A Grip on Sports: When old friends have new success, it is easy to celebrate along with them
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Good things happen to good people. At about the same percentage, I’m sure, as they happen to bad people. There is a difference, though. It is easy to celebrate the former.
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• Maybe that’s why, this morning, there are quite a few stories celebrating Tommy Lloyd’s success in leading the University of Arizona back to the Final Four.
“Back” being a relative term, as the Wildcats haven’t reached that rarified spot since 2001. You know, when Lloyd had just made a huge career decision, dumping the security of a middle school teacher’s salary for the unknown of becoming a low-paid assistant – a non-paid volunteer his first year in 2000 – at Gonzaga.
From there to San Jose, and now on to Indianapolis courtesy of a second-half for the ages, in 25 short years.
“Short” is also a relative term. But if you examine the career of the only coach to ever lead the Wildcats to a Final Four, prior to Lloyd, you see a lot of similarities.
Lute Olson was small town born and raised. Attended a small Christian college. Became a teacher and coach. And after a winding journey, ended up at Marina High in Huntington Beach, Calif., where he was the basketball and tennis coach.
Lloyd grew up in Longview, not all that small a town. Nor did he ascend to the exalted position of high school coach after playing at Whitman, a D-III school that tracks with Olson’s path. His head coaching career peaked at a Northside middle school. After that, he spent two decades helping Mark Few build Gonzaga into a power with a national reputation.
Until the University of Arizona had to go back to the coaching well in 2021, trying for the fourth time to find Olson’s perfect replacement.
Lloyd wanted the job. But would the Wildcats hire someone who had never been a head coach before? Turns out, then athletic director Dave Heeke and university president Robert Robbins were willing to take that risk, even if their decision leaking early almost nixed the deal. But they held firm, Lloyd got the job and now his Wildcats are two wins from the school’s second national title.
Two of the toughest wins maybe ever in a coach’s career.
Lloyd knows a little bit about that. The Bulldogs reached the Final Four twice while Lloyd was on their bench. The first time, in 2017, they had North Carolina on the ropes with the title on the line, until to come up short in the end. In 2021, after a thrilling last-second overtime win over UCLA in the semifinals, the Zags’ tank was empty in the final against Baylor.
Will Lloyd fare better this time? His first time calling the shots in such circumstances? Who knows? It’s 50/50.
But one thing is certain. He’s one of the guys it is easy to celebrate for when he has success.
• The Mariners had a lot of little successes to celebrate Saturday night. But the ultimate one eluded them.
Cal Raleigh ended his season-starting strikeout streak at eight. And even got a hit. Brendan Donovan survived a collision with a T-Mobile wall. Bryan Woo stayed healthy. And, most importantly, Julio Rodriguez came up big in a big moment, tying the game at 3 with a single in the bottom of the ninth.
But Andrés Muñoz, working on back-to-back nights, couldn’t hold the Guardians at bay in the top of the 10th. And even Luke Raley’s third homer in three games in the bottom half of the inning wasn’t enough as Seattle fell 6-5.
This one, however, wasn’t lost in the 10th. It was lost in the seventh. When Dan Wilson doubled down on a bad decision.
In the sixth Wilson had allowed Woo to remain in the game to face left-hand hitting Kyle Manzardo with two outs and two on. Even with Gabe Speier in the pen. Fine. Woo’s earned that chance, even almost 80 pitches in.
Manzardo won, lacing a badly located fastball for a game-tying single.
The next inning Wilson went to Eduard Bazardo, also working for a second day in a row. Two outs in, Bazardo lost command, walking the eighth and ninth hitters back-to-back. Stephen Kwan stepped in. Speier was up and ready. Wilson stuck with Bazardo.
After Kwan’s single gave Cleveland a 3-2 edge and Speier finally called upon, Aaron Goldsmith and Ryan Rowland-Smith speculated about why Wilson didn’t go to Speier. The bottom line? A bunch of what-ifs, many of which seemed to be more wishful thinking than reality. After all, Speier is on the roster to get tough left-handed hitters out in key middle-of-the-game situations.
And got the chance one hitter too late, inducing Chase DeLauter to ground out to kill the rally. DeLauter, the once-snakebit prospect finally in the big leagues, hit another home run in the 10th off Muñoz to seal it.
That’s understandable. Even closers as impactful as Muñoz make mistakes. Managers? They do too. And Wilson made a couple key ones.
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WSU: The Cougars didn’t make a mistake heading to the Tri-Cities on Saturday for a spring practice. A beautiful day at Pasco’s Edgar Brown Memorial Stadium may not have attracted a standing-room only crowd but it allowed first-year head coach to return to a place he once trod as a high school player. And to once again connect to his Eastern Washington roots. Greg Woods has a look at how practice went. … Tyler Tjomsland was also in Pasco and has this photo gallery. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the other Final Four participant for the men from Saturday? That would be Illinois, which overpowered Iowa around the basket and on the scoreboard 71-59. … Jon Wilner had his Elite Eight picks yesterday in the Mercury News. He was 1-1 on the first day. … There are lots of reasons the NCAA Tournament numbers are up. Including a new way to do ratings. … Colorado got some good news on the player-retention front. … So did UCLA. … Utah State will have to rebuild again before its first Pac-12 season. … The women’s Sweet Sixteen finished up yesterday and the Elite Eight begins today. The only West Coast school still playing is top-seed UCLA, which has a matchup today with third-seeded Duke in Sacramento. … In football news, Washington has three position battles to watch this spring. … Recruiting never stops. Not for Oregon and USC. … Sometimes, even these days, it takes a while for a player to find his right spot.
Gonzaga: The women’s basketball team saw their season end as so many have before, in the NCAA Tournament’s first round. That’s not always a bid thing, as few West Coast programs have made the tournament as often as consistently as Lisa Fortier’s. Besides, as Greg Lee tells us in this season wrapup, the Zags defeat also may have sown the seeds that will be harvested next season around this time. … We shared our thoughts about Lloyd’s and Arizona’s win above. Theo Lawson was in San Jose, watched the game live and has this story. … There are more stories to pass along as well. From the Bay Area and nationally. Oh, and from Tucson of course. More than one. The best? This Jerry Brewer column. … San Jose didn’t draw all that well.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Northern Colorado’s men got more bang for the buck than just about any program in America.
Preps: The weather was great yesterday, making it a perfect day for a high school track meet or a softball game. All the GSL results are covered in this roundup.
Chiefs: Spokane will return to town for its first-round WHL playoff series against Prince George on Monday. The Chiefs will be trailing 2-0 after Saturday night’s 3-2 loss in Canada. Dave Nichols was there and has this coverage.
Reign: While the Zephyr was out of town, there was still a women’s match at ONE Spokane Stadium on Saturday. A NWSL match. The Reign returned to town – Lumen Field is the midst of field changes for the World Cup – and won again, this time 2-1 over Racing Louisville. Maybe the Reign will just want to stay.
Zephyr: A trip across the country could have been better. And it could have been worse. A 1-1 tie in Jacksonville isn’t the worst outcome for Spokane.
Kraken: Another shootout on the road. Another shootout loss.
UFC: Spokane’s Michael Chiesa went out on top. The Shadle Park High grad defeated Niko Price for his fourth consecutive win, then laid his gloves on the mat and walked away from his fighting career. Charlotte McKinley was at Climate Pledge Arena and has this story.
Mariners: One thing the M’s are focused on? Keeping Woo healthy for the postseason. … Starting hot in Tacoma is a good thing for Colt Emerson. … J.P. Crawford should be back soon. … No one is too young for a stroke to hit. Get your risks checked folks.
Seahawks: The owners’ meetings start Tuesday in Phoenix. The franchise’s planned sale probably will come up.
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• Did you like the “Back to the Future” movies? They were big in our house, as our younger son loved the time-travel conceit from an early age. Turns out there was a character that I identified with and, no, it was not Doc Brown, though my hair often looks similar. It was vice principal Gerald Strickland, the disciplinarian with a good heart. The actor that portrayed him, James Tolkan, always stood out in whatever movie he was in, but never more than when he was giving Marty McFly his 149th detention slip. Tolkan died Thursday. Until later …