A Grip on Sports: Warmer weather has us thinking about spring’s upcoming changes
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The sun was out Monday, for a little while. Why it showed its face, the temps almost hit the magical 50-degree mark, a rare occurrence this early in February. Such oddities have consequences. Baseball thoughts begin to bloom.
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• That’s what spring is about, right? Blooming. And baseball. New growth. Change. Green grass. Relief from the monotony of winter.
We’re not there yet. Not here. But in the Arizona desert and the ocean towns of Florida? Yep. At least we will be in a couple days. Spring training will begin. Again.
But this year’s spring will be unlike any other. Not since, oh, 1973 maybe, will major league baseball’s annual re-emergence be so filled with change.
We can’t wait. And not just because, you know, we never can wait for spring training to start. It’s always a time of hope and, of course, anticipation. This year, though, it’s something of a time of dread.
Revolution is in the air, along with the smell of pine tar and liniment.
No more shifts. A pitch clock. Limits on pitchers “disengaging” with the rubber. Bigger bases. Sea change, as they say. One that could hit like a tsunami in spring training. Good. The game needs some shaking up.
All of the new rules will go into effect when spring training games start later this month. The hope is there will be issues. Violations. Mistakes that cause problems but lead to learning as well. A change in behavior and habits. The theory is simple: It’s better to have disputes in games that don’t mean anything, work them out and move on. Come April, maybe, players, umpires and managers will have figured out how things work.
That’s the theory, anyway. We’ll see. All we can say is we’re excited to see how it all works in practice. It adds a little spice to the best time of the year. Spring time.
• The college basketball season is beginning it’s stretch run. Good. The next couple weeks will lead up to conference tournaments and then the culmination of everything. The NCAA Tournament.
Will your favorite teams make it?
Around here, the odds are less than 50/50 for the men. Gonzaga is a sure thing. That’s it.
Eastern, for all the great work it’s put in the past few weeks – the Eagles have won 15 consecutive games – have to win the Big Sky tourney to earn a berth. At least they will be the favorite in Boise.
Idaho and Washington State would need to pull multiple upsets in their respective tournaments to earn a berth. The same can be said of Whitworth, a rare occurrence as the Pirates are usually in the Division III at-large conversation this time of year. But as the Northwest Conference holds only a four-team tournament, Whitworth only needs to get hot one weekend to earn the automatic berth.
As for the women, the scenarios are pretty much the same, with Gonzaga probably in no matter what happens in Vegas and everyone else having to do some work to either earn an at-large spot (Washington State) or an unlikely auto berth.
• Finally, the high school basketball season is winding down as well. It is postseason time on both sides of the border. North Idaho has favorites in both the boys (Lake City) and girls (Coeur d’Alene) ranks among the big schools.
In Washington, Mt. Spokane’s boys are second the RPI in the 3A, which puts them in the favorite’s role as well. Pullman has the top spot among 2A boys and Davenport the 2B ranks. Wellpinit holds the same spot in the 1B.
Though no local girls’ teams have reached that top level, undefeated Colfax is second in 2B and Mead is fifth in 3A.
The next few weeks should be fun.
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WSU: Well, well. The Pac-12 CEOs must have been hearing the same rumors as the rest of us. Why else would the conference release a statement Monday saying the 10 remaining schools are still united and still working toward a brighter future? Instead of staying in the shadows, the presidents and chancellors stepped into the light and tried to douse any thoughts of a breakup. Interesting. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Oregon State is entering the final stretch. … Colorado wants to win. The Buffs may not be tough enough to do it. … Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads the way UCLA. … Utah is opening more of the Huntsman Center to fans next weekend. … The loss at Stanford could be really costly for Arizona come March. … The Stanford women are back to being ranked third in the latest A.P. poll, with Utah right behind at fourth, an all-time high for the Utes. The conference has four other teams in the top 25 as well. … In football news, offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is reportedly staying at Utah. Will Cam Rising be his quarterback to start the fall?
Gonzaga: The polls came out yesterday as they always do. The Zags moved up to 13th, while recent conqueror Saint Mary’s fell a couple spots due to an upset loss at Loyola Marymount. Theo Lawson has that story. … The latest Zag Insiders podcast is out, with Jim Meehan and Richard Fox talking about everything from Dan Dickau to NET rankings. … Jim Allen has an interesting story from the women’s side, what with Senior Day on tap for Saturday. Will the Bulldogs honor anyone? … Jim also covers the women’s standing in the latest poll. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU has had too many slip ups already. The Cougars can’t afford another. … What happens to Cinderella if the NCAA tourney expands again?
EWU: Speaking of the postseason, Dave Cook looks back at the Eagles’ first Division I foray 20 years ago. Eastern earned a spot in the NIT, though it came at Wyoming and in the midst of a huge snowstorm.
Preps: As we said, the playoffs are underway. Dave Nichols took in the 2A districts last night, with Rogers High winning in boys and girls.
Indians: Spokane County and the team are still negotiating on a plan to improve Avista Stadium. Colin Tiernan has the latest on the talks between the parties.
Golf: Circling Raven Golf Club has a new director of golf operations. That news kicks off the S-R’s latest local briefs column.
Seahawks: Just what might a new Geno Smith contract look like? … Jalen Hurts had one of the best performances ever in a Super Bowl loss.
Mariners: Will the M’s be better this season? Or will they regress?
Kraken: Seattle’s big-name players need to come up big more often.
Sounders: A Seattle executive is leaving to do World Cup work.
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• The mountains of snow piled at the end of the cul-de-sac are looking less like the Himalayas these days. Before you know it, they will be doing a good imitation of a dry lake bed. And the city will once again begin picking up our yard waste container. Until later …