A Toast to the Pac-12

The Pac-12 is done as we know it. 

It’s a sentence I never thought would actually be true. Even after August 4, 2023, it felt like something would cause a reverse-course. Ten of the member schools were leaving in one fell swoop? No way.

But here we are.

The conference went out with a bang, not a whimper, with Arizona walking off USC in the Pac-12 baseball tournament on Saturday.

It was a great moment from a conference that delivered time and again over the years. Whether it was Connor Halliday and Jared Goff combining for 1,261 yards in a single game, Washington’s Isaiah Thomas delivering a buzzer-beater in the men’s basketball tournament or UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi going viral with each gymnastics routine, the Pac-12 cemented itself with big moments.

 

All of what went wrong has been hashed out time and again. This post is not that.

It’s to highlight all that made the conference unique.

Some background – I grew up in the Pac-10/12 footprint. The first time I saw an Avenger in real-life was Terrell Suggs on his way to a record-setting junior season at ASU. I called a game in college where Stanford’s Mark Appel struck out 13 on his way to the MLB’s No. 1 overall pick later that summer. I’ve covered Arizona and ASU for over a decade, along with Arizona prep standouts who went to other Pac-12 schools.

The thought of not traveling west to cover conference games in California, Oregon and Washington hasn’t quite hit me yet. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful the teams I care about and cover most found a home in the Big 12. It’s a chapter full of opportunity, and it may feel normal at some point. Right now, it’s just not the home I’ve come to love and one that means a lot to our family.

My wife started her career with the conference. She was a part of a group that was there from the early days of the Pac-12 Network in 2012. I didn’t get to see it firsthand, but from the stories and the connections that have endured 12 years, saying these people were all-in is a major, major understatement. 

She described this past year as “the longest break-up ever.” With each conference tournament wrapping up, I’d watch her look on lovingly and get sad knowing that wouldn’t be here this time next year. The group chats with former co-workers would start up periodically, sharing photos of what seems like a lifetime ago when they were building the network brick by brick. 

The majority of the people Sarah talks to most are from that group despite not working together for years. Many of them have moved on to different jobs in different states, but they still rep the conference hard. 

It’s a special group of people. 

It’s a group that kept their head down and delivered – like the rest of the boots on the ground in the conference – despite what was thrown at them. They overcame shortcomings and obstacles that they had no control over.

I was thinking about them on Saturday as Sarah and I walked into the stadium and saw a long line at the merch area. Anything with Pac-12 branding on it had to go. $5 for anything and everything. 

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The Pac-12 is running an everything-must-go sale at the final day of the Pac-12 baseball tournament in Scottsdale.

Everything is $5 apiece. pic.twitter.com/OtDUkhiOMA

— Sarah Kezele 🌵 (@SarahKezele) May 26, 2024

There it was: The physical manifestation that this page was being turned no matter what. It was tough to grapple with. 

The folks still working the event had no say in what was happening to the Pac-12 or their jobs. That didn’t stop them from doing their damnedest to go out with the best product possible.

For the student-athletes.

For the fans.

Past and present employees delivered, no matter the circumstance, while the leadership 18 rungs up the ladder dropped the ball securing a future for the conference.

When I got to the press box, Jim Thornby, who had been with the network since 2012, was rocking a Pac-12 baseball jersey. He greeted me with the same smile he always does.

“How we doing, Jordy?”

You wouldn’t know it was the Pac-12’s last event.

It wasn’t another night at the ballpark. It was the end of an era.

But Jim and his team wanted to put all of the shine on Arizona and USC as they battled for the tournament title. They did just that, and they did it well.

While in that merch sale line, I grabbed two Pac-12 branded koozies.

Now, a few days removed from that final event and with a beverage in hand, let’s toast to the Conference of Champions:

Cheers to the 12 schools that brought their unique flavor to a truly one-of-a-kind conference. To the inspiring stories like ASU’s Anthony Robles. To the Wildcats’ “This is Arizona” montage before men’s basketball games.

Here’s to leading the band with USC. To Jackie Robinson Field and all that he stood for. To sailgating in Washington. To the Wazzu popcorn guy (I hope you’re thriving).

 

Here’s to Kyle Whittingham’s calves. To Colorado’s Ralphie and his runs. To Oregon State’s third down chainsaw riff. To Oregon’s 2020 women’s basketball team. The only thing that could stop the Ducks from a national title that year was a world-wide pandemic.

Heres’ to the GOAT of GOATs, Tara VanDerveer.  To Cal’s Marshawn Lynch leaving the field in style.

 

 

Cheers to all that the Pac-12 Network accomplished. Get mad that the distribution wasn’t where it should have been. But what was produced on the network day-to-day was elite. Behind the scenes, this was a group that won’t get the credit they deserve. But their live broadcasts showcased the premier events within the conference and gave an inside look at Olympic and women’s sports at a rate no one else was doing.

Cheers to the on-air voices of the conference. Studio shows were a masterclass put on by Ashley Adamson and Mike Yam. Ted Robinson, Cindy Brunson, Roxy Bernstein, Daron Sutton, Matt Muehlebach, Don MacLean and many, many more helped capture the biggest moments in the conference, no matter the sport. You were going to learn something from Yogi Roth when he put on a headset, whether it was a defensive scheme or what made a player tick. Kate Scott could capture a story like no one else could, and the opportunities she seized as a play-by-play broadcaster with the conference set her up in her current gig as the voice of the Philadelphia 76ers. 

That professionalism remained when these broadcasters had to say goodbye for the final time with each respective sport.

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In the last segment of the Basketball Postgame, host Ashley Adamson says that this is the last event for which she’s scheduled. She recognizes the behind the scenes crew, “The reality is we don’t really know what’s ahead … The only that is guaranteed is more change.” pic.twitter.com/bbtjBUdOIL

— Ken Fang — Very Asian (@fangsbites) March 17, 2024

Cheers to #Pac12AfterDark, a hashtag that turned into an identity for the conference that encapsulated the unhinged, goofy awesomeness that comes after 10 PM PST.

Cheers to the best conference tournament environment in the nation. The Pac-12 went to Vegas long before Sin City’s migration of pro sports teams. Year 1 was proof it was the perfect spot to ramp up to March Madness. Every subsequent year has raised the bar.

Cheers to Dave Pasch and Bill Walton, everyone’s favorite odd couple. Bill passed away on Monday, and no one loved the conference of champions more. Their broadcasts were the perfect embodiment what the conference stood for. You can be elite at your craft and deliver night in and night out (Pasch) while also telling stories beyond the court, finding the joy in the moment and getting a little weird (Walton). There will never be another Bill Walton, and you would never find a more perfect partner for him than Pasch.

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The best of Bill Walton on commentary: pic.twitter.com/MqwNQZj2dg

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 27, 2024

Cheers to the deepest softball and women’s basketball conference in the NCAA. You can’t convince me there was another conference that could hold a candle to the Pac’s top-rate teams and overall depth of a conference in those two sports.

Cheers to the Olympians who not only repped their home countries, but their schools and the conference as well. Katie Ledecky, Abdi Abdirahman, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Kerri Walsh-Jennings and Andre De Grasse are a small imprint on the Pac’s dominance on the world’s biggest stage.

Cheers to you, Pac-12 Conference. You didn’t deserve this fate, but you didn’t go quietly. The Kezamm household will spend some time reminiscing and toasting to the memories – and the people – that made the conference one of a kind.

As this door closes on the conference so many love, there will always be a group that will Back the Pac.