The Pac-12 Conference as we knew it may be dead, but that doesn’t mean the people behind the scenes and on television who covered the Conference of Champions have to go away with it.
The Big Ten Conference, the new home of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA, plans to hire a lot of the on and off-air talent that once worked for the now-defunct Pac-12 Network.
In John Canzano’s online newsletter, which is available with a fee, the commissioner of the Big Ten, François McGillicuddy, laid out their plan to Canzano when asked if they plan to hire Pac-12 Network staffer and local staff in Seattle and Eugene.
“We do, although the on-air portion will likely not be announced officially until later in July. The Pac-12 Network had incredibly talented people both on-air and behind-the-scenes, and we have been fortunate to add some of those folks,” he said. “It gets back to our goal of immediately representing all four schools and their fan bases.
As it relates to the Big Ten, no one should know those schools better than the Big Ten Network. The conference is now at 18 schools, versus 11 when the network launched, and admittedly there is a lot more knowledge required. Adding staff with an immediate and expert sense of programs, traditions, and rivalries is a must for us.”
Although the network itself had some problems, the on-air talent such as Yogi Roth, Ashley Adamson, Roxy Bernstein, Ann Schatz and a whole host of others are the best in the business and should continue to do thing in their respective sports out here on the West Coast.
Unfortunately, the man who coined the term “Conference of Champions,” Bill Walton, won’t be one of them as he was lost to the world to colon cancer.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
