Big Game Fiasco
Today's announcement that the Cal-Stanford game is going to be Oct. 20 is an indictment of Larry Scott (the Pac-12) and the two schools.
Scott released a statement that said ``with the addition of our Championship Football Game the last week of the season, and new television agreements commencing in 2012, there will be additional priorities that need to be balanced when making the schedule that will mean occasional date adjustments to rivalry games.''
Everyone gets schedule adjustments because of the championship game but the key phrases are really ``television agreements'' and ``additional priorities.''
USC and all the other schools were also informed their rivalry games might change in the future.
You can bet Scott is thrilled to have a marketable rivalry game in October for his new TV partner ESPN (or Fox). It might even be a great game for his Pac-12 Network.
How are Cal and Stanford culpable in this? They refused an offer to play the game on Thanksgiving weekend. That shows the true apathy for college sports in the Bay Area. No fans apparently would go to a game on a holiday weekend.
Can you imagine USC-UCLA, Oregon-Oregon State, Washington-Washington or Arizona-Arizona State turning down playing on Thanksgiving weekend because of fan apathy?
F NoCal
What's the story, Wolf. I tried to read the above commentary 3 times, and each time some ad for garages or something blocked my view. Don't get greedy, Wolf, or else you will see your readership decline.
Same with me, can't read your post because of Garage door ad.
I just called up and bought a Mesa garage door, and I even told them "Scott Wolfenstein sent me." Can we please read the post now, Scott?
If you click on the blog entry the ad goes out of the way. Whats up with that Scott, they didn't kick back enough to ya?
Oh ya, and Larry Scott is the worst thing to ever happen to college football period. He just wants to be a star. Maybe he wants to be the next american idol president. As bucker would say, HAWR HAWR.
I was able to read it. Wolf rambled on and on, blaming everyone, for something which apparently was just fine with the principle parties affected. To be honest, the ad was a better read.
There are no real Stanford football fans. Not too many years ago, the USC-Stanford game was partly empty with attendees being 75% SC fans. Their recent success helped attendance, but students and most alumni are completely apathetic to a Stanford football program. They will inevitably return to the cellar of the Pac-12 next year. Cal fans are only slightly better, but have been numbed by Tedford's mediocrity.
Unfortuntaly, college football is going the way of the NFL. Its all about $, and schools are selling their souls. The uniform permutations, schedule changes that do away with rivalry weekends, amd the conference realignments that will end many famous rivalry games (Backyard Brawl, Lonestar Showdown, etc.) will end up hurting the sport and its unique tribal nature.
Scott has a real point here. There is a level of experimentation and change in the conference that is acceptable. And there are things beyond that level that aren't. It is as much a part of the job of "conference commissioner" to know where that line is as to position things to make money for the schools. The reason for this, especially in an established conference consisting of established universities, is that the underlying driver of value that makes it possible for commissioners to tweak marginal dollars is tradition.
How does has a point too. When I grew up in the Bay Area (80s), Cal and Stanford fans just hated each other. It would spill over with parents on the sidelines at youth soccer games, parent teacher conferences, local politics. And when the Trojans came to town and the TMB marched through downtown SF, or we'd head down to the farm at Oh-dark-thirty to tailgate all day in the dirt, it was like there was an invasion, and the hosts were hostile as hell. It seems like Walnut Creek is the perfect place for the Pac-12 headquarters, as it's now smack dab in the middle of who-gives-a-crap-ville, where short term money drives things.
Great post Bosco! The Pac officials seem to think we fans can be manipulated into accepting anything. If they turn college football into the minor leagues of the NFL I'll find something else to do. I don't follow the Dodgers minor league teams.