According to stories in the Daily Star this morning, our new commissioner was hired mainly because he knew how to "follow the hockey puck" as a shrewd digital leader in the entertainment business, according to Oregon president Michael Schill, who was acting as the PAC-12 spokesman yesterday, during the announcement of George K as our new commissioner...

According to Schill, "what drew us to GK was his ability to see where the hockey puck was going to go...it attracted all of us"...

This means that George can figure out ways to create money streams for the conference like he did for MLB Advanced Media years ago by "figuring out a way to sell team logos as cell phone screen savers for $2.49 each that lead to tens of millions of sales, that made a lot of money for his employer at the time"...

More importantly he has to figure out a way to fix the "league wide reputation as a powder-puff football league" according to Greg Hansen in his sports column in the Daily Star today...

The big question will be whether a man with a college rowing background, while in Boston decades ago, can figure out how best to resurrect the PAC's football deficiencies to make them more competitive with the top dogs of the college football world in other conferences...

When asked about that he replied "I believe the solution to elevating PAC-12 football is a combination of addressing its structural issues and having a more focused approach on recruiting"...

One structural issue would be to expand the current college football play-off system so it includes many more teams in the playoffs, rather than the current system that only includes four teams...

Another might be to reduce the number of conference games PAC teams play each season to allow for less cannibalism with the resultant production of more wins, against teams they can beat, in order to keep up with what the SEC and other conferences do to ensure postseason participation...

I would also guess that getting better bowl alignments with higher status bowls would also be a structural issue to address...

Additionally, I would guess that moving the PAC headquarters from SF to a more glorified sports destination like Las Vegas would prompt more notice across the country than what being close to the Silicon Valley fosters...

As far as recruiting goes, perhaps the commissioner can send out a memo to head coaches across the PAC that says the days of recruiting "our kind of guys" is over and a more analytic approach needs to be used...

Would the new commissioner provide the necessary intellectual and financial resources to help with recruiting in this digital age..??

We all know that ASU, under Herm, has taken a more focused approach to recruiting and the results have been impressive, at least on paper, so far...

It is very clear that although Olympic Sports are wonderful in their own right they do not pay the bills so the focus of the new commissioner will be on ways to enhance both football and basketball...

So, can a former college "rower" figure out how to make us a better football and basketball conference that generates huge amounts of revenue for each school..??

I guess we'll find out soon, right..??

At the very least, the new commissioner seems very likeable unlike his predecessor...

Go Devils!!!

The Sun Devils took game 1 from the Beavers at Muni in dramatic fashion as Ethan Long hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to seal the 9-6 win.

@Devil Dust seems to stay on top of the conference standings and he will be happy to know that means ASU jumps to 4th and within semi striking distance of 1st place with 8 games remaining.

In game 1 I found myself thinking "these are the kind of games we need to win". The Devils found a way. happy for them.

But as nice as game 1 was, game 2 and 3 matter, as we all know and here are some things that I'll be watching in game 2 as the Devils go for the series win.

1) Justin Fall: The Red Shirt Junior was likely the series MVP against Cal after getting the complete game win on Saturday. But, it took him 133 pitches to finish the game which is absurd for any time let alone a regular season game. I don't have any credibility in these matters, but as a fan of the kid I hope JK takes it easy on him this week. If he only throws 50 pitches how well equipped is the Sun Devil bullpen to handle the Oregon State line up in game 2? I wouldn't be shocked if he was moved to Sunday just to get him an extra day.

2) Defense or Hitting: After several years of poor defense, Smith has a fantastic defense in Tempe this year lead by 4th year man Drew Swift who is a wizard at SS. Catcher and RF are in similar points right now in that Ferri and Murphy are plus defenders but have been a liability at the plate. at catcher Baez is the hot bat but is a downgrade defensively while Higgins in RF also has the much better hitting statistics while Murphy is really fantastic defensively. If you are Smith do you go with the gloves or the bats at C and in RF?

3) 30 wins: If the Sun Devils win Saturday by my count they will win that 30th game which is important to some people.

What are you watching in game 2?

How's everyone's weekend going? Been spending a good amount of time at the pool.

Follow along for updates on game 2 of Arizona State (29-15, 13-9 Pac-12) vs. Oregon State (31-16, 13-9).

Follow for updates for Arizona State (28-15, 12-9 Pac-12) vs. Oregon State (31-15, 13-8 Pac-12) game 1 of 3.

We all know how much Mike Leach loves to involve the tight end in his offense, and as a result Mississippi State tight end 6-5 240-pound Geor'quarius Spivey, put himself in the portal. we mentioned for a while that this is a position that ASU is looking to add a player to the current roster and thus are recruiting him along with Texas Tech, Utah, Indiana, Louisana Tech, and to a lesser extent Auburn. He would have three years of eligibility left, but not expected to play more than two and bring a level of experience that aside from Curtis Hodges no other scholarship player in Tempe has and would still be in Tempe after Hodges exhausted his eligibility. So a great current depth player and perhaps someone who could be your best tight end in 2022.

I'm told a decision should happen before the end of the month, and thus Spivey won't take any visits in June, etc. before announcing. In fact, he's expected to be in the school of his choice during the month of June.

With 13 home runs in the last 14 games, Friday night at Phoenix Muni was in many ways just another typical performance by Ethan Long. Then again, walk-off home runs are far from routine and the freshman continued in his dream season with that feat in a comeback win over Oregon State. Zach Keenan's recap

Can somebody please help me understand how Josh Christopher was such a highly regarded recruit? Not trying to be harsh, but I don't see one thing he does well.

First round of the NCAA's against Michigan 9-5. Just happy to see ASU win in any sport and advance.

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Anybody have a guess? Luck is out. Honestly thought Ray Anderson would be an awesome Commish.

Kind of feel like Diversity will play a big part in selection. Amy Brooks, Gloria Nevarez probables.

The Oklahoma commit is planning a trip to ASU now:

As luck would have it ASU is more acquainted than any other school with the Pac-12 new commissioner George Kliavkoff, hosting him on the day of his introduction. ASU AD Ray Anderson and Deputy AD Jean Boyd shared their in-person impressions of the conference's new leader. Story by Mac Friday

"I like how coach Hurley lets his guards play, run and shoot. He gives his players a lot of freedom, and you don’t have to look at the bench when you make a mistake." This is how coveted Top-100 2021 point guard Ty Ty Washington views the Sun Devils who for a while now have been pursuing him in earnest.

Ty Ty Washington enjoying his recruitment with the hometown school

Jayden Daniels--7-13 44 yds

Series 1--JD 4-6, 29 yds
1)COMP-Swing pass to White 5 yds behind LOS for 7 yds (nice blocks by Conyers on D Black and Wilson on Lucas)
2)INC-overthrows LVBS on 5 yd crossing route where LVBS shortens it to 3 yards when he avoids getting tangled up with Conyers who is shoved into the route by Soelle (some penalty called)
3)COMP-9 yd curl to LVBS, JD's 2nd read, good for 10 yds
4)INC-10 yd curl to Andre Johnson well covered by Lucas, JD's 2nd or 3rd read
5)COMP-flare route to LVBS for 7 yds and 1st down
6)RPO/Zone read--sprint out right and both Wilson and Hatch blankets by coverage and JD takes off on the ground
7)COMP-White behind LOS in flat for 5 yds

Series 2--0-2, 0 yds
1)INC--5 yd slant to Andre Johnson thown a bit low and thru his hands
2)Bootleg does not fool anyone
3)INC--5 yd curl by Ngata goes right thru both hands


Series 3--2-3, 10 yds
1)COMP-5 yd out to LVBS
2)COMP-5 yd curl to Conyers
3)RPO--JD has room to run
4)sack or other- JD steps up into pocket to avoid rush of Travez Moore and finds Hatch who has broken his route and D Black allows him to break free.......whistle likely blew prior to completion due to likely sack/other
5)INC--JD overthrows LVBS on a 10 yard out---Pesefea easily beat Hattis' pathetic effort and applied pressure

Turk booms a 59 yarder and Jac Jac has to backup 15 yds to field it

Then Feely kicks linedrive KO to the 2 and it bounces off Jac Jac's chest and he stumbles and fumbles it 5 yards forward before picking it up and ending any potential eyebrows raised by pro scouts in attendance

Series 4-- 1-2, 5 yds
1)COMP- 5yd curl to Conyers
2)sackish--Forman bull rushes Henderson back into fullback...who pulls up lame... and pressures JD
3)RPO/zone read and Matus/Merlin blow it up

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On this episode, Ray Anderson and I discuss the state of some key programs, how the pandemic has impacted ASU and will continue to do so moving forward, the outlook for fan attendance this fall, how Name Image and Likeness and transfer rules will change college sports, the critical issues facing the Pac-12, Larry Scott's tenure, and much more. Stream above or listen on all major podcast platforms.

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This dude is 6'1 190lbs and athletic. Could start at Safety for ASU immediately. Prime recruit out of Florida and was extremely productive in High School.

Teammate of two of ASU's commits from Florida

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Ethan Long continued his historic freshman season, with his 13th HR of the year Tuesday afternoon.
Zach Keenan's recap of ASU's 14-11 win over Nevada: https://arizonastate.rivals.com/new...d-the-sun-devils-way-to-14-11-win-over-nevada

Just posted on Twitter. What is going on? Maybe he did say MBA.

12.3 ppg but more impressively 43.8% from 3-point range

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This SoCal tight end is one that ASU has been pursuing very hard as of late. We may be a good several months before he makes his decision but the Sun Devils have been resonating quite well with him

I always enjoy the addicted to quack staff, who are much more professional than their name sounds They always do their homework before they interview me which is why our interviews are pretty granular in nature

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