A Grip on Sports: WSU’s Jon Haarlow knows it’s not easy to keep the grass on your side of the fence green enough these days to make the neighbors jealous
A GRIP ON SPORTS • After more than 40 years of work, it’s possible to testify to a couple true statements about my yard. It’s park-like in its beauty. And keeping it that way tests the physical limits of this 69-year-old body. Or exceeds it, if this morning is any indication.
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• Many of my peers, especially the ones who still enjoy being ambulatory, have given in when it comes to yard work. Either sold out and moved to a home in which there is no yard or have hired someone to take care of the nuts and bolts.
But that’s not in our future and not because either option is out of our financial range. Nothing like that at all.
I still enjoy taking care of the place. I know. Silly. But I’m sure my ancient ancestors were not hunters or gatherers. They had to be among the first farmers. And their DNA is still twisting my mind in mysterious ways.
Why else would I spend much of gloriously warm April Monday on my knees in the back yard, extracting the stray dandelion and reseeding winter-killed spots in the lawn? It has to be either some sort of hard-wired love for greenery or a deeply disturbing mental issue. As I sit here, trying to get my back to return to normal and hoping my shoulders will stop hurting, I’m leaning toward the latter.
That’s a long way around to get to the focus of today’s column. The task facing the newly crowned leader of Washington State University’s athletic empire.
Jon Haarlow has been in charge of nurturing the department for a while. Ever since WSU’s new president – though new is relative, considering she’s been in place more than a year – Betsy Cantwell fired athletic director Anne McCoy last November and installed Haarlow as interim leader. It turns out, considering Cantwell did not follow a traditional path – consisting of a “nationwide” search, consulting firm and/or large committee – to find her choice, Haarlow has been auditioning for the lead role for the past five months.
And must have earned rave reviews. Or Cantwell had already made up her mind.
Doesn’t really matter at this point, though. What does is Haarlow’s task. Keeping the athletic department green – in every sense of that color – is at the forefront of what’s ahead.
As the guy playing Gus Grissom said in “The Right Stuff,” “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.”
The Cougars have emerged from their two-year wilderness walkabout and are ready to launch back into college athletics’ upper atmosphere. Again. Getting there, though, takes a lot more moolah and moxie than it did for the first 14 folks who occupied WSU’s athletic director office before McCoy – and now Haarlow.
Where your yard is located no longer means much. The neighbors have all packed up and left. The only thing that matters is how green it is. If the money tree continues to bloom, there is a chance for success. If it withers and dies, the dreams and hopes of the university, and the university’s followers, dies with it.
Haarlow made it clear Monday, in an introductory press conference that seemed more like a state of the union address, he believes Washington State has a mission in the re-formed Pac-12. “Make no mistake about it,” he said, “I believe that we can lead the Pac-12 from the front.”
Not just the conference that begins July 1, but a Pac-12 that is ready when another sea change washes over the NCAA, a future Haarlow seems to be banking on. It’s also not a revolutionary thought, considering no one connected to college sports should expect the constant churn to slow down. Just saying it out loud, though, is important. A statement of purpose, if you will.
He’ll also lead a department that, according to the vision Cantwell outlined Monday, will have two assistants dedicated to raising money and coming up with unique ways to use the department’s resources to help maximize that.
In other words, harvest every dollar out there, then use them to grow deep roots now that can survive when the next huge storm hits.
Seems like a good plan, especially for a school that is located deep in one of the most fertile areas of the world. Too bad that hasn’t translated directly into unlimited financial fertilizer when that’s the top need.
Turns out, without a single alum who is willing to share their largesse and sprinkle gold dust around the place, the Cougars have to rely on a bumper crop of contributors each year.
Whether Haarlow can grow a bumper cash crop will define his legacy and tenure. And will define Washington State’s athletic future.
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WSU: We linked Greg Woods’ coverage of the introductory press conference above. And here too, of course. … The men’s basketball rebuild continues to roll on, with a seventh player, former Northwestern Wildcat Tyler Kropp announcing yesterday he’s headed to Pullman. Greg has that story as well. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, many of the picks this weekend will be from the Pac-12 legacy group, something Jon Wilner goes over in the Mercury News this morning. … John Canzano has his usual Monday mailbag. … Oregon State has solidified its plans for the rest of the spring. … Colorado’s offensive line has a new anchor. … Utah has a 317-pound tight end. What? … Utah State has decided on its quarterback already. He’s a BYU transfer who came off the bench some last season for the Aggies. … Rod Martin was something of a peer, playing football at USC while we were in college a couple freeways south. The Raider Super Bowl star died at 72. … Arizona is trying creative tackling drills. … Colorado State made some strides in the spring.
• In basketball news, Washington’s men added USF guard Ryan Beasley from the portal. That’s good news for the Huskies. … Good news for Oregon State on the transfer front as well. … Utah State is rebuilding its roster. … Not as quickly as San Diego State, which kept four players in the fold and added another Monday. … Arizona officially announced the addition of a five-star recruit. … Boise State dipped into the portal for another big. … The Arizona women added a guard from Poland.
EWU: The Eagles have some holes to fill on their men’s roster, mainly due to graduation. They took a step we knew was coming for some time, announcing Monday former Gonzaga Prep standout Jamil Miller had agreed to enroll in Cheney. Dan Thompson has this story. After having coached Jamil on travel team a few years ago, our main thought is this a great fit for him and the program. He’ll give the Eagles an outstanding defender and, if he can regain the offensive confidence his stay at Kennesaw State seemed to sap, an offensive force at the rim and on the perimeter. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State, Montana and Southern Utah continued to prove football recruiting never stops. … Cal Poly held a special practice last Friday night.
Preps: Yes, Dave Nichols has a story or two in today’s paper. He put together the roundup of Monday’s action. And he has this story on U-Hi baseball. The Titans, who made a State appearance last season, are challenging for the GSL 4A/3A title this year.
Mariners: Yes, we watched the M’s last night. For a while. Until, actually, Emerson Hancock began to lose command. Gave up two home runs in the sixth. And turned the game over to the bullpen. That didn’t work out and Seattle lost the series opener with the visiting A’s 6-4. Oh, and we saw a few of the 11 failures the offense had with runners in scoring position. … That offense didn’t include Brendan Donovan and will not for a while. His sore left groin landed him on the 10-day injured list. … We’re still hoping at some point MLB will go full robo-ump on balls and strikes. Last night’s M’s game was a great example. Mike Estabrook was not good.
Seahawks: Death, taxes and the Hawks trading down in the NFL Draft. Bank on all of them. The last one starts Thursday, though we won’t know right away. Seattle has the last pick of the day. … Just who may the Hawks take? We have a mock draft from The Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar to pass along. Another one from CBS as well. And from Sports Illustrated. … This is a key draft even if the Hawks are loaded with veterans who are locked in.
Storm: Bad news for Seattle. Ezi Magbegor is going to miss a bunch of time due to a foot injury suffered while playing for Australia in March.
World Cup: It has been obvious for some time now at least one country’s World Cup team would use Spokane as a home base. With matches in Seattle and Vancouver, it only made sense. The country announced yesterday? Egypt. And its star Mohamed Salah. We can pass along coverage of the announcement from Mitchell Roland and Allan Buluku. … There is also another story in the S-R concerning the sadly needed security requirements. Emry Dinman tells us the Spokane Police Department will be receiving some help in that regard. … By the way, tickets are expensive. And they are not selling well.
Golf: The PGA Tour announced yesterday it will no longer hold tournaments in Hawaii to open the season. The two or so the Tour held there has kicked off the golf season our entire adult life, the golfing equivalent of the first robin of spring.
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• Now that this work is done, my morning soreness has dissipated. Thank you heating pad. And Tylenol. Former Minnesota Viking star Alan Page once said something to the effect people don’t remember pain. It’s why they have second children and run a second marathon. I don’t intend to do either today but I’ll probably do something that causes my back or calves or shoulders or knees to grumble and moan all afternoon. Until later …