[College Sports News]

CHICAGO (AP) -- Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany said cable TV giant Comcast should apologize for remarks that he claimed were "intended to denigrate institutions and teams" in his conference.

The Big Ten and Comcast are at odds over the price of the new network and whether it should be offered on basic cable.

In a press release, Comcast said the network will show "second and third-tier sporting events," called it "a niche sports channel" and added: "Indiana basketball fans don't want to watch Iowa volleyball, but the Big Ten wants everyone to pay for their new network."

Delany took exception during a conference call with reporters on Thursday - the one-year anniversary of the day the Big Ten announced plans to form the network.

"In the Midwest, when you're talking about a women's sports team, you talk about them with respect," Delany said. "They're not second tier. Certainly, games at Michigan and Penn State and Ohio State - I don't care who the opponent is, those are not second-tier games. To the extent that those remarks were intended to denigrate institutions or teams or, in particular the women's volleyball team at Iowa, I think they ought to be rethought. I think if clarifications are necessary, that's fine. And really, if they were intended to denigrate, there ought to be an apology."

Rich Ruggiero, a Comcast spokesman for the greater Chicago region, said the company was simply stating fact - that ABC and ESPN get the top games - and "was not denigrating anybody."

Big Ten Commissioner Wants Apology from Comcast

[Lefty Noob]

Delany can be offended all he wants, but the dude from Comcast is right. The Big Ten Network is a niche channel if I ever saw one.