A Grip on Sports: Mondays may be the worst day of the week most of the time but Wednesdays in the sports world are its rival
A GRIP ON SPORTS • We know Monday has the week’s worst reputation. So bad, in fact, one cat comic creator has crafted a career around it. But, honestly, for a sports fan, isn’t Wednesday a worse day, especially this time of year?
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• It doesn’t really matter on this one, for reasons we delved into deeply yesterday. The confluence of Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday seems as rare as the alignment of all eight planets (or is it nine?). But on most Wednesdays in January and February, all we have available in the sports realm is a bunch of second-rate basketball games. And don’t get us started on how bad October and November are.
Look at today’s schedule. One day out of 366 of them in 2024, sure, but what interests you? Miami at Clemson college basketball? Tennessee at Arkansas? The NBA clash between the L.A. Clippers and the Warriors in San Francisco? Florida in Pittsburgh midway through the NHL season? Whoop-de-doo.
How bad is it Johnny?
It’s so bad, even the Pac-12, which has decided to play on Wednesday nights in this final year of 12 members, sent Oregon State, a school who hasn’t won a game on the road this season, to Arizona State, which hasn’t won anywhere all that often in the past month. And bury it on the Pac-12 Networks.
OK, that’s not funny. Sad, sure. But not funny.
Sort of like the average Joe’s Valentine plans – “Dinner at Taco Bell? How romantic.” – or George Kliavkoff’s Pac-12 tenure.
Neither reached the expected heights nor had the desired results. And both resulted in a short shelf life.
Kliavkoff’s tour as commissioner was doomed long ago. Maybe even before it started thanks to predecessor Larry Scott and a few folks who probably are fine campus leaders but not great at running a modern college sports conference. Still, the end of Kliavkoff’s Pac-12 reign was cemented when he switched gears and sided with the outgoing members last summer, a losing strategy worse than presenting a half-dozen roses purchased today at 7-Eleven on the way home as a special gift.
Tuesday, the Pac-2 – Oregon State and Washington State – made it official. The conference is preparing to move on from Kliavkoff. Where it is headed, what and who is next, we don’t know. We do know that it will cost some money, a cost everyone from USC to Stanford will have to share in, thanks to the settlement all 12 schools agree upon after the Washington Supreme Court ruling.
Hindsight shows us one thing though. if everyone, including the first schools to bolt, USC and UCLA, had stayed the course, almost all would be better off in this new world order.
The upcoming 12-school football playoff would be a consistent viable option for at least a handful of the departing schools. A tight-knit Pac would have closed the money gap with the SEC and Big Ten to some degree, though it certainly would have been third. For all but probably USC, a new rock-solid Pac-12 media rights deal would have been a financial win compared to what’s ahead for the next few years. And the fanbases would have been a lot happier.
Instead, at least some segment of that last group had their heart broken. Even the most gung-ho supporters of USC to the Big Ten or Arizona to the Big 12 or Cal to the ACC … wait, that last is a bad example. No one resides in that camp.
Sorry, lost focus for a moment. As we were saying, even the most gung-ho folks for the moves still regret losing the connections with the other West Coast schools. The history. The hatred. The love. And, as we said, in most cases the renumeration has turned out to be less than expected. Less than needed to continue to compete in some cases.
You know what? Maybe it’s good Wednesdays this time of year are relatively empty of competition. It’s a chance to breathe a bit. To relax. And to ruminate on such things once more. You know, the end of a short era. The end of a long history. The end of the Pac-12 as we knew it. Son of a gun. Now we’re sad.
Like so many of our Valentine’s Days when we were young.
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WSU: We’ve shared the story of the Cougars’ basketball success pretty much every day in this space. Now we know they have arrived. The national outlets are catching up. There is more and more attention being paid. Like CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander delving into Myles Rice’s amazing story. Or The Athletic delving into the process the program has followed. We saw the same national interest grow up close in 2007 and 2008, the last two times Washington State made the NCAA Tournament. … We linked this Klay Thompson story yesterday when it ran in the Mercury News. It is on the S-R site today. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner jumped on the Kliavkoff news quickly Tuesday. … John Canzano waited until this morning to ruminate on it. … Canzano already had a mailbag on his website. … Wilner also has a report on finances in the Mercury News, with a deep dive into commissioner compensation. … It is a good day, seemingly, to pass along power rankings for the women’s teams, as there are two of them to share. … In a down season, one Oregon player stands tall. … Colorado’s men are headed to UCLA tomorrow. … In football news, ESPN’s deal with the College Football Playoff folks took some people by surprise. For a couple reasons. … Washington is sending 13 players to the NFL Draft Combine, more than ever before. Oregon sends seven and Oregon State four. … UCLA introduced DeShaun Foster as its new coach and the press conference turned emotional.
Gonzaga: The Zags travel to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount tomorrow. But it doesn’t look as if former teammate Dominick Harris will be available for the Lions. Jim Meehan has this story on his recent injury. … The NCAA’s NET rankings can change even if a school doesn’t play. That’s because opponents play a role. Gonzaga and WSU both moved up overnight. … Chet Holmgren has been rising above the crowd lately – his dunk last night made all the highlight shows – but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten his memorable year with Gonzaga. … The Zags didn’t have Yvonne Ejim last week. She was globetrotting, in Hungary helping Canada qualify for the Olympics. Greg Lee covered the two home games they won in her absence and delves into what the WCC’s best player means to GU. … Wil Smith set another Gonzaga running record lately, breaking his own mark. That news leads off the S-R’s latest local briefs column.
Idaho: The interviews are about done. Now everyone in Moscow waits on the lawyers and their report concerning allegations of verbal and physical abuse against volleyball coach Chris Gonzalez. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, injuries have allowed an Idaho State women’s player a welcomed opportunity. … Sacramento State played great defense in two recent victories. … Northern Colorado’s men, with the most recent player of the week, head to Portland State.
Preps: The Washington playoffs rolled on, with Dave Nichols covering Mt. Spokane’s boys win and putting together roundups of boys and girls games on Tuesday.
Chiefs: Dave also has this story from last night’s 4-2 victory in Kelowna, as the Chiefs won for the third time in four games.
USL: The top designation for the Spokane Zephyr FC’s USL Super League is a big deal in soccer circles. That’s what Justin Reed shares in this story.
Seahawks: Did you watch the Super Bowl? Sure you did. It was the most watched television show ever. By sheer numbers. Thanks Chiefs, 49ers and Swifties. … The assistant coaches don’t have a lof of NFL experience, that’s for sure.
Kraken: With Philip Grubauer in goal, for only a night, Seattle earned a much-needed shootout win in New York.
Mariners: We’ve got the double play combination covered today, with the Times’ previews of shortstop and second base on the S-R website. … There are a couple more stories from Seattle on its website, one on Julio Rodriguez’s MVP chances and the other on the new DH. … Who are the top prospects in the farm system?
Sounders: The new training facility, at the site of the old Longacres horse-racing track, is pretty cool. Even for jaded players.
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• Our first Valentine’s date ever? We were 16. Made reservations at a restaurant in Burbank, overlooking the San Fernando Valley. Got all dressed up. Picked up our first girlfriend. Got to the restaurant on time. And then sat in the foyer for 90 minutes until we were seated. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, they knew how to take the reservation, they just didn’t know how to keep it. Everyone knows, however, how hard it is to make conversation for 90 minutes with someone you just started dating. Especially in high school. You can only complain about your math teacher or your mom’s cooking for so long. Until later …