FUTURE PAC-12 CONFERENCE FOOTBALL SCHEDULES ANNOUNCED

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--The Pac-10 announced today the 2011 Pac-12 football schedule and the eight-year rotation model used for future scheduling.

The 2011 season begins on Saturday, September 3 and culminates Saturday, December 3, with the first-ever Pac-12 Championship game. That game will be played at the home site of the division champion with the best overall conference record.

The 2012 schedule will include the same set of opponents as the 2011 schedule, with games played at opposite sites. Dates of those games are to be determined.

“We are pleased to follow the announcement of the Pac-12 North-South divisional alignment with the release of our 2011 football schedule, and a future conference football scheduling model that maintains important traditional rivalries, and will create some very exciting match-ups in our new 12-team conference,” stated Commissioner Larry Scott.

2011 Pac-12 Football Schedule
Thurs., Sept. 1
Montana State at Utah

Sat., Sept. 3
Northern Arizona at Arizona
UC Davis at Arizona State
Minnesota at USC
UCLA at Houston
California (game to be scheduled)
San Jose State at Stanford
Oregon vs. LSU
Oregon State (game to be scheduled)
Eastern Washington at Washington
Idaho State at Washington State
Colorado at Hawaii

Sat., Sept. 10
Utah at USC
Arizona at Oklahoma State
Missouri at Arizona State
San Jose State at UCLA
California (game to be scheduled)
Stanford at Duke
Nevada at Oregon
Oregon State at Wisconsin
Hawaii at Washington
UNLV at Washington State
Colorado (game to be scheduled)

Sat., Sept. 17
Stanford at Arizona
Arizona State at Illinois
Syracuse at USC
Texas at UCLA
California (game to be scheduled)
Oregon (game to be scheduled)
Washington at Nebraska
Washington State at San Diego State
Colorado vs. Colorado State
Utah at BYU

Sat., Sept. 24
Oregon at Arizona
USC at Arizona State
UCLA at Oregon State
California at Washington
Colorado at Ohio State

Sat., Oct. 1
Arizona at USC
Oregon State at Arizona State
UCLA at Stanford
Washington at Utah
Washington State at Colorado

Thurs., Oct. 6
California at Oregon

Sat., Oct. 8
Arizona at Oregon State
Arizona State at Utah
Washington State at UCLA
Colorado at Stanford

Thurs., Oct. 13
USC at California

Sat., Oct. 15
Arizona State at Oregon
Stanford at Washington State
Colorado at Washington
BYU at Oregon State
Utah at Pittsburgh

Thurs., Oct. 20
UCLA at Arizona

Sat., Oct. 22
Utah at California
Washington at Stanford
Oregon at Colorado
Oregon State at Washington State
USC at Notre Dame

Sat., Oct. 29
Arizona at Washington
Colorado at Arizona State
Stanford at USC
California at UCLA
Washington State at Oregon
Oregon State at Utah

Sat., Nov. 5
Utah at Arizona
Arizona State at UCLA
USC at Colorado
Washington State at California
Stanford at Oregon State
Oregon at Washington

Sat., Nov. 12
Arizona at Colorado
Arizona State at Washington State
Washington at USC
UCLA at Utah
Oregon State at California
Oregon at Stanford

Sat., Nov. 19
Arizona at Arizona State
USC at Oregon
Colorado at UCLA
California at Stanford
Washington at Oregon State
Utah at Washington State

Sat., Nov. 26
California at Arizona State
UCLA at USC
Oregon State at Oregon
Washington State at Washington
Colorado at Utah
Louisiana-Lafayette at Arizona
Notre Dame at Stanford

Sat., Dec. 3
Pac-12 Championship Game

Former Arizona Hoopster To Produce Updated Version Of "One Shining Moment"

Harvey Mason Jr. is currently producing an updated version of the classic One Shining Moment which airs every year during the NCAA Final Four. Harvey is a successful music producer who has worked with industry legends such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Luther Vandross, and Justin Timberlake just to name a few.

This latest version of One Shining Moment will be performed by Jennifer Hudson, with whom Mason has collaborated with in the past on the Oscar nominated soundtrack for Dreamgirls and her Grammy Award winning solo album. He is also doing production on her next album due out later this year.

Mason is uniquely qualified to produce One Shining Moment not just because of his decorated career in the music business, but because of his basketball background. He played on the University of Arizona team that spent most of 1988 as the #1 ranked team in the nation and competed in the Final Four in Kansas City.

He had dreams of being featured in that year’s One Shining Moment highlight reel with a championship trophy in hand. Unfortunately, Arizona lost to Oklahoma in the semifinal game, but now, Mason has his chance to be attached to this special song.

His love for basketball didn’t end with a loss at the Final Four. He continues to play in the NBA Entertainment League and has coached his son’s AAU team for the past seven years. Mason remains very close to his former teammates including Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, and Kenny Lofton as well as Hall of Fame Coach Lute Olson.

You can also see the impact basketball has had on Mason in his production of the feature documentary, More Than A Game. This award winning film follows LeBron James and his high school teammates as they work to reach their dream of winning a high school national championship. Harvey spent the past five years producing this film, which earned first runner up honors at the Toronto Film Festival behind Slumdog Millionaire.

You can learn more about Harvey by visiting his website and Wikipedia pages at:
www.harveymasonmedia.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Mason,_Jr.

For more information please contact:
Jeannine Sharp at jeannine@harveymasonmedia.com

Clippers Fan Turning The Music Game & Hollywood Into His Own Personal Playgrounds

For the past 7 years, Harvey Mason, Jr. has sat just off the court, directly across from the Clippers bench supporting his lifelong favorite team.

“I used to go to San Diego to watch the Clipper games. My dad and I would drive down and watch the games down there,” said Mason. “I loved the Lakers and Magic Johnson as a kid growing up as well, but something about the Clippers just stuck to me. They were underdogs, and I like the way they play. I like that they have a lot of heart.”

Mason’s obsession with basketball emerged at an early age, but it didn’t blossom until his high school years at Crescenta Valley, where he led the state in scoring as an all-CIF selection before eventually ending up at Arizona to play for Lute Olson. A torn ACL ended his dreams of playing professional basketball.

But while basketball may have been his obsession, music was always his first love thanks to growing up as the son of Jazz drummer and producer extraordinaire, Harvey Mason, Sr.

"I always wanted to be around my dad. I love being in the studio. So I didn't really rebel like a lot of kids did. I just had a genuine love and interest in music," said Mason.

I didn't really know what I was going to do. Was I going to play drums like my dad? Was I going to write songs? Was I going to be an artist? But I knew I wanted to to be in the studio, so I ended up developing as a song writer and as a producer. All these years later, here I am."

And where he is is the top of the modern day music game. Having worked with artists from Beyonce and Aretha Franklin to Justin Timberlake and Elton John, Mason has not only been nominated for three Grammy awards, but he’s also the first producer to be nominated for three Academy awards in the same year for his work on the soundtrack to "Dreamgirls."

“For me, I use that competitive spirit and nature that I had in basketball to try and beat the next guy--trying to work harder than the next guy, trying to spend more time perfecting my craft than the guy next to me,” Mason said. “I’ve used my athletic background to hopefully further my music career.”

And that athletic background has also led to another venture: film-making. Mason recently produced the highly-acclaimed documentary, “More Than A Game,” centering around LeBron James and his childhood friends. It was a project that many studio execs either passed on or wanted to turn into a tv show, but when director Kris Belman brought some of the early clips to Mason, his vision went far beyond a Lebron highlight tape.

“I saw the story of these five guys and a dad who knew nothing about basketball,

trying to work together with these kids and grow these guys up as young men.

And to me that was the most compelling most interesting part of the footage,”

said Mason. “There was so much heart there. I just thought it was a story that

needed to be told. It was about basketball, it was about LeBron, but it was much

more than all of that and that’s the title, ‘More Than A Game’.”

The film has received much critical acclaim since it premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Some industry insiders and moviegoers are even comparing it to one of the best sports documentaries of all-time: “Hoop Dreams.” However, such praise was not the original goal of making this film.

“This was a movie that I felt we had a chance to really kind of make a difference.

It sounds like really corny, but people watch this movie and they feel good,”

Mason said. “You know the feel energized and motivated, inspired, and you don’t

get a chance to do that that often. I try to do it in music, and I tried to do it in this

film.

“And I want everybody to see this movie. I want kids to see this movie. I want

parents to see it. I want athletes, non-athletes, and moms because the message in

this story and this film are important and impactful. And like I said, it makes you

feel good.”

Big Money Boosters Want Pitino Back at UK

Earlier tonight, one of my colleagues told me that Arizona was hot on the trail of Rick Pitino. UA school officials thought he would be the perfect choice to replace outgoing legend Lute Olson--the same man, of course, who stopped Pitino from winning back-to-back NCAA titles in 1997.

Arizona was prepared to pay $2 million or more for Pitino to move to the desert.

However, in pursuit of details on that story, I stumbled across this stunner: Pitino could very well be on his way back to UK!

Earlier tonight, Pitino hosted two of Kentucky's biggest boosters. I won't divulge the names of those who attended, but I will tell you that one is huge in the banking business, the other in coal.

According to multiple sources, the boosters traveled to Louisville to persuade Pitino to come back to Lexington and try to fix the mess created by Mitch Barnhardt and Billy Gillispie.

Initially, Pitino was pushing Travis Ford for the job, but the boosters said no. They were adamant about wanting Pitino, and only Pitino. So much so, that they said he could have anything he wanted. "Name your price" was a frequent response from the boosters.

Now, don't get too excited just yet. Pitino did not accept the offer, but he didn't turn it down either. After first being reluctant to even listen to any offers, Pitino gave the boosters the impression that he would seriously consider it before ending the meeting.

And if it was up to Pitino's staff at Louisville, which includes Steve Masiello, Walter McCarty, and Richard Pitino (all with ties to Lexington), he would have said yes during the meeting. Word is that Pitino's assistants are really pushing for him to take the job.

And why wouldn't they? Besides going back to the place were Pitino reached the pinnacle of his career, it would also be much easier to win SEC titles every year as opposed to the jam-packed Big East. If the money is truly as good as I am hearing, it would be a no-brainer for Pitino to go back to UK.

However, that doesn't mean he will take the job. I wouldn't be shocked if he did, but I would be somewhat surprised. Nonetheless, I seriously doubt anything official would come out until after the NCAA Tournament anyway.

But anybody remember when Roy Williams was grilled by Bonnie Bernstein about leaving Kansas for North Carolina after losing the NCAA title game to Syracuse in 2003?

Could we witness a similar scene this year in Detroit? UK fans can only hope!