If you grew up with the Pac-12, this is just strange
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 it was always big business, first and foremost, this was the ultimate eyeopener.
Yet even with some 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 still irretrievably weird and more than a little sad? ...
• Part of the fun of this conference, if you rooted for USC or UCLA, was that the Trojans and Bruins were not only the flagships but also the perfect villains for fans and student sections in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, the Bay Area, and in recent seasons Utah and Colorado. They may not have been audibly chanting “Beat L.A.,” but they didn't have to. The sentiment was plain, L.A. as an object of hate/envy . ...
• And beyond the rivalries, the storied settings — such as Oregon's legendary McArthur Court, or Washington's boat-friendly Husky Stadium, which popularized the term “sailgating” — and the sometimes challenging travel conditions were part of the heritage.
(An example of the latter, at least for traveling beat writers: The infamous 70-some miles of U.S. 195 from the Spokane airport to Pullman for games against Washington State. It's a speed trap when conditions are good and much more arduous when the weather is nasty) . ...
• Of all the possibilities for the remaining Pac-12
schools — mainly absorption or expansion, all summed up so well by the Bay Area News Group's Jon Wilner over the last week — the one making the most sense might be an ESPN-arranged merger with the Atlantic Coast Conference, which would cover 40 million or so Nielsen households. That would be 6 million more than a Big Ten counting the L.A. market and its 5.7 million TV homes . ...
• Look at the college athletics industry this way: It's essentially TV programming, and ESPN and Fox are the kingmakers. Understand those parameters and the rest of the jockeying makes more sense . ...
• It's not over, either, and that ACC map could yet change dramatically. “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 that happens.)
Moreover, ESPN — which is the new broadcast partner of the SEC — is trying to void its current ACC deal, which runs through 2036. Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated had the Worldwide Leader in Wretched Excess discussing an ACC and Pac-12 TV partnership (but don't call it an alliance), and the Big 12 is said to be interested in poaching as many as six Pac-12 schools (but, notably, not Cal and Stanford).
When does the rumor mill break down from all the stress? ...
• But look at it this way: In two years we'll be living in Big Ten country and will have no reason to care . ...
• RIP, Mike Brito. The Dodger scout who signed Fernando Valenzuela, tipped off then-scouting director Logan White to Yasiel Puig and discovered Julio Urías,
passed away Thursday at 87. For years he may have been baseball's best-known and most visible scout, the guy in the Panama hat wielding the radar gun in the dugout seats during the `80s and `90s.
Brito was also one of baseball's true good guys, and as recently as a couple of weeks ago, we exchanged hellos in the Dodger Stadium press box. He is missed. ...
• Through mid-May we had reason to anticipate that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani would finally get a shot at the postseason in Anaheim. Now that the Angels' playoff hopes appear to have tanked, the clock is ticking for Ohtani, He can be a free agent in another year and a half, and right now he's the main reason to even watch the Angels play, even more than Trout.
It seems unthinkable, but it has to be asked: What would be bigger, the package in players and prospects that it would take to trade for Ohtani as a rental,
probably at next year's deadline unless things change dramatically in Anaheim, or the financial package (and luxury tax hit) it would take to sign him on the free market? ...
• We know that any Astros who actually show up at the AllStar Game will be booed loudly. But what about the Astros' minor leaguers who have been picked for the July 16 Futures' Game at Dodger Stadium, pitcher Hunter Brown and catcher Yainer Diaz? Will the crowd hold them accountable for the sins of their elders as well? ...
• It seemed to be business as (almost) usual at this week's NHL draft even in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with a league more dependent on Russian talent than any in North America taking a slightly more tentative dip into that player pool. The Ducks' Pat Verbeek used the 10th overall pick Thursday on Pavel Mintyukov, a defenseman from Moscow who played in the Ontario Hockey League
last season. But the 18-year-old Mintyukov has spent the last two years in North America and reportedly has no plans to return to Russia any time soon . ...
• Maybe the detaining of Philadelphia Flyers goalie prospect Ivan Fedotov had an impact. Fedotov was apprehended and moved to a remote military base in North Russia ostensibly on suspicion of evading military service. But seven Russians were taken in the first three rounds this year, compared to 11 (and three Belarus players) in 2021.
If you're a fan, how comfortable are you rooting for Russian players under the current circumstances? ...
• Meanwhile Brittany Griner remains in a Russian prison, a continuing reminder of the dicey nature of justice in Putin's Russia. You may feel differently, but that would certainly influence my answer to the previous question.