The future
of Pac-12 football in two words: Vegas, baby (the Hotline plan’s to make Las
Vegas the centerpiece for two major events)
By Jon
Wilner, San Jose Mercury News 5/25/2018
USC and
Alabama made their assumed collision official on Wednesday, confirming they
will meet in AT&T Stadium to start the 2020 season.
LogoIt’s
not only a rematch of their 2016 opener. The showdown will also mark the fourth
Week One intersectional duel in a five-year span for the Pac-12:
Washington
and Oregon take their shots at Auburn in ’18 and ’19, respectively, then the
Trojans get another shot at Bama.
All four
games are in Atlanta or Arlington, provide the Pac-12 participants with
tremendous exposure in first-class venues, and guarantee multi-million dollar
paychecks.
And yet:
The events are a few thousand miles east of ideal for the conference.
What
Pac-12 football needs … what it must secure in coming years … is to create a
mammoth football presence in Las Vegas, starting with an annual Labor Day
weekend showcase game at the Raiders’ stadium (completion date: 2020) against
marquee programs in the Big Ten.
“We can do
for football what we’ve done for basketball,” said Pat Christenson, the
president of Las Vegas Events. “In the past, the problem was we didn’t have the
facility.”
Were the
Hotline named czar of Pac-12 football, the first move would be to overhaul the
schedule: End the outsourcing, bring it in house, and eliminate all instances
of competitive disadvantages.
Out second
move? Make Vegas the conference’s home-away-from-home, to an even greater
extent than it is for men’s basketball.
The
Hotline has been mulling the Las Vegas concept for months, seeking out
naysayers both inside the conference and within the world of college football
event planning.
None
exist.
“It would
be great, but it’s not a Pac-12 decision,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens
said during a conversation last month about football scheduling. “It would be
great for TV. But the entities that host would have to replace the home gate.”
Ah, yes:
The cash outlay. We’ll get to that in a moment. First, the broader view:
Playing a
marquee opponent in Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend is only half of the
Hotline’s master plan for Pac-12 football.
The other
half, which has been discussed publicly with commissioner Larry Scott, is to
move the conference championship game to Las Vegas — make Sin City the
regular-season bookends
The Pac-12
is under contract to stage the title game in Levi’s Stadium through the 2019
season, with an option for 2020.
Beyond
that?
“As we get
closer,” Scott said during a press conference in December, “we’ll talk to the
49ers and Levi’s and consider all the options.”
Three
facilities could be in play:
1. Levi’s
2. Los
Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park (i.e., the new home of the Rams and Chargers)
3. Las
Vegas Stadium (i.e., the new home of the Raiders)
The Pac-12
could create a neutral-site rotation for the game, or it could pick a long-term
home.
We’ve seen
the atmosphere in Levi’s for four years, and it’s perfectly acceptable.
L.A.
Stadium would make a great site for the first edition of the championship, but
the event could quickly grow tired in the L.A> marketplace (think:
basketball tournament in Staples Center), especially when USC and UCLA aren’t
involved.
Additionally,
playing in Hollywood Park one month before the Rose Bowl feels like too much
Southern California in too condensed a timeframe. Would fans pay to travel for
the conference championship if they’re anticipating a date in the Granddaddy?
Las Vegas
Stadium, on a permanent basis, is the answer, but not merely because of the
success of the men’s basketball tournament. They’re different events, after
all: Football involves three hours of competition between two teams whose
identity isn’t determined until mid- or late November; basketball unfolds over
four days and is guaranteed to involved all 12 schools.
But the
Pac-12 tournament’s success is clearly an indicator of the potential for
football, which would no doubt draw a sizable number of fans from southern
Nevada in addition to the traveling contingent from the participating schools.
And here’s
a Hotline suggestion (free of charge):
The
conference could buff up fan and media interest in the Friday night football
game by staging a high-profile men’s basketball game in T-Mobile Arena on
Saturday.
That
component would require buy-in from the schools, because they control the
non-conference schedules, but finding a blueblood opponent shouldn’t be difficult
for event organizers given the potential for recruiting exposure. (Findlay Prep
and Bishop Gorman are stocked with 4- and 5-star prospects.)
Heck, you
could make it a doubleheader with UNLV involved.
Imagine
Washington or Oregon facing USC for the football championship on Friday night,
with Arizona or UCLA playing Kansas or Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, followed
by UNLV vs. Gonzaga — and maybe you package the tickets to all three events.
If that
isn’t a high-profile weekend for the Pac-12, nothing is.
But again,
the football championship weekend is only half of the Hotline’s master plan —
and probably the easier half to organize and produce.
The Week
One showdown … a western version of the Atlanta and Arlington games … is more
difficult to execute, and it’s more difficult for one reason: The money.
The Pac-12
could help to identify a participant — the inaugural game would be years away,
because many of the non-conference schedules are set through the early 2020s —
but the conference would not be part of the financing plan, just like the SEC
isn’t involved in the financing of games in AT&T Stadium and Mercedes Benz
Stadium.
The money
comes from the event organizers and TV partners and must be enough to convince
both teams to give up a home game.
Sure, USC,
Oregon and Washington will benefit from the exposure and competition that comes
with playing in Atlanta and Arlington, but they can’t lose money on the
experience. (The Ducks, for example, will receive $3.5 million for the Auburn
game next season.)
Which
brings us to the best opponent for the Week One showcase.
Despite
all the pomp that would come from a duel with the SEC powers, that might not be
the most realistic approach.
For one
thing, they already have Week One options in Arlington and Atlanta, which are
easy trips for their fans. For another, the SEC schools don’t have significant
alumni bases in the west — at least, not like those of the Big Ten.
The way to
make the Week One showcase work financially is to lean on the Big Ten and
create a mini-Rose Bowl, if you will: Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan
State, Penn State would be the top targets in a rotation, possibly with Iowa
and Nebraska involved, depending on states of those programs.
The game
would be four months before the actual Rose Bowl, enough distance that fans
coming from Ann Arbor or Columbus or Madison or State College wouldn’t hesitate
to lay their money down twice.
Plus, many
of those schools have huge followings on the west coast — Michigan reportedly
has 41,000 alums in California alone — and would undoubtedly love to stage a
holiday weekend fundraiser … err, football extravaganza … in Las Vegas.
Would the
event have to involve the Big Ten? Not necessarily. Maybe you’d mix in Texas or
Oklahoma, maybe you’d grab an SEC team once every four or five years. But the
Big Ten would be the primary opponent.
As for the
cash outlay, well, that would come from an entity that didn’t exist until last
month.
:::
COACH ETHRIDGE
ADDS JACKIE NARED, KATIE SHEPARD
TO WSU COUGARS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STAFF
The two
young coaches help fill out Ethridge's inaugural staff.
From WSU
Sports Info 5/25/2018
PULLMAN,
Wash. - Washington State head women's basketball coach Kamie Ethridge continued
to fill out her coaching staff Friday afternoon as she announced the hiring of
Jackie Nared and Katie Shepard. Nared is the second coach to join Ethridge on
the Palouse while Shepard will take over the role of video coordinator for the
Cougars.
"It
is obvious that I have taken quite a bit of time filling positions on my
staff," said Ethridge. "I did that with the intention of hiring the
very best recruiters, basketball minds and people who bring a perfect fit into
the vision of our Washington State program and University. Jackie and Katie are
young and mature coaches who are eager to teach, develop and lead the young
women in our program and future players! It is crucial in this day and age of
recruiting to stay 'young'. These two coaches are that, but, they are also
hungry, kind, driven to be their best and determined to be a part of this
Cougar program and help elevate it to new heights."
"It
is with great excitement that I am introducing two assistants for our WSU
program. A familiar name in the
Northwest and women's basketball, Jackie Nared will be joining my staff in a
full-time recruiting position. Jackie brings a wealth of playing experience
from her days as a highly recruited high school athlete, successful college
career at St Mary's and two years as a professional athlete. Jackie's years as
an athlete combined with her professional development while working on staffs
that went to a Final Four (Washington) and an Elite Eight (Oregon), gives her a
resume full of elite level basketball. I am thrilled to have someone on my
staff that is from the Northwest and is very familiar with the Pac-12. Jackie
will make an immediate impact in our program on the court and in
recruiting!!"
Nared
comes to WSU after spending last season at Oregon where she was the Director of
Creativity and Video. Charged with creating scout film on Oregon opponents,
Nared helped a Duck's coaching staff that led Oregon to it's first-ever Elite
Eight. Prior to working at Oregon, Nared spent two years at Washington as the
Director of Player Development.
In
addition to her work experience in the Pac-12, Nared brings a stellar playing
resume to the Cougars. A two-time First Team All-WCC selection, Nared played at
and graduated from Saint Mary's College where she dominated the West Coast
Conference for the Gaels. In her final two seasons, Nared led the league in
scoring averaging 16.6 points per game as a junior and 21.8 points per game as
a senior, the sixth-best scoring season in WCC history. In addition to her
collegiate excellence, Nared took her abilities overseas where she played in
Riva San Vitale, Switzerland and Waregem, Belgium. She would earn Guard of the
Year, First Team All-League and Import Player First Team Recognition in her two
seasons playing professionally.
"I am
excited that Katie Shepard has decided to follow Coach Laurie Koehn and me from
Northern Colorado," said Ethridge. "Katie comes to us as our Video
Coordinator. It is Katie's loyalty, enthusiasm and commitment to the new
direction of women's basketball at Washington State that will pay dividends for
our program. Coaches that fill this position on a staff are always the hardest
workers and selfless in their attempts to make coaches' jobs easier. Katie
Shepard will be that and more for our Cougar program!"
Shepard
spent last season on the bench alongside of coach Ethridge as an assistant
coach at Northern Colorado. Prior to UNC, Shepard played at Sacred Heart
University where she averaged 8.7 points and 5.0 assists per game as a senior.
She would graduate with a bachelor's degree before continuing on at her alma
mater for graduate school. While working on her master's degree, Shepard spent
time coaching high school basketball, getting her first work on the sidelines
after four years on the court at Sacred Heart.
::::::::
BASEBALL
Late Lead
Slips Away Against Utah
Game
today/Saturday 5/26/2018 at Noon (first pitch)
Video: PAC-12
NETWORKS
PULLMAN,
Wash. – Washington State dropped game two of the series with Utah 9-3 at
Bailey-Brayton Field Friday afternoon. The rubber game of the series is set for
Saturday at Noon on the Pac-12 Network. Prior to the game Saturday, nine Cougar
seniors will be recognized.
WSU
(16-32-1, 8-20-1 Pac-12) received two hits and two RBI from JJ Hancock. Utah
(15-39, 7-22 Pac-12) rallied from a 2-1 run deficit with three runs in the
seventh, three more in the eighth and added two more in the ninth to even the
series.
In the
first inning, Dillon Plew drew one-out walk and James Rudkin followed with
single to left field before Justin Harrer singled to centerfield and JJ Hancock
followed with an RBI-single back up the middle for a 2-0 Cougar lead.
In the
third, Utah used a one-out solo home run to left field that cut the WSU lead to
2-1.
Both
starting pitchers settled in before Utah got to Sunitsch in the seventh inning.
The Utes used four hits in the inning to push three runs across for a 4-2
advantage. In the eighth, Utah used a single, walk, an error and a sacrifice
fly to make it 5-2 and added two more runs with a single and sac fly for a 7-2
advantage.
In the
bottom of the eighth, the Cougars used a pair of singles from Plew and Blake
Clanton before Hancock pulled a single through the right side to score Plew.
With runners on first and second, the Utah bullpen kept the lead at 7-3 with a
strikeout. Utah added two more runs in the ninth before sealing up the 9-3 win
with a scoreless bottom of the ninth.
INSIDE THE
BOX SCORE
Blake
Clanton singled to shortstop in the 8th, extending his on-base streak to 14
games
Danny
Sinatro stole his team-leading 9th base of the season
Scotty
Sunitsch made his 85th career appearance, 4th-most in WSU history
Sunitsch
worked 6.2 innings, allowed 4 runs and struck out 8
COMING UP
The series
wraps up Saturday at Noon on the Pac-12 Network.
:::::::::::::
WSU
COUGARS MEN’S BASKETBALL
With
recruiting nearly finished, some thoughts on WSU basketball
18
While
Robert Franks’ decision will have a big impact on the team, there are larger
issues with roster construction.
By Jeff
Nusser Coug Center.com
May 19,
2018, 4:37pm PDT
Photo by
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
As the
2018-19 roster for the Washington State Cougars finally rounds into shape, now
feels like a good time to take stock of where the team stands.
With the
signing of junior college guard Ahmed Ali earlier this week, WSU probably is
done in terms of meaningful recruiting — even though there still is one
scholarship remaining now that formerly suspended guard KJ Langston has been
removed from the school’s website, finally confirming everyone’s long-held
assumption that he’d be departing the program:
At this
point, I presume WSU is holding onto that slot in the hopes that Robert Franks
— who declared for the NBA draft but is not believed to have hired an agent —
changes his mind and comes back to Pullman for his senior season.
There has
been virtually no draft chatter surrounding Franks, save for this assessment
from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who put Franks in his “uncertain/depends on
draft process” when assessing whether he’d stay in the draft. Vecenie thinks
Franks could potentially go in the second round:
One of the
underrated breakout players in college basketball this season, Franks shed a
lot of weight last offseason and became a dynamic stretch-4 who could knock
down shots and attack closeouts. With a 6-7 frame and a 7-2 wingspan, he has
everything that an NBA team is looking for from the position from a physical
perspective. Still, he’s a slow-footed defender despite the fact that he’s
gotten into better shape. Franks is definitely a strong candidate for a two-way
contract next year if he sticks in the draft. He’ll need to prove himself in
workouts if he wants to go through with his plan of staying in the draft.
Franks was
not invited to the NBA draft combine, and there have been no reports of team
workouts (which doesn’t necessarily mean there haven’t been any). He has until
May 30 to make a final decision on the draft, and I’d assume he’ll wait — his
initial declaration seemed to indicate he was intent on going pro, and it
wouldn’t surprise me if he goes all the way up to the deadline to try and make
it happen.
The
implication of Franks’ situation on recruiting is relatively minor, given that
it’s already pretty slim pickings at this point, but the pickings will get even
more slim in the next week or two. Obviously, the best thing for WSU is to get
Franks for one more year. If they don’t, expect Ernie Kent to either take a
flier on someone who’s not on anyone else’s radar (Arinze Chidom and Carter
Skaggs were each signed in August) or just leave the scholarship unused (which
he did this past season until giving walk-on Steven Shpreyregin a scholarship
for second semester).
As Kent
enters his fifth season, he’s found it incredibly difficult to entice high
school players to Pullman — in his last two classes, only three-star wing C.J.
Elleby has taken the bait* — and those that do sign have usually left before
graduating: Of the 10 high school players to sign and play under Kent at WSU,
seven have departed before exhausting their eligibility.
Just to
drive the point home of how incredible that is: Presuming Viont’e Daniels makes
it to the end of next season and graduates (while also presuming Franks doesn’t
come back), Daniels will be the first and only Kent high school recruit to
leave with a degree in Kent’s first five years. The next player who could
possibly achieve that is Jeff Pollard in 2020. So, put another way: If Kent
(somehow) makes it through seven years at WSU and Franks comes back, he can
graduate a maximum of three players he recruited out of high school.
*Yes, I
realize one could include Aljaž Kunc in the “signed out of high school”
category. But as an international player who had club experience in Europe and
had been playing at an academy before hastily reclassifying from 2019 to 2018
and signing with WSU, that strikes me as something different. If you want to
include Kunc as a “high schooler,” then fine, I don’t feel strongly enough to
argue. But to me, when we’re talking about building a program, that’s not quite
the same as convincing someone from a more traditional talent pipeline to join
the Cougs — which, yanno, we were assured that Kent was really, really good at.
It strikes me as more of a one off. Your mileage may vary.
As a
result of Kent’s inability to hang onto high schoolers, he’s found himself
constantly plugging holes with transfers (primarily from jucos), some of whom
work out and graduate, but some of whom don’t work out and transfer again —
that’s happened five times now.
This year
represents a high water mark (or low water, depending on your perspective), as
roughly 60 percent of Kent’s roster — again, in his fifth season, which is when
some roster stability should have taken hold — will be made up of junior
college transfers.
To be
blunt, that’s the sort of proportion you typically find at low major programs,
since program building is an exceptionally difficult task at that level, and
those coaches are all just trying to catch lightning in a bottle so they can
make an NCAA tournament and move on to a better job. As far as high majors go,
“lightning in a bottle with jucos” is not a thing that exists, so in WSU’s
case, it simply looks a high major coach trying desperately to put a
respectable enough product on the floor so as to stave off what seems to be an
inevitable firing.
While this
all sucks for potentially making an NCAA tournament someday, it might not be
the worst thing in the world in the short term. The mostly likely scenario is
that the team is bad, Kent’s gone at the end of the year, and the new guy isn’t
saddled with a bunch of young guys he probably doesn’t want.
On the
flip side, maybe these jucos are mature enough and talented enough to be a
mediocre team in a mediocre league, which would make them more interesting than
Kent’s last three squads. And if you’re worried that could possibly mean an
extension for Kent, I doubt merely being competitive will fool athletic
director Pat Chun into believing the program is on the right track.
Go Cougs!
Correction:
This story originally incorrectly stated the deadline for Franks to withdraw
from the NBA draft is June 11.
………………….
Historical
Society aims to restore Pullman depot
Two rail
cars will be removed from property due to health hazard
By DYLAN
GREENE, Evergreen life & leisure editor
May 24,
2018
Foggy
windows surrounded by cracking window frames, peeling wallpaper, cobwebs coated
in a layer of dust and a glossy red parking meter. All distinct features within
the Pufferbelly Depot sitting on the edge of the South Fork of the Palouse
River in the heart of downtown Pullman.
Now the
brick building that hasn’t seen a passenger train leave its station since 1970
will get a restoration from the Whitman County Historical Society.
Kathy
Meyers, co-chair of the WCHS steering committee, said the railroad is an
integral part of the history of the community.
“The
railroads caused a big growth in the town and they were one of the main reasons
that the state chose Pullman for [WSU],” Meyers said.
A $300,000
loan from an anonymous donor helped WCHS buy the property in early March after
it was put up for sale a month before by Meghan Antoni in an attempt to return
the depot to its original form.
Meghan is
the daughter of the previous owner, Dan Antoni, who passed away in 2015.
Antoni was
forced to put the depot on the market after her father’s estate had accumulated
a large amount of debt, and said before her father passed away he asked her not
to sell the depot.
“It broke
my heart to sell it,” Antoni said. “That depot was my dad’s life, his legacy
and it was his pride and joy. He absolutely loved that depot.”
The depot
was originally built in 1887 and was made entirely of wood until it received a
makeover in 1917 that gave the building its current brick exterior.
The old
railroad station has gone through several name changes throughout the years,
including being called the Northern Pacific Train Depot. When Dan bought the
depot in 1988 he renamed it Pufferbelly in honor of steam locomotives, Antoni
said.
Dan ran
two businesses out of the depot for 27 years; a real estate agency and a
vehicle licensing office. Antoni worked part time at the depot while attending
WSU from 2010-2014 and helped her father with the licensing business. She kept
track of the books and ran deposits back and forth to the bank.
“It was
his vision that when he passed away that I would take on his licensing business
and I would succeed him,” Antoni said.
Although
Antoni was unable to fulfill this wish and keep the depot, she said her father
would be happy with her decision to sell the depot to WCHS in order to restore
it.
Besides
growing the town and bringing a university to Pullman, Meyers said the depot
increased agriculture in the area as soon as it was built by providing cheap,
easy and fast transportation to move goods.
“Before
the railroads came,” Meyers said, “the only way to get your crops to market was
on the river.”
The train
also provided a source of transportation for WSU students to get to towns like
Spokane and Lewiston before cars started to take over in the late 1960s and
ultimately halted the station’s business.
Meyers
came to Pullman in 1970 to attend WSU and recalls the echoes the locomotives
used to send through the town.
“When we
moved here you could hear train whistles two, three times a day,” Meyers said.
“They ran so punctually that people use to joke that you could set your watches
to the train whistle.”
The depot
is the central point where the main threads of the history of Pullman, WSU and
agriculture come together, Meyers said, and they hope to highlight that with
the restoration.
Meyers
said the goal is to keep as many as the historical features of the depot as
possible and create an interpretive center with hands on and interactive
activities for all ages.
“I think
it’s important to know your history,” Meyers said, “so you can figure out who
you are and where you came from.”
There are
several cosmetic things the WCHS will need to replace, Meyers said, including
the doors, windows and light fixtures.
They will
also need to remove two train cars in front of the building because of a health
hazard, Meyers said. Runoff from the roof of the building on to the railcars
due to rain has caused water damage and resulted in black mold.
Meyer said
they will either have to bring in a crane to remove the train cars that are
mounted to the railroad tracks or piece them out for salvage. Taking away the
rail cars would allow the front of the building to be more visible to the
community.
WCHS is in
the early stages of figuring out their long-term plans for the depot and there
is no timetable for its completion yet, but Meyers wants to create a gathering
place for people in the community and has an idea of what the historic building
will look like in the future.
“I can
picture it,” Meyers said, “but I can’t draw it because I’m not an artist.”
::::::::::::::
Remembering
sociology pioneer, WSU professor James Short
May 25,
2018 from WSU News
PULLMAN,
Wash. – Washington State University lost one of its longstanding academic
superstars earlier this month with the passing of James F. Short Jr.
Short,
professor emeritus of sociology and one of WSU’s longest-serving and most
distinguished faculty members, passed away May 13 at the age of 93.
Nationally
recognized by sociologists for his study of urban gang behavior in Chicago, he
went on to teach and mentor sociology researchers and academics for more than
half a century, authoring multitudes of papers, books, monographs and other
writings. He was widely acknowledged for his understanding of group dynamics,
sociological risk factors, and conditions leading to violence, delinquency and
crime.
:::
HEALTH
& MEDICINE
WSU
SPOKANE NEWS
Declining
number of rural pharmacies ‘a worrisome trend’
May 25,
2018
By Addy
Hatch, WSU College of Nursing
Small-town
pharmacists dispense medication, of course. But they might also provide
clinical services like immunizations and blood pressure screenings; consult on
health issues; or even act as a de facto benefits or case manager for
customers.
Pharmacies
clearly are important to health care in rural communities. Yet nearly 500 rural
communities in Washington lost their only retail pharmacy between 2003 and
2013.
Janessa M.
Graves, an assistant professor at the Washington State University College of
Nursing, is studying the issue.
“It’s a
worrisome trend, and yet this is something that hasn’t been looked into very
closely,” she said.
Graves’
research is specifically looking at retail pharmacies that serve people covered
by Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program for low-income children and
adults and people with disabilities. More children are covered by Medicaid in
Washington’s “nonmetro” counties than by private insurance, and statewide, 91
percent of community pharmacies accept at least one Medicaid insurance plan.
Laura
Forman, a WSU College of Nursing Honors student, assisted Graves on the first
part of the research. They presented initial findings at a rural health
conference in Spokane recently.
Graves
said access to a community pharmacy is especially important in rural areas,
which have trouble attracting health care providers.
“Where
there’s a dearth of health care, a pharmacy can play an important role,” she
said.
But some
large counties have only a handful of retail pharmacies. Ferry County, for
example, has a total area of more than 2,200 square miles, but has only a
couple of retail pharmacies that accept Medicaid reimbursement. There are three
in Lincoln County and two in Pend Oreille County. Spokane County has 93 such
pharmacies, according to preliminary research by Graves and Forman.
Rural
counties are sparsely populated, so the number of pharmacies per 10,000
residents is higher in Ferry and Lincoln counties than in Spokane County.
But those
numbers don’t reflect challenges like driving long distances, over sometimes
dangerous roads, to get to a pharmacy. And while mail-order pharmacies might be
an answer for medications used to treat chronic conditions, they aren’t useful
for filling prescriptions needed immediately, like an antibiotic.
The
research is ongoing. Graves would like to know whether people in rural areas
are driving long distances to fill prescriptions, and what the decline in rural
pharmacies means about access to health care. She said the research could
suggest potential solutions, like targeted policies to raise Medicaid
reimbursement rates in rural areas, or other measures to encourage rural
pharmacies to continue to accept Medicaid.
Graves was
drawn to the subject because her research tends to focus on health systems and
data. Plus, she grew up in a rural community and lives in one now and said, “I
care a lot about rural communities.”
#
