It is lost on no one that Bill Walton, easily the most prominent and public ambassador for the Pac-12 Conference, died shortly after the league’s last sporting event, the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, ended. Walton died on Memorial Day weekend, right after the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament ended on Saturday night with Arizona beating USC.
The Pac-12 Baseball Tournament marked the last live-game broadcast for the Pac-12 Network, which signed off on Friday night. Play-by-play man Roxy Bernstein offered a farewell address of sorts on the air. One night later, for ESPN2 — in what was ESPN’s last Pac-12 game broadcast — Bernstein offered a similar, albeit shorter, final on-air note. Bill Walton worked with Bernstein, Dave Pasch, Ted Robinson, and other broadcasters on Pac-12 games. His death, by preceding the first USC, UCLA, Washington, or Oregon game in the Big Ten (and the first Arizona or Arizona State game in the Big 12), is eerie and remarkable in that regard.
It certainly makes us all reflect on how connected we are to the passions that drive our lives. Rest in peace, Bill Walton. You were a foremost champion in the Conference of Champions.
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