"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" - The Rivalry Thread

[Applejack]

See, this is what I don't understand. It's a net positive for the UofU athletic department for repeated comments insinuating they are above the Big-XII? I get that fans love to troll, but how does it benefit the institution itself when employees do it?

obviously Kyle doesn't need to troll for cougars.

how exactly is he "repeated[ly]...insinuating that [utah] are above the big xii?" Because he said that the situation will change in a few years? Because he thinks ucla and Utah will have a chance to play each other in the future? Talk about a mountain out of a molehill.

[Moliere]

The Big10 wouldn’t even take Washington without them giving up a lot of value. Unless Utah finds SMU level rich donors to buy their way in, they aren’t going anywhere without a seismic shift that realigns everything. Cal and Atanford will be in the Big10 before Utah and I can’t see a reason for the Big10 to expand past those two (and honestly can’t see the reason to expand with those two).

[Pelado]

Kyle might also be parroting the concept that USC/UCLA will eventually realize they made a huge mistake and return to a PAC-like conference. That seemed pretty popular from PAC deniers back when Commissioner K was trying to get the California Board of Regents to force UCLA to stay in the PAC.

[Omaha 680]

Kyle might also be parroting the concept that USC/UCLA will eventually realize they made a huge mistake and return to a PAC-like conference. That seemed pretty popular from PAC deniers back when Commissioner K was trying to get the California Board of Regents to force UCLA to stay in the PAC.

What PAC deniers? AJ is just here to tell us what all these public statements really mean. It's not like he poo-pooed all the rumors of the PAC's demise for a year while it crumbled. That would be silly.

[Jeff Lebowski]

What PAC deniers? AJ is just here to tell us what all these public statements really mean. It's not like he poo-pooed all the rumors of the PAC's demise for a year while it crumbled. That would be silly.

Haha. Yeah, AJ's credibility isn't particularly great right now. Bless his heart.

[Applejack]

The fact that I poo-pooed the pac demise rumors should not surprise: everyone from university presidents to athletic directors was surprised that it fell apart as fast as it did. I still can't believe that the best football conference in America is dying. So unnecessary.

and again, neither Kyle nor I is suggesting that Utah is big10 bound. In fact I find it kind of ludicrous (but would welcome it with open arms). Kyle merely suggested that there would be realignment in the future. I don't think that's a stretch.

but I defer to you guys who are better parsers of Kyle whittingham statements.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The fact that I poo-pooed the pac demise rumors should not surprise: everyone from university presidents to athletic directors was surprised that it fell apart as fast as it did. I still can't believe that the best football conference in America is dying. So unnecessary.

Ha. You can’t gaslight us like that. It was a slow motion train wreck. Everyone saw it coming except maybe Jon Wilner, that knucklehead up in Oregon, and TJ Altimore.

The university presidents were only taken by surprise on account of their incredible hubris. Which is what made it all happen.

[Applejack]

Ha. You can’t gaslight us like that. It was a slow motion train wreck. Everyone saw it coming except maybe Jon Wilner, that knucklehead up in Oregon, and TJ Altimore.

The university presidents were only taken by surprise on account of their incredible hubris. Which is what made it all happen.

It was a train wreck, but read anything about the event and the conference was blindsided by Colorado and then Oregon/Washington. They both left because George had a bag of nothing, but Oregon didn't expect Colorado to leave when they did (check out the coach's comments after it happened) and the pac even expected to survive COs departure if not for a last second offer from the big.

[LiveCoug]

Kyle is a massive douche. That is an objective fact.

I find it hilarious that he can't not be a douche.

[Jeff Lebowski]

It was a train wreck, but read anything about the event and the conference was blindsided by Colorado and then Oregon/Washington. They both left because George had a bag of nothing, but Oregon didn't expect Colorado to leave when they did (check out the coach's comments after it happened) and the pac even expected to survive COs departure if not for a last second offer from the big.

Blindsided? Lol, stop.

[myboynoah]

It was a train wreck, but read anything about the event and the conference was blindsided by Colorado and then Oregon/Washington. They both left because George had a bag of nothing, but Oregon didn't expect Colorado to leave when they did (check out the coach's comments after it happened) and the pac even expected to survive COs departure if not for a last second offer from the big.

Weird. I recall multiple sources, including Berry Trammel out of Oklahoma, opining/reporting/suggesting that Colorado was B12 bound. That would have come as a surprise only to those that didn't want to believe it or just weren't paying attention or couldn't fathom the thought of a university leaving the highly-esteemed PAC for such a lowly destination.

KWhit is perfect for many in the uofutah fanbase who just hate the thought of being part of the B12 because they see themselves as just too good for this truck stop conference. And they hate BYU. That there may be a return to some PACish type of conference after slumming in the B12 gives some a lot of hope, apparently, including KWhit.

[Omaha 680]

George had a bag of nothing from the moment the LA Schools left the conference. This became more apparent with each passing month to those who were thinking critically and following available evidence. The fact that the university presidents apparently couldn't comprehend this and fans like AJ apparently still believe the Wilner wing propaganda shows that the conference of reason is not immune to confirmation bias. If everyone truly was "blindsided", they allowed it to happen by being too arrogant to recognize reality as it unfolded.

[Jeff Lebowski]

George had a bag of nothing from the moment the LA Schools left the conference. This became more apparent with each passing month to those who were thinking critically and following available evidence. The fact that the university presidents apparently couldn't comprehend this and fans like AJ apparently still believe the Wilner wing propaganda shows that the conference of reason is not immune to confirmation bias. If everyone truly was "blindsided", they allowed it to happen by being too arrogant to recognize reality as it unfolded.

Bingo.

[Pelado]

George had a bag of nothing from the moment the LA Schools left the conference. This became more apparent with each passing month to those who were thinking critically and following available evidence. The fact that the university presidents apparently couldn't comprehend this and fans like AJ apparently still believe the Wilner wing propaganda shows that the conference of reason is not immune to confirmation bias. If everyone truly was "blindsided", they allowed it to happen by being too arrogant to recognize reality as it unfolded.

That's not entirely true. There was a deal to be had, similar to what the Big 12 got. But George was too focused on forcing UCLA to stay while he and the P12 presidents were pleasuring themselves in the round with the thought that they should be able to get $50 million+ per team annually.

[Eddie]

That's not entirely true. There was a deal to be had, similar to what the Big 12 got. But George was too focused on forcing UCLA to stay while he and the P12 presidents were pleasuring themselves in the round with the thought that they should be able to get $50 million+ per team annually.

And...now the news is coming out that University of Utah President Taylor Randal is the PAC12 president to suggested the $50M per school valuation that got ESPN to walk. Ha!

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-truth-behind-the-pac-12s?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

ESPN walked away from the negotiating table after the Pac-12 extended a counteroffer of $50 million per school last fall. The offer was presented to the network by commissioner George Kliavkoff and Sports Media Advisors, the consulting firm operated by Doug Perlman.

The $50 million counteroffer, some sources say, was shaped heavily by input from one particular university president — a Pac-12 board member who others say consulted with a campus professor to come up with the valuation.

Is that accurate?

If so, who is that president? And how did he/she arrive at $50 million per school?

It’s been the subject of a lot of discussion. I confirmed the identity of that president this week and reached him on the phone. He agreed to provide a written statement.

There were a line of mistakes made by the Pac-12 Conference. Too many to count. The purpose of this piece isn’t to dredge up the past, point fingers and blame any single individual for the downfall of the 108-year-old conference. Rather, there’s an in-depth study to be done and much to be learned from strategic miscues and failures of leadership.

That president was Taylor Randall, from the University of Utah.

In other news - I'm sure everyone has seen the trucks that U of U scholarship players received. I'd heard rumors that BYU was getting a similar deal - but the school moves a little slower approving these things and wasn't ready to announce when Utah did. I saw a photo of one of the BYU trucks tonight - and they look really nice.