Weekly Six Pac: Picking the Bohns

1 . Last week, I left out news of the abrupt resignation of Mike Bohn as USC’s Athletic Director. At that point, news was still trickling out about the conditions of Bohn’s exit- some people even believed he wanted to spend more time with his family. And frankly, I already had six stories I wanted to include and never mind excluding the LA schools on their way out of the Pac. Since that time, The Athletic has done a deeper dive on Bohn’s history at Cincinnati before he arrived at USC. While there isn’t one smoking gun in either situation, Bohn comes off as a titanic jerk and one of the worst bosses you could ever work for. I take it as a sign of progress in society that being a terrible boss is a good enough reason to get fired from being a boss.

2. In much better news for the conference, Stanford and Utah will join UW in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma. Stanford spent most of the season in the top 10, but Utah has been more of a Cinderella story dating back to winning the Pac-12 Tournament. Now, they have qualified for the WCWS for the first time since 1994, though the feel-good story should probably end against UW in Game 1. Still, it’s borderline miraculous that the Pac-12 constitutes 43% of the field with Oregon and the LA schools at home.

3. I don’t like WSU or Taylor Swift, but I do like weird content, so I’m sending a link to Coug Center’s breakdown of Pac-12 schools as Taylor Swift eras. UW is classified as 1989, which might be really good or really bad. Someone will have to fill me in. Also, I think all of the eras are different albums. Is it common to call albums, “eras?” I will move on.

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

4. While we’re on the subject of things I don’t like, Oregon deserves a begrudging mention for winning the Pac-12 baseball tournament. The Ducks eliminated UW in the semifinals and beat Arizona in the finals. That final pitted the #6 seed against the #8 seed with top teams like Stanford and Oregon State exiting earlier. Oregon joins UW, Stanford, Oregon State, and Arizona as Pac-12 CWS representatives.

5. The East Bay has hemorrhaged sports franchises in the last decade. The Warriors moved to San Francisco. The Raiders fled for Vegas. Now, the A’s seem to be on their way to joining them in Vegas. That vacuum might have the surprising effect of refocusing some eyeballs on Cal sports. Write for California discusses Haas Pavilion's place in the region’s sporting history and culture. Historically, the less pro competition the Bears have had in the same market, the more fan support they have received. Now we shall see if the Mad Dog can hold up his end of the bargain.

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

6. I am loving the commitment that House of Sparky has shown to the NCAA Men’s Golf Tournament. At this point, five of the top six stories on the blog’s homepage relate to the golf tournament. The team is doing its part, where the Sun Devils won a playoff against Stanford to advance to the match-play portion of the tournament.