Connery’s Views from a recliner

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the following are my own. Frankly, they’re topics that I’m really passionate about, sports and celebrating sports figures after retirement, or posthumously, even if their off the field behavior hasn’t been the greatest, or of that of the ‘heroes’ they are made out to be on an off the field.

Specifically, Jim Brown. Jim Brown, Friday passed away at the age of 87. Jim Brown, the football player, was the definition of a beast. Before Barry Sanders, Emmit Smith, before Walter Payton, there was Jim Brown. 118 Games, he started all of them, 12312 yards, you read that right, in an era where teams didn’t pass much, 106 Touchdowns, in 9 seasons, 9!!!! Unreal! Jim Brown, Hall of Fame Running Back, considered by many to be the best player ever to play football period!

Jim Brown also did a TON in terms of social activism and race relations. His famed, Cleveland Summit, that drew support of other sports figures and their support of Muhammad Ali’s protest of and objection to Vietnam War. The Amer-I-can Program he founded to rehabilitate gang members and struggling kids. And, he even acted in movies and television.

WHAT A GUY! To steal a line from my favorite tv show, ‘How could anyone not like him?!?’

Continue reading to find out.

The timeline below is from a linked article from DeadSpin back in 2016. The link is below. I will post the timeline and a short commentary after.

https://deadspin.com/jim-brown-did-great-things-he-also-beat-woman-1784269329

1965: Jim Brown, everybody’s hero is accused of assaulting an 18 year woman, slapping her face, hip and stomach and forced her to have sex with him. Ultimately, the charges are dropped, after a jury of his peers, (in the city of Cleveland where was was still playing football at the time) find him not guilty. No worries there Jimmy, Cleveland and the football world still love ya and, sign of the times, right? Maybe?

Jim Brown: Football Hall of Famer, Activist, Actor, Loved by Millions, Alleged Domestic Abuser?

Two similar incidents happened in 1967 and 1971. In ‘67, Brown was accused of beating his then girlfriend, charges were dropped when she later claimed she, ‘fell’.

In ‘71, this time, two women, again accused the All American from Syracuse, of beating them and throwing them out of his apartment AND, you read that correctly, a flight of stairs! The worst part, the two women appeared WITH BROWN and LEFT WITH AFTER the preceedings!!!

Don’t worry Jim, you’re already a Hall of Famer, we’ll call this a, minor transgression? Still all the good social activism stuff, right?

From 1975 to 1985, Brown managed to stay out of notable trouble, but continued his activism and good deeds. Maybe this leaf is turning? We hope?

(Sigh)

1985

Brown is again accused of raping and assaulting a 33 year old woman, with the help of his then 23 year old girlfriend. The charges were dropped due to ‘inconsistent testimony’ because, in short, the accuser couldn’t remember exactly what happened.

A year after the ‘85 case, Brown would have the audacity to say, ‘I don’t have much chance if someone wants to get me?’

Jim Brown: Football Hero, Activist, Alleged Domestic Abuser, Sympathetic Figure after said Allegations?

In ‘86, there was a minor dust up that he and his wife sort of did PR damage control on, then in 1989 his Memoir hit, Out of Bounds’, where and I’m paraphrasing, he admits to hitting women, admits he never should have and admits he should have been more adult. What a concept!!!

Holy shit! We have hope for this, at the time 54 YEAR OLD MAN REALIZING HITTING WOMEN IS A NO NO!

1999 & 2000

Brown is again in the news, this time for making terrorist threats against his wife. An officer arrived to see Brown’s wife visable scared, shaken, nervous and like she had been crying. There was even a 911 call where his wife states that Brown, ‘hadn’t hit her that day’. That part of the tape was labeled, ‘inaudible’. All ol Jimmy did was take a shovel to and destroy his wife’s car, for this, he was sentenced to a year of domestic violence counseling, 3 years probation and 400 hours of community service.

Monique Brown later gave an interview comparing the jail time he would receive due to this case, more on that in a moment, to that of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. All this after the guy told her he’d ‘snap her neck’.

Jim Brown: Football Hero, Activist, Alleged Domestic Abuser, Civil Rights Survivor!!!

For his role in the 2000 ordeal, saying it was beneath him, Brown refused the domestic violence counseling and spent 4 months in jail.

That’s where the timeline ends and my comments begin.

Jim Brown: Football Hero, Activist, Movie Star, Alleged Domestic Abuser….

No, you know what? My point is, you want to remember him on the football, great, but he was an ASSHOLE off the field, especially to women. I’m sorry, I’ve already been slammed by sharing this opinion in some Facebook groups, but why is he getting a pass here?

Domestic abuse and violence against women, just no, it’s a trigger. Being around it, exposed to it in high school and college, it shouldn’t happen ever.

I’m going to post this and I welcome any feedback to those that read it, truly, and I’ll get pushback I’m sure, but discussion is healthy and I welcome it.

I’d be cold hearted if I didn’t say my condolences to the Brown family for their loss and the football community’s loss as a whole. Condolences also have to go out to the families of the women he victimized over the years.

In the coming days and football season, Jim Brown, the larger than life Hall of Famer will be honored and celebrated, and deservedly so. But, we must examine Jim Brown, and his actions off the field as well.

OBSERVATION: March Madness is the best time of year if you are a sports fan, and this year’s ‘Madness’ proved it.

REACTION: This tournament had everything! A 16 ( FDU) beating a 1, (Purdue), which has only happened once before, when UMBC beat Virginia, good for the little guy! The tourney had other upsets, K State over Kentucky, Duke got slapped in round 2, Princeton made a run! It was crazy, everythubg you want, ‘The Madness’ to be!

OBSERVATION: It’s time to REALLY start taking, ‘The U’, seriously moving forward.

REACTION: Coach Jim Larranaga showed again why he’s just a hell of a coach. He, not only, took his team to back to back Elite 8s and their first ever Final Four, but, it was the way he did it.

He adjusted!

Starting against Indiana in Round 2, Larranaga began a Master Class of Cause and Effects: How Adjustments can take away an opponent’s top scorer or playermaker. Indiana, Houston, Texas, all fell victim to subtle adjustments. Wow. The ACC is no longer just UVA, UNC and Duke, slide The U up on that top line for a long time to come. Watching battles in the ACC with Harrison is going to be awesome!!!

OBSERVATION: The trash talking is unnecessary.

REACTION: I’m sad to admit, I’m getting older, I turned 41 during March Madness. But, I miss when team sports were less about the individual and more about the team. The trash talking on both sides of the women’s championship was unnecessary on both sides, even if both didn’t have a problem with the other doing it. Caitlin Clark started it, albeit at her own bench, Angel Reese took it way too far by folliwing Clark around the court when the game was ending. The two should have just shook hands and be done with it.

Then, for LSU’s Angel Reese to say, ‘we put women’s basketball on the map’. Please. Ms Reese is probably too young for a VCR, DVRs are becoming obsolete….so, she youtube Pat Summit, followed by Tennessee vs UCONN, then UCONN Women’s basketball dynasty, those folks took the NCAA Women’s Tournament from a lower right corner box score on D12 to the big draw it has become today with ESPN’s wall to wall coverage.

Social media and the amount of access we have to these players and they have allows them to push unnecessary narratives. Be classy in defeat, but especially in victory, what example are you setting otherwise.

Final thought: I am going to miss the bell out of Jim Nantz in March. He isnt retiring completely from broadcasting but he’s the voice of March Madness and has been for as I can remember, it’s going to be different next season not hearing him call games. He ended last night with ‘I’m not ttying to capitalize on ‘Hello Friends’, (his signature intro, which started as a tribute to his Dad), ‘Thank you all, for being my friend’, You are most welcome, my friend.

Those that know me, know I’ve wanted to be a sportswriter/broadcaster since I heard the word statistic. Thankfully, with blogging, I’ve been able to kind of live out that dream.

I bring this up, because earlier this evening, Atlanta Hawks Play by Play man, Bob Rathbun had a seizure during the Hawks broadcast, live, on the air. Typing those words seems surreal, but it happened.

I’m not going to post the clip, I refuse, something this serious, shouldn’t earn me more clicks. This situation especially hit home for me, because, back in July, I myself experienced my own seizure. I was standing in my driveway, watching my wife and dog, and then I woke up in an ambulance.

Luckily, with the help of meds, I have been seizure free since then, and thankfully, all reports say Bob Rathbun is stable and hopefully on the way to a full recovery and broadcasting soon.

My point in writing this tonight, was, and yeah, in the heat of the moment, I loathe this phrase, ‘It’s a game!’, or ‘Its only a game!!’, usually spoken to me by my loving wife, after the Giants fumble, give up a score or blow a lead (YESTERDAY!!), and in those moments, I as a fan am insensed, veins are popped, I feel a slight twitch above my eye, and I usually end up turning off the game to cool down or lately have been advocating to be elsewhere for games, wings and Mt. Dew having nothing to do with it.

Point is, she’s right, it is just a game, and an event like tonight proves that and will time and again. Who wins tonight and where OBJ signs doesn’t mean much when life hits you in the face live in front of the world.

Continued prayers and a speedy recovery for Mr. Rathbun. Hug those close to you tonight.

Tennessee traveled to Athens to take on Georgia. Let me say that again, with proper wording, ‘No. 1 Ranked Tennessee took on No. 3 Georgia in Athens, GA, Saturday afternoon.’

See, even that, sounds weird. Not that Tennessee hasn’t been good or deserving, they beat Alabama, after all, but to have them ahead of Georgia? When all Georgia’s done is look pretty unbeatable, save a scare back against Missouri on 10/1? Tennessee still had a ton to prove, to earn.

Unfortunately, the feel good story that is Tennessee, took a bit of a hit today, Georgia beat them soundly, 27-13 and should reclaim No.1 when the CFP Rankings are released this week.

Besides Tennessee losing, the afternoon slate went pretty much as expected, Ohio State struggled, but shrugged off a sluggish start to be Northwestern, to stay firmly entrenched in the College Football Playoff picture. A lot of the teams involved im the Playoff hunt, played in the evening, and boy, what an evening it turned on to be.

First, you had Michigan, they played Rutgers, winning easily. Then, you had the game I was really looking forward to watching, Clemson-Notre Dame from South Bend, in prime time.

Now, sentimentally, Notre Dame has been my team since 1988. They were also my father’s team. One of my earliest sports memories that I can remember vividly is watching Miami-Notre Dame, October 15, 1988? on my couch with my Dad, eating popcorn, talking between plays about how in the hell the Irish were going to stop Miami. Miami was just so damn good, seemingly had an answer for eveeything, and they were gonna tell you alllll about it, which drove me fucking nuts!!!!

Anyways, that worked out, good memories Dad, Irish won, yay. Back to tonight, Notre Dame Clemson, I was excited. It was going to be another test for the Irish and first year coach, Marcus Freeman. And, Clemson, is always good, year after year seemingly.

It, also as a fan of Notre Dame always feels good to beat Clemson, maybe because Clemson is so good, maybe because their coach is named Dabo, who knows, I just can’t get on board with their hype train.

Luckily, the Irish won, in shockingly convincingly fashion, 35-14, and thankfully, Dabo Sweeney was classy in defeat.

As soon as Notre Dame ended, I flipped to Alabama LSU, no big deal. LSU took a 24-21 lead when true freshman, Mason Taylor, caught the go ahead touchdown!!!!! Then, Alabama just needed a field goal to tie as time expired, which they got, barely, holy shit!

Bryce Young and Bama get the ball at the LSU 1 yard line on a Defensive Pass Interference Call, that was really close to be tipped that would have negated the penalty. After review, the penalty stood, Bama cashes in 3 plays later, PAT good, 31-24 Bama. Buckle up because we’re not done.So we catch our breath and go to overtime, LSU wins the toss, goes on defense first, which is always preferred because that ensures you get the ball last, and thus, huge.

Bama cashed on three plays from the 1 yard line after a really close defensive pass interference call, the ball looked as it may have been tipped, which would have negated the penalty. The play was reviewed, the call on the field, Alabama eventually scored and added the PAT, 31-24 Tide.

Oh, but we are not done.

LSU gets the ball. Their QB, Jayden Daniels runs 25 yards, 31-30 Alabama, Death Valley (Tiger Stadium for you novice college football fans) is rocking!!!!

Ok Brian send out the kicker….Brian? um, Mr. Kelly?, somebody turn Brian Kelly’s headset on!!!! Kick the PAT….the offense is still….THE OFFENSE IS STILL OUT ON THE FIELD!!!! He’d going for two! Talk about a set of brass ones!!!!

And Alabama? They had no idea, guys were in and out, they had 12 guys on, and just got their 12th guy off before the snap. Daniels snaps the ball, remember that true freshman, Mason Taylor ran a 5 yard out, caught the ball, had the awareness to keep his feet in bounds and find the goalline, 32-31 LSU!!!!! The place is going crazy, radio and tv announcers alike are too, I’m getting goosebumps writing about it.

The ramifications of Alabama losing are massive. It drops them behind LSU in the SEC West, takes then out of the SEC Title Game (for now), and most certainly out of the College Football Playoff, barring sonething unforeseen.

As I said, what a Saturday.

It’s a Football Monday!!! Notre Dame knocked off a ranked Syracuse team, in the Carrier Dome, maybe finally getting some tracking, wonder whom they play next….Clemson….(Gulp). The Jets lost to the Pats, the Bills beat the Pack, and the Giants came up short in Seattle, I don’t want to discuss it.

What I will be discussing today, is, Kyrie Irving. Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to. Irving, as I’ve documented is a fantastic basketball player, an all time great for sure, but other the weekend he again proved why is so unlikable as a person, in my opinion.

Again, the following is my opinion, disagree, debate me, drop me a comment below, I’d love to discuss this with my followers, all 6, 4 of you? Anyways.

So, over the weekend, Irving shared antisemtic film, which in itself is absurd, again just my view, but what’s worse is he took it further. In addition to the film’s own portrayal of Jews, ‘Controlling banks and the media’, Irving not only dismissed criticism, but went on to share a clip of noted conspiracy theorist, and fellow all around good guy, Alex Jones ranting about ‘corrupt societies and ‘The New World Order’, simply with the caption, ‘It’s true’.

Taking the cake, an ESPN reporter, Nick Friedell, who deserves a fucking statue for his journalist integrity, called Irving out for his horeshit….AND IRVING DOWNPLAYED IT!!!!

Irving whined, when pressed, ‘I wasn’t promoting it!’ (The film)

Um, newsflash dude, you posted it on social media. You KEPT it on social media for multiple days. That’s called promotion, you self involved, obtuse asshole!!!!

But maybe’s he’s right. All those Pearl Jam videos I share from Youtube to my Twitter and Facebook feeds, not promoting the band that I love or anything, especially their older stuff that should never be forgotten ever, no promoting it to ny friends or new readersvir followers, I just do it for shits and giggles.

Here’s my problem. Kyrie, you wanna be that voice, be it. You wanna be that anti vaxxer voice of the voiceless, social changer, be it, but that includes not hiding and whining when someone calls you out on a stance you take.

I guess what I’m saying is, man up, please, for once, stick to your guns and don’t double talk if people don’t agree.

‘Ugh, Yanks 2-2 in the 6th, Judge 3 Ks. Judge 4 Ks.’

Those were texts I was getting from a old high school friend as we worked in opposite ends of New York State, periodically checking the Yankees, clinging to a 1-0 series lead, game tied at 2.

Again, paraphrasing from my enlightened friend, ‘Hal’s gonna low ball him, he might even play in San Francisco, close to home. I hate this new regime, man. Complacent, cheap and entitled. And, as my shift ended, and the Yankees squandered a bases loaded rally, I thought about it, cursed a few times, and decided, I needed to walk on the treadmill to clear the old noggin and do some rational thinking.

Walking on the treadmill has become a thing. It relaxes me, and usually do it, after work, after the stress of the day. Ironically, it started randomly, I began walking on the morning of 7/26, of said friend’s birthday, (Love ya Diesel!), also the night of my seizure, but I stuck with it, just something in me has finally made walking dare I say, something to look forward to?

(And no, im fine).

Anyways, I began walking smiling at the Tom Grossi youtube channel. If you haven’t, highly recommend, he’s hysterical, he does NFL content videos, including, ‘The South Saga’ where he plays each character as a fan of each team of the division in the AFC & NFC, it’s fantastic.

So, there I am walking, watching Youtube, laughing, thinking about the Judge situation, a few things come to mind.

First, sorry Mets and Red Sox fans, he ain’t coming. He’s just not. Mets fans can say whatever they want, btw, how’s their division series going? Just no! And the Sox? Terrible roster and blah management, and Judge isnt a ‘Me’ guy, again no!

Second, going home to California. This, admittedly, has me a touch worried. Lots of money out there, good teams, could offer him the world.

Lastly, the Yankees. If these were the George Steinbrenner Yankees, this wouldnt even be a discussion. ‘Luxury Tax? Brian, hand me that blank check, I’m signing and handing it to Aaron? personally, since you will fuck this up!’ But this Yankee brass is different, dare I say cheaper, entitled, Hal and Hank have their legacy, Brian and Randy are comfortable in their jobs and probably going nowhere and won’t speak up, and Boone plays his role.

If Judge wants his money and wants to be in pinstripes, produce! Do what Gerrit did in Game 1, lead your team! Relax. Produce in Cleveland in big games. 62 won’t mean anything if it’s followed by 0-15 with 11 Ks amd 8 LOB.

A few words on Commanders Owner, Daniel Snyder.

What a self centered D-Bag, you live in a $48 million dollar home and have 0 to worry about. Sell the team, be a good human being, DO SOME GOOD WITH YOUR MONEY and be good to your loved ones, the people around you and those in your community to the people that need it most.

Most importantly, please shut up, with your idle, bullying threats, if you had anything on anyone, you would have come forward when the allegations against the organization first started when you denied wrong doing then.

Jerry Jones may be an asshole that most loathe, because he’s out front a lot and every but guess what pal, HE IS out front every week, win or lose, Jerry doesn’t hide. He and his wife do stuff for Dallas and the community, a lot of stuff. They don’t hide in their home in their ‘inner circle, drink in hand’, saying essentially, ‘don’t poke the bear’.

I know I have family here that reads this so I will try to keep this as G rated and PC as possible, but what an entitled asshole Daniel Snyder is. God.

The sports world woke to the news this morning of the passing of broadcasting legend, Vin Scully. Scully, was iconic in every sense of the word. From his legendary career as the voice of the Dodgers to his work for NBC calling MLB games and CBS calling football games, the game meant more hearing his voice.

One memory I have in particular is Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. By now, Scully was a legend, and had seen virtually everything, Henry Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s Home Run record, Bill Buckner misplaying a grounder at Shea, eventually extending Red Sox and their fans misery. Dwight Clark’s infamous catch, God. How lucky Vin was and the fans to share in all those moments!!!!

Sorry, nostalgia can get me rambling.

Anyways, 88 World Series, you had a good hitting, scrappy Los Angeles Dodgers team with players like Kirk Gibson and Orel Hershiser who could pitch really well against a really good Oakland A’s team. Oakland had, The Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, who just, well bashed everything, they had steady starters including Dave Stewart, and they had Eck. Eck is short for Dennis Eckersley, Oakland’s closer. This was before Mariano, Eck was essentially unbeatable, a plus fastball , nasty slider and ‘tude, miles and miles of tude. The stage was set and Game 1 happened to be in LA.

So, the game starts, LA goes up 2-0 early, then Canseco went full Mongo and blasted a Grand Slam for the As, giving them a 4-2 lead. As if the World Series wasn’t big enough, LA’s heartbeat in Kirk Gibson had two bad knees, I mean, he could barely walk, literally. So, you figured he isn’t playing, despite Bob Costas’ reports ‘he’s taking some swings of a tee.’

LA would get one back in the 6th, but, you just had the feeling Eckersley was waiting, so this 6 year old went to bed.

The next morning I got up craving French Toast. It was Sunday and that meant people at my grandparents after church, but, since we weren’t the church going type, we generally misses out on any deliciousness.

Resigned to that fact and realizing we had bread at home, I yawned a hi to my Dad who was seated in his chair sipping coffee. I snagged the sports page going immediately to Notre Dame, they won…..on to the NFL games.

‘You missed one hell of an ending last night!’ my Dad began

‘Really?’ I grinned half groaning half smiling

(Sip)

‘Yup’ (Sip and a slight wrinkle)

‘Ok! Tell me! There’s more to this than a grounder that got thru in extras’

(Not quietly enough) ‘Fuck yeah there was!!’ (Sip)

Now, by this point, you’ve realized my Dad in our time together was a kidder, the ultimate ball-buster….and I being 6, fell for it, without fail.

‘Tell meeeeeeeee!!!!!!!’

‘Ok, that vein in your neck….ok I’ll tell you. Remember during the game Gibson was hitting off a tee?’

‘He played?!?’

‘He batted only once, in the ninth, against Eckersley’

My eyes were wide as I looked at the time….

‘ok 10:00!!!! ESPN NOW!!!!’ Reaching for the remote but stopped by my Dad.

‘They won’t have his full at bat, and you really had to hear Vin Scully’s call to appreciate-‘

‘I could punch you!’

‘Now, we don’t have any tape but you know who would, your grandfather!!!! He tapes all the big games‘

‘Yeah but by the time I see him it’ll be so overplayed it won’t….’

‘Pal, trust me, it would mean more to him than you know because he knows you would appreciate it and then you’d talk to him and listen afterwards. He’ll be happier than a pig in shit! Plus, we all get breakfast!!!’

Ignoring Dad’s bad language example, joined by my Mom we drove to my grandparents house.

‘Mr D….please tell us you taped the game, your grandson missed the ending and is dying to see it and talk about it with you’

‘Sure did!’

I excitedly sat on the floor. We watched Canseco’s moonshot and the Dodgers claw their way back, then it was time Eck vs Kirk Gibson, somehow.

This is where Vin took over.

‘And look who’s coming to bat….’

During the at bat, watcbing it then and re-watching it now, Gibson looked rough. He could barely move, he somehow kept fighting off Eckersley’s best stuff.

3-2 pitch, Gibson swung and got all of it!!! ‘High fly ball to left field, she is gone!!!

I could feel my Dad bear hug me. ‘Told ya, let’s go eat and talk more’.

That’s how I, like so many others will remember Vin Scully, narrating moments and connecting generations.

Rest in Peace, Vin.

Waking up on Wednesday, it felt different. I woke up early and pushed myself and walked on our treadmill! I felt great!!!

Work went well Wednesday, and Wednesday evening, Erica and I had grilled flatbread with peaches, prosciutto and a balsamic glaze on our back deck, quite a life this 40 year old leads.

After dinner, and still feeling GREAT, Erica had said she wanted to go out back with Pearl, for our girl to do some recall and get some energy out. I decided to join them, smiling as I walked down our ramp watching my wife in her garden, flanked by her faithful companion.

As I slowed to exit the ramp, I remembered, ‘ugh game 2 of the Subway Series’. The Mets took the first game Tuesday night, I was hoping the Yanks would win the rubber game, because all day all I heard was ‘Max and Jake are better than Gerrit!!!!’ Okay, try again. ‘Alonso’s the best in New York City!!’ Two words, Aaron Judge.

I smiled over at my pregnant wife and dog. God, I’m lucky, I thought to myself, as I confidently reached in my pocket, fully expecting to see a Judge double or base hit.

That’s when I was being woken up in the back of an ambulance. ‘Justin, can you tell me who this beautiful lady is?’ (I’m gonna be honest here, in my delayed head, I think I thought he asked who my emergency contact was, and for years it had been my mother, Kathleen) 0-1.

Then, panic set in. Where were Erica and Pearl? That was when I had the brightest of ideas to stand up, which was met by a ‘whoa!’ and three EMTs bracing me and me sighing ‘what happened?’ 0-2

‘You had a seizure’ the tech explained. An MRI later revealed fluid on my brain. This will most like require a shunt to be put in my brain to divert and redistribute the fluid safely.

I’m not asking for sympathy here, but my only question is, why now? But, I’m not going to dwell on it, it’ll get fixed. If these last few days have taught me anything, it’s to appreciate everything and take nothing for granted.

Im Justin, 40, (my college roommate reminded me we were in college 20 years ago!!) I am a diehard sports fan! One thing I especially enjoy about sports are the rivalries and traditions of college sports. In fact, you can ask my wife who will sadly attest ‘yup Saturdays in the fall I hear ‘you’re watching the SEC on CBS presented by Home Depot’, over and over and over from September thru December.

Today, my fandom took a bit of a hit, allow me to explain. Today, it was announced that UCLA and USC!!!!! are moving to the Big Ten as early as 2024. The reports said the California powerhouses were ‘looking into things’, but even my niece who’s 5 knows, ‘dot an I, cross a T, add 18 zeros to each university’s bank account’, bottom line, this has already happened, and its monumental!

On the surface, it’s great. Prime Time games in LA featuring Ohio State and Michigan, I’m there. Basketball where UCLA has to go to East Lansing in late February where a win would strengthen their tournament resume, the rum and cokes shall be poured, and many wings shall be consumed.

But that leads me to my question that I keep tripping over: Why?

Now, on the surface, you might say, well money, media deals etc, ‘The Big Mamu’, as Cosmo Kramer once said, and I get it. Money, exposure, recruiting, visibility, the Big Ten having a wider ranging television network that can reel in new viewers, sure.

But what happens to the rivalries? Okay, so indulge me for a moment, and I know this probably a bad example. But, I went to Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. Rider currently playa in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Broncs as they are known, have chief rivals in Marist College, located in Poughkeepsie, NY and Siena College, located in Loundonville, New York.

Using the USC/UCLA defection as a model, this would be like Rider beating Siena in Loudonville to get to the NCAAs, then saying ‘yeah, the A-10 just made us a huge offer….yeah we’ll be basement dwellers for a bit, but we may get that new recruit or new arena’.

Everything now is about money and the billions of dollars in media, exposure, streaming, I hadn’t even considered that, holy shit. So, I get why it’s happening. However, again, USC UCLA should be able to sell itself, Cal beating UCLA in November and/or February to dash tourney hopes should still mean something, and sadly, the needle is trending towards it not meaning much, not anymore. A good, highly ranked Arizona team waltzing into Pauley Pavilion, used to be box office, used to meana favorable weekend slot, national television, it used to mean a ton, used to.

I’ve rambled on without mention the biggest loser in all of this, the PAC 12!!!! Oregon says thank you for all ita future PAC 12 championships, if it even gets that far. But now what? Luring Boise State and Wyoming from the WAC? Ok, then what?, November away games for Stanford in cold, snowy Boise, (the blue turf though is cool lookin), ‘yeah God, it’s going to be 34 and sleeting in Boise….If only we could schedule USC in Los Angeles….oh wait.’

Recruiting!!! My God, recruiting, that 5 star Quarterback isn’t gonna sign in Eugene Oregon, not when he can go to Michigan and host Ohio State and play in the Rose Bowl against UCLA.

Damnit.

Maybe, it’s because I’m getting older and I need to change with the times, adapt and accept it. Fine. Or maybe its because I grew up in the 80s and 90s when college rivalries meant something, added a whole other layer of excitement to it.

Now, sadly, it’s who has the deepest pockets.