The Week in Pac-10 Baseball

Sunday April 10
Cal at Arizona, 10:30am, 2:00pm
UCLA at Washington State, 12:00pm
Stanford at USC, 1:00pm
Washington at Oregon, 1:00pm
Arizona State at Oregon State, 1:05pm

Tuesday April 12
USC at Pepperdine, 3:00pm
Pacific at Stanford, 5:30pm
Gonzaga at Washington State, 5:30pm
Long Beach State at UCLA, 6:00pm
Washington at Seattle, 6:00pm

Wednesday April 13
Oregon at Portland, 3:00pm

Friday April 15
Oregon State at Stanford, 5:30pm
Arizona at UCLA, 6:00pm
Cal at Washington, 6:00pm
Oregon at USC, 6:00pm
Washington State at Arizona State, 6:30pm

Saturday April 16
Oregon State at Stanford, 1:00pm
Arizona at UCLA, 2:00pm
Cal at Washington, 2:00pm
Oregon at USC, 2:00pm
Washington State at Arizona State, 6:30pm

Cal reinstates baseball program

The news out of Berkeley Friday sent sighs of relief and exclamations of joy around the conference and country as a whole. The University of California, Berkeley announced it will reinstate its baseball program.

The school had previously announced the baseball program would be cut in a cost-cutting move. The administration gave boosters a ten million dollar minimum limit to raise in order to save the program- a number which the program failed to raise.

However, Friday school officials announced the nine million raised was sufficient enough to keep the program alive for the time being.

The decision was met with ecstasy around the country because of the program's storied history. Cal played its first baseball season in 1892 and has sent countless players to Major League Baseball.

Fiesta Bowl Scandal May Mean Opportunity for Pac-12

The CEO of the Fiesta Bowl is in trouble.

John Junker, who has overseen the BSC game for more than a decade, was fired after an investigation found that Junker grossly mismanaged the finances of the Fiesta Bowl.

Allegations include spending $33,000 of bowl money for his 50^th birthday at Pebble Beach. Other purchases with funds collected from the Fiesta Bowl include a $13,000 wedding of an aide of Junkers, 27 trips taken by Junker and his family, and the purchase of a $1,000 bottle of wine.

Once an NCAA committee uncovered this information, Junker was out of the job.

In an era of budget reductions and unemployment, the public is not too keen on hearing about such abuses in the management for high-powered jobs.

Now that the Fiesta Bowl CEO got the axe what are the implications for the Pac-10?

The Fiesta Bowl will be played next year because the bowl contract doesn’t expire until 2013. If the Fiesta Bowl gets the boot from the BCS then major shifts of conference teams that are represented in a BCS bowl game could occur.

Pac-10 fans are often disappointed and feel that their schools don’t get the amount of recognition they deserve when it comes to BCS bowl games. These games are typically awarded to SEC or Big 12 teams.

With the expansion of the Pac-12, the conference could be considered more prominent and competitive- traits that would make a suitable team for a BCS game. If the Fiesta Bowl gets the boot because of this recent controversy then the Cotton Bowl may take its place in the BCS.

If the Fiesta Bowl was demoted to a lesser bowl and the Cotton Bowl took its place, then this outcome could be positive for Pac-10 teams. This is because the Fiesta Bowl is played in Tempe, Arizona (Pac-10 territory) and could easily draw a Pac-10 team because it is a lesser bowl than the Cotton Bowl.

Only time will tell how this complicated (and politicized) system turns out in the wake of the Junker scandal.  

Moos Shares Goals of Pac-10 Success

Last Thursday evening, WSU Athletic Director Bill Moos stopped by for dinner at my fraternity, Lambda Chi. After dinner he shared his plans to increase revenue and competition at WSU.

Moos, who has been athletic director at WSU for one year, has a rich history in sports. He is an alumni of WSU and played on the football team. During the 1973 season, his senior year, he served as co-captain. Moos went on to work as the athletic director of Montana State University and University of Oregon before returning to his alma-mater.

As athletic director of Oregon he helped bolster their athletic budget from close to $20 million to over $40 million. Moos hopes to do the same with WSU’s budget. He has also focused on the renovations of Martin Stadium and Beasley Coliseum, strengthening alumni and fan relations, creating new facilities to bring in top athletes, and shaping a strong brand identity.

For the task of making a brand identity for WSU, Moos talked about how WSU will now have one color and consistent fonts on all uniforms. This is important because many of the uniforms have different shades of crimson. By having a solitary set of fonts and colors, WSU uniforms will be more recognizable.

One of the biggest messages Moos delivered was how crucial it was to bring morale to WSU fans everywhere. To do this, he wants to expand the WSU markets to the west side of the state and Spokane. Next year, there will be one football game at Qwest Field. With over 70 percent of WSU students living on the Westside and large groups of alumni, this will hopefully bring in big revenue and help strengthen support. Additionally, Moos wants more of a WSU presence in Spokane. He is achieving this by hosting a radio program once a week in Spokane, and there will be football and basketball games along with other sporting events in Spokane.

Moos message was one of enthusiasm. He played football for WSU during a period of great athletic success. He wants to restore that time and he believes he has the insight and key to make it happen.  

Coaching changes hit Pac-12

The college basketball coaching carousel tends to hit full gallop in late March and early April every year. In the Pac-12, this trend came to fruition in 2011 yet again.

At the University of Washington, previous women’s basketball head coach Tia Jackson resigned following an 11-17 (6-12 in the Pac-10), seventh-place finish in conference. After an extensive search targeting big names such as Gonzaga’s Kelly Graves, UW selected Xavier head coach Kevin McGuff as Jackson’s replacement. The surprise, big name hire proves Washington’s commitment to getting its women’s basketball program back on track. McGuff’s salary calls for a base salary of 475,000 dollars, almost 200,000 dollars more than what Jackson made.

Also in women’s basketball, successful UCLA head coach Nikki Caldwell left the Bruins to take the same position at Louisiana State University. Caldwell departed Westwood after a 28-5 season that saw the Bruins earn a high national ranking and a number three seed in the NCAA tournament. Caldwell’s decision to head to LSU allows her to return to the Southeastern Conference, where she played at Tennessee under legendary head coach Pat Summitt.

On the men’s basketball side, the conference has seen its share of changes as well. New conference member Utah fired head coach Jim Boylen on the heals of a 13-18 season, which witnessed the Utes lose eight of their past 11 games. With a move to the Pac-12 effective during the summer, athletic director Chris Hill elected a change was necessary. Utah hired New Jersey Nets assistant Larry Krystkowiak, who has also served as the head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, University of Montana and the Idaho Stampede.

A pair of Pac-10 men’s basketball assistants also left the conference to take over head coaching roles at other schools. Former Arizona assistant- and the brother of head coach Sean Miller- Archie Miller left the desert to take over the reigns at the University of Dayton. Additionally, former UCLA assistant Scott Duncan left the Bruins to head up the University of Wyoming program.

While the coaching carousel hit its stride, the college basketball season just ended Monday (men’s) and Tuesday (women’s), so more changes may be on the way in the near future. 

Reveal of Pac-12 Logo a Letdown

A little over two weeks ago the Pac-12 revealed the conference’s new logo, however not much has changed. The new logo is the exact same as the revamped logo of the Pac-10, and the only thing that has changed is the ‘12’ instead of the ‘10’. For the elite standing of our conference, I think that more should have been done.

The conference logo is representing all 12 schools. It will be in every university, on every field, every court. While I do not think the logo looks bad, I think it is very anticlimactic with all the anticipation surrounding the addition of our new teams. Since the Pac-10 logo was changed this season anyway, why not wait to reveal everything until the conference had become the Pac-12? Colorado and Utah have so much to offer our conference athletically, and all we offered them with the logo was adjusting the zero to a two. Here is the video released highlighting this less than mind-blowing phenomena.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niiWyvrjh_c 

The Pac-10 is not the only school guilty of this underwhelming change with the conference realignment. Many fans were also upset with the new look of the Big Ten’s logo. While the Big Ten is confusing enough in itself (they used to have 11 teams, now add one more to make it 12…but that still equals 10?) their logo continues to baffle. The old Big Ten logo at least had an acknowledgement of an eleventh squad by using dead space to create the number 11. However this latest creation is simply big blue block letters that only say 10 again. Hmm.

Being able to increase numbers is something these conferences should be proud of, and they should take pride in changing their logos. While it is a small gesture it adds a level of inclusivity to these new teams by showing them that they are welcomed into an already established conference. While I applaud the Pac-10 for being able to count and showcase the correct number of teams in the conference, I would rethink the timing and presentation of the current Pac-12 logo.

NCAA Seeks Better Reputation with New PSAs

While watching this year’s NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament many have probably noticed a new series of commercials launched by the NCAA in response to recent criticism.

This criticism from the media includes an ongoing debate about whether student-athletes should receive a salary from the NCAA.  In an article published by the USA Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert stated, "it’s grossly unacceptable and inappropriate to pay players … converting them from students to employees."

To back this stance, NCAA commercials have branded student-athletes just as that: student-athletes and not student-athlete-employees. The NCAA has also clearly stated how the revenue pie is split, so people don’t assume the NCAA is making an overabundant profit.

In the NCAA “Where Does the Money Go?” PSA, the NCAA states that 96 percent of the revenue goes into scholarships, financial aid, universities, and championships. Simply put the NCAA states in the commercial, “We put our money where our mission is.”

Another criticism that the new NCAA PSAs address is the argument that NCAA academic policies need to be stricter. According to the NCAA’s website, “The ‘dumb jocks’ PSA seeks to dispel that myth and reiterate the association’s missions and values.”

The ‘dumb jocks’ PSA mentions that African American who are student-athletes are 10 percent more likely to earn a degree, and that NCAA student-athletes earning degree is at an all-time high.

The PSA concludes with a female basketball player asking, “Still think we’re just a bunch of dumb jocks?”, followed by another athlete saying, “You need to do your homework.”

I believe the NCAA’s public relations strategy to combat media criticism is a success. The NCAA represents integrity and fairness, and their mission and goals need to be well-known. Through this new campaign, they will be viewed better by the public.