If you grew up with the Pac-12, that’s just weird – Whittier Daily News
The world according to Jim:
• It’s been over a week now since USC and UCLA dropped the bombshell that once and for all solidified the direction in which College Football Inc. is headed. For anyone who still doubted that this was still a big company, above all else, this was the ultimate eye-opener.
Yet even with a little time to process it all, if you grew up in Pac-12 country – or, for some of us of a certain age, Pac-10 or even Pac-8 – isn’t- this not yet hopelessly weird and more than a little sad? …
• Part of the fun of this conference, if you were rooting for USC or UCLA, was that the Trojans and Bruins were not just the showpieces, but also the perfect villains for fans and sections students in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, the Bay Area and in recent seasons Utah and Colorado. They might not audibly chant “Beat LA,” but they didn’t have to. The feeling was clear, LA as an object of hatred/envy. …
• And beyond the rivalries, the legendary settings – like the legendary McArthur Court in Oregon or the Husky Stadium in Washington, which popularized the term “sailgating” – and the sometimes difficult travel conditions were part of the heritage .
(An example of the latter, at least for traveling writers: the infamous 70-mile US 195 from Spokane Airport to Pullman for games against Washington State. It’s a speed trap when conditions are good and much more difficult when the weather is bad). …
• Of all the possibilities for the remaining Pac-12 schools – primarily absorption or expansion, all summed up so well by Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group over the past week – the one that makes the most sense might be an ESPN-organized merger with the Atlantic Coast Conference, which would cover approximately 40 million Nielsen households. That would be 6 million more than a Big Ten counting the Los Angeles market and its 5.7 million TV households. …
• Look at the college athletics industry this way: It’s basically TV programming, and ESPN and Fox are the kingmakers. Understand these parameters and the rest of the jockey makes more sense. …
• It’s not over either, and this ACC map could still change drastically. “SwimSwam News,” which covers college swimming, reported Thursday that the SEC is trying to lure Florida State, North Carolina, Clemson and Virginia from the ACC. (So much for the Duke-Carolina rivalry if it happens.)
Additionally, ESPN – which is the SEC’s new broadcast partner – is trying to cancel its current deal with the ACC, which runs until 2036. Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated has asked the world leader of Wretched Excess to discuss an ACC and Pac-12 TV partnership (but don’t call it an alliance), and the Big 12 would be interested in poaching up to six Pac-12 schools (but, notably, not Cal and Stanford).
When does the rumor mill stop because of all the stress? …
• But look at it this way: in two years we’ll be living in Big Ten country and we won’t have anything to worry about. …
• RIP, Mike Brito. The Dodger scout who signed Fernando Valenzuela, tipped off then-director of scouting Logan White to Yasiel Puig and discovered Julio Urías, died Thursday at age 87. For years, he was perhaps baseball’s best-known and most visible scout, the Panama guy. hat wielding the radar gun in the dugout seats during the 80s and 90s.
Brito was also one of the real good guys in baseball, and just a few weeks ago we exchanged greetings in the press box at Dodger Stadium. We miss him. …
• Until mid-May, we had reason to anticipate that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani would finally get a playoff shot in Anaheim. Now that the Angels’ playoff hopes seem to have crumbled, time is running out for Ohtani, he can be a free agent in a year and a half, and right now he’s even the biggest reason to watch the Angels play, again. more than Trout.
It seems unthinkable, but one has to ask: what would be most important, the package of players and prospects it would take to trade for Ohtani on loan, probably at next year’s deadline, unless things change drastically in Anaheim, or the financial package (and hit luxury tax) it would take to sign him on the open market? …
• We know that any Astros who show up at the All-Star Game will be booed loudly. But what about the Astros’ minor leaguers who were selected for the July 16 game at Dodger Stadium, pitcher Hunter Brown and catcher Yainer Diaz? Will the crowd also hold them responsible for the sins of their elders? …
• Business seemed to be (almost) business as usual in the NHL Draft this week, even after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, with a league more dependent on Russian talent than any in North America, which dives a little more timidly into this pool of players. . The Ducks’ Pat Verbeek used the 10th overall pick Thursday on Pavel Mintyukov, a Moscow defenseman who played in the Ontario Hockey League last season. But Mintyukov, 18, has spent the past two years in North America and reportedly has no plans to return to Russia anytime soon. …
• Perhaps the detention of Philadelphia Flyers goalie prospect Ivan Fedotov had an impact. Fedotov was apprehended and transferred to a remote military base in northern Russia, apparently on suspicion of escaping military service. But seven Russians have been selected in the first three rounds this year, up from 11 (and three Belarusian players) in 2021.
If you are a fan, are you comfortable with Russian players under the current circumstances? …
• Meanwhile, Brittany Griner remains in a Russian prison, a continuing reminder of the risky nature of justice in Putin’s Russia. You may feel differently, but that will definitely influence my answer to the previous question.