The USC / UCLA jump to the Big 10 is a mockery of college athletics. The vast majority of student athletes will never be professional athletes, but ordinary contributors to society. USC / UCLA seem to have forgotten that simple fact, and have abandoned the student moniker to pursue glory for the athletic department administrators. It is a pathetic commentary on the state of collegiate athletics.
My sons competed in the PAC-12, and are not professional athletes. They are like the majority — ordinary contributing members of society. Had they been required to forsake academics for excessive and unnecessary travel, they either would been forced to abandon their sports, take light loads and extra years on campus, or settle for suboptimal careers.
USC / UCLA athletic departments have made in quite clear that their student athletes are merely pawns in their pursuit of glory and dollars. Shame on them.
they are not pawns anymore; they can now be paid legally. football and basketball pay for all the sports. money talks and bs walks, and the pac-12 is anything but the conference of champions, to say the least. Big money runs the world, and it runs college sports. UCLA and USC were smart to take the extra $40 milion per year and leave the sinking pac-10. Chip Kelly and Lincoln Riley are two great proven college coaches. Give them the extra 40 million they will get for their schools in two years, and look out. They can buy any player they want. while they are still finishing high school. They can pay their parents, too. They can get all the best LA players, and with 40 million extra, can recruit with the SEC and Big-10. The rich get richer and extra travel can be paid for out of the extra 40 million. Wake up you trumpsters, get a covid shot. (I have only had five pfizer ones) and send more money to finish the wall that OBannon got convicted of stealing millions that he promised was for the wall; little Donny trump told him the wall would be done in 2020 and that covid was a hoax. Please vote blue and if you are a Husky, so sorry. Drink a cold beer for the first time in history at Husky stadium (started alcohol sales last year) and watch your purple dawgs lose tonight, and then get buried next week in Eugene! Pray Don James can be re-incarnated, but I was told he is in heaven and wondering what happened to the Huskies. GO DUCKS
cannot wait to see the you dub pups get buried in Autzen. You Huskies can now buy electric kool-aid in parking lot if you have a green card or USA passport, and your official dog pound badges! You can wear your thongs as it has not rained at Autzen since today. Guanteed 70 degress and blazing sunshine for the dogs and Ducks. It is only a 5.5 hour drive from Seattle to Autzen, and going home for you could be the best road trip of your life. Don James only won like 21 of 24 vs. the Ducks, and besides slick Rick Neuheisel, the Huskies have not had a decent coach in decades unless you count last year's master Jimmy Lake, or big bad Lamebright (sp) of the good old days. GO DUCKS, and please win by at least one point! NO DOGS ALLOWED IN EUGENE OREGON, or anywhere in OREGON, unless they have four legs.
Yeah, coaching has been abysmal for quite a while, ‘cept for Petersen. Hope DeBoer is the man to take us up to where we consistently belong
If today is “live in the past” day, rewind your Duck clock a few decades
Don’t quite understand the rest of your rant - must be above my pay grade
Wish I could be at Autzen this Saturday. This’ll be the first UO/UW clash I’ve missed at Autzen in quite awhile. One of the best venues in the PAC12 to be the visiting team
They have all been pawns forever. Don't be nieve. Other PAC 12 schools would jump at the extra 40 mil a year, yours included. It's all about the money and school pride.
the extra $40 million dollars per year than they will get can help all their sports. Football and basketball are only college sports that produce millions in revenue. Huge money rules the world and it rules sports on tv. ESPNs total value in billion of dollars is more than ALL TEAMS IN ALL SPORTS COMBINED. Dallas Cowboys top the list in value at about 8 billion. The lowly Portland Trailblazers, a totally continued train wreck, are allegedly woth 2 billion. Miss me with their record this year. They are coached by a guy that has a very suspect past regarding serious allegations and is a real moron. Paul Allen's sister never attented many Blazer games before Paul died. She does not understand the difference is a basketball or a football. She has no clue on running a pro football or basketball team. By her saying the Blazers are not for sale, and rejecting Phil Knight's $2 billion dollar offer, should tell you something. Allen's trust requires her to sell everything, but she maintains she can take her time. A vulcan is Seattle as Allen's close friend is suspect in my opinion. You do not turn down Phil Knight in a huge $2 billion dollar deal to save the Blazers unless you are clueless and Jody sure is. Blazers and Seahaks need new ownership, and Paul Allen never would have let these two teams sink so far so fast. I am a native Portlander and I dream of getting my city back. The Bureau of Land Management ruined my city, and sure hope racist Ms. Hardesy losses her bid to stay on the city council. Please get a covid shot ( I only have received 5 pfizer shots) and get your head out and vote blue on Tuesday. PLEASE
Points made in this morning‘s column are extremely valid and I believe have escaped the eyes and the ears those in charge of making decisions for UCLA and USC
Spectacular shot of Husky Stadium, by the way. I’ve got three Beaver Nation friends coming over for steaks, brews, and football tonight. Just sent ‘em your pic
The Huskies tonight in a monsoon at home in purple? Am a lifelong Oregonian and a Duck. Do root for the Beavs unless it is the civil war, or whatever they call it now. I predict the Huskies will barely win unless the rain and wind make them not show up. Beavs on road in Seattle has been a disaster for OSU for years. To all you Huskies; just wait a week until you go to Autzen. Don James is long gone, and the DAWGS are still a sub-par team. Ducks will bury the U dud puppies, and I hope it is a huge blow-out. Oregon, Utah, UCLA, and USC, are only decent teams in the pac-12. I would love to see the Huskies lose tonight and next week too! No pac-12 teams in final four again. it will take years to catch the SEC in football, unless Mt. . St. Helens blows up like 1980., this year.
Wish I could make the Husky/Oregon game; the Autzen Experience is one of my faves.
“Lifelong” Oregon fans are an aquired taste. The younger they are, the more limited their memory. A Washington victory next week is a longshot, at best, but that’s why we play the games!
Nah, Husky Stadium is where simply where the disaster has been evident (Mike Riley's latter years, and the smoldering ruins left by Gary Andersen), along with everywhere else the Beavers played during those years.
I attended UCLA as an undergrad, went to Michigan for my doctorate, then taught at UCLA during the Alcindor (of course later Kareem) years and have been shocked at their moving to the Big 10. But at least they are owning something that has been apparent for a long time: college sports is not for the student-athletes, but for the high-priced coaches and reputations of the colleges. And unless they are among the very few who manage to get to the pros, many end up with debilitating injuries later in life.
CFB/CBB at the P5 level; at least semi-pro sports.
The athletes who are going to suffer playing in the B1G are the non-revenue sport guys and gals and in some respects, CBB players both men and women.
Funny. The B1G has the dough but has largely flamed out in the basketball tournament and Ohio State is .500 in CFB appearances and Michigan and MSU were plastered in their 1 appearance. Baseball? The B1G is a non-entity. Golf? When's the last time the B1G won an NCAA golf title? T+F?
Again, the money is there because of huge #s of alumni/alumnae but the on field results kind of stink.
Thanks John, the Walton piece was very powerful. Sure hope UCLA reverses course and stays home. Tonight all eyes on how many turnovers this ‘atmospheric river’ causes Dawgs-Beavs!
college has not been about education for years. Is called huge money, and the professors have to be paid too. Sports revenue (football and basketball) pays for a lot of colleges bills. Very simple, money talks and bs walks.
glad you do not get it. please do not vote for trump again for number three try, unless you want to continue to be a loser boozer. had an old friend we called maverick but am sure it is not you; this guy is a democrat like me., and also has same college degree I have. did you pass your GED yet? I know where you can buy one. GO DUCKS
No. Not when it comes to big time P5 CFB and CBB. I happen to think this is unfortunate but big time CBB and CFB guys and CBB women are athlete-students.
That is not true. It is highly dependent on schools. That was supposed to be the difference between PAC12 and B1G vs SEC. SEC are jokes when it comes to academics with students. They have correspondence courses posing as academics. However PAC12 and B1G took a stand years ago to ensure that academics are an important part.
I find it also very saddening that B1G, by accepting USC and UCLA, is starting down a slippery slope of giving away one of their strongest qualities, standing fast towards a strong academic requirement to a part of the league.
I am a UCLA grad 3 years before Bill Walton. I traveled weekly for work coast to coast for 28 years. I lived the grind of travel and work, over 4 million miles of flying. I agree with Bill and the UCLA athlete you spoke to. You may be able to do 2 of the 3 but not all 3. Study, travel, sports; you cannot do all three. Something has to give. If UCLA does this, student athletes lose and it will be UCLA's loss. From my point of view the rest of the Pac-12 should be pouncing on this flaw if it manifests itself as a huge recruiting strategy for them.
Thanks John, the Walton piece was very powerful. Sure hope UCLA stays home. Tonight all eyes on how many turnovers this ‘atmospheric river’ causes Dawgs-Beavs!
Before moving down to Brentwood I spent 40 years in Fair Oaks, basically directly above Lake Natoma where the Pac 12 has made it's home for both men's and women's crew championships. It is one of the premier rowing lakes in the country and has also hosted the men's or women's NCAA championships every few years. Even though Cal (me '72) is a power I had never really gotten into it, but since it was a bike ride down the hill I would head down and get the best seat in the house across the lake where I could see farther up to the starting line than the spectators on the other side. I was blessed to see the Cal women beat Brown for the NCAA championship a few years back.
Well I have also ridden into the parking area and spoken to the crews and coaches the few days before the races. I once asked the Michigan coach when the NCAA's were here how they practiced and she said the had rowing machines inside the gym during winter so is it an wonder this is a coastal pursuit. I also asked one of the Pac-12 coaches why Lake Natoma and she said it is perfectly central to every school driving its boats there, a pre requisite to crew, and no matter which school the drive was not more than 500 or so miles....now I ask you folks how in the hell will UCLA and USC manage crew when they are visiting Michigan or Rutgers? What it probably means is that crew for them will die on the vine is my hunch...does anyone at these schools think or care about this?
I believe we have crossed the Rubicon in college athletics, the players are essentially mercenaries used to drive athletic department revenue streams. Why not stop the fiasco and declare the teams semi pro and the players the same.
I think this is coming? A Super League of around 40 teams. A player's union. Restriction on transfers. A salary cap and a HS draft for players who want to be directly paid.
Obviously a number of schools: CAL, Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, etc. are not going to go with an 'open' admissions policy.
I say Super League teams staying in their conference for all other sports except CFB (and probably CBB,) sharing Super League proceeds in some member with non-Super League conference members.
Size goes to size in big business and big time P5 CFB is big business.
Enjoy the game John. I am very anxious to see a close monsoon Pac-12 football Friday night game from the purple house. Loved your pic of Husky Stadium. Buy a beer on me; only 12 dollars for a tall cold one that you can take to your seat for first time ever! In the press box you might not freeze or get soaked. I predict a dog fight and would love to see the Beavers show up and not lose as they usually do in Seattle. Since it rains less in Corvallis than Seattle usually, the Beavos should not let heavy showers, crazy wind, and anything else, bother them. Is a big game for both teams, and as you know , home favorites in the pac-12 usually win and cover. OSU on the road is much different than in huge 25,000 seat Reser stadium. Huskies will be pumped to try and save their season, and Beavers too. Do not see a blow-out by either team, unless a typhoon hits Seattle or Mt. St. Helens blows for first time since 1980. Unless they are playing my Ducks, I always root for the Beavers. Probably because of being a native Oregonian. My black mini-panther kitty named Shadow almost died (again) from a severe blockage on Sunday morning., and has been in hospital all. week If I have to swim to pick him up tonight at six, I am prepared! Only a mile away to the vets office and he has been here, running my self-employed circus , for three years. He and I chose each other at a shelter in Sherwood, Or. , and he has been the best friend I have ever had. To add a pet from a shelter, and save them and vice versa, can and will enrich both of you! My primary Kaiser physician only has eight shelter rescue kitties, living with she and her sister. Her sister is a pet sitter, and the Dr. made my cat a certified service animal two years ago. Tonight, God willing, and through my very strong Christian faith of just 60 years (Methodist) I will be watching the Beavs and Huskies with Shadow! God Bless you and yours , and go Ducks!
Great work as usual, John. The glory years of Husky football are decades past, but Husky Stadium stands tall as one of the top stadiums in all of Power 5 football. Good luck to your Beavers tonight.
Well we are the last PAC 12 team to make the college playoffs, had 3 straight NY6 games. Won the North in 2020 but couldn’t go to the championship due to positive Covid tests for the team and had an off year last year under a horrible coach Jimmy Lake. Does that seem like “decades past”?
Point taken and agreed. Aside from Stanford game in 2016, Husky Stadium has been less than 3/4 full since the mid-1990's. Game day attendance is suffering throughout college football as a result of the rush to TV revenue. The stats don't lie.
I bought a 20 ounce ice cold beer in Husky stadium in 2021. It was only $12! The Ducks beat UW; my first in person victory in Seattle in about 10 tries. Alcohol in Husky Stadium! Rain and wind and cold did not affect me. All we Ducks did not sit down all day, , as the seats were soaked long before the afternoon game. You can buy beer and take it to your seat; you cannot do this is Eugene. I am looking forward to tonight and I am sure it will not be rainy, windy, and cold. The purple picture you posted Mr. Canzano was good. Hope to see the Huskies lose for the next two weeks, and slink back to where they belong, in the dog house! Go Ducks!
There are really two types of fans in Collegiate sports. Alumni and peripheral fans (those that live in proximity or just simply chose a team to root for). Great to have both, but the media, conferences and schools are focusing only one of the fan groups, the peripheral fan. While the peripheral fan beings in viewership, it is NOT the lifeblood of the school and sport. Alumni have a different attachment, and in the past the alumni had more pull... they are being all but ignored anymore.
GONZAGA IN THE NEW pAC-10? Miss me with Mark Few and his latest circus around his Drunk Driving conviction. The Zags play in one of the weakest league in college basketball. They have never won most of their big games. Put them in the Bill Walton conference of champions, Pac-12, and they would go about 50-50 and not make the NCAA final 64. They would water down the already weak Pac-12. Tell them to get a football team so they could be a real athletic program. San Diego St. has a stadium even smaller than the Beavers in Corvallis will have upon expansion of Reser. They would add nothing to the Pac-12 in football. The pac-12 is doomed because of lack of revenue to all schools, compared to the big boys, like the SEC and Big 10. Big money runs the world, and it runs sports on tv. College players and their families can now be paid above the table. Would you rather go to a big time school to play football, have your family taken care of, play a year and get paid again to join the NFL, or go to San Diego State and get nothing? College athletics are a big time business, and the alegedly good old days of college football are long gone. If you want to get a college degree, that is fine. Most top players want to play in the NFL or NBA, and I applaud scholar-athletes. Just face reality that football and basketball revenue funds all sports, and the rich get richer and the poor play in the Pac-12. Love Nike and Phil's Book Shoe Dog. Without the Knight's huge contributions to the U of O, their athletic facilities would not be there. Am sad, that as a 70 year old lifetime Duck fan, that the Pac-10 is sinking far and fast. Call it the Pac-12 if you want but it will be the pac-10 in two years. Take San Diego St. and Gonzaga and tell them to go find a new sand box to play in. Even with a big time lawyer, the Pac-12 cannot and will not force UCLA to limp home to LA and play in the pac-11. S____ walks and money talks. Get your head out if you think getting 30 million per year for each pac-12 school, versus only $70 million each per year in the Big-10 is a great deal for the pac-10 or pac-12 or call it what you want., is a great deal. Top atheletes in high school do not care about spending four or five years at studying, they want the big money that they can get for themselves and their parents NOW.; plus more when they jump to the pro level. They can transfer and play right away if their first school does not work out. GO DUCKS
Gonzaga Basketball is not unlike Boise State Football. Both are good teams and good programs that benefit from being the biggest fish in small ponds. They cruise through their conference schedule and go into the post season healthy and rested. They don't deal PAC-12 competition every single week, or twice a week in MBB. The Pac-12 conference schedule is about endurance, avoiding attrition, and having to show up for every single game. No Pepperdines, no Weber States.
A game against the Pac-12 is a big deal for both programs. For Pac-12 members, it's another week in which anyone can beat anyone.
If Boise State or Gonzaga had to play a full Pac-12 schedule, I think a lot of the luster and shine disappears from each.
good point John. There is a rain shadow in Seattle and they only got .2 of rain today. Here in PDX power is out in some areas and have had 2 inches of rain and counting. Hope you enjoy the game, I would love to see the alleged rain showers hit the Huskies tonight and next Saturday in Eugene. Loved the purple pic, and grab a tall ice cold beer on me. Alcohol in Husky stadium for first time ever and it started last year. Just $12 for a tall cold one that you can take to your seat. Press box might keep you warm and dry! GO BEAVERS AND DUCKS vs. the bad puppies.
When a writer makes a statement shows no evidence or even points to it. Its just an opinion with questionable credibility; what is “truth” without evidence?
The USC / UCLA jump to the Big 10 is a mockery of college athletics. The vast majority of student athletes will never be professional athletes, but ordinary contributors to society. USC / UCLA seem to have forgotten that simple fact, and have abandoned the student moniker to pursue glory for the athletic department administrators. It is a pathetic commentary on the state of collegiate athletics.
My sons competed in the PAC-12, and are not professional athletes. They are like the majority — ordinary contributing members of society. Had they been required to forsake academics for excessive and unnecessary travel, they either would been forced to abandon their sports, take light loads and extra years on campus, or settle for suboptimal careers.
USC / UCLA athletic departments have made in quite clear that their student athletes are merely pawns in their pursuit of glory and dollars. Shame on them.
they are not pawns anymore; they can now be paid legally. football and basketball pay for all the sports. money talks and bs walks, and the pac-12 is anything but the conference of champions, to say the least. Big money runs the world, and it runs college sports. UCLA and USC were smart to take the extra $40 milion per year and leave the sinking pac-10. Chip Kelly and Lincoln Riley are two great proven college coaches. Give them the extra 40 million they will get for their schools in two years, and look out. They can buy any player they want. while they are still finishing high school. They can pay their parents, too. They can get all the best LA players, and with 40 million extra, can recruit with the SEC and Big-10. The rich get richer and extra travel can be paid for out of the extra 40 million. Wake up you trumpsters, get a covid shot. (I have only had five pfizer ones) and send more money to finish the wall that OBannon got convicted of stealing millions that he promised was for the wall; little Donny trump told him the wall would be done in 2020 and that covid was a hoax. Please vote blue and if you are a Husky, so sorry. Drink a cold beer for the first time in history at Husky stadium (started alcohol sales last year) and watch your purple dawgs lose tonight, and then get buried next week in Eugene! Pray Don James can be re-incarnated, but I was told he is in heaven and wondering what happened to the Huskies. GO DUCKS
Donnie; four words, sir
“Lay off the Kool-Aid” 😎
GO DAWGS
cannot wait to see the you dub pups get buried in Autzen. You Huskies can now buy electric kool-aid in parking lot if you have a green card or USA passport, and your official dog pound badges! You can wear your thongs as it has not rained at Autzen since today. Guanteed 70 degress and blazing sunshine for the dogs and Ducks. It is only a 5.5 hour drive from Seattle to Autzen, and going home for you could be the best road trip of your life. Don James only won like 21 of 24 vs. the Ducks, and besides slick Rick Neuheisel, the Huskies have not had a decent coach in decades unless you count last year's master Jimmy Lake, or big bad Lamebright (sp) of the good old days. GO DUCKS, and please win by at least one point! NO DOGS ALLOWED IN EUGENE OREGON, or anywhere in OREGON, unless they have four legs.
Interesting read
Yeah, coaching has been abysmal for quite a while, ‘cept for Petersen. Hope DeBoer is the man to take us up to where we consistently belong
If today is “live in the past” day, rewind your Duck clock a few decades
Don’t quite understand the rest of your rant - must be above my pay grade
Wish I could be at Autzen this Saturday. This’ll be the first UO/UW clash I’ve missed at Autzen in quite awhile. One of the best venues in the PAC12 to be the visiting team
By the way, I’m in Klamath Falls
GO DAWGS
Perfectly framed.
They have all been pawns forever. Don't be nieve. Other PAC 12 schools would jump at the extra 40 mil a year, yours included. It's all about the money and school pride.
It’s the non-football sports that will suffer the most at UCLA with the move. If the UC Regents value students and academics, they will stop the move.
the extra $40 million dollars per year than they will get can help all their sports. Football and basketball are only college sports that produce millions in revenue. Huge money rules the world and it rules sports on tv. ESPNs total value in billion of dollars is more than ALL TEAMS IN ALL SPORTS COMBINED. Dallas Cowboys top the list in value at about 8 billion. The lowly Portland Trailblazers, a totally continued train wreck, are allegedly woth 2 billion. Miss me with their record this year. They are coached by a guy that has a very suspect past regarding serious allegations and is a real moron. Paul Allen's sister never attented many Blazer games before Paul died. She does not understand the difference is a basketball or a football. She has no clue on running a pro football or basketball team. By her saying the Blazers are not for sale, and rejecting Phil Knight's $2 billion dollar offer, should tell you something. Allen's trust requires her to sell everything, but she maintains she can take her time. A vulcan is Seattle as Allen's close friend is suspect in my opinion. You do not turn down Phil Knight in a huge $2 billion dollar deal to save the Blazers unless you are clueless and Jody sure is. Blazers and Seahaks need new ownership, and Paul Allen never would have let these two teams sink so far so fast. I am a native Portlander and I dream of getting my city back. The Bureau of Land Management ruined my city, and sure hope racist Ms. Hardesy losses her bid to stay on the city council. Please get a covid shot ( I only have received 5 pfizer shots) and get your head out and vote blue on Tuesday. PLEASE
Points made in this morning‘s column are extremely valid and I believe have escaped the eyes and the ears those in charge of making decisions for UCLA and USC
Spectacular shot of Husky Stadium, by the way. I’ve got three Beaver Nation friends coming over for steaks, brews, and football tonight. Just sent ‘em your pic
GO DAWGS
The Huskies tonight in a monsoon at home in purple? Am a lifelong Oregonian and a Duck. Do root for the Beavs unless it is the civil war, or whatever they call it now. I predict the Huskies will barely win unless the rain and wind make them not show up. Beavs on road in Seattle has been a disaster for OSU for years. To all you Huskies; just wait a week until you go to Autzen. Don James is long gone, and the DAWGS are still a sub-par team. Ducks will bury the U dud puppies, and I hope it is a huge blow-out. Oregon, Utah, UCLA, and USC, are only decent teams in the pac-12. I would love to see the Huskies lose tonight and next week too! No pac-12 teams in final four again. it will take years to catch the SEC in football, unless Mt. . St. Helens blows up like 1980., this year.
Wish I could make the Husky/Oregon game; the Autzen Experience is one of my faves.
“Lifelong” Oregon fans are an aquired taste. The younger they are, the more limited their memory. A Washington victory next week is a longshot, at best, but that’s why we play the games!
GO DAWGS
Nah, Husky Stadium is where simply where the disaster has been evident (Mike Riley's latter years, and the smoldering ruins left by Gary Andersen), along with everywhere else the Beavers played during those years.
And I say this as a lifelong Beavers fan.
I attended UCLA as an undergrad, went to Michigan for my doctorate, then taught at UCLA during the Alcindor (of course later Kareem) years and have been shocked at their moving to the Big 10. But at least they are owning something that has been apparent for a long time: college sports is not for the student-athletes, but for the high-priced coaches and reputations of the colleges. And unless they are among the very few who manage to get to the pros, many end up with debilitating injuries later in life.
Terrific take, thank you.
CFB/CBB at the P5 level; at least semi-pro sports.
The athletes who are going to suffer playing in the B1G are the non-revenue sport guys and gals and in some respects, CBB players both men and women.
Funny. The B1G has the dough but has largely flamed out in the basketball tournament and Ohio State is .500 in CFB appearances and Michigan and MSU were plastered in their 1 appearance. Baseball? The B1G is a non-entity. Golf? When's the last time the B1G won an NCAA golf title? T+F?
Again, the money is there because of huge #s of alumni/alumnae but the on field results kind of stink.
Thanks John, the Walton piece was very powerful. Sure hope UCLA reverses course and stays home. Tonight all eyes on how many turnovers this ‘atmospheric river’ causes Dawgs-Beavs!
I am under the impression that college is mainly about education. Is that not correct?
college has not been about education for years. Is called huge money, and the professors have to be paid too. Sports revenue (football and basketball) pays for a lot of colleges bills. Very simple, money talks and bs walks.
Donnie, Donnie, Donnie - put the shovel down and step away from the hole. Each post is more laughable than the last.
glad you do not get it. please do not vote for trump again for number three try, unless you want to continue to be a loser boozer. had an old friend we called maverick but am sure it is not you; this guy is a democrat like me., and also has same college degree I have. did you pass your GED yet? I know where you can buy one. GO DUCKS
Ha, I despise the Orange menace. Glad you like the Ducks... 😎
No. Not when it comes to big time P5 CFB and CBB. I happen to think this is unfortunate but big time CBB and CFB guys and CBB women are athlete-students.
That is not true. It is highly dependent on schools. That was supposed to be the difference between PAC12 and B1G vs SEC. SEC are jokes when it comes to academics with students. They have correspondence courses posing as academics. However PAC12 and B1G took a stand years ago to ensure that academics are an important part.
I find it also very saddening that B1G, by accepting USC and UCLA, is starting down a slippery slope of giving away one of their strongest qualities, standing fast towards a strong academic requirement to a part of the league.
I am a UCLA grad 3 years before Bill Walton. I traveled weekly for work coast to coast for 28 years. I lived the grind of travel and work, over 4 million miles of flying. I agree with Bill and the UCLA athlete you spoke to. You may be able to do 2 of the 3 but not all 3. Study, travel, sports; you cannot do all three. Something has to give. If UCLA does this, student athletes lose and it will be UCLA's loss. From my point of view the rest of the Pac-12 should be pouncing on this flaw if it manifests itself as a huge recruiting strategy for them.
Thanks John, the Walton piece was very powerful. Sure hope UCLA stays home. Tonight all eyes on how many turnovers this ‘atmospheric river’ causes Dawgs-Beavs!
Before moving down to Brentwood I spent 40 years in Fair Oaks, basically directly above Lake Natoma where the Pac 12 has made it's home for both men's and women's crew championships. It is one of the premier rowing lakes in the country and has also hosted the men's or women's NCAA championships every few years. Even though Cal (me '72) is a power I had never really gotten into it, but since it was a bike ride down the hill I would head down and get the best seat in the house across the lake where I could see farther up to the starting line than the spectators on the other side. I was blessed to see the Cal women beat Brown for the NCAA championship a few years back.
Well I have also ridden into the parking area and spoken to the crews and coaches the few days before the races. I once asked the Michigan coach when the NCAA's were here how they practiced and she said the had rowing machines inside the gym during winter so is it an wonder this is a coastal pursuit. I also asked one of the Pac-12 coaches why Lake Natoma and she said it is perfectly central to every school driving its boats there, a pre requisite to crew, and no matter which school the drive was not more than 500 or so miles....now I ask you folks how in the hell will UCLA and USC manage crew when they are visiting Michigan or Rutgers? What it probably means is that crew for them will die on the vine is my hunch...does anyone at these schools think or care about this?
I believe we have crossed the Rubicon in college athletics, the players are essentially mercenaries used to drive athletic department revenue streams. Why not stop the fiasco and declare the teams semi pro and the players the same.
I think this is coming? A Super League of around 40 teams. A player's union. Restriction on transfers. A salary cap and a HS draft for players who want to be directly paid.
Obviously a number of schools: CAL, Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, etc. are not going to go with an 'open' admissions policy.
I say Super League teams staying in their conference for all other sports except CFB (and probably CBB,) sharing Super League proceeds in some member with non-Super League conference members.
Size goes to size in big business and big time P5 CFB is big business.
oh my…
Enjoy the game John. I am very anxious to see a close monsoon Pac-12 football Friday night game from the purple house. Loved your pic of Husky Stadium. Buy a beer on me; only 12 dollars for a tall cold one that you can take to your seat for first time ever! In the press box you might not freeze or get soaked. I predict a dog fight and would love to see the Beavers show up and not lose as they usually do in Seattle. Since it rains less in Corvallis than Seattle usually, the Beavos should not let heavy showers, crazy wind, and anything else, bother them. Is a big game for both teams, and as you know , home favorites in the pac-12 usually win and cover. OSU on the road is much different than in huge 25,000 seat Reser stadium. Huskies will be pumped to try and save their season, and Beavers too. Do not see a blow-out by either team, unless a typhoon hits Seattle or Mt. St. Helens blows for first time since 1980. Unless they are playing my Ducks, I always root for the Beavers. Probably because of being a native Oregonian. My black mini-panther kitty named Shadow almost died (again) from a severe blockage on Sunday morning., and has been in hospital all. week If I have to swim to pick him up tonight at six, I am prepared! Only a mile away to the vets office and he has been here, running my self-employed circus , for three years. He and I chose each other at a shelter in Sherwood, Or. , and he has been the best friend I have ever had. To add a pet from a shelter, and save them and vice versa, can and will enrich both of you! My primary Kaiser physician only has eight shelter rescue kitties, living with she and her sister. Her sister is a pet sitter, and the Dr. made my cat a certified service animal two years ago. Tonight, God willing, and through my very strong Christian faith of just 60 years (Methodist) I will be watching the Beavs and Huskies with Shadow! God Bless you and yours , and go Ducks!
Great work as usual, John. The glory years of Husky football are decades past, but Husky Stadium stands tall as one of the top stadiums in all of Power 5 football. Good luck to your Beavers tonight.
Well we are the last PAC 12 team to make the college playoffs, had 3 straight NY6 games. Won the North in 2020 but couldn’t go to the championship due to positive Covid tests for the team and had an off year last year under a horrible coach Jimmy Lake. Does that seem like “decades past”?
Point taken and agreed. Aside from Stanford game in 2016, Husky Stadium has been less than 3/4 full since the mid-1990's. Game day attendance is suffering throughout college football as a result of the rush to TV revenue. The stats don't lie.
I bought a 20 ounce ice cold beer in Husky stadium in 2021. It was only $12! The Ducks beat UW; my first in person victory in Seattle in about 10 tries. Alcohol in Husky Stadium! Rain and wind and cold did not affect me. All we Ducks did not sit down all day, , as the seats were soaked long before the afternoon game. You can buy beer and take it to your seat; you cannot do this is Eugene. I am looking forward to tonight and I am sure it will not be rainy, windy, and cold. The purple picture you posted Mr. Canzano was good. Hope to see the Huskies lose for the next two weeks, and slink back to where they belong, in the dog house! Go Ducks!
There are really two types of fans in Collegiate sports. Alumni and peripheral fans (those that live in proximity or just simply chose a team to root for). Great to have both, but the media, conferences and schools are focusing only one of the fan groups, the peripheral fan. While the peripheral fan beings in viewership, it is NOT the lifeblood of the school and sport. Alumni have a different attachment, and in the past the alumni had more pull... they are being all but ignored anymore.
Thanks John.
So long LA; please GK don't miss the chance to add Gonzaga to CBB and SDS to CFB before the B12 again steals your lunch.
GONZAGA IN THE NEW pAC-10? Miss me with Mark Few and his latest circus around his Drunk Driving conviction. The Zags play in one of the weakest league in college basketball. They have never won most of their big games. Put them in the Bill Walton conference of champions, Pac-12, and they would go about 50-50 and not make the NCAA final 64. They would water down the already weak Pac-12. Tell them to get a football team so they could be a real athletic program. San Diego St. has a stadium even smaller than the Beavers in Corvallis will have upon expansion of Reser. They would add nothing to the Pac-12 in football. The pac-12 is doomed because of lack of revenue to all schools, compared to the big boys, like the SEC and Big 10. Big money runs the world, and it runs sports on tv. College players and their families can now be paid above the table. Would you rather go to a big time school to play football, have your family taken care of, play a year and get paid again to join the NFL, or go to San Diego State and get nothing? College athletics are a big time business, and the alegedly good old days of college football are long gone. If you want to get a college degree, that is fine. Most top players want to play in the NFL or NBA, and I applaud scholar-athletes. Just face reality that football and basketball revenue funds all sports, and the rich get richer and the poor play in the Pac-12. Love Nike and Phil's Book Shoe Dog. Without the Knight's huge contributions to the U of O, their athletic facilities would not be there. Am sad, that as a 70 year old lifetime Duck fan, that the Pac-10 is sinking far and fast. Call it the Pac-12 if you want but it will be the pac-10 in two years. Take San Diego St. and Gonzaga and tell them to go find a new sand box to play in. Even with a big time lawyer, the Pac-12 cannot and will not force UCLA to limp home to LA and play in the pac-11. S____ walks and money talks. Get your head out if you think getting 30 million per year for each pac-12 school, versus only $70 million each per year in the Big-10 is a great deal for the pac-10 or pac-12 or call it what you want., is a great deal. Top atheletes in high school do not care about spending four or five years at studying, they want the big money that they can get for themselves and their parents NOW.; plus more when they jump to the pro level. They can transfer and play right away if their first school does not work out. GO DUCKS
Gonzaga Basketball is not unlike Boise State Football. Both are good teams and good programs that benefit from being the biggest fish in small ponds. They cruise through their conference schedule and go into the post season healthy and rested. They don't deal PAC-12 competition every single week, or twice a week in MBB. The Pac-12 conference schedule is about endurance, avoiding attrition, and having to show up for every single game. No Pepperdines, no Weber States.
A game against the Pac-12 is a big deal for both programs. For Pac-12 members, it's another week in which anyone can beat anyone.
If Boise State or Gonzaga had to play a full Pac-12 schedule, I think a lot of the luster and shine disappears from each.
What is the proof that UCLA Athletics finances are mismanaged?
If being $100M upside down at a public university isn't the definition of mismanagement... I'd love to know what is.
Yup.
good point John. There is a rain shadow in Seattle and they only got .2 of rain today. Here in PDX power is out in some areas and have had 2 inches of rain and counting. Hope you enjoy the game, I would love to see the alleged rain showers hit the Huskies tonight and next Saturday in Eugene. Loved the purple pic, and grab a tall ice cold beer on me. Alcohol in Husky stadium for first time ever and it started last year. Just $12 for a tall cold one that you can take to your seat. Press box might keep you warm and dry! GO BEAVERS AND DUCKS vs. the bad puppies.
ummmm.. thats pretty easy question to answer with the use of Google
When a writer makes a statement shows no evidence or even points to it. Its just an opinion with questionable credibility; what is “truth” without evidence?