mrspenney

I was with Direct TV for 17 years, switched to Dish a 2 years ago only because of there having PAC 12 network. Have to say we are not happy, independent contractor installed system and it’s been downhill ever since. A Dish employee had to remove everything and reinstall us because installation was incorrect and of course for 2 months we had all kinds of trouble. Since then we seem to have a significant technical issue every month. Have to say we had no problem with Arizona-Oregon game, however our Dish contract expires in December and will be looking for new provider.

Assuming a TV deal could be reached that would be around 10M less than they'd get in the B1G, and in my opinion the Ducks and Duck fans would be better off where we are. Look at the overall B1G conference in the last 20 years. Ohio State has won 10 conference football championships and tied for 2 more. Michigan has won 1 and tied for 2, Penn St. won 2 tied for 1, Wisconsin 2 & 1, However in the last 10 years for the most part it's Ohio State. Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, and Rutgers have been also rans for the last 20 years and will continue to be. Oregon and Washington would dominate the Pac 12, ala Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12. How happy do you think the fans at Oklahoma and Texas are going to be with a conference dominated by Alabama and Georgia? I'm old enough to remember when the conference was dominated by SC and UCLA, and it was considered to be a great season if the Ducks won 5 games. In my opinion, which I've articulated in the past, collegiate football is on a path of destruction led by the hand by TV. TV (money), NIL, and transfer rules are moving the sport into a two super conference mode, which will be the beginning of the end as we now know it. It's really too bad.

This will be the first bolt in Kelly's coffin. Probably the most Mickey Mouse early season schedule in major college football. UCLA alums hate his guts (understandable). He has to go at least 9-3 with a win over the Trojans and that ain't going to happen.

If Charles is correct, what a tragedy. TV is destroying college sports. The ones who will be hurt the most are minorities who are the largest recipient of athletic scholarships. If Charles is correct the majority of D1 schools playing football will diminish by most likely at least 60 and probably more schools.

What an idiot he does not know his rear from2nd base. Cal brings nothing to the table that's why the governor is creating all the problems for the supposed UCLA move and threatening to force UCLA to give half of what they receive annually to Cal. ND does not need any group or anybody. They have their cake and are continuing to eat it. Their deal with the ACC is that they play 5 ACC teams annually (of their choice) they are full members of the ACC in all other sports. They keep 100% of all broadcast revenues for all football games which are on NBC and they have exclusivity with NBC, they also receive some additional broadcast revenues from the ACC. Regardless of what happens Notre Dame is not going to be left out in the cold, you can bet on that. They are annually the #! college football TV draw. If the Big 10 does expand again most likely they would take Washington and Oregon, and I could see them taking Stanford. Cal has poor fan base, an AD with a huge debt (same as UCLA). It's amazing how poorly Stanford and Cal draw in the Bay Area. When I was in business in the Bay Area in Silicon Valley I never went to a Stanford game. Why I can't tell you, but college football did not seem to be a topic that was that discussed. Stanford drew well against Notre Dame, USC, Cal and to an extent Oregon, but as most know their new stadium holds almost 40,000 less than the old one did, that has to tell you something.

In my opinion Notre Dame at this point in time will not join the Big 10. I went to the only high school the Holy Cross fathers had in the US, Columbia Prep in Portland, since has been moved to Chicago and still is their only high school. Know and have known a lot of the priests of the order. ND is one of the best endowed schools in the US. Sure they are interested in money but they are also interested in providing a lot of their alums around the country the periodic opportunity to see their school play. They have their own TV deal which they share with no one and make a ton annually (NBC), and they are the only team on NBC nationally. They have a great deal with the ACC where they get some additional TV money (not a lot) and play 5 ACC teams a year. 2 of them they have played annually for years Pittsburgh and Boston College, so in reality they are playing 3 more ACC teams and they would normally play another 2 anyway. The rest of the deal is that they are full members of the ACC in all other sports except 2 that the ACC doesn't play. The administration at ND is not wild about some of the members of the Big 10, but that would not keep them from becoming a member if they wished. There is no reason for ND to join the Big 10, money no, quality of opponents absolutely not-they can schedule almost anybody they want, academics no for the most part ND is academically superior to almost all the schools in the Big 10. The only way that happens is if the power conference thing becomes a reality and there are only 2 conferences then they most likely would have to join.

Think the conference will make a deal with the ACC which has similar problems to the Pac 12. I'm not a believer that they will add 2 teams, maybe I'm wrong, will see. I think the new TV contract will be for more money than most folks think it will be. One of the best strengths the conference has is the present commissioner, and I think we are going to be amazed at what he will produce over the next few months. Was worried about our recruiting during this period, but the commitment of Moore, I think ends that worry and solidifies an outstanding top 10 class for this year and that will be solidified if Young commits soon. I also think that this years Duck football team could easily be a participant in the national championship game with a couple of breaks during the season. After being depressed earlier in the week, I'm very optimistic about the immediate future. Longterm I see the end of college sports as we know them, thanks to ESPN and Fox who are primarily to blame and will regret it as time goes by. I see 2 mega conferences with 20 teams each as the end result. The ones who will suffer the most are the minorities who will see scholarships drop by the thousands as the smaller schools retrench due to lack of income.

I went to the only high school the Holy Cross priests had in the country, for many years it was in Portland, moved to Chicago back in the last century. Notre Dame will not be bullied by the Big 10. Money wise Notre Dame is very well funded both in endowment and wealthy alums, they also have their own TV network NBC and don't share TV revenue with anyone. Only way I see this happening is if football goes to 2 super conferences (which it probably will down the road) and then Notre Dame will have the choice of were it goes.

It's over, as has been reported over the last few months the Super Conferences will be the only survivors. Big 10 will not at this time take any other members. Oregon and Washington's programs will have slipped so much in the next few years that they will not be attractive additions to a Super Conference. After next season watch our coaching staff disintegrate. This will happen to our recruiting class for next season. The tragedy of all this is that as time goes by less and less schools will play football, revenue will drop dramatically, womens sports and olympic sports will suffer badly. I can go on and on with more negative stuff, but what's the purpose. GREED

Oregon softball needs to pickup at least 1 if not 2 new excellent pitchers. I don't care how well they can hit, but if you don't have the pitching it will be a long year and a coach could be in trouble.

I wonder what Mullen's relationship is with the Powell's? If he could hire them back, and keep the sprint assistant coach the Ducks future would be fantastic.

I think by the end of November you will be thrilled that he left!

If you look at who he supposedly is down to as far as his next choice, it sure doesn't look like their beating his door down to get him on board. Hope he ends up at WSU, good spot for him. If he goes there he'll probably blow out hand way through the season and maybe earlier.

The lack of subscribers on the Pac 12 can be easily solved, it's the Networks+ESPN+Fox that we need to concerned with. I'm sure that the new commissioner will solve the Pac 12 issue soon, would not be surprised if they sold a significant portion of the network to Fox, or ESPN

This sounds like a real blessing, From what I've read this guy sounds like the FLAKE of FLAKES.

It's really to bad that The Ducks do not have one of their better T & F teams this year. I would think that the exposure of the new facilities will be a great help in future T & F recruiting.

I think that many did not realize how prepared Mullen and Company were for the oncoming of NIL, I sure wasn't. I think that when Mullen hired Lanning it had a heck of a lot to do with not only Lanning's reputation as a quality coach, but his reputation as an outstanding recruiter. It's obvious to me, looking back that Mullen had met with the major donors to the Duck AD and set up the beginning of a very well planned and laid out NIL program for the Ducks. Lanning certainly has put together not only an excellent group of coaches as far as coaching is concerned, but also a fantastic group of coaches that are some of the best recruiters in the game. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Oregon staff has hit the ground running in seemingly all areas of the athletic department. Not only is football going well, but seemingly all other Duck sports as well in the recruiting area. In my opinion a tremendous amount of credit goes to Rob Mullen who saw what was coming and prepared for it.

I agree 100%, if they can coach as well as they recruit a national championship is certainly attainable. It seems like the whole staff are dedicated recruiters, I also believe that with a change in offensive philosophy we can appeal to almost any player in the land.

Having spent most of my life as a new car dealer I will have to agree that the body styling of the jag was outstanding, but mechanically ir was a disaster. I remember my attorney had one and it spent most of it's time in the shop waiting for parts. He sold the car in San Diego, because it was far enough from Portland to make a law suit kind of speedy.

He told me that UCLA has decided to get full blast into the NIL fiasco that we are all witnessing. A significant player will be Casey Wasserman who is also chairman of the LA Olympic Game bid. He is as big a player as anyone on the SC team, and certainly is a major player in the athletic world of Southern California. They will give SC some real competition down here. The athletic department at UCLA was very instrumental in forcing Kelly to hire some very able recruiters as new assistant coaches, led by Ken Norton Jr. If the conference is going to return to respectability It's important for UCLA to be a strong program along with the Huskies (I hate to print that). It's not going to help the conference next football season to have ASU flat on their rears, but I don't think there's much choice there. I do expect UCLA to be a top 20 ranked team next season, particularly when you look at how weak their schedule is. Some may not like it, but if the conference is going to regain respectability it's important to have a significant number of teams have good seasons. A sleeper in this NIL issue I believe to be Stanford. I will not be surprised to a group of very wealthy alums from Stanford step up to bat and become major players in this NIL fiasco.

Not just Stanford and USC, but USF, St. Mary's, Santa Clara, Loyola, Pepperdine, USD, Pacific and a lot more smaller schools.

Here is a lengthy follow up to Charles's post; The Athletic COLLEGE STATION, Texas — After dinner Friday night, they danced on Kyle Field. This wasn’t like last Oct. 9, when they stayed in their suites and cheered while thousands of Texas A&M students spilled onto the field to celebrate Seth Small’s field goal that slayed Alabama. This time, the Aggies’ biggest athletics donors had the field to themselves. The Limelight Band of Emerald City, a Dallas-based group with a seriously hot horn section, blasted Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” from a raised stage at midfield, and a group of millionaires shook their asses down below. This evening kicked off the 12th Man Foundation’s Champions Council Weekend. These were the heaviest hitters in a moneyed fan base. Several had given eight figures in lifetime donations. At least one had made a $10 million pledge that, instead of paying over the customary five years, he made good on with a single wire transfer. The 12th Man Foundation, Texas A&M athletics’ fundraising arm, had put together this weekend celebration to launch a new capital campaign, and that seemed as good a time as any to answer a question: In the age of name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, when college football players can essentially be paid for any reason (except, oddly, for being football players), will donors still give to the athletic department for facilities and other expenses? The weekend certainly answered that question as far as the Aggies are concerned. The “quiet phase” of the $120 million Centennial Campaign* — which will fund a 140-yard indoor football practice facility, a new academic and nutrition center for all athletes and a new indoor track — netted $88 million in pledges to be paid over several years. As of Friday night, the 12th Man Foundation already had $27 million of that in hand. Shovels can go into the ground immediately on a group of projects estimated to cost $235 million by the time they’re completed. But at the same time, some of the donors to the capital campaign met among themselves inside and away from the official program to discuss their roles as investors in what they, with tongues planted firmly in cheek, call “The Fund.” This is the marketing company — set up as a for-profit limited liability corporation — that manages NIL deals for Texas A&M athletes. In accordance with Texas law, it is not officially affiliated with the school or the athletic department. It is run by some of Texas A&M’s biggest donors, and as of Friday night, some of them were worried that they were falling behind the NIL collectives working on behalf of the rest of the big-money schools in the SEC. Is that surprising? Were you one of the people who believed an Oklahoma fan site message board poster (whose handle is slicedbread) when Mr. Bread declared that Texas A&M-adjacent groups spent $30 million on the 2022 recruiting class? Don’t worry. You weren’t alone. That post got aggregated on a site called BroBible.com, and lots of people believed it. A vice president at Notre Dame believed it. Heck, some of Texas A&M’s current players believed it and asked coach Jimbo Fisher why they weren’t getting those kinds of deals. Fisher told them to call the recruits and ask what kind of deals they were actually getting. “That would have been the dumbest business deal in the history of ball,” Fisher said of the rumor when speaking to the donor group Saturday morning at a presentation detailing the planned facilities. The reason Fisher said that, Texas A&M administrators and donors explained, is if that amount of money was available, why wouldn’t the group simply try to equal or surpass the first-year NFL salaries of offensive lineman Kenyon Green and defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal to stay for another year? Blue-chip recruits are great, but they’re a gamble. First-team All-SEC performers are sure things. But even if the collective could have convinced Green or Leal — projected as first- or second-round picks in this week’s NFL Draft — to stay, it wouldn’t have had the funds to make that sort of deal. Speaking to the donors, Fisher didn’t deny that NIL deals will be important going forward. “NIL is going to factor into the way you do business, and these kids need to develop and earn things,” Fisher said. “It’s not going to be the world we lived in.” But just as he has said multiple times since landing the 2022 class, Fisher insisted that NIL can’t be the only reason a player chooses a school if that school wants to have a successful football program. Just as NFL teams — who are about to pay some draftees large guaranteed amounts — spend much of the pre-draft process trying to determine if those potential draftees love football enough to keep trying to improve despite millions in the bank, Fisher pointed out that his job is to find players who want to win games whether they get paid or not. “At the end of the day, understand something, the people who are only focused on NIL, I don’t want them,” Fisher said. “Because they’re never going to be able to be at the level of ball where you have to play if that’s the way they’re going to make decisions.” Several investors in The Fund told The Athletic that while several members of the 2022 class did secure deals, the total numbers on the deals are in the low single-digit millions. Asked why they’d bother to correct an assumption that almost certainly would lead more recruits to consider Texas A&M, the answers were similar. They don’t want current players to feel shortchanged, and they don’t want future recruits to be disappointed when they learn the actual numbers. But make no mistake, they’re working to make those actual numbers larger. A day before the gathering in College Station, a group working adjacent to Florida announced that donor Hugh Hathcock was leading the charge to fund an NIL collective. This group, called the Gator Guard, would be a select group of high-dollar donors supplementing the work of the Gator Collective, which had been working to land and fund NIL deals for Florida players. Hathcock also helped answer the question of whether big donors would choose giving to the athletic department or to the NIL collectives. His answer is a resounding “both.” Earlier this month, Florida’s athletic department announced that Hathcock had pledged the single largest donation ($12.6 million) in the history of Florida’s athletic department. Darren Heitner, a Florida graduate and attorney who advises the Gator Collective and Gator Guard, told The Athletic’s G. Allan Taylor last week that the Gator Guard group had raised $5 million in less than a week. On Saturday, as the Texas A&M donors gathered to learn about the new facilities, former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer announced a Norman-based NIL collective called 1Oklahoma that will operate as a non-profit and pay Oklahoma athletes for doing work for other non-profits. According to a release announcing the collective, Oklahoma athletes can make between $40,000 and $50,000 a year partnering with 1Oklahoma. Investors in The Fund at Texas A&M don’t understand why investors in other collectives feel the need to advertise those collectives. None in the Texas A&M-adjacent group would speak on the record, though several shared working details of the operation with The Athletic. As far as publicity, they feel word-of-mouth between recruits and players will be plenty to ensure the people they’ll work with know what is available. With various state NIL laws going into effect on July 1, 2021, the investors behind The Fund began designing the structure of the organization in May 2021. Originally, the plan was to operate almost strictly as an apparel/memorabilia company, making T-shirts and other player-branded items that could be sold to an adoring fan base. That didn’t last long. Eventually, the backers of The Fund came to the same conclusion that other for-profit collectives have. The most efficient way to handle players — and the easiest way to guarantee an amount of money — is to buy the players’ NIL rights entirely and then act as a marketing agency, making deals on behalf of the players and then using the proceeds from those deals to recoup the marketing guarantees made in the players’ contracts. This is nearly identical to the way marketing agents have handled NFL-bound players for years. A player would finish college, and multiple marketing agencies would pitch the player on their ability to make that player money in exchange for a percentage of the revenue. Those pitches would include guaranteed amounts, with the agency assuming the risk of loss if it couldn’t book enough deals to cover the amount it guaranteed. The same applies in the college NIL world. For example, the deal for the five-star class of 2023 recruit that Stewart Mandel outlined in The Athletic last month is structured this way. That deal could pay the player up to $8 million over a four-year period and includes several guaranteed payments at various dates within the deal. Should the collective book enough deals for the player to cover the amount of the guarantee, then the contract converts to a relatively standard split (90 percent for the player, 10 percent for the collective) for the remainder of the deal. If the collective doesn’t book enough deals, then it eats the loss. That player is believed to be Long Beach, Calif., quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who is committed to Tennessee. If he is indeed that player and Spyre Sports Group, the Knoxville-based collective operating as a marketing agency, wants to recoup its investment, then Iamaleava either will have to sell a lot of pajama pants or win Tennessee a bunch of games. An administrator at a Power 5 school recently compared the philosophy behind such deals to the music business. A record company signs 100 artists hoping one turns out to be Tim McGraw. That deal then pays for the other 99 deals and generates a profit for the company. But the win/loss piece is what makes the profit/loss math different for these collectives. Though multiple state laws forbid NIL deals as an inducement to choose a school, only the true Pollyannas thought that wouldn’t instantly happen as soon as such deals were allowed. Investors are willing for their collectives to operate at a loss as long as the arrangement produces wins on the field. Organizers across the country are split on how to set up the funds, though. The Oklahoma fund described above operates as a 501(c)(3) organization. So does a collective attached to Ohio State. Meanwhile, some who have organized their collectives as for-profit LLCs have expressed reservations about the non-profit model. They aren’t entirely sure the IRS ultimately will view such organizations as charitable entities. The LLC operators feel their investors can write off donations as business expenses because players can be hired to promote the investors’ businesses. Another possibility is that if a collective operates at a loss, it could provide a Schedule K-1 form to investors who then could claim their portion of the loss on their taxes. The hope in College Station is that The Fund will generate enough money in promotional deals to cover any guarantees. But those investors, who didn’t get rich by being dumb, aren’t naive. “It’s going to need to be refilled every year,” said one person who has invested in The Fund and given to the recent capital campaign. “I’m not sure how many of these people understand that yet.” Some of the meetings outside the festivities last weekend were aimed at helping potential investors understand just that. And as of early this week, the people organizing The Fund felt more confident that their fellow Aggies understood and were willing to keep giving. Understanding all aspects of these arrangements remains a work in progress as everyone learns about a system that didn’t exist a year ago. For instance, one current Texas A&M Football player who has a deal with The Fund that includes all of his NIL rights recently made an appearance and then asked the business owner when he would be paid. After a few confused phone calls, an organizer of The Fund explained to the player that he would be paid by the LLC on an agreed-upon schedule and that the money for each individual appearance would go directly to the LLC. A current player also had a large marketing agency representing him for NIL deals before deciding to sign a deal with The Fund for a marketing guarantee. Instead of elbowing out the large agency, organizers of The Fund decided to allow the player’s agent to continue representing him provided all revenue from any deals went through The Fund’s LLC — which would then pay the agent’s commission. Another reason for such deals? Most state laws forbid pay-for-play. Organizers of The Fund produce deals that will get approved by Texas A&M’s compliance department. This keeps players from striking individual deals that, for example, pay per touchdown or per tackle. Those wouldn’t be allowed under the law. Organizers of The Fund also worry about how the players will handle the money. That’s why several of the contracts are set up so that a substantial portion of the guarantee will be paid out in April 2023. Why? Because that’s when taxes are due, and it would ensure the player would have enough cash on hand to pay the IRS. There was some trepidation about providing a payment so close to the May 1 deadline to enter the NCAA transfer portal and play somewhere else the following season, but ultimately the collective decided helping to keep its favorite team’s players on Uncle Sam’s good side superseded any concerns about those players transferring. The law — federal and state — is a constant refrain when discussing NIL. Schools in Oklahoma, for example, are afforded much more latitude to deal with NIL arrangements than schools in Texas. “The next phase of this is probably having to adjust the Texas law where perhaps maybe we can be more involved as an institution,” Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork told donors last weekend. “We can’t really advise on business terms. Is it a good deal or not? We can’t be involved in that. Does it follow the law or not is really all we can advise on.” Bjork would love a federal law that would standardize how schools across the country can handle NIL deals, but many of his peers aren’t optimistic that such a law will ever be passed. Bjork is much more optimistic, though, that Texas A&M’s donors will continue to give to the athletic department rather than redirect their money exclusively to an NIL collective. Some donors still would prefer to only give to the athletic department. Plenty seem willing to give both ways. “Right now, we’re embracing everything,” Bjork told donors. “We’re embracing facilities, scholarships, NIL, sponsorship, season tickets. Every business engagement, we have to embrace all of it.” According to some of the athletic department’s fundraisers, the money didn’t really start rolling in for the capital campaign until it became apparent that Texas A&M was putting together the No. 1 recruiting class for the class of 2022. That’s what the group finds hilarious. The outside world thought NIL money alone bought Texas A&M a recruiting class. In reality, that class probably bought the Aggies a new indoor facility. “If people were mad about Texas A&M and NIL before, wait until they hear about $88 million raised,” Bjork told the donors. “Wait until they hear about $235 million in facilitie

This years Duck team is one of the better hitting teams they've had, but their pitching is the worst I even remember them having. Ace Yanez is out for the year. Dail is very inconsistent can have a great inning and then not worth a damn in the next. Kliethermes starting out with a bang, and has totally fallen apart since then. Hansen is a freshman and is getting better and better, but doesn't seem to have a whole game durability. Kliethermes started out with a bang, and has since fallen totally apart, seems to totally have lost her confidence. Tuesday's game against Portland State was a shutout until she came in for the 7th and was a disaster fortunately they had a big enough lead that they were able to get the win. The may make the playoffs, but they won't get very far.

The Oklahoma deal makes a little sense, cost in excess of $4M, will insure that they get good players, not the best, but good ones. Texas is already paying all OL's $50K. Can't remember what Texas A &M is paying the members of this years recruiting class. As far as a team is concerned the Oklahoma deal makes a heck of a lot more sense than Tennessee paying a QB $8M, I can see some unhappy OL's missing a few blocks every so often.

As Charles points out this is probably just the beginning. The NIL is the final chapter in the new book titled 365 days of recruiting. Obviously our new coach is certainly on top of this, he's put together a staff of outstanding recruiters, and if they can coach as well as they seem to be recruiting, the future of Duck football is bright, however the future of collegiate football is not. Charles seems to feel that it will be 3 years before the full effect of the NIL fiasco is felt, he may be right. But as far as coaching is concerned it's becoming more and more of a young mans game. Christobal's greatest asset was and is his recruiting ability, he certainly was not a great game coach, how long he can keep this up will be interesting. I remember Colleen Bellotti complaining to me one time that Mike was gone all the time. Think what that would be like now. It amazes me with all the NIL talk that you never hear anyone discussing the education that is being given to the athletes.