A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2022
SPORTS
COLLEGE ATHLETICS CONFERENCE REALIGNMENTS
Pac-12’s Kliavkoff jabs Big 12, touts future after USC, UCLA
BY GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Pac-
12 Commissioner George
Kliavkoff said his conference
is far from finished, despite
the defections of Southern
California and UCLA.
Kliavkoff confirmed the Pac-
12 is actively exploring expan-
sion and lobbed several feisty
jabs at the Big 12 during an
eventful opening speech at his
conference’s football media day
Friday, July 29 in the nation’s
second-largest media market.
While painting a promising
picture of the league’s future
even after USC and UCLA
leave for the Big Ten in 2024,
Kliavkoff said the Pac-12 in-
tends to keep its current mem-
bers while entertaining new
additions.
The commissioner also ac-
knowledged frustration with
the upheaval created by the
Los Angeles schools’ shocking
decision, saying he had spent
the past month “trying to de-
fend against grenades being
lobbed in from every corner of
the Big 12 trying to destabilize
our remaining conference.”
Kliavkoff responded to Big
12 Commissioner Brett Yor-
mark’s recent declaration that
his league was “open for busi-
ness” in expansion by suggest-
ing those moves could include
Big 12 schools coming his way,
instead of the opposite as-
sumption.
“With respect to the Big 12
being open for business, I ap-
preciate that,” Kliavkoff said.
“We haven’t decided whether
we’re going shopping there or
not.”
“I understand why they’re
doing it, when you look at the
relative media value between
the two conferences,” Kliavkoff
added later. “I get it. I get why
they’re scared, why they’re try-
ing to destabilize it. I was just
tired of that. That’s probably not
the most collegial thing I’ve ever
said.”
Later, Kliavkoff told The As-
sociated Press that he was eager
to speak up colorfully in defense
of the Pac-12.
“I wanted to exude confi-
dence in the conference, be-
cause that’s what I’m seeing
from our presidents and chan-
cellors and athletic directors,”
Kliavkoff said. “It’s my job to
carry that message, and I’m
happy to do so.”
Still, the Pac-12 has lost its
Los Angeles flagships after a
century of history, and Kliavkoff
acknowledged the widespread
speculation about the long-
term health of his compara-
tively underfunded West Coast
conference. The commissioner
insisted the Pac-12 will have a
stronger base after its new me-
dia rights deal, and that footing
could lead to expansion.
Kliavkoff understandably
didn’t identify specific schools
as candidates for expansion,
although San Diego State has
been repeatedly mentioned by
others. He reiterated the league’s
determination to keeping a
football presence in the tal-
ent-rich, heavily populated end
of California.
“Southern California is really
important to us,” Kliavkoff said.
“I think there are different ways
of approaching staying part of
Southern California. We may
end up playing a lot of football
Serena Morones for The Oregonian/File
Oregon State’s Champ Flemings (2) goes up for the ball against Ore-
gon’s Verone McKinley III (23) as the Beavers visit the No. 11 Ducks in
their annual college football rivalry game on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021,
at Autzen Stadium in Eugene. Oregon won 38-29.
games in LA.”
Kliavkoff expanded on those
thoughts later to the AP: “LA
is part of the Pac-12, even if
UCLA and USC are not. We’re
not giving up on LA. We play
the Rose Bowl here and intend
to play more games here. And
we’re not giving up on that. We
like it here.”
The two-year transition is
a weird challenge for all par-
ties, but Kliavkoff said he has
instructed everyone to treat
the Trojans and Bruins will all
proper respect. Both USC coach
Lincoln Riley and UCLA’s Chip
Kelly both say they’re on board
with a move that will dramat-
ically increase both of their
schools’ revenue and their re-
cruiting reach.
“It’s an awkward situation
for everybody,” said Kelly, who
soared to coaching promi-
nence 13 years ago at Oregon.
“I’ve had a great experience in
this league. I owe my life to the
Pac-12. I appreciate what this
league has done. ... It is what it
is. It’s realignment. It’s going on,
governed by television. Those
are things out of my control.”
Kliavkoff speculated that the
remaining Pac-12 schools are
likely to get a significant boost
in recruiting fertile Southern
California in every sport ex-
cept football, given that many
Olympic sport athletes and
their families aren’t going to
want to fly off to the Midwest
and East Coast regularly for
competition.
He reiterated that the Pac-12
expects to keep its remaining
members despite widespread
speculation about both the Big
12 and the Big Ten looking to
expand. Oregon and Wash-
ington were linked to a future
move to the Big Ten immedi-
ately after USC and UCLA an-
nounced their departures, while
the Big 12 has been linked to
the Arizona schools, Utah and
Colorado.
Vin Scully, Dodgers broadcaster FORMER OREGON STAR PREPARES FOR 3RD NFL SEASON
Herbert focuses on footwork
for nearly 70 years, dies at 94
BY BETH HARRIS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Hall of
Fame broadcaster Vin Scully,
whose dulcet tones provided
the soundtrack of summer
while entertaining and in-
forming Dodgers fans in
Brooklyn and Los Angeles for
67 years, died Tuesday night,
Aug. 2. He was 94.
Scully died at his home in
the Hidden Hills neighbor-
hood of Los Angeles, accord-
ing to the team after being
informed by family members.
No cause of death was pro-
vided.
“He was the best there ever
was,” pitcher Clayton Kershaw
said after the Dodgers game
in San Francisco. “Just such a
special man. I’m grateful and
thankful I got to know him as
well as I did.”
As the longest tenured
broadcaster with a single
team in pro sports history,
Scully saw it all and called
it all. He began in the 1950s
era of Pee Wee Reese and
Jackie Robinson, on to the
1960s with Don Drysdale
and Sandy Koufax, into the
1970s with Steve Garvey and
Don Sutton, and through the
1980s with Orel Hershiser
and Fernando Valenzuela. In
the 1990s, it was Mike Piazza
and Hideo Nomo, followed
by Kershaw, Manny Ramirez
and Yasiel Puig in the 21st
century.
“You gave me my Wild
Horse name. You gave me
love. You hugged me like a
father,” tweeted Puig, the tal-
ented Cuban-born outfielder
who burned brightly upon his
Dodgers debut in 2013. “I will
never forget you, my heart is
broken.”
The Dodgers changed play-
ers, managers, executives,
owners — and even coasts —
but Scully and his soothing,
insightful style remained a
constant for the fans.
He opened broadcasts with
the familiar greeting, “Hi, ev-
erybody, and a very pleasant
good evening to you wherever
you may be.”
Ever gracious both in per-
son and on the air, Scully con-
sidered himself merely a con-
duit between the game and
the fans.
After the Dodgers’ 9-5 win,
the Giants posted a Scully
tribute on the videoboard.
“There’s not a better sto-
ryteller and I think every-
one considers him family,”
Dodgers manager Dave
Roberts said. “He was in our
living rooms for many gen-
erations. He lived a fantastic
life, a legacy that will live on
forever.”
Although he was paid by
the Dodgers, Scully was un-
afraid to criticize a bad play or
a manager’s decision, or praise
an opponent while spinning
stories against a backdrop of
routine plays and noteworthy
achievements. He always said
he wanted to see things with
his eyes, not his heart.
“We have lost an icon,” team
president and CEO Stan Kas-
ten said. “His voice will always
be heard and etched in all of
our minds forever.”
Vincent Edward Scully was
born Nov. 29, 1927, in the
Bronx. He was the son of a silk
salesman who died of pneu-
monia when Scully was 7.
His mother moved the family
to Brooklyn, where the red-
haired, blue-eyed Scully grew
up playing stickball in the
streets.
As a child, Scully would
grab a pillow, put it under
the family’s four-legged radio
and lay his head directly un-
der the speaker to hear what-
ever college football game
was on the air. With a snack
of saltine crackers and a glass
of milk nearby, the boy was
transfixed by the crowd’s roar
that raised goosebumps. He
thought he’d like to call the
action himself.
Scully, who played outfield
for two years on the Ford-
ham University baseball team,
began his career by working
baseball, football and basket-
ball games for the university’s
radio station.
At age 22, he was hired by
a CBS radio affiliate in Wash-
ington, D.C.
He soon joined Hall of
Famer Red Barber and Con-
nie Desmond in the Brooklyn
Dodgers’ radio and television
booths. In 1953, at age 25,
Scully became the youngest
person to broadcast a World
Series game, a mark that still
stands.
He moved west with the
Dodgers in 1958. Scully called
three perfect games — Don
Larsen in the 1956 World Se-
ries, Sandy Koufax in 1965
and Dennis Martinez in 1991
— and 18 no-hitters.
He also was on the air when
Don Drysdale set his scoreless
innings streak of 58 2/3 in-
nings in 1968 and again when
Hershiser broke the record
with 59 consecutive scoreless
innings 20 years later.
When Hank Aaron hit his
715th home run to break Babe
Ruth’s record in 1974, it was
against the Dodgers and, of
course, Scully called it.
“A Black man is getting a
standing ovation in the Deep
South for breaking a record
of an all-time baseball idol,”
Scully told listeners. “What a
marvelous moment for base-
ball.”
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BY JOE REEDY
Associated Press
COSTA MESA, Calif. —
Despite being the Offensive
Rookie of the Year in 2020 and
then reaching the Pro Bowl
last season, Los Angeles Char-
gers quarterback Justin Her-
bert still has room to improve
going into his third season.
Herbert is focused on his
footwork. He made it a major
focus of his offseason pro-
gram and has continued to
hone in on it during the first
week of training camp.
“I think all of the drops
that tie into the routes —
three-step, five-step, sev-
en-step — and being smooth
in progressions and going
through all of the reads,”
said Herbert about what he
wanted to improve.
“I’m still experiencing the
young aspects of playing in
the NFL. I have a lot to learn,
but hopefully a lot of room
for improvement, as well.”
Footwork has been at the
top of Herbert’s improvement
list going back to when he
was preparing for the draft.
He did not take any snaps
under center during his four
years at the University of Or-
egon.
Honing in on footwork
took a little bit of a back-
seat last season as Herbert
was getting up to speed with
coach Brandon Staley, offen-
sive coordinator Joe Lom-
bardi and quarterback coach
Shane Day.
Now that he’s more com-
fortable in the offense, Her-
bert’s work on his footwork
has become a bigger focus.
Day — also the Chargers
passing game coordinator
— has noticed improvement
from last year’s training camp
to offseason workouts and
the first week of preseason
practices.
“The evolution of that
footwork is pretty cool,” Day
said. “The second year, kind
of once you have the offense
down, then you can focus on
the fundamentals. It’s been
working through that pro-
gression of what’s best and
me learning what his body
does best too, because he’s a
top quarterback. And then
figuring out how to imple-
ment all that stuff as we go.”
Herbert’s learning curve of
learning how to operate un-
der center is part of a process
that most quarterbacks have
to go through when they
come into the NFL.
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