Golden Nuggets: Larry Scott Updates Us on the State of the Pac-12 Network

Always on top of the Pac-12 Network developments, Jon Wilner had several questions for Larry Scott at Monday's groundbreaking ceremony at the network's San Francisco headquarters.

I asked Scott about one of the unresolved issues: Will the national and regional networks both be available within the league’s footprint, or in a specific metro area?

For example: Would a fan in Seattle who subscribes to Comcast have access to both the Pac-12/Northwest and Pac-12 National feeds?

"It’s unclear," Scott said. "Each distributor will have to make its own decision."

Comcast has committed to one feed in Seattle but would have the option to provide both Pac-12 NW on basic cable and Pac-12 National on a sports tier.

"At a minimum, (Pac-12 National) will be offered online," Scott said.

Also a note on finances:

*** The conference received what Scott called "certain pre-payments" from its deals with ESPN and Fox — money that will be used to offset the massive startup costs associated with the seven TV networks.

Scott reiterated that, from an operations standpoint, the Pac-12 Network(s) will be revenue-positive in Year One, although he doesn’t expect the league to distribute any network-related income to the schools in 2012-13.

After the jump softball is ranked 1st in the nation and the men's basketball team climbs in the latest edition of bracketology. And, of course, Ted Miller has a great Valentines Day tribute for Cal (and the rest of the Pac-12)

Football

• Tight end Harrison Wilfley is the newest JC transfer to Cal. He played at American River College in '08 and '09 before embarking on a Mormon mission in Uruguay.
• BearTerritory.net has more on the 6'5", 250lb tight end.
• Lavelle Hawkins' new deal with the Titans is worth 7.2 million dollars over 3 years.
• Ted Miller solicited Valentines from fans of each school. Here are the top submissions for Cal. They really capture the ethos of being a Cal fan: collective joy in the face of misery, and creativity and cleverness unknown to mankind. One of the winners, Cre8tivguy occasionally graces CGB with his presence.
  

California
Tylurker from Land of Oaks, Calif., writes: Why love the ursines? Because misery loves company. A couple of things: Memorial Stadium. Strawberry Canyon. Tightwad Hill. Card stunts (who still does card stunts?). Roll on you bears. Oski. Those are all grand but mostly, it's the misery.

Cre8tivguy from San Francisco writes: To My Golden Bears on Valentine's Day:

College football seems to change faster and faster,
Like a slave we accept it, like obeying a master,
But all is not lost, deep in the Berkeley lair,
For it is the home to my lovely Golden Bear,
Our players and fans are intense like Radium,
We'll defeat every foe that steps foot in our new stadium,
Our family was breached when the enemy stole Tosh,
To those I pronounce, we will firmly squash!
I cannot express my hate for those dogs,
But I'll do my best on the Pac-12 blogs,
Already looking forward to the start of Spring ball,
And I'll never again call Isi too small,
For his heart is as big as the Cal family that cares,
To all the world I shout: GOOOOO BEARS!

Softball

• The Bears defeated Syracuse 6-3 to finish the weekend a perfect 4-0.
  
• Valerie Arioto was named the Muscle Milk Student Athlete of the Week. Her stats this weekend were unbelievable: 3 home runs, 9 RBI, 1.444 slugging, .444 batting average, and a 0.00 ERA on seven innings pitched.
• Arioto was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week and the USA Softball Player of the Week. Also, the Bears have been ranked #1 in the nation. I like where this season is headed!
  

Rugby

• CalBears.com has a preview of and ticket info for the World Cup game against UBC.

Golf

• Charlie Wi finished second at the Pebble Beach PGA tour stop this weekend.
  

Soccer

• Alex Morgan scored two goals to lead the US to a 2-1 victory over New Zealand.

Gymnastics

• The men's team defeated Stanford but finished just behind no. 1 Oklahoma.
• The women's team posted its highest score in 5 years to defeat no. 12 Stanford.

Tennis

• The 7th-ranked Bears fell 4-1 to no. 3 Duke at 2012 ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships.