A Grip on Sports: The chains remain as owners try a little bait-and-switch in baseball’s labor talks

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Momentum is a funny thing. It’s impossible to quantify but everyone knows it is real. And when someone tries to fake it. We’re looking at you Rob Manfred and your band of merry rich folk.

•••••••

• Monday night all those associated with baseball ownership tried to sell the idea a deal was getting closer. There was, dare we say it, momentum. Then the rug disappeared and every baseball fan in America, let alone the players, fell into the Springfield Mystery Spot. And, like Ozzie Smith, we’re still spinning around. With no bottom in sight.

The lockout has been going on for a while. But negotiations only really got going last week. Why is that? Maybe the owners are banking on their employees desire to play growing more intense each day. And that need will result in a better deal for management. Makes sense. Might even be a decent strategy if all you want to do is win.

But does it make your product better? Make it more viable in the long term? Help it grow? The three questions are easy to answer. No. No. And no.

The game isn’t doing well. There are systematic problems with the product on the field. Those need to be addressed, with ownership working in conjunction with the players to fix them. They won’t be until some progress is made in allowing the players to capitalize on their best seasons, something the current agreement limits.

Will that happen? At some point it has to. Each season erodes the game’s position in the national sporting consciousness. Ratings fall. Attendance sags. Generations turn their eyes elsewhere.

It’s growing late. In more ways than one.

• We had a discussion with a coach the other day about awards. It focused on the term “most valuable” but it can be used for other awards as well. Our idea of a most valuable player is just that, the player who supplies the most value to their team. Which player makes the biggest impact whether their team wins or loses. Most folks don’t see it that way. They see it identifying the best player. To that we say, OK, then don’t call the award most valuable, call it the player of the year. Problem solved.

Which brings us to the term coach of the year. Again, there is a disagreement on what that should entail. Our view is simple. Which coach got the most of what they had? That’s the coach of the year. Subjective? Sure. Accurate? That’s hard to prove. It’s easy to say the coach whose team won the most was the best. And that’s how the Pac-12 women’s basketball coaches seem to see it. Nine of the past 10 years they have voted the championship team the conference’s coach of the year. And they had numbers to back up that vote.

Fine.

But here are some other numbers. Three starters All-Pac-12. The one player of the year. The one defensive player of the year. Three players on the all-defensive team. Those numbers belong to Stanford, which rolled through the conference undefeated.

One could make an argument with that type of talent, quite a few coaches would succeed. We won’t, but it could be made.

And here are some other numbers. Nineteen. Eleven. Second. Those belong to Washington State. The first two are school records in wins, overall and in conference. The other is where the Cougars finished, tied with Oregon, another school with three All-Pac-12 selections. WSU had one, Charlisse Leger-Walker. And the co-most improved, Genesis Prep graduate Bella Murekatete.

That’s all the players the conference coaches thought deserved honors. Which seems to indicate they thought Kamie Ethridge did one heck of job, considering the perceived dearth of talent. Just not good enough to be coach of the year.

Tara VanDerveer is the best coach in the history of the conference. She is one of the best coaches ever. She put together this season’s Stanford team that went undefeated in conference play. And the other coaches rewarded her with another trophy. But that doesn’t mean Ethridge didn’t deserve the coach of the year award this season. She absolutely did.

What the Cougars accomplished is unprecedented. Historic. Ethridge’s success is comparable with what Tony Bennett accomplished his first year in Pullman. You know, when his team finished second in the Pac-12. And he was the conference coach of the year.

•••

Gonzaga: The Zags have a little time off. So they are practicing. With a purpose. Jim Meehan shares what that purpose is in this story. … Chet Holmgren is one of the 10 semifinalists for the Naismith defensive player of the year award. Theo shares that news. … The Zags’ baseball game at Washington today has already been postponed. … Around the WCC, BYU may get a chance to avenge an upset loss in the conference tournament.

WSU: We shared our thoughts on the Pac-12’s snub of Ethridge above. Colton Clark has his thoughts as well. … Ethridge’s team enters the postseason tournament with its first-ever bye. Colton has a preview of what’s ahead. … He also covers the award news. … Fans attending Washington State athletic events will no longer have to show proof of vaccination. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Arizona clinched the regular season title last night, starting fast and running past USC in Los Angeles. It’s been an exceptional first year for Tommy Lloyd. … The Wildcats are on top of this power ranking. … Colorado made a change in its lineup and it worked. … One Arizona State senior has played with 50 teammates in his time in Tempe. … The women’s tournament begins today with four opening round games. … Everyone needs to win at the tournament but no one more than Oregon State. … There are issues boiling up within the conference that need to be addressed. … In football news, George Kliavkoff once again explained why he voted against playoff expansion at this time and why the conference is committed to having it happen. … Does Washington need a mobile quarterback to be successful? … Oregon has lost a cornerback to the portal.

EWU: Dave Cook has kept in touch with former Eastern football coach Dave Hansen, who lives in Ukraine. Dave has this update today. … Around the Big Sky, Montana State earned at least a share of the regular season title with a win over Southern Utah. … The conference tournament is going to change. … Montana is about ready to begin spring football.

Preps: Washington’s State basketball tournaments tip off today in Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane. Dave Nichols has a preview of local teams headed to the 4A/3A tourneys in Tacoma and the 2A/1A in Yakima. … Madison McCord previews the 2B/1B tournaments in Spokane.

Mariners: The idiocy of the decision-making process among baseball’s management is out in the open for everyone to see.

Seahawks: The Hawks’ leadership is at the combine. … How good are the quarterbacks in the NFC?

•••       

• Wednesday is garbage day at the house. Which explains our running to the curb in our pajamas a while ago. We’re guessing none of you have ever done that. Until later …