A Grip on Sports: No jokes today, just deep thoughts about the first of April, well-written stories and well-played basketball
A GRIP ON SPORTS • I’ve been doing this column for so many years now, it’s hard to remember how often I’ve covered a particular subject. But one I’m sure that’s been on the agenda before is how much I hate April Fools’ Day. Heck, I was talking to my friend Sidd about it just the other day. He agreed. It’s just such a stupid tradition.
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• Baseball fans of a certain age – old – recognize the reference.
Sidd Finch. The boot-wearing, meditation-powered Harvard grad that took the nation by storm back in the day.
The subject of George Plimpton’s masterful Sports Illustrated article that ran 40 years ago today. The greatest sports-related April Fools’ joke of all time.
What I realized this morning re-reading the piece was there is a personal connection. Three of them, actually. No joke.
Plimpton’s story about the Mets’ fictional prospect with the 168-mile-per-hour fastball – with what I understand was a spin rate that’s never been matched – included in the opening paragraph the names of a trio of Mets’ prospects. Turns out, I crossed paths with all when I wore a younger man’s clothes.
John Christensen played centerfield for Cal State Fullerton. I covered college baseball for the Orange County Register and followed the Titans to Omaha one year. He was their centerfielder. I caught one the team’s batting practices for a hokey story. Chatted up the hitters. Christensen? He didn’t appreciate it much.
Dave Cochrane not only played for the Mariners in the 1990s, but he was an Orange County prep star at Fullerton’s Troy High, about 2 miles from my home at the time. I covered a few of his games and interviewed him occasionally.
Lenny Dykstra was a longtime major leaguer (and later a convicted felon) but I knew him as a stellar high school running back and safety. I covered one of his Garden Grove High games, sitting next to Chuck Norris in the (tiny) press box – Norris had a relative on the team – and talking with Dykstra afterward. That’s a whole lot of weird for one Friday night.
Now, you may be thinking “No way that’s all true. It has to be his April Fools’ joke.”
Nope. I haven’t really tried one of those since the time I put salt in my dad’s coffee instead of sugar and he was so ticked off I couldn’t sit comfortably until May. I couldn’t pull off a practical joke then. And I can’t now.
• You know what wasn’t a joke? How alive the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena was this weekend.
It certainly was last night, as UConn earned its 424th Final Four trip – give or take a few hundred – with a 78-64 Elite Eight win over top seed USC.
It was, once again, the Paige Bueckers’ show for the second-seeded Huskies – with lots of help from freshman post Sarah Strong – and, for a large majority of the 10,141 in attendance, that was what they came to see.
Bueckers’ jerseys were everywhere, whether official or unofficial ones. Signs too. And even a couple homemade big heads popped up in the crowd.
Bueckers scored 31 points, even with the Trojans’ defense geared to stop her. Every cut, every screen, every step she took, all five USC players focused on making life difficult for her.
And she made it that way for USC, especially after freshman defensive whiz Kennedy Smith was knocked to the floor in the first quarter, got up limping and never was the same.
It wasn’t the only injury the Trojans were dealing with, of course. As I looked around the Arena and all the homages to Bueckers, I wondered just how the place would have looked if JuJu Watkins was healthy – and in the building. As good as Bueckers is, and she is good enough to soon be No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, Watkins is a transcendent talent.
The consensus player of the year. The best scorer, defender and emotional leader in the nation. The future of the game even before she entered high school.
In a game of such magnitude, of such high stakes, it was a loss for everyone from the fans in the stands to those watching on ESPN to, yes, even Bueckers and UConn, that Watkins wasn’t playing.
But it was the Trojans who lost the most.
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NCAA Regionals: I sat next to Jim Allen last night and both of us, thanks to early deadlines, spent much of the game typing furiously. No matter. Jim’s game story caught all the nuances of the contest. … No one would probably use the word nuance in regard about my column on the other hand, but we have to link it nonetheless. … Colin Mulvany was the one really working hard. He has this photo gallery. … We have other coverage of the game to pass along, some of it from Los Angeles and other stories from national outlets. … The other regional final Monday? Texas took care of TCU 58-47 in Birmingham, Ala. … UCLA will be in Tampa as well and will face UConn in the semifinals.
WSU: When I arrived home after work last night, the Cougars led Georgetown by a couple points as time was winding down. The lead didn’t last. The Hoyas rallied for the 85-82 College Basketball Crown win in Las Vegas. Once again Washington State didn’t work hard enough – there is no other way to describe it – on the glass to win. The most glaring faux pas? It came with seconds left, when Georgetown guard Malik Mack, who scored a career-high 37 points, missed a 3-pointer Ethan Price challenged. But in a one-point game Price floated away, seemingly disinterested, from Mack instead of blocking out, and the ball bounced out to the Georgetown player. His ensuing free throws were enough to secure the win. Greg Woods has the game story. … It seemed as if the women’s basketball team, with a young roster populated by many foreign players, might avoid the transfer portal subtraction that hits everyone, considering its harder for those from outside the U.S. to earn income on a student visa. Not so. As Greg Lee tells us, five Cougars have entered the portal already. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we linked this Jon Wilner column yesterday when it ran in the Mercury News. It is on the S-R site today. … Wilner also has a column on the Big 12 season in the Mercury News and another on Arizona. … John Canzano has a mailbag from Monday. … An Oregon State standout is headed to Baylor. … Oregon’s Nate Bittle will test the NBA waters. … Boise State won, while Utah and Arizona State lost yesterday and Colorado starts play in the CBC tournament today. So does USC. … The transfer portal is already hitting Arizona hard, especially with its front line. … UCLA has suffered a big loss as well. … San Diego State is adding a big man from the portal. … The new era at Colorado State is still generating a buzz. … In football news, Washington is about to start spring ball. Jedd Fisch talked and the players are ready. … Andrew Luck turned to his former coach with the Colts, Frank Reich, as Stanford’s interim. … Colorado will legally be able to pay its players under a new law. … Arizona’s offensive line is coming together.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Montana has secured one replacement for its men’s basketball roster.
Preps: Cheryl Nichols has the roundup of Monday’s prep action.
Mariners: With George Kirby out, the M’s turned to Emerson Hancock as their fifth starter. For one game, at least, Hancock wasn’t up to the task, giving up six runs to Detroit in the top of the first in a game Seattle ultimately lost 9-6. … Hey, the M’s want some of those torpedo bats.
Sounders: In need of some roster help, Seattle signed over-the-hill Englishman Roy Kent, er, no, that’s not right. And sorry for the Ted Lasso reference. The Sounders signed Ryan Kent, who, like Sir Alexander Dane, is English, to help fill the void.
Seahawks: John Schneider spoke with the media at the NFL meetings Monday. He said the team is still in the player acquisition mode. … Just how did the Raiders acquire Geno Smith? … There will be a lot of interest in the Giants’ game with Las Vegas.
Storm: The franchise’s main target in the draft may not be available after all.
Kraken: Dallas is really good. Seattle? Not so much. The Stars swept the Kraken in their two-game set, winning 3-1 on Monday. … We linked this story in the Times. It runs in the S-R today. And it asks what’s next.
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• One job I would not want today? Elementary school teacher. Man, it has to be tough. Until later …