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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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When voluntary is mandatory, time becomes the enemy

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Everything new is old, or something like that. The saying popped into my head this morning as I read about a Pac-12 study on time demands and a pitching story out of Pullman. Yes, they tie together. Read on.

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• Yesterday, CBSSports.com posted a leaked Pac-12 report on time demands facing the conference's athletes. Though the study the conference did – it mainly consists of summarizing the opinions of athletes via polling results – had many interesting points, the one I fixated upon was 73 percent of the respondents felt "voluntary" activities seemed mandatory. The NCAA has a limit on how many hours a week an athlete can actually be made to work on his or her sport. But that 20-hour limit has a bunch of exemptions, including time spent on medical treatment, travel and, most importantly, voluntary practice. If two baseball players want to spend time in the cage throwing BP to each other on their own, then that's outside the 20 hours. But if a coach makes it clear the two need extra BP on their own, and that if they don't do it, their playing time may suffer, then that's no longer voluntary. Though it is considered as such most of the time. And such things seem to be happening at our fine institutions of higher learning – or athletic factories if you prefer. How often? Enough that the athletes surveyed put in about 50 hours a week on their sport. What do they miss out on? Well, sleep and studying came up, two pretty important items for college students who are trying to get a degree and compete in a sport. Now don't think coaches "encouraging" athletes to work on their game beyond the allowed hours is something new. Heck, I had some personal experience with it in the late 1970s, as did every one of my baseball teammates. Well, the guys who weren't doing all that well. The stars were fine leaving after practice. The Double XXers, as us bench guys were called, were urged to get extra work in, "if we wanted to play." Who didn't? It wasn't mandatory mind you, but you got the implication pretty darn quick. And so do athletes today. So instead of heading back to the dorm after a two-hour basketball or football practice, they shoot hoops or run routes for an extra hour or so. All on their own, of course (wink, wink). And don't forget, there is weight training at 6 a.m., so be on time or everyone will run. What, you're having trouble passing your Humanities class? Guess you'll have to stay after practice to run some gassers as punishment. One of the suggestions contained in the report – a suggestion that come from the athletes themselves – is to create a window in which no practices can take place, say from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. A great idea, except it's too short. Make it 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. or so and colleges might begin to return to the idea these are students who happen to be athletes, not the other way around.

• In Jacob Thorpe's baseball notebook today, he describes a new training regimen the pitchers are using at Washington State. "Last year, pitching coach Gregg Swenson started his players on a pitching program, designed by Alan Jaeger, that is catching on in the pros. It’s a program of extreme long toss, in which his pitchers will play catch and keep moving back, eventually throwing more than 100 yards. The program is designed to strengthen arms and prevent injuries." It's a great idea. And it was a great idea in 1976, when just about every college program in America was doing it. We used to play catch with the pitchers in those days on the left-field line, starting from just on the outfield grass and working your way back to the left-field foul pole. From there to home plate was about 330 feet. Of course, I needed a relay to get my return throws back, but you get the picture. The idea was to stretch your muscles and build strength. The pitchers did it a lot, every bullpen day if I remember correctly, but it might have been more often. I just wonder when it went out of style. Because, like wide – or skinny – ties, everything old is new again.

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• WSU: Jacob's baseball notebook, which really focuses upon pitcher Joe Pistorese's exceptional senior season, is not the only thing he has today. The rosters for Saturday's spring game in Spokane are available and Jacob passes them along. ... Is California ever going to hire a new athletic director?

• Gonzaga: The men's tennis team is at the WCC championships. ... BYU's roster churn is still being noticed. ... Santa Clara will be losing a player it hoped to get back.

• EWU: The special teams are in Jim Allen's crosshairs today in his final spring football position preview. ... Jim is also holding a live chat today. ... Portland State has signed a new point guard.

• Whitworth: Somehow missed this yesterday but the Pirates are going to be in the market for a new baseball coach.

• Preps: It's Thursday, so track and field is in the spotlight with Greg Lee's notebook and the area leaders. ... Jim Allen has a feature on the GSL-leading Central Valley soccer team. ... Greg also has a quick notebook featuring other sports.

• Seahawks: General manager John Schneider met with the media yesterday – the room was packed – in his annual pre-draft briefing. But, as is his custom, news about draft picks was not forthcoming – though he knows what he is looking for. What was discussed, however vaguely, were the contract talks between the team and Russell Wilson. ... Speaking of Wilson, he's going to be a little slimy in July. And he never said he wants to leave football. ... The tight end position is pretty well stocked. ... The center spot, however, is just the opposite. ... There is more on the Hawks' schedule.

• Mariners: The M's bullpen flirted with disaster twice last night – the eighth and ninth innings – but survived. So did the team, defeating Houston 3-2 and salvaging the final game of the three-game series. ... The M's also signed veteran Carlos Quentin to a minor league contract, giving them some more outfield and first base depth. ... Did you hear, or read, Bryan Price's screed the other day? It was epic, and epically misinformed.

• Sounders: The Timbers are on the schedule this week, so expect some heckling. ... Again, time outs are not a soccer thing.

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• That's our report for today. Once again, I have some personal obligations Saturday that may limit my ability to post. This is an early heads up and I will let you know if we're going to have to take a day off. Until later ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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