33 Comments
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Charles A Roseberry's avatar

John - you are our reliable go-to guy for Pac 12 information. Your posts are both welcome and eagerly anticipated. Thank you.

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Stan Horton's avatar

OK by me if you post 10 times a day. Always a good read!

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Carol Swanson's avatar

Thanks for all your effort, John. Looking forward to your updates. I have to say, that one photo of the stage looks like it was shot by the Webb telescope. Are you sure you didn't borrow that?

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Donnie Roberts's avatar

please keep us caught up all day John. ask the LA schools where all their extra dollars will go? ask Lanning a bunch of stuff like how he sees his season going, and if he is glad to be in Eugene. ask Chip if he will comment on how close he was to coming back to Eugene; he was my first choice. I am happy with Lanning; at least we dumped slick Willy and super Mario, and have a bright young SEC guy. see if Lanning will comment on his qb position. ask the Huskies how many games they will give away like last year. I still wonder why Wilcox allegedly turned down the Ducks. He can stay in Berkeley and lose! Hurry home John, 100 degree days will continue for at least three more they say!

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Tim Monterossi's avatar

Looking forward to your reports John. HUGE day for the PAC!

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Vincent Paterno's avatar

My question is, What happens to Cal? America's premier public university shouldn't be relegated to the Mountain West.

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ShowtimeBruin's avatar

Cal is not the premier public university though. UCLA has largely surpassed them in most academic and institutional metrics. In any case, most likely UC Berkeley ends up in the Big Ten. I’m not certain exactly when but I’d estimate within 2 years, they should be admitted for a future season. I just don’t see how the Big Ten could pass up major academic institutions like UC Berkeley located in the nation’s fifth largest TV market. Cal Berkeley (and Stanford) will most likely have to accept reduced revenue share for a number of years (perhaps a decade) but it will be far more lucrative than any other option and eventually they should be provided full share.

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Vincent Paterno's avatar

As a UMd alumnus, I know how that works. (And the vast majority of my fellow Terrapins are happy to be in the Big Ten!)

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KirkWilkes's avatar

They could pass them by because they don't add enough additional revenue to justify their addition. If they were partnered with Notre Dame that might work, but on their own they are dilutive to the rest of the Big Ten. The problem is if one school is partnered with Notre Dame it would be Stanford instead of UC. And if the Big Ten doesn't come calling it probably will be the MWC for UC along with OSU and WSU. The Big 12 clearly has numbers that show value from adding either the four corners or four corners plus UO/UW, but they have no intention of adding anyone outside of that group.

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SCOTT SMITH's avatar

Yeah, the Ivy League or Colonial AA would probably fit much better?

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Pedro C.'s avatar

Cal is more likely to play in the SEC than they are the Mountain West, so less than zero chance.

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Brad Weekly's avatar

Living 22 time zones from LA, it was impractical for me to catch Pac12 media day in real time. Just watched GK' s speech and presser on YouTube. My reaction: I remain pleased he is at the helm. He a BADASS.

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KirkWilkes's avatar

You are truly the cheerleader for our conference! I know whatever you report will sound positive.

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Curly Moe & Larry's avatar

youend your message with Lanning, Smith, Kelly, Riley and Wittingham. Glad to see you come clean with your interest inthose of us who live in the state of Washington. I get the focus on UO and OSU but name dropping USC, UCLA and Utah sends a message. Not surprising, but disappointing.

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Eric Johansen's avatar

If George said anything noteworthy, I missed it.

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Curly Moe & Larry's avatar

WRONG!!! Kliaukoff said the one thing that most fans, programs and especially ALL of the media have ignored: He clearly stated he understands that the Big 12 and others are out to DESTABILIZE the PAC and others. HE IS RIGHT ON!!!

SEC and BIG 10 are mega rich and stand to get richer. WHY would either seek to go get more programs? They aren't stupid. It is obvious the SEC and Big10 are intent on at best weakening or more likely destroying 60% of college football. Ironic that Saban is the only figure I have heard even pretend to be concerned about the rest. So, to my fellow "fans" and the media: when you gush over what program should we get or what conference we should jump to....you are advocating the shrinking and dismantling of college football. Let that all sink in.!

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Eric Johansen's avatar

Low bar.

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SonoranJeff's avatar

You got that right Brothuh.

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Patrick Cross's avatar

John, a little off topic.......I am reading the book, "The Church of Baseball" by Ron Shelton. It's about the making of the movie "Bull Durham" Ron Shelton would be a great guest on your show. Thanks.

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Patrick Logan's avatar

Most interesting off season ever. Still can't wait to just read about fall camps and upcoming games.

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Rick Olson's avatar

Question for the Commish...

Shouldn't the conference leadership have expected the LA schools to bolt being

that the TV contract was up and the history of those schools wanting more revenue?

Is it too late to offer that now to bring them back?

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ShowtimeBruin's avatar

It’s a fair inquiry. It’s tough to blame him for it even though it was seemingly right in front of him to see. I can tell you as a UCLA alum, I have long suspected they were going to end up in the Big Ten but whenever I mentioned it, overwhelming majority of people dismissed it outright as outlandish. It’s safe to assume Kliavkoff felt the same even though there were serious clues all around him. It’s not an unreasonable assumption given how stable the Pac-12/10/8/PCC has been over over the past century. I also think Kliavkoff was heavily invested in a resurgence of success for UCLA and USC in revenue sports, especially SC football. He probably saw that as the fastest and surest way to grow the conference’s bottom value. Let’s also not forget that these defections happened in the midst of the pandemic, which exasperated the conference’s underwhelming TV payouts.

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Curly Moe & Larry's avatar

No. please dont suck up to the media who claim everyone sane person saw this coming.. This is college athletics. What UCLA and USC did is flip off EVERYONE and go to the highest bidder. As long as they get max $$$ they will be good partners for anyone paying them. If you honestly dont care about CFB go jump on board. the portal and NIL will heavily tax what has already been an ebbing fan loyalty. This "realignemnt BS will accelerate that. count on it

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Jim Stewart's avatar

Busy day. Have fun.

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Pedro C.'s avatar

In the immortal words of Ted Knight, "Well, we're waiting . . . "

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Ed Hill's avatar

This is a great story! You are a great storyteller. Thanks for keeping us football junkies and fans of excellent editorial and content satisfied and informed.

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