Slanted right

There are three knowns of the universe: Physics, Mathematics, and the East coast bias against the Pac-10.

For years now I have watched, heard and even felt the back pat of the East coast with their patronizing look at sports from the Pac-10 like The Big Unit to that dove he exploded. It’s preposterous. And every single year I hear the unchanged argument from both sides. It’s worse than a broken record or those YakBak toys of the mid-90s.

One coast demands respect and the other coast refuses to buckle in its ways. One would venture to guess that eventually people, after so many years and so many debates, would just give in the inevitable fate that is. The East coast will never back down despite the truth.

I have lived on both coasts and even in the middle and I have come to the conclusion that the East coast bias is not going to change, ever. I know, it’s a big news flash right?

But really to me it doesn’t matter. The bias will be here regardless of how many national championships the Pac-10 takes home. The only difference is I finally put my finger on why.

Well as they say in Wisconsin, the proof is in the pudding and the Pac-10 shouldn’t have to continue to debate with the rest of the country who is better. Yes, Florida is on one hell of a tear right now, the SEC and Big 11 are always good at football and even the ACC and Big 12 have their basketball. But the Pac-10 is always a national contender at some level in every sport. The verdict is in and the right coast might be a little perturbed. Take a gander at some statistics the right coast refuses to acknowledge.

In recent history—how about 1997—the Pac-10 has been damn good in the three major sports. In football, the Pac-10 is 7-4 in BCS games, second in winning percentage to the SEC. The Pac-10 has also been involved in the national championship race three times (lets not forget 2003).

In basketball, the Pac-10 has sent at least a few teams to the NCAA Tournament every year. On top of that they have sent five teams to the Elite Eight, three to the Final Four, two to the championship game, and one has won it all (Arizona in 1997). Those numbers only fall short of the ACC and compare quite nicely to the Big 12 and Big East.

Then there is baseball, where the Pac-10 has sent a total of 15 teams and had at least one team to the College World Series every year during this span. As well as played in the College World Series Championship Series six times and won it all twice (USC in 1998 and Oregon State in 2006).

If you lost count reading all of that, you aren’t alone.

All of that has been done in about a decade. But you know, it’s not fair to point out just the big three sports and limiting this list to last 10 years. Sports cover far more ground than just football, basketball and baseball, and Hell they go back farther than 1997. How about the all-time list? Where does the Pac-10 stand all time?

Of the top 10 schools with the most national championships, three are in the Pac-10. The schools are UCLA, Stanford and USC with nearly 300 total National Championships between the three schools. In strictly men’s sports, UCLA, Stanford, USC and California are all in the top ten and for the women’s sports, UCLA, Stanford, USC and Arizona find themselves in the top ten.

So where is this bias coming from? If the Pac-10 is a constant contender why does the East coast try to dissuade the public from the prominence of the Pac-10?

It doesn’t. The East coast bias is the biggest misnomer in the history of life. It’s not a bias, it’s a blatant disregard of facts. And there is only one type of person in the world that has a blatant disregard for facts.

Deadbeat older brothers of siblings that are in college. The East coast has big brother-little brother syndrome. It’s jealous.

Think about it. Regardless of how successful the younger siblings become, the older one still thinks they are better. Why? Because they hold true to what life used to be like. When they were bigger, stronger, faster, better. Now they are too busy trying to find ways to prove that they are still top dog instead of looking in the mirror to notice–they aren’t.

They, in this case the East coast, are still living in the parent’s basement chatting online with RxyQT81, playing PS2, downloading pictures of Jessica Alba and reminiscing about the good old days when they used to own the neighborhood. Meanwhile the younger sibling, the Pac-10, has been in school leaning about physics, math, and psychology.