Glory, Glory Hallelujah! Hansen is DONE!

by David Piper on Jun 9, 2008 9:36 PM PDT

I go away for a little bit, and is treated with a very pleasant surprise. Tom Hansen will be retiring as Pac-10 commissioner. We’ll have to wait one more year, as this takes place on July 1, 2009, but, at last, we see the light at the end of the tunnel. In other news, Patricia Cesnik was named assistant commissioner, so you have to wonder if she’s the heir apparent.

Moseley already asks the obvious: What does this mean?. Hopefully, it means that we aren’t terribly far away from seeing some of the egregious wrongs of the Hansen era get righted:

1. Our TV contract sucks. Will a new commissioner finally see the necessity of getting us on ESPN regularly? FSN is okay for a secondary home (see Big XII football or ACC basketball), but ESPN is where the real exposure is at. No more of this "but FSN will show volleyball" crap.

2. Our bowl arrangements suck. I realize that there are only so many bowl games in a reasonable area (no, Pac-10 tie-ins for Florida bowl games will not logistically work). But there are still things that can be done. Why do we always play down to other conferences (eg, Holiday Bowl is our #2 vs. Big XII #3)? Plus, we really need another New Year’s game. I would think that getting a spot in the Cotton Bowl back could be a possibility, although the Alamo Bowl may be more realistic.

3. The "exclusivity" clause, which prevents teams from showing games in their local markets during the "national" Pac-10 broadcast needs to go. This is why the WSU and Stanford games weren’t broadcast regionally next year. If the university wants to show it, they should be able to, instead of forcing USC down our throats again and again.

4. That the Pac-10 basketball tournament is in LA every damn year is needs to end. We have an NBA arena in every Pac-10 region. How about a little equality.

5. Also, I’m sure that a new commish is likely to be a bit more playoff friendly, which I’m sure many of you would appreciate.

Although I myself flip-flop on #5, #s 1-4 are inexcusable crimes of the Hansen era. While I do commend Mr. Hansen for resisting expansion temptation and making both football and hoops a true round robin, almost every other Hansen decision this decade has been a blunder. Hopefully, a new commissioner will have the vision to right these wrongs.

The wicked witch is (almost) dead.

GO DUCKS!!!

--Dave

PS--Check out jtlight's diary on the subject.

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BEST NEWS EVER

Well among the best news ever – this is so amazing, what a great way to start the day :)

As a transplanted Oregon alum living in DC I can’t express how frustrating it has been to try to watch Pac 10 games on tv out here. And living with the constant smack talk of SEC and ACC people about the Pac10 Bowl Games and how the mere matchups imply inferiority based on the second fiddle appearance. I seriously hope whoever they bring in will make some noise and finally fix some of this national view toward the conference.

http://www.firetomhansen.com

indeed!!

by UVAduck on Jun 10, 2008 6:37 AM PDT reply actions

TV contracts

While our football contracts aren’t great, our basketball contracts are horrendous. I mean, any night of the week I can watch college basketball from the Big East or the ACC on ESPN2. But I never can watch Pac-10 ball. It’s FSN or nothing, and that’s just bull.

by jtlight on Jun 11, 2008 9:10 AM PDT reply actions

Not as simple as you think

You guys don’t quite understand that there’s a lot more involved in TV negotiations than just “drop Fox and we’re automatically on ESPN primetime.”

Part of working with ESPN means re-arranging schedules to fit their terms (playing mid-week, at 10pm PST). I do agree we need the exposure, but don’t think we should necessairly abandon the Saturday tradition to do it.

Plus, we do get quite a bit of love on ABC games when we have the ranked teams to support it.

Fox and Pac-10 have a unique relationship that provides a lot more sponsorships and revenue for member schools, beyond just “we’ll get more volleyball” on TV.

As far as Bowl match-ups, it takes two to tango in those negotiations, and as much as the Pac-10 would like more attractive bowl games, it’s not a simple as “ask and recieve”

Even further erroneous is the statement about Ms. Cesnik being the “heir apparrent”. She’s the Assistant Commissioner for Office Management, replacing essentially Hansen’s administrative assistant. Look for a Conference TV liason Duane Lindberg to be the heir to the throne.

by SFDuck on Jun 11, 2008 11:17 AM PDT reply actions

No one is saying that this will fall magically into place....

But the Pac-10 offices have done absolutely nothing to better the exposure of the conference.

There are problems with scheduling the West Coast games for a mostly East Coast viewing audience, but there are things that can be done. Hansen and others have refused to look forward.

Also, as I stated in my earlier comment, there is a big difference between football and basketball TV contracts. And our basketball contracts are an absolute joke. The Pac-10 was the top conference last season and how many games saw national audiences? Yet how many Big East, ACC, etc. matchups did we east of the Rockies watch, because they were willing to change things up. It is absolutely ridiculous that Pac-10 games are rarely on ESPN or ESPN2. They have college basketball on EVERY SINGLE WEEKNIGHT, and it is never Pac-10 teams. It would take a little changing of the schedule, sure, but come on, does anyone really care about that? Every other conference seems to handle it just fine.

Also, with football, it’s not always that hard to work with ESPN. In the case of ASU, ESPN went the extra mile to get the game, and the Civil War had an odd time, but who really cares. As far as the ABC games go, as a Duck living in Chicago, those don’t mean a whole lot. It is for a highly regional audience, and 1/4 of the country sees those games, while we’re subjected to some crappy Big 10 or Big 12 matchup, as the better games have already been played.

And with Bowl games, yes, it’s not as simple as ask and receive. But how about even some asking. There are bowls out there that we could go after, and work on the alighnments, but nothing has been done. Pac-10 teams are continually tossed into games where if they win, it was expected, and a loss is an upset.

Yes, all these things are a two way street, but they almost all start at the Pac-10 offices, which has been incredibly negligent in what they are trying to do. There has been no vision for the Pac-10 as a conference, especially in the 2 biggest sports, and that is just sad.

by jtlight on Jun 11, 2008 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions

pac ten tourney

having it at staples every year is such crap, it should be in portland every year. Didn’t they just sign up at staples for like 6 more years though? ugh.

by coolconman on Jun 11, 2008 11:13 PM PDT reply actions