A Grip on Sports: We trekked through a candy cane forest, swam a sea of gum-drops and still couldn’t find the positive aspect of realignment
A GRIP ON SPORTS • We want to be positive. We do. We want to look down the road with college football and see a future that encompasses all the good aspects of the game and leaves the recent bad times behind. We do. But we’re not sure we can. Not yet.
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• We ran into an old friend waiting for a hot dog at Costco yesterday. After we caught up, exchanged info about our respective families and the like, he broached the question we have come to expect.
What’s going to happen with Washington State?
He was surprised to hear our admission. Your guess is as good as ours.
See, your guess is as good as anyone’s. Anywhere. No one in Pullman knows. No one in the Pac-12 offices knows. Heck, no one in Bristol, Connecticut or Washington D.C. knows. If each of the remaining nine Pac-12 CEOs wanted clarity in the past week, only five of them secured it.
But do you want to know a dirty little secret? Even they only have if for a short period of time. The changes in college athletics aren’t stopping. Not even slowing down. Oh, there might be pauses here and there, deep breathes and hands on hips, a sip of water but the marathon will continue. With no finish line in sight.
That’s for another day, though. Today, the focus is on Pullman. The Cougars. The future. And the recent past.
Everybody wants to blame someone. WSU president Kirk Schulz told ESPN’s Pete Thamel recently he was “astounded at how little engagement there was with the (Pac-12) presidents” in their athletic departments when he arrived in 2016. Under Larry Scott’s direction, the athletic directors and the presidents met together only occasionally.
“We had disengaged presidents for a long, long time,” he told Thamel.
So why not step forward and work to change it? That’s the millions-of-dollars question, isn’t it? Even the Pac-12 leaders who say they saw issues, and that would seem to be all of them as we parse their post-breakup comments, didn’t try to change the Titanic’s direction until the iceberg had ripped through the hull. But, hey, it is the other guy’s fault.
And know it’s up to a quartet to clean up the mess. If it can be. The final answer might just be to jump on the nearest lifeboat – if there is any left – and float away.
Does a lifeboat exist? It doesn’t look as if the ACC will fill that role for the Bay Area schools. Heck, Stanford has more NCAA titles in its history (123) than anyone and can’t find a quick home. That doesn’t seem to matter in the topsy-turvy realignment world.
As for Oregon State and Wazzu, they tread water, hoping a piece of the old ship floats by they can grab onto, or, as a last resort, a small boat will arrive with a helping hand.
Like the three other Pac-12 survivors, the Cougars see themselves as a big-time school. With a need for a big-time athletic budget. This paragraph in the Thamel story is instructive, if only in illustrating the odd thinking that infects college athletics:
“Schulz made it clear that, regardless of conference or affiliation, Washington State will continue to ‘invest’ like a Power 5 program. He also said Washington State will not cut sports, even facing a budget crunch he estimated would represent 40% of the school’s athletic revenue disappearing. (The school already faces a budget deficit of more than $11 million, and he said using a student fee, which is low at the school, might be one way to help raise money for athletics.)”
What? A school with an athletic department carrying a $100 million debt will continue to spend money it doesn’t have after losing a yearly $30 million media infusion? And it will be made up with student fees? Not happening.
Reality is tough. And the reality of the situation for the Cougars is they already have the NCAA minimum number of sports. They struggle to balance their budget even when times are good. And they are have been thrown overboard by their partners with no help in sight.
Positives? Even Buddy the Elf would have trouble finding one.
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WSU: Athletic director Pat Chun spoke with the media Wednesday. His conversation touched on every aspect of the Cougars dilemma, from the future of the Apple Cup to the school’s next conference home. And how all the mistakes happened. Greg Woods covered the call and has this story. … Greg also has football duty and he has a notebook from practice, leading off with Tsion Nunnally’s return from injury. Off the field, there is award news as well. … The Times has a reporter in Pullman and he has a practice story and one on Chun’s comments. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, if you want a blow-by-blow account of the past week, The Athletic has it. … There is plenty of blame to go around. … How will Washington’s move to the Big Ten impact football recruiting? And how has practice been going for the Huskies? … As Oregon practices, new-fangled machines help the Ducks get the most out of their players, even local ones. … Yes, Oregon State has off-the-field issues. But that shouldn’t impact the current players. Or new ones. … And, yes, Colorado does have a few holdovers. … Right now, Utah is trying to figure out who will play quarterback if Cam Rising isn’t available. … Stanford sees itself as a Power 5 school. But no one else seems to want it. … California is in a waiting mode too. … Big-12-bound Arizona State will try to recruit more in Texas. … Arizona has built depth on the lines. That is a good thing. … In basketball news, Arizona is being mindful of safety on its summer tour. … Oregon has some roster news.
Gonzaga: The wildfires that burned through Lahaina yesterday were awful. They also may have an impact on GU’s schedule, as Theo Lawson explains.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Dan Thompson talked with athletic directors around the conference to gauge how all the uncertainty with the FBS schools is impacting their programs. … The way head coaches recruit is rooted in their pasts. … There is a battle at quarterback in Missoula. … UC Davis is poised for a big year. … Weber State expects an improved offense this season. … Two brothers expect to lead Northern Arizona.
Whitworth: Dan also has a preview of the Pirates upcoming season, as practice begins this week.
Indians: It went 10 innings but, in the end, Spokane couldn’t hold off Hillsboro and fell 5-3 at Avista. Dave Nichols has the story.
Mariners: We sat down to watch the eighth inning last night after our chores were done. We watched Matt Brash do his thing, keeping the game tied at one. We watched Julio Rodriguez walk, Eugenio Suarez get angry after taking a third strike (it was a strike) and then watched Cal Raleigh step to the plate. Major League hitters almost always look for a fastball but, as the count reached 3-2, we implored Cal to sit on the breaking ball. It was coming. It did. And he sat all over it, driving it just below where the Hit It Here sign used to sit. The rally didn’t stop and the M’s defeated the Padres 6-1. … Rodriguez has become an excellent center fielder. He had help.
Seahawks: We could have put Dave Boling’s column this morning in the (overburdened) WSU section. After all, it is about Easop Winston and his attempt to earn a Seattle roster spot. Instead, it lands here, as we finally decided it would stand out more. … What’s also happening with the Hawks? They host a preseason game with Minnesota tonight but don’t expect the stars to play. … How will the roster shake out? … Injuries, as always, complicate matters.
Storm: Gabby Williams has a stress fracture in her foot. Her season, which started late, is over early.
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• We will be here tomorrow. But, as we celebrate our anniversary this weekend, we may skip a day. Not sure yet. It just depends how much celebrating we’re capable of at our age and after 44 years of marriage. Funny, we can still remember how much we were sweating in the little room where we got ready back in 1979. Sure, it was 100 degrees or more in the place but that wasn’t only reason we were sweating. One piece of advice. Never have the bachelor party the night before. Until later …