This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports
fourteen fifteen powered by Nova Insurance Services. Make sure your most prized possessions kat
z R two side and iHeart Radio Station. Y. Good afternoon, everybody.
Welcome to I on the Ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve
Rivera, He's jagn Zois and we got a guy Jason with us today.
Welcome to what could be a crazy, crazy afternoon. We're gonna have some
two great, two great, two big guests, uh, sports writers on
the radio right and guys who have more of a national perspective because you know,
we've been so zeroed in on the on the Arizona situation. But um,
you know Jim Moore, we just had in him here in the last
couple hours. He's a radio host up in Seattle, so just kind of
get a sense from him of what's going on up there with the Oregon and
Washington. There's a Washington Board of Regent speting tonight. And then um um
Dennis Dodds, who's national national college football writer for CBS Sports. Yeah,
Dennis has been on this from day one. He knows a lot of what's
going on. And I think it's funny because we all we all know everybody's
a reporter on Facebook, right and Twitter? Everyone knows who they really don't
know. But it's kind of a slow trickle. It's been a slow trickle
for a long time. Yeah, well it was so much it's still being
being done behind the scenes right there. Just but I think we're getting to
a point where some public uh stuff has to happen. Yeah, you know,
voats have to take place. You know, somebody, somebody's gotta you
know, I don't know, take the finger out of the dike on this,
so get so it can just start to happen. Well yeah, yeah,
let me say this. Uh, we kind of I don't know if
we criticized a issue, but we just knew they were kind of sleeping on
this. Was that a right term? Yeah, they were very hesitant to
do to do anything. But at the end of the day, yeah,
they had to come around there right there. It's a matter of survival.
I'm not sure their tactic was correct or whatever, but at the end of
the day they're gonna be along with Arizona. That's what we kind of get
right. Yeah, I don't think I think it'd be a shock that they
weren't. Yeah, I heard one of the funniest takes on that it was
I just couldn't. I just kind of apply from from you know, some
as U troll type person saying that the Big Twelve was coming after Arizona hard
because they knew that Arizona would drag ASU to the Big Twelve and that really
as U was the prize, not Arizona. Oh what who was this?
Just some some guy? And in response to something saying that the whole strategy
bed time behind bringing Arizona to the Big Twelve was really to get as U
into the Big because they really wanted Asu more than they wanted Arizona. Sure,
and Sara, I know that's it, but that's the kind of ridiculousness
we're seeing on you know, everywhere, not not only from trolls, but
like from from media. I told you I had a rant that maybe maybe
now, but it's just real quick. Here here's a I love Dan Wetzel,
he's on. I love the podge that he's got with Pat pad forty
and uh and Ross Stallinger. Here was Here was Wetzel's take yesterday. First,
and mind you people have been ridiculing the PAC twelve for the Apple TV
TV contract, getting ten million dollars less than everybody else, no visibility,
it's a streaming thing. Dan Wetzel's take was, the team's left in the
PAC ten Okay, the nine teams that are left, they should take the
ten million dollars less and go on Apple TV to keep the PAC twelve alive.
Okay, to keep the conference alive, take ten million dollars less than
the Big twelve is getting, because there's other places to get the money,
he said. For instance, he said, Arizona's got forty students, so
put two hundred and fifty dollars on the student athletic fee to recoup the ten
million dollars. And they said, and you've got your money back, and
you're fine. And he completely skipped over the fact that he said, you're
you're you're fine. Your conference will survive you idea, and completely skipped over
the fact that if the PAC twelve stays, takes his contract and is on
streaming, how are they going to get players? Players are gonna say,
he he said, is if if they can see Oregon is a kid is
a kid who's choosing between Oregon and uh, let's say, Oklahoma State,
are they They'll still go to Oregon? And I'm like, no, they
won't. They want to be on ESPN and Fox. They don't want to
be on Apple TV. Jason, I mean yeah, I mean kids want
exposure, they want He completely skipped over that. He said, take the
ten million dollars less, go get it from your students, and keep the
conference alive. And I thought that was one of the dumbest takes I've ever
heard about. All of this from a from a pretty good from from a
really good smart guy, and a guy who's been on board with everybody already
else making fun of the PAC twelve for its lack of a TV contract and
then a TV contract that was gonna be all streaming and it was gonna be
less money than everybody else. Now he's saying take it, and I'm like,
what are you doing? Yeah, no, my whole thing in this
and it's kind of like, now you know what's gonna happen, blah blah
blah. It took a twelve thirteen months, right, thirteen months, when
you know, I joke about this all the time. I shaved my legs
for this when we kind of like I already knew it was gonna happen,
but we just you know, how many times did I shaved my legs for
this? By the way, I have nice legs and they're not shaved.
Of course, No, I've been fooled it off. I'd been fooled it
off. But now now we could kind of move on. Maybe maybe after
tonight you have to remind the people, well, we got to see because
there's the Arizona Border Regents meeting that's tonight at six thirty I think, right,
yeah, six thirty seven. It starts with an executive session. Now,
I think I read on the agenda that they can come out of executive
session and conduct business. So I don't know if they're going to come out
of that and conduct a vote, because I think the vote has to be
public. I'm going based off what how the Colorado Border Regions handled their deal.
They had an executive session, they decided what they were going to do.
Then they held another board meeting where they had in publicly it was a
public meeting, and they voted to go to the Big twelve. I think
that that I'm assuming that it's a similar type of process for the Arizona Border
Regions, and then the Washington Border Regions has a meeting tonight, but there's
is also going to go immediately into executive session. They might be like a
step behind Arizona right now. We'll find out. We'll talk to Jim Moore,
see what he knows about what he thinks is going to happen. Yeah,
up there right, Okay, No, a lot of things going on
today, looking forward to all this because it could finally eventually maybe here we
go. I mean we you know, we we invited John Willer and he
was going to be on the show today packed off hotline, and then when
I stopped to him this morning, he just said he wasn't gonna be able
to He wasn't gonna able to do it because so much was going on,
and and really, I mean, this thing can change minute to minute,
you know. We but what we know now, maybe they're sure. We
know in a half an hour from now, sure, I'm not sure.
We'll probably try to get the president on here, maybe next week or whatever.
I think one of the questions we probably need to ask him, if
he's gonna answer this at all, is that we're or are issue and Arizona
attached together, whether whether by perception or otherwise, because everyone has their thought,
no they're not, because I think he said no, they're not.
He said that, he said they could do whatever they want, so,
which is implies that they're which implied yes, that they could go to it.
They could have gone or could go to the Big twelve on their own,
on their own. So so and maybe they are, and maybe he
spoke who knows well, but but it seems that they're If they're gonna go,
they're gonna go together. Yeah, because well because this Bard of Regions
meeting tonight has both Rain and Michael Crowe, the ASU president, after report
or reporting uh to the Border Regents in the executive session, so they've kind
of like come together. All the media we've seen over the last twenty four
hours has been that as U has kind of flipped over and and said,
yeah, well we'll go. Not didn't have any choice. I mean,
the fire sale the PAC twelve is is a fire sales. Look, I
hate it, you know. Uh, you know, Michael lev Was was
was tweeting some stuff last last night, and I'm like, you know,
because Pat Forty went on and and you know, made similar comments to as
as Wetzel saying, you know this is all crap, that that this is
all ending and everybody's grabbing the money. I'm like, you know, and
why can't you know, why can't these schools just why can't it just stay
the way it is. I'm like these you know, Asu and Arizona,
they have to go because he can't be competitive if they stay. Well forty
had a similar take. Well, let me say this to you, you
Jay, and to these two guys who I respect very because they're our friends,
that our colleagues. If if SI or whomever, they've worked at the
top, if someone else has given you extra money to do the same job,
you're doing a lot more money. Actually, in fact, you've been
to tell me they're gonna stay for that job. No, no, no,
they're gonna go. They're gonna go for the cash graph exactly. And
then and there there there there bemoaning the fact that this all became a money
grab, that everything going on with college athletics has become about the money.
And it has and I hate it like everybody else. But how can you
tell, how can you say to the remaining schools in the Pac twelve stay
where you are yet ten million dollars less than the next lowest group and be
on a crappy have a crappy streaming deal, stay there because for the for
the good of college athletic No, no, no way, Well, jay,
uh, we've been here almost three years in a few weeks now,
right, three years. I can't We were here for the pandemic where we
heard that's when I started, And didn't we have he key on? And
how much were they losing that year? So okay, we're gonna spide ourselves
to continue to be in debt. Yeah, when they still got to get
out of dinner. Yeah, you know. And and again another thing of
Wetzel failed to mention, you know what's coming up, having to pay the
players. Yeah, you can't sit there and take less money than everybody else
when you're gonna be in the situation that everybody else in is in by having
to pay players. Yeah. Yeah, So how can you sit there on
one hand ridicule the deal and then on the other hand say take the deal.
I don't understand how any media can be doing that. And that's exactly
what Dan Wetzel did. He was he was ripping. He's been ripping on
the Pack twelve. Like everybody else deservedly soul, the PAC twelve deserved to
be ripped on, ripped on for not getting a better TV deal, ripping
on him, ripping on and ripping on him and then saying take the deal.
Yeah. Well, I just like to tweet from our colleague, judge
uh Spears Uh. And I've said this all along because I agree with him
when Klikoff said the longer we wait to be that was that was That was
not right. It was just and I'm sure he didn't speak because he needed
to convince that the people in the room that that's what the case was.
Yeah, that was George looks bad. Yeah, you think about it now,
Jay, is there gonna be a PAC ten, PAC twelve, pack
eight whatever? Pack? Well? I got I got asked last night.
I said, well, does Clafcoff lose his job? I said, well,
keep what happened? He does, because there isn't gonna be a job,
right, you know, you know there's not gonna be a PAC twelve,
so he's not gonna have a job. If the PAC twel folds up,
there's doesn't need a commissioner. No, don't forget to turn off the
lights and close the doors. Yeah, and that's no disrespect. Again,
but you're right, there's no job, there's no place to be. The
boss had Yeah, I mean they closed down the newspaper, right, so
the publisher didn't have a job, right, No, so neither do the
sports right. I sorry I started to bringing that one out. Hey,
dude, I'm still suffering the effects of it. It is what it is.
Yeah, but again, it's just it took thirteen months to get here.
When I think, and maybe this is another question for them, is
didn't it wasn't The obvious choice was to kind of either you couldn't get the
deal, and you knew you were going to get the deal. We gotta
figure something else right months ago, right, And and it's a it's a
matter of survival. It's a matter of survival. And I'm sorry for for
these guys to say to ignore the fact that if if the PAC twelve takes
this deal and is on streaming that athletes, you know that they would need
to be competitive. Are not going to go to those schools when they can
go to this school over here and beyond Fox and ESPN every week. Yeah,
you just overlooked that is beyond me. I was. I was dumbfounded
at the take when I was listening to it yesterday. Yeah, okay,
Uh, so we have a dentist out here in about five minutes, yep,
uh, Jim Moore on the second hour, I will talk get to
a lot of different things throughout the day and take your calls to of course
after different I mean, I mean, just you know again, you have
to you have to check Twitter every five minutes to see if anything's changed since
you know, five minutes before. And that's just the way it is right
now. It's it's nuts. This is worse than the coaching search. And
part of it is because there's such a long term uh, there's gonna be
such a long term term impact of everything that's going on. What's happening here.
I mean, this is this is well and then maybe maybe it's just
for five years, five six, seven years or whatever till As as I
said another show, I really hope that at the end of this in twenty
twenty eight, twenty nine, whenever these contracts finished, that somehow everything kind
of gets Okay, let's get it. Let's get everybody in the sandbox and
figure this out and get some order to this and that's you know, just
you know, get some regional um a regional uh sort of feel a feel
to this. Right. Well, did you see did you see a Leve's
tweet about the big Big twelve West and east A Yeah, yeah, it's
like old foes getting together again by u ya all of a sudden, the
Arizona and Asu are playing in the whack uyu right right, got TCU in
there, of course, the Colorado's in there. Yeah, it's just you.
You painted your house, your old house a different color. Hey,
look at this new house. And that's why I say, I'm kind of
hoping that in the end there's some order brought to this in a way that
um makes sense. And right now none of it makes sense, and that's
the problem. Okay, let's take our breakwhere to covact. Dennis Dodd from
CBS Sports will h get his his uh take on everything that's going on,
because it is kind of nuts out there right now, So stick around for
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in for you. Streaming live on the iHeartRadio WAP, this is I on
the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jakenzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fiftying. Hey,
welcome back to I on the Ball hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve
Rivera, he's jakensos Now on the phone. We have Dennis dot from CBS
Sports. How you doing, Dennis d J one of my um I am
doing great. This is this is almost like election night, you know what
people are called crazy with. Oh, you got your khakis on and you're
all there the left side, the right side. What do you know,
we're gonna go to your teleprompter? What do you know? Right now?
It's no gosh. I think it might be uh, it might be um
the big ones where we come out of this tonight. We'll see an idea
that there's going to be I don't know, four sixteen team conferences. You
know, obviously the Big ten, which has been speculated for years. I
thought it might take ten years this, but it might happen this weekend.
And and and the thing that about it is happening so fast. We're there.
I mean, you can't help but think that they're going to be some
impacts that nobody's thinking about right now. Right there's gonna be stuff that's going
to happen as a result of all of this that we're gonna get to them.
Oh crud, we didn't think about that? Oh? Absolutely, yeah,
always done. I think it's happening so fast because I think this is
what impacts the speed of it. H They're going to start talking soon,
preliminarily about negotiations for the new playoff contract in twenty twenty six, when it
obviously expands to twelve next year, but the contract expires after two more seasons,
and that's going to be the biggest sports contract in college history. And
those people that are bidding on it are the want to know who's going to
play where you know, what, what's this going to mean? U?
The SEC had big ten want to know who's behind them because I think they're
going to try to make a money grab. Right now, it's an equal
share for each Power five team. I think after this weekend or tonight the
power five goes away that hasn't already rum you see, it's a bit,
it's a power too. So I think that's what forcing the speed of this.
Everything has to be in place for these monster negotiations. That's that's an
interesting uh. And I mean, look, you're you're you're you're more in
the middle. I mean, Steph and I are here and stuff that's going
on. But that's something that I haven't even considered you and so you know
when you're when you're thinking about that's what I'm But that's what I'm saying.
There's so many pieces of this that there's a lot of pieces that we don't
even know about. Dennis, you know, the the we have been talking
about. At some point there's going to be you know, four you know,
super conferences. And you're right, I mean, this is happening faster
than we thought, but there still has to be some more organization to it
down the road, don't you think. I mean to bring back some of
the regional aspect of this, you know, so that us USC and UCLA
aren't playing all their games, you know, in the Eastern time zones and
stuff like that. I mean, I would I would like to see some
order brought back to all of that. Well, those top two leagues and
the big twelves trying to do it. Um I have the biggest best brands.
They have Texas home and they have Michigan, Ohio State Oregon in Washington.
They go to the Big Ten. That's one of the biggest rivalries.
B Yu Utah in the Big twelve. So those aren't those aren't going away.
In the last round in two thousand and ten, you know, we
lost rival reads likes Missouri Kansas, which for a person was involved in as
all his life, like me, was huge. It's really fun to do
that. But they're not good in the way in Jack. This is what
the TV networks you're buying these days, not so much markets or brands,
they're buying rivalries. That was a statement last this year, last year last
year by Burt Magnus, who is like a number two guy at ESPN.
That sounds very interesting. You said it on a podcast. In other words,
when you buy the Acca as a met you know, as a rightholder
you get maybe three do Carolina games a season. You have to take the
rest of it. But you're buying d Carolina with the old Big twelve you
will buy buying Texas and Oklahoma. You had to take Andy, Giowa steady.
But that's what that money was worth to get those viewers there. Interesting,
you know, let me ask you a weird question, Dennis. So
of all the time you spent on it, how many hours you think you've
worked on all this? Oh? Would Adam? Because this start for me?
This started in two thousand and nine. In fact, I remember the
exact day, December nine, two thousand and nine, and Jim Blaney,
your Big ten commissioners, sent out a letter publicly saying we are exploring expansion.
Well, by the next oh what was it, next summer Nebraska was
in followed quickly by a sink Colorado. Um, you know, Missouri and
Texas, A and M went to the SEC and off we go. Yeah,
uh in the Paxwell hadn't settled for Colorado and Nutah. So and that's
that's that's ancient history to me. And hunching of time clock and writing that
down, I have no idea. Well, thanks the conferences for job security.
Yes, it definitely kept a lot of people employed. You know what.
One of the things that you know because we're out here in Pack twelve
country. Where where we are, you know, there's just a lot of
I would I would even use the word sadness for the fact that a once
great conference is probably going to cease to exist. I mean, but there's
just no saving it, is there, I don't think. So it struck
me for the first time yesterday. It struck me to the back twelve might
go away and it's current form um because I had said to all of this,
I think there's going to be a Pack twelve. In fact, I
was sure of it. You know, they would back to hell and everything
would be fine. But now, when you know the Oregon Washington stuff broke,
I said, oh, I don't know what's going to happen in the
Big twelve, but I know that's going to happen because it makes too much
sense. And the fact that it's happening so quickly tells me that the Big
ten fast track for or reasons I've mentioned, um, some of the reasons
I've mentioned. So, yeah, it is sad. I mean, it's
I'm writing a peace now, and it's like the PAC twelve won't even be
in a position to sue if you got to be a conference to sue at
the end of the day, they won't have enough to use to buy NCA
rules and had a conference I think the minimum sixteens. What in the world
do you think San Diego states thinking we could have gone, We should have,
could have, should have would have. Yeah, yeah, well,
um, they didn't. They didn't know what the Either they were told by
the PAC twelve or they made the decision themselves. The Pacwolves didn't have a
deal, so you haven't have the patwel had to have the deal first before
it expanded. Yeah. So but if we want to talk about how clumsy
they were doing it, yes, that's a that's a valid conversation. But
San Diego stay, you know, they just made it public that they that
they wanted to go, but they always had to wait until the Pack twelve
had a deal. So you by the way, and by the way,
if there is backshale, you know they're they're gonna that's gonna be a wins
fall for that. That's why changing money twenty million dollars. Yeah, yeah,
get back, you know, I don't know true. Let me let
me go back to the word you use, clumsy, and I'll say this
with cough I mean just ten days ago, two weeks ago, he was
talking, don't worry. In time, we're going to get a better deal
as time goes on. What do you think comes of all that information he
gave and maybe of him because he might not have a conference? Yeah,
I know, Yeah, that's the that's the thing. Um, his job
security one way or the other might be at risk. If I'm the pack
twelve presidents going forward, I've got some serious questions to ask if there's a
confidence to say. But in terms of media day, yeah, I mean
he said it for two straight years and nothing came of it. You know,
he said last year big twelve on night pick and he packed twelve teams
with all that happened, you know that's not true. And then they said
they were really close to the deal. The only reason we know that deal
now is because Colorado's migration is a Big twelve. And then the remaining pack
fell Furs said, show us what you got. We need to know because
a lot of us have options, and that's why we saw this. It
wasn't great, It wasn't great, but it was something. But at least
now you have some knowledge of what you've been used to go forward. You
mentioned a few minutes ago that this goes back to two thousand and nine where
you feel like this whole ball got rolling. But when you think about where
we are today with the pack fall essentially breaking up, you put more blame
on the Texas Oklahoma thing UCLA USC you know, a real aim that didn't
happen back when the Pac twelve and Larry Scott went after the Oklahoma Texas and
a couple of Texas schools. Where do you pin this right now or do
you oh, gosh, it's Texas Oklahoma. You always knew ad options in
the Big twelve. It was just a case of what it was going to
happen as job dropping as that was too two years ago. Um, but
everything settled down. You go, yep, you know what. Um,
they went to where the money is short answer there they'd rather lose those schools
had rather lose to LSU in Alabama and Kansas state or state or that makes
sense. The jaw dropper. The jaw dropper was USC now with the jaw
dropper because it didn't make any any geographic sense. Um, you know,
I you know, I guess they shared a culture, but the idea of
slapping those kids all over the country like day or chess pieces still hasn't been
answered by it, you know, particularly in the minor sports. So um,
it's just it's just unfortunate. And then as things progress and the PAC
twelve, let's let itself open without certainly by the way, I should mention,
this is not a secret. The deal that the Big twelve got last
October thirtieth was on the table for the PAC twelve and they rejected it.
They thought they were worth more. That was abandon Yeah, I know you're
based in the Midwest. I think it is a dentist so and I asked
this to someone yesterday, just to PAC twelve, the West coast bias,
I guess there was. People can't complain about that now They're like, they're
not going to be in the West. No. Um, yeah, I
I never had that. I never thought that. I was just going through
my memories of the PAC twelve this afternoon when I was writing, and it
just brings a tear to my eye. The Rose Bowl, watching Matt Leiner
step off the field at the Coliseum after beating Notre Dame one year. He
had that look in his eye like I own the entire world right now.
Yeah, you could see it. You know, a young kid Umgan Love
going to court ballance Oregon is an Oregon, Um Stanford, the elegant tailgates
of Stanford cal. I remember going to a season opener in two thousand and
nine against Tennessee and this was such a such a a non caw saying flat
boys walking down the street with with ticket sign saying f Tennessee a cow ye
And that's the extreme of their cussing. Two probably right right. So now
so now this is this continues to you know, it's like it's like,
you know, the snowball is rolling down the hill and it's getting bigger and
bigger. So you got Florida State even running out there and saying, you
know, we want more. I mean, where when does this stop or
does it? Well, as in particular regarding Florida State, they've got no
options that that's just plus or nothing's changed from this ironclad granted rights that still
has whatever twelve thirteen years to go and maybe they get maybe they get more
money for it from the existing pool. I don't know. But but to
do that, you're gonna have to go to a team like wake Forrest,
who's been extremely consistent, I think bold games each of the last ten years.
Ago. You know what, we're taking money away from you from being
so good. So they're they're in a pickle and they've got nowhere to go.
They can't get out of their deal. They've got nowhere to go to
the yesec's not taking them. Yesec's got interested in Florida, stright. Yes,
you see, the SEC had its way, their first choices would be
Notre Dame in North Carolina. That's true. I'm assuming we got about a
minute and left here, uh, Dennis, that you're going to be taking
some farewell tours this year too, given that this is the final year again
in your In the next year, the next few months, you'll be going
to be going out here, you know, the West coast, maybe to
the stadiums, maybe in Tucson because it's the last year of the Pac twelve.
Yeah, yeah, I hope so, I hope so. Um And
the irony is, as you guys know, this is going to be one
of the best Union pactels. Right. You've got at least five ranked teams
in the preseason, all these quarterbacks, the sending Eisman Trophy winner. Um,
really really good looking playoff contenders, maybe breaking this three A lot of
good players and coaches and great storylines. That's that's what the shame of it
is. That is the shame of it. Real quick, some of your
thoughts on where Arizona is right now, we'd love to hear what you have.
You know what some of the national media is saying about what Jet fishes.
I think they're sending with Jet that's what they got going on. They
just got a commitment from I'm trying to remember what recruiting quarterback in twenty four
I think right right right the quarterback who had committed to Mississippi. Yes,
that's the guy. I don't know his name, but um, so that's
that's a big death for Jed and um you know, going to a new
conference, being able to compete is that it's gonna be harder, I would
think in the Big twelve of that lineup to make the playoffs, I think
it's gonna be a lot more fun. Um to be looked in the Pac
twelve, to be carried along to a major conference is an absolute win right
now, right right, Well, I'll see you with faug Allen. That
be a great thing. Yeah, that's that first Arizona can be something.
Yeah, I know, I know Bill self. I'll say this, Bill
self is uh uh Jack. I talked to Big twelve coaches at the tournament
in March and they're you know, Scott Drew and um, Bill Self,
um, and they those guys were so excited and that's when the Arizona's name
was coming at first. They were so excited about that. I know that
Salem Starter wants him have more eligibility because he could. He was the one
that beat Kansas a couple of times. So he's trying to Dennis, thank
you very much for coming on. Appreciate it man, Good luck, guys,
thank you, appreciate you. Thank you, Dennis DoD CBS. A
lot of stuff going on, just just it's like a churney things like you
lift the lid, there's something else on top right. Well, and it's
what time is now, three thirty five? In about three and a half
hours, we could no more maybe no more um and still it's it's to
me, it's like electric to night. You just don't know when to win.
A night at nine o'clock of Washington, Washington, you're gonna buy the
pizza you're buying the pizza. The election nights are pizza. I'm gonna deadline,
I'm gonna get in my jammies. I'm gonna be watching the Dodger game
and keeping an eye on on what social media on Twitter, going on Twitter.
Okay, let's take a break. All right, we'll be right back.
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fourteen fifteen. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeart radio while just surgery
I on the Ball. Hey, welcome back to It on the Ball here
on Fox Sports fourteen. Cookie, I'm Steve Rivera, he's Jagon's OS.
Got a guy Jason with us today. If you'd like to get into the
conversation, give us a call five two h four one six seventy four forty.
We'd like to hear from you your thoughts on the potential of leaving the
PAC twelve right and if you if you miss any portion of the show,
if you didn't, if you're just joining us and didn't hear Dennis Dodd,
you can pick it up on the on the podcast. It'll be posted shortly
after the show and go to the iHeart website or Apple podcasts or anywhere you
get podcasts and you'll find I on the Ball and you'll you can hear everybody
on the podcast as well. But a lot happening, Steve. And it's
as we said, I joked with Dennis when he came on the area,
anything happened in the last five minutes that we need we need to know about
because that's really how you feel things are right now. Yeah, No,
you're you're right, You're right. Um, and we'll see, like the
clock is ticking again about four three and a half hours whatever to figure out
what else else is going. And then you said there's the Washington, Oregon
at nine o'clock tonight, So clearly something that was done, a time that
was set to see what the outcome is of the PAC twelve meet, not
the PAC twave, the Arizona meeting. Um, it's it's kind of like
again, as you're waiting for somebody to pull the plug or take your finger
out of the dike or whatever analogy you want to use, that some somebody's
got to break the seal on this thing. And um, I think there's
a lot of expectation that it's going to be the Arizona Board of Reasons tonight,
right right. Um, See, what let me ask you, and
I don't know that we've we've actually had this discussion, but do you hate
this are you kind of just whatever happens happens. You know you're not You're
not as passionate about the pac twave as I am. How do you feel
about all this and where the where primarily college football? Where college athletics are
gonna land at the end of all this? Yeah, in fact, I
was gonna ask you. I'll ask you this after I hear we answer your
question. I'm not as I'm not as I'm passionate, but not as much
as you are. Um, do I tell me where the game is and
I'll be there. Yes, that's kind of how I am. And I've
said this before with you. I know you're you're worried about if we do
go, or you do decide to go to Kansas for a game, or
to wake O or it's a different feel right and the field you never I
think the fun part is that you never experience going to be different. We
went. That was cool it Texas Tech the night James Gray ran all over
Arizona. Um so that was kind of new, kind of cool, new
friends to meet and in the business. Um, I really don't feel any
different. I'm not. I didn't grow up in this league, so you
you did. Um, but I covered it, and I'm not nostalgic about
it. If I were Here's the thing, if I were still a reporter
for the newspaper, I would this Eugene. I would miss Seattle, I
would miss those types of places. But other than that, no, not
really, not really. I would look forward to the Kansas game and put
bread basketball and they're coming and yeah, yeah, just all that stuff.
Do you. I know, it's been a long time since you were reporting
what we gotta call all right, let's take that. Hi, you're on
the air and I on the ball. How's it going today? What's up
right? I guess it's going to happen here pretty soon. We think it
is. Yeah, I mean, it's just to get to a point where,
you know, um, once UCLA and USC LAB the Big twelve wasn't
evidence. But I would rather there's still being a pack twelve to be with
the twelve teams. But it's not going to be that way. And this
basically is basically not set up for what are fans like US rights you want
to call it. It's basically people there are maybe in great school right now,
so in ten years when they started getting involved in sports more, Yeah,
they'll being the ones who will be watching all the streaming shows. Let
me ask you, Brian, are you, I don't know, are you
upset by all of of where we're gonna wind up with all this? Are
you sad by where you're gonna wind where we're gonna wind up another thing?
And what kind of fan are you? And how are you thinking about all
this? Is a fan? And when you think about let's say, assume
the PAC twelve is gone, what's how you know? Emotionally? How do
you feel about that? You know? I feel bad about it, you
know because I grew up knowing the eighth, the pack eighth it was called
at that time, right, and we know us back in the Wack conference,
you know, and not you know, not having that you know,
when sports were sports. It's not sports anymore. It's just a big business
who can make the most money? And that's it. So wait, were
you part of the were you part of them when they were in the whack?
Oh? Yeah? So how did you feel that because you were moving
to step up and it was it was a different type of field, wasn't
it. Weren't you happy? Well? That one made a little more sense
to me because geographically we're still in the same area. And and also time
having a chance to play UCLA and you USC and Stanford at that time being
bad and now you know that was pretty exciting. Um, that's one of
the Big twelve. You know, we don't have a choice. I would
rather there be a pack like Jay original Pack twelve, but it's not going
to happen. Yeah, so you have to deal with it, you know.
And and I would love for people, you know, younger people could
have seeing what you know, football and basketball was like back in the the
nees and eighties. Yeah, it was fun, it was fast, it
was yeah, it was it was more it was sports, you know now.
And I mean, and I understand Jayson, who wants to travel a
Waco? Who wants to travel to Lummick? Right, you know, it's
it's you know, I mean, I bet the USC has got to be
pretty upset in Oregon and Washington get into this, we're expecting that. Well
it's not. It's not as exclusive as it would be, right right,
right, you know, I mean it's and maybe, like you said,
in five years it all gets blown up and then there's like four conferences and
maybe they make a regional like we have a West Conference and then we have
a Midwest Conference, in the Northeast Conference, in the Southern Conference. Yeah,
there's people already designing that right now. Yeah, it's funny too.
Yeah. Oh, I'm sure there is, and I'm sure there is.
But but what you know, all this money involved, you know, uh,
I just don't you know. I mean, if I'm if Washington and
Oregon go into the Big ten like they're talking about, they don't get one
hundred million dollars like everybody steps, but they probably get about I think they
said sixty million dollars. But stillizen' not bad money to move. Yeah.
Also one thing too, is is going to be a terrible cost for us
and all these other teams in the conference to be traveling. Yeah, Jeff
Fish talked about time. Yeah, it ain't cheap. It's expensive. It's
gonna it's expensive. It's going to keep getting more and more expensive. I
agree. I mean a trip to West Virginia. You know you're gonna West
Virginia's in the Big twelve. And we talked about we make fun of UCLA
and USC having to go to New Jersey, well, you know, Arizona,
and as you were gonna have to go to West Virginia at some point.
That's not easy. The ASU president is not too crazy about leaving.
You may not have a choice. You've been there won't be a conference.
Um, but I mean, I'm sure he would be happy to say,
Okay, we'll stay able, we're at try to find three more teams and
go from there. Yeah. Yeah, there's some thought. There's some thought
behind that. All right, Brian, appreciate it, man, thanks a
bunch. Okay, talk to me later. So to my point, the
question was, U, So you're you're you're reporter a long time ago,
a minute years ago, and it was fun kind of doing the team and
you got out of it. But now would you want to do this in
the conditions that are going to be coming up? If I was, if
I was covering the team, covering the team, I guess I guess I
would do it. I would take it, right, I mean, that
was my job. How would you look forward to look forward to it?
Um? Yeah, I think I would. Yeah, See, so it's
I think you would. It's no different. You're just going to you're going
to a cold Kansas place. You're going to probably a cold Wakeco place.
Taxing, you know how I mean, the newness of it would be exciting,
but at some point that's gonna wear off. The deal. The deal
is, though, Steve, is that as a reporter, you just you
just go cover the games and that's what you that's what that's what you say.
You go cover the games. And if it means you go to you
go to West Virginia, or you're going to Still Water, you're going to
Houston, or you're going to you know, can't wherever you're going, you're
gonna go cover those games. And if you're covering basketball even better. You
know, I would be excited to cover this basketball team. Yeah, you
know as as a conference, as a fan, it's a whole different story,
true, completely different story for all the reasons that we've talked about.
The winners in this whole thing. I think eventually in two years the UA
basketball season ticket holders. Yeah, yeah, because it's gonna be fed man,
and all of a sudden, you got, you know, a bunch
of top ten teams coming in. That's gonna depend on how they schedule that
thing out. You know, there's already you know a thing about creating pods,
and you played this pot in that pod and you know that that kind
of stuff because you know, I mean, if if all four schools off,
all four four corner schools go, you know, that's that's an eighteen
team league. I don't know. I don't know what the ticket situation is
that McHale because they lost some people. You can see it started coming back.
But if you don't want to, you'd say, if you don't,
get you to your tickets now, man, because it's gonna be fun fun
to watch. Yeah. Now you know, I'm a I'm on a thread
over here and I got my my buddies ranting about the money grab, that
this that caused all this, and I said, I agree that it's a
money grab, you know. And one of the points that was made was
you know that that you know, ESPN is very shortsighted because you know,
they're they're giving up all these big TV markets to go be and they gave
all the money to the to the SEC and and and and stuff like.
But you know what, while the while all the PAC twelfth schools are in
big TV markets, there's not a lot of people watching from those I talked.
Had the same conversation with somebody yesterday today. But Phoenix. We talked
about that. You know, there's it's populated six, biggest city, but
no one's really watching it. Issues it's all split. The markets are split
between all the pro sports and all those cities that you know that when we
talk about the great markets that the PAC twelfth schools are in. But that,
to me, that's that's become Maybe we didn't see it that way,
but it has now become more of a detriment to the schools. Because ESPN
has the numbers, they know how many people are watching USC and UCLA.
Remember the pictures of UCLA of the Rose Bowl for you Ucla nobody, nobody,
they are so so that's what they see and when they when you see
you go to Knoxville and they put one hundred thousand people in the statement.
One hundred thousand people I don't think lived there. I thought, who Dennis
said about the team, about the teams, about playing in the ACC or
whatever. They're spending millions, but they're the biggest prizes the Duke North Carolina
game, right, so they're spending a lot because of that. That was
a really good point from Dennis that I that I hadn't thought of that they're
right, they're buying these these special prices, right, like like you know
Fox has bought the Michigan Ohio State football game, right, They've bought Penn
State, Ohio State, They've bought that's what they're buying. And and and
the ESPN bought at you know, Alabama Georgia. You know all that they
and they know that people in LA are gonna watch that game. Yea,
more people are probably gonna watch that game than they're gonna watch a USC and
AC at the expense of the second the Arizona Oregon State. Right. Well,
okay, that's just part of it. You have to do that,
yeah, you know, yeah, no, it's it's nuts because that and
Steve those guys know that they they they do all. They've got all those
numbers in front of them, and that's how they're making those decisions. You
know. I mean again, you know, my guys are saying, why,
you know, why did they give all the money to the SEC because
you know, when you know is bur you know, the Birmingham market can't
be you know, like the LA market. Well, yes it can be
because every TV in Birmingham is on an Alabama game and maybe a third of
the TV's are on a USC game in La. Yeah, which, of
course, numbers don't lie. No, no, they're not doing this because
they don't know what they're doing. The numbers don't lie when it comes to
that stuff. And and and that's the truth. Direct TV showed that they
the numbers aren't there to pay for the PAC twelve network. The PAC twelve.
How many years it to take for people to understand that there never joined?
Okay, all this so good. First hour. We're gonna come back
with some breaking news, right, and then we're gonna have Jim Moore talking
about the Washington area north to Northwestattle Radio. Yeah, all right, we'll
be right back