76 Comments
Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

Mark me down in the "loathe" column. I'll never forgive UCLA and USC. I hope they are miserable in the Big Ten and its blows up in their face.

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He seems like a snake in the grass. Bald face lied to PAC 12 commish while smiling and shaking his hand and talking about solidarity. Came in made alot of money, not giving a shit about who he hurt and traditions he destroyed and then left in the night. Carrie definitely earned her money, that dude sucks.

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I would hardly call Warren's stint with the Big 10 "tenure". More like a ripoff. He sees change as an opportunity. That would be an opportunity for him to cash in. Poaching teams from another conference does nothing for college football except destroy tradition and rivalries. Tv money? Coverage is now so screwed up and costly for consumers that it will eventually lead to less total viewership. IMHO.

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Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

If she's married to Chuck, who is a legend at the UofA, I worked there for almost three years in the Athletic Department, then her allegiance to the 'Cats comes after the money.

I'm a capitalist, but even I wouldn't have done to the Pac-12 what she did.

I love Chuck, but it's got to be awfully uncomfortable at some level to have your wife be part of the knee-capping of the Pac-12. Especially for Arizona, we only got in because of Arizona State back in '78. And Chuck is a huge part of the lore of Arizona football.

Bear Down.

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Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

How do the Carries of the sports world get to where they are?

I weep for the future

GO DAWGS

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Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

Am I mistaken, or was it suggested he be on the “short list” to replace Larry Scott? Hmm. Looks like we all got jobbed. Maybe.

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Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

Hopefully George has her cell number.

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Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

LOL; 'no handshake deals.'

IMO this guy was 'gracefully' forced out.

He completely screwed up the season of COVID. Adding SC and UCLA is bottom line nice as is the no-brainer media deal that a high school grad could have negotiated with FOX taking the lead, but I have to believe that many the senior administrators at B1G schools were not happy with how Warren lied to both the Pac-12 and ACC Commissioners

Especially, with him lying to ACC Commish Jim Phillips who had a long run at Northwestern and was supposedly the 2nd choice when Warren was hired. (And could easily flip from the ACC to the B1G as the new B1G commish.)

Bully for the lady PR expert. But her involvement did not stop the flak Warren took over COVID and other issues. He ran the conference in name only; Ohio State AD Gene Smith is the power behind the B1G throne.

I'm hoping GK pulls a terrific media deal rabbit out of his hat and adds SDS, Fresno, UNLV, SMU, UTSA and Tulane while changing to a formula of not everyone gets an equal piece of the media pie.

Stand pat at 10 teams and we can kiss the Pacific Conference good-bye.

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I think Kevin Warren is leaving while the leaving is good, and I wasn't surprised at all. I think UCLA and USC will both learn that there's not enough money to overcome geography; their athletes will grow to really dislike it, too, and it will affect their recruiting. Like many jobs that people take because the money is good--the yoke of the job often makes them realize that the money just isn't worth it for some things. The travel is going to be the killer, and the Big10 commissioner would have to deal with the problems, too--because they're going to regret it. I look for both schools' to turn over the decisionmakers, and the replacements to undo their move.

His legacy will eventually be the flawed expansion of the Big10 to the west. And--I could not believe that the Bears' press release included the word "integrity" in describing Warren. That word is inappropriate.

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Jan 12, 2023·edited Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

John, edit alert. The paragraph that starts with "His words?" The last sentence, then or than? Also, the last sentence in the second to last paragraph appears to be missing a few words. Just trying to be helpful but let me know if you would rather I wasn't. I'm ok with that. I can be a little OCD and at the same time miss stuff like that in my own writing. Keep up the good work!

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I believe you need to change the line "Cecil worked with the commissioner in front of last June’s announcement that UCLA and USC were joining the Pac-12" to the Big 10.

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Jan 12, 2023Liked by John Canzano

From the knucklehead dinosaur: a) love the inside stuff, go John go! b) read all the comments, everyone is an English 101 teacher now? c) with regards to the story and situation, the more appropriate appraisal remains: "it's Chinatown, Jake." (for those too young to have a clue, get the old movie "Chinatown" and watch it. The quote is the last line of a movie which has a plot line like college football. The line was spoken by Jake Gittes' (Jack Nicholson) partner, and was the last line of the movie which defined it all. You are welcome, Charlie

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A big attraction to college football has always been that it was counterpoint to the big-money glitz of the NFL. Those days are over and I'm just waiting for the next realignment, when the SEC joins the NFC and the AFC in the NFL. They might as well.

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You can polish a you-know what all you want. When you're done, it's still a you-know-what.

I firmly believe the SoCal schools will regret their decisions, especially UCLA, which is Horace Stoneham's Giants to O'Malley's Dodgers in this scenario.

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The Willie Taggart of commissioners right there. Let’s see if he lasts as long at the bears as Taggart did at FSU.

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We have become a culture where it's all about the money. Product, people and integrity are handmaidens to the money. There's good change and bad change. But what has happened to college sports (football) is bad change. Most of the kids are not capable of commanding a mega-NIL deal. They get lost in the carousel of coaches and players. And most colleges can't compete with the wealthiest schools. While it's great to see some high school prospects touting their GPA, are they really going to college for an education or as a steppingstone to the big money?

There has to be a way to change all of this so it's fair to the kids, the schools and to the sport. But it doesn't seem like there's any real effort to do more than nibble around the edges. Money stands in the way.

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