everything you love will die a horrific fiery death

there's a lot of shit going on in the world, and a lot of shit in the news cycle today, so you might ask why I'm not talking about the supreme court, or what happened in San Antonio, etc. the thing is, a) no one will listen to me talk about that stuff who doesn't already agree with me, and b) this country has been fucked for a long time, almost as long as this planet has been fucked. the one thing we can all take solace in as we hurtle toward the metaphorical heat death of the universe is escapism. there is nothing you or me can do about samuel alito's thought process, but we can forget about it and enjoy ourselves for a fleeting moment with our escapist media of choice. until it dies a horrific fiery death, anyways

The Pac-12, admittedly, is in my blood. As I've written here before, my mom was a Duck, and raised me as such despite not having too much interest in sports herself. Her dad went to Stanford for two years before transferring to UCLA for two years, even serving as a manager for the football team in the '50s. Her mom and brother were both Trojans. So even before I was dyed in the wool as a Bruin, the Conference of Champions had a real place in my life, not to mention my heart. Look, I grew up on USC-Stanford at the Colosseum, UCLA-Oregon at the Rose Bowl. I was at the rivalry game for 4 straight years. The greatest sports memory of my life was in the Rose Bowl for the only Pac-12 win in College Football Playoff history. Especially when it comes to football, I root for the Pac-12 above all else. Maybe it's not the most competitive conference when stacked up against SEC and Big Ten football budgets, but really, who cares? The beauty of the West Coast is that we have so much more on offer, both for our fans and our student bodies. I don't see Alabama or Ohio State winning chips in water polo, or softball, or beach volleyball, or swimming. Why do we always need to stoop down to their level? Why can't we just be content being different? Why can't we just be content being ourselves?

I'd love to hear Bill Walton's take on all this. Is it still the Conference of Champions with the #2 and #3 all-time leaders in NCAA championships gone fishing in the Midwest?

The same week that the Bruin crew sends a 4 to FUCKING HENLEY, Martin Jarmond, or Gene Block, or the board, or whichever $$__$$ faced idiot pulls this fucking garbage. I would say I don't believe it, but the bottomless greed of leeches and maggots will never surprise me anymore, not after the last decade or so.

A deep, core piece of my sports fandom died today. It will likely never live again. I hope you get what you want, your Big Ten revenue sharing and your massive football budgets, and realize that it's still not enough, that it'll never be enough. I won't be there to watch it.