76 Comments

Heard in Seattle and Eugene -- 'Why would we want to have a partnership with Apple? Other than that they are the most valuable and creative and marketing-savvy company on the face of the earth. Streaming and virtual headsets and all that is so ... future. Lets stay in the present with financially shaky folks like ESPN and take a second-cousin share of proceeds from a conference centered thousands of miles and a couple of time zones away. Yup, that's the future we want!' Long sigh.

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If Apple is the most "creative and market-savvy company on the face of the earth", then why the half-baked offer for Pac-12 media rights? If they are all that you say, they fully understood that without the LA schools, the conference lacked value. If they aren't as smart as you say, their bid was uncompetitive. With other options, why would any school turn down guaranteed money for an experiment that Apple themselves weren't committed to? A half-hearted offer breeds a half-hearted response.

Btw, that "financially shaky" ESPN just committed to a new six-year deal worth $1.3 billion annually for the CFP...

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Mr. Smith,

I have only the information provided by Mr. Canzano regarding the Apple deal. On the face of it I agree with your assessment. It struck me as an “iffy” proposition. I suspect some departing members viewed it through the lense of “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

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And, the Big Ten doesn't have ESPN in 2024. It's Fox, NBC, CBS sports networks.

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Amen to that. All they were thinking about was how to pay their current coaches and administrators contracts/salaries. Not about the long term opportunities.

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founding

Love this comment!

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from a Jon Wilner column a couple days ago: "Kliavkoff either didn’t bother or was unable to read the room: After the failed promise of the Pac-12 Networks, the last thing the presidents and athletic directors wanted was an all-streaming media rights deal with revenue tied to reaching subscription tiers. They wanted linear exposure and revenue certainty. He delivered neither."

Me...that's why Colorado bailed early. Arizona was secretly discussing Big12 membership. Then, Washington bailed out and took Oregon with them.

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"the last thing the presidents and athletic directors wanted was an all-streaming media rights deal with revenue tied to reaching subscription tiers. They wanted linear exposure and revenue certainty. He delivered neither."

People in Hell want ice water too. I haven't heard of anyone in that position getting any agua fria to slake their thirst.

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To two commissioners (term used lightly) and the ten university administrations (again used lightly) wake up and smell the destruction you caused for the student athletes and the fans. Words can’t describe what you have done.

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Mar 14Liked by John Canzano

The last paragraph… it’s like the wolf dragging its kill off to the den. And fade out. The movie ends there.

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Mar 14Liked by John Canzano

Thank you for capturing the mixed feelings and the impact of the demise of the Pac 12 conference on the various players. Very sad indeed.

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Mar 14·edited Mar 14

So sad for all sports to be dragged into this by football and the uncaring greedy media, the naive administrations, and incompetent commissioners. Thousands of kids, parents, and fans are the victims.

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John,

Would have been nice to see you attend and write about the WCC womens basketball final with UP knocking off Gonzaga for their 3rd title in 5 years and with OSU and WSU playing the next 2 years in WCC.

Tom Keenan

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From a men's basketball perspective, as a long time Beavers fan I could care less about the Pac 12 going away. I grew up in the Corvallis area during the 70s and 80s, the Ralph Miller hey days. I'm not sure how many know this, but at that time OSU wasn't just good becauseof Ralph, there was a point when Oregon State was the 3rd winningest NCAA basketball program of all time, behind only Kansas and Kentucky. Once Ralph retired, OSU put nothing into the program. It has become a laughing stock. Other than the very next year after Ralph retired (Jimmy Anderson led a loaded team of Ralph's left overs, including a senior by the name of Gary Payton to the NCAA tournament) do fans even realize the last 34 years the Beavers have only had ONE winning conference record, and that was barely above .500 at 10-8. In 34 years only 1 winning conference season, and that was a 4th place finish. And that's in the worst P5 basketball conference in the country. That is just pathetic. So as far as men's basketball goes, I'm glad the embarrassment is over. The WCC is probably still to much for Beaver basketball. Big Sky is probably more appropriate, and even then we're most likely a middle of pack program. It's just sad how the school let a once proud national program become the laughing stock of college basketball.

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Mr. Burns,

Miller’s teams were incredible. I was so envious of OSU fans. What a great winning ride Ralph gave them.

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Miller's last Iowa team in 1970 still holds the record for points per game in a Big Ten season. An era before the 3-pt shot.

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Yes, but how very sad (and pathetic) it is that we talk about "a great winning ride" from a coach who last stood on the sidelines 35 years ago. Jim Burns put the embarrassing plight of the program in sobering perspective. It's really inexcusable.

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If I may add a ‘Yea But’ about those Beaver Teams of Coach Miller…he’d get ahead in games & not play his bench, which bit them on the back side especially in the NCAA Tournaments when foul trouble occurred. When he needed to throw the ‘warmers’ in, they were totally out of sync with the 6-7 players he constantly played. Always believed if your good enough for the team, you deserve minutes for situations like that.

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I'm not denying or ignoring Miller's issues in the NCAA tournament, but it sure as hell beat 3 win seasons and winless conference seasons. At least we got national respect and made sports illustrated, sporting news, etc. You think for 1 minute if OSU were still 3rd in all time NCAA basketball wins the Big 12 would've passed on us this round? The conference that calls itself the best basketball conference in the nation? You wouldn't trade 20 more years of Ralph years for the vomit we've witnessed for the past 34 years. You can't lose in the NCAA first round if you can't even finish above .500 on the season and lose in the first round of the conference tournament every year.

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So utterly sad, grating, mind-numbing, and utterly avoidable.

Just an ounce or two of courage and leadership from Klavikoff. Some courage and self-awareness from a few more presidents and chancellors. And a lot less narcissism and self-aggrandizement from Scott.

It took a perfect storm of incompetence, greed and self-absorption to bring down an important century-old institution. Thank goodness John and a few others are recording these last breaths for posterity.

Hope someone learns something from this travesty.

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John, I’m curious as to how many fans could afford an Apple Vision Pro with a starting price of $3,500?!

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Note to OR, WA, UCLA, USC: Starting next year, the Big Ten is only inviting the top 15 of 18 teams to the men's and women's basketball tournaments, so you better not slack off if you want to enjoy all that the lovely Midwest has to offer in late winter.

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And don't forget how flat that part of the country is.

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Mr.Tobin,

What, may I ask does that have to do with the price of bananas?

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Mar 14·edited Mar 14

Maybe if more fans had been excited about events like this in the past, the conference would have had a better chance of survival. The Pac-12 tournament has always been the least-attended of the major conferences and often looked sad both on TV and in person.

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Exactly. The fans didn't care about the conference either...until there wasn't going to be a conference.

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To all those teams who bailed: good riddance. Enjoy your lives

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Now wait a minute, the Beavers and Cougars could have done more due diligence to find a conference, when the other school scrambled. I just think they sat too long. In two years, they are going to find themselves

wishing in one hand, and you know the rest (again). They should’ve jumped while they had the chance. Those schools should enjoy their cash windfall, and butter their own bread while they can.

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Spoken like a true Duck fan

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They just can't help themselves; they can't stop their inner jerk from emerging.

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Yep that’s totally Duck fan

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Hey, there goes the boat off the dock… bye boat 🛥️

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Speaking of boats. Enjoy getting boat raced in the Big 10

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😂 GOOD ONE #mountainwest

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For 2 years then the Pac will be back

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Crashed and burned!

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Just unbelievable how Duck fan refuses to acknowledge that if not for one individual -- just one -- they would have the exact same plight as the Beavs.

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That’s when you, the Beaver fan, tell your university, to do something about it. It’s gotta kill you to be left behind… again. I’d be furious.

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That's a good point, Todd. I should tell my university to find ONE guy with ties to the university that is willing to spend billions on campus infrastructure, marketing, and NIL over many decades. You make it sound like Duck fans should be credited for Phil, like they demanded the university "do something" so they found Phil. You appear to be the poster boy for the Delusional Duck. Just once I'd like to hear a Duck acknowledge that they would be OSU South if not for Phil.

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And name calling seems to suit you. Bravo.

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You want to compare Al Reser to Phil? Really? And calling Duck fans delusional ceased being "name calling" many years ago. It's just a well known fact up and down the Pac-12 that Duck fans are synonymous with delusion.

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Keep fighting the fight SCBeav… you’ll get there.

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I thought that name was Reser, but hey, say I’m wrong. 😑

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Jumped where exactly Todd. Who was courting these two teams?

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You mean, nobody at Oregon State or Washington State can market themselves? Come on, man.

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If it were only marketing that counted instead of media markets which controlled why OSU and WSU had no options for a home. Come on, man.

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Then they’re not trying hard enough. No one says I want to go to school

in Tuscaloosa or Ann Arbor without playing a sport. Not unless they’re staying indoors anyway. Media markets are null and void, in those areas.

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I share your sadness, John. I have been a Pac (8, 10, 12) fan for over 70 years, starting back as a UCLA student during John Wooden's early years there. It's almost impossible for me to think the conference is on its last legs, a very painful death. I have many fond memories: seeing UCLA playing Washington in basketball in a very old, inadequate gym. UCLA with Gary Beban at quarterback playing USC in the Colosseum; and many other memories. And I think about giving up on college athletics entirely. But I know I won't. I get too much pleasure since moving to Oregon and cheering for the Ducks and Beavers. But first I will have to do some mourning for the end of the "Conference of Champions," as Bill Walton keeps reminding us of. It really did win more championships than any other conference.

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I shuddered when I saw Tonopah, NV mentioned. I spent a year there one week back in the 90's. Unless the overnight accommodations have changed significantly the past 30 years, if I were the pastor I'd have hammered a couple Red Bulls and made it to Vegas.

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Hey now, you haven't lived until you've spent a night at that creepy Clown Hotel in Tonopah.

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That place is awesome. Wish I could post some pics I took while there last year so you all could see what I mean

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It would make a great set for American Horror Story on FX,

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Listened to the UW/USC game on Sirius/xm yesterday. Tony Castricone made the comment that the B10 tournament is in Minneapolis and said “I hear that Minneapolis is lovely this time of year”.

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Not every Big Ten team will make the tournament next year, three or four of them won't qualify. So Washington probably won't have to worry about packing their snowshoes.

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John, if this surge in attendance and interest in the tournament helps everyone, stayers and leavers, draw a line of closure and move on, then it’s a good result even beyond the basketball. Onward!

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