Lute Olson is
perturbed over PAC-10 television exposure. Unfortunately, as he
acknowledges, much of it is self-inflicted. And there is a fundamental
demographic issue: with most people living East of the Mississippi instead of
West, it's not so much Eastern bias as it is advertising to the largest mass of
people available. As long as television relies on mass advertising, this
cannot and will not change.
But for all the talk about Eastern bias, can we just admit there's a Western
bias too?
We're not talking about the media; we're talking about people who live in the
West.
In many respects, that there is a disconnect between West and East is a good
thing and based in historical realities. When you get out there, you feel
a long ways away from the East, and we'd guess most people there like it that
way. It's part of the myth of the West, and with fertile talent banks in
San Diego, L.A., Seattle, and talent in New Mexico, Arizona, and even Alaska,
PAC-10 teams can stock on talent without going too far from home.
Olson, though, wants to recruit more broadly, and thinks that better TV
exposure would help, and he's probably right.
But as much as better exposure would help, it is perhaps best seen as just
one way the PAC-10 can talk to the rest of the basketball world and engage its
imagination. Playing home-and-home is another. They lost at UVa this
year, but it was such a rare event that it was noteworthy. There's more
than one way to skin a Wildcat, and going on the road more would help Arizona,
and the rest of the PAC-10, a lot.