A Grip on Sports: All the change this time of year may seem willy nilly but there often is a method amidst the madness
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Change happens quickly this time of year. Right in front of your eyes as you dig around the backyard dirt in a surprisingly warm late-March sun. No wonder the season is named spring. It’s almost as if something wound really tight is finally released, jumping from here to there, willy nilly.
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• Good name for a band, isn’t it? Willy Nilly. And yes, there is a band with that name touring the hinterlands. But we want to borrow the moniker for a while to describe what seems to be going on out there in the white-hot sports world.
Player changes. Coaching changes. Contracts signed. Rosters torn asunder.
It’s hard to keep up, no? That doesn’t mean we all shouldn’t try, though, does it?
The best place to start is with the upside of the new deal with the M’s player featuring the biggest backside. Cal Raleigh.
The Mariners’ conscience, as the Times’ Ryan Divish so aptly described him, will be in a Seattle uniform for years to come, having agreed to a six-year, $105-million contract extension that makes him one of the highest-paid catchers in baseball.
An extension that gives the M’s their first– and probably only – offseason win.
Yes, it’s a lot of money to give a 28-year-old who plays the toughest position in the game. But here’s the deal: It’s a good one for the player and the team, mainly because Raleigh’s presence in the batter’s box and the clubhouse is worth it.
Even if he doesn’t last as their starting catcher for the entire stretch.
Seattle’s two young offensive foundations, Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez, are locked in for the rest of the decade at a reasonable rate. If one or two minor league prospects blossom early, like this year’s crop of daylilies, the Mariners have a legitimate shot at a World Series appearance in that span.
Yes, I just wrote that. And I believe it. There is no guarantee. Never is. But the signing shows the wallet isn’t locked as tight as one may have thought. A core is in place. It just has to prove it is ready to experience success.
• Success is also the springboard to all the movement in college basketball right now. Movement that is pulling the focus away from an NCAA tournament that has been bereft of drama and excitement.
The transfer portal? Dramatic always, especially when it wallops “your” team. Everyone experiences it, from Gonzaga to Eastern, from Idaho to WSU. This is the time of subtraction. Addition comes later.
Both can happen the same week or even day, it seems, when the coaching portal strikes. Texas hires Sean Miller away from Xavier, which turns out to be a kick in the shins to New Mexico fans within hours. Yep, the Lobos have lost Richard Pitino, who was run out of Minnesota a few years ago and found safe haven in Albuquerque.
Minnesota’s decision seemed wrong then and now even more so, as the Gophers made another change this month, replacing Ben Johnson with Niko Medved. Another Mountain West school, Colorado State, took this hit as well.
Meanwhile, even fans of schools with established, locked-in coaches, experience the angst of roster upheaval – never knowing if the players leaving went of their own accord or were shown the door.
Does it matter? Yes, mainly because not all transfer portal decisions are for the money. And not all players hitting the road should be tarred with the same broom. Empathy, always in short supply in Fansville, may just be in order.
• An outgrowth of change is often renewed excitement.
Who isn’t thrilled to see buds appearing on that old lilac bush that seemed down for the count in the mean days of January?
Who doesn’t feel a little bit revved up when a new football coach steps on the practice field in the spring and injects energy into a program that seemed drained of it by the previous coach’s defection?
Who indeed? Idaho fans are probably ecstatic Thomas Ford is a branch of Jason Eck’s coaching tree. The Vandals former assistant has been grafted into place in Moscow and brought to the first day of spring drills not just a familiarity but a new energy. It seems to be the best of both worlds, a rare happenstance after the most-successful coach in recent memory leaves town.
As in many things on the Palouse, though, the harvest happens in the fall. In the football sense this year, it’s something to anticipate – instead of dread.
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WSU: Devin Ellison is ready. Ready to show how his hard work has helped shape him into a legitimate Division I pass receiver. Greg Woods shares his story this morning as the Cougars’ spring workouts roll on. … Former WSU soccer player Trinity Rodman is finally healthy and ready to rejoin the U.S. Women’s National Team. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, we are of the mind Houston has the toughest Final Four path among the top seeds. The numbers show that’s true. And the betting lines probably reflects it. … Of course the stories we link today (and the foreseeable future) are mainly concerning the portal. The Oregon State men, who had a pretty decent season, have been hit hard already. … Oregon, whose season was even better, are also losing players. But so is everyone. … Utah State is actually keeping its coach this offseason. That must seem odd in Logan. … Arizona was so far from Tucson – Seattle – it seemed wise just to stay on the road and head to Newark for the regionals. … San Diego State will be a buyer in the portal to replace what it lost. … Where will New Mexico turn to replace what its lost? … How about Colorado State? … Around the women’s game, the JuJu Watkins injury makes the road to a national title harder, sure, but the Trojans still feel they can make the journey. … In football news, OK, there will be a lawsuit. Certainly. Stanford investigated allegations of misconduct with football coach Troy Taylor. Decided on a path that did not include letting him go. Then someone leaked the results to ESPN. The ensuing furor led football general manager Andrew Luck to change course and fire Taylor on Tuesday. This has happened before and always led to court. … Colorado State, with a new roster of assistant coaches, began spring practice yesterday. … Colorado has a new defensive line coach. … A starting quarterback job has to be won over and over, even at USC. … Singing as way to motivate your team? Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham says yes. … Playing fast is fine, says the architect of Arizona’s new scheme, but only if you execute. … Boise State has holes to fill in the secondary. … San Diego State could be referred to as the cradle of punters. … A former Idaho quarterback is sitting out New Mexico’s spring with an injury.
Gonzaga: Jun Seok Yeo entered the transfer portal Tuesday, not an unexpected happenstance. The Korean wing did not play much this season and there is an easy-to-understand expectation the Zags will recruit over him in this year’s portal. Theo Lawson has coverage of the decision. … David Stockton may be 33 years old but his basketball journey continues in the G-League. And why not? If you love the game and are paid to play it, might as well play on. … John Canzano continues his tour of the new Pac-12 schools this week. His stop the past couple days? Gonzaga. An outsider looking in, at the school and the city of which it is a part, is always interesting. … Connecticut star Paige Bueckers returns to Spokane this weekend as two of the NCAA’s four regionals will be contested on the Spokane Memorial Arena floor. Jim Allen has this preview of what to expect.
Idaho: We mentioned Ford’s first spring practice above. Peter Harriman covered it in Moscow on Tuesday and has this story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State has one goal this spring. Get better and start winning again. Wait, that might be two goals. … Northern Arizona has lost the women’s coach with the most wins in school history, Loree Payne, to Santa Clara.
Preps: Dave Nichols has a roundup of Tuesday’s action.
Mariners: We linked the Raleigh stories above, not just Divish’s excellent piece but also the national coverage. When you are as good as the M’s catcher is, then national stories follow. … The starting pitching may have to be even better for Seattle to reach the postseason. We understand that. But we also feel it will be. We might have been a year too-early with our Logan-Gilbert-will-win-the-Cy-Young pronouncement but we are not alone this season. Even national writers we respect are on the bandwagon this season.
Seahawks: Less than a month to the NFL draft. Perfect timing for another look at who the Hawks might just target. … Russell Wilson finally found a landing spot. And it’s with a franchise in a city that may be the only one in the league bigger than his ego. The New York Giants. … The Hawks added depth at receiver.
Sounders: The roster is pretty depleted. So Seattle is looking across the pond for a fix.
Kraken: The story about language playing a part in how Seattle put together one of its lines? It appeared in the S-R today. … The result last night against Calgary? Not a positive one.
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• Worked in the yard yesterday. Soaked in the vitamin D the sun provides. Also saw my skin turn a light pink. Just a little. More on tap for today. And then the rains come, so back indoors we go. Until later …