Canzano: Big Ten boss isn't selling Kool-Aid
A one-on-one conversation with Tony Petitti
LAS VEGAS — The commissioner of the Big Ten Conference popped open a can of Coke and poured it into a plastic cup filled with ice on Tuesday afternoon. In case you’re wondering, Tony Petitti’s not drinking Kool-Aid.
Earlier in the day, he spoke to the media and fielded questions in a third-floor event room at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Petitti made a brief statement, then opened a short question-and-answer period. I sat down with the commissioner later that afternoon in a lengthy one-on-one interview.
I had questions. Among them, does Petitti believe what he’s selling when it comes to automatic qualifiers and the College Football Playoff? Or is he peddling a narrative that has an alternate purpose? And does he care what the public thinks?
Petitti is the son of a New York City cop. He grew up hearing his father leave the house for a graveyard shift as part of a task force that worked the toughest neighborhoods in a dangerous city.
What did he learn from his father?