conference call deteriorated into 'Nova bashing Temple" and the Wildcats were able to form a voting block of Big East Catholic schools (St. John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Providence, DePaul) that denied Temple a spot at the Big East table.
According to our sources, Seton Hall and St. John's decided to break away from that block a little over a month ago and the writing was on the wall. Villanova no longer had the votes to block Temple.
Villanova already had taken a huge public relations' hit in the Philadelphia area over the last five months for blocking Temple and decided to show up at the press conference and call this its own idea.
Liars.
Although BOT trustees' member Lewis Katz was effusive in his praise of Villanova, you could see at times the look of utter amazement on his face at some of the things coming out of the mouth of Villanova president, the Rev. Peter Donahue.

If I was Monangai (No. 26) ,I'd keep my head on a swivel 8/31

I like being in the Big East, but I'm not buying the charade.
Nor should any Temple person. Villanova fans took great pride at coming over to Owlscoop.com and delighting in the demise of the Temple basketball Owls and taking swipes at Fran Dunphy, a guy I consider a great coach, man and representative of Temple University. I've met Dunph only once and that was for a brief period of five seconds or so in the concourse of Lincoln Financial Field, but there is no bigger fan of the man and the coach out there than I am. Temple is blessed to have Fran Dunphy and Steve Addazio as coaches of its two flagship sports programs.
The loss to South Florida was no more his fault than it was Al Golden's (and I'm pretty sure Al Golden had nothing to do with it). Dunphy can't make Ramone Moore take it to the basket when Moore seemed totally disinterested to beat an overmatched defender. He can't make Juan Fernandez shoot. He had nothing to do with Khalif Wyatt  being called for an ill-timed technical foul.
But Villanova's days of delight are a precious few now.
"I want you to come out to (Lincoln Financial Field) and see us kick Villanova's butt again," said Katz, who came out of that press conference as a star in my mind.
Daz, consider that an order, not a request. The only knees the Owls should take in that game should be the post-game prayer, thankful for an 88-0 win.
When it comes to Villanova, never forgive and never forget.

What should Temple do?

You've heard the phrase by now so many times that you might recognize it by its four-letter abbreviation:
WWJD?
What Would Jesus Do?
It's a reminder of a moral imperative on how to do the right thing.

"What would I do, Fr. Peter?
 State your  case, but  I certainly would not run down Temple
University. As Donovan McNabb said to T.O,
 keep their name out of your mouth.
I say welcome TU in with open arms.
That's what I would do."

Nobody at Villanova consulted that checklist before trying to run down Temple University for the last week on a Big East conference call. At the time, according to reports in the New York Post and the Boston Globe, Temple appeared to be a shoe-in for all-sports membership. Three days later, Temple was an afterthought. It was not hard to see why. Rather than promote its own name, Villanova _ according to well-placed sources _ spent the better part of three days on the conference call running down Temple.
It lined up opposition for Temple for all sports membership, mostly from its fellow WWJD schools, like Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall and St. John's.  The WWJD schools said, basically: "Well, you are against them joining in all sports. We're against them joining in basketball. Why don't we just conspire to keep them out altogether."
Villanova: "Err, yeah, OK."
So Villanova destroyed about a 100-year relationship with a fellow city institution to keep its tenuous spot in a tenuous conference.
(There's no maybes there. Villanova declared War on Temple with this Pearl Harbor sneak attack and Temple, in its righteous might, will gain the inevitable triumph so help it God. Apologies to FDR.)
Speaking of God, can you imagine Jesus getting on the phone and saying, "Don't let those chumps associate with us."
No, he'd welcome them with open arms.
The more important question now is: What Should Temple Do?
Or WSTD?
I listened to a lot of possibilities in that area both pre- and post-game on Saturday, ranging from holding a press conference lambasting them to canceling this year's basketball game and next year's football game to suing Villanova and the Big East.
All interesting suggestions from good, well-meaning, people.
It's a tough call either way, but I say Temple is doing the right thing by staying quiet and working behind the scenes, which I've been assured that it is.
Put it this way.
The chances of Temple football finishing the regular season 10-2 currently is a better than 50/50 shot.
If that happens, Temple becomes a national story.
There's no conference in the country that would not want a 10-2 team coming off consecutive 9-3 and 8-4 seasons.
There's no conference in the country that would not want the fourth-largest TV market in the country that offers a team with demonstrated and documented TV ratings success over a three-year period.
WWJD?
Villanova failed that test over the last seven days and I don't think even confession absolves them of that sin.
WSTD?
Temple is passing it right now.

Al Golden talks Temple football

Al Golden may be gone, but he has not forgotten Temple.

Read that headline and you might just shrug your shoulders.
Al Golden has spent much of the last five years talking Temple football, so that might not be news.

'Obviously I think Temple's a better fit. ...I think clearly we began the process of establishing you can recruit, and there's so many great things that have occurred at Temple University. I think they're worthy of taking that next step'
Al Golden
on Temple
and the Big East

There was never a more tireless promoter of the program than AG and that was one of his many, many good qualities.
If some kid who had an internet radio podcast wanted to talk Temple football with him, Golden would give the kid five minutes of his valuable time.
Rivals.com radio, scout.com recruiters, Golden would talk to them all.
The reason that headline, though, is news today is that Al Golden is talking Temple football for the first time in five months, basically.
In a 40-minute opening introductory press conference as the head coach at the University of Miami, Al Golden did not mention Temple once.
Not a big deal to some, but a big deal to me.
That's why I was heartened to read this Golden nugget, courtesy of Octoberproject, a neighbor of our good friend Dave "Fizzy" Weinraub, a former Temple football great.
In it, Golden is asked what he thinks the addition of Villanova would mean to the Big East.
He basically said to forget Villanova, that Temple would add a lot more value to that conference.
From TV ratings to increased attendance to the overall perception of the program, Golden certainly added to that value.
By making comments like those AG made recently, old habits like talking up Temple football seem to be hard for Al Golden to break and that's a good thing.