The Great Beaver Sycophant Strikes!

[anyotherduck]

Bill Oram: No, the blood of the Mountain West is not on Oregon State’s hands

WWW.OREGONLIVE.COM

---

The Pac-12's plundering of the Mountain West is not the same as what USC, UCLA and others did by abandoning the Pac-12, no matter how loudly you say it.

 

 

Is this guy for real?

[DrJacksPlaidPants]

I thought for sure I was going to see a Canzano article. I actually wonder which came first. The MWC's decision not to discontinue its scheduling agreement with WSU/OSU or the Pac 2's decision to poach four MWC schools. The MWC decision was announced a couple of days before the Pac 2 announcement, but their commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, may have had advance notice. It's hard to say.

 

OSU, WSU considering options for conference merger after no scheduling agreement with MWC

WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM

---

Though Oregon State and Washington State could still reach a scheduling agreement with the Mountain West Conference, MWC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez does not sound optimistic about...

 

[JabbaNoBargain]

Once again, I could nearly respect them if they actually embraced the hypocrisy instead of trying to spin that what they just did is somehow different than what they claim was done to them.
 

Next step to complete the lame journey would be to add some more G6 schools that aren’t regionally oriented to increase their travel footprint.
 

Side note, if Scott Barnes can arbitrarily use the term “P5” with every breath, then everyone else should feel free to arbitrarily use the term “G6”. Get used to it piggies  

 

Edited September 13 by JabbaNoBargain

[David Marsh]

The blood of the Mountain West is on OSU and WSU's hands. 

 

But UCLA and USC along with Fox and ESPN have the blood of the Pac-12 on their hands. 

 

I'll even say Colorado has their fair share of Pac-12 blood on their hands.

 

I think it is fair for Oregon and Washington to share some blame but no where near as much as those previously mentioned. By the time Oregon and Washington jumped ship the mismanagement had hit a crisis point and there was really no fixing it. Especially since the two big media partners of Fox and ESPN both walked away from the table to ensure the conference would die. 

 

Is killing the Mountain West as big of a deal as what USC and UCLA did to the Pac-12? Not really... but let's not sugar coat it and saying they are absolved of any conference realignment wrong doing here. If the Beavers and Cougs were serious about not doing this they probably could have gotten themselves into the Mountain West last year.

 

They may have even used those millions from the Pac-12 to buy their way into the Big 12. I mean they could have said no media money for three years and have been able to float it in the Big 12. 

 

But they burned their bridges with the Mountain West and decided to take their top teams and run. That's blood on their hands if you want to get down to it. Though does anyone really care? Those left behind in the Mountain West do... but otherwise not really. 

 

We care more about the conference realignment drama and specitical than OSU and WSU creating a G6 conference with old P5 branding. 

[Jon Joseph]

 

The author of this self-serving piece of fish wrap appears to be well-versed in Situational Ethics. The left-behind MW teams understand and approve of the MW now having to break up the Big Sky conference.

 

It's all good, including the Pac-2 using purloined money earned by other schools to blow up the MW. There have been unfortunate instances of men taking advantage of women but that didn't mean the Sabine women were happy about it. 

 

Walk a mile in the shoes of Nevada, UNLV, San Jose State, and New Mexico. Of course, some of the left-behind MW schools will be added on at a discount. (A discount from What is TBD.) The Pac-6 cannot add UTSA, Texas State, Memphis, and Tulane because the poor little athletes would have to travel more than one time zone, right?

 

THIS makes me even more ticked off about Saturday's game in Corvallis which will be the most-watched game of the Beavers season. In the minds of Committee members, out-of-conference Oregon will have played an FCS team and two G5 teams and not have a win over P4 Texas Tech. 

 

Please Ducks, come together and Blow Up and Blow Out these Sons of Beavers. 

 

 

[Jon Joseph]

On 9/13/2024 at 1:42 PM, David Marsh said:

The blood of the Mountain West is on OSU and WSU's hands. 

 

But UCLA and USC along with Fox and ESPN have the blood of the Pac-12 on their hands. 

 

I'll even say Colorado has their fair share of Pac-12 blood on their hands.

 

I think it is fair for Oregon and Washington to share some blame but no where near as much as those previously mentioned. By the time Oregon and Washington jumped ship the mismanagement had hit a crisis point and there was really no fixing it. Especially since the two big media partners of Fox and ESPN both walked away from the table to ensure the conference would die. 

 

Is killing the Mountain West as big of a deal as what USC and UCLA did to the Pac-12? Not really... but let's not sugar coat it and saying they are absolved of any conference realignment wrong doing here. If the Beavers and Cougs were serious about not doing this they probably could have gotten themselves into the Mountain West last year.

 

They may have even used those millions from the Pac-12 to buy their way into the Big 12. I mean they could have said no media money for three years and have been able to float it in the Big 12. 

 

But they burned their bridges with the Mountain West and decided to take their top teams and run. That's blood on their hands if you want to get down to it. Though does anyone really care? Those left behind in the Mountain West do... but otherwise not really. 

 

We care more about the conference realignment drama and specitical than OSU and WSU creating a G6 conference with old P5 branding. 

 

David, I understand your thoughts and appreciate them but: Blame for what? Investing the capital required to be a recognized brand in the marketplace and capitalizing on this recognition. The same tools and fools who were hired to manage the Pac-12 didn't get the approval of one-sixth of the conference from OSU and WSU members. When it comes to the Pac-12's demise, there are no clean hands. 

 

These two made their beds and want to blame the Pac-10 for the lice and fleas between the sheets. Coming next will be the MW remaining teams breaking up the Big Sky conference and so it goes for programs that long ago abandoned academic interests in favor of two sports carrying the entire athletic departments. 

 

By the way, Oregon invested money not only in athletics but also in academics which is why Oregon is an AAU member attractive to the B1G and OSU and WSU are not. 

 

Blast these Sons of Beavers!

 

[OregonDucks]

Bill: And why couldn't Oregon State and Washington State done the honorable thing and just have joined the MWC?

 

I can't wait to hear what the MWC commissioner and the schools being left behind say about this.  Hopefully the media also does a behind the scenes look at how it all went down, like they did for the Pac-12.

[David Marsh]

On 9/13/2024 at 11:00 AM, Jon Joseph said:

 

David, I understand your thoughts and appreciate them but: Blame for what? Investing the capital required to be a recognized brand in the marketplace and capitalizing on this recognition. The same tools and fools who were hired to manage the Pac-12 didn't get the approval of one-sixth of the conference from OSU and WSU members. When it comes to the Pac-12's demise, there are no clean hands. 

 

These two made their beds and want to blame the Pac-10 for the lice and fleas between the sheets. Coming next will be the MW remaining teams breaking up the Big Sky conference and so it goes for programs that long ago abandoned academic interests in favor of two sports carrying the entire athletic departments. 

 

By the way, Oregon invested money not only in athletics but also in academics which is why Oregon is an AAU member attractive to the B1G and OSU and WSU are not. 

 

Blast these Sons of Beavers!

 

Oregon and Washington can receive some small piece of the blame for the Pac-12's demise. They were able to leave based on their investments and merits and a credit to them as they were placed in a difficult situation, and by all accounts it seems like the Huskies pulled the trigger first and the Ducks decided to go along with it so in that regard even less blame can be placed on the Ducks. 

 

I don't think we should shy away from our part in the story of the end of the Pac-12, if we choose to stay the conference would be a little better off, it would probably consist of Oregon, Washington, Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford and that would be it... and all would be in athletic financial ruin. So I am not saying we should have stayed because leaving was absolutely the right decision and we alone did not put Oregon State and Washington State in this position as it was the culmination of decades of decision making from every school in the former Pac-12. 

 

We left we take some fragment of the blame for the death of that conference and I can live with that. 

 

The Beavers and Cougs will kill the Mountain West and they will take far more blame for the death of that conference that we should for the Pac-12. And they will have to live with that. 

[Steven A]

“The difference is,” Beavers athletic director Scott Barnes told The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Nick Daschel, “we didn’t have a home. We had to find a home. And others had a home.”

 

Hey Scotty, the "others had a home" that was being/had been bulldozed to the ground and salted by the rest of the college football landscape. So, they left you a $200mil piece of dirt that you have now filled with water to make a supreme mud hole that the swine dwellers have now used to cannibalize the same conference that threw you a lifeline.

 

I guess you can no longer throw that "first stone".

[Augduck]

While this wasn't a Canzano article, Oram is the JC in training at the O.  I even think he might be an OS grad.  

 

He, like JC just feels so gosh darn bad for the beavers.   'Everybody was mean to them'.   'The teacher picked on them'.  'The other schools did it first'.   Blah, blah blah.  

 

BTW- who did JC pick to win the CW?   I used to subscribe to his drivel and then realized it was beyond drivel so I canceled.  That guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

On a side note, I was told by a very good source when Dan first arrived and did his first interview with JC he had him all figured out.  Same with Crepea.

[noDucknewby]

Just stop it.  You can't play the victim while gobbling up another conference, possibly causing its demise.

 

Conference realignment is all about the bottom line, plain and simple.  Nobody involved gets to claim the moral high ground so just stop pretending.

[Drake]

Business using money earned by others to beat down friendly neighbors seems to be be a more appropriate storyline. 

[Charles Fischer]

Not even a good attempt at spin...

 

He sure fooled us...right?

 

[Charles Fischer]

Bill: And why couldn't Oregon State and Washington State done the honorable thing and just have joined the MWC?

 

It is always fun to kick Beavis...

 

Can't Wait for Saturday!

 

[Triphibius]

At least Oram correctly blamed the collapse of the PAC-12 on USC and UCLA. 

I find this all sad, not amusing. 

Perhaps I ought to add that I live outside the NW and do not have to listen to caterwauling Beavers on a regular basis. 

 

 

 

[HDuck]

To balance the Oram stuff, read the Mike Vorel column in the Seattle Times about the "new Pac."  Excerpt:  But why does it feel underwhelming?  Because the Pac-12 as you knew it is probably never coming back. Because life at a lower rung seems disappointingly permanent.

 

More of his perspective there.

 

Personally, I don't think the Pac will take more Mt. West schools unless they run out of alternatives.  I think their strategy is to use the money they got from the Escaping Ten to buy "the best teams" from other conferences.  For example, Memphis, Tulane, UTSA from The American.

 

Why?  Simply in an effort to eliminate competition for the CFP slot.  The top 5 ranked conference champions get a slot.  If you can eliminate the ability for other conferences such as The American, or Sunbelt, to have their champion ranked above the Pac leader then you accomplish the goal.   If they do that, then they really only have to worry about the MAC conference champion.

[DuckFan93]

So being left behind due to your own incompetence justifies you spending the charity $ you got to destroy another conference?   This guy really is living in some alt universe!

[noDucknewby]

Okay I'll also point out the obvious that none of this matters without a TV deal and who is even willing to explore a new contract until the P-? comes up with the minimum number of members.  And why would any carrier be in a hurry?  They had no problem sitting back and watching the P-12 die.  One less conference for them to pay for, why would you think ESPN or Fox would throw the new P-? a lifeline when they wouldn't do it for the P-12?

 

The carriers have all the advantage and no sense of urgency.  This just seems like a losing proposition to me.  Apple or CW maybe.  Everyone else has already staked out their share.

 

[30Duck]

On 9/13/2024 at 3:29 PM, DuckFan93 said:

  This guy really is living in some alt universe!

Beaver Nation!

[David Marsh]

On 9/13/2024 at 3:35 PM, noDucknewby said:

Okay I'll also point out the obvious that none of this matters without a TV deal and who is even willing to explore a new contract until the P-? comes up with the minimum number of members.  And why would any carrier be in a hurry?  They had no problem sitting back and watching the P-12 die.  One less conference for them to pay for, why would you think ESPN or Fox would throw the new P-? a lifeline when they wouldn't do it for the P-12?

 

The carriers have all the advantage and no sense of urgency.  This just seems like a losing proposition to me.  Apple or CW maybe.  Everyone else has already staked out their share.

Fox and ESPN will certainly pick them up but not at the same rate as B1G, SEC or Big 12 games. They will be given something maybe slightly better than the MW gets now. 

 

But this will come at a major cost... This will be seen as late night inventory. These games will have a lot of 7pm start times because both Fox and ESPN want games for that West Coast time but don't want to pay too dollar for them. 

 

So maybe they also cut a deal with CW to have some games that are not at night. 

[Desert Duck]

 “Don’t tell me you’re innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.”

 

 

[noDucknewby]

On 9/13/2024 at 4:24 PM, David Marsh said:

Fox and ESPN will certainly pick them up but not at the same rate as B1G, SEC or Big 12 games. They will be given something maybe slightly better than the MW gets now. 

 

But this will come at a major cost... This will be seen as late night inventory. These games will have a lot of 7pm start times because both Fox and ESPN want games for that West Coast time but don't want to pay too dollar for them. 

 

So maybe they also cut a deal with CW to have some games that are not at night. 

Agree there is a need for 7:00 inventory, but why would they cut deals for both the P-? and the MWC? I'm betting they play hardball as they have done in the past with only one of the conferences getting a heavily discounted deal and the other just SOL. 

[Charles Fischer]

Media revenue comes down to alumni numbers, the size of the fan base.

 

The B1G has a stunningly large alumni and fan base, but the MW teams that joined the Pig-2?

 

 

[David Marsh]

On 9/13/2024 at 5:17 PM, noDucknewby said:

Agree there is a need for 7:00 inventory, but why would they cut deals for both the P-? and the MWC? I'm betting they play hardball as they have done in the past with only one of the conferences getting a heavily discounted deal and the other just SOL. 

Oh I doubt they'll pay anything near a price that they pac-2 want. 

 

Mountain West Media payouts are around 6mil if I remember correctly. 

 

So if OSU and WSU Cherry pick all the best MW teams and themselves I could see them getting something in the range of 10-15 mil.

 

A major upgrade for MW teams but still a far cry from any P4... Including the ACC which is locked into a horrible contract that's around 20mil per school. 

 

I mean they'll want 30 mil like the Big 12 but as I went over in my article a year ago... I suspect that the 30mil payout was designed to murder the pac-12 more than a realistic value for the conference and it's inventory. 

[Geoduck]

Best case scenario hypocrisy, worst case gaslighting. 

[Mike West]

On 9/13/2024 at 6:02 PM, Geoduck said:

Best case scenario hypocrisy, worst case gaslighting. 

Not in my opinion.  It's about survival.  We did it.  Why wouldn't they?  

 

I could write a book about it, because after all, I babble too much.  ,

 

WSU and OSU want to survive the best way 

they can. I don't think it makes sense, but I'm not facjing extinction either.  If I was, I sure as hell would consider many things I don't now.  That's for sure.

 

 

[DUCKED]

On 9/13/2024 at 12:30 PM, Augduck said:

While this wasn't a Canzano article, Oram is the JC in training at the O.  I even think he might be an OS grad.  

 

He, like JC just feels so gosh darn bad for the beavers.   'Everybody was mean to them'.   'The teacher picked on them'.  'The other schools did it first'.   Blah, blah blah.  

 

BTW- who did JC pick to win the CW?   I used to subscribe to his drivel and then realized it was beyond drivel so I canceled.  That guy is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

 

On a side note, I was told by a very good source when Dan first arrived and did his first interview with JC he had him all figured out.  Same with Crepea.

Well, at the risk of alienating the FishDuck masses, I am actually a fan of Canzano. I subscribe and read his column every day, without fail.

 

Do I agree with every one of his viewpoints? Of course not. When he takes shots at the Ducks do I always agree? Not always, but sometimes.

 

Does he lean toward the Beavers? I’d say yes.

 

But I’m still a fan of his column.

[Geoduck]

We can agree to disagree. It’s really the same side of two different coins. The ducks were the 3rd or 4th or 4th or 5th domino to fall depending on which narrative you choose to believe in ending the PAC. They played their part to end the PAC, but it’s not like they spearheaded the campaign. At this point, the same can’t be said about the Beavs and the Cougs as they are doing exactly that but in a different way, destroying another conference.

 

One can argue they are both just trying to survive albeit in a little different fashion in this new cfb landscape.  I am sticking to my guns and calling this article out as trash.  The ducks are my go to team, but I always have rooted for the Beavs in every game but the CV. Still root for all the PAC teams. This article is a big piece of BS and I call them like I see them. 

 

[Desert Duck]

I finally read the entire article and, first of all, this guy writes like a second rate romance novelist wannabe. "Hey-Zues, Judas, & 30 pieces of silver" -- c'mon man. Running with this asinine metaphor a bit more, Oram is a second rate false prophet.

 

We are talking about college football here... right. But, in this clown's world, OSU is the one, unblemished, righteous PAC school. The Sacrificial Beaver without sin.

 

These Beaver clowns are a pathetic bunch on so many levels. Oram, and his kind, leeched off the PAC-12 for decades. They overtly participated in enabling Larry Scott and his sycophants, for their glory, wallets, and their righteousness... all while they slowly rode the SS PAC-12 down into its sad and tragic watery grave. 

 

And now they have chosen to hide from all mirrors, as they do not have the courage to truly look into one. Oram & Co continue to take the easy path of blame, and have reduced themselves to blaming everyone else for their part in their own demise. 

 

And, as Oram continues, he only makes it better by suggesting that, in addition to Hey-Zues, the Beavers are also the equivalent of the Godfather's Michael Corleone... the brother who was the dense, half-witted, imbecilic one.

 

Finally, this is where Bill actually draws on a stellar metaphor. 

Edited September 14 by Desert Duck