San Diego State has had special moments in its Intercollegiate Programs.

It has also had terrible setbacks too.

This should be a special moment of achievement, but it does not feel that way.

At this hour on a Wednesday, San Diego State becomes a flagship member of the rebuilt PAC 12-conference.

The community could view this as an honor, though this is not the PAC 12-we grew up with, you know, the era of USC-UCLA…the growth of Oregon-Washington…the Bay area schools Cal-Stanford…and the Grand Canyon state schools, Arizona-Arizona State are no longer there.

Yes, Oregon State, with a 100-year tradition of athletics and its surviving partner Washington State, kept the flame alive for the rebirth of the conference on the West Coast.  The Beavers and Cougars deserve a reward for leading this drive to rebuild.

The Aztecs, Boise State, flag carriers of the Mountain West, plus Gonzaga’s basketball powerhouse from the WCC, come on board.

Our community should spend time understanding what SDSU’s leadership has accomplished.

In modern day athletics, never has someone like AD-John David Wicker and his staff, fought thru as much adversity to get to this accomplishment.

His body language included equal portions of anger, frustration, resentment, sadness and hopelessness.

But the end result of gettng to today included equal parts of professionalism, determination, skill, intelligence and business acumen to deliver the Aztecs to a new mailing address.

From the brick walls they had to scale because of USC-UCLA…to the utter failure of PAC 12-leadership, to schools choosing greed over heritage and well being of all the partner..to the nastiness of leadership of the Mountain West Conference’s ungli retribution lawsuits, the people on the 3rd floor of the Aztec Athletic Center never gave up hope, vision or belief they could make this come together.

Add in the chaos that became a tidal wave of adversity with the NIL crisis, the transfer portal, and the poaching of players and institutions, you must give respect to the resolute leadership SDSU has gotten thru this terrible group of years.

Think Aztecs football of yesteryear, and think Don Coryell.  Think Marshall Faulk’s era.  And respect what Rocky Long-Brady Hoke stood for.

Remember all the greatness of the Steve Fisher-Brian Dutcher March Madness years, have installed joy in our soul.

Look no farther than Viejas Arena and the potential of Snapdragon Stadium.

Remember the heart of Tony Gwynn and baseball, the special seasons of the Olympic based sports, and the fabulous fundraising dedication of so many alums and private citizens.

I don’t know nor understand the malaise in our community from those who purport to be ‘Aztecs for Life’.  I fail to grasp, after the Chargers turned their back on 55-years of loyalty, their fans did not turn to SDSU as their team.

I feel for how hard the job is for Sean Lewis to navigate a rebuild where there no longer is continuity on anybody’s roster, though he and his people are. ahead of the curve on how to find and develop players.

And on a day we should celebrate this new day in Aztecs history, it does not appear to be on anybody’s radar.  Maybe it is because we are in the middle of the global festival that is World Cup Soccer, or maybe it is the life-death struggle of the Padres to stay in a playoff race.

Maybe it is a dose of reality that the new PAC-12 is nothing more than a glorified MWC-2.0.

But our community and my media cohorts should say ‘Job well done’ to JD Wicker, who stayed true to his conviction, this is a good school, a great place to live, and there is a strong foundation to build on.  He didn’t quit, didn’t run to a new job, stayed loyal.  That counts alot compared to other schools, other leaders, other outcomes.

Wave the PAC-12 banner with the hope we can invoke something akin to the old baseball axiom ‘Player to be named later’ in this deal.  

In this new day maybe we say, “Fans and excitement ,under a new flag,  to be delivered shortly to SDSU”

Wicker and his staff deserve that sooner than later. His leadership qualifies him as a ‘Aztec-4-Life’. 

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