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December 29, 2011 in Sports
Blanchette: Nine-team schedule adds to craziness
The lower-bowl exodus to The Kennel’s merlot tap began at the last TV timeout in the first half, confirmation that Wednesday’s Gonzaga-Portland game was living up to its billing.
Or down. Your pick.
Sometimes what college basketball needs is a good rear naked choke or some other submission hold.
And, no, that isn’t meant to give any of the Boy Scouts at Xavier any ideas come Saturday.
The 90-51 pasting the Zags laid on Portland as the West Coast Conference opened its 60th season was a food-chain episode of a good team meeting an overmatched one, compounded by Gonzaga’s growing confidence and the Pilots’ lack of anything like it. Also, some of the visitors looked almost old enough to drive.
These sorts of things happen, but for a team in Gonzaga’s position, are never to be taken for granted. Just recall the pratfall Saint Mary’s took against lowly San Diego last year which opened the door for the Zags to share in an 11th consecutive WCC regular-season title, and may have been a convenient excuse to eliminate the Gaels from any serious NCAA discussion.
It was odd and sad to see the Pilots, winners of 60 games over the past three seasons, so toothless, and just as odd to come to grips with a pre-New Year’s start to conference play – brought to you by the hottest thing in college athletics this side of soul-wringing scandal: expansion.
Most every conference is now too unwieldy to squeeze in a full (or even partial) round-robin between the calendar’s turn and early March, when ESPN tells them to have their tournaments. The WCC added just one school during musical chairs – Brigham Young – and still needed a December start.
“And next year, the way the calendar runs, we may have to start even earlier,” cautioned Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth.
The obvious flaw, of course, is that it’s one or two more games that are played with the students still away from campus. This year alone, the Zags will play a third of their home schedule with the students on holiday.
The joint gets filled anyway, yes. And sometimes it doesn’t hurt for the players to learn to generate their own energy.
“And it’s better than the alternative,” said coach Mark Few, “those years when we had five games on the road over the holidays.”
More curious is how the league’s members will adapt to the off-brand scheduling required to accommodate nine schools rather than the traditional eight, with the easily aligned travel partners and two-home, two-away rhythm.
As other conferences have experienced, there’s no way to cobble together a nine-team round-robin equitable to all, nor to avoid the odd Monday game after an open weekend.
“Some teams just aren’t going to be happy,” Roth allowed, “but it’s not unique to the WCC. It’s what happens with nine teams and when you have TV wanting certain games in certain places.
“ESPN has Rivalry Week, and it’s not happenstance that Duke and North Carolina play the same week every year – and the ACC has to make its schedule around that game. That’s been the case with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s the last couple of years, and that could include BYU soon enough.”
The crazy quilt that results can be confusing to follow.
BYU, San Diego and Pepperdine, for example, have seven weekends that include at least one road game. The Zags have but one of those home/road split weekends, but will be on a plane multiple times on all but their one visit to the Bay Area.
Loyola Marymount has four straight home games. USF plays four of five on the road in one stretch, and finishes at BYU and Saint Mary’s.
“It’s different than we’re used to,” said Few, “but it’s also kind of what we’ve been doing for years in the nonleague portion, so in that regard we’re as prepared as anybody. We’re used to jumping on planes and going all over the place – much like the game this Saturday.”
Ah, yes, the New Year’s Eve encounter with the Xavier Gangsters, to borrow a descriptive from their combative guard, Tu Holloway. The Musketeers – their traditional nickname – will be whole again for the first time since their donnybrook with Cincinnati, having fallen from eighth in the polls to unranked after three whiffs in a tournament in Hawaii while suspensions were being served.
“But the team that was heading to the top five, that’s who they are,” said Few. “You can throw that Hawaii thing out the window.”
Surely it’s a coincidence that the stiffest sentence Xavier coach Chris Mack handed down ended just in time for the Zags to come to town. But then, this is a game that should be played with all the principals in place.
In any case, it might be prudent to wait until halftime to refill your glass.
Blanchette: GU track lifts off with Thomas 
lemonadegirl on December 29 at 7:36 a.m.
Dear John, I’m breaking up with you. Why, you ask? Because I am extremely disappointed in your choice to make the sexual reference to the Boy Scouts in this article. Was that really necessary? While I do not deny that the issue is based in some truth, the only thing your comment achieves is the continued feeding of an attitude that the Boy Scout organization is not a safe place. I suppose a few laughs at the expense of young men trying to improve their character and the community might help you sell papers, but it also made the sports page less intelligent.
schoes4 on December 29 at 8:43 a.m.
lemonadegirl
Read the article. The Boy Scout reference is not sexual. It is a joke on behalf of the thugs at Xavier.
93bird on December 29 at 9:44 a.m.
Lemonade, you’re the only thing that makes this sports page less intelligent. Blanchette’s a hack if ever I read one, but obviously you know less about sports than him. So here’s what I’d advise you do BEFORE you feel the urge to spout off again. Get a dictionary and look up the words “context” and “antagonym”. For you, understanding these definitions will be the first baby step in becoming a more responsible sports conversationalist. Especially, when reading a Blanchette article. Anyway, back to Blanchette. How about reminding the blue-haired Gonzaga faithful that they’ve played 10 of the first 13 games at home, with 2 of the other 3 in Seattle and Vancouver? Oh wow, what a struggle. So here’s my official Carnac prediction for the Zags this season. Carnac was a character Johnny Carson played on the Tonight Show, Lemonade. Look it up. After running the WCC gauntlet, the Zags will squeak into the Big Dance with an 11 seed, and lose their first game to UNLV, Kansas, or Michigan, much like every other Gonzaga postseason. Oh well, at least it will give some of the Kennel Krazies more time to mend their tired Halloween costumes.
DADoZAG on December 29 at 10:56 a.m.
Nice piece by a fine artist, thank you John!
It’s always interesting how truly intelligent folks rarely discuss the intelligence of others, and always tolerate the less knowledgeable. As for the ZAGS, the “blue-haired Gonzaga faithful” understand this year’s benefits that several previous years of extensive travel have afforded them. The “Anyone - Anywhere” attitude demonstrated by the Pride of the 509 might be a lesson other state programs might learn from. Perhaps they might then make it to a few more post season tourneys. Go ZAGS!
steve on December 29 at 4:18 p.m.
Boy Scouts? Are they still around? ;-) I’ll be plenty happy with the Zags play in Cincinnati if they can keep from giving the ball away. They’ve done OK lately but tossed a few to the PIlots. Can’t do that with Xavier and expect to stay with them - let alone win. It was nice seeing a lot of Zags playing last night. Good for Few for mixing the court up. I can’t wait for Saturday’s game - and to see how well the Zags play against the rest of the WCC. Go Zags!