Canzano: After the Pac-12 goes dark ... and other Monday Mailbag questions
Oregon football, Caitlin Clark, Track, TV, goats and more...
The Pac-12 Conference as we knew it ended on a called third strike at 12:33 a.m. ET on Monday in Kentucky.
Oregon State’s baseball team outlasted its Pac-12 peers. The final breath of the 108-year-old conference was taken in the blasted Eastern Time Zone by a university now faced with the climb of its life. In a twist of irony, the Beavers played beyond every other Pac-12 team competing in every other sport.
What were your first thoughts after the final out?
Mine included Pac-12 greats such as Jackie Robinson, Bill Walton, John Elway, Jim Plunkett, Reggie Bush, Ronnie Lott, Marcus Mariota, Dan Fouts, Steven Jackson, Terry Baker, Sabrina Ionescu, Sonny Sixkiller, Napoleon Kaufman, Cam Rising, John Olerud, Drew Bledsoe, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and a host of others.
I also thought about lousy leadership, rotten governance, the nauseating influence of media companies, greed, gluttony, arrogance, a gaggle of inept university presidents, and bumbling commissioners Larry Scott and George Kliavkoff.
I also thought about geographical bias, population density in the United States, and what that has to do with conference consolidation. Let’s face it, when it came to shuttering one of the Power Five conferences — five shrinking to four — it should be no surprise that the Pacific Time Zone got the shaft. That’s not new.
Never mind that the Pac-12 has more NCAA titles than any other conference. Never mind that it produced more Olympians. Never mind that it had attractive TV markets (see: LA, Bay Area, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City, etc.). The forces working behind the scenes sniffed out the vulnerability in the ecosystem and systematically went to work.
An athletic director at one of the “Four Corners” schools messaged me in August, just 48 hours before the conference’s implosion: “Peers from other conferences are trying to take the league along with TV executives trying to own it all.
“Not healthy.”
The Big Ten had already snatched the Los Angeles TV market and, in the eleventh hour of the Pac-12’s overcooked negotiation, Fox added the two brands it coveted in the Pacific Northwest. The Big 12 and ACC picked over what was left, or at least what their media partners agreed to pay for.
Still, here was Oregon State baseball on Sunday night, a three-time national champion, fighting for one more inning of life. That called third strike slammed the door, not just on the OSU baseball season, but on what was at its core, a beautiful conference with some problematic leadership issues.
I’ve written several columns in recent months about the “lasts” in the Pac-12. The last football season. The last championship game. The last baseball tournament and final Pac-12 Network broadcast. Sunday marked another last.
The last… last?
Because now, we’ll get some firsts. First Big Ten and Big 12 football games for some schools. First ACC games for Stanford and Cal. And the first official day of a new quest for WSU and OSU.
I spoke with the Cougars interim athletic director, Anne McCoy, last week. She said something new as she talked about a possible Pac-12 rebuild or maybe a merger of some kind or maybe even one day joining another conference.
McCoy told me: “It’s time to turn the chapter and to be excited for where our future will lie.”
Thanks to all who submitted questions to this week’s mailbag. If you are a paid subscriber, thank you for your support. If you’d like to share my work please consider a gift subscription for a friend or family member. And thanks to all who donate subscriptions to seniors on fixed budgets.
This week’s mailbag…
Q: On the topic of realignment, do the conferences (and probably more importantly, the TV networks) place any emphasis on the ‘other sports’ such as baseball and Olympic sports, or are football and basketball the sole draws? — @sacramentoblake
A: Football amounts to 85 percent of the value, and it could be even greater with some schools. It’s not that the ‘other’ sports aren’t valuable, it’s just that football games drive massive, concentrated audiences.
ESPN recently paid $920 million for the rights to 40 NCAA championships over the next eight years. That includes 21 women’s events and 19 men’s events. Included in the deal are championship coverage of all rounds for women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, women’s gymnastics, softball, baseball, and FCS football.
By comparison, when the Big Ten announced its football media rights deal in the summer of 2022, Commissioner Kevin Warren touted it as a seven-year deal worth more than $7 billion. It may end up being less than that in the end. The Big Ten had to give some money back to Fox, but you get the picture.
Q: Team USA women play their first two basketball matches at noon PT on Monday and Thursday and at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. I keep hearing putting Caitlin Clark on the team would mean ratings. Would we really take the afternoon off TWICE to watch her on mop-up duty? Are we getting up early? Really? — @UnclePortland
A: I won’t deny the massive marketing appeal of adding Caitlin Clark to the Olympic team. She’s a big draw and I think viewers would have watched. But I think USA Basketball probably did her a favor by leaving her off the team.
If the goal was bringing eyeballs to the sport this summer, it’s a total failure. Clark would have made the roster far more interesting, but not better. She’s not ready. Her time will come. And I’ll bet some in Clark’s camp are secretly celebrating that she’ll get the time off. Unless, of course, she becomes a late and tactful addition after an injury.
Some of the league’s players are jealous of Clark’s celebrity despite the wonderful attention it brings to their league. Now, she gets to fly under the radar during the Olympics. She won’t suffer additional undeserved scrutiny and scorn from that petty band. All that said, I won’t watch the US women’s basketball team until it competes for a gold medal. I’m much more into other events and I suspect some others won’t tune in either.
Q: Think you need to continue to stick to men’s sports as you’re too far behind to understand women’s sports and for a father of daughters it’s sad you’re so late to the party! If you want to stick your head out who should Caitlin Clark have replaced on that roster? Have a great summer. — Hay Jim
A: Worst question ever. But have a great summer.
Q: If you could go to one Oregon football away game this season in the Big Ten, which would you choose? — @KenHollaren
A: Somehow, I don’t think this is a hypothetical question. The two that jump off the schedule at me are Michigan (Nov. 2) and Wisconsin (Nov. 16). Both are located in great towns. Both offer special stadium environments. You can’t go wrong. Say hi if you see me at the stadium.
Q: How can Oregon build a track and field cathedral and not have success there? — @pactenboy
A: There’s an old saying in theater — sometimes the stage is too big for the play. That said, it’s puzzling that a $270 million facility and the backing of Nike didn’t result in immediate NCAA Track and Field dominance in Eugene. Oregon has some soul-searching and work to do on that front. But track and field isn’t a revenue-generating sport and I doubt Division Street, Inc. is as upset as the running community is. If Nike cares, Oregon will get much better in the coming years. But if Nike only cares about improving the facility as a legacy play that helps keep the Olympic Trials around, we’ll find out.
Q: What’s happened to Track Town USA? Attendance looked weak for both Pac-12 and NCAA Championships. — @6537kenm
A: Feels like the novelty of the new venue wore off under the glare of the sun last summer. Or maybe the track calendar is just overcrowded right now. In the last month, Hayward Field hosted the state high school meet, the Prefontaine Classic, and the NCAA championships. Still to come later in June are the Nike Outdoor Nationals and the Olympic Trials. Most people can only sit in the sun for so long.
Q: Are you going to be covering the Olympic trials in Eugene? — David Carson
A: I’m not as interested in the day-to-day event coverage and results as I am into the people involved. I’ll write some track and field. I’ll go where the good stories are and it feels like some of them will be in Eugene.
Q: Suppose Oregon State and WSU were going to add eight G5 teams to their conference. Who would be the top choices? For me: SDSU, Boise State, Memphis, Tulane, USF, UConn, Colorado State, and UNLV. — @IceDevilCA
A: I’m only adding six unless you put a gun to my head. I prefer to wait and see what happens in the ACC and the rest of the landscape. But San Diego State would be at the top of my “want” list. The geography works and you’ve got a toe back in Southern California. After that, I’ll take Boise State, Colorado State, UNLV, Fresno State, and Air Force.
That maintains geographical integrity and gets the Pac-12 to the NCAA’s minimum of eight conference members. If Stanford and Cal are eventually available and interested, I’d want some room to add them, but I wonder if the Bay Area schools would be caught dead alongside the members I’ve noted.
For those who think that OSU and WSU should just accept relegation and join the MWC, I’d offer that they’d be surrendering more than $200 million in assets by doing so. That would be dumb. Under the circumstances, you’re either rebuilding or accepting a no-brainer invitation to a P4 conference.
Q: Do you plan to check out local rodeos this summer? — Gary Warren
A: I just saw an awful video of the 84th Sisters Rodeo, where a bull named “Party Bus” hopped the fence and hospitalized four people. I hope everyone is OK. I’m interested in people, so I’d love to find and write a fun story at a rodeo this summer. But I’ll now do so with my head on a swivel.
Q: How were the goats? — Stephen Smith
A: For those who missed my Saturday column, my 10-year-old daughter spent some time in our backyard with four goats as part of her birthday weekend. The goats stayed for an hour. The 10-year-old loved every minute. The goat handler was a nice guy, however, he said something I did not want to hear on his way out.
“Your backyard is plenty big enough for a goat or two,” he said as he loaded them up. After he said it, I turned and refused to make eye contact with my daughter.
Q: Has the plug been pulled from life support for good on Major League Baseball in Portland? — Dave Vecsi
A: The Portland Diamond Project is in discussions with city leaders about purchasing the Red Tail Golf Course property. The MLB to PDX group has hired a consultant who is experienced with closing stadium land deals. I’m also told there might be a second stadium site that recently surfaced as an alternate possibility.
Jim Etzel, the CEO of SportOregon, told me: “They have to be able to control land to be a viable player beyond this year. Even if they acquire land it doesn’t guarantee it, but it will put them in the game as a real player.”
Q: Any word on the Trail Blazers plans at their Tualatin training facility since they bought the property next door recently? — Daniel M. Potter
A: How about a WNBA training facility? I’ll ask around and report back. But that was what popped into my mind. The problem is, that nothing of significance is happening with the Trail Blazers until the franchise gets new ownership.
It’s all window dressing until then. I hope that the league’s television deal will serve as a motivating factor for the trustee to release her grip on the franchise. I wonder, however, if the eight-figure annual management fee Jody Allen receives for managing her brother’s estate is a bigger factor.
Portland would make a great NHL town, for example. But to bring big-league hockey to the city, you need a focused, engaged, ownership group at Moda Center. That doesn’t happen, either, without a change in ownership.
Q: What do you think about seasonal awards for the best college teams in every sport that don’t have a $100 million athletic budget? Call it the “real world division”. — JDCascades
A: Are you telling me you live in the real world? What is that like? I must hear more about this place. Seriously, I don’t think the small colleges and under-funded programs would mind. Currently, you can pick the good teams in all NCAA sports with great accuracy based on budget and the power of the school’s NIL collective.
On that note, a big congratulations to Harvard, which finished in a tie for 16th in the men’s division of the NCAA Track and Field Championships. I’d argue that Harvard may not be part of the “real world” either, but it had the best men’s track team in the country that didn’t come from a P4 conference.
Q: Over the past 10-plus years, who/what was worse, Angel Hernandez or Pac-12 officiating? Both were a travesty. — Rob Rosson
A: You asked and answered your very own question. I don’t mind.
Have a great week everyone…
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"Worst question ever." LOL!! Made my morning
Glad to hear the goats were a hit. BTW, you are a great dad to your daughters.