Glenn Dickey, who writes for The Examiner in San Francisco, wants to alert you that Pac-10 expansion is “not set in stone.” Break out the realignment alarms! Chaos is coming!
IS PAC-10 EXPANSION UNRAVELING? (No, Not Really)
Why? Because Chuck Young, a former chancellor at UCLA, is opposed to the move. This could ruin everything.
He has been sending e-mails to the chancellors and presidents of Pac-10 schools, urging them to block the expansion. He has promised not to make the content of the e-mails public (though ESPN has failed to do that) but he agreed to talk to me about his opposition.
Yes, Mr. Dickey got an exclusive interview with a gentleman who has nothing better to do than stand astride history e-mailing “STOP!” Quite the scoop for him. In any case ...
Some of his opposition is familiar: Utah isn’t academically up to par with the Pac-10, the introduction of divisional play will water down rivalries (which can be argued with two words: Tennessee-Alabama), and -- the fact that the Pac-10 held a media event in New York City?
“The new commissioner [Larry Scott] has already paid for a private jet to fly the conference coaches to the East to meet with media. As if that will make a difference. The basic problem of time zones remains. The Eastern media won’t see many of the Pac-10 games, and they won’t care.”
Actually, the reason “the Eastern media won’t see many of the Pac-10 games” is because the Pac-10 has a horrible media deal, one that many of the conference’s fans hope will be undone under the Scott regime. Even leaving that aside, one has to wonder why the idea of a private jet flying to New York has anything to do with whether conference expansion is a good idea.
The hopes of folks like Young and Dickey is that the presidents and chancellors will now overturn the decision (about which they were presumably consulted) to bring Colorado and Utah into the league. Good luck with that.
(HT: Mountain West Connection)
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