Packing 10 says it, says it all, Mark. I can't help but think about Frank Kush. I landed in Phoenix more years ago than I can remember. My first assignment was to pick up the Arizona State football beat. It was August 1977. With a Wyatt Earp-like glint in one eye, Kush looked at me, asked me what-in-the hell was I doing here and where-in-the-hell had I come from. I thought he was about to order me to run up Kush Mountain at Tontozona, ASU's old preseason camp near Payson. Anyway, I told him I had been covering Bobby Bowden and his first couple of years at Florida State. That got his attention. He was curious about Bowden and FSU. He said that ASU and FSU were similar. ASU beat FSU in the first Fiesta Bowl in a memorable game. The two schools already had a great baseball rivalry. He said ASU and FSU could join up, create an Outsiders Conference. But, he added, we're moving out of the WAC and into the Pac. "We're a bigger draw here, in the middle of the landlocked desert, than those LA schools are,'' he said. The Sun Devils were. They aren't any more. They've lost their identity. They're scrambling, hoping, I think, to land in the Big 12. I'm not exactly sure what happened over the many years. Phoenix's explosive growth was a factor. The city became a big-league market and ASU turned into a commuter school. There are lots of reasons, I guess. But the biggest one, I think, is simple. You mentioned it in a conversation we had not long ago about Florida State, post-Bowden. Above all, ASU lost Kush. No conference alignment will ever change that.
It's true. It's like Nebraska and Osborne, Arizona and Tomey, even USC and Carroll. You better appreciate the great ones when they're there.
Packing 10 says it, says it all, Mark. I can't help but think about Frank Kush. I landed in Phoenix more years ago than I can remember. My first assignment was to pick up the Arizona State football beat. It was August 1977. With a Wyatt Earp-like glint in one eye, Kush looked at me, asked me what-in-the hell was I doing here and where-in-the-hell had I come from. I thought he was about to order me to run up Kush Mountain at Tontozona, ASU's old preseason camp near Payson. Anyway, I told him I had been covering Bobby Bowden and his first couple of years at Florida State. That got his attention. He was curious about Bowden and FSU. He said that ASU and FSU were similar. ASU beat FSU in the first Fiesta Bowl in a memorable game. The two schools already had a great baseball rivalry. He said ASU and FSU could join up, create an Outsiders Conference. But, he added, we're moving out of the WAC and into the Pac. "We're a bigger draw here, in the middle of the landlocked desert, than those LA schools are,'' he said. The Sun Devils were. They aren't any more. They've lost their identity. They're scrambling, hoping, I think, to land in the Big 12. I'm not exactly sure what happened over the many years. Phoenix's explosive growth was a factor. The city became a big-league market and ASU turned into a commuter school. There are lots of reasons, I guess. But the biggest one, I think, is simple. You mentioned it in a conversation we had not long ago about Florida State, post-Bowden. Above all, ASU lost Kush. No conference alignment will ever change that.