Bohls: Super conferences offer cash grabs at expense of academics, travel

While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. Re-realignment. Boy, a guy goes on two-week vacation, and the Pac-12 basically dissolves, and the Big 12 becomes a player. I get the Big Ten expansion to add USC and UCLA from the monetary value, especially in media rights income, and the desire to grow its lucrative brand to the West Coast. College football has shrunk into a two-league model. But it begs the question, can a conference have too many powerhouses (assuming Lincoln Riley recharges the Trojans, and the Bruins can stop their slide)? Also, where does academics come into play, if at all, which I think has become a rhetorical question? How much class time will these student-athletes — uh, athlete-students — miss each semester? I’d think the Big Ten would make a hard push for Notre Dame (duh) and Stanford, which would keep a rival for USC and UCLA and allow Midwest and East Coast teams the ability to fly west and stay for 10 days to play all three of the California schools to slightly lessen travel demands. … It’s clearly every conference for itself, and that saddens me greatly. We are in the age of the mega-conference, and personally if it had to happen, I’d prefer seeing four such leagues, but that ship has sailed.

2. A sad farewell. Colleague and friend Tim Griffin, a veteran sportswriter for the San Antonio Express-News for more than 25 years, died Friday after a short battle with cancer. If you ever crossed paths with Tim, you knew him as a joyful man dedicated to his craft and all loved sharing time with the personable, hard-working journalist who had a passion for all things college football. Tim leaves behind a devoted wife of almost 25 years, De De, and 17-year-old son Bradley. De De understood him better than all of us and had a deep love and appreciation for her husband, so much so that she got it when Tim showed up at the office in his full wedding regalia an hour before the ceremony to make a few more calls to sources. Tom Orsborn, an Express-News colleague of Griffin’s, captured his life and work ethic perfectly in an eloquent tribute for a man universally loved and respected. He left us far too soon.

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3. New faces. Hello, Woody Williams and Steve Rodriguez, Texas' new pitching and hitting coaches. Goodbye, Tulo. The loss of Troy Tulowitzki is a huge blow to the program since he played a large factor in drastically improving the Longhorns’ hitting and fielding. Tulowitzki told me he turned down the USC job because he “didn’t want to move the family.” He said he just wants more family time at this point in his life but plans to “consult with an MLB team or possibly college teams.” He said he'll still be around UFCU Disch-Falk Field and said it's "a special place I'll remember those three years with those players forever. I feel like I left it better than I found it, so I feel good about that." He should. … Had to ask Tulo his opinion on the future prospects of Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy winner Ivan Melendez and shortstop Trey Faltine before this week's draft. “No doubt in my mind they both will be big leaguers,” he said. “Trey is a winning player. Ivan is a rare hitter that should be a first-round pick.” … Ace pitcher/catcher Paul Skenes of Air Force remains high on Texas’ radar as a possible transfer, but he's traveling with Team USA and won't decide until after the tour. Still, I like the Longhorns' chances of landing the potential Friday night starter.

4. Talk is cheap. But it also hurt Nick Kyrgios to a certain degree when he barked incessantly at fans, his own supporters, the chair umpire and himself in his gritty loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. Yes, the flamboyant Australian adds tremendous color and flavor to a sometimes otherwise bland sport, but I’m just not a fan of a gifted player who blames others constantly for his failure and doesn’t maximize his potential. That said, the Wimbledon men’s singles final was gripping entertainment in one of the strangest All-England Lawn Tournaments ever with the absence of Roger Federer (injury) and world's No. 1 Daniil Medvedev (banishment), the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal after his riveting win overcoming Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals and the first-round defeat of Serena Williams. … And tell me again why there needs to be challenges on line calls. Why can’t the sport just be entirely enforced electronically without obtrusiveness or delay? It’s time. And, yes, football needs to go to similar television help on fourth-down and goal-line calls.

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5. By any other name. Sorry to see Heinz Field go, at least in name. Yeah, Pittsburgh's newly christened Acrisure Stadium has absolutely no ring to it at all. I hate the renaming of stadiums. Yeah, I’m a stadium snob. Maybe we should start writing the Steelers beat the Browns Sunday at the stadium formerly known as Heinz Field. After all, Acrisure is shelling out a reported $10 million a year to the Steelers but isn’t paying the media any coinage. The most hallowed stadiums I’ve ever set foot in are old Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, Lambeau Field, Rosenblatt Stadium and Fenway Park. Getting honorable mention besides Royal-Memorial Stadium obviously are the Cotton Bowl, Astrodome, Soldier Field, Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium and LSU’s Tiger Stadium. The top five are my favorites because I’m a die-hard Yankees fan who worshipped Mickey Mantle, I love old-time stadiums with history and character, the setting in Pasadena is God’s gift to football stadiums, the tundra wasn’t frozen but pretty close on my day at a Cowboys-Packers game, Rosenblatt just reeked of history and nostalgia and I loved having a brewski or two with son John Tyler and singing “Sweet Caroline” at a Boston game. I even got sentimental when I saw the small portion of saved center field wall from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh — where the Steelers once played, actually — and the home plate under glass at the academics building at the University of Pittsburgh where Bill Mazeroski hit the most reviled home run in baseball history in 1960 although I read the original location of home plate would be inside the women’s restroom.

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6. Majority rules? Interesting times at Austin Country Club where the 650 golf members will vote this month on changing parliamentary procedures and requiring a vote of a two-thirds majority to approve major, day-to-day issues such as the continued hosting of the World Golf Championship-Dell Match Play tournament. It would take a whopping 66.7% of the members to approve business like the renewal of the contract for the Dell Tournament beyond next March, the final year of the agreement. Much of the opposition to the Dell tournament has come from the older members who grouse over the disruption of their use of the golf course with overseeding, the erection and breakdown of the massive infrastructure and the tournament itself and the week preceding it. The PGA Tour could do itself a huge service and create good will by giving the members two free tickets to the tournament with the option to buy more. … Yes, I root for Tiger Woods to win this week's British Open for a fourth time, but just to see him compete is a thrill. Woods cast some shade on the LIV golf tour which has threatened to rob much of the glamor from the PGA by outbidding for the services of Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. “I don’t see how that’s in the best interests of the game,” Woods said. “They’ve turned their backs on what allowed them to get into this position. I disagree with it. … I just don’t understand it. What is the incentive to practice? What is the incentive to go out and earn it in the dirt.” He’s right. Woods added that some of the LIV players may not have the ability to play in major championships. The LIV Tour is basically offering exhibitions with outrageously high guarantees in 54-hole contests without a cut. They’re glorified appearance fees, but where’s the competition?

7. Dog days. I watched Joey Chestnut devour 63 hot dogs on the Fourth of July and I STILL have heartburn. That can’t be healthy, can it? I think my personal record is two. He didn’t come close to his goal of 80, but devouring 63 and having to put a protester in a headlock during the contest is impressive.

8. Scattershooting. While wondering whatever happened to former three-time all-conference Longhorns safety Lance Gunn.

9. On the couch: Watched “Hustle” and thought Adam Sandler has his best performance ever in this tale of a scout/wannabe coach of the 76ers who happens upon his future star in Spain and all the travails that go with his training. Gave it 7 ducks.

10. Crazy prediction: Ivan Melendez will be in the big leagues by 2024.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bohls: Watching conferences expand, implode is a sad sight to see