2002duck

I'm not sure when you graduated from the UO, but I got my undergraduate degree in 2002 and I can tell you that football and basketball players showed up to class very infrequently- like three times in a term- even Joey Harrington in business school courses. Now that we have sophisticated online course capabilities, I can only imagine it would be that much easier for student athletes to do remote learning. What's more, kids these days love taking pictures or videos to post on Instagram or TikTok. They can take selfies with the Manhattan skyline in the background when they go to Rutgers, and the Washington Monument and the Washington Mall if they drive 30 minutes (about 12 miles) south from Maryland's campus. The student athletes should be honored and thankful to have the opportunity to fly across our nation's country.

Well, it sounds like you are giving a friendly reminder to fans of the "haves", and that is actually very sensitive and nice of you. Personally, I haved never harbored any ill will towards USC or UCLA for bailing to the B1G. It was clear the writing was on the wall before USC/UCLA left that the future was in the SEC and the B1g, and not much else. I still think the BIG 12, even with their recent Pac additions, is basically B-team conference. The Pac was almost that as well before the LA teams left, and certainly, in my opinion, became a budget class conference afterwards. It would be pretty hard to do, but I hope more people can learn to take things less personal- or to let things go. I hate to say it, but I do not feel too sorry for Oregon State.

Spring is a lot drier in the Mid-Atlantic than in the Willamette Valley.

Well, first of all, about 500k of Apple's MLS subscribers get it for free. Also, their numbers grew to about 1M after Messi came. The Pac does not have a Messi, and Apple was not going to give free Pac packages to season ticket holders at all of the schools. > How will I receive my MLS Season Pass? The Full-Season Ticket Account Owner will receive their free MLS Season Pass and redemption instructions via email from their Club on or around February 1, 2023. If you have not received your MLS Season Pass, please contact your Club Representative. Can I share my MLS Season Pass subscription with family members? Yes, you can share your MLS Season Pass subscription with up to 5 family members by setting up Family Sharing on your Apple device.

This is why I do not put any stock into streaming sports at this time. In fact, I think the entire Hollywood business market is a disaster right now- streaming simply is not profitable. Platforms must show advertisements. And preferably ones from Fortune 500 companies like McDonalds, Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, Frito-Lay, Budweiser, and Coors. That's where the money comes from. Do everything possible to make people watch ads on every single platform, and make it so you can't skip them. If Americans want their entertainment to be cheap (read: subsidized), then they need give up on feeling entitled to not watch ads. I know what you're thinking: "this guy is crazy, is he saying he wants to force Americans to watch ads?" Yes!

Zero point zero chance that 1.7M people would pay $100 for the Apple TV + Pac 10 package.

If people want to play the "it's all about now" game, then I recommend following recruiting closely. Winning National Championships should be constant long term goals, and being top-10 or top-5 in recruiting rankings should be short term goals. Needless to say, I am a huge fan of tanking in the NBA. If you're a small market team like Portland or OKC, where zero free agents want to sign with or live in, then the draft and rare trades are the only way to go. The Oregon Ducks defy the geographical problem by having the best facilities and branding, and one could easily argue that giving up an easier path to the playoffs for a few years (only to end up in a conference that will be extinct) to go to the B1G now is akin to "tanking".

I'm just some otherwise ordinary citizen, so what do I know? That said, I have a very hard time that Phil Knight and Oregon would not have immediately accepted a reduced share to join the B1G after UCLA and USC left. There was certainly no guarantee that the Ducks would be accepted to the BIG in 2031. FSU, NC, ND, etc. could have locked us out. Having an easier path to the playoffs for 5 years means nothing if you're in a lame duck conference at the end of that date. At our age, we wake up and 5 years has passed- you know what I mean? It's all about the future.

Well, the PAC was only going to get one spot each year, so we'd have to win the PAC 7/8/9/10 title and/or be the top ranked PAC team each year. In the B1G there might be three spots- or even four sometimes as the playoffs change further. Personally, I'd say the second USC & UCLA left the PAC was forever to be a B-team conference no matter what. The only way it wouldn't would be if we got Oklahoma and Texas to replace them. Which...obviously was less likely than USC/UCLA coming back. On the plus side, you could say that every year is almost like one long Playoff now. If you aren't the best one or two teams in the country- you don't deserve to win the NC anyway. Underdog titles are fun for middle and high school sports, but in the real world the teams with the talent deserve to and should win. Also, there is recruiting. We can get better recruits being in the B1G and playing in LA every year than we could in the PAC- which would always be a few years away from collapsing.

Hmm, that sounds exactly like what John Canzano has been telling his audience. I like Canzano as a person and writer, and I think his radio segment is great during the hour his wife is with him, but the reality is he's not an Oregon Ducks fan. Seems to me that Canzano has no real sources with the Ducks and the Blazers- the two biggest teams in the state by a wide margin. Ducks football even has a significant lead on the Blazers regarding fans in all metrics. Anyway, if you ask PK or Rob Mullens if a path to making the playoffs is important- they will answer "yes". However, Oregon and Washington 100% absolutely had to join the B1G at the next B1G media deal. The future is consolidating all the good teams into a few conferences because the media outfits won't pay for "tradition" and "regionality"- they just want numbers. Let's not forget all the reports of Phil Knight begging the B1G to accept Oregon after USC & UCLA bolted. That is all you need to know.

Apple is bidding against themselves right now. Nobody else wants the vast bulk of whatever the PAC is.

The irony of this is that I just started watching Parks & Rec about two months ago. I got through a season and a half, and then Peacock made my specific package no longer eligible to watch the show for free. So, I have not seen this specific episode. Good thing the whims of streamers do not affect my beloved Ducks. Oh, wait!

Finally! Some good news! Oregon's recruiting position may find itself on shaky ground if this doesn't get settled sooner rather than later. Going to the B1G would be a home run.

I've said it here a dozen times. Going with Apple TV is a worst case scenario. Normal people across the country don't have Apple TV because it has very little to offer, and those people are surely not paying for the PAC 12 package. We'll be extremely lucky to get even half of Oregon fans to sign up for Apple TV. And Apple is adding viewership metrics to payouts??? No way Jose. Zero point zero chance of even approaching those metrics. If the PAC is to be the guinea pig for streaming, then they need to be propped up like most beta tests or venture capital business runs: give us tons of cash with no expectations on viewership numbers for our agreement to be the guinea pig. Personally, I will not be paying for Apple TV. I'll do whatever it takes to get a sign on from someone else out of spite. I already have all the other streaming services. I refuse to pay for Apple. If I won't sign up for it, what does that tell you about other people that are nowhere near as big of a fan of the Ducks as I am?

It's very disappointing. George made a gamble: a media deal would probably slowly get better as the time wore on, but this was kind of contingent on all the schools saying strong and united. The Colorado departure is not surprising at all, nor would Arizona leaving. So, George failed spectacularly. His "if everything goes right" stance was a huge mistake. I mean, I would have failed to get a good deal as well from the linear players, but that's not what I was hired to do. He was, though, and he should resign or be fired once this mess is over with. I also blame Oregon and Washington for being so soft. The Pac is cooked. Please stop trying to save it. We should tell the B1G we will take $10M or $20M for two years, or heck- zero dollars. We can afford it with the sale of some Nike stock. A blip for Phil.

Well, the conference might not exist pretty soon. Seems like Arizona at least will want to bail as well.

I have 0.00% ill will towards USC and UCLA for leaving for the B1G. It was an excellent decision for their future. I do think it's quite unfortunate that Oregon did not get asked to the party as well. As for now, I would be thrilled if Oregon and Washington accepted peanuts to go to the B1G. I would not feel sorry for the Beavers or the rest of the Pac. I do think going to the BIG-12 would be a mistake, though. I guess we could go and then bail again once the B1G comes a calling. I don't see any scenario going forward where Oregon could be the bad guy. I also think CU leaving was absolutely the correct decision for them.

Are the Ducks going to have any consensus 5-stars? Seems like we should not go an entire recruiting cycle without one or two.

Justin Hopkins is pretty well known to be one of the two best and most trusted recruiting analysts in the West coast.

People amongst almost all demographics have Amazon Prime TV because they use Amazon Prime (or heck, they should!). Here's the deal with Apple TV, not many people want to give out their Apple ID account information (and heck, they shouldn't!). If people can't share log-in info for streaming services for whichever platform get the Pac deal, it will be DOA in terms of exposure.

I think a worst case scenario for me, as well as for exposure, would be for Apple to get a big chunk of a Pac deal. It's the one service I don't have, pretty much, and I won't/can't get rid of cable. I am a big Timbers fan, but I am one of those persons who refused this year to get Apple or pay for an MLS package- almost out of spite. Apple does not have much on their package, so most Americans, especially low income Americans won't have it. Terrible for exposure. Nightmare.

I know it's all about context and wording, but I do find it a bit humorous that this sentence implies that ESPN doesn't know anything about the Pac-10 media deal!

"With how Ty Thompson has looked in limited action, let’s all cross our fingers collectively that he’ll inherit a potentially all-time talent at tailback, should he earns the starting job after Nix leaves." Come, again? Ty who? I'm not so sure about that.

I've long thought that Mac Court should sadly be torn down and made into a combination of education/research facilities (UO does not even have an engineering program) and dorms/student housing. Talk about a waste of prime land, I'd say.

Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on a campaign stint in 1992.