I couldn't resist taking a jab at the daily bark-n-fart:
The article by Ms Carlson published by the Oklahoman, today, was a complete disservice to your readers. I find it interesting how the reporter took information from an article published on August 20th by the SF Examiner(1), added several personal opinions, and passed it off as "this-is-how-it-really-is".
It's a shame that the readers have to dig up the facts on our own. It appears that the writer did not check the status of conference expansion. Difficult information to obtain, you ask? No, not at all. The Deseret News(2) reported that the conference expansion was voted on, in -- get this -- JUNE. The blog post said, "My colleague Dirk Facer checked out whether anything can be done to keep Utah and Colorado out of the Pac-10 and found out there isn't. The final vote was taken in June." If the Deseret News could verify the status, well.......
Ms Carlson could have added more innuendo, if she so wished. She could have opined on how Mr Dickey and Mr Young feel about conference expansion. For background, Mr Dickey has covered Bay Area sports since 1963, and Mr Young was a UCLA chancellor from 1968 - 1997. The writer could have speculated further that perhaps these two "gentlemen" are traditionalists, and she could have wondered aloud about how one, or both, felt about conference expansion 30 years ago (when Arizona and Arizona State were added).
Alas, SB Nation(3) beat her to it; "The hopes of folks like Young and Dickey is that the presidents and chancellors will now overturn the decision (about which they were presumably consulted) to bring Colorado and Utah into the league. Good luck with that." Please note the key phrases in this quote, "...hopes...", and "...will now overturn the decision".
It's amusing that the readers have to uncover the facts for your reporters. Perhaps we could be paid for our efforts? No way? Oh well, it was worth a try.
(1) -
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Di...10-Conference-not-all-positive-101138474.html
(2) -
http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/41/10009807/Rockmonster-unplugged-Utah-Meets-Pac-10-Opposition.html
(3) -
http://www.sbnation.com/2010/8/20/1634245/pac-10-realignment-expansion-chuck-young