A Grip on Sports: There are three main ingredients in our Tuesday column but they all might actually revolve around just one
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Alliteration is a big deal on Tuesdays. Mainly as a way to menu plan. It is Taco Tuesday after all. Which makes a Tuesday Trio the right number of column subjects today as well.
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• Actually, though, today’s subjects probably would have been better served on a Monday. They are, as are most sports subjects these days, about money. A couple are about lawyers too, but there isn’t a day of the week the law fits, alliteratively at least. Though every day in modern sports seems to be theirs.
The guys in suits had a big hand in Monday’s biggest story, the announcement the Pac-12 and the Mountain West conferences have settled, in principle, their poaching-fee lawsuit against each other. And the latter conference has settled the exit-fee lawsuit it faced with the schools headed to the former.
Terms? Those weren’t announced. Mainly, it is presumed, they haven’t been completely ironed out. The more-than-$55-million in poaching fees and $100-million in exit ones don’t seem to be in play anymore, though. That’s what was at stake when the lawsuits were filed. When the final settlement is announced, more than likely before the Pac-12 relaunches on July 1, the final numbers should be near the middle of the original amounts.
If they are less than that, the Pac-12 can declare victory, drop the mic and walk off the field. If more? Then the MWC raises its arms and does a little dance.
• Speaking of lawsuits, there was one filed in Texas yesterday that caught my eye. Not because it was filed, but because of its goal.
Ever since Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby left the Bearcats to join the L.A. Dodgers of Big 12 football, Texas Tech, lawsuits and threats of lawsuits have followed. The Bearcats filed one against Sorsby, demanding NIL funds back. That’s not unusual. Heck, Oregon filed one Monday against a player who left Eugene this spring.
But as soon as Sorsby arrived in Lubbock, news broke he was in trouble with the NCAA. Gambling allegations from his first college stop, Indiana. Turns out, as Sorsby’s attorneys detailed in their lawsuit filing Monday, they are true.
That’s what so unusual. Sorsby admits he broke the organization’s gambling rules. Bet on his own team. But also argues he had no chance to play so the bets couldn’t have played a part in the outcome. And yes, he placed other bets too. He is battling a gambling addiction and is getting help. In other words, the NCAA should go easy on him when it finally decides his case.
The lawsuit’s goal? Force the NCAA to decide that fate by June 22, the day Sorsby has to decide whether to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft. In other words, he wants clarity whether he will be employed in the fall by a pro team or a lower-level pro team.
Makes sense. As much as anything related to NIL and eligibility and transfers and the like does these days.
• You know what doesn’t make sense? Playing baseball without a cap. Baseball caps are not just part of the uniform. They are, in a small way, a part of safety gear. The bill doesn’t just serve as a shield from the sun, which helps keeps players safe in its own way, but also can serve as a way to deflect a ball if need be. I know. I once lost a ball in the sun and, if I hadn’t lowered my head, the ball would have added a third scar to my face. Instead, it bounced off the bill.
Why bring this up? I decided to watch a Spokane middle school baseball game Monday. At Peperzak on the far South Hill.
The Pumas were hosting Shaw, the district’s Hillyard-based middle school.
As the Vikings took the field for the bottom of the first inning, a buzz went up among the Peperzak parents. The Shaw players did not have caps. Uniforms, yes. Gloves and balls. But no caps.
Talking with the Peperzak parents, I was told the players’ families had to come up with the money for that part of their child’s uniform. They were not supplied by the school. Was it possible the Shaw players had to do the same?
Look, schools face a financial crunch. Sports are an extra in many patrons eyes. That’s wrong, but it’s an argument for another time. The district has decided, rightfully so, to offer middle school baseball. It is a sport that has certain costs, from bats to balls to coaches’ salaries to field upkeep and more. A full uniform, with a cap, is part of it. Or should be. Not just because of the safety aspect, though it would be a lot more expensive to lose a lawsuit if the lack of a cap contributed to an injury. It’s also about a level playing field, in this case more figuratively than literally.
A cap with an “S” or a “P” means more than just something to keep the sun out of a player’s eyes. It is about school pride. About being part of something bigger than yourself. About working together to reach a common goal.
Anything that denigrates that chips away at the why behind having sports teams.
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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, the settlement news generated stories from all the usual suspects, with Jon Wilner covering it in a Mercury News column that ran in the S-R (and is also linked above), John Canzano doing the same on his website and national outlets weighing in as well. And he has his usual mailbag. … Almost all the news entities covering the MWC-to-Pac-12 schools have stories too, including Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State. … Want another money-based college story? The momentum is building for a 24-team playoff. The Big Ten is leading the way, but others have joined in. … In basketball news, Oregon State’s men officially announced another roster addition. … Recruiting never stops at Colorado. … Arizona will tour Lithuania this summer, which will be a homecoming for a couple players. … The Utah State women will have their deepest roster in a while. … Softball is in the Super Regional phase of its playoff season. … Oregon’s star pitcher missed the Ducks’ regional with an infection. Then she ended up in the hospital. She is alright. … Arizona State is at defending champion Texas. … Baseball is just beginning the first step of the postseason journey, conference tournaments. Oregon State is skipping that part until next year. … Cal and Stanford will meet in the ACC tourney. … UCLA is still atop the polls.
Gonzaga: Ever since leaving the Zags after his freshman season for the NBA, Zach Collins has struggled with one of the most important abilities a pro player can have. Availability. The big man has been injured. Often. He was again this season, playing just 10 games for the Bulls. He talked about that and more recently.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, recruiting never stops. Not for the Montana women’s basketball team.
Preps: The State golf tournaments begin today and Jim Meehan has a preview. The Cheney and Lewis and Clark boys are among the favorites in their classifications.
Indians: Typing out the words “Tuesday Northwest League notebook,” we realized there isn’t any alliteration to be had. Too bad. Still, Dave Nichols has one for us, as he does each week during the season.
Mariners: Colt Emerson was bound to get a hit sooner or later. He didn’t Sunday, his first game in an M’s uniform. He didn’t early on Monday neither. But in the bottom of the eighth last night, with Bryan Woo’s stellar outing over and the M’s clinging to a 3-1 lead, Emerson delivered. And for the 11th time in franchise history, his first hit was a home run. A three-run home run to be precise. Seattle went on to win 6-1 over the visiting White Sox. … His thoughts on his first game are covered in this story, one we linked yesterday when it appeared in the Times. … He is also more than a band-aid as the roster deals with injury issues. … The M’s will be buyers at the deadline. More than likely. But their purchases may just come from the own minor leagues, not other teams. … Bryce Miller will start. Luis Castillo will come in after. … A Mariner fan was hit in the head with a foul ball. But that’s only the start of the story.
Seahawks: The defending Super Bowl champions are favored in 14 of their 17 games this offseason. That’s impressive. But the Rams are favored in more. All but their Christmas Day trip to Seattle, actually. And the Bengals are favored in 15 games, which seems a silly considering Joe Burrow has to get through the season healthy for that to happen.
Kraken: For Seattle to ever become a true Stanley Cup contender, it needs a star. More than one actually. A high-end talent or two that can carry the team to victory by their selves.
Storm: Seattle made a roster change to open space for its top draft pick, who seems on the verge of signing.
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• Monday Money has a ring to it, doesn’t it? Too bad that’s not the only day sports revolves around it. More like every day. Until later …