Sez Me …
There will be no crying at Notre Dame. Irish eyes will be smiling. They make it easy if this happens.
Twenty-four is the number to remember.
We know there is one sure way to save San Diego State football during a time when saving college football amounts to one thing: Money, which doesn’t grow on Montezuma Mesa flora.
The Aztecs are now part of the Pac-12, which would have been fantastic years ago. But the original Pac-12, the greatest of all collegiate conferences, with by miles the most NCAA titles, dissolved.
Because it screwed up. Schools left for, you guessed it: Money.
The new Pac-12 will distribute $13.2 million per university for TV rights, etc. It’s not bad.
Big Ten chief Tony Petitti says he wants a 24-team football (FBS, which rolls off the tongue like a scorpion) tournament. The other Power Four bosses want 16, up from 12.
Petitte says it’s 24, or else he won’t go for 16.
Normally, I’m not one to say bigger is better. But a move to 24 can help not only the Aztecs but also those in their position.
SDSU has had some fine football teams and great players, certainly more than the bottom-feeders in the Big Four conferences.
But, almost two-and-a-half decades ago, then-Aztecs athletic director Rick Bay — who brought in Steve Fisher, by the way — said he didn’t know if SDSU football could last.
And that was when the dollar may have been important, but nothing like now. State’s athletic budget is around $100 million.
Texas? Around $375 million.
The Aztecs won’t even release their NIL football budget publicly. Texas? Around $40 milion. USC? $37 mil.
How do you compete?
The Aztecs have done better than can be expected with what they have. The basketball program has been terrific, thanks to Fisher, a miracle worker, and then his protege, Brian Dutcher.
Football got off to a boring start with coach Sean Lewis, but has improved, even though the school that invented the forward pass has trouble now in that department.
The way I look at it, is that if there is money to get by adding more football teams to the mix, then the Aztecs should at least have a chance.
Did Marshall Faulk, Willie Buchanon, Brian Sipe, Isaac Curtis, Fred Dryer, La’Roi Glover, Gary Garrison and so many more go to Rutgers, UCF, Purdue?
Did Don Coryell, John Madden, Joe Gibbs, Claude Gilbert, Sean Payton, Brian Billick, Mike Smith, Jim Hanifan, Kevin O’Connell, Herman Edwards, John Fox, Dennis Green, Rocky Long, and Ernie Zampese coach there?
This is a program with stars littering its halls. Twenty-four? It deserves a chance. …
What the Padres need to do is tell Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado that the team has joined the World Baseball Classic. This way, the two slumpers — and the fans — can have some fun. …
The NFL will play 10 international games in 2027. Looks like 200 by 2030. …
Teams going abroad also won’t be able to “protect” any home games, such as rivalries. They were allowed two. Again, the NFL cares. About dough. …
Commissioner Roger Goodell and his NFL owners have become the president and Congresspeople. They don’t fight, but don’t mind sending people off to war. …
Giants back Cam Skattebo, injured last year, says he will have 300 carries for 2,000 yards this season. And his injury was not to the head. …
Aaron Rodgers insists this year will be his last. At what? …
Joe Burrow gushes that the Bengals have “the most talented roster since I’ve been here.” He looked up “What Isn’t Hard” in the dictionary. …
Klint Kubiak, the Raiders’ latest coach, says Fernando Mendoza is “as advertised.” Vegas must be playing real games already. Nathan Peterman looked good in skeleton drills. …
Sorry, there isn’t a QB with an OK arm who can’t complete passes in 7-on-7’s. …
The Rams have signed quarterback/MVP Matthew Stafford to a one-year, $55-million deal, with $5 mil more in incentives. He’ll be 39 just prior to the Super Bowl in L.A. If he wins it, he’s at least worth the extra. I hope he finishes the season, because I enjoy him. But I doubt it. …
The Bears have “exhausted every opportunity” to remain in Chicago’s Soldier Field. Hey, how about Snapdragon? …
Georgia cops clocked Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith speeding at 135 mph. But it was OK. He was driving a Gulfstream. …
What is it with athletes and cars? Even Tiger, a Stanford-educated billionaire. I don’t get it. …
Limo, cab, Uber, Lyft? Even a bus (doubtful, I know)? …
RIP, Kyle Busch. Now there was a man who could drive an automobile. …
Why are the Browns giving Deshaun Watson another chance at quarterback? That stupid question is being asked. Because they gave him $230 million in guaranteed money, that’s why. …
Meanwhile, Browns coach Todd Monken says QB Shedeur Sanders has come a long way. Yep, Colorado to Cleveland is a long way — if you’re walking. …
The last American-born NBA Most Valuable Player was James Harden, in 2017-18. At least Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who has won the last two — is from Canada, where the game was born. And, as now played by professionals, should remain. …
Stat O’ The Week: At Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School, Wilt Chamberlain once scored 90 points in a game — 60 coming in a 10-minute span. …
All In The Family: Seven players struck out by Nolan Ryan had sons struck out by Nolan Ryan. …
Schlitz beer is going down the drain. What’s left to make Milwaukee famous? …
LIV Golf, on the brink of bankruptcy, is thinking up a new business model. Something other than oil money? Triple-bogey waiting to happen before this gusher. …
Ed Orgeron is back at LSU as a special assistant to Lane Kiffin. How this man is not a head coach is beyond me. USC never should have let him go. …
Do you realize that up to 70% of the hotel rooms FIFA blocked in America’s World Cup cities have been canceled? Its tickets are four times too pricey, and don’t forget visa bonds. This Cup doesn’t runneth over. …
FIFA has forgotten everything it learned about gouging from the NFL. …
The Knicks are championship-caliber for the first time in more than 50 years, when they played the best basketball I’ve seen from an NBA team. They were as the game was drawn up. …
The NFL is No. 1 because it is smarter than everyone else. Even when it seems it is stupid. The Pied Piper of sports leagues. …
Take a bow, Bicycle Mayor and Ham & Eggers, for bowing to the trash and parking protesters. …
If City Hall is going to sell air, it must provide tenants of these large apartments/condos in neighborhoods with adequate parking spaces. Developers can afford it. This isn’t Manhattan. We drive. …
Ted Williams, of Hoover High School, reached base in 84 consecutive MLB games. He was stupid-good. …
London police are estimating 1 million people will be on the streets for Arsenal’s Premier League championship parade, ending a 22-year drought. Maybe even a few soccer fans. …
“I umpired 25 years and never called anything wrong, in my heart.” —Umpire Nestor Chylak. Lying so eloquently, I presume he then went on to enjoy a satisfying political career.