THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Fed up with the money grab which is college sports these days

I’m sick of this brawl over college football realignment.

So much of it makes me want to skip breakfast.

Start with this …

About 95 percent (or more) of what we hear comes from people who don’t know a damn thing.

The rest is leaked by folks who are ACTUALLY involved in what has become shameless backstabbing for the next pot of cash.

With so many of the schools getting screwed (or doing it to each other) being west of the Rockies, the mud puddle of correct information is sloppier than usual.

A huge swath of American football fans don’t know or care what happens to universities on this side of the country.

They’re barely paying attention.

For instance …

Front Office Sports, a huge and well-funded East Coast online media source which covers the business side of our fun and games, led off on Monday with an update on the ACC being one vote short of offering invitations to Stanford and Cal.

The site’s next item was titled: Will the Pac-12 Carry On?

Here’s the first paragraph …

“Oregon State president Jayathi Murthy released a statement pleading for the four remaining Pac-12 schools to stick together, which in his mind would lead to the best result for all involved.”

SHEESH!

I’m sure they made this a short little snippet because they were thinking that, hey, obviously Oregon State doesn’t want to get left out of a big conference.

And who cares about the Beavers, anyhow?

In fact, there was a much better reason to keep that piece brief, gang …

Jayathi Murthy has nothing “in HIS mind,” because the president in Corvallis is a woman — which gives you an idea how much research was involved at Front Office Sports.

Murthy is an Indian-American mechanical engineer, and she’s a national leader in higher education engineering teaching, research and service.

But, shoot, what’s that silliness compared to how many millions get sucked into massive football programs?

Naturally, the departure of Oregon and Washington to giant paydays at the Big Ten has caused plenty of resentment at the universities left behind.

It also has aimed a blinding spotlight at Nike founder Phil Knight, who essentially decided who would get mega-millions — and who wouldn’t.

Knight, who got his undergrad degree at Oregon and MBA from Stanford, has donated boatloads of money to both schools.

When the rubber met the road, though, he gave Oregon the go-ahead to stab its conference brethren (including Stanford) right between the shoulder blades.

That allowed Washington to follow the Duckies along, because no matter WHAT they say on Montlake, U-Dub was going nowhere without Oregon.

By the way, mighty Oregon wrapped up the 2022 regular season by losing to Oregon State — which then went on to hammer Florida 30-3 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

ONE OF the things that really, truly bothers me about all this realignment (which is actually just distribution of cash) is the hideous sneering now going on from the new big-money schools to the poor minnows who are trying just to pay the bills.

I realize some of this is social media stuff, which we all should ignore religiously.

Still …

It’s out there.

UW fans can’t wait to get on some forum and make fun of Wazzu — “welcoming” them to the Mountain West.

Hahaha.

Listen, there’s NOTHING wrong with the Mountain West 
Conference, and if Washington State and Oregon State wind up there, fine.

The Big Ten and the SEC aren’t exactly the Ivy League, but suddenly they sound like Oxford and Cambridge — simply because a TV network has chosen to hand them an obscene amount of money.

Obviously, USC needs the injection up to $70 million or whatever it is, you know, after losing to Tulane (and its $7 million TV revenue with the American Athletic Conference) in last year’s Cotton Bowl.

Listen, these so-called smaller universities — and remember, this isn’t about the schools, merely the football programs — are fine places to enjoy yourself while getting an education.

Some have brutal academics, as well.

Try to waltz your way through one of the service academies.

The bottom line here, after all the shouting, the lying, the underhanded treatment of conference partners, the insults that have resulted, the whole ugly nine yards, is very simple.

The entire system is bonkers when Mississippi State gets $80 million (soon headed to $100 million), while San Diego State gets $5 million from the same network.

That’s nuts.

Do they need FORTY TIMES more money to run an athletic program in Starkville than down by the border?

Give me a break.

As for Oregon and Washington …

Take your loot and shut up.

Have fun, but remember …

All you really EARNED was a cuddle from Phil Knight.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”