Canzano: Overheard at the Pac-12's Las Vegas cocktail party...

Thoughts on the Pac-12 Football Media Day

Teresa Gould, Pac-12 commissioner, spoke at media day on Wednesday.

LAS VEGAS — The Pac-12 Conference served alcoholic beverages in a meeting room on Wednesday night at Bellagio. As the presentation started, Commissioner Teresa Gould took the microphone and cracked the first joke, announcing that “if anybody has earned the right to drink, it’s the Pac-12.”

There was no media poll.

No preseason all-conference team.

Just a football and two helmets on the stage.

The evening’s festivities consisted of two head football coaches, four players, a panel of notable alumni, and Gould under the lights. Drinks were served. Food was served. In a variety of ways, the Pac-12’s annual Football Media Event was unlike anything else ever seen in the run-up to a football season.

Some takeaways:

— Organizers positioned the event on Wednesday evening, directly between the Big 12 and Mountain West Football Media Days in Las Vegas. I’d lobbied for the event to take place in downtown Portland, where the conference got its start 109 years ago. I’d been told the Pac-12 was aiming for a ‘cocktail hour’ vibe. I was skeptical it would work. But I surveyed the room as the main presentation started after 6 p.m. and saw media members from a variety of national publications that cover major college football.

Representatives from the College Football Playoff and a few other college sports organizations also showed up. They only attended because the Pac-12 made being there very easy for them. It was a win.

— The two head coaches, Jake Dickert at WSU and Trent Bray at OSU, informally worked the room before the event. They were accessible, and that part worked well, too. Another win.

— Former WSU quarterbacks Ryan Leaf and Jack Thompson took the stage as part of the “Past” pitch. Ex-OSU running back Steven Jackson joined them. The trio spoke candidly about watching the conference they loved come under attack last summer. It was easily my favorite segment of the event.

Steven Jackson, Ryan Leaf, and Jack Thompson spoke on Wednesday.

— Leaf said he got irked watching the crew on ESPN’s College GameDay make jokes about the “Pac-2” last season. And he predicted some of the 10 departing schools would eventually have regrets.

Said Leaf: “You’ve kept the Pac-12 brand and they’re going to come scrambling back.”

— Thompson said he viewed the events of last August as “an assault on the West Coast.” He added: “College football needs us to succeed.”

— Jackson, who played 12 NFL seasons, told the story of his college recruitment by Dennis Erickson. “This is a program you can leave your fingerprints on,” he said, “like wet cement.” And he wondered where he’d be without the Pac-12.

— Ex-Oregon State receiver T. J. Houshmandzadeh was listed as a participant in the program that was handed out to the media but didn’t attend.

— Tight end Jermaine Terry II and defensive back Jaden Robinson took the stage for Oregon State. They were followed by receiver Kyle Williams and linebacker Kyle Thornton, who repped Washington State.

— Former Pac-12 Network host Yogi Roth interviewed all four athletes. All four of the players beat the odds to get to where they are. Terry II spoke about losing his father in a car accident at age 5 and being raised by a single mother. Robinson spoke about riding a Greyhound Bus to Seattle and being homeless. Williams talked about being raised by a woman who isn’t his biological mother. And Thornton, who holds the school’s all-time single-season record for tackles, was a walk-on.

— The authenticity, emotion, and vulnerability of the interviews were a notable diversion from the mundane interviews we typically get on media day. I was into it. But one of the disadvantages of the format was that every media outlet in the room got the goods at the same time. It was a mass distribution setting. The content was compelling, but I wondered if anyone would bother to give the players the coverage they deserved. (I suspect the beat writers for OSU and WSU who were in attendance may file it away, and write these stories closer to the season.)

— The player segments were made for TV, but there was no live television coverage of the event. Insiders tell me the video clips will likely see daylight on YouTube and other formats, but it felt like a lost opportunity.

— There were only a handful of questions from the media in attendance during the “on-stage” portion of the event. I didn’t ask a question in that setting. I much prefer to talk with people 1-on-1 so I walked the room and spoke with Dickert, Bray, two players, Washington State athletic director Anne McCoy, Michael Molinari (head of Pac-12 Enterprises), and some others before the event kicked off.

— Teresa Gould, the commissioner, was solid talking about her vision and the complicated path that stands before the Pac-12. There was no news here. Just Gould, saying that she’s into the fight.

— Gould was asked whether the Pac-12 had locked in broadcast teams for the games that will be carried on The CW. I’m told they’re close to finalizing the broadcast teams but Gould said: “We’re not there yet.” It sounded to me like she wanted the network to make that announcement.

— Per a source, The CW broadcast team pairings for those games are Ted Robinson and Chase Daniel… and JB Long and Michael Bumpus.

— Here’s a bit of news — The CW will produce a studio show for the ACC and Pac-12 games that will originate in the Bay Area, per a source in the room. Pac-12 Enterprises is handling the production of that and I’m told we should expect a “familiar face” on the set. The show aims to help drive more audience to The CW games. I expect analyst Nigel Burton to see some air time on the studio show.

— The Pac-12 Network signal went dark on June 30, but the conference’s “FAST” channel (aka: Free-Ad-Supported TV) won’t turn out the lights. There had been some speculation that the Pac-12’s ad-supported streaming platform would also go dark. It won’t. Gould said the conference and Pac-12 Enterprises are focused on running it and building it out. More on this side hustle as it develops.

— There was a distinct “We’re still here” vibe that echoed throughout the event. That phrase came up a couple of times. I’ve implored Oregon State and Washington State to do a better job of marketing themselves and boosting the branding. Wednesday was a start, but I need to see that messaging continue in loud and consistent ways. I wonder if the Pac-12 schools will invest in it.

— The Pac-12 is an easy target for jokes. There are only two schools left. They’ve been squeezed out of the ‘Power 4’ by no fault of their own. Gould’s strongest remarks came when she pointed out that Oregon State and Washington State had never in their history competed at anything but the highest levels of college athletics and still belong there.

“Why is that even a question?” she said.

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