Mountain West commish a guiding force

Craig Thompson heard the boos. He read the angry e-mails. And, of course, he was aware of the websites that – in a virtual world filled with anonymous vitriol – inevitably sprout whenever there is discontent.

“At the time, my son was in high school at Lewis-Palmer,” the Mountain West Conference commissioner said last month, while reflecting on the struggles his league’s television network – The mtn. – had gaining traction.

“And on occasion when they had breaks and they were in the computer room, he’d call and say, ‘Hey, Dad, there’s two more firecraigthompson.coms that came up today.’”

Much has changed for Thompson and the MWC in the past few years.

Once the scapegoat for television distribution troubles, Thompson now is heralded as a crusader for the little guys, the man leading the fight to right the injustices of the Bowl Championship Series and the leader who helped the MWC navigate the choppy waters of conference realignment this past summer.

“I know he took a lot of heat,” said San Diego State president Stephen Weber, who was involved in the hiring of Thompson when the MWC was formed in 1999. “But then on the other side of your juxtaposition of having turned it around and being a champion for the (MWC earning automatic-qualifying status in the) BCS, that’s absolutely right.”

Humble beginnings

Thompson grew up in Southwest Minnesota and was a three-sport athlete at Redwood Falls High, playing football and basketball and running track. He was a tight end in football and was “the proud second-leading receiver my senior year with three catches. … We were kind of a running team. I was labeled a tight end, but I was a third tackle.”

He went on to Minnesota where he competed in one track event before deciding he “probably wouldn’t earn a living running track.”

Nearing graduation, Thompson toyed with the idea of becoming a sports reporter – at one point he was a stringer for UPI, earning $20 per game covering his beloved Minnesota Twins. But he went into sports information instead, working in that field for about 10 years. In 1987, he became the commissioner of the American South Conference, and four years later, the commissioner of the Sun Belt when the leagues merged.

When teams split from the Western Athletic Conference to form the Mountain West Conference in the late 1990s, Thompson was selected to run the league.

“We had initial choices of old, worn-out folks,” Weber said. “But Craig was the first choice for all of us. He was someone open to new ideas.”

That was apparent when he guided the league through the addition of TCU. But it became especially clear when the league bolted ESPN.

The decision to leave came when the network began renegotiations five years into its seven-year deal with the conference. The MWC had played some Thursday games for the network and helped start the tradition of college football games on that night. But during renegotiations, ESPN told the MWC it would have to start playing Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The league’s board of directors said no way.

The mtn.

One of the solutions Thompson presented was creating a network just for the conference. The league’s presidents voted for that course of action, and The mtn. was born. It allowed the conference to play most of its games on Saturday – traditional for college football games – and the bold move was the precursor for the Big Ten Network. But for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, the network was not picked up by satellite companies, and it was available only on select cable systems inside the conference footprint.

“We needed a new model, and the new model was our own network,” Thompson “And it’s offered us four times the exposure, it’s offered us a 70-something percent rights increase, but the challenge was not everybody that wanted it could get it.”

As MWC associate director for communications Javan Hedlund pointed out, the decision to create a network for the league was made by the presidents. But Thompson became the lightning rod for criticism by fans and the media.

“It became kind of personal, ‘Craig Thompson made the dumbest decision going,’” Thompson said. “Well, I don’t have a vote. … I have some influence, I hope. They ask me for solutions to problems, I give them several, and they choose one, two or three or none of the above.”

Thompson admitted he took some of the negativity home, and Hedlund said the television distribution struggles weighed heavily on him.

But despite the venom from fans – he was booed while presenting the MWC football championship trophy to BYU in 2006 – Thompson continued to believe the league was on the right track as he campaigned for wider distribution. Thompson credited his wife Carla and children Ted and Emma for support.

“He fought tooth and nail, night and day, 24/7 for the TV contract,” Air Force athletic director Hans Mueh said. “But you can’t make it happen. It had to fall into place. And when it finally did, I know he breathed a sigh of relief.”

Indeed, in early 2008, The mtn. struck a deal with DirecTV, giving fans across the country the opportunity to see the network. It’s also now available on 25 cable systems.

Just as Thompson was being vindicated for the television struggles, he became more vocal about another cause – making the MWC an automatic-qualifying BCS league.

Armed with numbers that back up the MWC’s strong case, Thompson has argued for his league tirelessly and all over the country – including on Capitol Hill. While the league will gain inclusion in the BCS only by continuing to perform well on the field, Thompson’s efforts certainly have helped the Mountain West become a more recognizable brand nationally.

Thompson had another huge issue to deal with this summer when rumors of massive conference realignment swirled. Thompson guided the MWC with a steady hand, adding Boise State and its rising power of a football program to the league just before losing Utah to the Pac-10.

Here to stay

With his recent successes, Thompson has been courted by several other conferences, and – as Weber points out – “there’s no commissioner job in the country that won’t have his name on the list.”

But as the MWC prepares to begin its 12th season, Thompson, whose career has taken him all over the country, said he might not leave Colorado Springs.

He admits there is a sense of pride in building the league from the ground up – and for being the constant in a league that has known much change. Since the MWC’s inception, the nine league schools have gone through 25 presidents/superintendents, 40 athletic directors (including interims), 24 football coaches and 28 men’s basketball coaches.

“I feel a strong commitment to the Mountain West Conference, and we started this league,” he said. “I like what we’ve done in 11 years, and I think we’ve got a good future.”

For those reasons – and because his work on television and the BCS is not done – Thompson said this job could be “a career-ending position.”

“He’s had other offers,” Mueh said. “I think Craig is very loyal to this conference. He has seen it grow. He is – really – the face of the Mountain West Conference.”