Well, a lot of thoughts from the past week regarding college football and the league of which I’ve spent almost 20 years. Recently, I’ve been asked a lot as to what I think about all that has occurred in the Pac-12. As you would imagine — there is a lot that comes with that question.
The first thing I think about is the people.
Amid all of the dialogue, something never mentioned was the people who compete every day on behalf of this league. Behind the scenes, in production trucks and on air. This group of people at the Pac-12 have left it all on the grass. And we will continue to do that, because that’s what professionals do. We will celebrate the game, coach the viewer and compete to give the sport of football what it deserves.
Speaking of the sport: it’s evolving, and that’s OK. Evolution is a part of life, but that doesn’t mean it makes sense today or will make sense in a few years when it changes again. Time will tell. But to say it’s about the student-athlete experience is a phrase that rings a little more hollow these days.
Mack Brown once told me: ‘Yogi, college football is about the players and the fans…’ And now, I think it’s also about the media and the money. A sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. That leads the conversation to, or at the very least is, a part of both the opening drive, and as we’ve now seen, the final drive too.
Personally, the last 20 years in the Pac-10 and the Pac-12 have been the greatest of my career. And the next 20 years will be even better because it is and, in my eyes, always will be about the game. After all, the games, which players play and fans enjoy, are what matter most.
If you ever find your way to Venice Beach and my home you’ll notice that I have a ball that sits on my desk. I toss it up in the air while studying film and play catch with our two sons when they sneak into the office as the sun rises or late at night when they should be in bed. Often, when I’m finalizing my call sheets for a game broadcast, I often stare at that ball. That uniquely shaped ball sits on my desk as a reminder that I don’t have a job, coaches don’t have jobs, media doesn’t have jobs, TV crews don’t have jobs, AD’s don’t have jobs, commissioners don’t have jobs and University presidents don’t make athletics decisions, without the existence of that ball…without the sport we don’t have the roles we earned…and that ball should always be the priority. Is it today? Debatable. Will it be moving forward? I think so. After all, I’m an optimist and at the core of optimism is resilience.
So with that, our crew of Ted Robinson, Michael Molinari, Ashley Adamson and many more will bring it like we only know how to in the final season of what we grew to love out west, this league as we know it and its final such season of what started over 100 years ago. We will call games each Saturday where over 40 of us wake up early, frame shots, mic up coaches, teach, laugh and enjoy the afterglow post game. During the week I’ll debate, call out east coast bias and seek the great stories under the helmets of over 1,200 young men who compete in the Pac-12 Conference. In December, this league will crown a champion, maybe another Heisman and hopefully a trip to the final year of the four-team playoff that is thankfully saying goodbye after this season.
After that, who knows how it shakes out. Heck, who knows how this week shakes out, but I do know that the people I’ve stood side-by-side with for the last 12 years will continue to celebrate the game and I know I’ll do my best to call the games as long as someone allows me to. Because the game is what matters most, and I’m going to chase what matters.
#HowGreatIsBall