A Grip on Sports: Baseball, NCAA find themselves in sticky situations as June winds down
A GRIP ON SPORTS • As the last week of work in June arrives, propelled by temperatures only reached in the third circle of Dante’s infernal masterpiece, we decided it was a good day to examine a couple of issues. Sticky ones at that.
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• When I was a student/athlete at UC Irvine almost a half century ago, no one used that term. At least not in our presence. And not in the NCAA’s press releases. But the organization wasn’t far from pivoting toward emphasizing the student part of the compound noun, mainly to keep from having to pay its large and diverse workforce.
Or from letting anyone else pay it either. After all, amateurism was to become the crutch propping up a system that was actually professional in every way. It wasn’t always that way, however. Not even in the 1970s.
Irvine’s basketball coach had lined up jobs for his players that weren’t really jobs. They “worked” at a warehouse. Only basketball players could apply. It was a couple of hours a week of sweeping and whatever, followed by a large paycheck.
But that wasn’t the most egregious example of name, image and likeness earning athletes a few bucks back then. Nor the beginning of it. For years baseball players who were talented enough played in the Alaskan Summer League. While there, they earned thousands of dollars from jobs that demanded their presence, oh, maybe once a summer. Mow a lawn, get paid more per hour than the CEO. A good gig if you could get it.
The best example of NIL before NIL was even in the lexicon? That used to happen at USC. A former Trojan football player – Rod Sherman, who also played for years in the NFL and was a UCI assistant athletic director – used to regale us with stories of his time as an extra on the set of such TV shows as “F Troop.”
It was one of those perks of being a USC football player in the early 1960s.
Sure enough, from then on when I watched a rerun of that farcically bad comedy, I would spy Sherman in the background of scenes set at Fort Courage.
Were the USC football players just paid the going rate for extras back then? Probably not. And they certainly won’t be after Wednesday, when the NCAA will have to do something, anything, in advance of a Thursday sea change. That’s when state laws concerning name, image and likeness go into effect. But only in a large handful of states. The rest of them?
The NCAA may tell schools in other states they are on their own. Or not. No one knows for sure. There are arguments for and against any proposed change no matter if it is NCAA-driven or state-driven. The only truly fair way to allow athletes to cash in on their fame is to have one national policy. But getting Congress to pass something these days is akin to getting Washington State into the Rose Bowl. It happens, but rarely.
So July 1, 2021 may arrive without a comprehensive policy. Before you know it, Alabama football will have an advantage … wait … more of an advantage … recruiting. See, Alabama is one of about a dozen state that have, or will have soon, NIL laws active. By the end of July, schools in all those states will be able to offer, legally, its athletes a chance to make some money based on who they are and what they do.
The other states, like Washington and Idaho? They are still waiting for the NCAA to come up with a plan.
Good luck with that.
• Baseball instituted a plan recently. A plan to catch cheaters.
Well, calling them cheaters might be a tough sell. After all, pitchers using sticky substances to control the baseball better has happened in the sport for a long time. It’s just more of a problem recently, as the use has snowballed and rolled over hitters’ ability to make contact.
Commissioner Rob Manfred decided he had to act. In the middle of a season. So now umpires are strip searching pitchers after a complaint.
It’s happened a few times, though yesterday in Chicago the first pitcher was ejected. Of course, it was a Mariner pitcher.
Hector Santiago is another of those M’s bullpen pitchers whose career could be labeled average at best. But 2021 has been pretty darn good, with an earned run average almost two runs a game better than his career average. Maybe that’s what piqued the White Sox’s interest. Or maybe it goes back to 2018, when Santiago was on the Sox’s staff.
Either way, they had him searched yesterday. And the umpiring crew found enough on his glove to confiscate it and eject him.
The substance will be analyzed. If it is shown to be something banned by rule, than Santiago (and the M’s) are in trouble. He’ll be suspended 10 games and the club won’t be able to replace him on the roster.
But what if it is just rosin and sweat, as Santiago and manager Scott Servais says? Will the Sox be sanctioned? Will an apology be given? Will the umpires be chastised? Nope. None of those things – except maybe the apology.
That’s fine, though. Having Santiago available in the pen will be enough.
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WSU: The Athletic ranked the head football coach hires in the Pac-12 since 2000. The Cougars have a top-10 hire, a middle of the road one and another tied for last. We’re pretty sure you can name who is what. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college sports, Washington picked up a key commitment. … Utah has a secret weapon. … Arizona’s hire of Jedd Fisch has been wisely praised.
Gonzaga: A former GU rower will represent the U.S. in the Paralympics. That and more can be found in our weekly local briefs.
Indians: Spokane hit four home runs and defeated Hillsboro 7-5 on Sunday to split the three-game road series. Dave Nichols has more in this story.
Ironman: Despite the heat, Sam Long shattered the course record Sunday. Ryan Collingwood braved the triple digits to cover the pros while Colin Tiernan covered the amateur part of the competition.
Mariners: Santiago’s ejection (he was coming out of Sunday’s first game anyway) overshadowed another Seattle win. Though Chicago held on to win the nightcap. … Shed Long Jr. is healthy at last. But he was pulled from a game yesterday for not hustling.
Storm: Despite another great game from Breanna Stewart (35 points, 11 rebounds), host Las Vegas defeated Seattle in overtime.
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• I have a friend who moved here from Arizona years ago. When I first told him he wasn’t going to like the winters because you couldn’t do much outside, he laughed. And said that was nothing new for Phoenix, except it was May through September there. Too hot. Now I understand. Until later …