Tony Bennett, a former WSU men’s basketball head
coach, led Virginia to a 85-77 overtime win over Texas Tech on 4/8/2019 evening
in Minneapolis for the NCAA men’s basketball national championship.
……………..
College roundup: Coug QBs take care of the ball
in first scrimmage
April 8, 2019 Moscow Pullman Daily News
Five of the six potential successors to Gardner
Minshew under center participated in the Washington State football team’s first
scrimmage of the spring Saturday at Martin Stadium, where Cougar signal-callers
combined for seven TDs to just one interception.
Graduate transfer Gage Gubrud did not participate
as he continues to work his way back from an injury he sustained while training
in mid-March.
Redshirt
senior Anthony Gordon led the way with four TDs and no picks, throwing for 138
yards while going 14-for-23. The Cougars’ lone pick was thrown by their other
redshirt senior, Trey Tinsley, who was second in yards throwing (127) while
completing 11 of 19 pass attempts.
The
Cougars’ leading reciever on Saturday was Brandon Arconado, who reeled in 121
yards and three TDs on seven catches, one of those scoring plays doubling as
the longest play of the day — a 50-yard bomb from Cammon Cooper.
Scoring plays — Borghi 4 run. Arconado 8 pass
from Bledsoe. Arconado 10 pass from Bledsoe. Winston Jr. 4 pass from Gordon.
Patmon 15 pass from Gordon. Arconado 50 pass from Cooper. Bell 15 pass from
Gordon. Bell 5 pass from Gordon.
Passing — Gordon 14-23-0-138. Tinsley
11-19-1-127. Bledsoe 6-6-0-53. Cooper 5-11-0-85. Cruz 5-10-0-53.
Receiving — Arconado 7-121. Winston Jr. 6-56.
Fisher 4-45. Patmon 4-39. Bell 4-33. Woods 4-33. Harris 3-24. Jackson Jr. 2-53.
Quinn 2-31. Martin 1-9. McManamon Jr. 1-7. Markoff 1-4. Dubots 1-1. Borghi 1-0.
Rushing — Borghi 7-59. Leiato 2-11. Markoff 3-8.
Dubots 2-3.
Sacks — Silvels 2, Rodgers, Langford, Stone Jr.
Interceptions — Nunn.
Field goals — Mazza 2-4, Crane 2-4.
BASEBALL
Cougs fall to Cal, stay winless in league
BERKELEY, Calif. — Giving up four runs in the
second inning and later falling behind by seven, the Washington State baseball
team fell 9-5 to California to finish 0-3 in their Pac-12 series.
Cameron Eden batted 4-for-4 and scored three
times for the Bears (17-11, 5-4) and Sam Wezniak homered and tallied three RBI.
Collin Montez hit a solo homer for the Cougars
(7-23), who remained winless in nine league games. Tyson Guerreo batted 2-for-4
and pitched a hitless ninth.
The loss went to starter Hayden Rosenkrantz, who
allowed six hits and five runs in 3.1 innings. The Cougars used six pitchers.
Getting the win was Cal reliever Rogelio Reyes,
who scattered seven hits and four runs over six innings. The Bears led 9-2
before WSU came up with three runs in the eighth.
In a 6-1 Saturday loss to Cal, Washington State
starting pitcher A.J. Block allowed four home runs — and all of Cal’s scores —
while the Cougars’ offense struggled with any kind of consistency.
Cal starter Jared Horn went eight innings,
allowing six hits and a run on 94 tosses. Block went 5 2/3 with five
punch-outs, but permitted 10 baserunners.
The Cougs left seven on base, and never furnished
a true threat. WSU’s bright spot came right away — Dillon Plew hit a 3-1 pitch
over the right field fence for the Cougs’ first leadoff homer in eight years,
and their only run of the day.
SUNDAY GAME
Washington St. 011 000 030—5 9 2
California 040 121 10x—9 13 2
Rosenkrantz, Baillie (4), Barnum (6), Newstrom
(7), Sellers (7), Guerrero (8) and Notaro. Holman, Reyes (3), Sabouri (9) and
Lee.
W — Reyes (3-1). L — Rosenkrantz (2-3).
WSU hits — Plew, Sinatro, Alvarez, Montez (HR),
Notaro (2B), Guerrero 2, Smith, Kolden.
Cal hits — Eden 4, Lee, Baker 3, Wezniak 2 (HR),
Mack, Selma 2 (2B).
SATURDAY GAME
WSU 100 000 000—1 6 1
Cal 002 031 00x—6 8 1
Block, Mills (6), Bush (8) and Teel. Horn,
Sullivan (9) and Lee.
W — Horn (1-1). L — Block (0-4).
WSU hits — Plew (HR), Manzardo, Teel, Guerrero 2
(2B), Kolden.
Cal hits — Vaughn 2 (2B, HR), Flower 2 (HR), Baker,
Wezniak (HR), Mack, Selma (HR).
TRACK AND FIELD
Huskies outpace Cougs
SEATTLE — Visiting Washington State picked up a
total of 10 event victories, but came in second in men’s and women’s team
competition at its dual with UW.
Top-two WSU placers and winning relay teams are
listed below.
WOMEN
Team scores — Washington 108, Washington State
55.
100 — 1, Regyn Gaffney, 11.88; 2, Jordyn Tucker,
12.03.
3000 steeplechase — 2, Zorana Grujic, 10:26.26.
High jump — 1, Suzy Pace, 5-3 3/4; 2, Madison
Peffers, 5-3 3/4.
Triple jump — 1, Taylor Charisma, 39-4 1/2; 2,
Lindsey Schauble, 38-0.
Shot put — 1, Chrisshnay Brown, 47-06.5.
Discus — 2, Brown, 149-10.
Hammer throw — 2, Aoife Martin, 179-01.
MEN
Team scores — Washington 103, Washington State
60.
100 — 1, Emmanuel Wells, 10.41.
200 — 2, Ja’Maun Charles, 22.07.
400 — 2, Jake Ulrich, 47.89.
1500 — 1, Paul Ryan, 3:50.37.
110 hurdles — 1, Sam Brixey, 14.14; 2, Nick
Johnson, 14.22.
400 hurdles — 2, Christapher Grant, 54.08.
3000 steeplechase — 2, Kyler Little, 9:06.43.
High jump — 1, Mitch Jacobson, 6-11; 2, Peyto
Fredrickson, 6-09.
Long jump — 2, Joseph Heitman, 23-03.25.
Triple jump — 2, Robby Flores, 48-00.75.
Hammer throw — 1, Brock Eager, 223-01; 2, Amani
Brown, 203-8.
::::::::::::
VINCE GRIPPI of Spokane S-R on 4/8/2019 says:
SPORTS
Grip on Sports: It won’t be as tasty as usual, so
fans may not eat up tonight’s NCAA title game
Mon., April 8, 2019, 8:39 a.m.
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Hot dogs, hamburgers or a
vegetable platter? When you sit down to watch the NCAA Tournament title game
tonight, what will you be eating for dinner? It’s important in a weird sort of
way. Read on.
• One of the nice parts of living in the western
third of our country is major sporting events actually start at a decent hour.
Tonight’s NCAA championship game is no different. The game between Texas Tech
and Virginia tonight will tip sometime after 6 our time, right in the middle of
the dinner hour.
Contrast with the start time in the I-95
corridor, 9 p.m., which, in our house at least, is known as the bedtime hour.
A dinnertime start demands meal planning, as no
one wants to miss a basket tonight. They may be relatively rare.
But what to eat?
It has to be something appropriate to a sporting
event, right? And hand-held helps, being a knife and fork might may too much
noise and cause us to miss Jim Nantz purring, “welcome friends.” Or drown out
that annoying Phil, the commercial guy.
OK, so maybe a knife and fork would be fine.
(As an aside, does anyone in sports have a better
week every year than Nantz? He spent Saturday calling the national semifinals
from center court, will sit in the same spot tonight and then get on a plane
and jet to Augusta, where he will spend the next few days calling the Masters
and enjoying the Georgia sunshine. That’s my idea of heaven.)
Hot dogs are usually my go-to meal for big
events. They give you that in-the-arena-eating feel without actually, you know,
paying $12 for the privilege. But tonight’s game doesn’t seem to fit the hot
dog motif. Neither of these teams play the game with anything resembling hot
dog in their persona.
Hamburgers might be better. Down to earth,
blue-collar and yet still something that seems appropriate with a sporting
event. There’s one problem, though. Burgers have a tendency to get messy.
Ketchup, mayo, mustard, the tasty juices from the ground beef. All conspire to,
at some point, ruin the shirt you are wearing. No matter how careful you are,
it’s bound to get messy.
That last sentence might apply to the game too.
Both Tony Bennett and Chris Beard, the coaches of Virginia and Texas Tech,
respectively, hate it when their teams turn the ball over, when their offense
puts extra pressure on their beloved defense by, you know, getting messy.
Turnovers are banned, bad shots earn angry eyes and any type of hurry-up with
the ball is discouraged.
But with two teams whose entire game plan
revolves around grinding down the opposing offense, there will be some messy
play this evening.
Which brings us to our last option, the vegetable
platter.
It’s good for you, right? Easy to hold, kind of
quiet – except celery, which crunches way too loudly and may need to be saved
for the commercials – and fitting for tonight’s game.
Nothing fancy. A throwback. Inexpensive. And the
kids will complain about it all night long.
Plus, any good vegetable platter features a
couple of contrasting ingredients. If there are baby carrots, there better be
some broccoli as well. They are different in just about every way except their
ultimate goal: to fill you up and be good for you.
That’s perfect for tonight. Though Texas Tech and
Virginia both rely on their man-to-man defense, how they play it is as
contrasting as possible.
The Red Raiders trace their roots to Bobby
Knight, one of the first coaches to believe in the philosophy it’s OK to be
physical, to grab, claw and slap every possession. After all, they aren’t going
to call every foul. It’s a defensive philosophy that demands outstanding
athletes playing with high intensity for 40 minutes – and some leeway from the
officials.
It’s also a philosophy that changed the college
game in the 1970s and ‘80s, changes rule makers are still trying to clean up.
The Cavaliers play defense with just as much
intensity, just as much passion, but with a different type of physicality. The
Pack defense Dick Bennett envisioned – and passed along to son Tony – is a way
to play smothering defense without the athleticism of your opponents. A way to
level-the-court, if you will, by always being in the right spot, by forcing
tough shots, by out-muscling your opponent on the glass.
Both are effective. Both have been successful
over the years. Both fit their respective teams. And both can take the will
away from their opponents. You saw Texas Tech do it to Michigan State on
Saturday. If you’ve watched any of Bennett’s teams over the years, you’ve seen
them do it many times.
Neither defense is flashy in a 40-minutes-of-hell
sort of way. But both are efficient.
In all honesty, they are the vegetables of
college basketball. Good for you but no one really wants to have them around
for the championship. A tasty hot dog, a messy hamburger, those are what
everyone wants.
Instead, tonight we get broccoli and carrots.
Enjoy it.
WSU: The baseball team is still winless in
conference play. … Around the Pac-12, Washington’s defensive prowess led to
another national award for Matisse Thybulle. … We have a different thought on
UCLA’s coaching search, now seemingly centered on Tennessee’s Rick Barnes.
Maybe the Bruins are waiting for tonight’s game to be over and will throw $10
million a year at the winner? By the way, another player has left the Bruins. …
Colorado is preparing for next season. … There is football news from
Washington.
::::::::::
SPORTS
Bill Moos riding high at Nebraska in wake of
big-time hires
Mon., April 8, 2019, 7:16 p.m.
By Eric Olson/Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. – Bill Moos has rolled with the
punches. Now he is just on a roll.
Nebraska’s 68-year-old athletic director has
pulled off two of the splashiest hires in college athletics in the 18 months
since he arrived, all while batting away criticism for leaving a hefty debt at
his previous school and fending off social media rumors that forced the
administration to issue a statement of support.
“I’m pretty thick-skinned,” Moos said in an
interview with The Associated Press. “I had an old AD who told me when I got
into the business that it’s lonely at the top, and it is.”
Life at the top is pretty good right now.
“Bill is delivering exactly what we sat here and
said in October of ’17,” chancellor Ronnie Green said.
Flush with unprecedented amounts of cash –
Nebraska received a record $50 million distribution from the Big Ten for fiscal
year 2018 – Moos has been able to spend what he thinks is necessary to return
the school to the upper strata of college football and elevate a
long-struggling men’s basketball program.
“Our brand is not tarnished. It just needed to be
dusted off and have a little bit of polish put on it,” Moos said. “We have so
much to offer here.”
Moos’ first move was to hire football coach Scott
Frost away from Central Florida, where he orchestrated a dramatic two-year
turnaround resulting in an undefeated 2017 season. Frost is a Nebraska native,
and he quarterbacked the Cornhuskers’ 1997 national championship team, but
bringing him home was no sure thing.
Frost was the hottest coach in America at the
time and his name was connected to other high-profile openings such as Florida
and Tennessee. Moos landed him in December 2017 with a record contract for
Nebraska: seven years, $35 million.
“I’m as big of a Bill Moos fan as you’ll find,”
Frost said. “It was important to me, before I took this job, that we had an
athletic director that was going to do everything possible to give the football
program, and every sports program what they needed to be successful. Bill
hasn’t disappointed me. … I probably wouldn’t be here, possibly wouldn’t be
here, if Bill Moos wasn’t the athletic director.”
Next, Moos turned his attention to basketball. He
had given former coach Tim Miles a one-year extension last May with the
implicit message that the Huskers needed to reach the NCAA Tournament. That
didn’t happen, and less than a week after he fired Miles on March 26, he hired
one of this coaching cycle’s biggest names in former NBA player Fred Hoiberg.
Hoiberg coached Iowa State to four straight NCAA
Tournaments before leaving for the Chicago Bulls in 2015. He has deep family
ties to the state and university, and Moos’ offer of a seven-year contract
paying a total of $25 million closed the deal.
Under previous administrations, Nebraska’s
coaching pay was modest. Now the Huskers have the 10th-highest paid coach in
football and 11th-highest paid in basketball.
Moos said when he entered discussions about the
Nebraska AD job, he recognized football and men’s basketball were on shaky
ground. The football sellout streak that started in 1962 was ongoing, and
basketball drew some of the biggest crowds in the nation, but trouble was on
the horizon.
“Our fan base, it was apathetic, there was a bit
of a lack of energy within the program,” Moos said. “The fans had stood by us,
but there was a risk there that we were going to lose some of them, relationships
with the fan base, the donors and such.”
Moos grew up on a ranch in eastern Washington and
was an all-conference lineman at Washington State in the early 1970s. His first
athletic director’s job was at Montana, and he moved on to Oregon in 1995. He
was there for 12 years, and under him the Ducks improved facilities, created
new and greater revenue streams and became nationally prominent in multiple
sports.
He retired to his ranch for three years before
Washington State hired him to build a program that had fallen far behind its
peers in the Pac-12. He hired football coach Mike Leach to much fanfare in 2012
and embarked on a stadium renovation and construction of a football operations
building at a total cost of $130 million.
The projects fueled a stunning cumulative debt
that stood at $67 million in 2018 and was projected to top out at $84.9 million
by the end of fiscal year 2023, according to an audit last spring.
Ryan Durkan, former chairwoman of the WSU Board
of Regents, said Moos presented a sound plan for paying for the improvements.
But revenue fell well below projections, largely because of an underperforming
Pac-12 Network.
Durkan said Moos deserves credit for elevating
the program and probably has been assigned too much blame for the ongoing
financial mess.
“Every person has their time and place and he did
great things at WSU during his tenure,” Durkan said. “And, yes, there was
unfinished business and challenges left to address. No question about it. I
think he’s probably happy where he is and we’re happy with our trajectory as
well.”
Moos said he had no regrets about his time at
WSU.
“If I did that poor a job at Washington State,”
he said, “how come I’m at Nebraska now – one of the premier programs in the
country?”
It hasn’t been totally smooth for Moos at
Nebraska. In January, rumors surfaced on social media criticizing how Moos
comported himself in public and predicting an imminent firing.
“I’m a public person. I love to be in a crowd,”
Moos said. “And if people perceive that to be something that’s of concern,
well, then that’s up to them.”
University president Hank Bounds and Green, the
chancellor, ultimately issued a joint statement of support.
“It had gotten to a point of being so out of hand
that (they) jointly snipped that somewhat in the bud and endorsed me, which
they had all along,” Moos said.
Moos, who earns $1.05 million in the second year
of his five-year contract, said he still has much to do. He is planning a $50
million project to upgrade and add amenities to 96-year-old Memorial Stadium,
and the construction of a stand-alone football operations building is in the
discussion stages.
Frost’s football team is coming off a 4-8 first
season, and Moos said the team probably is a year away from competing for a Big
Ten title. Moos said improvement in basketball can happen quickly because it
takes only one or two impact players to change a program’s direction.
“We said our expectation is to compete at the
highest level of NCAA athletics across the board and we’re serious about that,”
Green said. “Bill is focused on what he came here to do to build this athletics
program and move forward, and we couldn’t be more pleased with what he’s done
absolutely across the board.”
::::::::::::::::::::
Outdoor concert on WSU’s
Greek Row garners noise complaints from all over Pullman
From Pullman Radio News
An outdoor concert on Washington State
University’s Greek Row was heard all over Pullman on Saturday night. The Monster Energy Up & Up Festival
brought an artist known as "SLUSHII" to the Sigma Chi fraternity
house. The promoter received a noise
ordinance variance from the Pullman Police Department to allow for the concert.
The music was heard all over Pullman and by 6:30
noise complaints started pouring into to the police department. The variance required the promoter to work
with Pullman Police if the concert became too loud. After about the 7th noise complaint officers
asked the promoter to turn down the music.
Officers noted that the base was so loud that it shook the windows on
their patrol cars. Police Commander
Chris Tennant says the promoter quit working with officers and wouldn’t turn
down the music and so a ticket was issued.
There were at least 18 noise complaints from all
over Pullman that were called in against the concert between 6:30 and 10:00
Saturday night.
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