Grip on Sports: Most of us are just marking time until college football returns
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s May 1. May Day. Karl Marx Appreciation Day (or something like that). A day dedicated to the hard-working folks around the world that make it go round. So we should talk football, right? Read on.
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• As a child growing up in the 1960s, I was well aware of Marx’s theories. In fact, I read Das Kapital while in high school. Not that I understood any of it. But I got the basic idea. Workers are the most important aspect of any economy. They are exploited. They should control the fruits of their labors. They don’t.
Which, of course, brings us to college football.
The past few years have been filled with discussions of the economic value of the unpaid college athlete, mainly football players. In a multi-billion-dollar business, the person who produces the product receives a small portion of the value. A really small portion. It’s a travesty. Or as Marx would term it, “poverty in the midst of plenty.”
But you don’t want to hear any of this communistic crud, do you? You just want to know who is slated to be the backup outside linebacker at your alma mater.
That’s something we understand. And we can help. Sort of.
The Pac-12 held its annual football coaches’ post-spring conference call yesterday and it was notably in one area: There were a lot of new voices. Oh sure, one of the new voices was an old voice, but Chip Kelly – formerly of Oregon, now of UCLA – is just one of five new Pac-12 football coaches.
There is Jonathan Smith at Oregon State, the former Beaver quarterback who had the sense to bring a former OSU coach, Mike Riley, back to be part of his staff.
There is Mario Cristobal at Oregon, who came north with the one-year wonder, old what’shisname, who is at Florida State, Cristobal stayed on and now is the head coach. (I looked it up. old what’shisname is Willie Taggart, who didn’t even spend a calendar year in the Willamette Valley.)
And there is the new pair in Arizona, former WSU grad assistant Kevin Sumlin at the state’s flagship university in Tucson and Herm Edwards, the NFL guy (and the subject of many jokes), at ASU.
All of whom were on the conference call with the seven holdovers.
History tells us at three of these new fellows aren’t going to do all that well. They will work and work and work and in three years be on seats so hot they’ll need fireproof coaching shorts. In five years new guys will be in place at a majority of the five schools.
College football fans demand success. If their school has suffered through a long run of ineptitude, then breaking even is OK at first. But success makes the desire for more success grow. (I’m pretty sure Marx had a theory on this, filed under “football arithmetic.”)
Soon even a bowl season isn’t enough. The goodwill disappears, replaced by the grumbling of the masses. This is as predictable as the weather. Storms of criticism are coming at every school, no matter the number of wins.
Fans are fickle. Even a guy like Mike Leach, who has been able to string together a series of successful seasons in Pullman, something only one other guy in recent memory has been able to do, can see the writing on the wall. If the Cougars finish 2018 with a 4-8 record or something – it’s possible considering the loss of their most important player, quarterback Luke Falk – then the WSU faithful won’t be so faithful anymore. The chorus for a change will grow, especially if a couple of poor seasons occur back-to-back. It’s as predictable as April showers.
Maybe the bottom line is simple. Winning football games has overtaken religion as the opiate of the masses.
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WSU: Larry Weir made a call of his own yesterday, talking with our Theo Lawson for the Press Box pod we pass along this morning. … The conference’s media call was the subject of stories from up and down the West Coast, reaching inland as far as Salt Lake City. That’s where Utah resides, the one Pac-12 school that won its bowl game last year. … One of the new coaches, Edwards at Arizona State, is pretty thin at the quarterback position. … Sumlin has one of the best quarterbacks returning. … Washington has one of the best teams returning. Scratch that, the Huskies have the best team returning. With the most NFL-ready talent.
Gonzaga: The wait continues. Though Brandon Williams put out a tweet recently that some nationally interpreted as being a commitment to the Zags, the Southern California point guard still hasn’t made up his mind. He will announce his choice Saturday at an all-star game near home. I’m putting my money on GU (over Oregon and Arizona), mainly because he has a chance to quarterback a Final Four team in his stopover season in Spokane. Jim Meehan has a lot more in this story.
Chiefs: Everett is headed to the WHL Finals against Swift Current. The Silvertips topped Tri-City 6-5 in overtime last night to win the Western Conference finals 4-2.
Preps: The soccer playoffs have begun.
Mariners: Edwin Diaz would like to save 50 games. For a variety of reasons. He’s well on his way.
Seahawks: If the Dallas Cowboys had been willing to part with a second-round pick, according to a report, they would have Earl Thomas today. … The Hawks seem to be running away from their passing game.
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• Dennis Patchin texted me yesterday and asked if I could join him on his radio show today and tomorrow. Just to ruin your day, I said yes. So between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m., you better be listening to 700 ESPN or on your computer here. Otherwise, I’ll know and I’ll write about Adam Smith or John Locke tomorrow. And no, neither were drafted by the Seahawks last week. Until later …