2011 PreSeason: Looming PR Problem For the Pac-12?

Interesting nuggets from Jon Wilner's blog - the College Hotline:

Action: The Pac-12 prepares for another bicoastal media blitz, with the first leg scheduled for Los Angeles on July 26.
Reaction I: The L.A. portion is an annual event and unavoidable, but I wonder if the conference is regretting the decision to take its show to New York and Bristol for a second time. (Its new TV deal is signed and sealed, after all — the east coast exposure isn’t nearly as important as it was last summer.) Instead of highlighting the league’s new membership and its stellar quarterbacks, the media will be locked on the Oregon mess … and the prospect of the Pac-12 having not one (USC) but two marquee teams ineligible for postseason play.
Reaction II: Even for a PR master like commissioner Larry Scott, keeping the spotlight off Chip Kelly could be an insurmountable challenge. I can’t imagine conference officials would be all that upset if Kelly happen to come down with a cold … cough, cough … before boarding the flight to New York.

So far Larry Scott gets a lot of deserved high marks for the fresh, out of the box thinking he has brought to the conference. Even though we have had our doubts we have been impressed with his efforts to build out a media empire. However, his public comments on ethics related issues have been less than stellar. It will be interesting how he handles the pre-season media blitzes around the upcoming 2011 season. Guess we will have to see how it all plays out.

GO BRUINS.