Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

A critic of this blog headline might say that I arrived at this position – not rooting as much for University of Oregon football — because of last weekend’s underwhelming performance.

I suppose, partly yes.

But the real reason is that, after thinking about this off and on for several months, I decry what the U of O – and other West Coast universities – did:  They went for the money, loyalty be damned.

Sure, heading for the money dominates many sports, including one of my favorites, golf, where many top players bolted for the now three-year-old LIV Tour rather than staying with the PGA Tour, which had made them rich…rich enough.

But when the U of O bolted for the Big 10 (which, I add, why is it still called the Big 10 when it now includes 18 institutions?), it left Oregon which had given it years of support.

At one point, as the bolting occurred, U of O President Karl Scholz said “the university left the Pac-12 to remain financially stable and self-sufficient, noting that its athletic department was self-funded and would remain so.  The move to the Big Ten will provide ‘stability and visibility’ for the Ducks.”

Sounds okay, I suppose.

But the statement turns it back on the Northwest.  Going for “the money” instead of making things better here.

Joining the so-called “Big 10” will mean one thing for football, which has money to burn.  But it will mean for other sports, with a lot of travel out of the West Coast.

So, enough of the U of O for me.

I also worry about the future of the PAC 2 – Oregon State University and Washington State University.  They deserve consideration, whatever that may be, as they strive to survive.

For now, good that they have stayed home —  unlike the U of O and the University of Washington.