Locally: Pac-12 official Jim Northcott set to extend bowl game streak to 10 years

Jim Northcott has a streak going.

But in this year of the coronavirus, when the pandemic has sacked football players, teams, games, and even bowl games, all the president of the Spokane Collegiate Football Officials Association can do is keep his fingers crossed to see if it will stay intact.

Northcott, one of the more senior Pac-12 officials, has been assigned to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Wednesday as the replay official for the Florida-Oklahoma game in Arlington, Texas.

It will be his 10th straight bowl or conference championship game in the replay booth, “if it’s played,” he acknowledged.

A former Gonzaga Prep and Eastern Washington football standout – he was a member of the Eastern team that played for the NAIA championship in 1967 – has been officiating since 1976 after five years trying his hand at coaching.

He joined the Pac-10 in 1981 and in the 40 years he’s worked in the Pac-10/Pac-12, he’s had 30 postseason bowl or playoff assignments, the last 10 in the replay booth.

“I’ve received a bowl (or) postseason assignment every season since 2000, except 2011 which was my first season as a replay official and ‘rookies’ were not eligible for postseason,” he said.

Northcott is one of five Spokane officials assigned to bowl games this week.

He’ll be joined by his partner in the replay booth, communicator Dan Antonietti, and Steve Currie, who will be the field judge on the field. This is the fifth year Northcott and Antonietti have worked together.

John Love, receiving his fifth bowl assignment in his seventh year in the Pac-12, will be the center judge and Shane Anderson the side judge for the Mercari Texas Bowl on Thursday in Houston.

College scene

Kyle Manzardo, Washington State’s junior first baseman from Lake City who had impressive numbers during the shortened 2020 season, has been named to the 2021 Preseason All-America third team by Collegiate Baseball.

That organization named Manzardo to its All-America third team last spring after he batted .435 with seven doubles, three home runs, 14 RBIs, a .500 on-base percentage and a Pac-12-leading 27 hits. He tied for the league lead in doubles, was second in batting average and fourth in slugging (.694) and runs scored (21).

Manzardo had a hit in all 16 games WSU played in 2020 with five straight multiple-hit games. He led the team with nine multiple-hit games and will take a 17-game hitting streak into the 2021 season, tied for the sixth-longest hitting streak in program history.

• Big Sky Conference men’s favorite Eastern Washington will appear 10 times and Idaho will be shown six times according to the 2020-21 conference men’s and women’s basketball television schedule announced last week.

The games will be shown on SWX beginning Dec. 31 with Portland State’s visit to Eastern one of two men’s games that day.

Only three women’s games are scheduled, including Idaho’s visit to Eastern on Feb. 4. The other two are Montana-Montana State rivalry games. The Eastern and Idaho men will be shown in their meeting Feb. 6 in Cheney.

Eastern and Idaho men’s TV schedules: Feb. 31, Portland State at Eastern; Jan. 14, Southern Utah at Eastern; Jan 16, Northern Colorado at Idaho; Jan. 28, Sacramento State at Eastern; Jan. 30, Weber State at Idaho; Feb. 6, Idaho at Eastern; Feb. 11, Eastern at Montana State; Feb. 13, Eastern at Montana State; Feb. 18, Montana at Eastern; Feb. 20, Eastern at Montana; Feb. 25, Montana State at Idaho; March 4, Idaho at Montana; March 6, Idaho State at Eastern.

• The Cascade Collegiate Conference, a NAIA-affiliated conference based in the Northwest, announced major changes to its men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling schedules because of COVID-19 restrictions.

There will be no conference-wide men’s and women’s basketball until at least March, and men’s and women’s wrestling, previously set for February, will not be conducted as planned, said commissioner Robert Cashell.

“With three schools opting out and the Oregon schools still not being able to practice or play due to state health authority regulations, the very difficult decision was made to move the basketball season to March and April,” said Cashell.

Besides Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Montana, wrestling also has schools in Arizona and California.

Golf

Derek Bayley, the former Washington State and Lakeland High standout from Rathdrum, sits sixth on the Outlaw Tour money list as it takes a break for the holidays.

A first-place finish in the Pard’ner Shootout #2 team event on Dec. 21 at Arrowhead Country Club in Glendale, Arizona, with partner Chase Carlson from Tacoma, boosted Bayley’s earnings to $10,640. He has had eight top-10 finishes in the 10 events in which he has played.

Bayley and Carlson, a recent Colorado Christian graduate who was third in the 2019 NCAA Championships, finished at 17-under-par 55 in the one-day event, putting together 15 birdies and an eagle on the Par 5 18th hole.

Another Northwest native, Joel Dahmen from Clarkson, teamed Brandon Harkins from Scottsdale, Ariz., who both play on the PGA Tour, to finish second at 16-under 56. They had 12 birdies and two eagles.

Hockey

Spokane Chiefs goaltender Lukáš Pařík and defenseman prospect David Jiříček made the Czech Republic roster for 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta that started during the weekend.

The Czechs, in Group B with the USA, Russia, Sweden and Austria, opened the tournament Saturday with a 7-1 loss to Sweden. The 17-year-old Jiříček played 16 minutes and was on the ice for one of the Sweden goals. Pařík, one of two Czech goalies, did not play.

The Czechs played Russia on Sunday and will face the USA on Tuesday and Austria on Thursday.

• The Western Hockey League announced its 2021 draft, previously known as the WHL Bantam Draft, has been rescheduled for December 2021. It was originally to take place in May.

“Moving the 2021 WHL Draft … to December allows additional time for players in the 2006 age group to be evaluated following a challenging season due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” WHL commissioner Ron Robison said in the release. He added it is anticipated minor hockey leagues and tournaments will be fully operational in the fall.

The WHL also announced the 2021 WHL Cup, where draft-eligible players can showcase their talents in advance of the draft, is tentatively scheduled for October, featuring under-16 teams from each of Canada’s four Western branches – British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The 2020 Cup, scheduled for October 2020, was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Besides the western provinces, players eligible for the 2021 WHL Draft will be 2006-born who reside in the Northwest Territories, Yukon and 20 U.S. States, including Washington and Idaho.