Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Dinnertime

You don’t often see large institutions eat each other in public; they usually like to enjoy their meals in the library with a goblet of good port. But, things got desperate last week, and if it comes to it, universities can put belly to ground and fight in the pig shit as well as anyone else.

I’m talking about the furious, last-second piranha-feeding that was the Mountain West Conference gorging itself on the Western Athletic Conference — this, right after it looked like the WAC had terminated the MWC by picking off all of BYU athletics save for football. Now that’s entertainment.

On August 13, during a conference call, WAC presidents agreed to a motion made by Fresno State president John Welty to draw up and sign a binding agreement that mandated a five-million-dollar exit fee for any school that left the conference within the next five years. The measure passed unanimously. Five days later, Fresno State left the conference with Nevada on its arm.

Oh, sharper than a serpent’s tooth. Oh, ungrateful, foul, and disloyal university corporation. Oh, WAC with six teams and ineligible for NCAA bowl appearances. Oh, oh, oh.

Sponsored
Sponsored

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said, “We will begin, immediately, a process to target prospective members to the WAC that will include both current FBS 1A schools as well as the FBS 1AA schools that have expressed an interest.”

Oh, happy day for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, U. of North Texas, and the Western College of Dentistry. Oh, bright prospects for the West Coast Conference, suddenly in the bidding for BYU athletics minus football.

It’s been a long, dry summer for the college industrial complex. Pac-10 tries to gobble Texas and 5 of its feeder colleges, settles for Colorado and Utah. Mountain West grabs Boise State, loses Utah, but comes off the ropes in the tenth round and nails Nevada and Fresno State. The Big 12 loses 2, the Big Ten gains 1, and let’s not forget all the conference moves that did not occur but came oh-so-close. There’s much more, but none had the last second, double-dealing, backstabbing perfection that the MWC and WAC put together for our summertime enjoyment.

And it’s not over. WAC survivors are panicked. They stampede hither and yon, trying to punch their ticket on the last outbound train. The WAC’s five-million-dollar exit penalty might make a few lawyers rich but will never be paid by Fresno or Nevada. In fact, since they’ve left, any other school in the WAC can leave without paying a dime. Don’t stand in front of the door.

WAC-success Hawaii is looking to go independent. Utah State (which, inexplicitly, rejected an MWC advance in June) is now immersed in a frenzy of negotiation, trying to get reinvited.

The biggest dog has yet to be heard. It’s rumored and reported that BYU was lobbying the WAC earlier this summer. BYU wants to go independent in football. They own a TV network, credit themselves as being a national brand, and believe they could earn millions more dollars as an independent. Easy, easy.

But BYU has a problem: go independent in football, and the MWC conference will certainly expel your disloyal ass, leaving your non-football sports with no one to play.

Solution: make a secret, backroom deal with the WAC to take your non-football sports after you go independent. Then — and here’s the beauty part — get the WAC to make a contract among themselves, mandating a five-million-dollar exit fee for any school that leaves during the next five years.

That way, the strongest schools — Fresno, Nevada, and Hawaii — are locked into the WAC. So, when BYU leaves the Mountain West to go independent in football and ship their other sports to the WAC, BYU’s current conference, Mountain West, would not be able to come over and cannibalize the WAC out of existence. The WAC needed to remain intact in order to provide a home for BYU’s non-football sports. That’s big-league, old-time, balance-of-power scheming, and the Box congratulates the Beast from Provo for a game effort. Things didn’t work out. It happens.

You can see what’s coming...college sports have become industries, and like other industries in America, four or five big pigs will own 80 percent of the inventory and everybody else will starve. CBS Sports columnist Dennis Dodd thinks it’s going to boil down to four conferences of 16 teams each, which sounds about right.

Unfortunately, none of this will affect San Diego State’s eternally crappy football program. In a better world, SDSU would take Fresno’s place and join the WAC so that — maybe — the Aztecs could win a football game now and then.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?

You don’t often see large institutions eat each other in public; they usually like to enjoy their meals in the library with a goblet of good port. But, things got desperate last week, and if it comes to it, universities can put belly to ground and fight in the pig shit as well as anyone else.

I’m talking about the furious, last-second piranha-feeding that was the Mountain West Conference gorging itself on the Western Athletic Conference — this, right after it looked like the WAC had terminated the MWC by picking off all of BYU athletics save for football. Now that’s entertainment.

On August 13, during a conference call, WAC presidents agreed to a motion made by Fresno State president John Welty to draw up and sign a binding agreement that mandated a five-million-dollar exit fee for any school that left the conference within the next five years. The measure passed unanimously. Five days later, Fresno State left the conference with Nevada on its arm.

Oh, sharper than a serpent’s tooth. Oh, ungrateful, foul, and disloyal university corporation. Oh, WAC with six teams and ineligible for NCAA bowl appearances. Oh, oh, oh.

Sponsored
Sponsored

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said, “We will begin, immediately, a process to target prospective members to the WAC that will include both current FBS 1A schools as well as the FBS 1AA schools that have expressed an interest.”

Oh, happy day for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, U. of North Texas, and the Western College of Dentistry. Oh, bright prospects for the West Coast Conference, suddenly in the bidding for BYU athletics minus football.

It’s been a long, dry summer for the college industrial complex. Pac-10 tries to gobble Texas and 5 of its feeder colleges, settles for Colorado and Utah. Mountain West grabs Boise State, loses Utah, but comes off the ropes in the tenth round and nails Nevada and Fresno State. The Big 12 loses 2, the Big Ten gains 1, and let’s not forget all the conference moves that did not occur but came oh-so-close. There’s much more, but none had the last second, double-dealing, backstabbing perfection that the MWC and WAC put together for our summertime enjoyment.

And it’s not over. WAC survivors are panicked. They stampede hither and yon, trying to punch their ticket on the last outbound train. The WAC’s five-million-dollar exit penalty might make a few lawyers rich but will never be paid by Fresno or Nevada. In fact, since they’ve left, any other school in the WAC can leave without paying a dime. Don’t stand in front of the door.

WAC-success Hawaii is looking to go independent. Utah State (which, inexplicitly, rejected an MWC advance in June) is now immersed in a frenzy of negotiation, trying to get reinvited.

The biggest dog has yet to be heard. It’s rumored and reported that BYU was lobbying the WAC earlier this summer. BYU wants to go independent in football. They own a TV network, credit themselves as being a national brand, and believe they could earn millions more dollars as an independent. Easy, easy.

But BYU has a problem: go independent in football, and the MWC conference will certainly expel your disloyal ass, leaving your non-football sports with no one to play.

Solution: make a secret, backroom deal with the WAC to take your non-football sports after you go independent. Then — and here’s the beauty part — get the WAC to make a contract among themselves, mandating a five-million-dollar exit fee for any school that leaves during the next five years.

That way, the strongest schools — Fresno, Nevada, and Hawaii — are locked into the WAC. So, when BYU leaves the Mountain West to go independent in football and ship their other sports to the WAC, BYU’s current conference, Mountain West, would not be able to come over and cannibalize the WAC out of existence. The WAC needed to remain intact in order to provide a home for BYU’s non-football sports. That’s big-league, old-time, balance-of-power scheming, and the Box congratulates the Beast from Provo for a game effort. Things didn’t work out. It happens.

You can see what’s coming...college sports have become industries, and like other industries in America, four or five big pigs will own 80 percent of the inventory and everybody else will starve. CBS Sports columnist Dennis Dodd thinks it’s going to boil down to four conferences of 16 teams each, which sounds about right.

Unfortunately, none of this will affect San Diego State’s eternally crappy football program. In a better world, SDSU would take Fresno’s place and join the WAC so that — maybe — the Aztecs could win a football game now and then.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.