Geography is like gravity. You can defy it for awhile but eventually it wins. Either UCLA ultimately returns or the BIG adds more western teams to mitigate the impact.
The UC regents getting UCLA back to the PAC is simple. Threaten the UCLA Chancellor and AD with termination. And if they don’t reverse the decision, terminate them and announce UCLA is staying and be celebrated as heroes.
The only people benefiting from the move are administrators who want to pay themselves higher salaries (and eliminate financial problems for their departments) and TV networks. I’m an Oregon fan who travels to as many away football games as possible. I don’t want every away game to be a full weekend trip requiring long flights, Friday departures, etc. I can’t imagine the athletes and team student support personnel wanting that either.
Those financial issues can be solved in plenty of other ways. Terminate the UCLA decision makers for cause (not including the Regents in the decision), reverse the decision, raise a bunch of money from happy alumni and be welcomed home as the prodigal son returning from misbegotten adventures.
One thing to keep an eye on here is ESPN’s status with BIG going forward. If they are shut out of BIG games by Fox it puts a premium on PAC games for them and having a footprint in the LA market might be worth them sweetening the deal for UCLA. It might be worth it to other PAC teams to allow that.
One last add: Cal and the UC system are ticked at UCLA. The regents may well require UCLA to pay to exit the Pac 12 because of the damage it does to Cal. Plus, don’t underestimate the anger in the UC system at being blindsided. If regents impose an exit fee, perhaps an annual one, to compensate Cal it will change the dollar value of UCLA’s jump. Agree it’s unlikely UCLA will reverse course. But if it’s all about money and if the regents, spurred on by a genuinely miffed governor and a vocal portion of UCLA nation unhappy with the move, imposes a hefty exit fee—UCLA’s windfall diminishes.
without UCLA and USC, the pac-12 slides further into oblivion. prove me wrong but last time I checked, big money rules the world, and also rules sports on tv. you want sisters of the poor to join the pac-12? good luck as they have a new tv deal in san diego all lined up. The pac-12 had a chance by dumping their former leader. Now, this new guy has shown his lack of brains , he still thinks he has a solution. He is hiding under his Las Vegas home; he knows he was caught not doing his job, and for him to act surprised at what UCLA and USA is a stupid damn lie. He sounds like trump; aways blaming the other fool who is as dumb as him. The pac-12 is doomed forever as a major college sports league unless they get a huge ESPN tv deal right now, which is a pipe dream. Why would ESPN want the pac-12? Only reason would be if they want to show Pac-12 football games when there is nothing else on, like at 10:30 pm est. It is called dollars and cents, people, and many of you just do not get it. DONNIE DUCK'S LATEST on substack,com
UCLA would be crazy to come back to the Pac-12. If you think they would give up about $30 million a year in extra revenue and not join the Big-10 in two years, you either have covid, are a supporter of the dumpster trumpster, or maybe you have monkey pox. Or, maybe you are just plain unintelligent. I got four pfizer covid shots, and will get number five soon. UCLA and USC were very smart to bail out of the junior varsity Pac-12 and get paid. When Bill Walton keeps saying "Pac-12, the conference of champions," he never mentions what sports. It sure is not the two revenue earning sports, that support all the other sports., football and basketball. It will take the Pac-12 or 10 or whatever you want to call it, a minimum of five years to catch the big boys in these sports. You think Alabama is afraid of the Pac-12 teams in football? Heck no. Basketball is the same. I have been a huge Duck fan for about 63 years, and remember the old days when it always rained at Autzen, and we had poor teams. I do not blame Rich Brooks at all, as the facilities in those days were minimal, and this was before Uncle Phil asked Mike Belotti what it would take to get the Ducks to a superior level. Belotti told him an indoor practice facility would be very helpful. The Ducks built one before any other school in the Pac-10 had one. Now, everybody has one. The current facilities in Eugene for football are second to none, including the NFL. Phil and his wife, Penny, have given about $1 billion to the U of O, and not just for athletics. Read SHOE DOG by Mr. Knight if you are interested in the Nike history, and also old Duck tales. The new track facility at Hayward Field is beyond beautiful, and among the very best in the world. It recently hosted the world champonships in track and field. It was the first time a world championship outdoors had been held in the United States. I thank the Knights for building this facility. With Nike, and the duck brand of Ducks that even Disney cannot take over, in Eugene we have all it takes to be a top football and basketball program. The basketball facility, Mathew Knight Arena, is named after a son who died in a scuba diving accident outside the USA. We have a great new young head football coach, who ran the defense for the defending national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. He is energetic, and a family man. He invites players to his house for dinner, and yard games. His wife survivied cancer. His family loves Eugene. He is not arrogant like slick willy and sub-super mario were. He has a transfer qb also from the SEC, Bo Nix. Bo was freshman of the year at Auburn two years ago. We finally have a coach that is going to be as good as Chip Kelly was when he was in Eugene. We Ducks have the facilities and the coaches. Autzen does not hold 100,000 like all the major schools have. The current Pac 12 tv deal is a real bad joke. UCLA and USC got out of the Pac-12 because they figured out that the extra millions in tv revenue by bailing out now from the Pac-12 was a good business decision. You can say whatever you want, but if you do not believe that big money rules the world, and also runs all sports, again you must support trump. I am a lifelong Christian democrat, who has never voted for a GOP circus clown for President of the US, and never will. If you think covid is a hoax, or if global warming is too, or that the 2020 election was stolen from, or won by trump, then you need to go back and try to buy a GED education. If a PHD scientist from Stanford shows his facts of temperature change worldwide, that he has published yearly, that is good enough for me. It is real hard to fix stupid. I do not like to call anyone stupid, but if the shoe fits, at least try and put it on. I hope I am wrong, Mr. Canzano, but so far the new Pac-12 commisch, unfortunately reminds me of the prior one. When I saw what he said about welcoming back UCLA to the Pac-12, if it happens, I choked on my drink. That was it for me, and along with other things he told you that you wrote about today, I see the Pac-12 has sunken further into oblivion. Now that college atheletes can be paid, and still get a full scholarship, and not have to sit out a year if they transfer, college football has changed dramatically. If you do not like it, then either quit going to the games live, or quit watching the games on tv. Major college football is my favorite sport in the world. I will not drive to Autzen, from Portland, to watch Portland State, but I will watch all Duck games on tv. If ESPN wants to show Pac-12 games on tv that do not start until 10:30 pm est, no problem for me. It is called nationwide exposure, and if getting an ESPN tv deal is the ONLY way the pac-12 will not get left in the dust, I say bring it on. Forget Notre Dame, and NBC. How many other schools have a deal like this? Fact check me on it: zero. ESPN has a value in billions that is more than all pro teams' NET WORTH COMBINED. Disney owns ESPN, and the rich get richer. Fact check me on the value of ESPN or Disney. Fact check me on anything you want. I write a column on the same site as John Canzano. It is on substack.com and my title is DONNIE DUCK'S LATEST. Please check it out and also the Bald Faced Truth by Mr. Canzano. If you want a free subscripton to either or both, all you have to do is send me a valid e-mail address. The pac-12 is in never never land right now. Unless the new comm. can pull a rabbit out of his Las Vegas hat, it is doomed. TV money runs all, and the pac-12 has no clue right now. I, like John, blame a lot of this on the former leader of the pac12 that we finally got deported back to outer Slovakia or wherever he says he is from. ESPN big money is the only solution for the pac-12 and I have little confidence in it happening. You lose the biggest tv markets of the conference in the LA schools, and you think it will not have an effect? Continue to be a loser, and vote red in 2022 and in 2024. Keep supporting donald trump, go stand by a windmill and double your dose of covfefe, that trump invented, and pull down your pants and face due south by southwest. Say a prayer to whoever you want, and see how this all works for you. We dumped trump in 2020 and will do so again in 2024, unless he is convicted of a felony first. The only problem for all these trump supporters, who are positive the 2020 election was stolen, is that they have zero proof. Zero as in 0. Now, they want to back this moron is 2024? OMG people, get a clue for once please. Covid is real, as is global warming, the covid shots will be to your advantage if you get one or more, and if you want to fact check me again, call up your doctor, and ask if they think you should get covid shots. Once again, real hard to fix stupid. Get your head out, get covid shots, quit thinking trump will save your sorry dumb ass, and if you think college football on tv is a watered down version of the good old days, well then join the kamikaze flyers or the roadside bombers. If you want to kill yourself for some cause, go ahead. If you care about other people at all, wear a mask and go get the shots. If you have proof positive of trump being a saviour for the USA, that he is a god or someone special, or that he will lead our divided country to prosperity, then just kiss your stupid ass good by. I watch college football for just 14 or so hours per Saturday, on three tvs. I watch many games, and no commercials. I know football well, and I really like most all of what Mr. Canzano writes. Reading his columns everyday, is how I got inspired to write on the same site as is, substack.com Check us out, and if you can prove any of my fact checks to be false, please show me your proof. GO DUCKS, and thanks John Canzano for your great stories. Donnie Roberts
As a Cal Alumnus and cousins who went to UCLA, it makes little sense from a geographical, social or academic sense for UCLA to join the Big 10. I grew up in Iowa and followed the Hawkeyes and Gophers and think the Big 10 is a great conference, but don't see UCLA and USC as a natural fit. I mean just from a student demographics point of view you have more than 40% of UCLA and a third of USC being Asian while Big 10 schools being demographically quite different. I still remember when FOX made the video mocking Asians-Americans when the Pac 12 just welcomed Colorado and Utah. I don't see any of the movers for USC and UCLA moving to join the Big Ten being Asians or hispanic or black for that matter. I have a lot of friends who went to Big Ten schools and I even went to Urbana-Champaign for an undergraduate semester and though the schools would do their best to welcome USC and UCLA, I still don't see it as a natural fit and don't think the students will enjoy the change.
It was fascinating to me how Kelly and especially Kyle W. lit up when you brought up the topic of movies. For guys that are often terse when talking to reporters, they seemed like they could talk about their favorite movie all day.
OF COURSE we will welcome UCLA to stay - and happily scoop up SDSU, who is actually really good at men's hoops and Football - and are moving into a new state of the art crib this fall. The Aztec's profile would boom in the Pac 12 and brand value grow exponentially overnight. But I wouldn't stop there. Find your way into Texas, get the DFW and HOU markets on board. That is a hella strong 14 team league that will pull TV money and attention good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the SEC and B1G.
I'm fascinated by the idea of what would happen to USC in a scenario where UCLA get pulled back into the Pac-12. Does the B1G then target UO and UW to provide USC with a West Coast anchor? They would otherwise essentially be the Hawaii of their conference. Seems they will already be at a competitive disadvantage, but that would seem to take their wheels off. In addition to having a brutal conference schedule, they'd no doubt have to burn a non-conference game against a UCLA, Cal or Stanford.
The bald face truth, is really the bald face speculation. ….we get all these columns of “ who knows wants going to happen” says the Stanford coach. “I’m not predicting they come back” and…..”I’m not going to get into specifics” says commissioner Kliavkof ..pretty hard hitting stuff. And John wraps it all up with..”he left the door ajar” ….man, I can’t wait for the next column..how about you?
I get why the initial interest in SD (tv eyeballs) et al others, but i think it brings mediocrity to the Pac XX. Look at SD's support, or lack thereof, of pro teams. The football Aztecs are not consistently good.
George is a good leader, circle the wagons and wait. No rush decisions, there is opportunity in chaos. Dave M
I stand by my position that Amazon has a prime (no pun intended) opportunity to solidly itself in the football broadcast world by scooping up the Pac-12 rights. And they can throw life-changing money toward the schools and conference. Easily enough to lure back even USC, let alone UCLA.
“USC, you like that $75 million do ya? How does $115 million sound. Come on home, all is forgiven. And free 4K UHD Fire TV Cubes for all your players!”
Geography is like gravity. You can defy it for awhile but eventually it wins. Either UCLA ultimately returns or the BIG adds more western teams to mitigate the impact.
The UC regents getting UCLA back to the PAC is simple. Threaten the UCLA Chancellor and AD with termination. And if they don’t reverse the decision, terminate them and announce UCLA is staying and be celebrated as heroes.
The only people benefiting from the move are administrators who want to pay themselves higher salaries (and eliminate financial problems for their departments) and TV networks. I’m an Oregon fan who travels to as many away football games as possible. I don’t want every away game to be a full weekend trip requiring long flights, Friday departures, etc. I can’t imagine the athletes and team student support personnel wanting that either.
Those financial issues can be solved in plenty of other ways. Terminate the UCLA decision makers for cause (not including the Regents in the decision), reverse the decision, raise a bunch of money from happy alumni and be welcomed home as the prodigal son returning from misbegotten adventures.
This could be the end of most minor sports for a lot of schools.
I don't think they will want to spend millions more on transportation costs for
Tennis, Golf, Volleyball, Soccer, etc. Proximity matters.
One thing to keep an eye on here is ESPN’s status with BIG going forward. If they are shut out of BIG games by Fox it puts a premium on PAC games for them and having a footprint in the LA market might be worth them sweetening the deal for UCLA. It might be worth it to other PAC teams to allow that.
One last add: Cal and the UC system are ticked at UCLA. The regents may well require UCLA to pay to exit the Pac 12 because of the damage it does to Cal. Plus, don’t underestimate the anger in the UC system at being blindsided. If regents impose an exit fee, perhaps an annual one, to compensate Cal it will change the dollar value of UCLA’s jump. Agree it’s unlikely UCLA will reverse course. But if it’s all about money and if the regents, spurred on by a genuinely miffed governor and a vocal portion of UCLA nation unhappy with the move, imposes a hefty exit fee—UCLA’s windfall diminishes.
without UCLA and USC, the pac-12 slides further into oblivion. prove me wrong but last time I checked, big money rules the world, and also rules sports on tv. you want sisters of the poor to join the pac-12? good luck as they have a new tv deal in san diego all lined up. The pac-12 had a chance by dumping their former leader. Now, this new guy has shown his lack of brains , he still thinks he has a solution. He is hiding under his Las Vegas home; he knows he was caught not doing his job, and for him to act surprised at what UCLA and USA is a stupid damn lie. He sounds like trump; aways blaming the other fool who is as dumb as him. The pac-12 is doomed forever as a major college sports league unless they get a huge ESPN tv deal right now, which is a pipe dream. Why would ESPN want the pac-12? Only reason would be if they want to show Pac-12 football games when there is nothing else on, like at 10:30 pm est. It is called dollars and cents, people, and many of you just do not get it. DONNIE DUCK'S LATEST on substack,com
UCLA would be crazy to come back to the Pac-12. If you think they would give up about $30 million a year in extra revenue and not join the Big-10 in two years, you either have covid, are a supporter of the dumpster trumpster, or maybe you have monkey pox. Or, maybe you are just plain unintelligent. I got four pfizer covid shots, and will get number five soon. UCLA and USC were very smart to bail out of the junior varsity Pac-12 and get paid. When Bill Walton keeps saying "Pac-12, the conference of champions," he never mentions what sports. It sure is not the two revenue earning sports, that support all the other sports., football and basketball. It will take the Pac-12 or 10 or whatever you want to call it, a minimum of five years to catch the big boys in these sports. You think Alabama is afraid of the Pac-12 teams in football? Heck no. Basketball is the same. I have been a huge Duck fan for about 63 years, and remember the old days when it always rained at Autzen, and we had poor teams. I do not blame Rich Brooks at all, as the facilities in those days were minimal, and this was before Uncle Phil asked Mike Belotti what it would take to get the Ducks to a superior level. Belotti told him an indoor practice facility would be very helpful. The Ducks built one before any other school in the Pac-10 had one. Now, everybody has one. The current facilities in Eugene for football are second to none, including the NFL. Phil and his wife, Penny, have given about $1 billion to the U of O, and not just for athletics. Read SHOE DOG by Mr. Knight if you are interested in the Nike history, and also old Duck tales. The new track facility at Hayward Field is beyond beautiful, and among the very best in the world. It recently hosted the world champonships in track and field. It was the first time a world championship outdoors had been held in the United States. I thank the Knights for building this facility. With Nike, and the duck brand of Ducks that even Disney cannot take over, in Eugene we have all it takes to be a top football and basketball program. The basketball facility, Mathew Knight Arena, is named after a son who died in a scuba diving accident outside the USA. We have a great new young head football coach, who ran the defense for the defending national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. He is energetic, and a family man. He invites players to his house for dinner, and yard games. His wife survivied cancer. His family loves Eugene. He is not arrogant like slick willy and sub-super mario were. He has a transfer qb also from the SEC, Bo Nix. Bo was freshman of the year at Auburn two years ago. We finally have a coach that is going to be as good as Chip Kelly was when he was in Eugene. We Ducks have the facilities and the coaches. Autzen does not hold 100,000 like all the major schools have. The current Pac 12 tv deal is a real bad joke. UCLA and USC got out of the Pac-12 because they figured out that the extra millions in tv revenue by bailing out now from the Pac-12 was a good business decision. You can say whatever you want, but if you do not believe that big money rules the world, and also runs all sports, again you must support trump. I am a lifelong Christian democrat, who has never voted for a GOP circus clown for President of the US, and never will. If you think covid is a hoax, or if global warming is too, or that the 2020 election was stolen from, or won by trump, then you need to go back and try to buy a GED education. If a PHD scientist from Stanford shows his facts of temperature change worldwide, that he has published yearly, that is good enough for me. It is real hard to fix stupid. I do not like to call anyone stupid, but if the shoe fits, at least try and put it on. I hope I am wrong, Mr. Canzano, but so far the new Pac-12 commisch, unfortunately reminds me of the prior one. When I saw what he said about welcoming back UCLA to the Pac-12, if it happens, I choked on my drink. That was it for me, and along with other things he told you that you wrote about today, I see the Pac-12 has sunken further into oblivion. Now that college atheletes can be paid, and still get a full scholarship, and not have to sit out a year if they transfer, college football has changed dramatically. If you do not like it, then either quit going to the games live, or quit watching the games on tv. Major college football is my favorite sport in the world. I will not drive to Autzen, from Portland, to watch Portland State, but I will watch all Duck games on tv. If ESPN wants to show Pac-12 games on tv that do not start until 10:30 pm est, no problem for me. It is called nationwide exposure, and if getting an ESPN tv deal is the ONLY way the pac-12 will not get left in the dust, I say bring it on. Forget Notre Dame, and NBC. How many other schools have a deal like this? Fact check me on it: zero. ESPN has a value in billions that is more than all pro teams' NET WORTH COMBINED. Disney owns ESPN, and the rich get richer. Fact check me on the value of ESPN or Disney. Fact check me on anything you want. I write a column on the same site as John Canzano. It is on substack.com and my title is DONNIE DUCK'S LATEST. Please check it out and also the Bald Faced Truth by Mr. Canzano. If you want a free subscripton to either or both, all you have to do is send me a valid e-mail address. The pac-12 is in never never land right now. Unless the new comm. can pull a rabbit out of his Las Vegas hat, it is doomed. TV money runs all, and the pac-12 has no clue right now. I, like John, blame a lot of this on the former leader of the pac12 that we finally got deported back to outer Slovakia or wherever he says he is from. ESPN big money is the only solution for the pac-12 and I have little confidence in it happening. You lose the biggest tv markets of the conference in the LA schools, and you think it will not have an effect? Continue to be a loser, and vote red in 2022 and in 2024. Keep supporting donald trump, go stand by a windmill and double your dose of covfefe, that trump invented, and pull down your pants and face due south by southwest. Say a prayer to whoever you want, and see how this all works for you. We dumped trump in 2020 and will do so again in 2024, unless he is convicted of a felony first. The only problem for all these trump supporters, who are positive the 2020 election was stolen, is that they have zero proof. Zero as in 0. Now, they want to back this moron is 2024? OMG people, get a clue for once please. Covid is real, as is global warming, the covid shots will be to your advantage if you get one or more, and if you want to fact check me again, call up your doctor, and ask if they think you should get covid shots. Once again, real hard to fix stupid. Get your head out, get covid shots, quit thinking trump will save your sorry dumb ass, and if you think college football on tv is a watered down version of the good old days, well then join the kamikaze flyers or the roadside bombers. If you want to kill yourself for some cause, go ahead. If you care about other people at all, wear a mask and go get the shots. If you have proof positive of trump being a saviour for the USA, that he is a god or someone special, or that he will lead our divided country to prosperity, then just kiss your stupid ass good by. I watch college football for just 14 or so hours per Saturday, on three tvs. I watch many games, and no commercials. I know football well, and I really like most all of what Mr. Canzano writes. Reading his columns everyday, is how I got inspired to write on the same site as is, substack.com Check us out, and if you can prove any of my fact checks to be false, please show me your proof. GO DUCKS, and thanks John Canzano for your great stories. Donnie Roberts
The problem with the LA schools has always been one of culture. Much like the problem with LA has always been one of culture.
Screw em I say, we are better off without the plastic eye balls watching anyway.
As a Cal Alumnus and cousins who went to UCLA, it makes little sense from a geographical, social or academic sense for UCLA to join the Big 10. I grew up in Iowa and followed the Hawkeyes and Gophers and think the Big 10 is a great conference, but don't see UCLA and USC as a natural fit. I mean just from a student demographics point of view you have more than 40% of UCLA and a third of USC being Asian while Big 10 schools being demographically quite different. I still remember when FOX made the video mocking Asians-Americans when the Pac 12 just welcomed Colorado and Utah. I don't see any of the movers for USC and UCLA moving to join the Big Ten being Asians or hispanic or black for that matter. I have a lot of friends who went to Big Ten schools and I even went to Urbana-Champaign for an undergraduate semester and though the schools would do their best to welcome USC and UCLA, I still don't see it as a natural fit and don't think the students will enjoy the change.
It was fascinating to me how Kelly and especially Kyle W. lit up when you brought up the topic of movies. For guys that are often terse when talking to reporters, they seemed like they could talk about their favorite movie all day.
OF COURSE we will welcome UCLA to stay - and happily scoop up SDSU, who is actually really good at men's hoops and Football - and are moving into a new state of the art crib this fall. The Aztec's profile would boom in the Pac 12 and brand value grow exponentially overnight. But I wouldn't stop there. Find your way into Texas, get the DFW and HOU markets on board. That is a hella strong 14 team league that will pull TV money and attention good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the SEC and B1G.
I'm fascinated by the idea of what would happen to USC in a scenario where UCLA get pulled back into the Pac-12. Does the B1G then target UO and UW to provide USC with a West Coast anchor? They would otherwise essentially be the Hawaii of their conference. Seems they will already be at a competitive disadvantage, but that would seem to take their wheels off. In addition to having a brutal conference schedule, they'd no doubt have to burn a non-conference game against a UCLA, Cal or Stanford.
The bald face truth, is really the bald face speculation. ….we get all these columns of “ who knows wants going to happen” says the Stanford coach. “I’m not predicting they come back” and…..”I’m not going to get into specifics” says commissioner Kliavkof ..pretty hard hitting stuff. And John wraps it all up with..”he left the door ajar” ….man, I can’t wait for the next column..how about you?
I get why the initial interest in SD (tv eyeballs) et al others, but i think it brings mediocrity to the Pac XX. Look at SD's support, or lack thereof, of pro teams. The football Aztecs are not consistently good.
George is a good leader, circle the wagons and wait. No rush decisions, there is opportunity in chaos. Dave M
I stand by my position that Amazon has a prime (no pun intended) opportunity to solidly itself in the football broadcast world by scooping up the Pac-12 rights. And they can throw life-changing money toward the schools and conference. Easily enough to lure back even USC, let alone UCLA.
“USC, you like that $75 million do ya? How does $115 million sound. Come on home, all is forgiven. And free 4K UHD Fire TV Cubes for all your players!”
If Gov. Newsome and the Board of Regents oppose the move, UCLA isn't moving. Add San Diego State and you have a Pac-12 with better media access.