Have basketball, will travel
A GRIP ON SPORTS
If you were looking for a taut, tightly contested college basketball game to watch last night, turning on the Gonzaga game would not have satisfied you. But I'm sure you knew that going in. Everyone did. Read on.
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• If you are a college basketball fan (or if you read this column regularly), you already knew about Texas Southern and its road schedule courtesy of the Marquis de Sade. When the Tigers opened the season, they did so in the early morning hours at Eastern Washington. They lost, 88-62. It was the beginning of 15 road games – in 16 contests – to begin the season. We wrote about it then, how awful it is for a school to balance its athletic budget on the backs of 15 basketball players, playing road guarantee games against the likes of Indiana, Tennessee, Baylor, Florida, Michigan State, Auburn and on and on and on to ensure the track team has cleats. But such is the life in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Texas Southern's home. No one has a winning record. Alabama State, which has three wins, more than any of the other nine teams in the conference, has played at Utah and Arkansas. The Hornets have been at home four times. That's probably the easiest non-conference schedule in the league. Grambling has traveled to Notre Dame, Purdue and Oregon State. The Tigers play at Washington tomorrow night. Southern has played at Mississippi, Minnesota and Iowa State. Alabama A&M has traveled to Dayton, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. The 10 teams have played a total of 15 home games. Arkansas-Pine Bluff has yet to play on its home court. Those who have been able to get home rarely play a Division I school. No wonder the SWAC non-conference record is 14-73. Is this the right thing to do for the students who play basketball at these schools? From November through January, they are rarely on campus interacting with their fellow students and basically never there to offer entertainment, something our local students are treated to on a weekly basis. They make up a traveling road show, selling their wares to the highest bidder and reaping none of the profits. Sure, there is some recompense. There is the college education, the scholarship that also includes, hopefully, lots of on-the-road instruction. They get to travel and see the country. They play in some of the most storied venues in America. They learn about their teammates and coaches, bonding while spending day after day on the road. And they experience the best of what our nation has to offer in the way of airport food. But do they get to be somewhat-normal college students and all that entails? It doesn't seem so. And that's a disservice to these young men. They will go through all this before playing their SWAC brethren in conference play. One team will emerge victorious at the end. They'll see their name called on Selection Sunday – among the first four as always. They'll travel to Dayton, people will laugh at their record, they'll play and that will be that. Until next season. When they drag their behinds all over America again.
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• WSU: Ernie Kent met with the media yesterday and Jacob Thorpe shared his comments on the blog. ... Jacob also has a morning post with links. ... Though attendance was down among FBS schools, the numbers rose in Pullman. ... This matchup between Oregon and Florida State intrigues me.
• Gonzaga: The Zags had little trouble with the road-weary Tigers, routing them 94-54 at the Kennel. Mark Few started a different lineup to ensure more playing time for some and it didn't matter. The Bulldogs rolled. Jim Meehan has the game story and will be back today with a day-after post. ... Dan Pelle added a photo report on the game. ... The Gonzaga women got rolled over in Chicago, losing 62-43 to Northwestern, dropping their record to 6-4. ... USF got bullied a bit by Cal Poly at home last night. Coach Rex Walters wasn't happy. Practice could be tough today. ... The Cable Car Classic was once the premier pre-conference tournament on the West Coast. Not anymore.
• EWU: Vernon Adams ended up the bridesmaid for the Walter Payton Award again last night. Eastern's junior quarterback finished second in the balloting for the FCS' top player for the second consecutive year. Jim Allen has a story. ... Jim also has an advance on the blog as the EWU men play at Sam Houston State today, part of a tough road trip that ends Saturday at California.
• Chiefs: The WHL's Christmas break is coming.
• Preps: Shadle Park's Brett Rypien was named the Seattle Times' offensive player of the year for the second consecutive time.
• Seahawks: Now that the 49ers game is done – though there was still some discussion yesterday of a debatable call – we can now look forward to what is pretty much a showdown for the NFC West title. Sunday's game at Arizona will feature the Cardinals' third-string quarterback, two great defenses and Seattle playing with a patchwork offensive line once again. ... The Cardinals are different enough from the first meeting the Hawks will have to study up to be ready. ... Russell Wilson set a record Sunday, one that he's really proud about. Now, the way the offense is functioning, that's something he knows he has to work on. ... OK, we lied. We still have some bookkeeping to do concerning the San Francisco game. There are the snap counts to pass along and the TV ratings.
• Mariners: Ryan Divish takes some time to lay out all the possibilities still available to the M's now that the best hitters are off the table. There are not many. Many good ones, at least.
• Sounders: There are reports all over the Google machine the Sounders have agreed to a contract with a new general manager. The old one, a part owner, would like to slow down a bit.
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• You know, we are always at home. Never have a road game. And never earn any guarantees. Until later ...
