You had to believe this was eventually going to happen.  Big Ten representatives could only paint a positive picture of the Big Ten Network for so long, and eventually one of them was going to get fed up with defending them and unload.  Monday, the man that did just that was Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo.

"I think it has been a PR nightmare.  And, it has hurt all of us...we have so many things right now that we're trying to fight - the price of tickets, the economy of the state - and then we throw this at them...it bothers me."

Good.  It's about time someone spoke out on this.  It's an absolute joke how difficult it's become to see a game if you're a Big Ten fan when you have Time Warner cable.  And while the major cable companies need to bear some of the blame in this whole mess, the Big Ten Network couldn't possibly have handled the last 18 months any worse than they have.  They've demanded outrageous rights fees, and refuse to allow cable systems to put the network on a sports package tier.

BTN has been using absolutely deplorable techniques to try and sway public opinion, by using the revenue sport coaches as nothing more than shills for the network and having them tell cable subscribers 'call your cable company and tell them to carry the BTN, Go [insert team nickname here]'.  They went on and on about how the network would show more than just garbage games but wouldn't prevent the public from seeing all the biggest games (go ask anyone that tried to watch the OSU/Wisconsin football game how that worked out), but then took out full page ads in newspapers telling people in Big Ten markets about the games they're missing out on (here's a thought - maybe if you spent less money on full page ads, you'd be able to charge lower fees and get the network on the air).

Someone needs to explain how this network is staying afloat.  There's no way they're bringing in nearly the amount of money they need to survive, and they've got to be burning money faster than a Hillary Clinton staffer on a Dunkin' Donuts run (while I appreciate having women's volleyball in HD, I'm not really sure it's necessary - though maybe they could loan a couple HD trucks to CBS for the men's basketball tournament).  Plus, they've got a 20 year contract with the Big Ten conference, and this year they're obligated to pay the league $6.12 million.  Industry insiders said, when the idea was first floated, that the BTN either knew something they didn't, or they were making a colossal mistake.  We may soon find out who was right.

Tom Izzo's been one of my favorite college coaches for years.  He's a great recruiter, a top game manager, by all accounts is a great guy, and has some extremely cool friends over at Action 4 news.  He just moved up a few spots in my mind with this one.  You stay classy, Tom Izzo.