Santoro: Tickets available for Pac-12, Mountain West farewell tour

Sports Fodder:

The Pac-12 and Mountain West, as we know them, are about to embark on a farewell tour. Think Albert Pujols with the Los Angeles Angels last season or, more likely, the car wreck that was Joe Namath with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977. Either way, the Los Angeles area is to blame, just as it is with the pending transformation (demise might be a better word) of the Pac-12 and Mountain West. When UCLA and USC announced last year that they would jump to the Big 10 in 2024, it sent shockwaves of panic throughout the Pac-12 and Mountain West. The two conferences are still trembling as we speak. The Pac-12 still hasn’t worked out its television deal (would you want to televise Pac-12 games without USC and UCLA?). The Mountain West has no idea if and when San Diego State will move to the Pac-12. There are also rumors that UNLV and Boise State are also flirting with the Pac-12. The Pac-12, according to some reports, might also lose Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Stanford to the Big 12 and other poachers. The Pac-12, other reports suggest, wants to add San Diego State and SMU while the Mountain West might be targeting North Dakota State and South Dakota State. Is trading USC and UCLA, let alone Oregon, the two Arizonas, Stanford and Utah for San Diego State and SMU a good deal? Is losing Boise State and San Diego State and replacing them with North Dakota State and South Dakota a fair deal? That would be along the lines of the Angels dealing Shohei Ohtani for a couple dozen baseballs, some used Aaron Judge bobbleheads and a Derek Jeter autograph to the New York Yankees later this month. If even half of these reports play out in the next year or two, college football west of Denver will be about as meaningful nationally as major league baseball west of Denver prior to 1958. It won’t exist. 

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Should the Angels deal away Ohtani by the Aug. 1 trading deadline? Of course not. What would they get in return? Three or four prospects and a washed-up veteran or two? Prospects and washed-up veterans are always available. The major leagues and minor leagues are full of them. There is just one Ohtani. And right now, he is in the middle of a historic season. If you are the Angels, would you want to see Ohtani hit his 50th or 60th home run this season in another uniform? Do you want to give up the ticket sales and merchandise revenue you would get the rest of the year? Ohtani for two more months would have, without question, far more value to the franchise than any random collection of prospects and mediocre veterans that would come back in a trade. The other bonus to keeping Ohtani is that the Angels might actually make the playoffs this year if he stays. They wouldn’t win the Pacific Coast League if he is traded away. The Angels might also benefit greatly of having Ohtani around for another two months in an effort to sign him to a long-term deal. If he leaves by Aug. 1, the chances of him signing with the Angels this winter are about as good as the Pac-12 keeping USC and UCLA. 

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One person would no doubt wishes the Angels keep Ohtani through the end of the season is manager Phil Nevin. The 52-year-old Nevin, who had a record of 227-205 in three seasons (2014-16) as manager of the Reno Aces, might be looking at his last two months as manager of the Angels if he does not qualify for the playoffs. Nevin, whose one-year contract expires at the end of this season, has always been on thin ice with the Angels. He was the interim manager last year after the Angels fired Joe Maddon. Nevin was just 46-60 last year and this year he is hovering around .500 as his team has suffered numerous injuries and might trade arguably the best player in baseball history (Ohtani, not Mike Trout) for prospects. It is doubtful the Angels will keep Nevin beyond this year unless the franchise decides to go into an all-out rebuild by trading Ohtani and Trout. Nevin then would have less talent than he had with the Aces from 2014-16 and he might be the only one willing to manage the Angels.

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There is some good news for the Wolf Pack as far as all of these never-ending rumors concerning the Pac-12 and Mountain West are concerned. The Wolf Pack, especially if UNLV gets invited to the Pac-12, just might be swept along for the ride. UNLV, of course, has no loyalty to the Wolf Pack and barely considers itself located in the state of Nevada at all. Think Washington D.C. tucked comfortably in the middle of Maryland and Virginia. So, UNLV, as it did when it left the Big West for the Western Athletic Conference in 1996, wouldn’t hesitate to leave the Pack behind in the Mountain West in the next year or two. But if the Pac-12 somehow adds UNLV in a panic move to simply add schools in the same time zone, it might also want to add Nevada. Yes, of course, a Pac-12 with UNLV and Nevada wouldn’t have the same prestige as it once did with USC and UCLA. But the Pack jumped at the chance to join a Mountain West that didn’t have the same prestige it once did with BYU, Utah and TCU. The Pack is a master at leaving failing conferences at just the right time (see the Big West and Western Athletic Conference). Jumping to a watered-down Pac-12 on the red coattails of UNLV would be along those same lines.

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Mountain West presidents and commissioner Gloria Nevarez got on a conference call on Monday to discuss the San Diego State situation. That discussion is still, apparently, going on. We likely won’t hear anything on the subject until Nevarez speaks at the Mountain West football media gathering in Las Vegas on Wednesday. It would be foolish for the Mountain West to push the Aztecs out of the conference. How would the conference replace the Aztecs? With North Dakota State and South Dakota? Get serious. North Dakota State and South Dakota will always be there for the Mountain West’s taking. The Mountain West cannot replace a San Diego State just like, apparently, the Pac-12 cannot replace a USC and UCLA. The Mountain West should simply play nice with San Diego State and let the Aztecs stay as long as they want, which is likely two more years.

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Pro Football Focus recently came out with its preseason All-Mountain West teams and, well, if you are a Wolf Pack fan do yourself a favor and just ignore it. No Wolf Pack player was listed among the 78 listed on the first, second and third teams combined. Not one. The Pack was the only Mountain West team left off completely. Even Wyoming had seven players honored. UNLV and New Mexico got three each. San Jose State and Hawaii had seven apiece. Pro Football Focus should be ashamed for disrespecting Nevada in this way. Everyone knows that all you have to do to get a mention on a preseason all-conference team is to stay out of jail, keep all of your limbs in one piece and return for another year. The Pack clearly has a number of candidates that meet those criteria and more. Linebacker Drue Watts established himself as one of the best freshman in the conference last year. Offensive lineman Isaiah World also stood out. Kicker Brandon Talton is one of the best in Mountain West history. Did PFF really need to mention seven San Jose State Aztecs? Seven Hawaii Rainbow Warriors?

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Is the Wolf Pack football team ready to stop bleeding from its 2-10 season in 2022? Is Pro Football Focus right by saying the Pack doesn’t have one of the top 78 players in the Mountain West? Did Ken Wilson and his band of recruiters upgrade the talent level on the roster from a year ago? Will the leftover players show improvement this year? The easy answer to those sorts of questions is that, of course, the Wolf Pack will be better in 2023. The talent level has been improved and all of the growing pains the Pack suffered last year in Wilson’s first year will be rewarded this year. The offense can’t possibly be as inept as it was last year, right? It is, after all, nearly impossible to go 2-10 in back-to-back seasons. Wilson and his staff will grow from their mistakes of 2022. That’s our immediate answer to all of those pressing issues and we’re sticking to it. For now.