Funnel cake, speed traps and Oregon State’s alliance with Washington State to save the Pac-12

Funnel cake, speed traps and Oregon State’s alliance with Washington State to save the Pac-12

By Bill Oram, Oregonian, Sept 11, 2023

The fate of the Pac-12 rests in the hands that handed out funnel cake on behalf of the Rotary Club at last weekend’s Palouse Empire Fair.

Washington voters elected Judge Gary Libey to the Whitman County Superior Court in 2016. He has adjudicated cases ranging from child custody to murder, rape and assault.

On Monday, the court clerk in tiny Colfax, Washington, population 2,766, asked the judge what kind of case was on the docket.

The son of a Spokane police officer and a career litigator, Libey said, “Well there’s going to be Cougars, Beavers, Huskies, Ducks, Cardinals, Golden Bears, Bruins, Trojans, Sun Devils, Wildcats, Buffaloes and Utes.”

The clerk replied: “Whoa, should I call for security?”

The Pac-12 is on trial.

Well, not in a legal sense. Not yet. But after a month of being knocked around like wheat stalks in a Palouse windstorm, Oregon State and Washington State are finally fighting back.

The path to leverage in the Beavers’ realignment battle runs directly through Libey’s courtroom, where they form an alliance of rivals with Washington State.

“There are always two sides to every story and there’s two ways of looking at everything,” Libey told a local reporter a few years back.

Two sides, maybe. But ultimately just one conclusion.

The Beavs and Cougs are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the 10 schools that have announced plans to leave the conference from determining the fate of the Pac-12. On Monday, Libey granted a temporary restraining order preventing the board from taking any action in the meantime that is not unanimous.

Pullman, home of Washington’s land-grant university, might be the largest city in Whitman County, but Colfax is its county seat and a great place to pick up a traffic ticket — being home to one of the region’s most notorious speed traps.

Can OSU and WSU get their in-state rivals and the rest of the greedy brood to at least slow down on their way to the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC?

The two remaining schools can’t reverse the disintegration of the Pac-12. They can’t reel USC and UCLA back in or make the Utes do a U of U-turn. They can’t restore the regional rivalries that have been cast aside or bring Fox and ESPN back to the negotiating table for a better TV deal.

They are playing the cards they have.

OSU and Wazzu have been the two biggest losers in realignment. They are the forgotten pair. It makes their ongoing dilemma only more heartbreaking that both schools’ football teams are ranked in the top 25two weeks into the season.

Football has dictated realignment, but clearly not the game’s quality.

You can’t help but love Cougars coach Jake Dickert, who, in a moment of bittersweet celebration after his team upended Wisconsin on Saturday night, passionately declared, “We belong in the Power Five.”

When Oregon State travels to Pullman in two weeks for a game that has already been given a primetime slot on Fox — irony much? — both teams are likely to be undefeated. The biggest underlying question of the matchup will not be who gets the win on the field but how they can avoid further losses off of it.

The best path forward for Oregon State, short of an invitation to the Big Ten or Big 12 that nobody expects, is still to rebuild the Pac-12.

To team with WSU and use the financial resources of the conference, abandoned by the rest of their brethren, to lure universities to join them in a conference that combines the best of the Mountain West or the American.

They can’t do that if presidents from the 10 departing schools come together and make funeral arrangements for the Pac-12.

“They’re now motivated by a strong financial incentive to dissolve the Pac-12 and divide the assets,” the San Francisco-based attorney representing OSU, Eric MacMichael, argued in front of Libey on Monday.

MacMichael said one agenda item for a board meeting scheduled for Wednesday was amending bylaws that include a conflict of interest clause. He also shared that schools leaving the conference expected to have the conference cover some of their transition costs next year.

Oregon State and Washington State have already been left holding the bag. Now the departing schools want to take the bag, too?

If the Pac-12 can be saved as an entity, with valuable framework and assets, then it shouldn’t take a country judge — who said the court had no time constraints on Monday except for his 12:30 p.m. doctor’s appointment — to rule that only Oregon State and Washington State should be directing its future.

But this whole saga has, at times, taken center stage in the theater of the absurd. Including the chairman of Oregon’s board of trustees calling for the Big Ten vote from the sand trap at the Portland Golf Club.

OSU has had limited recourse throughout the realignment race, that’s for sure. There are fans who wondered loudly why the Beavers administration wasn’t taking more action to secure its fate.

This is that action.

Plus, in stacking up legal wins against the Pac-12 and the 10 émigrés, the Beavers are winning back some power in a situation in which they have largely had none.

Mark Lambert, the attorney representing the Pac-12, argued that OSU and WSU were operating out of speculation and fear and that meetings had to be held for standard business and not nefarious purposes that would harm the allies.

Maybe so.

But Libey asked the right question.

“What’s to stop those other schools from making those decisions?” he said.

Answer: Absolutely nothing until the guy who handed out funnel cake on Sunday handed down a common-sense judgment on Monday.

It’s possible the Pac-12 and the 10 soon-to-be ex-members were frustrated by the decision.

Someone should have warned them to slow down before they got to Colfax.

 

 

COUGARS CHEW UP BAFFLED BEARS, 7-2 (Football, 15 Oct 1932 Berkeley, Calif.)

  How the Cougars Beat the Bears * Arbelbide Crosses the Goal Line

Photo: ALL ALONE and over the Bear goal line goes Ollie Arbelbide, Cougar backfield ace and big hero of the W. S. C. victory over California yesterday.

FEW MEN even touched Arbelbide on his forty-nine-yard return of a punt to the lone score of a great content, his mates doing some great blocking and interfering.

GUS CASTRO, Bear quarter, is shown on the goal line crouched in an attempt to hit the speeding Cougar. But, Castro was entirely too late as were other mates.

NUMBER 17 of the Bears, who chased Ollie, is Christie, California center. Number 32 is Carol Gill, right guard. Note the helping Cougars who trailed the game’s hero.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Nothing is better for WSC/WSU Cougar fans than this banner headline in the Sun., Oct. 16, 1932 San Francisco Examiner. It's about the Babe Hollingbery-coached Washington State College football team beating the home standing University of California Golden Bears, coached by Bill Ingram. Game was played the afternoon of Sat., Oct. 15, 2023, at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. WSC won, 7-2.

 :::::::::::::::::::::::

 

Photo: LEE VALIANOS, Bear halfback is shown here making a two-yard gain on a fake reserve in the first quarter of the California-W.S.C game at Berkeley yesterday afternoon.

OTHER PLAYERS who can be identified in this picture are Christie (17) California; Davis (9), W. S. C. Sam Gill (28), California. Stretched out in the foreground is Klein on U.C.

THE COUGARS wee a little too good for the Bears and Babe Hollingbery’s men took a 7 to 2 decision. The is the third time a team coached by Babe had triumphed over the Bears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARBELBIDE. IN

49-YARD RUN

TO W.S.C. TALLY

 

Pascoe Breaks Arm in Second

Period of Play; Northern

Squad Is First to Score

 

By William Leiser

San Francisco Examiner

Oct. 16, 1932

BERKELEY, Calif. (Oct. 15, 1932)  -- Seven and one-half seconds

Seven and one-half seconds ended it all yesterday at Memorial Stadium.

In seven and one-half seconds Ollie Arbelbide, brilliant Cougar quarterback, knocked the Clolden Bears down and out of the race for a Pacific Coast Conference title.

In seven and one-half seconds, after receiving a beautiful long high punt on the Blue and Gold 49-yard line, Ollie Arbelbide was away, down the side lines -- out toward midfield-- back toward the sidelines  -in behind perfect blocking  as he neared the corner of the turf out once more, with three men in front of him, and over the goal, without so much as having been bumped once in the progress of the dash to the end zone.

SCORE 7-2.

Abelbide still had time in the seven and one-half seconds to hold the ball, while George Sander kicked the goal, and the Cougar of Washington Stat had the points by which they smashed the California Bears, 7 to 2,  in one of the most exciting battles yet fought out in this new football season.

Washington State had more than is indicated in that one brilliant dash.

Washington State had the power to out gain the men under "Sailor Bill" Ingram. Washington State had the attacking strength with which the longer marches were staged.

W. S. C. had by far the greater punch in her off tackle running to the left side; VV. S. C. had punting, exceptional punting by Sander, Moses and Arbelbide;

W.S. C. had passing that IS passing as demonstrated by this same Sander, and W. S. C. had, in fact, just everything a team needs to win a game of football.

California without Sehaldach and California with Sehaldach, for California worked both ways yesterday, just couldn't bowl through Cougars when it was a matter of hitting the goal.

Three times the Bears were inside the twenty-yard line with first down and everything to go, but each time there were too many Beldeles, Sanders, Ericksons and Sennas on that goal line who would not be shoved out of the way. California picked up two points late in the fray for the reason that Frank Ingram. W.S. C. center, passed the ball over the head of Moses who was back to receive it, and Moses was forced to chase it clear back behind his own goal, and the Bears had a safety and two points.

But the points contributed by this Frank Ingram were the only points made for the Sailor Bill Ingram forces yesterday.

Frank is no relation of Bill's, and you can bet safely that the Cougar center had no intention of doing anything for William. California's defense was a little aggressive at that point and Frank was a little too excited in getting the ball away.

In any event, Bill can thank Frank for the absence of a whitewash on the old score board for those two points were all the Golden Bear could get by any method or means.

SCHALDACH IN

Ingram did everything. He started Williams at left half. He put Schaldach in immediately after the Bears failed to go over the line on their first march with Williams.

(Continued on Page 20, Column 1)

 

'ALL THINGS EQUAL' Title IX Lewiston Trib/Moscow Pullman Daily News special section Aug 26, 2022

"ALL THINGS EQUAL" Title IX Lewiston Trib/Moscow Pullman Daily News special section Aug 26, 2022

On the front lines to ensure equal treatment

Title IX coordinators at area universities answer a wide variety of questions, investigate complaints and make sure their respective schools are in compliance with the federal law.

www.lmtribune.com

There's not an overall URL for the Aug 26 2022 "ALL THINGS EQUAL" Title IX Lewiston Trib/Moscow Pullman Daily News special section. There are a lot of stories, one of them:

https://www.lmtribune.com/northwest/on-the-front-lines-to-ensure-equal-treatment/article_e2bc86de-9c74-5a87-8b36-4dec777b1e40.html

WSU Athletcs/Title IX decades after a groundbreaking gender equity case (Lewiston Trib/Moscow Pullman Daily News 8/26/2022)

  

(This story is from Aug. 26 2022)

An agent of change at WSU

Karen Troianello reflects on Title IX decades after being part of a groundbreaking gender equity case

• Aug 26, 2022 Lewiston, Idaho, Tribune, Moscow Pullman Daily News
  

Karen Troianello believes every young boy and girl in school should open themselves up to as many experiences as they can, not just in sports but in the classroom.

She has been a longtime advocate for equal opportunity in schools for all genders.

Forty-three years ago, Troianello joined 38 other female Washington State University athletes and 11 coaches in fighting for gender equality through a lawsuit against WSU. They would win Blair v. Washington State University in 1987 after the case went to the state Supreme Court.

The athletes and coaches fought for more scholarships, their own locker room, better uniforms and the right to not be treated as second-class athletes. When Troianello, then Karen Blair, was a track and field athlete at WSU between 1976-80, there were only five women’s varsity sports at WSU. Today, there are nine.

When she looks back at that time, she thinks about the teamwork required to make it happen.

“I think it was such an amazing time of a lot of people coming together and seeing that there was something that needed to change and then working for it,” she said.

Troianello, a copy editor for the Yakima Herald-Republic, has spoken about her experiences to younger generations. They probably have a hard time imagining what it was like for her and her teammates at WSU, but she said that is a positive.

“I think that’s a nice thing that they don’t know some of that,” she said.

Some expressed their gratitude. She recalled meeting a young female athlete when Troianello was inducted into the Bellingham High School Hall of Fame as an activist.

“Her mom brought her up and said, ‘This is who you need to thank,’ ” she said.

As Troianello reflects on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, she thinks about equity in other facets of education. She thinks about her youth and how being good at math or taking wood shop class was taboo for girls back then.

She hopes boys and girls now have the same opportunities and feel the same freedom to try as many classes and activities as they want.

“I just think that you have to have opportunities for all sorts of things for kids to find out where they shine and where they can find ways to offer more to their community,” she said.

One of the great benefits of athletics is that it can provide young boys and girls with mentors who encourage them to do their best.

“It may not be a state winning performance but it’s a pushing of self, which I think we all need,” she said.

Troianello said she thinks it’s great that women and girls are continuing to challenge norms, especially now. Even though women have made significant progress in athletics and education over the years, Troianello said equality is never guaranteed.

“We’re in a time when rights for women are not necessarily assured and the progress that we’ve made on many fronts I think is endangered,” she said.

PHOTO CUTINE: Karen Troianello, then Karen Blair, was at the heart of a lawsuit Washington State University women athletes and coaches brought against WSU seeking gender equity in compliance with Title IX. Robert Hubner/WSU Photo Services

https://www.lmtribune.com/an-agent-of-change-at-wsu/article_68effa82-c192-5b37-8b80-333bc2928d13.html

 

Centennial celebration: Longtime Palouse resident Richard Bruce ‘Dick’ Fry is celebrating a century of life

Centennial celebration: Longtime Palouse resident Richard ‘Dick’ Fry is celebrating a century of life

By Emily Pearce, Moscow Pullman Daily News 2/12/2023

 

Whether or not there may be a withheld secret to living 100 years, Richard “Dick” Fry says it’s all just up to dumb luck.

 

Dick turns 100 years old today, with most of his life spent on the Palouse. Dick said he’s lived a full life — he served in WWII, traveled the world and worked as a journalist in the height of the industry.

His son, James Fry, will be holding a birthday party from 1-3 p.m. today at the Brelsford Visitor Center. James kidded about not bringing gifts, as his father has been blessed with so many birthdays.

Born on Feb. 12, 1923, in Oroville, Calif., Dick joked he was born on a dark and stormy night. He’s the youngest of four children who were all a decade or more older than him.

“My mom was less than two months short of her 40th birthday, so I was kind of a surprise,” Dick said. “But I was just so blessed with and not only having great parents, but with the three older ones. I was spoiled rotten.”

Dick graduated from Oroville High School in 1940, and attended San Jose State until he was drafted into World War II in 1943.

He entered the Army Air Corp, and was stationed in Luliang, China, as an air traffic controller at the China Burma India Theater.

The theater, also known as the Forgotten Theater, was a U.S. military designation during World War II, where aircrafts commonly transported gasoline and supplies. He said an air traffic controller was responsible for directing aircrafts taking off and landing.

Dick’s favorite part about serving in China was the weather — no humidity and it snowed on his birthday once. He said he never saw a chicken in his time spent in China, yet there were always fresh eggs.

“All these people were in the breakfast line and you’d order how you’d like your eggs,” he said.

“You’d order them hard fried, soft fried and medium fried. Once they found out my name was Fry, they never let it down. They picked that up in a hurry, and called me how they took their eggs.”

Spending a little over three years stationed in China, Dick was discharged in 1946 at the rank of sergeant. He went back to San Jose State and finished his studies in journalism.

“All of these things were just plain wonderful luck,” Dick said. “Who put me in the air corps instead of the infantry or the artillery? Just all along the line, just good, wonderful luck.”

He met his first wife, Beatrice Dooley, in 1947 after he went back to attend college. He said she was always beautiful all around; she had red hair, freckles and a great personality. Beatrice served in the Marine Corps from 1944-46, and was discharged as the rank of corporal.

She had always contended that she outranked me,” Dick said.

“She was always so talented, she graduated with honors while I was a routine C+ student. She was a talented writer and such an intelligent person.”

They both graduated in 1947 with a bachelor’s in journalism, and got married a year after in 1948.

He began working as a reporter at the United Press International in 1947. He moved to Pullman in 1952 when he became the editor for the Washington State University alumni magazine, Powwow. Later he went on to work as the WSU sports information director from 1957-70 and the manager for the WSU News Bureau from 1970-85.

Dick and Beatrice proudly raised three children in Pullman. They were married until Beatrice passed away in 1971 from cancer.

He remarried to Marilyn Johnson in 1977, who welcomed him into her family of six children. They were married for 44 years until she passed away in October 2021.

“Marilyn and I traveled the world together. We went back to China, we went to Australia and spent a lot of time in Britain,” Dick said. “She was just a wonderful, wonderful companion and love.”

Writing is Dick’s passion, he said he’s always gotten a kick out of it and “if you have fun, you keep doing it.” Dick published his first book in 1989, “The Crimson and the Gray: 100 Years with the WSU Cougars,” and is working on a few more. Currently, he’s working on “101 Refried Cougar Tales,” as well as “World War II History Around the World, 1112 Days by Trains and Planes.”

Dick is a Palouse celebrity, his son joked. In 2009, Dick was named an honorary WSU Cougar, and in 2017 he was inducted into the WSU Sports Writers Hall of Fame and the Pullman Walk of Fame.

“I’m just so grateful for the life I’ve had,” Dick said. “I had such a wonderful family that took care of me in so many different ways and was blessed with dumb luck that kept me around for so long.”