FOOTBALL

George Kliavkoff Talks USC, UCLA

 Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff was asked this morning whether he was misled by USC officials before the move to the Big Ten was announced?

“I’m not going to talk about that,” he said. “We’re going to take the high road and not talk about what happened in the past.”

  • Then he turned his sights to UCLA.

“I’d say UCLA is in a really difficult position. There are a lot of constituents related to UCLA who are very, very, very unhappy with the decision. Student-athletes, the families of student-athletes. The faculty, the staff. The politicians, the fans, the alumni. There’s a lot of really, really upset people with that decision.”

Are the fans upset?

  • When asked how the Pac-12 would keep its Southern California ties, Kliavkoff said, “We may end up playing a lot of football games in L.A.”
  • And finally, on college sports:

“When I look at what’s taking place in college sports, I believe we have collectively lost sight of the student athlete.”

67 thoughts on “George Kliavkoff Talks USC, UCLA”

  1. Kliavkoff swings and misses.

    “We have lost sight of the student-athlete.” Sure we have. They were so much better off back in the day.

    “ucla faculty are upset?” Oh, you get they are. They are such huge sports fans, travelling to all the pac-12 venues to watch their brubabies play.

    “we are going to take the high road.” No you aren’t. You just didn’t. You took a job at a failing conference, you knew what you were getting into, and you weren’t able to keep it together.

    This guy might be worse than tennis promoter larry scott. The pac-12 laid their last egg, literally and figuratively.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Per prior rants (of mine), I blame ESPN mostly for losing sight of the student-athlete.

      In their egregious efforts to save a dying industry (cable TV), they have over-saturated the airwaves with CFB games (including 30+ insipid bowl games) that only a few eyes wish to watch. All of them–including Herbstreit–care not one scintilla for the average CFB player.

      …so I guess I agree with Kliavkoff somewhat.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Update
        Nelson receives $18,000,000 from aTM cash machine.
        Considering U$C decommit.

        Riley shitting in his pants. Really Ugly brown trout.

        Sad sad day for Traveler and Tirebiter.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. ucla is following SC to pay the bills, plain and simple.The governor pounds his fist in indignation but knows this move is the solution for westwood’s problem. (He sure isn’t.) The bruins can always count on their revenue stream coming from all the convenience stores with the sales of the team’s fan gear. Example: “Yeah, gimme a couple o’ Slim Jims, one of those combs, and a pint of Old Harper – and one of the ucla caps too.” #ApologiesToTerryTheToad

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  4. I recorded and watched most of the BIG 10 Media Days. Today, I’ve watched some of the PAC12 Media Day. I knew there would be a contrast, but it was even greater than I expected. Kliavkoff was a disappointment. When Marc Kulkin (ON3 USC) asked Kliavkoff for clarification about the rumor that he said he was misled by USC, Kliavkoff piously said he wouldn’t respond and “would take the high road.” Throughout Kliavkoff’s address, he used veiled insults about both USC and UCLA. He also seemed to support Newson’s demands that UCLA publicly explain their decision to move to the BIG 10. A good commissioner would be able to answer that question. It’s easy, UCLA is over 100M in the red and media share from PAC12 will not bail them out.
    Media Day as a whole is a poor production. Will they every get some professional help or will it remain amateur hour?

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Carra –Pac 12 leadership is a joke that doesn’t know it’s a joke…
      #..WhichIsTheSaddestKindOfJoke…
      #[WhichRemindsMeOfACertainUniversityPresident]

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Without a strong SC winning tradition goal setting BOT, we are on shifting sand. We cannot rely on a president who appears to have more interest in woke and feminism and in football only if it supports women’s sports.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Well, on the face of it, no matter how it is sliced-and-diced, SC and sucla’s decision to go packing is a sign of the times– Do what you want no matter the consequences.

    Of course, it has always been this way in human/business affairs,
    me-first, but it seems to be more acute now.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. The Pac-12 didn’t learn its lesson from when it hired larry scott, the tennis promoter. He wasn’t qualified. Then they pick Kliavkoff, who was a Vegas marketing guy. SMDH

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. For revenue generating sports, the term “student athlete” went out the door as soon as NIL rights were granted. It was riding on fumes for years prior, but that deal put the final nail in the coffin. They are professional athletes now. Anyone not recognizing this is fooling himself.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. However, Jeff, there are a few comely young women student athletes cashing in on their attractiveness with NIL deals despite playing unpopular sports.

      The next decade (this decade) of College sports will be the NIL decade, for sure. Could get ugly.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  10. I think Stanford and Cal and the other two end up in the Big Ten. Notre Dame stays solo.

    Adam Grosbard: David Shaw says he hopes that Stanford maintains a relationship with USC and UCLA even after they leave for the Big Ten and keep up the long-time rivalries in non-conference games.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. I hope it works out this way for travel reasons for USC. Big Ten Presidents will want Stanford and Cal for their academic prestige and the other two are AAU. Give them a partial revenue share for a few years.

        Liked by 3 people

      2. I don’t give a F about competing with Oregon and Washington recruiting-wise. If USC is USC, USC will have nothing to worry about losing recruits to those two. The Ducks will become the new Oregon State and the Huskies will become the new Wazzu.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Oregon the new Oregon State. Washington the new Washington State. I don’t know why those words just felt so good washing over me…

        Liked by 3 people

  11. He’s absolutely right about the loss of the “student athlete.” NIL has uncovered college sports for what they really are: It’s all about the Benjamins.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. Here is the story that I think is unfolding. Malachi Nelson is going to Texas A&M to see what kind of NIL deal they offer him, and bringing it back to Riley to match.

    Riley will take this to Bohn/Folt and demand that USC get off its ass and have the alumni start a collective to match it.

    Riley specifically stated that they had lost players due to NIL money. I guarantee that he is telling Bohn and Folt that if they dont get a collective in place, he cannot build a winning team. And their $100 million will be gone to waste.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. How involved is she in athletics? I assumed she let the AD handle that dirty business but there is a brand new LAT article that says she shut down PAC12 expansion last year. Apparently I was wrong. That must be a dilemma for her though, money or toxic masculinity. Both very dirty.

        Liked by 3 people

    1. It would’ve made sense for Pac12 to have expanded with Big12 with a “few that added enough value”. There’s always strength in numbers and it wouldn’t have precluded USC from proceeding with Big Ten. Carol Folt’s just dumb. She probably had a DEI meeting that she was late for.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    2. Hot Lips is the perfect villain in all of this … lying, elitist academic, bumbling, incompetent bureaucrat who will be the central figure in the dissolution of the 100-year-old Pac12 conference. I would compare her skills to those of Joe Biden’s.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    2. “All Addison wanted to do his entire visit was talk ball,” Riley said. “We literally missed several of the meals and entertainment we had scheduled just so we could watch more film and talk more ball. That’s all he’s about. I think he’s been really, really misrepresented throughout this whole thing.”

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Disingenuous comments from Georgy smack of desperation. Short of a merger, no Big12 school is going to jump to the unstable Pac12.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    3. If Big12 really wanted to drink Georgy’s milkshake, it would offer membership to San Diego State and SMU.

      Like

      Reply

      3. Hunter’s art is a means of money-laundering which facilitates Brandon’s influence-peddling.

        Like

      5. Sadly, Hunter is making tons more than Botticelli, even after adjusting for inflation. If only Botticelli had a dad named “the big guy”.

        Liked by 2 people

      6. ….and 11 year old runaways as models instead of the virginal Simonetta Vespucci….

        Like

    3. In September 2021, Under Armour countersued UCLA, claiming the school violated a separate agreement by covering Under Armour logos with social justice patches on the uniforms of its football and basketball teams.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.