A Grip on Sports: As the draft news begins to recede, the tide turns in college hoops and a few other subjects
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Welcome to the last week of April – and not too long from now, the first of May’s five. This is when the Inland Northwest’s weather really begins to shine. And the sports news begins to actually slow down. We think.
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• That’s been the case for as many years as we can remember, which, at this point in our life, is clearer for the days when VW buses were all the rage then they are for the EV era. But it certainly seems to hold true at least for this cool Monday. Which is why we have decided to focus on a bunch of little subjects, not the big ones.
As you might have surmised, there are no big ones. At least not big ones we haven’t blathered about ad nauseum.
For example, the Seahawks’ draft. After their seven rounds finished Saturday, just about everyone felt Seattle had done what it had done the past couple years: Taken a good group of players who can help a bit tomorrow and a lot more in the long term. Good for them. But we believe there is a better rating system available. The reverse barometer one.
If you’re wondering, that term has been with us since high school, more than – oh, my goodness – 50 years ago. Or a half-century, which sounds less.
It comes from the movie “Little Big Man” (based on a Thomas Berger novel), and refers to a conversation between a crazy George Custer and Dustin Hoffman’s fictional Jack Crabb character. Crabb wants to kill Custer, so Custer, played brilliantly over-the-top by Richard Mulligan, realizes if he does the opposite of what Crabb wants at Little Big Horn, he’ll be OK. But he didn’t. And he wasn’t.
We’re sure our age doppelganger, veteran columnist Jim Moore, understands. The former Seattle radio personality – and long-ago P.I. columnist – praised the Hawks’ draft this weekend on social media and in print. Which is why we’re now a little worried. We’ve considered Moore, whose online touts rarely seem to come to fruition, our personal reverse barometer.
If he likes something, we’re pretty sure it won’t happen.
With that information factored in, we have lowered our Seattle draft grade from a B to a C-plus – or about the same grade point average Moore emerged with from Washington State in the late 1970s.
• You know women’s college basketball has really bullied its way into the national consciousness when one of the nation’s powers loses its best returning player to the portal and people actually talk about it. Such is the case with Stanford and Kiki Iriafen, who announced this weekend she’s heading to USC.
Not only is the addition discussed – the Trojans, who return freshman sensation JuJu Watkins, solidified their position as a national title contender – but the loss to a perennial power is also part of the argument.
With Tara VanDerveer retired and her longtime hand-picked successor Kate Paye in place, one would have thought the Cardinal might avoid the pitfalls of a transitionary period. They haven’t.
• With all the upheaval in college athletics, one under-the-radar event over the weekend probably won’t receive much publicity. But it made us smile.
Oregon football cornerback Rodrick Pleasant ran a 100 meters Saturday night in a Tucson track meet.
There was a time when football players competed in track often, bolstering a second sport on many campuses. That time has long passed.
But Pleasant, who ran a 10.38 to finish with the meet’s 17th-best time, is a bit of a throwback.
He may not be as good as O.J. Simpson in either endeavor – the recently passed Heisman Trophy winner once ran a 9.3 100-yard relay leg for USC (which converts to 10.17 for 100 meters) – but he’s keeping a tradition alive. And we appreciate it.
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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, we pass along this NFL draft story for one reason. Two Washington State players – Jaden Hicks and Brennan Jackson – are mentioned prominently as late-round choices who could make good. … If you thought Deion Sanders and Colorado were done tinkering with the roster, shame on you. And there is probably more to come. … Arizona State is in rebuild mode and was during spring practices, when a few players really stood out. … Spring practices ended on a weird note at Arizona.
Gonzaga: A while back we found a Corey Kispert story in the Washington Post and linked it in the GU section. It ran in the S-R today. If you were unable to read it then, you can now. … Here is one portal change we don’t understand. Former Gonzaga player Dominick Harris is part of a large influx of talent for UCLA. If Harris, who played at Loyola Marymount last season, found Mark Few hard to deal with, he might be surprised by Mick Cronin’s demeanor.
Indians: No games again Sunday. Basically, Spokane traveled all the way to Vancouver to watch rain fall for most of a week. And play video games in the hotel. The Indians are off today before their early showdown series with visiting Eugene. … Spokane is percentage points ahead in the standings after the Emeralds lost 7-5 at home to Hillsboro on Sunday. … Tri-City got past visiting Everett 8-5.
Seahawks: Other folks have grades for the Hawks’ draft as well. … Now comes the hard part. Building a new team with a new coach. Then contending. … The picture from the overall draft seems, as always, a bit muddled.
Mariners: We listened to the M’s on the regular radio until we got over Snoqualmie Pass yesterday. Then we picked up the game on satellite radio (the main reason we pay for Sirius, though the ‘70s channel is also a part). Funny thing about the speed-up rules. The game doesn’t cover as much of the state as it used to. Anyhow, we were rooting for extra innings around Moses Lake but we were not rewarded with a Seattle comeback. They lost 3-2 as the bullpen and defense let them down a bit. Yet the Seattle faithful have a few reasons to stay that way. … Leo Rivas is the 999th all-time Mariner player. Who will be Mr. 1,000? By the way, avoid the movie “Mr. 3,000.” It’s terrible.
Storm: Training camp opened Sunday at Seattle’s new facility. The roster is new too, though it’s old at the same time. That latter point is made by the age of the two new stars, Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith, both 33.
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• This is always a good time for people in our position to take a vacation. We did last year. And we will, sort of, again next month. Of all the months without breaking news for college athletics, May was the best. Not as much anymore but, compared to the other 11, still pretty bereft of big dates. Until later …