Disaster! Fireworks, the Pac-12 and LIV Golf
I did add a poem to try and add levity to what is a heavy dose of downer news with an explosive holiday, golfers getting rich and our football conference fighting to survive. Oy vey.
The Pac-12 remains in critical, but stable condition. It has lost its two most valuable members, and if the conference does survive it will certainly have a much different quality of life going forward.
There are discussions regarding what should be termed as a merger with either the ACC or the Big 12. If this happens, I will advocate for the conference to be described as “bifurcated.”
Upon hearing that USC and UCLA were bolting, I found myself hoping Washington and Oregon would follow suit. I’ve changed my mind, however, as I discussed on “The Dang Apostrophe” podcast posted earlier this week.
The TV networks are the villains here. Over 10 years, my experience as a Washington fan has become significantly worse to enable more TV money and I fail to see how this has ultimately helped either the team I root for my experience as a fan.
I wrote a poem for Larry Scott, the former Pac-12 caretaker who is a prime suspect in the event that has left the conference at death’s door:
Hey, remember LIV Golf? That’s the rival golf circuit that kicked off in London last month, and has a number of people (understandably) upset about the funding source given that it’s being bankrolled by the sovereign wealth fund of the ruling family in Saudi Arabaia.
LIV Golf played its second event last weekend in Portland.
There are now more than 20 former or current PGA Tour members who have participated in a LIV Golf event, meaning they are suspended from the tour.
The lack of coverage, and the fact you may have no idea who won the $4 million purse at the Portland event, is EXACTLY what the funders of LIV Golf wanted to happen.
“The Dang Apostrophe” | LIV from the apocalypse
I am a lifelong fireworks enthusiast, and spare me your judgments. I know that they’re dangerous. For idiots. But as the product of a backwoods upbringing with a father who taught me about the dangers of dirtbikes and M-80s, I have generally believed myself to be if not immune from making “Hold my beer” mistakes, at least aware of the risks I was taking. This clip, however, scared the absolute hell out of me.
In an effort to learn more, I have applied a frame-by-frame review and used both the eye and the vocabulary of the NFL scout to analyze the participants, and I believe I have identified both a classic pocket-passer with incredible composure AND a franchise left tackle. There’s also three dudes I don’t want on my team at any cost.
“The Dang Apostrophe” Film Study | The slow and the dumb
I nominate that poem for the Pulitzer! ;)