It’s time for the Pac-12 to get serious about being able to compete nationally again
Originally published March 17, 2018 at 5:22 pm Updated March 17, 2018 at 5:39 pm
On the heels of the worst bowl showing ever for a major conference — a 1-8 record — the Pac-12 has just turned in the worst NCAA basketball performance for any Power Six league in the modern era with an 0-3 record.
By Larry Stone Seattle Times columnist
How about those rampaging Pac-12 softball teams? Six of them are ranked in the nation’s top 16, including No. 1 Washington and No. 3 UCLA, both entering the weekend undefeated.
And how about the six Pac-12 teams that made the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, a worthy accomplishment. A big salute as well to the 11 Pac-12 teams that won NCAA titles in 2017, including men’s and women’s water polo, men’s and women’s soccer, and the Huskies’ women’s rowing team.
Contrary to popular perception, the conference is not in total disarray. Many good things are happening, primarily in the so-called Olympic sports, where Bill Walton doesn’t have to make air quotes on the last word when he waxes on about the Conference of Champions.
But in the two sports that drive revenue and reputation — football and men’s basketball — well, disarray is an apt word. Some would toss out a different “dis” — disgrace.
On the heels of the worst bowl showing ever for a major conference in postseason football — a 1-8 record — the Pac-12 has just turned in the worst NCAA basketball postseason performance for any Power Six league in the modern era; with an 0-3 record, it is the first to have no school reach the second round.
So you’ve got to give the Pac-12 bonus points for consistency, at least — consistent underachievement. But the problem is, the postseason woes are just the tip of the crisis-berg. SB Nation on Friday published a timeline of the Pac-12’s football and basketball setbacks in 2017-18, and it’s a staggering compendium of scandal (the FBI investigation into two high-profile basketball teams, Arizona and USC), embarrassment (the mockery of Washington football’s soft nonconference schedule during a nationally televised game) and losing (see above), with many more examples of each to choose from.
The Pac-12 Network alone deserves a special citation for undermining and sabotaging the conference’s efforts to advance the profile of the league. We all know the issues, which can be boiled down to the fact that the games are being played at times that inconvenience and alienate the Pac-12’s core audience and largely eliminate its East Coast reach, while the ongoing impasse with DirecTV ensures the Pac-12 Network doesn’t achieve its viewing potential.
As a result, revenues have not been as high as promised, and other conferences such as the SEC and Big Ten have shot past the Pac-12 in earnings, which in turn threatens a vicious cycle of better facilities, higher-profile coaches and recruiting advantages for them. It’s a frightening prospect that today’s 16-year-old budding hoop and grid superstars, with little historical perspective, might be eschewing the Pac-12 as a second-rate conference.
In other words, it’s a time of reckoning for the Pac-12, which rightly prides itself on the success of the ancillary sports. But it surely is possible to continue to excel at golf, swimming, tennis and the like while boosting the fortunes of its moneymakers that help fund all the others.
Commissioner Larry Scott, whose $4 million annual salary is the highest of any college commissioner, is under more scrutiny than ever, as well he should be. But with a contract that was recently extended through 2022, Scott probably is not going anywhere.
What Scott needs to do, however, is make competing on a national level in the Big Two sports a top priority. In some ways, what has happened this year can be written off as a fluke, a perfect confluence of negative factors that have led to an aberrational plunge into the abyss. After all, it was just a year ago that this very same conference had three teams in the Sweet 16 and one, Oregon, in the Final Four. And it was one football season ago that Washington was in the Final Four of college football. The Huskies have a fighting chance to get back next year if some things break right — particularly with a decidedly non-cupcake opener against Auburn.
In other words, it’s possible that the outlook for the Pac-12 could be much brighter next year. If its two historically elite programs (USC football and UCLA basketball) find a way to soar, the entire image of the conference changes. Who knows what other school might break through?
Or it’s possible that the league continues to flail, with the accompanying loss of national prestige that turns the downturn into a self-perpetuating cycle.
So Scott needs to heed the advice of Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News and convene a competition committee of school administrators and coaches to examine all the ways the Pac-12 can reassert itself on the national scale. Put it all on the table and hash it out.
Wilner intended this committee to focus on football, but my contribution would be to expand it to include basketball as well. The emphasis needs to be twofold — to examine the scheduling snafus that severely hamper member schools in football, and figure out a way to make the Pac-12 Network a more expansive, artistic and profitable venture.
Of course, those two realms are interconnected; games are scheduled at maddening times because the TV contract — which runs through 2025 — requires it. But surely there is room for compromise, considering that a higher performing, more popular Pac-12 would benefit its television partners as well as its member schools.
Maybe sometime soon, the Pac-12 kudos once will again extend to football and men’s basketball.
Alsop, Johnson and Men's 400m Relay Grab Wins at USC Trojan Invite
from WSU Sports Info
LOS ANGELES -- Washington State track and field performers captured a trio of wins Saturday in the second day of the USC Trojan Invitational at Locker Stadium on the USC campus.
Sophomore Nick Johnson (Spokane, Wash.) won the men's 110m hurdles with a lifetime-best (non-wind-aided) time of 14.26 seconds, running into a 2.7 meters per second headwind.
The Cougars men's 4x100m relay of Zach Smith (senior, Bremerton, Wash.), Ja'Maun Charles (junior, Pleasanton, Calif.), Ray Littles (junior, Issaquah, Wash.) and Ethan Gardner (junior, Walla Walla) won with a time of 40.82 seconds. Charles also took third place in the 100m dash with a time of 10.53.
Jake Ulrich (freshman, East Wenatchee, Wash.) captured second place in the 400m dash with a solid time of 47.81.
In field events, Cole Smith (redshirt senior, Hoquiam, Wash.) threw the javelin 212-5 (64.74m) for second place. Peyton Fredrickson (junior, Ridgefield, Wash.) took third place in the men's high jump after clearing the bar at 6-8 3/4 (2.05m).
Redshirt senior Greer Alsop (Invercargill, New Zealand) won the women's triple jump with a leap of 40-feet, 5 inches (12.32m) with freshman Oyinlola Akinlosotu (Federal Way, Wash.) in second place with a distance of 38-9 (11.81m).
Marlow Schulz (senior, Whitefish, Mont.) was the runner-up in the women's 800m with a PR time of 2 minutes 8.05 seconds.
Stephanie Cho (junior, Vancouver, B.C.) ran the 400m hurdles in a PR time of 59.27 for third place.
The women's 4x400m relay team of Cho, Schulz, Alissa Brooks-Johnson (redshirt senior, Doty, Wash.) and Jelena Grujic (freshman, Novi Sad, Serbia) finished third with a time of 3:43.96 which is faster than the best time in 2017. The 4x100m relay of Jordyn Tucker (sophomore, Monrovia, Calif.), Regyn Gaffney (junior, Chehalis, Wash.), Tierney Silliman (redshirt sophomore, Yakima) and Brooks-Johnson ran a time of 46.47 for fifth.
In the women's field events, Molly Scharmann cleared 12-1 /2 (3.70m) in the pole vault for third place. Kelsey Kehl (sophomore, Baldwin City, Kan.) took third in the javelin with a throw of 147-2 (44.85m).
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Cougars See Late Lead Slip Away at No. 14 UCLA
WSU Sports Info story
NEXT UP: The series with No. 14 UCLA wraps up Sunday at 1 p.m.
LOS ANGELES – Washington State saw its eighth-inning lead slip away in an 8-5 defeat to No. 14 UCLA at Jackie Robinson Field Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars held a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning but UCLA scored four times in the frame and held off WSU’s ninth-inning rally for the second straight day. Washington State (4-11, 0-2 Pac-12) received three hits from third baseman Dillon Plew and home runs from Justin Harrer and Blake Clanton. UCLA improved to 12-4 overall and 2-0 in conference play despite allowing 12 Cougar hits and committing two errors.
In the second inning, UCLA took a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to left field. On the play, the leftfielder Justin Harrer fired to second in time to get the Bruin baserunner who was trying to tag up from first base.
The Cougars answered in the third inning, using five hits to score five runs. Jack Smith and Cal Waterman started the inning with singles to left field and were bunted up a base by Mason De La Cruz. Andres Alvarez scored Smith with a sacrifice fly down the right field line that UCLA made a nice catch in foul territory for the second out. Harrer stepped in and hammered the first pitch he saw over the batter’s eye in centerfield, his second straight day with a home run. Clanton followed by pulling a homer high over the right field wall for his third homer of the season and a 5-1 Cougar lead.
UCLA came right back with a two-run homer in their half of the third to cut the Cougar lead to 5-3 and added another run in fifth for make a it a one-run game, 5-4.
Cougar freshman reliever Hayden Rosenkrantz worked a pair of scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth innings before giving way to senior Ryan Walker who started the seventh.
Walker ended the seventh with a double play but ran into trouble in the eighth. UCLA opened the inning with a base hit to left center and a walk. The next batter pulled a pitch down the third base line, just past a diving third baseman Dillon Plew for an RBI-double that tied the game 5-5. The next batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases and UCLA took the lead with an RBI-single to centerfield for a 6-5 lead and followed with a two-run single that was poked just past the diving first baseman James Rudkin for an 8-5 advantage.
In the ninth, Waterman started the inning by reaching on an error and pinch-hitter Collin Montez chopped a single over the first baseman to set runners up on first and second. Alvarez stepped in and line a pitch deep to left field that the Bruin leftfielder made a leaping catch just in front of the wall to rob Alvarez of extra bases. Plew then lined out to the first baseman who stepped on first for the game-ending double play.
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Washington State Cougars Of The Desert Fund Scholarships
By Rosanna Currier and Charlene Clark, Special to The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.).
Published 10:00 a.m. PT March 17, 2018
Alumni of Washington State have always had a special in their hearts for the desert and it gets bigger and better every year.
What began 31 years ago as a casual social of "Coug" friends in the desert each winter has blossomed into a major fundraiser to support scholarships for students at WSU. Over this time, there has been a significant increase in attendance and participation. The weekend includes a luncheon, silent auction and keynote speaker on Saturday and a Golf Classic and dinner culminating with a live auction on Sunday evening. This year’s event at Desert Falls Country Club in Palm Desert saw the highest number of attendees with 145 at Saturday’s luncheon. On Sunday, approximately 80 golfers participated in the Golf Classic with an additional 40 attending the evening dinner and live auction.
The Saturday luncheon welcomed several notable WSU representatives who were greeted by Dr. James Cook, President of the Cougars of the Desert and Professor Emeritus, Plant Pathology and Crop and Soil Science. Dr. Kirk Schulz, WSU President, provided the group with an update (State of the University). One of the newest staff members, and the keynote speaker, was the school's new Athletic Director, Patrick Chun and the reaction to his words was very positive. In speaking of his goals and direction for the university’s athletic programs, Chun said, “What we believe, is what we become. Who we are and what is important to us must be reflected in all we do and say.”
It was quite clear that he believes in the Cougs and sees great things for us. He concluded by saying that every day is important to Cougs, but that the next most important day is 272 days away, and, after a slight pause for calculations, the answer was heard around the room, The Apple Cup! “Go Cougs!”
Dr. Tom Kawula, the Director of the Paul G. Allen School of Global Animal Health, provided the group with a brief overview of the truly notable research being conducted by his department in the name of the university. Lisa Calvert, Vice President, University Advancement and CEO, WSU Foundation bestowed, on behalf of the Foundation, a much coveted and prestigious award on the Cougars of the Desert Committee. Known as the WSU Foundation Outstanding Service Award, it states, “Bonded by their love for WSU, planning committee members go above and beyond to secure a successful event. Cougars of the Desert is a formidable force giving hope to students with financial needs.”
Based on preliminary results, the committee anticipates that they will be able to award ten $2000.00 scholarships to students again this year.
The continued success of these annual fund raisers is indicative of the generosity and support of the many participants, businesses and individuals who support it. And it also gives them the fun of helping others experience life as a Coug. As all true Cougs know, “Once a Coug, always a Coug.”
Dates for the 2019 events are February 23rd for the luncheon and February 24th for the golf tournament and banquet. All Cougars and friends of Cougars are welcome to attend. For more information, visit the WSU Alumni Association at alumni.wsu.edu/DesertCougars.
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This is not about WSU Spokane, but, WSU Spokane is in Spokane!
With Bing Crosby as grand marshal, St. Patrick’s Day Parade hits downtown Spokane
UPDATED: Sat., March 17, 2018, 9:51 p.m. from Spokane S-R (part of a story)
The soothing tones of St. Patrick’s Day Parade grand marshal Bing Crosby drifted past thousands of ears Saturday, from Washington Avenue to Post Street.
A life-size image of the famous late singer and Spokane native was propped up in the truck bed of a Ford F-150, its speakers blasting such Irish-themed Crosby songs as “St. Patrick’s Day Parade.”
“I’ll be marching along in a big parade on St. Patrick’s Day. I’ll be up to my neck in shamrocks as I march along the way,” sang Crosby. The posthumous grand marshal’s mother was a second-generation Irish-American.
“Hey, what’s more Irish than Bing?” a woman asked as the truck, which also carried Crosby’s nephew, Ed Crosby, drove down Spokane Falls Boulevard.
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