We are going to miss George Santos at the Yard. He was his own news cycle with each story more fantastical than the last. He always had a smile on his face while stitching elliptical storylines. He seems crazy like Elon Musk without the money, or maybe he was Elon Musk? Have they ever been seen together? George threatened his colleagues as he swished his winter scarf, packed up his juice boxes and exited the Capital. He will be forgotten except for the People magazine article “Where are they now” in ten years.
In 1969, Indira Gandhi was appointed prime minister of India. She ruled for eleven years and established India as the dominant power in Southeast Asia. It was a pivotal point in the history of India. In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of the UK. The Iron Lady governed the United Kingdom boldly until 1990. In her first year her approval rating was 23% but her government turned around the British economy within 24 months. On November 22, 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor in Germany’s troubling history of national leaders. Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the EU and the most powerful woman in the world. The United States has never had a woman lead our nation. It is not a box to check on a diversity test, it is a pragmatic observation from the Yard. Women have had to prove themselves as collaborators and consensus builders in a patriarchal world since thenever. Women have time and again proven themselves as tremendous leaders and warriors in business and government. It might be time to find her to quell this political dumpster fire, so it does not go back to the original source of the combustion. Just saying…
The Oakland city council has passed an 8-0 resolution condemning the Hamas attack on Israel. After weeks of local protests by both Israeli and Palestinian citizens in the Alameda County community, the council felt they needed to act. It is unclear how the city council felt this resolution was going to appease the Hamas supporters and the vote was contentious. Yard outsiders would suggest that Oakland has far bigger local issues than the war in the Middle East. It is also very clear that the Oakland resolution has had zero impact in the Middle east hostilities while increasing them locally. There is a reason that they are the only city in Alameda county to publicly weigh in on it.
At the Yard, it is all about college football for the next five weeks. There will be many important NFL games and the NFL will own our attention soon enough. The CFP was announced this past weekend. It is a big deal within the Yard spectrum. Tallahassee was not so thrilled with the decision, but all the playoff teams seem deserving despite the omission of FSU. We did attend the Pac-12 Funeral Bowl at Allegiant Stadium Friday night. The final game in the 109-year history of the Pacific Coast Conference was bittersweet. We went with Mr. and Mrs. f--ing Lawlor and they were wonderful hosts, tall boys at the TG and all. The missus is a Ducks alum and I had $35 worth of fandom riding on an Oregon victory. Washington controlled their destiny by beating Oregon. They did in strong fashion because Oregon has been rolling everyone since Washington beat them at the lake in October. Not on this Friday night. Alabama lay the Bulldogs bare in Atlanta and sent them packing. We do think Georgia is one of the best four teams, but they needed to lose that one game in September or October not December. UNLV tried to win their second Mountain West title. They did not and the Boise State Broncos won their 5th. The Broncos had been there before, and it showed. Texas obliterated Oklahoma State and leapfrogged the field into the 4th spot.
The end of the PAC-12 is sad commentary on college athletics. It is the evolution of college football and sports programming. NCAA basketball has CBS as their benefactor who pays the big bill and then parses it down to TBS, TNT, TruTv among others. ESPN does not get to eat from that table. The origins of the Pacific Coast Conference trace back to 1915. The OGs were the original PAC-8 UCLA, USC, Stanford, CAL, UO, OSU, UW, WSU. Along the way Idaho and Montana were part of the mix. It was a rocky ride until 1959. There was no television, just boosters bending rules, shifting academic standards and rivalries. Some things never change.
College football became beholden to the television money. Like crack addicts always looking for a better high, the academics kept chasing better TV deals. ESPN helped fuel the splintering into several Regional Sports Networks. Comcast, Fox, and others jumped into this “lucrative” enterprise. In the beginning, it was a lucrative, collaborative partnership among the universities. The egalitarian essence of college worked for a bit. Then the haves were not as keen as splitting the pie equally with the have nots. Truth be told neither group was aware there were two groups until recently. When the bigger programs colluded and blindsided their siblings, the football landscape forever changed. Universities have become unregulated Fortune 500 types with huge endowments, preferential tax status, land holdings and police forces. The students provide camouflage from where the sausage is being made.
RIP: The Pac-12 breathed its potential last breath on Friday night at Allegiant stadium. The last two standing are Oregon State and Washington State. These final two from the original 8 are still holding on to what is left of the conference. There is revenue and the Pac-12 network still in play. These schools have worked out a scheduling arrangement with the Mountain West Conference for 2024. They may opt to join the conference in the future. There is equity in the Pac-12 name and history. There could be a future where the Pac-whatever and Mountain West establishes a new brand. Maybe they can salvage that expensive vanity project television network. They do have nice offices in downtown SF and a studio.
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