Pac-10 will cut costs by becoming the Pac-6 (... kidding)
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Weakened by tough economic times and two football-playing schools in Washington, the Pacific 10 Conference on Monday released a cost-containment plan that was conceptualized in luxury’s lap, by league officials, in between nibbles of fois gras, at the swanky Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
You could have read it here first.
Sources confirm the meetings in San Francisco were not catered by Rice-A-Roni.
Pac-10 utensils involved in trimming fat from the buttery budget, however, included forks, spoons and hatchets.
The conference briefly considered combining Washington and Washington State’s football programs into one, the Washington Cougies, then realized that still left the league with only one total Washington victory from 2008.
UCLA football Coach Rick Neuheisel fostered the idea of cheap labor by saying his under-18 sons would work the sidelines for free, but it was shot down by one crosstown coach whose kids are all 18 or over.
USC not fielding a basketball team in 2009-10 remains a possible cost-saving measure, but the Pac-10 cannot yet count on every Trojan recruit reneging on his scholarship.
Short of considering these draconian actions and others that included lowering baskets to 9 feet, insisting UCLA Coach Ben Howland conserve some of his timeouts for the end of the game and truncating football fields from 100 to 80 yards, the Pac-10 came up with several ways it says can save the conference an aggregate of $1 million.
Proposals include:
- Eliminating the publication of printed media guides, recruiting brochures or any sport-specific publication. (When it doubt these days, stick it to the media!)
- Prohibiting home teams from lodging at a local hotel the night before a game during the regular season unless competition site is more than 25 miles from its campus. (USC football, this means YOU. Last time anyone checked, the Coliseum was still across the street from campus).
- Elimination of regional competition in the NCAA Track & Field Championships. (If that doesn’t work, elminate either track OR field.)
- Reducing the number of players and staff members traveling to regular-season conference games. What, no more exotic trips to Pullman for Billy Benchwarmer? (Shoot, in the old days you could take 11 football players on the road because guys played both ways. OK, you might need 12 in case someone got hurt).
Time will tell what impact these cost-cutting measures will have on the Pac-10.
In the meantime, anyone care for seconds on creme brulee?
--Chris Dufresne
twitter.com/@DufresneLATimes .
