It’s a great day to be a fan of the Pac-12 Conference as embattled commissioner Larry Scott makes his exit while incoming commissioner George Kliavkoff takes a seat in the big chair. We all know the arrogance and poor decision-making that occurred during Scott’s reign. It’s now time to turn that page and take an optimistic approach at the arrival …
Pac-12 Playoff Hopes Live and Die in September
The Pac-12 needs a win. It has been more than half a decade since any team from the conference has made the CFB Playoff and it is going on a whopping seven seasons since Oregon got the conference its only playoff win. Last year, no team was even in the discussion for the playoff. That brings us to 2021: one …
What Does George Kliavkoff Need to do FIRST?
George Kliavkoff is officially the Pac-12 commissioner. He takes over the conference at one of the most important junctures in history, with the bigger conferences just about in control of the entire country, and the Pac-12 falling further and further behind. The TV deal is a disaster, the football and basketball teams haven’t won a championship in over a decade, …
Oregon Softball Battle Bruins in Marquee Series Matchup
The battle for first place in the Pac-12 Conference and national polls was raging this weekend in a four-game series between softball powerhouses No. 3 Oregon Ducks and No. 2 UCLA Bruins in front of the largest crowds of the year at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene. Yes, more than 600 lucky fans were in the stands to cheer on …
How to Fix the Pac-12
A lot of noise has been made about the ineptitude of the conference in which the Oregon Ducks play. From some random guy deciding when penalties should stand, to bowl game opt-outs and criminally poor refereeing in all sports, the Pac-12 has long been the worst that the Power Five has to offer. The conference took their first step toward …
Oregon’s 2020 Football Season Just Doesn’t Seem Real
It’s my birthday today. And while I am not a big birthday person (after 21, do any of them really matter?), it would have been a nice gift for our Ducks to be 2-0. This, of course, would have meant a gigantic victory over Ohio State, which would have gifted me the right to rub it into the faces of …
Ponder Point: Is It Time to Take Back the Rose Bowl?
Once again, the B1G and the Pac-12 have moved in lock-step. This time in the two conferences’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the B1G and Pac-12 powers-that-be made the very difficult decision to take a big (no pun intended) financial hit in order to err, if they err at all, on the side of their student-athletes’ safety. No fall …
Cristobal Rumblings: An Accurate Portrayal of Oregon for 2020?
The blog Bear Insider published this article to preview each Pac-12 team, and it included some interesting comments about Oregon concerning the 2019 season and the upcoming 2020 campaign. I thought it would provide us some information about the other conference teams going into the season and some discussion points about Oregon’s prospects this fall. (I list their bullet points …
How the Pac-12 Went Off the Rails and the SEC Got on Track
Once I had a conference, I made it run, Made it run just fine. Once I had a conference and Keith Jackson called it a King. Brother, can you spare a dime? (To the tune of “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?”) In 1970, a USC team led by coach John McKay (an Oregon graduate) went into Tuscaloosa and played like …
Gambling With Larry
(To the tune of “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers) On a warm summer’s eve In a manse in San Francisco I met up with a gambler He was looking slick and chic. We both took a flute Of champagne from his table And as we were sippin’ He began to speak. He said, “Son, I’ve made a livin’ Out of …
The Big 22: Creating an “All-Hat” Conference?
Lay a map of Texas over Western Europe and you will find that The Lone Star State covers Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of Belgium, France, Italy, Croatia and the Czech Republic. And the great state of Texas is 28 times larger than the Green Mountain State, Vermont. That’s a lot of hat and a lot of cattle, …
Calling 9-1-1: A Quack For Help in the Pac-12
“What’s that you say? ‘Jackie Robinson, Johnny Wooden and McKay have gone away’? Hey, hey, hey!” B-r-r-r-ing! “9-1-1.” “Quaaaaaack!” It’s Poor Puddles calling to report animal abuse. Our fine-feathered friend has been whipped, spurred and ridden so hard by Trojans, Cougars, Huskies, Sun Devils, Beavers, Wildcats, Utes, Bears (both Golden and Bruin), and even two-ton Ralphie, that he is starting …