A Grip on Sports: There were multiple chances, and years, for the NCAA to clean up its house but it failed and now everything is wildly different

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It was almost 50 years ago when I realized for the first time the NCAA did not exist to actually help student athletes. It was, in fact, an organization whose primary purpose seemed to be to prop up the status quo. No matter the cost.

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• You know who paid the bill for that for decades? Yep, the athletes.

After two years of playing college baseball in Southern California, the coach who had given me that opportunity was fired. Not because he had failed. Nope. The athletic director needed the money. And there was a resident nearby who was willing to help in that regard, as long as he was named head coach.

It was just the tip of the iceberg and included some shenanigans related to the athletic department’s finances, though that doesn’t really matter. What does is what happened next.

The new coach brought in his players, including his son. And three new catchers. My chance to play was blocked. Maybe it was time to go. To transfer. But in 1977, the NCAA felt baseball players should sit out a year if they changed schools. It was a rule the organization dropped for a while, then reinstated. In other words, there was no good reason for it.

But for someone who played baseball for fun, not for a career, losing a year of whatever post-college life held was not an option. I was boxed in. Just like a handful of my teammates.

Some, like me, stuck around, played sparingly and finally came to understand the reasons behind the coaching change. Others bid adieu, either quit playing or went elsewhere, sat a year, made new friends and started over.

The transfer rule made no sense. The coach could leave. We couldn’t. It was not right. A small adjustment and the NCAA would not have made an enemy for life. But a Titanic-sized organization was never going to be able to shift direction quickly. The icebergs were forming and the ship’s fate was sealed even then.

I’ve seen its demise play out ever since. A small course correction here or there would have changed the trajectory in a big way. But there was no moving Walter Byers or Cedric Dempsey or Myles Brand or any of the organization’s presidents.

It, and the schools who make it up, blundered along until, finally, the stuff hit fans everywhere. The courts took over. And we have what we have now.

Unfettered free agency. Pay-for-play called NIL. A bunch of employees the schools and the NCAA still deny are such. Chaos and anarchy.

Mark Few sees it. He talked with Theo Lawson about it this week. So did Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford. Both, rightly, decried the situation college basketball is facing, the circumstances that allow former NBA draftees to play in the college ranks. They see the only way to control the anarchy is for Congress to intervene. And they are probably right, which is another sad commentary on the NCAA’s history.

There was a time not too long ago a far-thinking person or committee or organization could have read the tea leaves. Could have understood the NLRB’s push to have athletes declared employees was actually the schools’ salvation. If the NCAA had backed it, the change would have been orderly, with rules in place for everyone to follow.

There was a time when the players would have embraced it. Would have jumped at a chance to form a union and collectively bargain with the organization.

That time has passed. Why would college athletes give up powers not enjoyed by athletes in any professional league anywhere?

Each athlete has their employment decisions in their hands. No one can dictate where they play. They can, if they are good enough, let the market decide their compensation, unfettered by any brakes. If they are not good enough? They can at least decide where they play. That’s a freedom generations of college athletes never enjoyed.

I know. So do thousands of others.

The track college athletics is on now is unsustainable. As was the one it was on 50 years ago. The difference? The folks who find themselves on the wrong side of the tracks these days still have a lot more power. Congress may just listen to them at some point. And, sadly, do what it does so often. Screw everything up even more.

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WSU: It isn’t easy for anyone to defeat Saint Mary’s in the schools quaint, crowded, hot gym. Tony Bennett’s third-best Washington State team couldn’t do it. Many of Mark Few’s Gonzaga teams failed. David Riley’s 2026 squad? Close, but just a few stops short. Greg Woods has this story of the Cougars’ 88-82 loss in Moraga. … The wide receiver room is starting to become a bit crowded in Pullman. With players who have displayed talent in their career. Greg has this story on the latest transfer. … Back to hoops. The women put up more points than they have all season and still fell at home, 98-92 to WCC-leading Santa Clara. … John Canzano has a column this morning after a long interviw with WSU president Elizabeth Cantwell. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the Washington men have a ceremony planned to honor their all-time leading scorer, the late Christian Welp. … Oregon State has struggled down the stretch at times. Saturday was one of those times, as it lost to Portland. … Colorado had an upset over No. 14 Texas Tech in its possession. But on further review, the opportunity was overturned. … Utah played well. Stayed close to its rival, No. 9 BYU, at home. But the Cougars prevailed. … Utah State went into Boise and handed Leon Rice’s squad an unprecedented 93-68 defeat. … Both Cal and Stanford lost on the long ACC road Saturday. … UCLA bounced back from a losing streak with a defensive-fueled win over Maryland. … Arizona State needed to top Kansas State at home. It did. The Sun Devils face a tough upcoming stretch. … The younger Wildcats helped No. 1 Arizona handled physical TCU on the road. … San Diego State defeated Fresno State. … The Oregon State women stayed atop the WCC standings with a blowout win over Seattle U. … Arizona’s offense sputtered in a home loss to UCF.

• In football news (yes, we switched the two sports today), John Canzano focuses his column today on the footwear the two CFP championship contenders will wear next week. It’s also indicative of the changes roiling college football (and athletics in general). … It seems most of the Huskies’ transfer portal news recently has been less than positive. … The big question today is simple. Where does Oregon go from here? You know, after the Ducks’ blowout loss to Indiana? … A secondary question is do they need a new quarterback? Maybe so. … Colorado continues its rebuild. … San Diego State is targeting two positions in its portal shopping. … Kenny Dillingham added a player with deep Arizona State ties. … Arizona seems to be picking up steam with the portal.

Gonzaga: We linked Theo Lawson’s story about college sports’ changes above. We do it again here. … The first half was a slog. The third quarter? A sea change. The Zags’ washed away the Portland defensive pressure, took care of the ball, made contested shots (and open ones) en route to 34 points that ultimately resulted in their 69-55 home victory over the Pilot women. Greg Lee was in McCarthey and has this coverage.  

EWU: The close games (and most others) haven’t gone the way the Eagle men would have liked this season. Until Saturday on Reese Court. Dan Thompson tells us that’s where Alton Hamilton IV made two free throws in the final seconds as Eastern held on for a 66-65 comeback win over Montana. … The Eagle women held off last-place Montana in Missoula 65-58. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the Idaho State women bounced back from a loss with a win over visiting Northern Arizona. … The Bengal men also won, on the road in Flagstaff. … Weber State’s men picked up a road win against Northern Colorado. … The Wildcat women lost at home to the Bears. … Portland State’s men went into Sacramento and handed Sac State a 96-69 victory. … Montana State has lost a few more football players to the portal.

Idaho: There is a point sometime this season when the Vandals have to stop spotting their opponents a huge early lead. It wasn’t Saturday afternoon in Moscow against Montana State. But after falling behind by 21 points, the UI men found a way back. All the way back. Just trust Kolton Mitchell and Biko Johnson. The two each scored 23 points as Idaho rallied for a 92-89 win. Peter Harriman has more in this story. … The women suffered their first conference loss, falling 99-66 in Bozeman.  

Whitworth: The Pirates weren’t perfect in the nonconference, falling a rare, for them, three times. But they have remained unbeaten through their first four Northwest Conference contests. The latest win came Saturday in McMinniville, Ore., against host Linfield, 83-66.

Chiefs: Back-to-back games in Victoria boded poorly for the visitors from Spokane, especially after the Royals won Friday night. But the Chiefs figured out a way to win Saturday, 3-1, to pull back within a point of Victoria for the last WHL playoff spot. Dave Nichols has all the details in this story.

Seahawks: Before we begin to delve into Saturday’s NFL playoff results and look at today’s matchups, we have to take a moment to praise John Schneider. Or, as is the case, leave it up to our friend, Dave Boling. Dave’s latest column looks at the masterful way Schneider has rebuilt the team in just a couple years after making the tough, and appropriate, decision to part ways with Pete Carroll. … That dominance could be just getting started. … Jaxson Smith Njigba is a unanimous All-Pro selection. How did that happen so fast? … Speaking of fast, the playoffs started that way Saturday. The Bears rallied – again. The Rams rallied late behind Matthew Stafford – of course. And the Packers and Panthers were left wondering what just happened. … The one game that matters to Seahawk fans today? The 49ers are in Philadelphia. A win sends them to Seattle. A loss and Stafford leads the Rams into Lumen next weekend. … No matter who rolls into town, the Hawk front-office is trying to limit opposing fans’ ability to buy tickets.

Kraken: Though Berkly Catton scored again – he’s on a roll – Seattle’s point streak finally ended. The Kraken lost 3-2 at Carolina.

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• Yes, I admit it. Not getting a nap yesterday cost me early in the second half of the Bears’ win. Luckily I didn’t miss anything when I dozed off in the chair. Except the momentum switching. Until later …