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