Rob Mullens meets the media upon his introduction as Oregon’s new athletic director. Rob Mullens was not Nike’s pick for the University of Oregon athletic director position.

This is a good thing.

Also, his most recent job as associate athletic director at Kentucky put him in charge of the men’s basketball and football programs.

Also, very good.

Mullens is also a finance guy at a time when athletic departments are desperately seeking ways to find money.

I like that, too.

But none of these things is why I most like the hire of Mullens for Oregon. For me, it’s about attitude and ego and I think Mullens is a wonderful hire because I suspect the Ducks athletic department just added a healthy dose of no-nonsense humility.

Consider that the athletic department at Oregon has been infected in the last decade by paranoia and sensitivity that has paralyzed it at times. The Ducks worried a lot about what outsiders thought of them. And athletic department leaders made decisions with too much emphasis on how they would look personally.

They wanted to look smart. They wanted to look in control. They wanted to appear poised. And they were in a persnickitey panic behind the scenes.

The temptation today is to declare Mullens’ hiring as evidence that university president Richard Lariviere wanted his own guy in the big desk. But what the Ducks really got was a pillar of new philosophy and attitude.

Had Mullens come along a few years ago, he would have joined a poisonous department rife with big egos. Ernie Kent ruled during “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” era of Ducks basketball. And Mike Bellotti thought so much of the job he did as football coach that when he became athletic director his biggest accomplishment was crafting a multimillion-dollar golden parachute for himself.

The department felt as though it operated without a tether. Before Bellotti brief tenure as athletic director, a booster, Pat Kilkenny, was left in charge. An arena project was carried forward without the blessing of key factions on the campus.

The disconnect created by such moves ended up poisonous.

Gone is Kent. Gone is Bellotti. In their place are no-ego basketball coach Dana Altman, and football coach Chip Kelly, who can be wry and sarcastic, but is undeniably authentic. The addition of Mullens puts an experienced professional in charge of the athletic department for the first time since Bill Moos was run out in 2006. For the first time in some time Oregon feels focused as a department.

Team Swoosh will keep an open mind, but at face value, isn’t going to love this hire. They probably would have preferred someone such as Jim Bartko, who was groomed as an associate athletic director for a moment just like this.

Lariviere said early in the process that UO was looking for someone with athletic-director experience. He back off that requirement, but he hired Mullens, the deputy director of the Kentucky athletic department, not Bartko.

Kelly was on the hiring committee and said much of the discussion focused on Mullens’ ability to connect with all corners of the campus. “He’s smart,” Kelly said, “and he has no ego at all. It’s all about ‘we’ and not about him.”

This correction feels refreshing. Mullens feels right. Oregon has had too many personalities who, too often, made it all about them. The moves felt self-conscious. The mood felt paranoid. The athletic department scrambled to fix the unusual messes that were created before anyone noticed. Often, they fell flat when they should have been soaring.

I’m not sure if Mullens can pass his no-ego, no-nonsense style throughout the building, let alone the campus. But this doesn’t feel like a hire that would have been made under Dave Frohnmayer, who too often forgot his mission and pandered to his biggest boosters (or gave the keys to them).

The move signals a shift of atmosphere, and this was overdue at Oregon. Mullens’ appreciation for academia and passion for finance are assets.

Hopefully, it adds up to a new era at Oregon.

— John Canzano

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe all but killed his own conference on April 30, 2008.

That’s when he decided to team up with the Big Ten and Pac-10 to reject a four-team playoff being pushed by the SEC and ACC. If the Big 12 (and/or the Big East) had supported it, the so-called “Plus One” model likely would’ve happened.

Even that modest playoff would have meant hundreds of millions of additional revenue for college athletics. It would have then allowed for easy expansion for an even more lucrative 16-team postseason. That would have solved all the monetary concerns that have left the Big 12 on the verge of collapse at the hands of its one-time allies, the Big Ten and Pac-10.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany admitted to Congress a 16-team playoff could gross four times what the current Bowl Championship Series does – in other words about $900 million annually.

He opposed it anyway. Beebe and the others never seemed to ask why. They’re finding out now.

Conference expansion is about to forever alter college athletics: destroying traditions, hammering taxpayers and increasing competition. It will leave once-major programs out of the loop, consolidate power and extend the gap between haves and have nots – even within leagues such as the Big Ten.

No one is in a more desperate spot than the Big 12, which this week could see as many as eight league members receive invites to leave.

It’s all because of money. And when it comes to money in college athletics it all comes back to one thing – the leaking oil disaster that is the BCS.

There are two major revenue streams left in college sports – football television contracts and a football postseason. (The men’s basketball tournament is essentially maxed out.)

It’s clear now that Delany used opposition to a football playoff not to preserve some bit of “tradition.” His expansion plans clearly indicate he cares nothing about that. It certainly wasn’t done for the sake of aiding Big Ten football, since a playoff with on-campus home games likely would’ve helped his teams.

The goal was to starve out the Big 12, Big East and even the ACC of the hundreds of millions a playoff would’ve given them and thus turn the future of college sports into a battle of television sets.

Delany couldn’t assure that the Big Ten would’ve done well in a football playoff. Maybe the league would’ve succeeded, maybe not. With 26 percent of the nation’s population, tradition rich clubs and its own cable network though, the Big Ten will always dominate if everything boils down to TV revenue.

It was a genius, cut-throat play. He set the terms of the game so he’d win. The Pac-10, led by aggressive new commissioner Larry Scott, is taking advantage also. I’m not blaming Delany here. I may not believe a 16-team Big Ten (or Pac-10) is in the best interest of the league’s current members (or the NCAA as a whole), but it’s not that big of a deal to me. Whatever happens, happens. Besides, it’s not Delany’s fault he’s smarter than the other guys.

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Am I being too hard on Beebe? Not even close. He’s been played like a fiddle. In April, while Delany was assuring the other commissioners his league wouldn’t contact schools about expansion without informing them first, Beebe offered this bit of naïvete.

“I expect that Jim, who I have known for many, many years and trust implicitly, [will] do what he said he’s going to do,” Beebe said. “If and when the time comes that they’re going to do anything – and if that includes any of the institutions in the Big 12 – he’ll let me know first.”

This week the Columbus Dispatch printed emails between Delany and Ohio State president Gordon Gee that detailed Gee reaching out to the University of Texas to broach interest about the Big Ten.

So much for Mr. “Trust Implicitly.”

Why Beebe and Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese ever felt safe with Delany is a mystery. The guy is an assassin. He’s always been public about his desire to do whatever he feels is best for the Big Ten (or at least his “legacy”).

Rather than helping him block the Plus One, they should’ve been explaining to their presidents that a full playoff was imperative to survival.

And let’s forget the ridiculous notion that the presidents are vehemently opposed to a playoff. The presidents will do whatever their commissioner says. It’s always been that case and the expansion chaos proves it. Ohio State’s Gee has been an anti-playoff guy in part because of “missed class time,” even if none would be missed under a playoff that takes place during semester break.

Yet now he’s in favor of adding Texas to the Big Ten, meaning he’ll ship all of his athletes all the way to Austin which would cause … missed class time for hundreds of students.

It’s all a pile of garbage. Here’s guessing the schools that could be left behind – which could include Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State, Colorado, Louisville, West Virginia, South Florida and so on – will soon be furious they weren’t told the truth about what they were really opposing. The Plus One wasn’t a postseason plan, it was a lifeline.

Those presidents deserve their own blame, of course. They should’ve learned the truth about the BCS and recognized the need to find revenue outside of just television deals. They should’ve been building their own alliance for a richer and more equitable postseason.

In 2008, the smaller leagues and Notre Dame would’ve almost assuredly gone along. The ACC and SEC were clearly open to discussion. If a 16-team playoff wasn’t possible, at the very least the Plus One was. It’d be a different ballgame right now if just that was in place.

Instead the leagues blindly followed along with a revenue model that has left them susceptible to destruction.

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This isn’t the time to deal with all the issues surrounding the BCS or explain how a 16-team playoff works (on the field or in the checkbook). I’ve covered it extensively in the past and helped write a book on the subject – “Death to the BCS,” due out in October. Sorry for the shameless plug, but when I say it takes an entire book to show all the scams and lies that really power the system, I mean it.

Just know this, the BCS offers not a single, real world, tangible benefit to college athletics. Its only defense is that it’s better than the old system, which isn’t saying much.

Financially is where it performs most poorly. The current bowl system/BCS generated $220 million in gross revenue in 2008-09 and just $140 million in profit due to the high cost of keeping most bowl games afloat. If this sounds good, it isn’t.

Delany estimates a playoff could gross $880 million. The more conservative, yet exhaustively researched estimate we used in the book comes in at around $780 million. In each case profits would exceed $700 million, meaning the BCS is costing college athletics over half a billion in annual profit.

Delany was one of the people instrumental in hiring public relations flaks Ari Fleischer and Bill Hancock to spread factually bankrupt propaganda about the system in an effort to create the illusion of a debate – hey, maybe the BCS works! Please. It doesn’t. The current chaos is just the latest proof. The real purpose of the PR campaign was merely to buy time for the Big Ten Network to get fully operational.

The BCS has killed everyone financially. It’s killed them to the point only a dozen or so schools break even each year on athletics. Most athletic departments need student fees or taxpayer funded general university budgets to cover expenses (nearly $900 million combined in 2008-09 according to USA Today).

That includes even Big Ten schools such as Illinois ($4.5 million), Wisconsin ($3.4 million) and Minnesota ($3.4 million). Even a powerhouse such as Ohio State needed to raise ticket prices this year to balance future books.

All while that pile of playoff money sat there, untapped.

Protecting the BCS wasn’t about greed. It wasn’t about determining a real champion. It was about power. Now the Pac-10 and Big Ten have it.

The 16-team playoff was the only route to save the Big 12, Big East and likely the ACC as it now is constructed. Under our detailed plan (essentially the NCAA’s model for lower divisions), every time a team plays a game it would receive a share of revenue, in this case $25 million.

Consider the 2008-09 season where Big 12 members Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech all would’ve been selected. If the seeds held, those clubs would’ve combined to play nine playoff games meaning the league would’ve walked with $225 million in revenue. The conference then could’ve written each league school an $18.75 million check just from the playoff. That year the Big Ten would’ve earned just three shares for $75 million, a per team share of $6.8 million.

If that’s happening, do you think Missouri and Nebraska still want out? You think the Big Ten’s TV revenue advantage still matters?

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This all goes back to the cost of inaction, the penalty for not dealing with the sport’s most pressing problem.

There should be no reason for these leagues to expand (other than the Big Ten adding one team).

Sixteen-team leagues won’t make life better for anyone. They’ll likely prove to be logistical and philosophical wars. The commissioners have sold the public on the idea that more money is always a good thing – using the fail-proof, if unproven, “it’s good for recruiting” line. Here’s the thing, if all your rivals build a new weight room, then recruits aren’t impressed with a new weight room.

It won’t be better for fans or players or even, in many regards, coaches, who will face greater demands for success. More money only means something to the small group of people (athletic directors, commissioners, coaches) who will see their already huge salaries grow, will be able to charter more private planes and will continue to justify remodeling their already opulent “facilities.”

If you’re a powerhouse in your league, why would you want to change anything? It isn’t getting better for Texas and Oklahoma than the current Big 12, where the two programs have reached five of the last seven BCS title games.

If you’re in the middle of the pack, why would you add more competition in recruiting and a watered-down schedule? If you’re Minnesota or Northwestern and trying to sell tickets, do you want more Rutgers home games and less Ohio State? Or to deal with Nebraska recruiting the Twin Cities or Chicagoland?

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It’s almost assuredly too late for the Big 12 and the Big East to make the bold moves that could save them.

They could try though. If Beebe and current Big East commissioner John Marinatto want to display real leadership, they can tell their current members to sit tight and allow them to build a consensus for a real football postseason that will solve all their revenue problems. They need to stand up and declare Armageddon is here and it’s time to get serious. The other leagues and Notre Dame would be all for it. The SEC and ACC would be smart to approve simply as a defense against Big Ten and Pac-10 aggression. Or in the ACC’s case, the inevitable SEC pillaging of its teams.

Go ahead and dare the Big Ten and Pac-10 to not come along. See how long Gordon Gee lasts as Ohio State president when he tells Buckeye fans they will no longer be competing for the national title. In the meantime, send your recruiters to Cleveland and Detroit.

A 16-team playoff could be up and running by 2014 – which would immediately change all the revenue models.

Then Beebe could show that teams such as Nebraska and Texas could make more money while enjoying a clearer road to that thrilling postseason by staying home. He would be able to offer a future that’s brighter than the one offered by the Big Ten or Pac-10.

At the end of the day this has always been about the BCS and billions in revenue it has cost cash-starved college athletics.

Jim Delany just didn’t tell his peers. And they weren’t smart enough to figure it out themselves.

Then, Arran Gimba talks about the Blazers’ playoff hopes and sports marketing 101.

Pick Em:

Which team will win the game? (My selections are in bold.)
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	Carolina Panthers	Atlanta Falcons
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	Minnesota Vikings	Detroit Lions
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	Cincinnati Bengals	Green Bay Packers
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	Houston Texans	Tennessee Titans
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	Oakland Raiders	Kansas City Chiefs
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	New England Patriots	New York Jets
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	New Orleans Saints	Philadelphia Eagles
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	St. Louis Rams	Washington Redskins
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	Arizona Cardinals	Jacksonville Jaguars
9/20 4:05 PM	FOX	Seattle Seahawks	San Francisco 49ers
9/20 4:05 PM	FOX	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Buffalo Bills
9/20 4:15 PM	CBS	Pittsburgh Steelers	Chicago Bears
9/20 4:15 PM	CBS	Cleveland Browns	Denver Broncos
9/20 4:15 PM	CBS	Baltimore Ravens	San Diego Chargers
9/20 8:20 PM	NBC	New York Giants	Dallas Cowboys
9/21 8:30 PM	ESPN	Indianapolis Colts	Miami Dolphins

Against the Spread:

Which team will win the game? (My selections are in bold.)
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	Carolina Panthers	Atlanta Falcons (-6.5)
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	Minnesota Vikings (-9.5)	Detroit Lions
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	Cincinnati Bengals	Green Bay Packers (-9.5)
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	Houston Texans	Tennessee Titans (-7.5)
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	Oakland Raiders (+3.5)	Kansas City Chiefs
9/20 1:00 PM	CBS	New England Patriots (-5.5)	New York Jets
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	New Orleans Saints (+1.5)	Philadelphia Eagles
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	St. Louis Rams	Washington Redskins (-10.5)
9/20 1:00 PM	FOX	Arizona Cardinals (+3.5)	Jacksonville Jaguars
9/20 4:05 PM	FOX	Seattle Seahawks (+1.5)	San Francisco 49ers
9/20 4:05 PM	FOX	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Buffalo Bills (-4.5)
9/20 4:15 PM	CBS	Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5)	Chicago Bears
9/20 4:15 PM	CBS	Cleveland Browns (+3.5)	Denver Broncos
9/20 4:15 PM	CBS	Baltimore Ravens (+4.5)	San Diego Chargers
9/20 8:20 PM	NBC	New York Giants	Dallas Cowboys (-2.5)
9/21 8:30 PM	ESPN	Indianapolis Colts (-3.5)	Miami Dolphins

Season Stats:

Pick Em – 89.2%

Against the Spread – 57.9%

Not Against the Spread:

Which team will win the game? (My selections are in bold.)
9/10 8:30 PM	NBC	Tennessee Titans	Pittsburgh Steelers
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Miami Dolphins	Atlanta Falcons
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Denver Broncos	Cincinnati Bengals
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Minnesota Vikings	Cleveland Browns
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Jacksonville Jaguars	Indianapolis Colts
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Detroit Lions	New Orleans Saints
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Dallas Cowboys	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Philadelphia Eagles	Carolina Panthers
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Kansas City Chiefs	Baltimore Ravens
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	New York Jets	Houston Texans
9/13 4:15 PM	FOX	Washington Redskins	New York Giants
9/13 4:15 PM	FOX	San Francisco 49ers	Arizona Cardinals
9/13 4:15 PM	FOX	St. Louis Rams	Seattle Seahawks
9/13 8:20 PM	NBC	Chicago Bears	Green Bay Packers
9/14 7:00 PM	ESPN	Buffalo Bills	New England Patriots
9/14 10:15 PM	ESPN	San Diego Chargers	Oakland Raiders

Against the Spread:

Which team will win the game? (My selections are in bold.)
9/10 8:30 PM	NBC	Tennessee Titans (+5.5)	Pittsburgh Steelers
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Miami Dolphins (+4.5)	Atlanta Falcons
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Denver Broncos	Cincinnati Bengals (-3.5)
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Minnesota Vikings (-3.5)	Cleveland Browns
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Jacksonville Jaguars	Indianapolis Colts (-6.5)
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Detroit Lions	New Orleans Saints (-11.5)
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Dallas Cowboys (-3.5)	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9/13 1:00 PM	FOX	Philadelphia Eagles (+0.5)	Carolina Panthers
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	Kansas City Chiefs	Baltimore Ravens (-8.5)
9/13 1:00 PM	CBS	New York Jets	Houston Texans (-4.5)
9/13 4:15 PM	FOX	Washington Redskins	New York Giants (-6.5)
9/13 4:15 PM	FOX	San Francisco 49ers	Arizona Cardinals (-6.5)
9/13 4:15 PM	FOX	St. Louis Rams	Seattle Seahawks (-7.5)
9/13 8:20 PM	NBC	Chicago Bears	Green Bay Packers (-3.5)
9/14 7:00 PM	ESPN	Buffalo Bills	New England Patriots (-10.5)
9/14 10:15 PM	ESPN	San Diego Chargers (-6.5)	Oakland Raiders

http://www.winterhawks.com/rosebuds/

Who’s the hottest cheerleader? I like the Ericas and Vickie.

I hate the new Wally. He looks like a cross between David Hassellhoff and Stretch Armstrong. And, man, he needs to get off the steroids. Too bad steroids don’t make you less ugly.

http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/2009/7/30/GEN_0730092744.aspx

Good article by John Canzano about the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. During my stint with the Oregon Sports Authority, we worked a lot with this organization. Hope they are able to find a better place to host some of the finest memorabilia in all the state.

The boxes in the old Pendleton Mill warehouse on McLoughlin Blvd. are stacked four high. They’re filled with carefully catalogued jerseys, balls and trophies, including Terry Baker’s 1962 Heisman Trophy.

In one corner, there’s a 7-foot statue of Bill Walton in a Trail Blazers jersey. And in another, Steve Prefontaine’s running shoes. And there are baseball bats, and bleacher seats, and this is one case of homelessness that needs to be rectified.

The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame was forced out of its downtown location in June 2008. It moved to a small section of this warehouse with one working toilet, dark hardwood floors and weeds growing in the parking lot outside. And every day, director Mike Rose and his collections manager, Lauren Drury, sit at their desks hoping someone will call.

A politician who understands the value of state sports history? A sports-themed restaurant that would want to display artifacts as part of the scenery? A sneaker company? A basketball franchise? A benefactor?

Someone?

Anyone?

The Hall of Fame, a nonprofit organization, recently filmed a 16-part cable television series in which the artifacts and inductees were featured. I know. I volunteered to be one of the faces of the project, introducing grainy footage of the state’s most heralded sports personalities. And those were fascinating to watch, and fun to introduce, but better than that was the time I had between takes.

Because I walked around, lifting lids and peeking into boxes. I held the game ball from the 1917 Rose Bowl (Oregon beat Penn). And I picked up Prefontaine’s shoes and marveled at the scribbled dates and notations he’d made on the soles, and held his letterman’s jacket in my hands. And when nobody was looking I put on Mickey Lolich’s baseball cap, and swung a Dale Murphy bat, and turned myself dizzy trying to figure out how Lance Deal might have felt ranked No. 1 in the world in the hammer throw.

You should have been there to see Gary Zimmerman’s jersey. And the collection of Olympic watches from fencer Michael Marx, who participated in five summer Games. And to see the black and white photograph of Harry Glickman making the Blazers first-ever draft selection.

I learned about the Drain Black Sox. And heard more of the deep-rooted legacies of coaches such as Ad Rutschman, Jack Dunn, Roy Love, Dick Gray and Joe Etzel, among others.

We’re in an era of economic cutbacks. In schools, sports and arts programs are the first cut. So maybe finding dollars for a Hall of Fame recognizing the state’s most influential sports personalities isn’t a high priority. But this history belongs to all of us, and if we don’t value it, nobody else will.

Said Rose: “We’re closed, and we’re looking for a new location.”

It’s what the director tells parents when they call him asking if they can bring their children to see the museum. It’s what he tells educators who ask if they can drop into the warehouse. It’s a diplomatic answer, but it’s all he has. And until someone with the connections to make it happen comes forward, it will do.

The Portland City Council has talked about revitalization, so what of the vacant buildings that might house such an important organization? The Blazers talk all the time about connecting with their past, so what of inviting Rose to set up shop at the Rose Quarter? Nike is a world leader, but does the sneaker company value its roots?

Without donations from the public, an annual induction ceremony held at Multnomah Athletic Club and some visibility created by the television project that Rose pushed along, the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame might altogether be forgotten.

Prefontaine’s mother, Elfriede, a retiree with medical bills, sends in a check every year.

She can’t be the only one who cares.