East/West...The Unstated Rivalry

One of the best days of my life was when Arizona State beat Wisconsin at Madison 49-0 and Arizona beat Ohio State in Columbus 10-7.  That was back when I was attached to a team because my dad, who was a Sun Devil, brainwashed me.  When I moved to Miami in years to come, I would have to wait until Monday to get an Arizona State score.  This is because the media is so slanted to the East Coast and West Coast night games do not make the east coast deadline.  A couple years after college, I was back in Phoenix and they created a Fiesta Bowl so that Arizona State could go to a bowl game.  They beat Pitt with Anthony Dorsett and Florida State in the first games of the Fiesta Bowl.

Things really have not changed much.  An SEC team will always be in the BCS game period. Hey, that conference is great.  But being tied into CBS for every game does not hurt their cause. There have been a couple years where USC could have and probably was the best team in the country.  

Lets face it...most of the country would not know that Utah had a very nice team and had a chance against the Crimson Tide.   If you live East of the Mississippi, chances are you do not see them play.  In fact, you have to look real hard to find their games.  All year we heard the Pac-10 was a weak conference, and they go undefeated in post season bowl games.  In fact, there is probably a good chance a Pac-10 team that plays on Saturday night does not have their game score in the New York Times Sunday edition.  

So the next time you see a school you think is obscure from the west half of the United States win against one of the traditional powers don't be so surprised.  They've been playing great ball for years and it won't quit anytime soon.

.........................................................................................................................................................................  I meant to put this in a couple of weeks ago as an amen when UCLA did not score in the last 6 minutes against a very average Arizona State team at Pauley Pavillion.  Then I meant to post about a week ago when the Bruins hung 90 on Cal.  Yesterday the Bruins smoked the Fighting Irish on national TV with a 10 AM start time so that the people of the east coast could see the game on prime time.  Now I may change my mind about the Bruins.  I hope the last 2 games were not a mirage.  Keep letting the horses run coach Howland, that is the way UCLA basketball was meant to be played.  It may be another final four this year for the Bruins.  That would be four in a row.  And this looks like another year when anything could and probably will happen.  At the first of the year, the Tar Heals looked invincible, but now it looks like anything can and will happen