This is not something to celebrate

Going to the Big Ten may have been the least bad choice available for Washington, but it's hard for me to see this as the win some are trying to spin it as.

It’s the celebration that bothers me.

I reached that conclusion on Sunday when I watched the sizzle reel my school’s football program posted to Twitter.

“A momentous day in the history of the nation’s oldest athletic conference,” says the narrator.

Cut to Colin Cowherd, a UW logo off to his left.

“They’re going to be members of the Big Ten,” he says.

Then comes an aerial view of the Washington campus on a sun-soaked day, playing over the voice of the school’s president, Ana Marie Cauce, “The University of Washington’s very real excitement at joining the Big Ten conference.”

I know I shouldn’t read too much into this. I understand the school has to try to sell this as a golden parachute out of business pragmatism if nothing else. I’m not obligated to try and put a positive spin on this, though, and when Cowherd returned to the screen he said something that made me viscerally angry: “That’s big brands, some big cities, big stadiums, big money, big fan bases.”

Gross.

Now, I can understand why Colin might feel that way. He works for FOX, and I guess to a certain extent so does Washington now. But the consolidation of college football, the creation of this ascendant class, is not something to celebrate. At least not for me.

I’m more emotional about this than I expected. More angry.