The Kamikaze Kid

Pretty much the bland drivel you'd expect. https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1684740924537233408/photo/1

If the PAC presidents continue to simply adjust each others ascots and exclaim how dashing they all look in their elite little group, then all of this is an epic waste of time for all the fans of the conference. This has been a five alarm fire since USC and UCLA left a year ago. Canzono rang the alarm years ago about lavish Larry and the looming danger ahead. All we’ve heard since then is “don’t worry, we’ve got this. We know what we’re doing.” From every president and commissioner. I’ve been a huge supporter of the PAC staying together but I see no other endgame but a fast approaching cliff. I sure hope the UO has a plan B ready to go because I have yet to see even the slightest bit of concern of danger from the rest of the conference.

When it comes to understanding sports related injuries and medical conditions, this is the man!

Bow down fuskies!

I'd say in both loses, Lanning saw his team start to panic, watched the defense crumble, couldn't get them to regain composure, then took some huge 4th down gambles to attempt to regain momentum. Some first season growing pains for a coach on the brink of an 11-1 playoff appearance. Not bad. I'm pretty sure he learned some valuable lessons, consulted with coach Smart and will be the better for it heading into season two. If the D improves like it seems it has, he grows as a coach (unlike Mario) and recruiting holds steady, I'd say the window of opportunity has already slammed shut on both the fuskies and Beavs to move ahead of the Ducks. The constant yap from the doghouse up north will just make it that much better.

According to these numbers, it looks like the only folks interested in the Ducks are a few Oregonians and a bunch of 4-5 star recruits.

SUC and fuskies sitting right where I want them in the preseason. Also expect both to sitting behind Ducks, Beavs and Utes when it's all said and done.

What if the P12 network continues production for all P12 games but is distributed under the ESPN+ streaming service? What if ESPN+ strikes a deal with Amazon or Apple for streaming distribution for win/ win arrangement with mutual cross promotion? What if all these complex arrangements are what is taking so long to iron out? In the end the PAC may just have gotten its own network 10x the distribution that it previously had while also attaching themselves to much larger brands.I could also see an arrangement like this having a low dollar front end payout like the B12 but with a potential higher payout on the backend with viewership bonuses. The perfect dream scenario may be just around the corner for OBD. Stay tuned….

It took two complete second half defensive melt downs to keep themselves from going 11-1 in Lanning's first year with mostly Mario's guys. I think 11-1 is a reasonable expectation but 10-2 would still be a good/ great year. More than the record, I'm looking for improvement on D including some disruptive havoc plays that Lanning wants to be the identity of his D. If that happens, playoffs should be within reach this year.

Sounds like fun!

Taking a big NIL deal from the home town school? $1,000,000. Prepping to be a top NFL draft pick by a defensive master mind? Priceless.

Not only are repeated negative posts an issue, so are repeated negative topics. It seems like every couple hours another B12 is gonna devour the Pac thread sprouts up with the same old stuff over and over. And once again we post repeated viewpoints on repeated topics about repeated rumors found on the interweb. I'd never want to discourage anybody from bringing up something Duck related to discuss but maybe not every article out there on the same topic needs to have it's own thread. Readers of the forum can skip past repeat topics no problem but moderators need to go over every post on every topic. Normally, I enjoy doing this as it keeps me engaged in the Duck fandom out there. But this is what repeat topics look like to me. Writer A says the B12 is going to...., According to writer B, the B12 is going to...., Writer C says it's a done deal that the B12 is going to.... You get the point. Most of these writers are just posting whatever they can to get easy clicks from frustrated fans. Rumors need no sources and can generate endless clicks with click bait headlines.

I could see the offense bringing in QB2 for a couple series in the game for a change of pace like the J14 steam roller last year. Could be a way of keeping 4-5 star back ups invested in staying with the team rather than transferring out.

I think we're seeing the final days of static contract payouts to conferences by television companies. TV is losing it's stranglehold on viewership yearly to the internet and losing it fast. Cord cutting is a real thing and this will have to be taken into account sooner or later. At some point, contracts will have to be based on true market value not just speculation based on market potential. Just looking at the Pac there is no way you can convince me that Cal with the bay area market or UCLA in Los Angeles has higher viewing numbers than UO in a mid sized college town. In fact many if not most major universities are situated in college towns. It is why the term college town exists in the first place. Most of the SEC exists in "small markets" with extremely loyal fan bases. Also, handing out money hand over fist to perpetual bottom feeders in the SEC or Big 10 doesn't make sense long term in the era of dwindling media dollars. In short, I think bloated media contracts with a lot of dead weight baked in will soon become a thing of the past. With media delivery switching towards streaming, it would make sense to reward contracts based on loyal following and support to get the most out of the money spent. In this day and age there are independent media outlets with higher youtube followers than CNN or FOX or anybody else. I am sure the same can be said for Universities with active social media presence. I can see a day soon arriving were streaming companies pay out meager lump sums to conference members but reward individual universities with compensation based on the number of views per game. If the UO for example had 50,000,000 world wide social media fans and promoted their up coming games on various social media platforms, then had around 10.000.000 viewers per game, that would be far more valuable to the streaming service than UCLA with no fans or Indiana Vs Northwestern in the Big 10. If Streamers payed out just $1 per view, that would be $10,000,000 per game based on this example. This would reward universities with active streaming presence and ignore universities with milk toast support. I think this is the direction media contracts will be headed. I don't think jumping into a conference halfway across the country will be required to be rewarded for true media value.

"DeGraaf is a big-time pickup for Washington. He’s the No.702 player and the No.34 tight end in the country for this cycle, per 247Sports Composite" Bravo Fighting Prowesses. Bravo.

What may become the game changer just may be how media contracts are designed in the future. The internet is quickly replacing cable for the viewing audience across the board. It would not surprise me if the next round of deals are primarily focused on internet viewership numbers. Net statistics are easy to track and can provide fairly accurate statistics for advertisers and media companies. If for example UO vs anybody is shown to produce 10,000,000 views per game internationally but lets say Purdue has 90% less, nobody is going to want to hand over twice as much money to the Boilermakers than the Ducks. It could be quite possible that UO could make as much if not more than UCLA and USC and never have to leave our west coast conference to do it. I agree with Dave's take on phase one. Just weather the storm short term and hold the conference together then prepare for the fast approaching future.

fuskies public reaction: Great. One is all we need! fuskies private reaction:

The AP must not have gotten the memo. The preseason rankings always must start with: 1 USC 1 fuskies 3-25 don’t matter

Any streaming deal that the Pac signs will feature the Ducks front and center as the biggest international brand the Pac has. If the deal includes payouts for viewership and UO becomes China's team, that could easily dwarf any payout the Big10 could offer.

In these uncertain times, everyone is making a plan B. Reports of someones plan B should be placed in the of course file. The media landscape is undergoing drastic changes right before our eyes. Chord cutting is a real thing and network layoffs reflect that. Streaming is the future but not the present but do you sign a media deal for the present if the present will soon become the distant past? When this is all said and done, I'd expect the Pac to be in a position to be on the cutting edge of the streaming wave with a contract that rewards view shares. The Ducks just may become the Pac's leader in international visibility as an Amazon or Apple or whatever becomes an international leader in streaming sports content. I feel like we are in a classic darkest before the dawn moment.

I hear you but I’m sure the ACC would much rather do it all over again in five years (Or right now) than just be done with it for the next twelve.

Dilly may be good but last year that was Bo throwing to Franklin and handing off to Bucky while being protected by an A+ line. He’ll have a much different roster to work with. Setting up way to high expectations in year one of a massive rebuild may not be the way to go.

With the ACC looking to self implode and get gobbled by the Big and SEC, I see a Pac/ B12 merger on the horizon which may be the best solution in the long run. I don't like the thought of 20+ school conferences but I do think that regional rivalries will always be the heart of college sports.

Popcorn! Getcha popcorn heya!

Pate sees what's going on and what's coming up. UW improves their recent record against the Ducks to 3-15 and believe they're back. USC believes moving to the Big is leaving UO in their dust. SUC going 8-4 and traveling across the country just to do while UO routinely collects 11-1 seasons, playoff births and owning LA recruiting is far more likely. Streaming media deals will soon start rewarding high value schools directly instead of over bloated conference deals that just squander precious resources. UO has been and will continue to be must see TV and that's just the way it is. Someone will always want a piece of that pie.