Got back from the gym this morning and saw a text: “Stew for Big East commish.”

My first reaction was something along the lines of, “My word, they brought Bill on board? That’s his soft landing?” You know, because that seemed less preposterous than what actually happened.

Per Mr. McMurphy, the Big East presidents asked John Marinatto to resign. And Marinatto did, meaning the first time he did something right and on time was indeed his last official action.

In his words:

Our recent expansion efforts have stabilized the Conference for the long term, and we are likewise well positioned for our very important upcoming television negotiations. As a result, I felt this was the right time to step aside and to let someone else lead us through the next chapter of our evolution. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish and would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank both our membership and my staff for their unwavering encouragement, support and loyalty — especially during this past year. I am extremely confident about the future of this league that I love very much.

In Colin Dunlap’s words:

Marinatto should be charged w/ leaving scene of an accident. Akin to what he did. Involved in catasrophe, just drove home and went to bed.

I nevertheless call this preposterous because the Big East has its spring meetings next week. It was already going to be a good episode of  The Big Bang Theory. People would watch and laugh, for sure, but canning your commissioner right now adds a laugh track over top of it. Damn near all the stories written about the Big East and conference alignment/membership either talk directly about, or at least tiptoe around, how much drama and chaos the league has caused and endured. So what of next week?

That’s not going to change now, though I supposed the one note here is the long-alleged leverage the basketball schools held has been diminished. But this just looks bad and at a bad time. Who, for the sake of argument, is going to take Tom Jurich aside and try to talk him out of even thinking about leaving the Big East?

Beyond that, very important meetings among the BCS conferences are still to come that will determine the form this football playoff takes. You’d think the Big East, with its enormous league and not really a lot going for it apart from size and reach, might want a leader in the room.

The act itself is understandable, and probably overdue, but the timing? Sheesh.

The Big East presidents basically just showed up at my Ugly Sweater Christmas party … and brought along this delicious spread they’ve discovered called Nutella. And maybe they imbibed a bit along the way and they’re all hopped up on sugar, hence this action. Really, where have they been? Or better yet, what made them come to this (inevitable?) conclusion?

The biggest question: What now?