The USC/UCLA news hit me hard, and completely out of left field. I always figured geography would keep the PAC 12 together. Geography made it hard for the PAC 10 to expand, there weren’t any good teams close enough that fit the PAC model of large research Universities with good athletic programs. That held true until 2011 and as much as we all hate Larry Scott now, he convinced the university presidents that they needed to look Eastward and thank God they did because we got the chance to show that we belonged. It took us a decade but, we won the Conference. A decade may seem like a long time but, how long has Arizona been in the the conference, and how many championships have they won?
I graduated from the U in 1995. I went to the Fiesta Bowl, I was stationed in Germany and flew all the way back to the states bought tickets for my Dad, brother, and best friend. It was awesome, I didn’t think it could get any better. Then the 2008 season happened. I was deployed to Iraq during that whole season, so the Saturday afternoon games came on at about 2 am Sunday morning and I had to hope I was in a location that had an AFN, Armed Forces Network, connection. I spent a lot of the deployment working with the Iraqi government so I was not always able to see the games. I watched the Sugar Bowl in one of Saddam’s palaces and I may or may not have shared a beer or two with an Iraqi gentleman who had no idea what was going on but I convinced him to be a Ute fan for life and left him a drum and feather hat. I retired from the Army in 2016 and now live in Colorado. I watch every U game on TV, except every other year when they come visit the Buffaloes then me, my wife, also a U grad, and two daughters go cheer the Utes on in person. Earlier this year we went to the Rose Bowl. I am 51 years old and have watched every Rose Bowl since I was a toddler and I can honestly say none were more exciting than that one. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted but it was honestly the best game I can ever remember seeing. Then I caught COVID-19 and was sick when we got back to Colorado, I was vaccinated so it was very mild but I am blaming it on USC/UCLA.
Blah,blah, blah Baghdad get to your point…. I am hopeful because University Presidents are the ones making the final decisions. BIG Presidents are obviously not concerned about geography, the ****ing conference spreads from New Jersey to Los Angeles now, but they still are concerned about academic fit. Yes the BIG athletic departments will be bringing close to or over $100 million to each school, and that is a lot of money but you need to look at how much money these schools bring in in research dollars each year. The BIG research alliance brings in over 10 Billion dollars per year. Research I think Utah is set to have a special season ala 2008, 2003 and I am willing to leave the country if that what it takes, and I know that the University administration has been working hard to position itself as the top research institution in the Mountain time zone one of the best in the west. Utah will look very attractive to the BIG presidents when we get in the playoffs this year and they already know about our AAU membership and the quality of the research being done up on the hill.
I graduated from the U in 1995. I went to the Fiesta Bowl, I was stationed in Germany and flew all the way back to the states bought tickets for my Dad, brother, and best friend. It was awesome, I didn’t think it could get any better. Then the 2008 season happened. I was deployed to Iraq during that whole season, so the Saturday afternoon games came on at about 2 am Sunday morning and I had to hope I was in a location that had an AFN, Armed Forces Network, connection. I spent a lot of the deployment working with the Iraqi government so I was not always able to see the games. I watched the Sugar Bowl in one of Saddam’s palaces and I may or may not have shared a beer or two with an Iraqi gentleman who had no idea what was going on but I convinced him to be a Ute fan for life and left him a drum and feather hat. I retired from the Army in 2016 and now live in Colorado. I watch every U game on TV, except every other year when they come visit the Buffaloes then me, my wife, also a U grad, and two daughters go cheer the Utes on in person. Earlier this year we went to the Rose Bowl. I am 51 years old and have watched every Rose Bowl since I was a toddler and I can honestly say none were more exciting than that one. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted but it was honestly the best game I can ever remember seeing. Then I caught COVID-19 and was sick when we got back to Colorado, I was vaccinated so it was very mild but I am blaming it on USC/UCLA.
Blah,blah, blah Baghdad get to your point…. I am hopeful because University Presidents are the ones making the final decisions. BIG Presidents are obviously not concerned about geography, the ****ing conference spreads from New Jersey to Los Angeles now, but they still are concerned about academic fit. Yes the BIG athletic departments will be bringing close to or over $100 million to each school, and that is a lot of money but you need to look at how much money these schools bring in in research dollars each year. The BIG research alliance brings in over 10 Billion dollars per year. Research I think Utah is set to have a special season ala 2008, 2003 and I am willing to leave the country if that what it takes, and I know that the University administration has been working hard to position itself as the top research institution in the Mountain time zone one of the best in the west. Utah will look very attractive to the BIG presidents when we get in the playoffs this year and they already know about our AAU membership and the quality of the research being done up on the hill.
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