Pac 12 Part II

It just was not enough said about the demise of the Pac 12.  To that end I energetically ran into one of my most consistent readers last Friday evening.  He comments frequently and I look forward to his feedback.  He asked why I did not have a part 2 or 3 to some of my stories?    

 So, Dennis, I am taking your suggestion to heart.

 What was missing last week was a further description of why the Pac 12 was important on a human level.  Others might feel the same.  The Pac 12 was more than a financial entity driving to produce returns for its investors.  What the administrators of the Pac 12 missed, while they watched Rome burn, was the emotional strings that bound the Pac 12 schools in a similar way that the outcomes of athletic events, degrees and personal achievements bind a family.  They chose to ignore the history which wrapped each of these educational institutions together.  The athletic endeavors are just an outward reflection of the dedication and accomplishments of the students that attended these schools.  No, they chose only to consider the financial repercussions and even in that they failed.  I have nothing to contribute beyond that aspect as that is what everyone is talking about.  Other than to say, enough already we know college sports is big business like everything else.  Somehow that doesn’t touch anything that might be considered culturally significant.

 I grew up in a house hold that was deep into the Pac 12.  At the head of the line was my father.  He attended USC and was an ardent USC fan.  Some might even say obsessive.  We went to the Coliseum frequently to watch USC play football in the halcyon days of John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carroll; along with the parade of Heisman Trophy winners and games won.  When USC won it was a good Saturday often celebrated by going out to dinner at one of my parents’ favorite steak houses.  But it wasn’t all about USC football as my mother went to UCLA and when basketball season came around it was all UCLA all of the time, with John Wooden at the helm of the greatest college basketball program ever.  However, life is complicated and as my family changed so did its relationship with the Pac 12.

 I have two brilliant sisters who both attended Stanford University.  As proud as my father was of their academic achievements I think it was a challenge for him to acknowledge Stanford as a formidable football school.  Then they had the audacity of getting good at tennis, baseball and basketball (both men’s and women’s).  He never said it but I know it must have been difficult to acknowledge that this northern California citadel of academic achievement could also win Rose Bowl games and NCAA National titles. 

 The loyalty to various Pac 12 schools continued to grow in complication as my son attended UCLA, then my daughter went to Berkeley, my niece went to Oregon and my other niece went to Washington.  You can see where this is heading …Many evening, text messages, and letters and conversations about which school was going to triumph over the other.  Trash talking became an art form.

 It is the lively debate and interaction which drew all of these family’s members closer together as we won and lost with our Pac 12 teams.  It is this unquantifiable benefit of the Pac 12.  The rivalry, the recognition of greatness in so many sporting avenues along with the academic achievement.

 And now because they failed to see it coming the administrators of these schools have allowed this bastion of family pride and fun to crumble.  It is hard for me to believe that anyone in my family will care when USC plays Purdue or UCLA plays Rutgers (wherever they are).

 Interestingly enough I think the biggest problem with the Pac 12 was they were just too good.  Invariably one of the schools would go on a run and it would look like they were headed for a national championship and then they would head to Pullman Washington only to be upset by Washington State.  Thus, we were once again relegated to watch Alabama play in the Championship game.

Life will move on and ESPN will chat up the games of Saturday.  For me it will lack the emotion that history brings.  Gone are the recollection of past achievements against your cross-down rival.

We have managed once again to take the unique and rich and make it predictable and ordinary.

Things will never be the same again.

Things will never be the same again.

It's not a secret anymore.

Now we've opened up the door.

Starting tonight and from now on.

We'll never, never be the same again.

……From “Never be the Same” written by Melanie Chisolm