Kurt Rambis

Everyone has a different place for where the line is that shouldn't be crossed. For some, even booing the refs or an opponent is poor sportsmanship. On the other hand, I've been around fans who couldn't yell anything without heavy-duty profanity being part of the sentence. And there's the infamous "Where's your daddy" chant at ASU when Steve Kerr was playing for Arizona (his dad was killed by terrorists). Astonishes me that anyone actually thought that might be amusing or a good idea. But the problem in policing behavior like this (no matter who does it) is where to draw the line. I used to have season tickets to Pepperdine basketball, and I was regularly the loudest voice in the building (which would surprise no one who knows me). I and a few other fans tried to get really creative, and we would sometimes go after certain players. My rule was always no profanity and nothing really personal (like if a kid had a child out of wedlock or was rumored to use drugs), but yeah, we would go after opposing players and deserving refs. I've had players respond to me from the court (which is when I knew I'd gotten into their heads), and I've cracked the whole bench up with a comment. One of the best lines I ever heard was when we were destroying St. Mary's, which always traveled with a priest at the end of their bench. During the last TV timeout, St. Mary's emptied their bench, and someone yelled, "Put in the priest!" (Even the priest started laughing.) The best one I came up with was when we were beating a terrible Portland team, and they made a run to cut it to a 12-point deficit with about two minutes left. We called timeout, and their bench was going absolutely nuts celebrating. From across the court, I yelled, "What are you guys so happy about? Your team is 2 and 22, and you're so bad you can't even get into the game!" The whole crowd started laughing, and there was no question Portland's players heard me. I have no doubt that some people on this board find both of those comments wrong and inappropriate. And others probably find them funny and totally fine. To me, as long as it's not in really bad taste, there's nothing wrong with riding an opponent. Going after sexuality, race, religion, using profanity - IMHO that's in bad taste. But who decides what's over the line?

Self-serving to quote myself, but I had to laugh at this - an fricken-bomb? My original post used a capital fricken combined with bomb (nothing more), but I guess that's somehow offensive to the algorithm?

Asinine. Not only holds coaches and ADs responsible for fan behavior, but who is going to determine what is derogatory or insulting speech? So someone yells out, "Are you blind, ref?" and the coach gets suspended? Whomever sponsored this bill deserves some derogatory and insulting speech. The 1st Amendment clearly says government shall not abridge the right to free speech. The Supreme Court has already declared that a t-shirt with an fricken-bomb on it is protected speech, as is burning the American flag in protest, no matter how offensive I find both of them. Does the state really have legislators who are that stupid that they don't even know what the Constitution says? Never mind - the introduction of this bill clearly answers that.

Any idea whether "Air" is a nickname or his middle name? (Profile lists him as Prentiss Air Noland.) Either way, what a great name for a QB - that alone is worth a scholie.

I had no trouble getting into it and didn't receive any warning such as "This is your one free article" or anything like that. But I'm joining with an overseas URL, so it could be different for me. I don't blame these athletes for getting whatever is available to them, but too many of these kids have no guidance - it's not going to end well for many of them. A few years driving a Mercedes and being BMOC and many will end up with the money blown, no education, and no real future. Sounds like Dickey has a good head on his shoulders, but I doubt many kids at 17 can be described the same way.

Very true - but how much of that is due to travel distance? And how much is due to familiarity with the home field, fan support, and/or not having to travel at all (not even a Corvallis-to-Eugene bus ride)? I used to do 50,000 miles a year for business, have meetings that started at 4:00 a.m. my time, fly from Phoenix to Seattle, then to Minneapolis, then to Orlando, then home in the same week, and be working on the planes and in hotel rooms. Believe me, I wasn't on a chartered jet with lots of room to nap, having my nutritional needs carefully cared for, and all my travel arrangements and check-ins done for me. Yeah, the travel will be a hassle for these young, well-conditioned athletes, but forgive me if I don't feel too bad for them after nearly 30 years of traveling like I did and still taking care of everything I needed to at a high level of efficiency for my clients.

I keep wondering whether the B1G acquisition of USC/UCLA, and those schools making the transition, will be like the guy who is blinded by the beauty of the new Porsche in the dealership window, so he buys it...and then driving home, thinks, "Oh, crud - how am I going to afford the monthly payments, insurance, maintenance? Yeah, this is really fun to drive - but what the heck have I done?"

For every report that the Pac-10 is about to expand, or sign a deal, or that the Big12 is about to poach schools, the money has dried up, schools are looking to leave, it'll all be streaming, or anything else, there are other reports of exactly the opposite. Some people naturally tend to be pessimists, so I believe they gravitate towards the "the sky is falling" reports. Others tend to be optimists, so I believe they gravitate towards the "be patient - it'll all be fine" reports. Likely one side or the other will be proven very right. Either way, none of us really has any idea of what's happening. Canzano recently reported that no schools are seriously looking to leave, that administrators continue to be confident the new deal will be close to or even exceed what the Big12 is pulling in, etc. Is he right? No clue. But it certainly contradicts some of the doom and gloom we're hearing from other sources.

Hope this hasn't already been posted, but some really interesting comments from some former Pac-12 coaches, including Mike Bellotti... Former Pac-12 coaches concerned about league's future amid ongoing issues: 'They're teetering on the brink' - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The conference's inability to secure a new media rights deal is raising alarms

Superstar college player signs NIL deal for a vehicle - then said vehicle is involved in a crime. Not great publicity. What happens to the NIL deal in a situation like this? Carter is leaving UGA anyway, but what if he had planned to come back? Oh, so many questions... Georgia star Jalen Carter subject of arrest warrant: Top NFL Draft prospect left scene of fatal car crash - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Carter is projected to be among the top selections in the 2023 NFL Draft

We've seen many promising QBs destroyed by bad teams (e.g. Carr on the Texans, Harrington on the Lions, Akili Smith with Cincy, or pretty much anyone drafted by Cleveland). We've also seen QBs drafted to bad teams who were able to elevate those teams, like Peyton Manning and Joe Burrow. Not everyone walks into a winning situation like Aaron Rogers or Big Ben. Sadly, as fantastic as MM was with the Ducks, I haven't seen a lot of that in the NFL. Yes, he's been on some bad teams, but I've rarely seen the spark that would have the potential to help elevate those teams. Had he been drafted by the Steelers or Patriots, would he have been more successful? I believe so - but I don't believe he'd be a franchise QB in any situation. Many fantastic college QBs don't make it big in the NFL - Chris Weinke, Tee Martin, Dennis Dixon, Tebow, Famous Jameis, Trubisky, Locker, Wentz, and the list goes on and on. Time to settle in as a veteran backup or call it a career. If you last 9 years in the NFL, you did an awful lot right, but I don't see teams lining up to give him a starting opportunity.

One of the big problems in the current media environment is that we all tend to feel we have the right to know everything - the exact nature of the QB's hamstring injury, exactly why the OC was fired, exactly what the coach was thinking when he punted on 4th and short, exactly what the NIL deal is for the new DB. And of course we all want to know exactly what the Pac10's new deal will be (and whether it'll be the Pac10, 11, 12, or 14). And dang it, we want to know it now! So of course there will be a variety of talking hairdo's and Internet "journalists" speculating or even reporting what's going on (whether it's remotely accurate or not). I'm old enough to remember when you got the evening news and the morning newspaper and those were largely your news sources. Today, the 24/7 information cycle is making us all a bit impatient, and all a bit nuts. (Or maybe the latter impact is largely on me.)

Really curious who the others named for best NIL setup in the league.

...and winter is coming.

Sound familiar? Different situation, but some of the same problems... Florida State, Clemson unhappy with ACC: Financial hurdles face conference powers potentially leaving - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Don't expect FSU and Clemson to add to conference realignment unless they clear some financial hurdles