Santoro: MW getting tough with Aztecs is good for Pack

Sports Fodder:

The Mountain West is playing hardball with the greedy San Diego State Aztecs. The Aztecs recently told the conference and its 11 other member schools that they intend to leave the conference soon. When? Nobody knows. The Aztecs don’t officially have anywhere to go just yet, but it seems they have some landing spots in mind (namely the Pac-12). You don’t, after all, tell your wife you want a divorce and are moving out without anywhere to go. The Aztecs, though, are the guy who just told his wife he wants a divorce and also wants to take the house, two cars, the children and the family dog in the settlement, even though none of those things were included in the prenuptial agreement. The greedy Aztecs want to negotiate the $17 or $34 million exit fee from the Mountain West (depending on when they actually leave) and have until a June 30 deadline to make up their mind. If they let that deadline pass, they might have to stay in the Mountain West longer than the Pac-12 wants them to. The Mountain West, rightfully so, is having none of it. Yes, the Aztecs just made a ton of money for themselves and the rest of the conference in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. But that doesn’t give them the right to treat the conference like it doesn’t matter anymore. There’s a reason prenup agreements exist in conferences. It’s for precisely these types of matters. The Wolf Pack and the 10 other Mountain West schools should applaud the conference for looking out for their best interests in this matter. Every million counts in the Mountain West after all. This might be the best thing the Mountain West has ever tried to do for the Wolf Pack.

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What would a Mountain West look like without the Aztecs? Well, it would look a bit more Wolf Pack-friendly, at least on the playing fields and courts. Off the field, though, it will make the Mountain West even more meaningless than it already is, if that is possible. The Pack saw the Big West was crumbling and jumped to the Western Athletic Conference. The Pack then saw the WAC was crumbling and jumped to the Mountain West. The Pack problem now is that it really has nowhere to go. The Pac-12, after all, isn’t sending an invite to Reno. But that’s OK. The Mountain West is not crumbling, even without the Aztecs. That Aztec NCAA tournament money will help pay the bills in the near future. So, there is no reason for Pack panic. But there is also no reason to get excited. If you thought the Mountain West was boring with San Diego State, well, hold on tight. Instead of adding that additional fancy bedroom or media room the Mountain West always wanted, it now has to rent out its garage to the neighbor kid with the crazy look in his eyes. That’s all.

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This is what the Pac-12 and the Mountain West should do. The two Western conferences should simply join forces. Nobody then would have to fight about exit fees and who should get the vintage sports car in the garage in the divorce. Scheduling would be a breeze. The money would flow to everyone. The new Mountain Pack Conference would be able to compete with the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten, at least in sheer numbers, and everyone would be happy. Don’t worry, Pack fans. Your silver and blue heroes would be able to compete on the playing field in a new, expanded, watered down Pac-12 without USC and UCLA. There would be, after all, enough San Jose States, UNLVs and Washington States to go around for everyone to devour. Why do you think San Diego State is salivating over competing in a watered-down Pac-12 without USC or UCLA (who are both headed to the Big Ten)? It’s because they might grow into the marquee school in that new Pac-12. The fact that the Aztecs want to get out of paying the entire exit fee to the Mountain West is simply greed. But greed is what college sports is all about now. The coaches, players, athletic directors and university presidents are all driven by greed. A monster has been created in college sports and it is eating alive all that used to be important. But nobody cares because the monster is creating a bunch of little monsters all over the country.

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The Wolf Pack isn’t officially involved in this year’s College World Series. But the Pack’s presence is in Omaha. Former Pack head coach Jay Johnson has his LSU Tigers in Omaha. Former Pack head coach T.J. Bruce is also in Omaha as TCU’s top assistant. The College World Series and ex-Pack coaches have been connected before. Former Pack assistant John Savage won the CWS as UCLA’s head coach in 2013 and also has led the Bruins to Omaha two other times. One day we might see Johnson and Savage meeting in the CWS title game. The Wolf Pack baseball program has indeed become the cradle of coaches in college baseball.

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Another former Pack assistant baseball coach had a remarkable (at least for a week) postseason run this year. Jay Uhlman, a former Pack assistant under Gary Powers, won the American Athletic Conference tournament and got to the NCAA Regionals this year despite a 15-win regular season. The Green Wave finished just 19-42 this year and lost its two regional games but that tournament title is enough to suggest that Uhlman, who left Nevada to become an assistant at Oregon and Kansas, is going to have a lot of success in New Orleans. One of Uhlman’s assistants is former Pack infielder Justin Bridgman. Bridgman, a Damonte Ranch High and Nevada grad, has a bright future in coaching and might one day come back home and take over the Nevada program. Dave Lawn, another former Pack assistant under Powers and Johnson, was just let go by Arizona but is widely considered one of the best pitching coaches in the nation. Don’t be surprised if he ends up with Johnson again at LSU. Lawn turned down the Pack top job after the 2015 season (it eventually went to Bruce) to go with Johnson to Arizona.

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The current Pack coach is Jake McKinley, who recently completed his first season at Nevada with a 20-33 overall record, 10-20 in the watered-down Mountain West. But McKinley deserves your patience. Yes, it would have been interesting to see what Johnson, Uhlman or Lawn would have done as Nevada’s head coach for an extended period. But McKinley is rebuilding the Nevada program and likely won’t take long to get the Pack back competing for a regional spot. It took Powers seven long years to start winning consistently. It won’t take McKinley that long because he already has a quality facility in place (Powers had to play at run-down Moana Stadium his first five years) and program with a history of winning thanks to Powers, Johnson and Bruce.

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It appears that long-time Golden State Warrior Draymond Green is headed to Los Angeles to play with LeBron James and the Lakers. James and Green were photographed recently having lunch in France. The two are managed by Klutch Sports and Green recently turned down a $27.5 million option from the Warriors to become a free agent. That’s a bold move for a 33-year-old coming off a season in which he failed to average 10 in either points, rebounds or assists. He’s the master of the almost-triple-double. Green is also one of LeBron’s biggest groupies, going so far as to say King James is a better player than Michael Jordan used to be. Draymond, who seemed destined to leave the Warriors after he punched teammate Jordan Poole last fall, has always lived in an alternate, fantasy dreamland Draymond-centric universe. His leaving the Warriors will be a good thing for the franchise. It’s time the Warriors rebuild around Steph Curry and stop clinging to the past.