A Grip on Sports: It’s hard sometimes to see clearly what’s happening in the world of sports but if you cut through the glare there is a lot to discover
A GRIP ON SPORTS • For the next couple months, the sun will be a bother. Maybe not for you, but for me, certainly. In the morning. Though my office window faces pretty much due north, the tilt of the Earth as we enter late spring means the morning sun is in my eyes. And may just blind me to the day’s possibilities.
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• At the least it makes me squint to see them clearly. Though there is no need to squint to see how successful the former members of the Pac-12 have been in their new digs. In sports, of course, that don’t carry much weight in the ESPN-driven media world we all live in these days.
Proof? Start with the world’s oldest sport, track and field. Big Ten champions? That would be the Oregon men and the USC women. Outdoors. Oregon swept the titles when the competition was indoors.
Baseball? Oregon won the Big Ten’s regular season crown. UCLA tied the Ducks atop the standings. USC and Washington were also in the top five.
Softball? UCLA and Oregon will host NCAA Super Regionals, though to be fair, the Ducks’ designation came about because Liberty upset the No. 1 seed, Texas A&M, in College Station.
Women’s golf? The NCAA tournament is moving toward the team championships, but three former Pac-12 schools, Stanford, Oregon and USC, qualified for a quarterfinal berth. And Arizona State missed by a stroke.
We could go on but why? The point is clear. The conference’s members valued a well-rounded athletic experience on campus. Achieved it. How 1950s of them.
• That’s not the only Pac-12 news on the horizon today. There is also the anticipation of some sort of resolution coming from the mediation talks between the surviving members of the conference, the incoming ones and the Mountain West.
Those confidential talks began Monday. And didn’t lead to a resolution – as far as we know – concerning the millions of dollars in poaching penalties and exit fees the MWC is contractually owed. Fees the Pac-12 – new and newer – contends are illegal.
There is a strong expectation the talks, held under a court-ordered cone of silence, will lead to fewer dollars for the Mountain West. Both parties seem to dread a court case in which pre-trial discovery may reveal their members’ finances and inner workings.
But the amount in discussion – the contracts call for $55 million in poaching penalties for Washington State and Oregon State and $19 million in exit fees for each of the five schools switching allegiances – and the high stakes for both sides means a settlement won’t be easy. And probably won’t come quickly.
When it does come, it should allows us to see the Pac-12’s future to some degree, no matter which way our window on the world faces.
• There are times during the summer, when the breeze is warm and the house is open on a Friday night, it’s possible to hear the fireworks from Avista Stadium through that same office window.
Maybe the Indians won. Maybe they lost. But recently you could be sure of one thing: There is a pitcher on the team that is destined to make a mark in the Colorado organization.
The current member of that club is closer Welinton Herrera. The lefthander hasn’t allowed a hit this month. Heck, the last one he gave up was April 17, in a two-inning stint in Hillsboro. Since then he’s made 11 appearances. Picked up eight saves. Struck out 18 in 12 2/3 innings. And, of course, hasn’t yielded a run.
It won’t be long until the 21-year-old is honing his craft somewhere else, following a path blazed by a couple pitchers the past two years.
It happened with Chase Dollander last season. He pitched 14 games in Spokane. Threw 70 innings. Won four times. And was gone. Now he’s a member of the Rockies’ starting staff – yes, I’m well aware Colorado, with 13 active former Spokane players on the roster, is historically bad this season – and threw one of his better games Sunday, though it was in another loss.
He’s also not the only Indian alum in the Rockies’ starting rotation.
Carson Palmquist, who was in Spokane in 2023 when he was 7-2 and struck out 106 in 72 innings, made his major league debut a few days ago. Started against the Diamondbacks. Was roughed up a bit in his four innings. But showed what he showed in his stint in Spokane. The lefthander has a lively arm. And he’s expected to be able to miss bats in the bigs. He will get another chance to show he can do that Wednesday night against the Phillies.
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WSU: Former Washington State linebacker Frankie Luvu is one of the voices speaking out against the “Tush Push,” and speaking in favor of efforts to ban the play. … Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, besides his coverage of the mediation with the Mountain West we linked above, Jon Wilner has some thoughts about the Big 12 moving its baseball tournament to the Phoenix area next spring. … John Canzano has a mailbag in which he answers a handful of conference-specific questions. … Christian Caple is back at his website and he has an examination of the 2021 Washington recruiting class. … The Huskies just lost a recruit to BYU. … Speaking of recruiting, it never stops. Ask Oregon State. … Utah had to recruit quarterback Isaac Wilson all over again. … In basketball news, Arizona is going to have a new floor in the fall. The cactus silhouette should return. … In baseball news, Oregon and Oregon State should host regionals. But neither are expected to be in the top eight seeds, despite rankings in the top 10. Nope. The NCAA has to cater to the all-powerful SEC. In everything.
Gonzaga: We’ve covered a lot of college baseball news this morning. Appropriately so, considering the time of year. This weekend is the WCC’s tournament in Las Vegas, with the conference’s automatic berth on the line. The Zags earned the No. 2 seed after an historically poor start to the season. John Allison has a preview of the tournament. … The NBA playoffs feature four up-and-coming young teams. Oklahoma City, with Chet Holmgren in the middle, is one of them. … In other alum news, Rui Hachimura had a coaching staff this season with confidence in him. It showed.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Mike Montgomery has been busy this spring collecting Hall of Fame plaques. He is going into Montana’s as well, along with three other honorees. … Montana State is welcoming a Rutgers football transfer. … Cal Poly just added four. … Portland State will play Stanford in 2028. … A new Sacramento State basketball player expressed his gratitude for the opportunity.
Indians: We had some thoughts on the Indians today (see above). But we are just dabbling. Dave Nichols is more attuned to the franchise. He has a notebook today that covers the teams’ weekend blues and other items.
Preps: The State golf tournaments begin today. The 3A boys will be at Qualchan, with GSL champions Cheney High one of the favorites. Jim Meehan has a preview. … Jim also previews the 4A girls’ tournament in DuPont, between Tacoma and Olympia. He focuses on Lewis and Clark senior Amanda Nguyen, the district champion.
Mariners: Last year’s version of this year’s Rockies (see above)? That would be the White Sox. But the 2025 version is better, if not a contender. Luis Castillo gave the Chicago fans flashbacks last night, however, throwing seven shutout innings, giving up just three hits. Then Julio Rodriguez supplied one big hit, a grand slam in the top of the eighth to cap a 5-1 win. … Casey Legumina. Former Gonzaga pitcher. Current M’s bullpen weapon. … Cal Raleigh and Andres Munoz are becoming a big deal nationally. … We missed this Sunday story on Rick Rizz. Sorry. If you haven’t read it, do. It may just make you talk about all the dust in your office and how your eyes are react to it.
Seahawks: Seattle announced the times for the three exhibition games. And, yes, I know the NFL wants them called “preseason games.” They are before the regular season, sure, but the way they are treated are more like exhibitions. With full price tickets. … There is another rule change being proposed (see the WSU section above for the other main one). It has to do with playoff opponents.
Storm: After a blowout loss to open the WNBA season, Seattle needed a win. Any win. They earned one Monday night at Dallas, 79-71.
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• Before I say goodbye today, I wanted to remind you this is the last week of ESPN’s “Around the Horn.” A two-decade-old show thrown on the trash heap by the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader. In what? In making dumb decisions? Dropping an inexpensive show that is still well-liked, not to mention headlined by one of the media’s most-loved people, Tony Reali, is not smart. How the decision came about is even more irresponsible. Until later …