craw's corner

Week 7, The Other College Basketball People

2012-02-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

For all info on D-1 basketball please go to Crawford's Court, every Monday and Thursday at CSNNW.com.

Here is a little info on D-3, NAIA, Community College and Multnomah University. Next week I will cover the GNAC playoffs in depth.

Cascade Conference---The regular season is over and the playoffs begin on Wednesday night. Once again it was a great year for Oregon Tech, but also a great year for Northwest University. Both teams tied for the regular season title, but OIT got the number 1 seed.

Here are the first round of the playoffs, which begin on February 22nd. College of Idaho at OIT, Concordia at Northwest, Southern Oregon at Warner Pacific and Corban at Eastern Oregon. If you are in the area of any of these schools please go out and watch some good basketball.

Congrats also to Scott Meredith on the women's side for having an outstanding year, his team will play at Warner Pacific on Tuesday, February 21st in the first round of the women playoffs. Good year for Warner Pacific in both the men and women, being able to finish high enough to host first round playoff games.

Community College---A very good week for Clackamas Community College. Knocking off league leading Mt. Hood on Wednesday and defeating a good Lane team on Saturday night. The play of Taylor Dunn continues to be outstanding, along with some great help of many teammates including in the Lane game, terrific work by Brett Ball and Alex Lou.

Next Saturday will be the final home game for Clackamas, so I encourage all in the area to go out and watch as well. Clif Wegner has done an outstanding job once again of coaching the Cougars.

Northwest Conference----Congrats to the four teams that made the playoffs, which will be this Thursday when Lewis and Clark travels to league regular season winner Whitworth and Whitman comes across the state to battle Puget Sound.

Dinari Foreman has done a great job in his first year at Lewis and Clark, after replacing retired coaching legend Bob Gaillard, in getting the Pioneers into the playoffs.

It was a tough year for both Linfield and Pacific, but both teams are really young and will be much better next year. Congrats to seniors on Linfield, Zach Anderson and David Lee. Likewise to seniors at Pacific, Robb Babek and Carson Bartlett. Sadly, Bartlett missed the entire season with an injury, but I am sure the experience of being a graduate of Pacific will overcome that.

Multnomah University---A great win for Curt Bickley's Lions on Saturday over New Hope Chrisitan, securing the number one seed in the NCCAA regional this next week in Lancaster, California. It was great atmosphere at Multnomah for their final home game, which was homecoming.

Congrats also to the five seniors playing their last home game for the Lions, Brent Looyenga, Jared Reando, Gian Cook, Tyler Yates and Willey Yates.

Thanks for reading and also do not forget to go to CSNNW.com for Crawford's Court, but we always have the best Blazer and NBA coverage as well, with Chris Haynes and Dwight Jaynes.

Next year, I plan to really be the go to person for all D-2, D-3, NAIA, Community College and Multnomah basketball. We will be rolling out some surprises in the fall, which will be terrific and the coverage will be the best in basketball for these levels.

Emails always welcome at crawscorner@gmail.com and please go to twitter and follow me @wchoops and I will follow you back.

Week 6, The Other College Basketball People

2012-02-12T09:04:00.001-08:00

In case you are reading this column for the first time today or you are a regular reader, this my attempt to bring some small attention to the schools in the Northwest who play basketball below the D-1 level. Of course I love all basketball, so not only this column, but I hope you will go often to CSNNW.com for my Crawford's Court blog, which appears there on Monday and Thursday. As many of you have done and I appreciate it very much, please feel free to send me after getting their permission, the email of anyone who might want to receive this.

Cascade Conference---It was another great week of basketball in what many think is the best basketball league in the NAIA. In order to be the champ, you have to beat the champ. It did not happen and with one week to go, Oregon Tech has a one game lead on the men's side, after a key victory on Saturday night over Northwest, who was tied with Oregon Tech for the league lead going into the game.

It was also a nice weekend for Warner Pacific as they swept at home defeating Northwest Christian University and Corban, to move into a second place tie with Northwest. Next week I will have all the seedings for postseason play.

On kind of sad note, you have to feel for Concordia coach Brad Barbarick, whose team has been decimated by injuries. Brad is truly one of the wonderful people in basketball coaching, has as one of his assistant's Larry Black, another true gentleman. Next week I will be listing several of the seniors on his team that will be going out in this world and making a major contribution to society after graduation, as will so many of these young men and women who play basketball in the Cascade Conference, who are student/athletes in the greatest form.

Northwest Conference---One week to go and all you can say is that once again Whitworth has dominated the league, hats off to them. It has been a tough year for the fans of Pacific and Linfield, many of them who are regular readers of this column. I also want to thank Blake Timm, the superb SID of Pacific University who often writes to me and puts out such a great professional product, which is a big help to myself.

GNAC---Another great basketball conference that plays on the D-2 level. With two weeks to go, the huge edge to win the GNAC title goes to Western Washington, after they beat second place Alaska Anchorage Thursday night 59-50. It should be lots of fun when the GNAC holds it postseason tournament at St. Martin's in Lacey Washington, starting on February 29th.

Community Colleges---It was fun game to see on Saturday night at Clackamas Community College, when the Cougars defeated Linn-Benton is a game that close the entire way. Clif Wegner has his team playing some great basketball, actually should have won both games this past week, but in something you rarely see in basketball they lost at Chemeketa on Wednesday night because of a scoring error. The Cougars actually won the game, 73-72, but in the first half, Chemeketa was credited with a basket they did not score and at the time the final score was 74-73. Sadly this should not happen in this day and age, but it did and tough loss for Clackamas and is not correctable.

One final note on the Saturday game, I am really puzzled why Joseph Vance did not start either half for Linn-Benton, which might have meant the difference in the game. Vance in my mind is the best player on Linn-Benton and one of the top ten players in the South Division, so to not play him all the time seems rather a mystery.

Multnomah University----Hey, let's pack the gym next Saturday for the final home game of the regular season for the Lions. The game starts at 3:00 p.m. and is a critical game for the number one seed against New Hope Christian College.

Multnomah is such an exciting team to watch and Curt Bickley does a great job of coaching his team each and every game.

Please do not forget to go to CSNNW.com often for all the latest in sports news and please feel free to email me crawscorner@gmail.com or on twitter @wchoops

Week 5, The Other College Basketball People

2012-02-05T06:27:00.000-08:00

This is once again my continuing efforts to get some small recognition for teams in the Northwest that play basketball on the D-2, D-3, NAIA and Community College level. Of course for all the news on D-1 basketball, I hope you will continue read Crawford's Court, which comes out every Monday and Thursday on CSNNW.com, the best sports website on the entire west coast.

Also please note, that this is just the tip of the iceberg as we finish out the 2011-12 basketball season. I already have a team in place to go big time with more information and the best website, radio interviews and much more when we get to the 2012-13 season when it comes to D-2, D-3, NAIA and Community College basketball in the Northwest. No one will be able to match what we are going to bring you for coverage of the people that have often been forgotten by many media outlets. We will be the go to people for basketball, without question.

Ok, here we go as we get down to crunch time in all of college basketball.

Multnomah University----Curt Bickley's Lions went 1-1 this past weekend, defeating Walla Walla University on Friday and then traveling to Eugene on Saturday and getting beat by New Hope Christian. Good battle this Tuesday as Multnomah travels to play their arch rival, Portland Bible College.

Multnomah has only two home games left, so I urge you to go to their website, check the schedule and go and watch an exciting team that loves the 3-ball and is so much fun to watch. I was raised on up-tempo basketball and will never ever not be a fan of teams of that score in the 100s as Multnomah does often.

Northwest Conference---It was great to see Tim Cleary's Pacific Boxers break their eight game slide and defeat Willamette on Saturday night. The Boxers have been plauged by injuries this year, so a win was just what the Doctor ordered. I still wish the Boxers would pull one of the greatest marketing moves the Northwest Conference has seen and change their nickname back to the Badgers. So Blake Timm, one of the best Sports Information Directors in the country, get going on my suggestion please.

It is no surprise that Whitworth will once again win the regular season championship in the NWC. Depsite losing their great coach Jim Hayford who left to over the head coaching job at Eastern Washington, the Pirates have not missed a beat this season and have lost only one league game so far, that being to Whitman.

Lastly on the NWC, congrats to longtime Linfield coach Larry Doty for surpassing Ted Wilson as the leader of all time wins at Linfield with 325. You can probably congratulate Larry in person as he is constantly out scouting and recruiting in the state of Oregon. Quite an accomplishment at a school with such a rich athletic tradition and I might add, my alma mater.

Community College---Clif Wegner's Clackamas Community College Cougars continue to surge as they won again on Saturday night, defeating SW Community College on the road. Wegner's team is playing the best ball they have played all year and face a tough week as they travel to Chemeketa on Wednesday and they return home on Saturday night to battle Linn-Benton, which is led by terrific player Joseph Vance.

It is worth noting about the Saturday night victory, seldom in basketball do you ever see a player score more points than minutes played, but the Cougar's Taylor Dunn accomplished that fete this past Saturday as he posted 34 points in just 32 minutes. No matter where Dunn goes to school next year, he is going to help whoever he plays for, it is really hard in this day and age to find a shooter like Dunn is.

CCC---Coaches never like to look ahead, but basketball writers have to and should. That is why the CCC championship just more than likely will come down to the February 11th match-up of Northwest traveling to Klamath Falls to meet OIT. The teams are tied atop the CCC at present and the showdown on Danny Miles court should be something. I also might add, I watch as much basketball as anyone in the country and I have not seen a player on any level play as hard this year as Bobby Hunter for OIT. He does not take one play off, either on the defensive or offensive end.

I am personally looking forward to seeing in person the Corban @Concordia game this coming Friday night on the Cavaliers campus. Brad Barbarick's Concordia team is fighting for playoff positioning and this game will be a key contest for Concordia. Of course the next night, Corban will travel to Warner Pacific to meet the Knights, in what is always a fun place to watch basketball, much like Concordia.

Before I leave the CCC, I would be remiss if I did not congratulate OIT women's coach Scott Meredith on winning 20 games so far this season. Anytime a college basketball team wins 20 games that is an accomplishment in itself.

GNAC---This is quite a league and is headed to a great finish, before the league goes to St Martin's later this month for their postseason tournament. It certainly is no surprise to see a Brad Jackson coached team on top of the league at this point in the season, as Western Washington leads Alaska Anchorage by one game, in an exciting race.

Worth noting as well, two new coaches in the league have had really good seasons thus far. Jamie Stevens is doing a wonderful job at Montana State University Billings as is Brady Bergeson at Western Oregon. Both of these coaches have really turned the programs around at their respective schools and deserve lots of credit.

So there you have another week of my covering "the other guys". If you have someone who would like to get this column by email, check with them first and then send me their email and they will get it automatically each week. Big things as mentioned before are coming from this column next year, but this year you still will get plenty of info. And please do not forget to go to CSNNW.com often to check not only Crawford's Court, but all the other great info on the website, the best as stated on the west coast.

I am always open to suggestions, comments, criticism, you name it by emailing me at crawscorner@gmail.com or you can follow me on twitter @wchoops.

Week 4, The Other College Basketball

2012-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

Of course this is my continuing efforts to bring you some information about basketball teams that play on the D-2, D-3, NAIA and Community College level. For all the D-1 action and coverage, please always read Crawford's Court at CSNNW.com

If you know someone who would like to read this, please after asking them, send them my email and I will make sure they get the information. Sometimes up to 10,000 people read this, so I plan to keep it up and make it even better in weeks to come and you will see some exciting things happen. If you have a team you like or follow, request they send me information to crawscorner@gmail.com and I will make sure they are mentioned in this blog. Thank you. Here we go.

Community College----Cliff Wegner really has his Cougars playing well at Clackamas Community College. After a blowing out Portland Community College on this past Wednesday night, they went to Roseburg on Saturday night and easily defeated Umpqua. Of course no coach is ever going to say a victory is easy, so leave that up to me. Taylor Dunn is a terrific player for the Cougars and it was a pleasure to meet his father this past Friday night.

It is also worth noting the academics that are being achieved by the Cougar team. Committing 30 hours per week and still producing in the classroom is not always easy, but the Cougars achieved an overall grade point average of 3.33 and three players had a perfect 4.0 GPA, Taylor Dunn, Brett Ball and Jake Dewitt. Hats off to the entire team.

NAIA---It was nice to go to two sellout games this past weekend in the Cascade Conference, Friday night at Concordia and Saturday night at Warner Pacific. Of course it never hurts attendance to have legendary program Oregon Tech in town, bringing a number one ranking.

Facing a number one team did not seem to phase Brad Barbarick's Concordia Cavaliers. In a game that was never even close from the opening tap, Concordia defeated OIT easily on Friday night, before as previously mentioned a packed house. For anyone who loves basketball and lives near Portland, Oregon, Concordia is one of those must see places to watch a game, always great atmosphere and always competitive, but friendly people.

Of course with the OIT Owls in town, the next night they traveled to Warner Pacific to face the first place Knights. Another packed house greeted the Owls, with the Warner Pacific fans almost being outnumbered by OIT fans, it was a tense atmosphere for sure. You had to think OIT would not play as poorly as they did on Friday night and they did not, beating the Knights and forcing what should be a great race down the stretch in the Cascade Conference.

It was also fun to watch the women's games each night before the men and I had never met OIT coach Scott Meredith, who lived up to his billing of being a class individual and someone all of the people in Klamath Falls should be proud of, just like they are of iconic coach Danny Miles.

Multnomah University---A must place to watch a game and what a thriller I was able to witness last Monday, as the Lions lost to Arizona Christian, 128-125 in double overtime. Curt Bickley coach of Multnomah, loves the up-tempo games, as do I, so Multnomah will produce excitement no matter who the opponent is. The Lions are another must see team, if you live around Portland, Oregon.

That is it for this week, but starting next week, you will see expanded coverage of this blog when it comes to all levels below D-1. Of course once again please keep reading Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball.

You can always email me at crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow myself on twitter @wchoops.

This first four weeks are just the tip of the iceberg, more and better coverage coming in February, so please pass this on to as many people as you can, I write it so people can enjoy it, it is that simple.

Week 3, The Other College Basketball People

2012-01-22T04:56:00.000-08:00

Here we go my third week of trying to bring some attention to "small college" basketball. Of course I sure do want you also read Crawford's Court, every Monday and Thursday on CSNNW.com and I thank you for reading all of my basketball columns. If you know of anyone who would like to receive this, or Crawford's Court, please send me their email. Thank you.

NAIA---Tremendous battle on Saturday night at Concordia in the Cascade Conference as the Cavaliers answered almost every challenge that league leading Warner Pacific threw at them, only to come up short at the end in overtime, 90-89.

Kind of special to see the game played before standing room only crowd, there was no trash talking, great student section excitement and one heck of a game for sure.

It might get even more challenging for both Concordia and Warner Pacific this coming weekend as Southern Oregon and OIT, led by their iconic coach Danny Miles visit the Rose City for their annual Portland stop. For any basketball fan, this is must see games, no excuses please.

And before I leave the Cascade Conference, I have a bit of free advice for the new commissioner, which will be selected this coming spring to early summer, replacing Dave Haglund. It is a must you spend some money to have your officials evaluated, if not every game, at least several times a year. It is a rarity for this writer to ever say anything negative about officiating, but in my view the Cascade Conference needs to at least have some sort of person at games to evaluate officials. Both the men's and women's program have some work to do when it comes to the people calling the games, no better example was Warner Pacific and Concordia, a horribly officiated game. Cascade Conference, you can do better and you must do better.

Shameless plug, but on Friday night, looking forward to being the halftime guest on the OIT radio network with Bobby Thompson

Northwest Conference---It looks like the winner of the league might come down to the next battle between Whitworth and Whitman, five years past you would have thought I was nuts for saying so, but Eric Bridgeland has done one great job at Whitman, building a winning basketball program, that was totally non-existent until he arrived on the scene. Both Whitman and Whitworth have some work to do before they meet again of course, both teams visit the Portland metro area this weekend as they play Lewis and Clark and George Fox, Friday and Saturday.

No excuse for not getting out to these games, on Saturday night the games at Lewis and Clark and George Fox will start at 6:00 p.m.

The Northwest Conference plays a great brand of basketball and it is always a league that has surprises week in and week out.

Community Colleges----Really happy to see Joseph Vance play so well for Linn-Benton, in the south division of the NWAACC. Vance had another big night on Saturday, as he led his team to a victory in over previously undefeated Chemeketa.

Wednesday night of last also saw a great game at Clackamas Community College, when the Mt. Hood Saints rolled into the Oregon City campus and beat the Cougars, in a thrilling game that went right down to the wire. Mt. Hood continued their great league play Saturday and ran their southern division record to 5-0, gaining a one game lead over Linn-Benton and Chemeketa.

Community College basketball is exciting, you can usually see plenty of D-1, D-2 coaches in attendance and I might just pay another visit to Clackamas this Wednesday when they play host to Portland Community College.

GNAC---What an exciting league the GNAC is this year and once again, no surprise to see legendary Brad Jackson's team at Western Washington on top with a one game lead over Alaska Anchorage and Western Oregon.

Of course Jackson is in his 28th year as coach at Western Washington, who turns out great teams each season, in what is an extremely good league.

On personal note it was also very nice this week to meet Alaska Anchorage assistant coach Ryan Orton. What a nice person and what a good basketball mind and always fun to meet someone you can just tell someday will be a head coach and highly successful when he is.

Multnomah University---Curt Bickley's Lions will have a rare back to back games this week, on Monday playing Arizona Christian at 3:00 p.m (yes correct time) and on Tuesday night meeting rival Portland Bible, both games on the NE Portland campus.

Of course if you have never seen Bickley's teams, you are in for a treat, as per usual the basketball will be fired up lots from behind the 3-point line, my kind of game, exciting and entertaining always.

I urge everyone to follow all of the league above, in the very near future Craw's Corner is going to have some HUGE announcements about this blog and its future. Also once again, please do not forget Crawford's Court, which comes out every Monday and Thursday, all the way through the Final Four, covering lots of interesting stories and news on D-1 basketball on CSNNW.com

Emails always welcome, crawscorner@gmail.com or please go to twitter and follow me @wchoops and I will quickly follow you back.

Week 2, The Other College Basketball People

2012-01-15T09:09:00.001-08:00

This is my continuing effort to bring some attention to the non D-1 schools in the Pacific Northwest. Of course for all the latest news on D-1, Crawford's Court will come out every Monday and Thursday at CSNNW.com

GNAC Conference----It was a great weekend for Western Washington as for the second year a row the Vikings swept the Alaska schools in Alaska. Legendary Western Washington coach Brad Jackson has his Vikings playing very well right and currently are tied for the GNAC lead with the surprising Western Oregon Wolves.

And speaking of the Wolves, after a great start in the GNAC and pre-league, this past Saturday saw the Wolves lose their first conference game in a big upset loss to the Saint Martin's on the Wolves home court. It appears at present the GNAC race is working toward a three team battle, featuring Western Oregon, Western Washington and Seattle Pacific. I will keep you posted, as the GNAC is such an outstanding basketball conference year in and year out.

Northwest Conference---A really tough loss for the Linfield Wildcats this past weekend as they had the Whitworth Pirates on the ropes right up to the end, only to lose 65-61. Very few teams have success in beating Whitworth at home in the last 10 years, so this would have been a huge win for the Wildcats.

Tim Cleary's Pacific Boxers, continue to play well and keep improving under his coaching, but as the travel partner of Linfield, the Boxers came up short this past weekend to both Whitworth and Whitman on the road. Pacific has a real chance to make a statement this Friday when they travel to Lewis and Clark in a battle of the Oregon schools.

Cascade Conference---It seems like this is a constant theme, but once again in men's play Warner Pacific and Oregon Tech are tied for first place, each with one loss. And in case you are wondering, the two teams meet in Portland on January 28th. Of course there are games in between, but looking at the schedules of both teams, that game should decide the Cascade Conference title. And yes I do know that coaches, players and fans take games one at a time, but college basketball writers have to look ahead in order to do a good job.

Big hats off to the job that Scott Meredith is doing as the women's coach at Oregon Tech. His team has an overall record of 18-3 and currently is tied for the lead in the CCC with Eastern Oregon and Corban. In my cursory look at 4 year college teams in the United States, I am hard pressed to find a combined record 37-5 for men and women's teams, as is the case at Oregon Tech, so way to go in Klamath Falls.

Clackamas Community College---Love to follow the Cougars as they not only play excellent basketball every year, but I have known their coach Cliff Wegner for over 30 years and he is a gem of a person, besides being an excellent coach. The Cougars gained a big win on Saturday night in league play, defeating previously unbeaten Linn-Benton on the road.

It is also fun for me to keep track of Linn-Benton, as my friend Kenny Vance's son Joseph is the star of the Linn-Benton team and Joseph is having a terrific season, a player to watch as he advances his basketball career in the future.

It should be a fun night at Clackamas Community College on Wednesday January 18th as the Cougars host the 3-0 Mt. Hood Saints, which is always a great rivalry game.

Multnomah University----Congrats to coach Curt Bickley for getting his first Pacific Coast Athletic Conference win this past Saturday night over West Coast Baptist College. It had to be nice for Coach Bickley to have his great scorer Austin Hodges back after missing seven weeks with a hand injury. The Lions will next be in action Tuesday night when they host Concordia at 7:00 p.m.

Thanks for reading. If you know anyone who would like to receive this column, which I write once a week on Sundays please send me their email at crawscorner@gmail.com and as always please continue to read Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball/. Would also love for you to follow me on twitter @wchoops and I will follow back.

Comcast SportsNet will also be showing two Portland Pilot games this week, Thursday at 7:00 and Saturday at 1:30

And if you are not doing anything on Tuesday night at 9:30 pm, we will be having our weekly Talkin Ducks show on Comcast SportsNet and of course after the Ducks performance over the weekend, plenty to talk about.

Week 1, The Other College Basketball People

2012-01-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

This is my first of weekly columns about non D-1 college basketball around the Northwest. I am open to suggestions, information and anything else you can throw at me please. Of course I will continue to write my columns for CSNNW.com, Crawford's Court, every Monday and Thursday, which is mainly on D-1 basketball. If you are getting this for the first time, or are an avid reader thank you as always for reading this. My sincere hope is that you will enjoy this and please feel free to send me the email of anyone you think would like getting this every weekend and I will automatically send it to them. Ok here we go.

OIT---Of course the big story in NAIA as of late, was the ending of the 65 game home court winning streak by Warner Pacific, when they defeated the Hustlin Owls in Klamath Falls. A great victory for sure by the Knights, who might be playing the best basketball in the Cascade Conference at present, as this past weekend they broke the 14 game winning streak of Northwest, in the Knight's home gym.

I would be remiss, if I didn't mention fact that in the ending of the 65 game home court winning streak, it was an awesome feat by Danny Miles' team to win that many games in a row. So awesome that at the time in was the longest home winning streak in all of college basketball and went back to 2008.

There is one certainty about the Cascade Conference, the basketball is always good and it is just fun games to watch, as any of you know when you attend a game.

Pacific----It was nice recently to meet second year Pacific coach Tim Cleary of the Boxers (I still really like the nickname Badgers, which I am use to calling Pacific) As I am considered a marketing specialist by many, what a great move it would be by Pacific to go back to the old nickname. When you talk to Tim Cleary you can just see his enthusiasm for his job and why I think the Pacific the basketball program of the Northwest Conference is in good hands for many years to come. Like the Cascade Conference, the Northwest Conference plays a great brand of basketball so please get out and see a game, if you are able too.

Cliff Wegner---It was my pleasure over the holidays to attend the Clackamas Community College Holiday tournament. What a great event and very well done by Cliff Wegner and his staff of people who put the tournament together. This tournament will be on my basketball schedule for many years to come to attend, as the teams are so competitive and fun to watch. It is also always fun to go to a sporting event where there are so many smiles, not to mention the fact at Community College games you see so many four year college coaches looking for talented players. On January 11th, Wegner's Cougars will host Chemeketa and that is a game well worth attending, especially when there is not much competition on a Wednesday night with other sports.

Larry Doty---Big congratulations to Linfield basketball coach Larry Doty for tying the legendary Ted Wilson for career wins at the McMinnville school this past Saturday night. All basketball coaches work hard, much harder than anyone knows and Coach Doty is right at the top of the list, as you see him all over the place scouting and looking for players. He has a nice young team and they will be a factor in the Northwest Conference race in years to come, once the young players get more experience.

Western Oregon---The national coach of year in all of college basketball at present has to be Brady Bergeson the head coach of the Western Oregon Wolves of the GNAC D-2 conference. After this past weekend Bergeson has his team at 6-0 in league play after having a great pre-league record of 7-2. The Wolves at present have a 10 game winning streak over D-2 opponents. Prior to Bergeson arriving at Western Oregon, the basketball program was average at best. Needless to say, he has turned things around, remarkably in the first year, which is so hard to do on any level of basketball. It is a long GNAC season, but no matter what happens down the road, Bergeson has done at awesome job and it is well worth taking a look at his team. It is kind of a shame that the GNAC Conference and Root Sports are not showing the GNAC basketball game of the week this year. That seemed to be a popular event last year, but it ended. So get to Monmouth, Oregon to see the Wolves, you will not be disappointed.

You can email me at crawscorner@gmail.com or follow me on twitter @wchoops. Plus as stated above I will continue through March to write Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball/

Thank you and each week, I hope this weekend edition of Craw's Corner will get better, please help me in doing so.

CRAWFACTS. EDITION 16

2011-12-02T08:32:00.001-08:00

BASKETBALL----Really appreciate all the great comments and emails, even the ones that totally disagree with what I write at www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball. My column on Comcast is reserved strictly for D-1 basketball, but it is important to note that there is lots of other basketball to watch and enjoy especially this time of year.

NAIA, D-3 and D-2 basketball offers a great product, so if you live close to one of these schools, get out there and support the program. Also I would be remiss if I didn't mention great high school basketball to see on all levels. And speaking of high school basketball, one of the great high school tournaments ever will soon be here and if you are anywhere around Portland, Oregon at the end of this month, it is a must to see a game or two.

The Les Schwab Invitational is classic event, which appears for now has found a permanent home at Liberty High School outside of Portland. I personally love this tournament, have gone to it most years since its inception and always look forward to great games. This year will especially be exciting as once again, the legendary Oak Hill Warriors will be in the field. Always fun to watch Oak Hill as many of their players go onto great college careers and often continue into the pros. I also feel it is important to recognize one of the classiest people I have ever met in sports, Tony Dorado, Nike's national manager of high school basketball, who knows more about high school basketball than anyone I know and is a big supporter of the Les Schwab.

Bottom line here, no matter what the level of basketball, get out and enjoy it, it is still an awesome sport.

OFFICIATING--- Please allow a short personal note here. As I live in Oregon and was an official in the Portland Basketball Officials Association for 25 years, retiring in 1997, I still have many friends in the Association and follow what is going on.

After the 2012-13 season, longtime PBOA commissioner Howard Mayo will retire. This coming February, the PBOA will select a new Commissioner, one year ahead of Mayo's retirement. At this time it is pleasure and honor for Craw's Corner to officially endorse Steve Scott to become the new Commissioner. While I am sure there are many good candidates running, Steve Scott is the person to move the PBOA forward. Steve is not only a friend, but I have worked with Steve on various projects and know his work ethic and dedication to officiating. He will do an awesome job.

DUCK FANS---Oregon has a great football program, with one of the best football coaches around. But it is getting a little old all the complaining that went on about the changes to Autzen Stadium and the fact that Don Essig can't say "it never rains in Autzen Stadium", in regard to the Pac-12 championship game in Eugene. Essig is a legend as a PA announcer, but Ducks, this in not an Oregon showcase, this is a showcase for the Pac-12. Your reward was getting the home field advantage and besides, I have been to Eugene when it has been raining, even during football games.

And as long as I am ranting, Pac-12 do not underestimate the knowledge and ability of sports fans. By bringing in Paul Olden to be the PA announcer for this game, once again it is your showcase, but please do not try and oversell us on things including the credentials of Olden. All we hear is this guy is the PA for the Yankees and Super Bowl. Well that is only partially right and accurate. After all, Olden has only been the Yankees PA guy since 2009 and he has not been the PA person for the Super Bowl since 2005. Lesson always, even from the great Pac-12, do not overhype the credentials of anyone.

GOLF----My friend Phil Baker, a great guy, has known Tiger Woods for since they were childhood friends. For the record, I do not know Tiger Woods and am not name dropping here, but I do respect Phil Baker. Phil has told me that he thinks Tiger is as close as he has ever been to getting his golf game back in shape and expects a big year out of him. For all golf fans, we can only hope.

More on golf, what is the deal with the slowness of the Champions, Nationwide and LPGA not having their 2012 schedules out. It is especially disappointing as I write this column on December 2nd that the LPGA does not have their schedule up. Often the LPGA feels they do not get the respect they deserve in the sports world, so here is another example to separate yourself from the rest of the "field" and once again a blown opportunity by the LPGA in my mind. I like the LPGA Tour, but is just seems like they do not get it and they might never get it when it comes to promoting your game and relating to fans. Little things matter in sports and little things turn into big successes down the road. By the way, for some great LPGA news, it is always fun to read the great blog written by @tonyjesselli. Tony is one of the best golf blog writers in the world and I really respect his work.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, twitter@wchoops and I am on facebook.

Please do not forget the the Wednesday and Sunday night editions of Crawford's Court at www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball

CRAWFACTS, Edition 15

2011-11-25T08:34:00.001-08:00

Crawfacts is news, notes and commentary on various sports items. Always loves your comments and also do not forget for lots of good college basketball info, please go to www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball/
each Wednesday and Sunday night.

Pac 12 Football--- After all the media interviews and hype during the summer about how the Pac-12 would improve their football officiating program, I for one see ZERO improvement. I actually was pulling for a big improvement and fix, but I am just not seeing it. Every week there seems to be issues in at least one game in the league and for sure there are way too many calls, rightfully so, that have to be overturned by the replay booth.

I would not be as concerned, but if you recall, we heard all summer long from the Pac-12 office that things would get better. The poor showing on the field this year by Pac-12 officials, also once again is proof that throwing thousands of dollars at program to make it better does not always work. It is people that make things better often, not money. The Pac-12 still does not have the right people in place, both on the field and off.

And I really have to think the Pac-12 coordinator of football officiating has too much on his plate. Tony Corrente is a respected longtime NFL referee, but he is still working every week in the NFL. Instead of being in the city on Saturday the day before he is working an NFL, he should every week, be at a Pac-12 game live, modern technology or not. Everyone likes to see your boss in person on occasion. And do not kid yourself, at least at present, the NFL when it comes to officiating is a priority for Corrente, only natural in the pecking order.

Even if you do not know one thing about officiating, if you watch football you can just tell the difference between the Pac-12 officiating and how much better other leagues' football officials are compared to the Pac-12. Just watch a Big 10 game as an example, I need say no more.

President's Cup---Is it time to do away with this event in golf? Yes. Is it going to happen? No. As an avid fan of golf and more important the business of golf, this event does nothing for me. The Ryder Cup every two years is special, the President's Cup is just another event and also it is a poor attempt to bring the drama of the Ryder Cup too us. Golf fans and sports fans are smarter than that, they do not like over saturation and they love anticipation. If you asked five golf fans, I bet that only about one of them could actually tell you the score of the President's Cup. I guarantee you that all of those people could tell you the score of the Ryder Cup after completion. Trying to copy events in sports never works and the President's Cup does not work for me. If it were not for Tiger Woods playing, no one would have been watching.

NCAA---It was interesting reading the study on the revenue and profitability of the 120 FBS schools through the years 2004-2009. I ams sure that not much has changed with the 2010 figures. Of those schools only two sports were profitable, football and men's basketball. And even worse, in both football and men's basketball, both were at 57 percent of the schools making a profit. That obviously means that 43 percent out of the 120 schools made ZERO profit in any sport.

Out of the 120 schools, only 14 were in the black for their athletic department. Per my calculator that is 12 percent. In case you are wondering, the average cost of running an athletic department for all of the 120 schools was 10.2 million dollars per year. The literal bottom line here is that it costs a lot of money to run an athletic program and it is obviously very hard to make a profit.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, or please follow on twitter @wchoops

Also please follow Crawford's Court at www.csnnw.com

As always thanks for reading, greatly appreciated.

Awful Announcers---Salaries, Salaries, Salaries

2011-11-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

Friday edition of Craw's Corner is now here for you. And please do not forget for college basketball news, every Sunday and Wednesday night, you can read Crawford's Court, www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball.

Ok here we go. A couple of weeks past I gave you my top five sports announcers. Boy, I had no idea of the emotion that would stir and all the great comments from everyone, including several people who who wrote to myself and told me who the top five announcers were that they turn the channel. (Do we still turn the channel?) Just checking.

So here are my announcers that I turn the channel and let me know for you. Full disclosure, some of these choices are based on where I live, Oregon, so I happened to hear these people more often, but please feel free to give me your local choices as well.

1. Erin Andrews----Sorry guys she does nothing for me as sports reporter. I have never been impressed with her work and never will be. If you break it down to females, there are probably 12 female reporters at ESPN that are better than Andrews.

2. Mike Parker---As the voice of the Oregon State Beavers, I love listening to Mike on Beaver football and baseball, but when it comes to basketball, it is an instant channel changer for myself. I do not think Mike understands basketball that much and does not paint a good picture of the game on the radio. It is a good example of why a school should not be afraid to use different announcers for different sports.

3. Rick Sutcliffe---As an analyst for ESPN baseball, all I can say is boring, boring, boring. Has a bad habit of saying the same things over and over again, basically has put me to sleep for years, so I do not listen anymore.

4. John Strong---Oh yes had to get a soccer guy in here. Strong is the voice of the Portland Timbers and I do enjoy watching some soccer, but when the Portland Timbers are on, I have to turn the sound down. Sometimes when I listen to Strong, I am not sure if he is even at the same game I am watching on TV, plus he has a horrible habit of getting way too caught up with the officiating.

5. Rebecca Haarlow--Reporter for Fox, NFL network and Big Ten Network. Not much you can say here, except it takes her five minutes to tell what could be said in one minute, if you are allowed to scream when someone comes on TV, she is a perfect example.

More important, let me know your five top channel turners, as I know you will.

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Moms and Dads, you need to raise your sons and even daughters to be a football coach. Did you see the latest stats on the salaries of FBS football coaches at public universities? Maybe you don't even want to look. Mack Brown at Texas leads the group, 5.2 million per year. Couple other examples, Oregon's Chip Kelly ranks 12th at 2.8 million and just recently released from jail for drunk driving charges, Missouri's Gary Pinkel comes in at 16th, making 2.7 million.

The average salary of an FBS coach is 1.47 million and even more powerful stat, 64 FBS coaches will make over one million this coaching year. The heck with playing, coaching is not all that bad as well.

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A great event with take place Saturday, November 19th, when the NAIA national cross country championships will come to Fort Vancouver, in Vancouver, Washington. Great athletes who strictly compete for the love the sport. Great job by Commissioner Dave Haglund, of the Cascade Collegiate Conference bringing this event to the Pacific Northwest, which really is the running mecca of the United States.

Equally important, a great shot in the arm for Vancouver/Portland area economically, as the event has booked 1,800 hotel rooms. And who said sports on any level does not contribute to the economy.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, please follow myself on twitter @wchoops

And please do not forget Crawford's Court on www.csnnw.com and above all, THANKS for reading.

NBA Economy and Woods' Future Forever

2011-11-14T15:01:00.001-08:00

I sure hope you like the new design of Crawscorner, I spent days developing this with some of the top designers in the world, so it better work (just kidding).

Also, I have gone back and forth on what to do with Crawscorner, as I want to keep this blog going, but also during the basketball season need to spend my time covering D-1 basketball for CSNNW, while not shortchanging Crawscorner. So my final decision and this is final, I will write Crawscorner on Monday and Friday, until the college basketball season ends and cover everything in sports except D-1 college basketball, which you will get plenty of on my Wednesday and Sunday night edition of Crawford's Court at www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball/.

Ok, let's get started with the Monday edition of Crawscorner.

NBA--- Developing as this is written on Monday, it appears there will not be an NBA season this year and what I have not heard anyone say, if this season is cancelled, there will be a good chance that part of the 2012-13 season could be cancelled. Some points that are important here:

1. As much as most people who care about the NBA want to blame the players and there is plenty of blame to go around for everyone, keep in mind that part of the problem here is the owners gave the players a very stupid deal in 1999, which was not economically sound and was certain to not withstand the test of time and now they want to take a lot of deal back, as they probably should, but easier said than done.

2. Speaking of owners, one difference between this negotiation this time and compared to the 1998-99 labor negotiations is that David Stern does not have control over the owners this time as compared to the past negotiation. Many of this present group of owners have given Stern fits this time around and we have all experienced it in life, when big egos get involved, it can only create nothing but misery.

3. I get a kick out a few college economic professors who are saying that the NBA lockout will have very little impact, if any on the economy. Just glad I never had any of them as professors. One very small, small example, but it gives you some idea of what a labor stoppage can do for anyone associated with the stoppage. Official scorers in the NBA average making about $100.00 per game. Each scorer on average probably works a 50 game schedule, when you throw in playoffs and exhibition games, so let's figure they make on average $5.000 per year. Even dividing that in half, considering taxes and possible savings, that is $2,500 in 30 cities that would more than likely go directly back into the economy.

Now before you think I have lost it, the above example is one which shows how the "little people" in this horrible mess lose out. But the bigger picture is that when you multiply this example by thousands, which is an accurate picture, how can this NBA lockout not have a big bearing on the economy. Heck, I didn't even start to think about players and what they might be spending. So yes, this lockout will hurt an already stagnant economy, just no way around it.

(NOTE: Speaking of the "little people", for most of these people this is a second job or a job that helps supplement social security. It is a proven economic fact that most people who work second jobs, spend most of that income and it goes directly back into the economy. Enough said.)

Tiger Woods---In my lifetime I have never seen a bigger fall in sports than Tiger Woods and I am not not talking about the off course stuff (which he was totally wrong) and all the cutbacks in his endorsements. I am talking about Tiger's ability as a golfer. He is not even close to being the same golfer as he once was, which can be somewhat expected as to what he went through, but not to show any signs of life in his game is disturbing.

I am a Woods fans, always have been, I loved his dedication, work ethic and wanting to bury the competition in a manner never seen before in sports, even greater than Michael Jordan. But in this case it seems that Tiger Woods never will be able to overcome his character flaws..... the fire and game is gone.

With all that said, I think the upcoming President's Cup matches will tell us everything on whether Tiger Woods will ever be back as a golfer. These matches will either destroy his game forever or will give him the confidence to get back to his old self. Woods loves playing for his country, so he will give it his all, he has plenty of friends to be around for several days, which at this time he more than ever needs a support system and he loves match play.

While many may not even care about the President's Cup, being a lover of golf, I will be paying close attention as this lone event could determine the total golf future of Tiger Woods. If he plays great, then he is back, if he lays an egg, we may never see him as a factor in golf again. Not to mention most people did not even think he should have made the team, so he has a golden opportunity to prove many wrong.

These three days, will be the most important three days in the entire history of Tiger Woods' golf career. I hope it turns out great for him and for the betterment of golf. I can forgive most and golf more than ever needs Tiger Woods.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com and please follow on twitter @wchoops

And as always for college basketball coverage, Crawford's Court, csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball

Craw's Corner: CRAWFACTS

2011-11-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here we go with another edition of Crawfacts, news, notes, opinions and whatever else you would love to call it. Of course for all the latest college basketball news, please check in every Wednesday and Sunday at www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball.

Congratulations---- Two people I have known for a longtime, should be very proud this week. Greg Barton's son Taylor, who does such a wonderful job with his football camps, is getting married in Hawaii tomorrow. Tough duty, but congrats to the entire Barton family and Taylor great place to have a wonderful day in your life.

Also congrats to the Warkentien family, as the regular season in college basketball gets underway, Kreigh Warkentien will begin her duties as the director of basketball operations for UNLV men's team. It is good to see more women getting involved on the men's side of college basketball coaching/operations. Of course I am sure Kreigh has picked up few tips along the way from her famous father, Mark, longtime NBA executive and at present the director of player personnel for the New York Knicks

Tony LaRussa---- As I have stated before, for the past 15 years, year in and out, Tony LaRussa has been the best manager in baseball. I also do not feel that he will stay retired very long, despite all the talk will stay retired. I say he will be back in baseball soon, he is for sure not going to practice law, so at this point baseball will never leave him. It is also my hope that no one in sports media hires LaRussa. He was at best a boring interview and often very snarly with the media. He had the right to conduct himself the way he wanted, but at the same time don't turn around and give him a job in profession he has pretty much zero respect for.

NBA Lockout---- I have followed the NBA closely for 51 years. I have to say this lockout is getting to me and I have lost respect for everyone. To hear some players say that we are so important we need to be paid what get, is just about too much for this fan of all of basketball. I have never been a person who has worried about what people get paid, but some things I have heard lately are disturbing to say the least. And while I am at it, the owners do not get a hall pass here either, they are ones who gave the players the deal that they now want adjusted and basically shredded. Both owners and players, shame on you. As well, how many people in the world have not taken a 12 percent pay cut in the last three years. Note to players, you make on average 3-5 million per year, a space shuttle astronaut makes on average $71,500 per year. Players, realize what you still have and come to your senses.

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame---- As you prepare for the class of 2012 next fall, do the right thing and after missing a year, please induct all of these famous sports official/referees. Al Lightner, Frank Buckiewicz, Terry Gierke, Vern Marshall, Terry Durham and Dale Scott. These six people should have been in the hall of fame in Oregon, long before this and I might also add should have gone into the hall of fame prior to the two sports officials the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame have already inducted. That is water under the bridge, but the bridge can always be adjusted, it is never too late. This blog is read nationally, so I put this in today's column, because all six of the people I mentioned are known nationally and sometimes internationally. All represented Oregon with dignity and class and Scott who is still working, does the same. Get off your high horse Sports Hall of Fame and bring your organization into the 2000s. Officiating his a huge part of sports and why deny men and in the future many women, who have done themselves proud and represented the state of Oregon famously.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow myself on twitter @wchoops

And please do not forget the next edition of Crawford Court, http://www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball/ will be out, Wednesday night, November 9th.

Couple more interesting blogs and websites you might want to look at:

www.IamaGM.com
http://washingtongeneralsfan.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading this.

Are These Guys The Greatest Five?

2011-11-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

For all the wonderful and great readers, please do not forget that for all the latest college basketball news, please go over and look at my coverage, Crawford's Court, http://www.csnnw.com/pages/ncaabasketball which will come out every Sunday and Wednesday night.

In the meantime, not to worry, I will continue to write Crawscorner, three times per week, on variety of sports subjects. The bottom line here, your readership is greatly appreciated and not ever forgotten. Now for today's topic and I sure hope you will weigh in on this for sure, as it creates lots of thoughts and memories.

Just who are the five greatest sports announcers of all time. Here are my top five and as always I am totally correct. NOT.

1. Vin Scully--No one can even come close to the the great Vin Scully. If you had to pick one guy to do the last sporting event ever held, he would be the person. He has just signed on to his 63rd year of doing Dodgers baseball and on November 29th Scully will turn 84 years old. Most people would just love to be 84, let alone calling major league baseball on a high level. If you listen to Scully doing Dodger games, he sounds like he is 35, he has not missed a beat all these years. It is also important to note, when Scully had time he was terrific doing NFL football games and did an awesome job as the lead announcer for many years on NBC golf. A total gentleman and total credit to sports. Sadly, we never get to hear much from him as he does very few, if any interviews, of which I am sure we could learn lots.

2. Dick Enberg---Smooth as silk, famous for the great line, "Oh My". He has done it all in sports and is still going strong into his 70s. Who can ever forget Dick Enberg, doing UCLA basketball in the 70s, wow what memories. His work on tennis is great nowadays, as has been his skill in calling baseball and football over all these years. I met him once, what a gentleman and I interviewed him once on the radio and one of the top five people I ever interviewed. (For the record, Chi Chi Rodriguez was the best person I have ever interviewed.)

3. Dan Schulman--Perhaps a surprise pick for many, but it was an easy pick for myself. Schulman is the ''voice" of ESPN. Great on Sunday night baseball and great on NBA/NCAA basketball. Schulman is the Michael Jordan of sports announcers. He makes everyone around him look much better than they are indeed. There are just some people in life that are a "cut above" and Schulman is a perfect example. He might not have the star power of other announcers, but if you listen to him, he is a superstar.

4. Dick Vitale--Think what you want of him, but no one can dispute the fact that Dick Vitale made college basketball on TV. The state of Oregon's own Tom Jernstedt made March madness what it is today and Dick Vitale is solely responsible for the huge popularity of college basketball on TV. When Vitale goes to a college campus, he is bigger than any rock star. I also have to give him credit, the greatest marketing person for anyone is yourself and he is the greatest self promoter in sports. Also, always has time for the "little guy". A lost art.

5. Brent Musburger--- Born in Portland, Oregon, actually wanted to be a professional baseball umpire. Brent continues to excel and once again living proof your life is not over once you are in your 70s. People that have worked with Brent Musburger either from a production side or as an analyst all say the same things, they learn much from him and he is totally a team player. All of this is great, but in my mind he has sustained the test of time, he is still outstanding after all these years of doing his craft.

Let me know your thoughts please, crawscorner@gmail.com and please follow myself on twitter @wchoops.

And please do not forget to read:

www.csnnw.com
http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com
www.bigskybball.com

Thank for reading this, you readers are truly the best

CRAWFACTS, Edition 14

2011-10-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Crawfacts is an assortment of news, notes and anything else you wish to call it, in the world of college basketball.

1. Arizona----Ouch, my preseason pick to win the NCAA tournament this year, right now is making me look awfully bad, after losing their opening exhibition game to Seattle Pacific. There is no other way to put it, an awful loss, even though it was exhibition and the opening game of the season.

The final score was 69-68, helped lots by the fact that Seattle Pacific was 12-12 from the free throw line, while Arizona was 12 for 19. Now you can see why I have harped so much on free throws in the last few months in my blog. Free throws are never given among importance by everyone in basketball.

So telling was this loss, was the fact that the last time Arizona lost an exhibition game to a much inferior opponent was 1984. To Seattle Pacific's big credit, not only this great victory, but last year in exhibition games, they defeated two D-1 opponents, Eastern Washington and Nevada. Ryan Looney is an outstanding coach and he has quite the program at Seattle Pacific and he will be an D-1 coach very soon.

If there is any room for optimism at Arizona, all you have to do is look back 10 years, when Syracuse lost their opening game to a D-3 opponent and then went on to finish 30-5 and got the number one seed in the NCAA tournament. Sean Miller has a young team, but I am not backing down from my pick and they will be there in the end.

2. UCLA---While many are picking the Bruins to win the Pac-12 and everyone expects them to finish in the top three of the Pac-12, I still say the "fallout" from not playing any games in Pauley Pavilion this year will have a big impact on the play of the Bruins. The history of teams who have to play out of their own arenas cause of renovation has not been good throughout the years in college basketball. And when you think about it, it makes sense. Comfort is great for everyone, including college basketball players.

3. Oregon---Finally after making all of us suffer, the Oregon Ducks will have a center court line this year and that players, officials and fans can see. While better late than never, shame on you Ducks for taking so long for this to happen, but plaudits for making the change.

4. Watching----I am going to be real interested to watch what happens this year at Pepperdine and Eastern Washington, when it comes to coaching. Both schools have first year coaches, Jim Hayford at Eastern Washington and Marty Wilson at Pepperdine. Wilson appears to have so much energy and has made a huge effort to connect with the past at Pepperdine and has reached out to so many people, including the media to bring attention to the Waves' program. As for Hayford, he makes the jump that very few have ever done and even more important, done successfully, coming from a D-3 program at Whitworth, where he dominated the Northwest Conference for many of his 10 years there. Some people in the media have picked his team to finish as high as third in the Big Sky, somewhat of a reach. But I can tell you one thing, if he wins and wins consistently at Eastern Washington, he will be one of the most sought after coaches in the country in a few years.

5. Don't Forget---Shameless plug here, I apologize, but starting November 2nd, this blog will move over to www.csnnw.com, so bookmark it now please. I have a bit of a name change over there as it will be called Crawford's Court, but I am thrilled to be there, with so many talented people. And even more good news, I will continue to write Crawscorner here 3 days a week, covering some small college basketball, sports business and golf, so if your sick of me, then you now can be doubly sick of me.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow myself on twitter @wchoops

As always thank you for reading this blog.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

2011-10-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

Please allow me for one day not to talk so much about sports, but to talk about life, which is much more important. Sports for the most part have shaped my life and allowed me to meet wonderful, wonderful people.

I hope you will take the time to read this column, it means a lot to myself to write this and is as important as anything I will ever write. It is going to be full of thank yous, which I never can say enough to so many people who have been there for me in my life, in not only the good times, but more importantly the bad times.

Big news, on November 1st, my blog will move to www.CSNNW.com, which is a wonderful website that enhances greatly the work that is done at Comcast Sports Net NW. It is a great opportunity for myself and I want to thank Kevin Berry/David Kamens, for the opportunity. No worries, you will still get a link to the blog on daily basis and my work with Comcast will continue to be about college basketball and west coast college basketball.

But today, I am not going to tell you about college basketball for one day, but instead tell you about so many wonderful people who have not only supported this blog to get it where it is, but more importantly are just wonderful people and have a huge impact on my life.

Number one always, I want to thank my great family, who made sure I could always be a part of sports, despite limited funds. I would never trade my Mom, Dad or Sister for anyone, period, end of story. Awesome people and so lucky, oh I am fortunate.

My blog would have never gotten off the ground without the technical help of Tim Marsh. I went to college with Tim and he is the model for never asking for anything and always willing to help. Thank you Tim.

The first reader ever of my blog, was my GREAT friend Terry Durham. Thank you Terry, along with my friends Dale Scott and Terry Gierke, it is criminal that all three of these people are not in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, for being legendary sports officials. But more important, terrific human beings and readers of this blog. Very funny people as well, who make me laugh often.

In 1991, Tom Christy and Bob Senseman, had the brilliance to hire myself to work with golf course superintendents. One of the best things that ever happened in my life. Out of that came my great friendship not only with them, but with golf course superintendents Russ Vandehey and Gordon Kiyokawa. Gordon, Bob and Russ, are there for me everyday, through thick and thin. Golf courses superintendents are not only the salt of the earth people, but there is a reason why every survey ever taken by golfers, they are voted the most important people at the golf course. You guys I can never thank enough. Beautiful human beings to say the least.

Since 1999, I have had the honor to work with Marv French. Another person that it is criminal he is not in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. All he did was found Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, one of the five best 36 hole golf facilities in the world. Out of working with Marv, I would never have been able to meet Mike Trimboli. Marv and Mike, thank you so much for all you do for me, you are not only legendary sports people, you are even better world class human beings.

And the list goes on, oh it goes on. Jonathan Heins, Jim Moore (great writer, Coug fan), Dr. Steve Brenner, Ivan Kafoury (radio legend), Mark Sanchez (great journalist), Doug Merlino, Kenny Vance (NBA guru), Cody Harrod, Ken Kuzmaak (brillant basketball evaluator), Dave Haglund (best sports commish in college sports), Chris Maples, Bobby Thompson, Bruce Hubbard, Mike Smithey, John Melonas, Lanny Bennett, Mitch Copp, Gavin Amato, Dr. Dan Beeson (congrats Dan for being inducted into the Phoenix/Talent hall of fame this weekend) Harry Yewens (Texas golf legend) and Rob Closs, thank you so much for being devoted readers of my blog and thank you so much for being friends, who care about giving back to people everyday.

Also a big thank you to basketball coaches, Danny Miles, Andy McClouskey, Kerry Keating and Eric Reveno. With the exception of Andy, I have never met these gentleman, but I feel like I have, for every time I write something about them, they take their valuable time to thank me. They would not have to do that, it shows something about the quality of individuals they are indeed.

Thank you to media people Tom Hewitt, Ron Callan and Jay Reese for mentioning my blog and having myself on their radio programs. Great professionals and great guys.

I would be totally remiss, if I did not mention my boss at Adventist Medical Center, Kim Earp. Kim runs our cancer unit at the hospital flawlessly. When you work, as I do part time in the cancer unit of a major hospital, it brings you back down to earth quickly. It is humbling and a great honor to be a small part of a great team of compassionate professionals, who bring it everyday.

Dan Belluomini, you are a treasure. You are the historian of west coast college basketball, no one knows more about college basketball than you do and you have always been a class act. It is an honor to know you.

It is also an honor to know my good friends Mike Lund and Jim Jorgensen, you guys are great and it is not often you can say, you have known someone for 25 years plus and never ever had a cross word or argument. Thank you Jim and Mike for being friends.

Jon Spoelstra and Jack Garrison all I can say is thank you for being great friends and truly being there in the bad times as well as the good. You ask nothing and give everything.

So once again thank you to everyone who reads this blog, friends or not. It has been great fun to write this and I will continue on this site until November 1st, when I move to Comcast and be able to be part of a great website and work with legendary sportswriter Dwight Jaynes, who I have known for 53 years. Ouch.

And thank you Kerry Eggers and Steve Brandon from the Portland Tribune. I knew both of you before you became famous, now you are icons in the Oregon media scene.

Lastly, thank you Cleveland High School (If not for Cleveland, would never have met my friend Jim Clair, Hall of Famer and who reads my blog everyday). Best time of my life and learned so much, as well as thank you Eastmoreland Golf Course, where so much of my life was shaped and I met so many wonderful people and where ironically, my great father died on the 18th green of heart attack. Miss you so much MOM and DAD.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops

And please do not forget to follow these great blogs

Kevin McCarthy-------- http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com

Jon Reed------www.bigskybball.com

Dan (the Generals Fan) http://washingtongeneralsfan.blogspot.com

You guys are great and thank you for supporting my blog.

CRAWVELOUS TOP 12 Teams/ October 20th

2011-10-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok here we go with my first ever Crawvelous Top 12, west coast college basketball. As the year goes along I will update this often, might even have my top 12 coaches list, maybe even have my top 12 referees and top 12 arenas, or whatever else you might ask for.

The list will be based off the six conferences that play D-1 basketball out west, which are, West Coast Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Big Sky, Big West, Pac-12 and Mountain West. Do you agree that there are too may wests in those conferences and as well, too many bigs.

As I say, always dangerous, always controversial and but never wrong. Right.

CRAWVELOUS TOP 12 TEAMS

1. Arizona---- Will win the NCAA championship this year.

2. Gonzaga-- To be the champ, beat the champ. No better regular season team in all of sports.

3. San Diego State---No Steve Fisher is not 90 years old, but he is a great basketball coach.

4. California--- It is time to bring Mike Montgomery back, might be Cal's year

5. Utah State---Never challenge Stew Morrill, like Mark Few, needs to win in NCAA tourney

6. UCLA--- Every game will be on the road for Bruins, never can figure out Ben Howland

7. BYU--- Dave Rose, one heck of a coach, plus he beat pancreatic cancer for now, enough said.

8. New Mexico--- As long as Steve Alford is with the Lobos, they will win, win big

9. Oregon--- Dana Altman will make big dance, slowing building national program in Eugene.

10. Santa Clara--- Great coach in Kerry Keating, does wonders at Santa Clara, nice person as well

11. Hawaii---Biggest surprise in the group, but have to go with the WAC Daddy, he knows WAC

12. Weber State---Talented, but Randy Rahe will figure out how to get them out of Top 12

So there it is, lots to chew over for you great readers and lots to think about as the season is less than 10 days from starting. And I would be the first to say this is not your normal Top 12, but I can also tell you I know basketball and I look beyond just the norm. More often than not, I am right more than I am wrong, but one thing I can do is always laugh at myself and I never take myself too seriously and neither should any of you.

Basketball is a sport, granted also a business, but LIFE is REAL. Enjoy and let me know as you will, where I went wrong here.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops

As always thank you for reading this column, greatly appreciated.

Any Of These Guys Would Make Winners

2011-10-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am always interested in the coaching side of basketball, especially college basketball, where the head coach might be more important than any other sport around.

And without question the two best leagues on the west coast in college basketball are the West Coast Conference and the Pac-12.

So with my interest in coaching and with the help of a nameless famous retired NBA executive, together we created our list of top five coaches in both the WCC and Pac-12 heading into the 2011-12 season. We based our selections off of three different categories, 1)Bench/In Game Coaching 2) Recruiting 3) Could this person win anywhere they are coaching.

With that into account, here is our ranking, but instead of ranking by league separation, we thought it might be better to have top 10 list, combining the two leagues and for sure a lot more fun for you readers which is much more important.

10. Tad Boyle, Colorado--- Most people could not even tell you who coaches Colorado, but basketball people know what a good coach Boyle is. He did wonders turning a dismal Northern Colorado team around before going to the Buffalos this past season. Excellent recruiter, who is always going to be on lists to be hired at other schools. Pac-12 coaches should be nervous about him in the league.

9. Kerry Keating, Santa Clara---A coach to watch for many years to come. It took him awhile to get things going at Santa Clara, but now he appears to have the Broncos in a great position for years to come. There are people that are made to be Doctors and there are people made to be basketball coaches. The Broncos will have trouble keeping Keating, he is on the short list of many schools. Enough said.

8. Randy Bennett, St. Mary's--- For sure at present he belongs in the top 10, but also could easily drop out. While having lots of wins at St. Mary's, he has not been able to break through the Gonzaga dominance and create a real WCC rivalry, but none the less, for coaching at a small school, in a small arena, Bennett has done a nice job. He has been on short lists of teams seeking coaches, but he might just be a lifer at St. Mary's.

7. Dana Altman. Oregon--- A lot of people wondered what the heck the Ducks were doing hiring Altman. Now they know, the Ducks did know what they were doing. 21 wins in his first year with inferior talent, says much, this year as documented in my previous columns, the Ducks should go dancing. If they do, Altman will be one of the hottest coaching commodities in the country, but who would leave Oregon..... money, facilities and an athletic program that is totally committed to winning.

6. Dave Rose, BYU---For now, he has beat pancreatic cancer, probably that is all you need to know about Rose. Sure he is at BYU, but he still has to coach talent and he has done a great job of doing so over the years. There is not a shortage of programs in the country who would love to have Rose as their head coach. He oozes winning.

5. Lorenzo Romar, Washington--- In one of the richest recruiting areas in all the country, Seattle, Romar continues to win, year in and year out. With his talent pool to choose from each year, it appears that Romar will finish out his career at Washington, but if he said he would like to leave, there would be no shortage of jobs offered to him. Romar someday will win a national championship at Washington.

4. Mike Montgomery, California--- Actually it would be easy to throw darts at this choice with his failure in the pros at Golden State, but Montgomery has withstood the test of time at Stanford and at California. Some people have picked him to win the Pac-12 this season, I do not agree, but his consistent winning, makes his an obvious top 10 choice.

3. Eric Reveno, Portland--- As I have told you many times, the best coach in the country that most people have never heard of. What he has done with the Pilots is nothing short of miracle. There is no way the Pilots can keep him much longer. One other key point, high school coaches love the guy, so important in the ongoing recruiting battles. He could turn the Washington Generals into a winner.

2. Mark Few, Gonzaga--- Quite possibly the might be the mistake on the list, but how can you argue with 11 straight WCC championships and 13 straight NCAA appearances. Horrible success in the NCAA tournament, but maybe the greatest regular season accomplishment in sports with the domination. The big question here is would he win at another school, we might find out next year as I think Few will leave Gonzaga after this season.

1. Sean Miller, Arizona--- Of course I have picked the Wildcats to win the NCAA championship this year. Miller is the best head coach recruiter in the country. He makes great in-game adjustments and he will soon be on the east coast coaching somewhere. When a job opens, he is the number one choice of everyone. He is the definition of winning.

Ok, where did I go wrong, please tell me as I know you will and the first batch of emails I am sure will come from my friends at UCLA, just a hint.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow myself on twitter @wchoops

As always, thank you for reading this column.

It Is Up To "U" Of Portland

2011-10-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

The great part about sports is that there is always another game the next day, your team is always in contention on opening day and the most important thing about sports it allows fans to DREAM about so many what ifs.

I even am even so certain about dreaming that somewhere in the country today there is somebody dreaming about Kansas City/Houston in the world series. I also am certain that a good friend of mine in Sacramento, Jim Jorgensen dreams everyday that NBA basketball will return to Sacramento. (It has been missing, even since Rick Adelman was fired as coach of the Kings). As a native Portlander, I am also dreaming that someday the Rose City, will have more than one major league team. (And yes I know before someone corrects me, Portland has soccer and even though it is a great game, fun for many, you can never call the MLS, major league, when players leave their teams during the season to play in other events and your referees are not even employees of the league).

But back to basketball, more specifically college basketball, which opens today for real with the start of practices and some creative marketing people trying to outdo each other by coming up with new ways to create a buzz about what use to be called "Midnight Madness". It is an exciting time for everyone who loves the college game and even more exciting we only have to wait 2 1/2 more weeks for the first games.

Since you already know, if you paid attention above, I am from Oregon, so please allow me occasionally in this blog to become a little provincial as I am going too today.

Keeping with my dream theme, I have forever dreamed ever since Portland State brought back basketball in 1996, that all four D-1 programs in Oregon would go to the NCAA tournament in the same year. Sometimes dreams do have a chance, sometimes is the key here. Is 2012 the year? I have not woke up yet, so I think it has a chance of happening, of which I probably will never have another dream like this again.

And in case you think my dreams are crazy, a little breakdown here.

In the last 10 days I have documented that I feel strongly that both the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers will go dancing in 2012. Dana Altman oozes with winning, what he did in his first year at Oregon as I documented in my last blog was nothing short of amazing, now he has some talent to work with and with his coaching, his players, I am calling the Ducks a lock for NCAA in 2012.

Continuing the trend, the Oregon State Beavers as I have noted over the past several months, have not been to the NCAA since 1990. For the first time in ages, they have some depth, an almost certain all Pac-12 performer in Jared Cunningham and a favorable schedule, to possibly win 24 games. And if they do win 24 games, the "Committee", which is alway looking for great stories to put in the NCAA, is not going to leave out the President of United States' brother-in-law.

Moving on to the Portland entries in the D-1 basketball.

Full disclosure, I have been following the Big Sky for so many years I can't remember. I have discovered if you have two high quality players you can win the Big Sky and Big Sky tournament and advance to the NCAA. My call this year is for the Portland State Vikings to go to the NCAA tournament. Speaking of two quality players the Viks have two potential first team Big Sky players in Chehalis Tapscott and Charles Odum. While everyone is picking Weber State to walk away with the Big Sky title, keep in mind that despite almost every year he has the league's best talent, Randy Rahe has really underachieved in Ogden as coach of the Wildcats. I think he is to a degree an overrated coach.

Ok, now we have three in the NCAA and for you math people out there, my dream is 75 percent complete. Now the big pressure, falls on the Portland Pilots. Of course as I have told you for months the Pilots have the best coach in basketball that hardly anyone has heard of in Eric Reveno. He has done some magical things with Portland and each year, he has been able to get more and more out of his players. Although this is predicted to be a rebuilding year, nothing surprises me from a Reveno coached team. And even though they might suffer a little in the pre-season with a very tough schedule, the Pilots do open at Gonzaga and I am dreaming of a big upset. And I am dreaming of an NCAA beth for the team from North Portland, something they have not accomplished since 1996, so your on notice Pilots, the pressure is on.

It is often that you do get a pretty good recap in your dreams, so my locks for the NCAA tourney are Oregon, Oregon State and Portland State. The theme here is let's go Pilots, let's go Pilots, please make my dream come true.

I know what your thinking and the answer is NO. I am not going to wake up from this one, I have waited so long in this state to see some good college basketball from our D-1 teams all at the same time, you can only wake me up in March.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com and follow on twitter @wchoops

Thank you for reading this always.

Oregon Ducks Came Out Much The Better

2011-10-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

In the Oregon Duck's bungled procedural effort to find a basketball coach to replace fired Ernie Kent following the 2009 season, they just might have stumbled upon what could go down as one of the best coaching hires in the school's history.

Quietly Dana Altman is building a powerful basketball program in Eugene. Still to this day in the state of Oregon, if you walked down the street and talk to all non-ducks, probably only 1 in 10 people could tell you who the head basketball coach at University of Oregon is. As a matter of fact, despite a pathetic performance so far, Paul Westhead, the women's coach is much more famous.

And knowing what I know about Altman, while he cares deeply about Oregon basketball, he could care about who knows who is he is or even what he does. In a high profile school, that is known around the world for many things involving their athletic department, going into his second year as head coach of the Ducks, Altman continues to fly under the radar.

But most of the time, in sports at least, flying under the radar is often very good and I can tell you not only from my standpoint, but from people in the basketball know, they all tell me two things, Dana Altman is a terrific bench coach and no one is going to outwork him in the ongoing college basketball recruiting battles. And while it is still going to take Altman sometime to really get things going, it is not all bad to have the glitz and glamour of the Oregon Duck athletic machine behind him, not to mention that fact the Ducks might just have the best arena in all of college basketball, in Matt Knight Arena.

And I would go even as far as to say, while all the attention these days is on the Oregon football program, Dana Altman will bring a national championship to Oregon, long before the Ducks win one in football. He is that good at what he does.

Where in the past, people would often say if someone in basketball is successful they will leave for better job, there probably are not that many better jobs in the country for a person like Altman than in Eugene. He is at a school that is always going to support athletics, as mentioned plays in a great arena, in a superb conference and he loves golf and has access to one of the great golf courses in all the world, in Eugene Country Club. What more can a guy ask for?

While in the first two years coaching the Ducks, Altman often had to will hjs teams to victories with great coaching, this year he will have some really good talent to work with. All the attention of the new players coming into the program has been on potential super-star Jabari Brown and rightfully so, but a player that everyone should get familiar with, is newcomer from the Seattle area, Brett Kingma. Kingma is player in high school that all of a sudden you would look at the boxscore and he would have 40 points. He should fit in great with the Altman system.

In Altman's first season, his Ducks played some pretty good defense, considering the lack of overall talent on the team, now I am sure they will play even better defense with more talent, but as compared to the first two years, there will be plenty of offensive punch on the team, which was lacking badly in the past two years.

I have always felt that teams who have taken advantage of the NCCA rules that allows you to take your basketball team in the summer to play games in different countries gives them a huge edge. The Ducks took a trip to Italy earlier this summer, it will help them lots in this coming season.

This Duck team has the potential to do something special this year and surprise everyone. I not only have them going to the NCAA tournament, but I also feel they will make it all the way to the "sweet 16".

And while Chip Kelly for near future always gets the headlines when people talk about Oregon athletics, upon further review, the best coach at Oregon might just be Dan Altman. He for sure will not fly under the radar much longer, keep an eye on him in 2011-12, he will become a headliner.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, or follow on twitter @wchoops

Thank you for reading this.

It Is Now Or Never

2011-10-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

It is pretty hard to fathom that 30 years ago, before a lot of readers of this blog were even born, the Oregon State Beavers basketball team was ranked number one, yes that is right, number one in the country for 25 straight weeks. They finished the season that year 26-2, losing a devastating game to Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

It also hard to fathom the following about the Oregon State basketball program.

1. The last time they went to the NCAA basketball tournament was 1990.

2. Since 1990, the Beavers have had six coaches, none of them having a winning record as head coach of the Beavers, including present coach Craig Robinson.

3. Even with one of the most consistently poor college basketball program since 1990, the Beavers still rank as the 16th winningest all-time program in NCAA history.

4. Up to the year 2000, the Beavers had the most all time wins of any college basketball program west of the Mississippi, no longer the case.

5. Since 1990, the Beaver have had only two all Pac-10/Pac-12 first team all conference players.

6. There are four D-1 basketball programs in the state of Oregon and all but the Beavers have been to the NCAA tournament at least once since 1990, including Portland State, which brought back their program in 1996 after a 17 year absence from even having a basketball program.

The above says lots about the past, but what about the future.

Beaver head coach Craig Robinson is not on the hot seat, you are not going to fire the President of the United States' brother in law, plain and simple, but Robinson is on the hot seat to produce a better showing than he has since taking over the program in 2008. The last two years under Robinson have been dismal to say the least.

Fast forwarding to this year, on paper the Beavers will have the best and deepest team they have had in years. As I have said in this blog before, paper is only good to look at visually. We are really going to find out this year if Robinson can coach and get out from under the huge amount of publicity he has received for logical reasons.

Plus the Beavers have a real chance to win 20 games this year, they have a pretty easy pre-season schedule, adding to that is they play most of their pre-season games at home and in league play should be helped that they can beat newcomer Utah twice.

Of course all of this has to done with good players as well and Oregon State have good players on their roster. Jared Cunningham should challenge to be an all Pac-12 performer. He has had the great opportunity to work out this summer with Beaver all time great Gary Payton. That will help. Ahmad Starks has year under his belt, should play much better this year and even though he is small, is a lockdown defender. Roberto Nelson is a question mark, if he can play even slightly up to his potential, he can become a big time player in the Pac-12.

The Beavers will be the most weakest at center, which will a committee of centers, with the lead being taken by Joe Burton, who at times has shown flashes of brilliance, but only at times. Two players that could really be keys this year for the Beavers will be newcomers Daniel Gomis and Challe Barton. Gomis is fighting a leg injury, but once he recovers, any player coming out of the famous Oak Hill program, including Gomis, will help any basketball team. Barton could be the surprise of the Pac-12 and a big surprise player for the Beavers. He is really good, even as a freshman, he should see plenty of playing time.

To the credit of Craig Robinson, he for now has ditched the 5:00 a.m. practices, instead the Beavers will practice at 1:30. I never have gotten any college coach scheduling practices before the sun comes up. Sure it sounds real macho for teams to say they do this, I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, but these players are still kids and they do like to sleep in, I do not know a kid who does not. You want practices to be productive, not something kids dread going too.

Now for the shocker for Beaver fans and fans of college basketball. I am saying right now, right it down, the Beavers will go dancing this year for the first time since 1990. They have the players, they have deep team and they have the schedule which sets up nicely to make the NCAA tournament.

And last but equally as important, I can guarantee you that if Oregon State is on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, no one on the selection committee is going to leave out the President of the Unites States' brother in law. That committee may be foolish at times, but they are forever political.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow on twitter @wchoops.

Thank you for reading this blog.

CRAWFACTS, Edition 13

2011-10-05T05:11:00.000-07:00

Crawfacts is an assortment of info, unknown facts, suggestions and even an occasional gripe, so enjoy and feel free to comment about anything you wish.

DANNY MILES COURT---It is my understanding that the good folks in Klamath Falls, Oregon are getting closer to their goal of raising $150,000 for a new basketball court at Oregon Tech. The present floor is 46 years old, so a new court is long overdue. Of course the court is named after iconic Oregon Tech basketball coach Danny Miles, who will begin his 41st year this season heading up the Owls and one of the very few great basketball people in the country that is not in the basketball hall of fame, that should be. I learned in the last few months in writing this blog, that Klamath Falls and Oregon Tech, which is headed up by its classy president Chris Maples, are some of nicest people on the planet, so I really would have hoped instead of doing all this awesome fundraising, it would have been nice for Jeld-Wen, an international company with a huge presence in Klamath Falls would have not just stepped up and built Oregon Tech a new floor, after all Jeld-Wen is one of the largest window and door makers in the world and they did just do a naming rights deal for a new soccer stadium in Portland, Oregon. As is all politics are local, all charity should be local.

ANNOUNCERS---And speaking of classy people, you will not find two finer than Dan Belluomini and Rob Closs, who both have had a large presence as basketball analysts on the west coast. Belluomini as I have documented is the historian of west coast basketball, no one knows more about west coast basketball than Dan and has worked so many games over the years for ABC, CBS and Fox.

Closs has been the analyst for Oregon Ducks' basketball for years and knows his stuff and is always studying the game like crazy. I also give him big plaudits for not being afraid to criticize the Ducks when they have it coming to them and when your an Oregon alum and your doing their broadcasts, trust me, you will hear the wrath from many in Eugene and beyond for even the slightest peep of Duck criticism.

I bring these two fine people up because as we are a year away, I really hope that Fox, ESPN and the Pac-12 will take note of their historic work over the years and find a spot for both to continue on their stellar careers. As a matter of fact, big suggestion to the Pac-12, bring both of them on as studio hosts for your new TV network. Pac-12, you could not make a better move, not only from historical standpoint, but also from the fact, it would totally enhance your broadcasts.

NBA LOCKOUT----If you are not on twitter, shame on you. By the way you can follow myself if you are on twitter @wchoops. Twitter is fun for many reasons. It is educational at times, downright hilarious at times and for all you business people out there, it is a great way to promote your business or even a great way for some people who want too, to promote themselves, as many do, or at least try to do.

As sad as the NBA lockout is and please do not say you do not care, cause you should, as by conservative estimates it is going to affect around 50,000 jobs in this country either eliminating them or cutting way back on income and these jobs have nothing to do with players, owners or agents.

But back to twitter, there were a couple of hilarious comments yesterday about the lockout. One person claimed the players are such important people to the culture of sports and the game, that they are underpaid and they are some of the most important people in the world and he was serious. My one answer to that is, the average NBA players makes upward of 2 million per year, in comparison, the average space shuttle astronaut, when the program was running made $71,000 per year. Yau those NBA players are really important. Another great tweet, which made me laugh hard, it is no longer, "Occupy Wall Street", it is now, "Occupy NBA". So true.

MATCH UPS---Here are several reasons why my pointed columns about Portland State-University of Portland and Utah-Utah State not playing this year in men's basketball is a complete joke and should be a total embarrassment for whoever is at fault for the elimination of these rivalries.

1. New Mexico and New Mexico State, in different conferences, are playing each other twice in the pre-season. The state of New Mexico has great people and great basketball fans, both schools say their fans deserve this game, not once, but twice.

2. Despite the Washington Huskies having nothing to gain, they are once again playing cross city competitor Seattle Redhawks. Hats off Lorenzo Romar, for doing what is good for basketball and what is good for the city of Seattle.

3. San Diego State is going across town, to play the horrible basketball program, San Diego. Steve Fisher you are a credit to the game.

4. Despite Boise State leaving for the Mountain West and now not in the same conference as cross-state Idaho which competes in the WAC, the only two D-1 programs in the state will continue to play each other on neutral floor on New Year's Eve in Nampa Idaho. (Before someone corrects me, Idaho State is a D-3, program, who just happens to play in a D-1 league).

5. California will play San Jose State. Schools fairly close, once again, Cal has lots to lose here, but hats off to Mike Montgomery and along these lines, Arizona State will play Northern Arizona in pre-season. another good in-state battle, of which Northern Arizona has a chance to win, against a weak ASU team.

6. Lastly, why is it that the Portland State/U of Portland women are going to play each other this year and not the men?

Do I need to say anymore on this subject? No, I probably do not, but who knows, I might break my word and have even more to say once the season starts and then tons of people will miss these rivalry games and I will be even more hot under the collar, as are hundreds of other fans of the game.

MIZZOU---I have made strong suggestions to Missouri who seems to relish the fact that they continue to tease their huge fan base and alumni, as to where they will finally wind up, either staying in the Big 12 (or whatever it will be called) or bolting for the SEC. A better choice would be to join the Big Sky. They actually then might be able to be competitive in football for a change and also they would make a strong showing in basketball. Hey, why not. Doug Fullerton, get on the phone.

MATCH UPS---No I am not going back to my forever rant, so relax, but here is a great match-up for all basketball fans in the Pacific Northwest. On November 21st, BYU-Hawaii will play Western Washington in Bellingham. This has the makings of a classic D-2 game, which by the way, D-2 basketball on the west coast is awesome. BYU-Hawaii lost last year in the championship game of D-2 and will probably lead the entire nation this year in scoring and Western Washington not only has a great program each year, but they have one of the finest basketball coaches in all of basketball in Brad Jackson. He will be starting his 27th year for the Vikings. Quite frankly Jackson is such a good coach, he could make the Washington Generals, the worst team in all of basketball, a winner. My hats off to him for his work all these years in basketball, but more importantly developing so many fine young men who have gone on to be successful people. like Jackson has been for years.

emails are always welcome at crawscorner@gmail.com, or please follow on twitter @wchoops

Thank you for reading this blog and all the basketball columns, greatly appreciated.

Circle This One Please

2011-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

If you are a basketball fan or even better a fan of west coast basketball, then you will want to block out December 17th for sure.

On that date at 1:00 p.m., it might be the best pre-season game of any for west coast college basketball, when Arizona battles Gonzaga in Seattle on CBS. (As a side note, between the two schools, they will appear on national television 31 times this year during the regular season, not bad. )

While many are picking the UCLA Bruins to win the Pac-12 this, I disagree, thinking it will be the Arizona Wildcats to win the initial Pac-12 basketball championship and I have even gone as far as to pick them to win the NCAA championship, they are that good. Also important to keep in mind that with the renovation of Pauley Pavilion this year, the Bruins will have no home games, which will hurt.

I think coaches are more important in basketball than any other NCAA sport and Arizona has a gem in Sean Miller. He is not only an outstanding in- game coach, but he is proving himself to be one of the top three head coaches in the country when it comes to recruiting. Two things to watch this season is will the loss of Miller's brother, Archie, who was his top assistant have a big impact and also the shooting last week of reserve player Kevin Parrom in New York City impact on the team. It is always unreal scary for young men to have a friend and teammate get hurt, let alone get shot. (At this time Parrom is expected to recover fully).

The Wildcats have the stability of Kyle Fogg as a returner, plus top super freshmen recruits in Angelo Choi and Josiah Turner. The talented players coming into college today can hardly be called freshmen, they have so much experience playing basketball and have been exposed to so much pressure prior to entering college, they are more than ready. Bottom line, look for the Wildcats to easily win 30 games, once again.

Gonzaga on the other hand will be a team to watch this year for many reasons. Do they have the players to compete on a high level, as the have in the past? Can they continue one of the greatest dominant performances in sports in the last 25 years and win their 12 straight regular season championship? Is this Mark Few's last year in Spokane and will he leave for a better job? How much challenge will BYU bring to Gonzaga as they enter league play in the first year?

One thing I can tell you is, Gonzaga has some good players coming back in Robert Sacre, Marquise Carter, David Stockton and Sam Dower. Stockton, the son of hall of famer John, shocked everyone last year with his play, sometimes he even shocked his teammates with spectacular passes that they were not ready for. Sacre on paper is also the best player in the conference.

While Gonzaga has been a dismal failure in the NCAA tournament, there is no disputing the awesome success during the regular season and I expect that to continue as the Zags will win their 12 consecutive regular season championship this year, despite the challenge of newcomer BYU and rest of the outstanding teams in what is a very good basketball conference.

And speaking of good basketball, why not have the Pac 12/WCC challenge each year. Why has this not happened before now and just take the top nine teams in each conference and play each other the following year in match-ups per your positioning in the conference the previous season. Maybe the real reason is the fear that this might show that the WCC is on par with the Pac-12 in basketball, make no mistake about it.

So keep December 17th free and I give big plaudits for Arizona playing Gonzaga and once again I give big plaudits for behinds the scenes guru, Mike Roth, the Gonzaga athletic director for his years of always scheduling quality opponents for the Zags in pre-season. He will never get enough credit for what he has done for Gonzaga basketball.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops, big thank you to everyone.

Class, What Did We Learn Today?

2011-09-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

As we are less than a month away from the start of the college basketball season, I am hoping that everyone in the last five months has learned something which can make college basketball even a better game and more exciting game than it is today.

We also hope that everyone can forget the awful, boring, pathetic, effortless championship game that Butler and Connecticut put on last April. I guess if I wanted everyone to forget, I should not have reminded you. Sorry.

My love of college basketball I would hope is well documented, but I do agree with some of the critics that the game has become a little stagnate and is losing some of its appeal.

Over the last five months of this column, I have made several suggestions, which college basketball should have implemented for the 2011-12 season, but now I am hoping that all you great readers will look at this upcoming season and say, "Crawscorner is right and these changes need to happen in college basketball soon".

In case your new to this column or missed what I wrote or even need a little refresher here we go with some things I feel are mandatory to improve the college basketball game.

1. Bring back pre-game dunking. Right now it is not allowed once the officials take the court, which is generally 30 minutes prior to tip-off. This is such a stupid rule. Allow dunking in pre-game, just make the penalties the same as they are in the game, if the player hangs on the rim, it is a technical foul. I do not know one single person who does not like dunking, the players love it and it would bring fans to game much earlier, thus allowing more concessions sales, as well as you would attract more kids to the games, which is always good for the future.

2. Correct the timeout situation in college basketball. It is one of the top three complaints from fans about the game and once again, schools need to remember that fans are not your enemy, they are your CUSTOMERS. And please do not blame TV/radio, they need their timeouts to pay for the broadcasts, which I have mentioned many times, so many people who can't afford to attend the games, or have physical limitations that do not allow them to do so and often depend on these games as the highlight of their day.

Her is a simple way to do timeouts in college basketball. Do not have any team timeouts, just have a 90 second timeout under the 16:00, 12:00, 8:00 and 4:00 minute mark on the first dead ball after these times and allow one 30 second timeout per team per half. I have talked to numerous broadcast people and this more than satisfies their need for commercials and it should more than satisfy coaches to implement strategy. Phil Jackson won a whole lot of championships and so did Bobby Knight, not calling lots of timeouts.

Right now the game is being ruined by the timeout rules, this is a simple solution to a major problem.

3. I was not trying to be funny when I suggested this change. Never play a second overtime, but instead have a free throw shootout. Copy soccer, (No I really didn't mention soccer did I), yes I did. Shootouts are just great and so exciting, but pressure filled and so much fun for the fans. There also is motive in my madness, it might just make free throw shooting better in college basketball, as I have documented, free throw shooting in college basketball has not improved since 1965, SHOCKING.

4. And finally, for all you schools that never get any people out to games or your attendance is miserable, hire a marketing person who has some passion, wants to think outside of the box and cares about the game. There are plenty of great sports people out there looking for work. I am getting sick of the same old promotions, the wringing of hands about lack of attendance and the lack of passion. Get with it schools, it not only your job to educate people, it is also your job to promote athletics. If you need any advice on how to market your product better, please just contact myself, I am willing to help.

Big thank you to both Kevin McCarthy, who runs one of the top three college basketball blogs in the country, http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com and Jonathan Reed, who runs www.bigskybball.com, for their kindness these past few months. And speaking of Jonathan, best of luck in his upcoming marriage in 9 days, we know his bride is getting a great man, cause anyone who has the courage to write a daily blog on Big Sky basketball has to be a great man.

Ok for all you people that want help with marketing, or you just wish to comment on this column, you can email myself at crawscorner@gmail.com or as always, please follow myself on twitter @wchoops.
Thank you for your readership, which is reaching all time highs as we march to opening tip-offs a month away.

CRAWFACTS, Edition 12

2011-09-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

UCLA---I hate to say that I told you, but I did tell you so. The best off-season move in college basketball as I documented when it happened, was for Ben Howland to hire Korey McCray as an assistant basketball coach. I watch coaches and coaching moves and this was a gem of a hire by Howland. For the class of 2012, the Bruins already have commitments from Jordan Adams (Oak Hill), Dominic Artis (Findlay Prep) and Kyle Anderson (St. Anthony). All three of these players come out of top flight programs and easily Anderson is one of the top five players in the country. And this might just be the tip of the iceberg, as McCray has had a long time coaching relationship with Shaq Goodwin, a top ten high school player in the country and is leaning towards being a Bruin. While Sean Miller might just be the best recruiter as head coach, McCray is going to become the best assistant coaching recruiter in all of college basketball. The Bruins are back and a good team in Westwood can do nothing but help west coast college basketball.

PREDICITIONS---As I also have said in the past it is fun to make predictions, sometimes it is dangerous and I have always been willing to take the heat when I am wrong and will always accept your praise when I am right.

Prediction 1---Mark Few will leave Gonzaga after the 2011-12 season for a better college coaching job. While Few has had great success in regular season, for the most part his teams have not done well in post-season. More and more not only are fans becoming restless with the lack of post-season success, but also Few is starting to see more and more players leaving the program, i.e., Demetri Goodson and Manny Arop, leaving this past season. There is always a time to stay and there is always a good time to leave. Despite denials, Few has flirted with other jobs in the past, my feeling is he will leave after this year.

Prediction 2---Eric Reveno, who has somewhat of a rebuilding job this year with his Portland Pilots will once again win 20 games and will leave the North Portland school for a better job. University of Portland is an outstanding school, with one of the best arenas in west coast college basketball, but they in no way can pay Reveno what he is worth. Eric Reveno is maybe the best coach in college basketball that no one has heard of in the general sports world. In the world of college basketball, everyone knows about Reveno and the job he has done in taking a program when he arrived that was so far down, it was thought impossible to win even 10 games per year. The quality of life in Portland, Oregon is pretty darn good, but though no one wants to admit it, you can make your own quality of life with money and a better coaching job, Reveno will have plenty of offers.

Prediction 3---Unless Cameron Dollar has a monster year with Seattle University, the Redhawks will think about making a change as they enter play in the Western Athletic Conference. So far in his tenure as heading up the Redhawks, Dollar has been average at best and his recruiting seems to be missing something. Quite frankly he should have been winning more games than now and as I have documented, the Redhawks have the ability to dominate the WAC when they enter league play in 2012. One thing is certain, with the major commitment that Seattle University has put into bringing back basketball and money that they have spent, the demand to have a winning program is there. Dollar now needs to show he can produce, or else it will almost be mandatory that he is replaced.

SANTA CLARA---You have to feel for Kerry Keating, not only an outstanding coach, but a really nice person, in his loss of top player Marc Trasolini for the entire 2011-12 season with a torn ACL. Trasolini is a native of Vancouver, B.C. and in the Broncos' trip to Canada in early September, Trasolini in front of many family and friends was injured in the first game of the trip, sadly. The Broncos are coming off a year where they snuck up on everyone and won 24 games, including the championship of the CIT post-season tournament. The great Stan Love, Kevin' father and a guy who knows basketball as well as anyone in the world, told me way back when Keating was an assistant coach at UCLA, that Keating would be a big time college coach in the very near future and nothing he has done so far at Santa Clara has made myself feel any differently about what Love said.

PORTLAND STATE---And speaking of coaches it is not often you talk about a head coach doing a great job, while only having a .435 winning percentage after only two years as head coach. Tyler Geving at Portland State is the exception to the rule. Last year he won one more game than the previous year, not usually not a big deal, but it was big deal when you consider the Vikings were short handed playing most of the year without year star player Phil Nelson and also the fact the Portland State was on probation due to a low APR, due to the lack of previous coach Ken Bone not minding the store during his tenure with the Vikings. Like Ben Howland, Geving also made a brilliant off season move in the summer of 2010, when he hired veteran west coast assistant coach Andy McClouskey. McClouskey is a steadying influence and great to have on a bench for a young head coach. The Vikings are now off of probation, they have some good players, including one outstanding player in Chehales Tapscott and as I have written about before are my favorite to win the Big Sky.

BYU---For all you West Coast Conference fans who were hoping for a quick bolt out of the WCC for the Cougars, mainly cause they will make waves and might possibly end the domination of Gonzaga in basketball, do not hold your breath. I have been told by some people who should know that the Cougars plan to stay in the WCC for awhile, there are not plans to move to the Big 12 and they like being in the WCC, while still being an independent in football. And by the way, they are looking forward to the challenge of beating Gonzaga, many have February 2nd circled, the first meeting of the two basketball powers, in WCC play.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow on twitter @wchoops

The Big Guy Needs To Step Up

2011-09-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

It is time, it is way overdue, it needs to happen immediately.

The time is now for President Obama and his staff to inject themselves in the the NBA lockout and get this things solved.

David Stern and the President are friends, many of the present NBA players were out helping him get elected, so what better scenario could there be than for the President to get involved in this labor fight.

History dictates that Presidents have shied away from labor disputes unless the security and safety of the country is at stake. I have news for everyone, our security in case you have not noticed is at stake every single day. Part of our security in the great United States is the economy, which at present it teetering on becoming the next big depression.

Sports is a big part of the economy of our country, maybe not as big as some people who skew the statistics would lead us to believe, but it still is important to the overall economy. We all know that in this dispute, most of the owners can withstand a long lockout, even missing the whole year. We also know many of the players, who per their leaders are more than prepared to miss the whole season to make their point and win this dispute and of course we know that NBA players always handle their money wisely.

The big guys can always survive, the little guys can't. So many people that we will never hear about will be affected greatly by an extended lockout and many people who work for teams in the front office will lose their jobs. It has already happened. Some restaurants, stores, people who park cars, that depend on an NBA season will be so affected by loss of income and I could go on and on even more about jobs and people who will suffer because of no income.

The sad part about the above is that when it really comes down to it, most NBA owners and players could care less, but President Obama should care lots and it is time for him to get involved and I mean put the whole force of the government to get this solved. And for those who will say his hands are tied, the government's hands are never tied, they can do what they want anywhere and anytime.

Besides the more than obvious economic impact of losing or having a delayed season in any sport, there is always the social side. Many people look to sports as a release, a way to have a little enjoyment, in what at present is not an enjoyable time in the this country. People love their sports, we need sports, it part of our culture and will be forever, no matter what people say that want to pooh, pooh the impact of sports.

I will say this, if there is a major loss of games in the NBA or if as some smart people are saying the loss of a whole season, the NBA will never recover, it will never be the same. Times are different than in 1999, the last time their was a work stoppage in the NBA. Resentment will be overwhelming this time and people will turn to other sports, perhaps even college basketball will pick up some new needed fans.

President Obama loves sports, he loves basketball, he also loves politics and he wants to be re-elected, which is real iffy at this point in time. What greater publicity move could a President make than to help solve a labor dispute that most of the country is watching closely. Mr. President it is time to move, it is time for you to inject your popularity with the participants and get this solved. You have the power and the influence to do just such.

And a final message to all who say they could care less. You should care about anyone who is about to lose their job as many associated with the NBA will and more importantly, there is nothing greater than showing compassion for other people, which is exactly what this is about. Forget the owners and players if you do not like them, think about the people who depend on the NBA for their income, they do need our support.

Whether you like sports or not, when it comes to the economy, unemployment and the social impact, we all should care and as the leader of our country, President Obama should care the most. It is time for the big guy to step up and step up big time.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow on twitter @wchoops

One Last Time

2011-09-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

You have my word here, this is the last time I will write about this, I promise.

For some reason I just can't let go of this subject, for not only the reason I think it is important, but I keep getting reminded of it, by fans of the teams all over the place.

And since this blog is literally read by people all over the world, what I am about to write about is not just a local issue, there is an underlying message for everyone who owns a business or does business with a business, which obviously includes the whole world.

For the life of me, I can't figure out still, why Portland State and University of Portland are not going to play each other in men's basketball this year. For the record, at best the schools are 25 minutes apart by even the slowest of drivers. There is also not another D-1 basketball program within 85 miles of each school.

Even worse, here are some schools which the teams have on their schedule this year at home. Portland has both Concordia of Oregon and Concordia of California, plus they are playing Lewis and Clark, which by the way is 30 minutes from the Pilot campus. Portland State has Walla Walla College and Linfield. Out of respect, it is tough for each school to schedule and actually they do as good as possible, as basketball scheduling is becoming increasingly tough for all D-1 schools.

But with having to schedule the above basketball powerhouses at home, why oh why Pilots and Vikings did you end your series and quite frankly what was becoming a pretty good basketball rivalry.

I was even so curious and was being hounded by so many, I contacted Larry Williams, Pilot athletic director and his Portland State counterpart Torrie Chisholm, both fine men and both should be credited with getting back to myself extremely quick. But at the same time while I respect their quick answers, it was hard to figure out the answers, I would have to say that both did very well in political correctness classes, even were A+ students.

And at this point, I am at the point of I don't want to hear any excuses, any reasons and I really don't care who is at fault, if someone is, for canceling this series and very good rivalry. All I and hundreds of other care about is just playing the darn game, if not only once per year, but it should be played twice every year.

Now for my underlying message, businesses today and even in the toughest economic conditions since the Depression, have forgotten about customer service. Athletics in all schools is not a department, it is a business, no matter what the size of the school. The bottom line is give your customers what they want and trust me, the fans of both of these schools who are there customers want this game and they want it every year, period.

Just like not playing this game is stupid, stupid and even more stupid, it is the same that for the first time in like 40 years, Utah and Utah State will not play this year. A great rivalry ended and just like the Portland State/Portland game, people in Utah are mad and very frustrated.

There are very few rivalries out west in basketball to begin with, so why end two of the better ones and please, for all you cynics out there, there are people all over who do care about college basketball and more importantly rivalries.

Let me say something positive about Portland State and University of Portland. I have many friends who work at both schools, I know so many quality people who love their experience as students at both places and both schools are great venues to watch games. Portland State not only for most years has good teams, they have the best pep band in all of college basketball and Portland, has something you never see, not only a great arena, but great concession food and free parking for all games.

In addition, three years ago yours truly slipped in the parking lot on some ice at University of Portland and took a hard fall, only to realize quickly that there must have been 20 students rush over to me and see if I was ok, never forgotten. And at Portland State, you will never see a better game operations in sports which is overseen by the legendary Assistant Athletic Director/SID Mike Lund. Makes it a fun place to be for fans, just not at either place will you see this rivalry.

So with all my angst and all my plaudits, I do want this message to get out. By not playing rivalry games, schools are cheating their fans and more importantly, it shows a complete lack of customer service.

And yes, Crawscorner is always right and even more importantly, the customer is always RIGHT.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops

Stop, Wait, Think

2011-09-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

As they say in Texas all the time, "hold the horses", that does not appear to what the present Pac-12 is doing right now.

I know it is really chic at present to mix up your conference, out maneuver the other conferences and get as big as possible, it is the talk of the entire sports world.

One thing forgotten, while football drives the bus in college athletics, basketball at the very least sits in the co-pilot seat.

So with that said, if and everything is a big if right now and can even change as I write this on Monday September 19th with conference alignment, if the Pac-12 succeeds in bringing in Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech and Texas, it really does nothing for basketball, it actually will bring basketball down.

Now for those who do not think basketball is that important I remind everyone who thinks that way, that the biggest sporting event in the world is not the Super Bowl, it is March Madness which just happens to be a basketball event. Quite frankly the way China is going, basketball will soon replace soccer as the biggest sport in the world.

That is why I say bringing into the Pac-12 schools that have been absolutely horrible in basketball in the last few years, Oklahoma St., Texas Tech and Oklahoma is really, really bad for what would be Pac-16 basketball. Texas will enhance the Pac-16 basketball landscape, as the Longhorns finally realized about 15 years past, that we have to maintain a basketball arena, so we better start having a good team.

I can also tell you that in addition to the above three teams that will do nothing for Pac-16 basketball, what makes it even worse is that no one was jumping up and down about this year's editons Colorado and Utah, when it comes to basketball.

As a matter of fact, I have been told by people at ESPN and Fox, they would have done the new TV deal, even if the Pac-10 would have still existed, the Pac-10 is that big of a property, with LA, Phoenix and Seattle and the Bay Area all being markets where sports fans watch a higher volume of sports on TV than other large markets.

I have written about the disgust with many that the Pac-12 will not play a round robin league schedule in basketball at least until 2021, adding four more teams as might possibly happen, makes a round robin league schedule for basketball now impossible.

Of course I can't stop any of this nonsense, I am all for progress, new inventions, creative thinking, but it appears that basketball is a sport the Pac-12 could care less about, if the Pac-16 does come about.

A much better scenario would have been to bring in Texas and BYU, two schools with a great history as of the last 15 years in both football and basketball, which would still given the Pac-12, Pac-14 a powerhouse league.

Expansion is great, exciting, but sometimes the reason most businesses fail is they expand too quickly and do not think things through. In this case the cart is before the horse and no one was watching the horse.

For all the brilliant moves the Pac-12 makes, this Pac-16 scenario might be pretty dumb.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, follow on twitter @wchoops

Just Not Football Please

2011-09-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Recently I have the pleasure of having lunch with two giants in the sports officiating business, Terry Gierke and Dale Scott.

For those of you who are just returning from the moon or do not follow sports that well, Terry Gierke is a retired NFL official, with super bowls and 15 playoff games and 22 years in the NFL. Dale Scott is a major league umpire, who at the end of this month will complete his 26th year in major league baseball, is a crew chief, has worked three world series and is considered by all to be one of the top three umpires in major league baseball.

Quite frankly it is shameful and should be an embarrassment to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame that both of these outstanding gentleman have yet to be inducted for that great honor and it needs to happen soon.

What struck myself the most about the lunch is that in sports officiating it is easy to get jaded, cynical and any other words you can think of about a profession that is constantly under the eye of everyone, constant criticism, you never have any home games and for sure there is seldom pats on the back.

With all that said, Gierke and Scott are far from jaded. It was thrilling to hear them talk about sports officiating and how much they still care about the subject, how excited they are to still be involved and how much respect they have for the profession.

To translate this all to basketball, starting this year the Pac-12 in football has spent thousands to improve their football officiating and upgrade from what many thought was an inferior product. Of course if you have been following the the first two weeks of football, perhaps so far the money has been wasted, but on a serious note, the effort they are putting in will pay dividends you would have to think down the road.

But was Pac-12 basketball officiating which has woefully been below standards for years given the same makeover? So far it appears it has been forgotten and we might just see the same old thing that we have seen for years, an inferior product on the floor when it comes to officiating. One thing for sure, the Pac-12 has the money to improve the product, but there has to be a commitment.

As a matter of fact, the same amount of money should be put into basketball as is being done for football, the product is that important to the league on both the men and women's side. The technology is available to make people better, implement it, plus there needs to be more training and educating of officials by the Pac-12.

I might also add that while we heard ongoing comments coming from the Pac-12 to the media about how much they were going to change the football officiating program and make it better, there has been dead silence about basketball. I hate to tell the Pac-12, but your basketball officiating program, was much worse than your football officials. Simply, it needs to improve and it can improve, but it takes effort, people who can get the job done and putting the teeth into making things better, not just talk about making things better.

One final comment about college basketball officiating in general, will somebody please step up and force officials not to work so many games in a season. You can never convince myself that an official who is working his ninth night in a row, all in different cities is as fresh as the first night of the nine game period. As much as college officials are paid, they do not need to work nine nights in row or sometime even longer periods of time, in a row. It is not fair to schools, players and fans and is horrible for the game as a whole.

Deep down, most people who know anything about sports, respect officials, it is just the hope of many and especially when it comes to the Pac-12 that it gets better, please. It is too important a part of the game, not to improve.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops

I Will Be Watching Closely

2011-09-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

With the start of the NCAA basketball season a little over a month away, there are many things to look at for this coming season, as always it should be an exciting year and for west coast fans here are a few of my thoughts on what I will be watching closely.

1. How will the UCLA Bruins do playing every game on the road? The history of sports is that teams that play out of their buildings do not fair well and of course the Bruins are out of cozy Pauley Pavilion because of its remodel for the entire season. Major challenge for Ben Howland.

2. Will Jim Hayford have any shot of turning what for the most part has been a dismal program at Eastern Washington around? It was a gutsy athletic director move to hire Hayford, who had huge success at D-3 Whitworth, but the jump from D-3 basketball to D-1 is a huge step, especially when it comes to recruiting. Do not bet against Hayford.

3. Can Arizona win the national championship? They are my choice to do as such, they have the talent to go all the way, they have a great coach and a coach who right now in Sean Miller has become the best recruiter in the country, end of story.

4. Will Johnny Dawkins be able to prove at Stanford that he is a D-1 head coach that can win. Dawkins received a contract extension over the summer, a move that shocked everyone, because so far he has been a major disappointment for the Cardinal. It is time for him to step up, otherwise you might be seeing the head coach at Stanford with the name Eric Reveno.

5. Can anyone challenge Utah State in the Western Athletic Conference? I do not see it happen, they just have the dominant program right now and no end in site, despite the fact that this year's team at least on paper is one of the "weaker" Utah State teams in some years.

6. Can Craig Robinson show us he can coach in the Pac-12? He has some nice talent this year at Oregon State, but to say he has had success with the Beavers would be a huge false premise. Like Dawkins, so far Robinson has been a major disappointment, this year is critical for the Beavers.

7. Is Dana Altman for real? This guy had a great first year at Oregon, he had some real talent this year that has the potential to not only get to March Madness, but also win some games. Do not bet against Altman taking his Ducks to the Sweet 16 this year, they are that good and he is that good as a coach.

8. Can the Portland State Vikings honor my prediction? I have them winning the Big Sky regular season championship and hosting the post season tournament. Chehales Tapscott should be the best player in the league and one player in the Big Sky can take you to the championship.

9. How will New Mexico fair this year? Steve Alford is a very good coach, outstanding recruiter and I am waiting for his Lobos at some point in Alford's tenure to sneak up on everyone and be a final four team. That is right, final four team, once again can anyone spell BUTLER.

10. Will BYU be BYU? Can anyone break one of the greatest regular season dominance in the history of sports and I am talking about the strangle hold that Gonzaga has on the West Coast Conference. BYU is a threat to challenge the Bulldogs, many have tried and all have failed. I would never bet against Mark Few in regular season and always bet against him in post season.

11. Will west coast teams ever learn how to market their basketball teams? Marketing of college basketball teams is pathetic for the most part and please never tell me it is money and constant change of employees. It comes down to thinking outside the box and being a little creative, the days of opening the doors and they will come are over. Here is my free tip to all athletic departments, just go and buy your staff a copy of Jon Spoelstra's new book, "Marketing Outrageously, Redux". It will be the best investment you ever make.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, twitter @wchoops

It Has Been One Fun Run

2011-09-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

As we I head into the sixth month of writing this blog, I will be transitioning more about the upcoming season as it rapidly approaches after today, but I thought it might be a little bit of fun to talk about some of the highlights of the last five months, of which many of you might consider low-lights, which is fine as well.

Before the highlights, I must add writing this blog has been a fun experience, especially the 100s of comments I get back from people, whether it be some proofreading errors, telling me I am all wet, or praising my thoughts. I would also be remiss in not taking a little shot about some people in the media who think it is funny to keep using the tired line about "most bloggers are people who write from their mother's basement". Most bloggers take their work seriously, at least I do, they care about putting out a quality product, they often do it for therapy for themselves and last but most important, writing on any subject has been a large part of the culture of the world, so as the kids of today say, "deal with it."

Five month highlights or low-lights.

1. I have had lots of fun writing about the great accomplishments of Danny Miles, head basketball coach at Oregon Tech. I have even gone so far as to promote him for the basketball hall of fame, heck if anyone ever deserved to be in there it is Miles. And I can tell you this, when I write about him, it is still the highest read column in the history of this blog. It is heartwarming for myself to hear from so many people whose life has been touched by Danny Miles, both on and off the court. His time to go in the Hall is now, not later, I hope he is in the class of 2012.

2. When you write a blog, if you want it to be worth reading you have to do your homework, that was why I was stunned to find out that free throw shooting in the NCAA has basically not improved since 1965, maybe the most stunning statistic in all of sports. Is it technique, is it mental, is it lack of practice? I know one thing for sure, if I was an NCAA coach I would bring in the great Brian Levenson, from Core Mental Training to make my team better. Brian is awesome and one of the best mental sports coaches in the world.

3. It was fun, it actually was not written as a lark, but instead it was what I thought was a pretty darn good idea. But did I think it would gain any traction, no way. When I wrote about no second overtimes in games, instead going to a free throw shootout for many reasons, the idea has actually gained some steam and I had at least one member of the NCAA rules committee give me call. Now will it go anywhere, I doubt it, but it will not be because of lack of trying. I plan to continue to pursue the idea with basketball people.

4. Also lots of fun to find out that David Stern, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did not save the NBA. What saved the NBA was the fact that Bill Russell felt dissed by Harlem Globetrotter owner Abe Saperstein and instead of signing with Globbies, he signed with the Celtics, thus creating the start of one of the greatest dynasties in sports and bringing credibility to the NBA. Sticking with the Globetrotter theme, they played a big role in another NBA dynasty when at the last minute in 1975, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar decided to sign with the Lakers, rather than go to the Trotters, thus creating "Showtime" with the Lakers and bringing so much attention to NBA basketball worldwide.

Well, I am going to stop right there, enough, you can always read my previous stories and quite frankly, all of my work should be a highlight, otherwise I should not be doing this.

Finally, big, big thank you to Kevin, who runs the great blog, http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com, for linking several of my articles in his Sunday column. It was nice to be treated greatly by such a pro and someone who is so respected in the basketball world.

All I can say to everyone is a BIG THANK YOU and you have my commitment to keep this blog as fresh, informative and entertaining as I can possibly make it.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, please follow myself on twitter @wchoops

CRAWSCORNER 9/11 TRIBUTE

2011-09-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

ALL I CAN SAY AS WE APPROACH THE 10 TH ANNIVERSARY OF SEPTEMBER 11TH IS

WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET, ALWAYS RESPECT THOSE WHO SUFFERED SO MUCH ON

THIS DAY IN OUR HISTORY THAT WAS HORRIBLE AND HONOR THOSE WHOSE LIVES

WERE LOST AND THOSE WHO TRIED TO SAVE THOSE LIVES.

IN THE BIG SCHEME OF THINGS, SPORTS PLAYS A SMALL PART IN OUR LIVES AND IN

CONCLUSION, MY SMALL TRIBUTE IS TO SAY:

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GO USA, GO USA, GO USA

THANKS TO ALL FOR MAKING THIS THE BEST COUNTRY EVER.

CRAWSCORNER

We Could Lose Whole Generation

2011-09-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

If you are a regular reader of this blog or if joining, welcome, but on occasion I do write about something different than college basketball. Please allow me to do so today.

Of course my two passions in sports are basketball and golf. I do not play basketball, when I do get the rare occasion to play golf anymore, it is evident right away I play poorly. But it never deters my love of both games. I love the business side of both, sometimes as much as the action itself.

And speaking of golf, I am worried about its future. And I mean really worried.

Never to be one for heavy stats, there is one telling statistic about golf that everyone needs to know.

For every golfer who enters the game, there is 1.8 people leaving. A telling story about the state of the game.

The two major reasons that people quit golf, 1) Play is too slow and it takes up too much time 2) There are not that many places where a person can learn to play the game (learning centers, driving ranges and par 3s).

With all this said, I personally have been saying, screaming and telling anyone on a street corner that will listen, THERE IS NO TRUE SPOKESPERSON FOR GOLF THAT ALL PEOPLE CAN RELATE TOO. It it is that simple.

It might surprise people, while Tiger Woods brought lots of new eyeballs to golf, he barely made a dent in people wanting to play the game. And that is ok, it is not Woods' responsibility to do as such.

So who is responsible for promoting the game? You would have to think that the United State Golf Association would be the leaders. An organization that everyone use to respect and even revere, has now turned into a political machine, which seems to be headed into the wrong direction under its present leadership. (I need to give no greater example of what I just said, than the USGA choice to give their premier event, the US OPEN to Chambers Bay, passing over Pumpkin Ridge. A complete political decision, which also is a complete joke).

The PGA of America tries, but they are a stale organization which seems to be stuck in mud, kind like "we have done things for 50 years like this and we are not going to change" theory.

So where does this leave us. It in my opinion leaves us in dire straits and more importantly we are in danger of losing a whole generation of golf players of which we will never be able to recover.

Perhaps I and a handful of others are the only ones that care, but I am never going to stop trying to tell people what a great game golf is and what fun everyone will have playing the game. It is a game you can easily play at 7 years of age and at 90 years of age. And as I often preach, it is truly a game of honor. What other sport can you think of that the player polices their own game, as you do in golf, often calling penalties on yourself, when no one else would even know you broke the rules.

Do I have solutions? I do have one. If you are a golfer, take someone out course or driving range, even if they just watch who has never played before. Keep talking about the game to your friends when you get a chance and keep promoting it every chance you can get.

To save the game, it is going to take the players who love the game to do it on an individual basis, it for sure it not going to come from organizations that are suppose to do this work, they have failed in this area and just do not get it. Sometimes it takes a block by block operation to make things better and this is how we have to look at golf, if it is going to survive as a sport.

Note to golf courses as well. Put some teeth into policing slow play, which has been an ongoing issue with golf for years. Quit worrying about alienating one player, who is affecting many. Do not be afraid to challenge the slow player, tell them to get moving and if they object, tell them they are not welcome back on your property. It is all about fun and business.

Finally, with all this said, there is hope. It is not too late. There is a reason that more endangered species are being taken off the list than, one coming on the list. That has happened do to some great work by individuals, not organizations or governing bodies. I am sick of hearing about golf summits, slogans, groups who say they want to promote the game. They are not getting the job done.

The job needs to get done by individuals. We still can save this precious game, but time is running out. We need to move now, not tomorrow. I am never going to give up and if you are a golfer, please do not give up and start promoting the game, to everyone you see and know. We can change the culture and feeling about golf, it just is going to take work. START TODAY.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, please follow on twitter @wchoops

Can Anyone Step UP???

2011-09-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

1999 seemed to be a decent year, as best as I can remember.

If I am not mistaken Bill Clinton was winding down his presidency, we had no clue as to what was to hit the greatest country in the world in 2001 and there was not one person in the country who new what a "hanging chad" is/was.

1999, also started what is the greatest run in the history of NCAA regular season college basketball, might not ever be duplicated and even bigger it might not end for awhile.

Since 1999, the Gonzaga Bulldogs in men's basketball the have won the West Coast Conference regular season conference title, they have appeared in the big dance every year since then and all but two of those years, won the conference post season tournament, that being done with the post season conference tournament only once in that time being held on their home court.

When you sit back and look at it, you just have to go WOW. In fact the Bulldogs have been so dominant, unlike other leagues, there is no rivalry games for Gonzaga. You can say all you want about St Mary's being a rival, they are not and will not be until they can win the regular season conference title or consistently beat the Zags in the league tournament.

And what about the future? We will know much about Gonzaga for this year during the pre-season. Just a small example of their schedule in November and December, on November 30th Notre Dame pays its first visit ever to Spokane, the same for Michigan State on the 10th of December, then the really big test in pre-season comes in Seattle, when the Zags will play Arizona in their annual "battle of Seattle". It actually should be called the battle against the future NCAA champ, as the Wildcats will either win the title in 2012 or at the very least 2013.

It has been said that as coach of the Bulldogs, Mark Few lost much when his top assistant Leon Rice left to take the head position at Boise State, this year we might know even more how much that loss hurts in the second year of Rice being gone. I doubt if it affects the Bulldogs much, they still have a very good coaching staff.

So who is going to step up and challenge the Bulldogs in the WCC? Maybe the answer is in the question, UP. We will know early as University of Portland visits Gonzaga in the league opener on December 28th. (Going on record right now, that game will be won by Portland).

St. Mary's has had their chance as documented. Randy Bennett, who appears now that he might be a lifer St. Mary's as head coach, has yet to show me his program is in the same "league" as Gonzaga, until he does, I will not waste your time writing about it. Could it possibly be Santa Clara or San Francisco? Both of those teams have outstanding young coaches in Kerry Keating and Rex Walters, but still are not at the level of Gonzaga when it comes to depth and talent. I am also excited to see what Marty Wilson can do with Pepperdine.

Reality does tell us that the only hope to unseat Gonzaga for the near future more than likely rests with Brigham Young University. With the return of Brandon Davis from suspension, the Cougars got much better and do have a legitimate chance to finally unseat the Zags for the regular season title, we all know BYU under Dave Rose will be good every year. Once again for the schedule watchers, the first ever meeting in WCC league play will take place on February 2nd in Provo, with the rematch coming late in February in Spokane.

Full disclosure, I really do hope someone can topple the kings of West Coast Conference basketball. Gonzaga has some of the most arrogant fans around, Mark Few is an overrated coach (he has done literally nothing in the NCAA tournament, that is why I say overrated and can anyone spell BUTLER), so please do not tell me just getting there means something. Getting back to the fans, sometimes you do have the right to be arrogant when it comes to WCC play, but get back to me when once again you do something in the NCAA tournament.

The WCC is a league with average players and outstanding head coaches. It is also a league that has become somewhat boring because of the regular season domination of Gonzaga. Here is one guy that hopes it changes, but I am not holding my breath. Hats off to Gonzaga for great regular season play, hats crushed for shameful NCAA play.

Sometimes things never do change, such is the case in the WCC, but as the greatest pro wrestler of all time Lonnie Mayne use to say, "just perhaps there is excitement in the air".

As they say at your local neighborhood court, the rest of the WCC, "just bring it" for a change, for actually a literal change.

please follow on twitter @wchoops or emails always welcome to crawscorner@gmail.com

CRAWFACTS, EDITION 11

2011-09-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well it is almost Labor Day, actually will we be celebrating Labor Day in years to come, since by real stats, 45 percent of America's labor force does not have full time jobs, seems like the holiday has run its course to myself, but for those who do have a job, enjoy the day off if you have it off.

Crawfacts, is news, notes and whatever else you wish to call it, go right ahead.

WCC---In the West Coast Conference, as I have pointed out has the best group of mens basketball coaches for a league its size in the country, just remember you heard it here first, we might have another good one joining the group. Marty Wilson the new coach at Pepperdine, in my opinion given a little time, might have an impact on the league. The basketball people I know, who understand the college game tell me Wilsonis really good and can get the job done at Pepperdine, which it has been a long time for success on the gorgeous campus. I have had some brief communication with Coach Wilson in the past couple of days, so I really am hoping for a good year for him and I am impressed.

Reveno---Sticking in the WCC, as I have mentioned before, Eric Reveno is a gem of a coach at U of Portland. He is so good that I recently asked a top NBA executive to give me five coaches he liked as people to watch in the coaching ranks, both college and NBA, Reveno was in the top five. Now true that is just one person's opinion, but I am sure it is shared by many other people that know the game. I truly admire the great job he had done with the Pilots to turn a stale program into a winner, the big issue like all rising coaching stars is that U. of Portland will never be able to keep him around long enough to win the WCC championship. Too many quality programs will come calling when they see the job he has done at a school that had fallen deep into woods and didn't appear to have a way out, until Reveno arrive. He is one of the best in the business right now.

Oregon State---The Beavers just picked up recently another top flight recruit in Jarmal Reid. Reid is a versatile player, out of Georgia, who will be able to help the Beavers greatly when he arrives in the 2012-13 season. It is obvious, Craig Robinson can recruit, now that has to translate becoming a good bench coach, something I have yet to see out of him. Full disclosure, I kind of grew up as far back as the 50s, yes in the 50s, liking Oregon State basketball, so it has been so sad to see how far it has fallen. As a matter of fact, not the case anymore, but at one time the Beavers had more wins than any team in college basketball, west of the Mississippi. So sad they have not been to the NCAA tournament since 1990, you talk about a program that has fallen on hard times, as well as attendance is at an all time low.

I actually do root for any teams, but at least I can pull for the Beavers to rebound. It is time for the all the talk that comes out of Corvallis to end and action on the floor needs to take place. Do I dare say, "Go Beavs".

Interesting---Good question to think about on holiday weekend. Of the basketball players, not that you know, but you can actually call friends, what is your all-time starting five of those friends. I would really be interested in you sending me your all time friends basketball team, I will even do a column on that subject. Remember, not players you see or know of, these have to be actual friends of yours, send me the top five. which will be tough decisions for many.

Twitter---Have to admit, I resisted for long time to set up a twitter account. Now I can't do without it, great tool for communication and for people who want to improve their life and improve their business dealings it is a must. It took me way too long to come around, I am really kicking myself why it took me so long and why I was so stubborn. Shame on me. By the way, follow me @wchoops.

Golf----Getting a little tired of all the jerks who are attacking Jack Nicklaus for his ideas about how to grow the game, which has sadly lost so many players due to the economy in the past few years. Nicklaus has suggested and is promoting, golf courses that have 12 holes and making the hole much bigger that it is at present, so people will make more putts. I love any ideas to grow the game and get people interested in golf. It is a tremendous game, you can play it until your 100 and please tell me, is there another sport in the world (I am sure there might be), where you call penalties on yourself? Yau, sure, I can just see the mouthy Coach K, calling a technical foul on himself. You bet.

So Jack, you still are the greatest player ever in the game and my hat is off to you for thinking outside the box, creating a buzz and hopefully more players. But in fairness, it was my good friend Gordon Kiyokawa, who first told me there should be 7 hole golf courses available to people, so Jack, even though you were late to the party, the party is still rolling.

Lastly---Please on this holiday weekend, do not forget all the people on the east coast who are still suffering from hurricane damage, the state of Lousiana, which is soaked, the state of Texas that is baked and the heros who are fighting the wildland fires on the west coast. Many people are suffering, please, please never forget these people. While many other countries are now hiding under rocks, Americans always will and always have reached out to help our fellow Americans in a time of great hardship. Thank you for reading, greatly appreciated.

Do not forget to check out http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com and www.bigskybball.com

email me your best friend five please at crawscorner@gmail.com, follow on twitter @wchoops

Everyone Wants Them, Who Gets Them

2011-09-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

If you can keep constant track of all the conference changes, then your the best and will get mentioned in Craw's Corner, as a big time person.

For sure it makes for great banter and great for sports fans everywhere with all the changes, it is just hard to keep track of.

The latest big news just in case you haven't not been following is what will Brigham Young University do. Will they stay with the West Coast Conference? Will they move to the Big-12, bolting the WCC after a short stint, or will they join the Big East, yes the Big East, which has been talked about.

Of course this coming season, BYU will play in the West Coast Conference, with the exception of football, where the Cougars will play as an independent, much like Notre Dame has done for years, with the backing of a huge TV contract by NBC for the Irish.

Since this column is all about basketball, it intrigues me greatly as to where BYU will wind up, if they wind up somewhere else at all and decide to leave the WCC.

I know one thing for sure, no matter where BYU basketball goes, they are a huge draw, they are always good and they have a fan base that is worldwide. As matter of fact, I have to think that outside of Gonzaga, St. Mary's and Santa Clara, every team in the WCC can hardly wait for the Cougars to visit their buildings, as it is almost a guaranteed sellout, with the following they have.

My take on this is that if BYU can get an guarantee that Texas will stay in the Big-12, that is where they will eventually end up. The advantages to them are just too great, much better than being an independent in football and playing all the other sports in the WCC.

It never seemed to makes sense to myself that BYU joined the WCC, but boy was it fun to think that in men's basketball, Gonzaga and St. Mary's would have another strong challenger, plus the way San Francisco, Portland and Santa Clara, have benefited from great young coaches it is an exciting league to watch in basketball and very competitive.

I have to chuckle about the comments of some that it would hurt the image and brand of BYU if they were to leave the WCC so soon after joining. Note to everyone, even at BYU it is all about the finances and it did not seem to matter that BYU left the Mountain West, loyalty ends quickly, where money starts and flashes.

There is some tough decisions to make by lots of schools as the conference shake-ups continue and everyone postures for a great financial future. I even have to think that if BYU does leave the WCC, it might cause the WCC to re-think their postiion on Seattle University and perhaps they would bolt the Western Athletic Conference, if offered a spot in the WCC, which is a much better fit and situation than being in the WAC for the Redhawks.

As I often say it will be fun to watch, it will be tension filled for lots of people and the WCC will be dealt a big blow if BYU ups and leaves.

Stay tuned.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or please follow on twitter @wchoops

September SHOCKER

2011-09-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Here we go, new month, new attitude, new energy and ready to roll into the start of the college basketball season.

Since I do not believe in the jinx theory, nor do I subscribe to the crawscorner hex as some have suggested.

I am going to make the boldest prediction I have ever made and you all need to take notice.

The Portland State Vikings will win the Big Sky championship this year in men's basketball. Yes those Vikings who play in a clean, sparkling, but awfully small arena, the Stott Center, which is seldom filled, but as noted, has the best band of any school in the country, with the band having an average of what I would guess 50 years old.

Back to the basketball court, the Vikings have lots of talent, they are flying under the radar and they have a good young coach, who will get even better, once he learns to spend less time barking at officials. (Note to Coach Tyler Geving, there is a point in time that too much complaining to refs and they just tune you out, save your voice).

In my mind the Vikings will have the best player in the league this year in Chehales Tapscott. Just a good talent who continues to improve all aspects of his game. Charles Odum is also a player not many people talk about, but there is not a better driver of the basketball to the hoop, in all of college basketball and an improving defender.

When you toss in Washington State transfer Michael Harthun, who some are forgetting was one of the best high school players ever in the state of Oregon, plus the potential of freshman redshirt Brandon Catalda, clogging up the middle, the Vikings have some talent.

Unlike other leagues around the country, it is easy to win the Big Sky. There are at best three quality teams in the league and the Viks can match up to any of them.

And a great note about Portland State, after having a dismal APR under Ken Bone, Coach Geving gets it and the Viks have shown as dramatic an improvement in that area as any team in the country.

I said I am back, better than ever, and coming out strong, with a great prediction, which will come true in March. Put it on your whatever you use to keep track of things, Viks win Big Sky title and then win tournament and meet Purdue in first round the NCAA tournament.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, please follow on twitter @wchoops

I AM Not Happy, Losing Hope, Wait

2011-08-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, the world is coming to an end.

For the first time in my life I am seeing no hope for the future. Everyone is upset at each other, we have people who can't even sit down and have a good meeting, without jawing at each other.

Sports is spiraling out of control and no one seems to care, as long as my team is winning, what the heck, that is what the fans care about.

I am even upset that intelligent people on both sides can't seem to work out an NBA agreement, because as I have always said, the lack of the NBA affects many more people than owners and players.

I am actually even so agitated as I write this that I am pounding the keys on the keyboard of my computer, a rarity for myself.

And back to the top, no one seems to care that the economy is upside down, we take care of the whole world every time they have a natural disaster and when we have a massive hurricane the rest of the world is hiding under a rock.

I also do not buy the fact that the only reason we think that more athletes today are getting in trouble is because we have more media. Baloney to that, ##%$&&&@!) and whatever else you wish to call it. Somebody please take charge and get this young people of today under control.

And please somebody, including myself, get this economy rolling. The economy sucks and what happens, they raise gas prices ahead of the labor day weekend. Another brilliant move.

I love politics, I love sports, it is just getting to the point where I am tired of bad decision making and bad people, making stupid decisions.

But tomorrow starts a new month and my attitude is going to change for the better.

It has to start with myself, but I also think about the great people who write to me about this blog each and every day with both positive and negative comments, always welcome.

I also think about all the great friends I have had and still have in life, plus great parents and a great sister, who all have been there in not only the good times, but more in the bad, which is the sign of a great family and great friends and I have the best anyone could ask for.

I also think about people I have never even met, who post the link to my blog, it is called bloggers, helping other bloggers, for lack of my own creativity. People like Kevin, who writes awesome stuff (http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com) and Jon, who might have the toughest job in all of college basketball, trying to make the Big Sky look better with (www.bigskybball.com). Apologies to one of the best friends I have ever had and the best sports information director in the country, Mike Lund, who holds the whole Portland State athletic program together, for ripping on the SKY.

Actually I am starting to feel better already, I am even feeling so good that I plan to keep writing this blog, as long as my hands allow me.

But please, let's get the creeps out of sports and please let's get this economy moving again someone, both are too great to fail like they have been lately.

And by the way, why are sports important? Sports does provide lots of jobs, lots of second jobs for people who need to work just to survive and it provides lots of entertainment for people who never can afford to go to game, or are literally house bound and it is their only form of contact with outside world.

So, I am really rolling now, September is going to be awesome and October even greater. And thanks for putting up with my rant tonight, but one thing for sure, I do care.

And also, last but not least, thanks to all my friends, who I have forced to read this blog, but beyond, being there for myself always, no matter what the situation.

Now I do feel better.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, please follow on twitter @wchoops

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

2011-08-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

Like lots of other folks I like surprises as long as I am not surprised.

Several things could surprise me in west coast college basketball this year, but I am not holding my breath on a few and am wide eyed on others.

Will Johnny Dawkins be able to bring Stanford back to respectability? Always had high hopes for Dawkins coming out of the Duke system, but maybe he is another example that the teacher is always better than the pupil. Here is hoping for a better showing for the Cardinal than they have shown so far under Dawkins, it shocked the basketball world when he was given a contract extension this past year. With all the good coaches out there, his performance did not deserve an extension. And they can't even say he graduates players, everyone at Stanford graduates.

Will Jim Hayford be as good in D-1 as he was at D-3? This will be one to watch for sure. I have always been a big proponent that a coach can win at any level, if he is a winner. Hayford had a great run at D-3 Whitworth, built them into a national power. The challenges are much greater at Eastern Washington for Hayford, where he has to worry lots, including making sure his athletes are attending classes. I have always said it does not take much to rise to the top the Big Sky, Eastern has potential to do just that in future years.

Will this be the year that Gonzaga does not win the West Coast Conference? You have to hand it to the Bulldogs, when they are everyone in the league's super bowl, they have withstood challenge after challenge. Mark Few has not been able to get the job done in the NCAA tournament, but just like Stew Morrill at Utah State, but there have not been many programs who have had the league dominance like the Zags have done for too many years to count. The challenge for Gonzaga will be higher than ever, with BYU now in the league, so this will be fun to watch. BYU is really good in basketball and always will be.

Will Dan Altman take the Oregon Ducks to the NCAA? In my mind Dana Altman is going to wind up being the best coaching hire in all of college basketball in the last five years and the Ducks will go dancing this year. He has a deep team, one of the best basketball arenas in the world and nothing but upside and is playing in somewhat of a weak league, at least for now, as the Pac-12 is not very strong. ri. Last year the Ducks had half the talent as rival Oregon State, but managed to pull off a great season, while the Beaver floundered. Soon the whole world will be watching the Oregon Ducks in basketball on the same level as they watch them in football.

Will Gib Arnold be able to bring back Hawaii basketball? Watch out, Gib Arnold at Hawaii has the drive and coaching ability to make Hawaii basketball important. I have lots of admiration for people who want to be in gym, when it is 80 degrees outside, but that is a fact of life when you coach and play basketball in Hawaii, as well as a rigorous travel schedule. Arnold is slowing making some waves in the recruiting of players and in a school that flies under the radar in basketball.

Will Joe O'Brien win five games at Idaho State? Idaho State is overmatched even in the weak Big Sky and as bad as Idaho State has been under O'Brien, this year could be even worse. I think the only thing that could save him from being terminated at the end of the year would be if his team won 20 games and that is not going to happen, winning 10 would be a successful season and that is not going to happen. In the winter in Idaho, people deserve to watch good basketball, or actually at Idaho State it is been so long since they have seen good basketball, would they even recognize it.

Will Arizona win the NCAA championship? Simple answer, YES, awesome talent, a great coach some of the best fans in all of college basketball. CBS, I have a winner, do not even show the games.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com, twitter @wchoops

Could It Be, I Told You So

2011-08-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

I see dominance. I see many league championships. I see many NCAA tournament appearances and I even see an NCAA championship.

And no, I am not talking about the UCLA Bruins, nor the Gonzaga Bulldogs or Arizona Wildcats and not even the Oregon Tech Hustling Owls.

Actually I am talking about the Seattle Redhawks men's basketball team.

In case you have not heard, about being rejected by the West Coast Conference several times (still a puzzling a decision for lots people), the Redhawks will join the Western Athletic Conference beginning in 2012-13. After serving the mandatory four year NCCA waiting period for teams that jump from D-2, to D-1, the Redhawks will not only be able to play in a pretty good conference, but they will also be able to compete in post-season play, in 2013.

Even though it is a year out, I wanted to get well out in front of things, so not to be accused of being a frontrunner or bandwagon jumper. All I can say is at least in men's basketball the Redhawks have all the makings and potential to dominate the WAC.

And why would I make what some might consider to be a foolish prediction, well allow me to tell you why, a WHY that considers many factors.

1. Seattle U. is a great school academically, if you get a degree from Seattle U., it means something.

2. They have a president who understands the value of athletics to the overall campus experience. President Stephen Sundborg, S. J., is committed totally to having a successful athletic program, some presidents talk a good game, he knows how to play the game.

3. Seattle is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, potential recruits pay attention to that kind of thing. In addition, even if cross town rival Washington Huskies took the top 12 players in the Puget Sound area, there would still be plenty of local players to make the Redhawks successful. Seattle is one of the richest places in the country when it comes to talented basketball players, a great advantage for Seattle U.

4. Not only do they have a great president, athletic director Bill Hogan also knows and understands what it takes to build a program and win at the D-1 level in basketball. He is at the right place at the right time.

5. As they have moved to D-1, the Redhawks have also developed a solid fan base and just as importantly an excellent student following. It does help that since they do have to play their home games off campus, they have a beautiful arena to play in, Key Arena.

6. Last but not least, Seattle U. has a rich basketball history, has sent many players in the past to the NBA and can rely on many of those players to get behind the basketball program. The court at Key Arena is named after one of the greatest players ever in the NBA, Elgin Baylor and he is just one of the outstanding players who played at Seattle U, in their heyday of great basketball in the 50s,60s and 70s. Often many of the great players can be seen at games and are totally supportive of the program.

In looking over the WAC in basketball, I am not sure in the next few years who can stop the Redhawks from being dominant. Of course that is why the games are played and paper is just good to look at visually.

Now there has to always one thing that can deter progress. Cameron Dollar is the coach of the Redhawks. I would have to say with total accuracy that the verdict is still out on Dollar as a head coach. Becoming a member of the WAC, means much more than just being in a league, it will help with recruiting, gives the players some added goals and means so much to athletes to be part of an actual league, so the pressure is on for Dollar to produce. Rest assured he has to produce more than he has done so far.

But, no matter who is coaching the Redhawks, for the reasons listed above and looking over all the competition, the WAC is there for the taking for Seattle U. basketball to totally dominate the WAC conference. It is just going to be a matter of time, before other WAC members say " why in the world did we ever invite them into this league".

As I always say, it will be fun to watch, but just remember, "I told you so".

Please feel free to follow myself on twitter @wchoops or emails always welcome, crawscorner@gmail.com

It Is TIME To Move

2011-08-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Since people know I love basketball and college and professional, people often like to take shots at myself about how boring the college game has become. They often reference timeouts as one reason and blame the media.

I do agree with this to a point, but I do not blame the media. The timeouts for college basketball games are far from the media's fault, after all, there are many people who can't attend games in person for various reasons and it is important for these games to be on tv and radio and many times streamed.

There has to be a way to pay for all of this, thus media timeouts are important and critical to the success of keeping college basketball going.

But, I do agree the timeout structure is long overdue for a complete makeover and actually this can be pretty simple in my mind. Coaches will not like my solution, but I often see coaches, over coach, especially down the end of games and in my mind this would make coaching even better, with what I have to propose.

Quite simply here is the way the timeout structure should take place in college basketball.

There should be four (4) timeouts per half, plus each coach would get one 30 second timeout per half. The timeouts would be 90 seconds for full time and of course the one 30 second would not change.

These timeouts should take place on the first dead ball periods, under the 16:00, 12:00,8:00 and 4:00 minute mark. Everyone knows in advance what is going to happen with timeouts. No more each team gets so may per half, mixed in with media timeouts. Except the 30 second timeouts, which can only be called by the coach, the other four per half would be generic.

Yes this seems so simple, but many times, simple solutions help solve a major problem and in NCAA college basketball timeouts have become a problem and are killing interest in the game by many fans.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com or follow on twitter @wchoops

CRAWFACTS/Edition 10

2011-08-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

Appreciate all you great readers allowing myself to take little time off in the month of August and no, I was not on vacation, just had some other responsibilities, but as we get closer to the start of practice for NCAA teams, you will see this blog on a frequent basis, close to everyday actually.

I would appreciate all of you telling other people about this blog, plus if you use twitter, please follow myself @wchoops, to pick up even more information.

And very soon, I will have a huge announcement about this blog, so stay tuned for that. So to start my new run of blogs, which will not end anytime soon hopefully, here is another edition of CRAWFACTS, which is news, notes and anything else for your enjoyment.

Thanks----I want to start out today, by once again thanking Tim Marsh, who helped me set up this blog with all the technical stuff. Tim is a good friend, who would do anything for anyone and I also want to congratulate him on his retirement from Washington State U, where he had a great career and now he can get some sleep.

Want to also thank Kevin, who writes what I consider to be next to my blog, (just kidding), the best college basketball blog in the country and trust me, I read them all, http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com, it is always fresh and always important info, plus Kevin has often referenced my blog and it is not forgotten and greatly appreciated. Too many bloggers think their you know what does not stink and are not willing to recognize other people. So thank you Kevin and keep up the awesome work.

Pat Summitt--- Of course our thoughts are with us as she battles just a horrible disease, dementia and alzheimers. But, what bothers me is why does it take a celebrity to bring this to our attention. Dementia is the fastest growing disease in this country and we should be discussing it everyday and ways we can hopefully prevent it or find a cure. I do not like bandwagon jumpers, who the only time they mention something about horrific diseases or health issues, is when a celebrity is involved. As I write this there are thousands of caregivers, both in the health profession and families who are taking care of people and to me are real heros. Pat Summitt, get better, but readers, at the same time, don't forget all the people in this country who are afflicted with horrible health and battle things everyday.

ESPN--- It was a great idea three years past to open the college basketball season with an ESPN 24 hour marathon of college games from around the country and this year is no exception. It is also nice to see that ESPN does not forget the west coast, three Pac-12 teams will be involved in this opening day extravaganza and two West Coast Conference teams, as well as WAC member Hawaii. The highlight game involving west coast teams, features Washington State visiting Gonzaga. I am already thinking this could be an upset by the Cougars. The other west coast teams playing game will be St. Mary's, Stanford and Cal. Randy Bennett's team will host, Northern Iowa, of course Randy Bennett will open the season with his great 10 year contract extension, so he might just be with the Gaels for awhile.

Oregon State---No one will say it, but I have to think that this might be a make or break year for the Beavers' coach Craig Robinson. The Beavers at best have been average under Robinson and at some point he can't continue to rebuild the program and wait for next year. The Beavers have some depth and they have some really good players. With their schedule just announced today, they should come out pre-conference play with a pretty good record, as they play teams at home like Montana, Idaho and Howard which they should beat. Attendance for Oregon State has sunk to some all time lows as of late, some wins might cure that, hopefully.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com and please follow on twitter @wchoops

CRAWFACTS/Edition 9

2011-08-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS, is info, need to know and anything else you would like to call it.

Summer Games---I think it is great that NCAA teams get to travel and play internationally during the summer, but the past two days have been a disaster for a couple teams. First, in case you have not seen it, the brawl that Georgetown got into while playing the Bayi Rockets in China was one of the worst on-court basketball fights that I have ever seen and I have seen a few, both in person and on TV. It is a miracle that no one got hurt in this brawl. Kind of interesting that prior to the game, Georgetown met with visting VP Joe Biden and newly appointed ambassador to China, Gary Locke, now I am certain they did not talk about diplomacy.

Also yesterday a serious injury took place to one of the best players in the Pac-12, when USC point guard Jio Fontan, tore his ACL in a game the Trojans were playing in Brazil. Fontan will miss the entire 2011-12 season. Without question he would have been the best player on the Trojan roster and quite possibly the best point guard in the Pac-12. For sure he was the most improved guard in the conference last year and this is a major loss for USC, which would have struggled this year, even with Fontan.

Pre-Season---I for one enjoy the pre-season in basketball maybe even more than the conference games. I love some of the match-ups, especially when west coast teams cross-over into another west coast league.

Two games of interest for myself will both be played on Sundays. On November 20th, Washington State will travel to play the University of Portland. While the game will not get much national attention, it will tell all of us how these two teams which both have to rebuild, will rebuild and should be an outstanding competitive game.

The second game I will have some interest in, is when Santa Clara visits Washington State on December 11th. Kerry Keating, Santa Clara head coach is a rapidly rising star in the coaching ranks and playing against a Pac-12 opponent that they can beat on the road, is a game to watch.

Of course there will be many more games to watch in pre-season, but quite frankly this is the slowest year I have ever seen, for schedules being posted on schools' websites. There are many reasons that are given for the slowness, but it seems like there is one thing forgotten, fans of basketball and these teams would love to know key match-ups and of course critical dates. I think sometimes that all college sports forget that they are in the customer service business, people like to plan ahead of time, not have a basketball schedule which starts in November, come out in the middle of September. It will never make any sense to myself and it is a shameful way to treat fans.

Danny Miles--In my continuing campaign to get Oregon Tech basketball coach into the basketball hall of fame, I am wondering after watching last week's hall of fame ceremonies, if we will see Miles in the hall of fame next year. In my mind he is one of the top ten people in the world that is not in the hall of fame, that deserves to be there. And for all the new people reading my columns and it is growing all the time, I have never met Coach Miles, would not know him if he walked past me and have nothing to gain by my support, except for the fact that his merits both as a coach and as a human being, document totally why he should be in the basketball hall of fame.

please follow myself on twitter @wchoops and emails always welcome at crawscorner@gmail.com

Mr. Regular Season

2011-08-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

Stew Morrill is one of the best basketball coaches in the country...... during the regular season.

When it comes to the NCAA tournament, he would not be considered a good coach with his record.

As the head man at Utah State, Morrill's record during the regular season is second to none. There is an obvious reason why the Aggies just extended his contract to 2016-17, at which time Morrill will turn 65. Every year Morrill's name comes up for open jobs and every year he stays with the Aggies. Not only do teams love Morrill for his record, but in these days when the pressure is on academically more than ever, it is no accident that people take note of the fact in his 13 years at Utah State, 85 percent of his players have obtained a degree.

The numbers for Morrill in his 13 seasons as head coach in Logan are staggering to say the least.

All his seniors who graduated this year, did in their four year career were to go 70-1 at home, in which that group went to the NCAA three times and NIT once. That alone, is envious for any college program, but there is much more under the guidance of Morrill.

In his 13 seasons at Utah State his teams have won 324 times, losing only 103 times. Over that period at home the Aggies have gone, 193-13. As I have mentioned often, it is no wonder that Utah State is the best home arena atmosphere anywhere in the country and a must visit for any college basketball fan.

With that sterling record, the last 12 straight years, the Aggies have won at least 23 games in the season. Only three other teams in the country can match that statistic over the same time period. Obviously with those stats it has paid dividends for post season, with eight NCCA appearances and four NIT visits.

Finishing up, in conference games under Morrill the Aggies are 167-49 and in conference tournament games the Aggies have once again dominated with a 25-7 record. Stats do not always tell the whole story, but in this case they tell a lot, the Aggies under Morrill dominate regular season, end of story.

A couple of down notes. For some it might not mean anything, but for others it will mean a lot. The success of the Aggies in NCAA play has been dismal, they have never made the sweet 16 under Morrill and the sad part it might reflect with some, in their thoughts about putting Morrill in the greatness category of college coaches, despite his regular season record.

Just like the fact that rivals Portland State and University of Portland will not play each other this year (which is a joke), for the first time since 1943, Utah State will not play Utah this year. So sad on both accounts and hopefully something that can be rectified in both Utah and Oregon.

Most people do not even know who Stew Morrill is, but hopefully they will eventually find out that he is a pretty darn good basketball coach, who continues to win and continues to produce quality human beings. Just hoping he can have some success in post season, because we all know the Aggies will get there many more times.

please follow on twitter @wchoops and emails always welcome to crawscorner@gmail.com

Back Door, Front Door, Side Door

2011-08-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have written my thoughts before about the NBA lockout, I do think it will affect all of basketball, but I do have some thoughts about not only how to solve this, but also how all of college basketball can capitalize off this mess.

1. Every college team should try and play a game in an NBA arena where it is logistically possible. And make it even better, NBA teams should pay for the game to be played there, if they do not own the arena. If I was an athletic director, I would be working on this right now. Even better make it a doubleheader and have the first game, being a D-3 game or NAIA game. It is all about the experience and the players would love it and fans would attend, plus on the public relations side it takes a little of the sting out of what is sure to be a nightmare public relations issue for the entire NBA. One last thing, if I was an NBA player outsmart your team, rent the arena for the teams, it would be a great move and that player would have friends for life. (Just hoping that the NCAA is not going to ban my blog for two years, because some of the above is against the rules.)

2. If I was every college basketball team in the country's decision maker, starting right now I would double the basketball marketing budget and put some teeth into the opportunity to gain some new fans. College basketball marketing stinks as a whole in this country, plus in-game promotions need a huge upgrade. I know universities and colleges do not like to spend money, but it is proven over and over no matter what level and what league, if you market properly, it will more than pay for itself. College basketball needs a shot in the arm and I could not think of a better time to make gain, off the pain.

3. Once again, decision makers, try and get your teams on TV a little more locally in your area, somehow and some way. There is nothing like exposure, TV will be looking to fill some hole if there is a lockout and once again, take advantage of a situation to make your product more visible. There is a golden opportunity here, the door is open.

4. Lastly, my advice here is free, it is also very good and you do not even have to give me the credit, just get it done.

Of course I hope none of this applies, as I do hope there is an NBA season. Most schools will not take advantage of the ideas I have presented, instead they will as many do, just ring their hands and ask where are all the fans.

My one last piece of advice, President Obama, you are already running for second term, you love basketball, so put the full force of the government behind the efforts to solve the lockout. This goes beyond the economics of sports, it goes to the real people issue, including the youngsters, americans love their sports, it is a great release for many people who lives are not always the best, but sports are really something to always look forward too for everyone, no matter what their age. Sports mean more than we would admit.

I hope my advice will help, free is a very good price always.

please follow me on twitter @wchoops and emails always welcom, crawscorner@gmail.com

CRAWFACTS/Edition 8

2011-07-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS is news, notes and anything else you wish to call this, about college basketball. Enjoy

Roy Williams---On recent recruiting trip, it was a smart move for Williams to take a look at the USS Carl Vinson (the ship that dumped Osama bin Laden's body at sea) where Williams' North Carolina team will play Michigan State on 11/11/11, it what will be the first ever college basketball game played on an aircraft carrier and of course on a great day when we all pay special tribute to our nation's military.

What was not a smart move, was the first comments by Williams about the game following his tour of this historic ship. Roy Williams by a lot of people's accounts, is not always the soft spoken, gentlemanly guy we see being interviewed on TV. He can at times be quite caustic and sometimes does not think before he speaks. Good example, following his tour was the fact that instead of talking about the importance of this game and the true meaning of why it is being played, Williams seemed more concerned how his tall players would navigate the narrow hallways and corridors on the ship, prior to going up to the flight deck.

Gee Roy, do you know anything else besides basketball? Naval ships are famous for their small quarters, we have all studied that in history, the meaning of the day is what counts here and deal with it, your players will get over it.

I might also add, as I have written about before, it is an embarrassment that a west coast team is not playing in this game and it seems like if you go to effort of all the logistics it takes to pull this off, why not play a doubleheader. Navy vs. Air Force, plus why was not San Diego State, asked to play in their hometown or Washington or Arizona. Do I dare say, once again an east coast bias.

West Coast Conference---I recently asked the most famous person in college basketball, Dick Vitale, about the men's basketball coaches in the west coast conference. Dick, who never lets the facts get in the way of his constant self promotion (he is a great guy and does care about people), likes the group of coaches and called them "a passionate group". I was kind of looking for a little more out of the self proclaimed guru of college hoops.

Dick, this group of coaches is far beyond passionate, they are the best coaches for a league its size in college basketball. You have Mark Few, who despite his dismal post season record, has been a more than consistent winner. Randy Bennett, who every post season is mentioned in almost every job opening that comes up and add on some of the great rising stars in the coaching ranks in Eric Reveno, Kerry Keating and Rex Walters, who all in the next few years will be coaching at big time programs, if not head coaches in the NBA.

Last but not least, Dave Rose, he not only has churned out big time teams at BYU each year, he has done it battling pancreatic cancer, enough said.

So my message is that Dick Vitale, get to know these coaches even better, know all their names, cause they are all and will be in the future, huge successes.

Pac-12---It is obvious that Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott recognizes the importance of basketball to his league and realizes it needs to be promoted and recognized on a much higher level. More power to him.
On the other hand, sometimes when you have huge success like Scott has had you need to slow down. Many a businesses have failed horribly by expanding too fast and over extending. The new TV deal with ESPN and Fox, was great for the conference and for the networks, but I am concerned about the Pac-12 network and the regional concept which was rolled out this week by Scott and his staff in NewYork.

What is troubling, unless I am missing something really big, these regional "networks" are going to take a long period to develop a major profit stream and will drain monies from the original deal signed with ESPN/Fox. Outside of a parents, a few friends and really, really Pac-12 fanatics, I am not sure who is going to be watching these regional channels.

Sometimes success, breeds greed, I am hoping this is not the case with the Pac-12 and they did not try and one up themselves, with all the new media deals.

please feel free to follow on twitter @wchoops or emails always welcome, crawscorner@gmail.com

I Am Still Concerned

2011-07-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

This is a column just kind of catching you up on few things I have written about in the past three months, sometimes things change, sometimes they stay the same forever and I am even throwing in one complaint.

1. When oh when are schools going to realize that using search firms to select coaches and ADs is a waste of time and waste of money. I have documented this well in the past, but the latest example involves Tennessee, which hired Parker Executive Search to find them a new AD. Spent updwards of $90,000.00 to do so. Parker came back with Dan Radakovich, AD at Georgia Tech, as the sure fire, can't miss candidate. There was only one problem, little did Parker know or quite possible did know that Georgia Tech was going to be slapped with huge penalty by the NCAA, which obviously made Radakovich damaged goods.

The fans, boosters, residents of Tennessee are furious, as you might imagine. Another embarrassment for what was once a proud athletic program. But Parker should be embarrassed as well, it is just another debacle this firm has committed, but for some reason schools just keep using them. Memo to NCAA, you like to pass all kinds of rules, how about no more search firms. Of course it will not happen, Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA was a former client of Parker. What is the buzz word, "just connect the dots" or "follow the money".

2. With all the hype about a new TV deal by the Pac-12 and now today with the announcement of the Pac-12 network and how that will work, why in the world is it still not in the plans for the Pac-12 to play a round robin league schedule in basketball. The addition tells us that would be 22 conference games, thus leaving about eight games for non-conference games. I am not sure how many people are going to turn to watch some pre-season game which pits Minot State against Stanford, as we often see in all leagues during preseason. There is nothing like conference games no matter what the league. It would also improve the RPI of the league and it would increase attendance and as mentioned, viewership. (At present the Pac-12 has plans to play an 18 game league schedule all the way through 2020-21).

3. I have been contacted by several coaches about the four major rules changes I want to see happen soon, to help keep college basketball popular and bring in new fans, always crucial to any sport.

1) Allow pre-game dunking. Absolute no brainer, if a player hangs on the rim, then give him the "T" just like it would happen during regular time. (Most coaches like my suggestion). Of course with the wisdom which is always pathetic when it comes to rule changes, the NCAA will probably allow pre-game dunking in women's games and continue to prohibit it in men's games. (Did you get the joke, I hope so).

2) Change shot clock to 29 seconds, from 35, speed up the game. (Most coaches like this idea).

3) Time-outs have become a joke in college basketball, limit time-outs no matter who calls them to four per half, plus one 30-second. Time-outs are having a big affect on the fluidity of the game. (Most coaches hate this idea). I actually feel this would make coaching better and bring more strategy to the game.

4) Eliminate the second overtime and make it a free throw shootout. It would cause players to become better free throw shooters, it would make teams practice free throws more and last, but more important, there would be nothing better than the excitement this would create. (Coaches were evenly split on this, but I am sure after the world cup loss by America, this would change some minds.)

4. We all have one friend like this. My good friend who shall remain nameless always calls at night and wants to discuss the day in sports. Calls is not a good word, it actually should be called wants to argue with me and I do mean argue. I don't even mind being wrong or losing the argument, but what I hate is that my friend does not have internet, he does not have cable tv and he does not even have call waiting. (It is not from lack of funds, he can afford it). I just wish he were a little more educated, if he wants to argue so much. I am sure we all know someone who is a little archaic, I hope you are laughing at me and with me right now.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Crawvelous Top 12

2011-07-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

With much apologies I offer my first ever Crawvelous Top 12 (12 for most basketball rosters). This was suppose to go out last Monday, the 18th, but due to technical difficulties it never happened.

My Top 12, consists of people who have the most power in west coast college basketball. I might never do this again, I might do another one in 6 months or it might take a year before you see this again. I actually did work on this for one month, often subtracting and adding names to get it perfect. I am sure you will agree it is perfect.

12---Gregory Hansen....As long time columnist for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, he has seen it all with Wildcat basketball and continues to churn out quality work. When Greg Hansen writes, you have to read it. Being in the city which has had the most dominate basketball program on the west coast in the last 25 years makes his job very important and powerful, when it comes to west coast college basketball.

11---Danny Miles--Going into his 41st year of coaching the Hustling Owls, it has been well documented the success this man has had in college basketball coaching. Easily by now he should be in the basketball hall of fame, he is not, but will go in soon. Has won two national championships, is second all time in wins for 4-year schools and is even a better human being. Later this summer he will travel to Kenya and Rwanda to help build basketball courts and teach the great game of basketball to orphans in these devastated countries. And it is not the first time he has done this great work.

10---Dan Belluomini... The historian of west coast college basketball. Although he has cutback his TV schedule, he is easily the most recognizable figure nationwide when it comes to TV basketball analysts on the west coast. When Belluomini does a game, I can assure you that your learning curve will go up. After four decades on the west coast people still call and ask him what is going on with college basketball. Not to mention he always has time for everyone, a rare trait these days.

9---Bill McCabe...One of the most pleasant and kind men you would ever meet. But that is not what makes him powerful, what does, is that he is the men's basketball officiating coordinator for two leagues on the west coast, Pac-12 and Big West. In case you do not think he is powerful, just go and check what a referee for one game, makes in college basketball. I can assure you, people do not referee in college for the love of the game. McCabe's detractors think he would better serve the Pac-12 as football coordinator, a sport he is more familiar with when it comes to officiating and he does not develop fast enough younger officials. He is a power broker.

8---Stew Morrill.... All he does is continue to churn out winning basketball programs at Utah State. His teams play hard, they play great defense and they win. They win so much, Utah State is the best atmosphere for a college basketball game in the country. Don't let the east coast bias fool you, it is twice as good as Duke to watch a college basketball game. That atmosphere has been created by Morrill and it appears he is a lifer with the Aggies. The big knock on him and it is gigantic, he can't seem to win an NCAA tournament game and until he does it will always be a stain on what is a great coaching record.

7---Mike Roth.... The veteran AD at Gonzaga quietly stays in the shadows, of an excellent basketball program, but if truth be known, it is Roth that works magic for all the great national TV games that Gonzaga plays in and makes tons of money for the basketball program. Besides the sports aspect, Roth has created a great business model for the Zags and he does exactly what any great AD should do. Roth has not only created a buzz business wise about Gonzaga basketball, he has done wonders for the greater Spokane community economically.

6---Terry Durham...Who? As the west coast regional referee coordinator for the NCAA, Durham is a force. His year long evaluations of officials, carry huge weight when it comes to post season assignments. By everyone's account, he is also a tireless worker, who is having a major impact on making college basketball officials better. When Durham walks into a game and you are the official, you better have your "A" game. Durham is considered internationally for his teaching ability and is sought out by many to improve their performance. He is the one person on this list that no one has heard about and I am sure he likes it that way.

5---Jamie Zaninovich... As commissioner of the West Coast Conference, Zaninovich is making his mark as a shrewd marketing person and extremely hard worker. He pulled off one of the greatest coups in college sports last year, getting the BYU Cougars to join the WCC for all sports except football beginning this year. I am not so sure WCC basketball coaches will be too happy with him in three years, when they will be thinking why did we let BYU in this league, but from a marketing and business standpoint BYU is a genius move. Zaninovich did fail to bring Seattle U. into the league, a move which will prove in years down the road to be a huge mistake.

4---Lorenzo Romar... Has done a great job as head coach at Washington. He seems to get more and more comfortable each year in his role and as long as he stays at Washington, the Huskies will be a major force in west coast college basketball. Romar has a huge edge in that Seattle is one of the most rich areas in the entire United States when it comes to high school basketball talent and he is well established with all the high school coaches, you can't help but like the guy. Needs to get his team to the final four one of these years.

3---Ben Howland... Coaching at the most storied basketball school in NCCA history is not the easiest thing to do. At UCLA Howland has handled it well, despite not being the most liked guy around basketball circles. No matter what, when your the head basketball coach at UCLA, you are a power broker. Howland has had to juggle his coaching staff in the last few years, but now feels very comfortable with his assistants and although I do not see a championship in the future for UCLA, I do see a final four in the next five years. He is now a fixture at UCLA and it would be shocking if he ever left.

2---Larry Scott... As commissioner of the Pac-12, every league both in college and pros are looking at Scott as a future top executive. He has brought the Pac-12 out of the dark ages and he is also committed to raising the level of Pac-12 basketball on the national scene. He worked a great media rights deal for all the Pac-12 schools as well as it was a great deal for both ESPN and Fox. As any great leader does, he has made some enemies along the way, but not enough to affect his power. If I do this Top 12 a year from now, in my opinion Scott will not be in the list, he will have moved on to a much bigger position in sports, everyone wants him.

1---Sean Miller...Has brought Arizona back to national prominence in basketball. Quite simply he is the best game coach, best player relations' coach and best recruiter of all west coast college basketball coaches. With the class of recruits he brought in this year, he will be in the final four and if he can keep them together (a big if), the following year I predict he will win the national championship. He is an east coast guy all the way, so fans in the desert better hope he falls in love with the area, there will never be a shortage of schools that want his coaching.

So there you go, my first Crawvelous Top 12, some people you know well, some people you are getting to know and some people you will never know, they just stay in the background and perform at high level. They do have one thing in common, the all are HUGE power brokers in west coast college basketball.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

It Is Time For Comeback

2011-07-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

On occasion as I have done in the past, I am allowing myself to talk about another sport and not basketball. I hope you will enjoy some of my thoughts today about golf, after all most basketball people I know, love golf as well.

THE GAME: I was first introduced to the game of golf by my great father at the age of 8. I did not have fancy clubs and I wore my tennis shoes, but boy I cherished the times we could even go down to the putting green. It was a special game in my eyes and to this day, 90 percent of my friends, I have met through golf.

In case you have not noticed, golf as a sport is declining, even some dire predictions have it close to burial. This does not have to happen, nor should it. In 2011, everyone wants to blame every decline on the economy, factual in many cases, but for golf the decline started way before the collapse of the economy. It is an awesome sport, you can play it until your 100 and here are my suggestions to bring the game back to its glory and even if I am the only person promoting the game, I will never stop.

1. Golf needs Mr. McMahon. (Mr. McMahon is the greatest sports promoter of all time, in his role as chairman of the WWE). Golf has no spokesperson, someone to beat the drums each and everyday about how great a sport it is. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, were great, but the young people can't relate to them. The United State Golf Association does many good things, but their abundance of stuffed shirts can't ever seem to think outside of the box and who can relate to a bunch of rich white men and women in today's culture. Tiger is not the answer, he does not want the role, nor should he be expected to head up the role. Someone needs to step forward. I actually on a serious note would like to see George Lopez. The whole world can relate to him, he loves golf and he can get the attention of young people.

2. Golf needs more places to learn the game. It is intimidating for kids and women to go out and start to learn the game on a regulation course. We need learning centers, which people can afford and afford the equipment.

3. For 50 years golf has been saying they are going to address slow play, but nothing ever happens. The average round of 18 holes on any course should take no longer than 3 1/2 hours. Until slow play is addressed and people want to get serious about it, golf will continue to lose players.

4. In addition to learning centers, we need more quality 9- hole golf courses, do I dare to even say 7-hole golf courses, or even 12- hole golf courses. I don't buy it when people say people's lives are so busy today, memo to everyone, lives are busy from day one and have been forever. The ability to still enjoy golf needs to be there for people, while not taking as much time.

I could go on and on, but golf is a game of honor, where else except bowling do you keep your own score and have the ability to penalize yourself and it is game, if you don't play, you are missing out. I just hate to see it decline, in the manner it is today and we need bright minds to step up and make sure it does not lose all its luster. Someone besides myself, please help with this cause, before it is too late.

More on golf.

SUPERINTENDENTS----Most people do not know their names, but these men and women who condition the great golf courses are the real stars of the game. Getting up at 3:30 in the morning to start your day is tough enough, but being dependent on mother nature everyday is even tougher. It is no wonder that in every survey about golf, superintendents come out number one, when the question is asked who is the most important person at the golf course. I salute all you wonderful people and it is an honor to know many of you.

STEVIE WILLIAMS---- I really get a kick out of all the people who are jumping on Tiger for dismissing Williams as his caddy and jumping on the bandwagon of Williams. I can never feel sorry for someone who has homes in three countries, has the ability to start their own foundation, can drive race cars at his leisure and is in TV commercials, as Williams does.

Stevie, it was not you that made yourself a rich man, it was Tiger Woods who made you wealthy, famous and a worldwide recognized figure. While Tiger Woods is no poster boy, people forget it was Stevie Williams who treated many a fan like dirt on the golf course, with his boorish attitude and behavior. And for many of the media not to challenge him on losing two years of his life, while waiting for Tiger, I do recall Tiger has played some golf in the last two years.

Stevie Williams instead of ripping on Tiger, you should be thanking him forever. He made you what you are today and you should never forget it, but apparently you already have. Shame on you for doing so.

It will be back to basketball this week.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

12/29/09, A Night Like None Other

2011-07-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

I do not hide my love of college basketball. Everyone who knows me will tell you that.

Actually I also can talk about other things like current events, politics and variety of subjects, I have always been a news junkie, I guess it is important for myself to know what is going on in the world. (But I do lead a boring life as I still like the Beach Boys and the last movie I saw was a double feature, Old Yeller and 1,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or was it 10,000). Not even sure why I mentioned that, but guess I felt compelled.

With my love of college basketball and always a hot topic when I talk sports with people, an often asked question of myself is, what is the strangest thing I have ever seen in college basketball? Prior to 12/29/09, it would have been impossible to answer, because I did not have a good answer, but after that night/ day, I am not sure anything can top it.

Doubleheaders in basketball are great and I attend as many as I can. On 12/29/09, living an hour away from Portland State University, I headed for the school in downtown Portland really looking forward to seeing a doubleheader, which was a little different angle for most schools in the Portland State women would play the second game of the night, which was to follow the opening contest that was scheduled between the Vikings and D-3, Willamette University, from Salem, Oregon, which is an hour south of Portland.

Knowing the start time of the first game was 5:00 p.m. and also knowing Portland traffic is not good, just like other large cities, I left my house at 1:45, to give myself plenty of time. Also being a guy who likes weather, I checked the forecast right before I left and it was pretty normal for the Willamette Valley, 39 degrees and light rain showers.

As I got about 15 minutes away from my house, it started to snow very lightly. It did not worry me, as I j figured it would last about five minutes and be gone. As I got closer to Portland, I was beginning to think my amateur forecasting, was actually, amateur. It started snowing harder and in what was normally as mentioned an hour trip, it took me about two hours to get to Portland State.

All this time driving gave me plenty of time to think about a variety of subject (not the latest movies), including the fact did Willamette leave Salem, Oregon with plenty of time to spare. They did not and actually the direction they were coming from had even more snow than I encountered. They were not only stuck in heavy snow, they were stuck in massive traffic. When it snows even a little in the Portland area, it stops the whole city, the town is not prepared for it, nor are its drivers.

Knowing Willamette would not make the 5:00 p.m. start time, game management at Portland State started to think and develop a plan, how to make the games happen on schedule as best as they could, as by now it was really snowing, there was about two inches on the ground and the whole Portland metro was frozen in time. With the PSU women scheduled to play Oregon State in the second game and the OSU women already it town, staying in downtown hotel which is about a ten minute bus trip to the PSU gym, an easy plan seem appropriate for PSU management, flip flop the games and get Oregon State to PSU as quickly as possible.

One problem, quick in Portland was not even close to an option on this night. As it turned out, with Willamette still no where in sight, the women's game would still go first, but getting Oregon State to Portland State from where they were staying turned out to be a nightmarish 1 1/2 trip in their bus. It was compounded by the fact the often cantankerous Oregon State coach LaVonda Wagner, despite the team bus being only a block from Portland State, would not let the players walk the block, she insisted front door service, thus delaying things even more, claiming her highly fit athletes should never ever be expected to walk in snow, not even a block. (Just maybe with that thinking one of the many reasons she got fired at Oregon State).

As it turned out, the OSU women finally made it to Portland State, their game with the Vikings started a little after 8:00 p.m., but it was not the end of the story.

Unlike Oregon State, the Willamette team got sick of being on their bus and stuck in traffic, they walked the final mile to Portland State. (Big plaudits for showing the courage to do so.)

The Bearcats were determined to play the Viking men and they did, the tip-off coming at 10:38 p.m., PST, only 5 hours and 38 minutes after the scheduled 5 o'clock tip. The game ended at 12:42 a.m., December 30th, 2009, in what will go down in history as the latest ending game college basketball game ever, west coast time.

Actually in a tribute to the Portland State fans, even with the awful weather outside, traffic still bumper to bumper well after midnight, as I counted, there were still 502 fans in stands when the game ended and it turned out to be a good college basketball game, with Portland State winning 97-90.

And in case you care, I did get home, but keeping in mind what is a late night normal 55 minute trip home for me, my three hours plus trip home gave me once again plenty of time to think, still just not about movies.

And of course despite the fact the Portland State gym holds 1,500 fans at best, 15 years from now, over 10,000 people will tell you that they were at this weirdest of weird basketball doubleheaders in downtown Portland, Oregon, 12/29/2009.

Also, a few quick final lessons from this day/night/day. 1) Never drive in Portland, Oregon when it is snowing. 2) If it is snowing and your the visiting team, please give yourself a little extra time. 3) If your a fan, live close to where you like to attend basketball games. 4) Do not be an amateur weather forecaster and maybe even a weather forecaster period. 5) If your a basketball coach, do not be a jerk. 6) D-3 athletes are not only good students, they are not afraid to have a little fun.

A night I will never forget and a night I hope you enjoyed hearing about.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

CRAWFACTS/Edition 7

2011-07-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS is news, notes, and whatever else readers wish to call it.

Lorenzo Romar---I was told by a great source yesterday that if the Minnesota Timberwolves were to approach Romar he would still listen about their vacant head coaching position even at this point. Of course being at the school where he starred and graduated from is Romar's dream job, but sometimes the grass is greener, as in the green we use to pay for our groceries. Romar is one of the most liked and honest coaches in all of college basketball. Romar's name was one of the first mentioned when it was obvious that Kurt Rambis would lose his job with the Wolves. He has denied he would be interested, it is unlikely the Wolves are looking at him as of right now, but he would be an outstanding NBA coach, with his people skills. In my opinion he will not finish out his coaching career at Washington, he is a wanted coach by many people.

U of P/Portland State---About six weeks past a strong supporter of University of Portland basketball told me the Pilots would not be playing Portland State this year in basketball. After getting over the mild shock, I decided not to write about it, thinking this person could not be correct and even if he was at the time, this would change. It has not, no Vikings/Pilots game for the first time since 1998-99.

For all the great readers of this blog outside of Portland, Oregon I can understand you saying "who cares". But for people inside the city of Portland and even Oregon and SW Washington this is a big deal. It is the only college basketball rivalry around and quite frankly these two teams should have been playing twice per year, as compared to the one time that has been happening since 98.

On a much, much, much smaller scale this is the equivalent of UCLA not playing USC. I am getting hammered by fans from both sides on this issue and all I can say is your right. In one of the poorest college basketball towns for its size in the country, Portland, Oregon deserves this game each year.

Besides the rivalry aspect, it is a 20 minute bus trip between the schools and obviously a money saver in an age when both schools are not cash rich with their budgets. The game was also starting to become popular and drawing some "decent" crowds at both home sites.

I hope this is not true, but I have been told it was U of Portland that did not want to play the game. If that is the case, I can only say that the real reason is that Portland State has won four out of the last five meetings, which the Pilots were obviously embarrassed about. It is easy to talk about scheduling conflicts as the Pilots have done, but the bottom line is that this game was good for college basketball fans and they will be the losers. Shame on you University of Portland. This did not have to happen.

Fighting Sioux---Will North Dakota enter the Big Sky on July 1st, 2012 with the nickname Fighting Sioux, or will be something else like "come to our state and turn left to get to Regina, Canada". In case you have not heard, the NCAA, with one of their 10,000 or so rules, has declared the Fighting Sioux to be an abusive nickname and ordered them to drop it. The school said fine, but that did not end things. The North Dakota legislature in a formal vote have ordered North Dakota to keep the name. If they do keep the name, they will in ineligible to host any NCAA championship events and their mascot will also be banned from NCAA events (darn).

On the serious side, nicknames that are offensive is a touchy subject. The Sioux Tribes in North Dakota have long wanted the name changed, but there also is the other side who argues for keeping tradition. For sure, this is an interesting case and the outcome will be watched by many in sports. I actually went to a high school which I loved and still love, Cleveland High School, which changed its nickname about 20 years past from Indians to Warriors. Puzzling, in that to me Warriors was a step backwards in the offensive category from Indians.

Brandon Davies----It is 99 percent certain Davies will return in the fall and be eligible to play basketball for the Cougars after sitting out his suspension for breaking the BYU honor code. Of course this is bad news for the West Coast Conference opponents of the Cougars. Easily even without Davies returning, the Cougars would have been projected in the top three of the WCC, now that might move to contender and top two. BYU, coach Dave Rose has also made it clear, he wants to even up the tempo more in Provo on offense, so with that style and the great BYU national following, conference road games for the Cougars should sellout almost every game.

Blogging----I am not complaining in the least, I love writing this blog, it is all about you great readers which keeps me going, but it is not as easy as it might seem. It takes research, keeping your ear to the ground and hard work. While some in the "mainstream" media pooh pooh bloggers and for sure lots of sports information directors do, to myself bloggers in sports have made everyone better writers. As I always say, there is a reason that McDonalds and Wendys are always close to each other, competition is what makes America the greatest country in the world.

Two blogs that do a great job of covering the Big Sky and the Western Athletic Conference are:
http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com and www.bigskybball.com

EDITOR'S NOTE: I will return on Friday, of this week.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Do Not Mess With NESS

2011-07-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

On occasion we find some some very smart people who make educated and key decisions in college athletics.

I would like to applaud the decision makers who last week decided not to extend the contract of head coach George Nessman at San Jose State, but instead do even better and give him a NEW three year contract.

Nessman earned it.

Despite the fact that San Jose State went only 17-16, last season, Nessman has the Spartans on the rise and it is time to start paying attention to the Spartans in college basketball.

If you have watched Nessman over the years it is obvious that he can coach the game of basketball. Sometimes even the best of coaching, doing all the right things and making key moves in a game, is not even enough to win the game. That has happened at San Jose State over the years in basketball, but expect that to continue, but to now translate into wins, instead of losses.

George Nessman took over the Spartans head coaching job in the 2005-06 season. His first couple of years were not the best, but since that time San Jose State is on the move and I think headed to being a force in west coast college basketball.

To prove how good of a job Nessman has done with the Spartans program, here is a little documentation.

The 17 wins last year were the most wins in basketball for the Spartans since 1981. Going 17-16 was the first winning season for the program since 1994. With their appearance in the post season at the CBI, it had not happened for the Spartans since 1996, playing after the regular season. Since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 1996, last season was the first time for San Jose State to make it to the semifinals of the WAC tournament.

Even with the above mentioned it improvement, it might have been easy for the Spartans to change coaches and not show patience. For the good of their program they chose not to do that and instead stick with a very good basketball coach.

George Nessman does not get the flashy headlines like many coaches do. His teams have not been on TV that much, so not many people know about them and very few people have been paying attention to Spartan basketball.

Warning: You better start paying attention. Nessman is a very good coach, who is making a difference at at a school with very little basketball history, very little sports history and at present very small fan base.

Nessman has taken over what many thought would be an impossible task and has made it possible for San Jose State to succeed in basketball. He is a rising star in the coaching ranks and he has a program on the rise.

It will be lots of fun to watch his program not only this year, but in the future. I have a feeling it will not be disappointing.

emails crawscorner@gmail.com

It Will Be Sad And Bad

2011-07-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is ok to change your opinion on something. That is what makes opinions, thoughts and even arguments about sports so fun.

I have changed my mind in past few days about how the NBA lockout will affect college basketball.

I now do not think it will HELP. I previously thought it might be good for college basketball, but after thinking it through, I have allowed myself to change my mind.

In some cases college basketball does not need help. Many places it is at the peak of popularity, impossible to get tickets and teams are on TV every time they play. Other schools need a big shot in the arm and programs are a disaster, any help would improve things.

Anything that is bad for basketball, is bad for all of basketball. Basketball is basketball no matter what the level and an NBA lockout will sour fans on the game, not only just the NBA, but the game of basketball as a whole. No one wins in any lockout/strike, period.

There are many schools of thought out there that the college game and the NBA have a completely different set of fans, I do not totally buy into that theory. I do think there is a large group of college/NBA fans who publicly like to pooh-pooh the game, but privately are watching it every night on TV. Much bigger crossover than people would think, otherwise the NBA would never get the TV ratings it does and be as popular worldwide as it is.

While I was kind of shocked and even disturbed as to an NBA lockout and in denial, I have now come to realization it is for real and even worse, lots of people I respect and are insiders who know their stuff regarding the NBA, are telling me there will not be one game played and the entire 2011-12 season will be LOST.

Of course we will survive and about a year past, nearly everyone will forgive and things will be back to normal. But for some people if there is not an NBA season or even half a season, there lives will not be normal.

The owners, top level front office people, coaches and players will hardly will feel hardly a dent economically, but as you go further down the pecking order, the economics of an NBA lockout for many people will be an economic disaster.

Many teams are starting to slowly eliminate employees from their work force and it is only going to get worse. The Charlotte Bobcats just cut a lot of their employees off their payroll, including their longtime radio broadcaster. As we all know the NBA office staff was just decreased by 11 percent. Of course, as in most firings or layoffs, it is the people who can afford it the least, who are the first to get cut.

I am not worried about the loss of games, but I am worried about the many people who will lose their jobs in this mess. Unemployment is high even, it does not need to increase because of stupidity and bright minds not being able to solve this lockout. We always think about wins and losses, but we seldom think about the impact sports has on the economy, it is much greater than even most projections have it and it is a large part of the big piece of the world economy.

My complaining, ranting, writing, more than likely is not going to help, but at least I want to do my part to offer a suggestion to solve the lockout.

What would be wrong with eliminating the entire economic model at present, I mean wiping out the whole thing and starting fresh.

How about going to a sliding scale, where there is guaranteed base pay for all players depending on their abilities, but any additional monies to players would be based on how much profit your team makes and the accounting would be solely done by an independent audit, no cooking the books. It would force teams to manage their business like a business, you would see a much more competitive league and it is the ultimate of capitalism. It can work, it just takes some people who care on both sides to make it happen. Greed never wins, smart business decisions always do.

It is a simple formula, but one that would work. The businesses that succeed are the ones that keep it simple and smart. Profit is only gained by smart economics and solid business model, at this time the entire NBA business model is broken beyond repair.

Once again it is fair to ask, why do I care? I care because an NBA lockout is bad for basketball, not just the NBA, but all of basketball, I care because really good people in many cases are going to lose their jobs for a long period of time and I care because any work stoppage in any sport is bad for the economy and it affects every American, not just people who love the game, but even people who could care less about sports.

I am even of the thinking to commiting the ultimate "sin", politicians and even the President need to get involved in solving this huge mess. Why not, they do it with other areas of the economy and sports is no different when it comes to the end game.

And I might add, would love to see David Stern and Adam Silver, announce today that they are reducing their own pay to $1.00 until this pathetic situation resolved. It would be the fair and honorable thing to do, but these two guys have not stood the test of time and actually need to resign and ride off into the sunset with the millions they have garnered from their often ineptness of running the NBA.

For the love of the college game and the love of basketball, we can only hope the NBA lockout is solved, but I am not optimistic and I feel for the "little" people and the impact this will have on their lives. I know I am not the only one who feels this way, I just wish the greedy, selfish, spoiled people who can solve this, felt the same way, but it is obvious they could care less.

emails crawscorner@gmail.com

Where Will Elevator Stop In 2011-12

2011-07-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that many people do not even look at west coast college basketball seriously and it has been forgotten by the east coast media in many circles (not whining, just stating a fact), it will be a really interesting year coming up for teams out west in the 2011-12 season. Here are just a few thoughts.

1. Arizona---They have a real chance to challenge for the NCAA championship. There is no question that Sean Miller has established himself as a powerful force in the coaching ranks and he will have his most talented group yet in Tucson. Of course paper only looks good, when your writing on it, but look for Arizona to be in the final four.

2. Eastern Washington---Hiring new coach Jim Hayford from the D-3 ranks was iffy, chancy and anything else you want to call it, but a winner is a winner and Hayford has been highly successful at D-3 Whitworth. In case you have not been watching he is doing a good job of recruiting in his first stint as a head coach at D-1 and it will be good for the Big Sky if he can change the basketball culture in Cheney, Washington.

3. Painting The Line---In my efforts to follow this, I have heard nothing about Oregon showing us a center court line, that we can see. It had an impact on games last year, it will impact games in the future if it is not made more visible. Not to mention it is very hard to watch games on TV that are played at Oregon, with no visible center court line. The center court line is a huge part of the history of college basketball and as I have said, it is always fine to be edgy, but it is not fine to be disrespectful to the great game of basketball. Ducks, you have things going in basketball, just paint your darn center court line, so you don't have to stand two feet from it with a magnifying glass just to see it.

4. Johnny Dawkins----It will be time for Dawkins to show us something at Stanford. To the amazement of lots of people, Dawkins was just given a contract extension, despite a record of .500 in his three years with the Cardinal. Coming out of the Duke basketball program, it was the thought that Dawkins would make a big splash, so far not even a ripple. He might not be the coach we all thought he would be.

5. Oregon State----Are the Beavers going to move out of neutral and once again have an impact on college basketball as they did on a somewhat regular basis prior to 1990, or are we going to see the same old pathetic situation we have seen in Corvallis. Craig Robinson also needs to prove himself as a head coach, he really has done nothing to improve Beaver basketball and the pressure will mount for his teams to produce. With its history, the Pac-12 needs a strong presence in Corvallis.

6. UCLA---How will the Bruins do playing every game on the road. It will test them for sure, most teams who have played games out of their home court for year because of renovation (Pauley Pavilion is undergoing a complete renovation and not available in 2011-12) have not faired well. I would say look for the Bruins to have a down year this season, but bounce back strong next year with what is already a great looking recruiting class.

7. Max Good---My favorite name in coaching and one of my favorite coaches to watch with his sideline antics. It would be nice for his Loyola Marymount team to have some success on the floor this year after being a disaster last year. If Good is bad, then there is a good chance it will be no "good" when it comes to him returning to the Lions' sideline in 2012. At some point in the West Coast Conference, teams besides Gonzaga, St. Mary's and likely BYU, need to make an impact and get the league more spots in the NCAA tournament.

8. Seattle U.---The Redhawks have one of the best traditions in all of college basketball back a few years, well documented in past Craw's Corner columns. It is time though for them to start showing some improvement on the floor and win more games. It hard to move up from D-2 to D-1 as the Redhawks did three years past, but at some point the wins need to come, or else the varnish will wear off quickly and the move will not look good. It will help being in the WAC starting in 2012, a league they could potentially dominate, but so far it is all talk.

9. Steve Alford---Despite some chances to move, Alford has stayed as coach at New Mexico. He has been consistently good with the Lobos and you heard it here first, in the next five years, he will take his team to the final four one of those seasons. He is a great recruiter and now that he does not have to play BYU twice, that will help. The Lobos are one of basketball's sleeping giants. Great fans, great state and always excellent basketball. The next step is coming.

10. Hall of Fame----Will others like myself catch onto the fact that Danny Miles at Oregon Tech deserves and should be in the basketball hall of fame in Springfield, Mass. Going into his 41st season, it is time he got his just do and if I can do my little part to help, then so be it. Media in Oregon should be talking about it more and basketball fans worldwide need to hear his great story. This blog is gaining a huge following and part of my mission is to recognize and honor basketball people who deserve accolades like the hall of fame and have contributed so much. Miles is a perfect fit.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

FEW and Far Between

2011-07-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Gonzaga basketball fans are spoiled.

If you say anything in the slightest vein that they take as derogatory against their team, you get all kinds of criticism thrown back your way.

It gets even worse, if you ever say anything bad about head coach Mark Few.

But never fearing a little bit of challenge, here we go. After all it is sports, it is college basketball and no one ever takes those two things seriously, lol. (That is my last lol period, big opponent of the term).

Despite the fact that Mark Few's teams play very poor defense often, he is an outstanding coach. (Note to Gonzaga fans, I gave him a compliment.)

For the record, he after all as head coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, since the 1999-2000 season has some sterling stats. His teams have gone to the NCAA tournament every year he has been at Gonzaga. Coach Few's record at Gonzaga is 315-83, his league record in the WCC even more incredible at 149-19 wins to losses.

It gets better, as Few's teams have won 11 straight league championships and even more impressive nine WCC tournament championships and only once was during that time was the tournament held in Gonzaga's home city of Spokane, Washington. Very impressive.

Let's keep it going, in Few's 11 years and looking at all the 355 D-1 schools during that period, it is almost impossible to get one first team all-america, Few has had two, in Dan Dickau and Adam Morrison. Every game is sold out and has been for years and last but not least, Few has been coach of the year six times in the WCC and has had nine different players named WCC player of the year.

Actually over Few's 11 years at Gonzaga, not one D-1 school can even come close to matching the Zags record of league and WCC tournament play.

Here is where it gets a little sticky for both myself and maybe some others. Under Few, the Zags have made four sweet sixteen appearances, but never have made it to the elite 8. I wondered if anyone else looked at this as a flaw, so I did a little Craw's Corner investigative reporting.

I called three people who have season tickets to Gonzaga games that I knew, would tell it like it is. Not a scientific sample, but these three guys can bring it.

The results, two are not always happy that the Zags do not go further in NCCA play, one even going as far to say that he would not be crushed if Few left Spokane for a better job, he closed with, despite his record, he has warn out his welcome. His supporter, was equally vocal bringing out some good points in that Gonzaga is able to bring some top teams Spokane and when you watch them at home they always win and for him that was more than satisfactory.

But in sports, when is not enough, not enough. It does seem odd to myself that Gonzaga has never been to the elite 8, especially with some of their talent in recent years and players who have gone on to be drafted in the NBA. I would even go so far as to say the Zags are somewhat of a major disappointment in NCAA tournament play or maybe even at times a big failure.

With all that said, for now, I would call Mark Few an outstanding regular season coach, but a below average when it comes NCAA tournament play. I might even call him a little overrated as a coach.

Lots of people all over have been waiting for the Zags to step up come March and April and it has not happened. It gets even more challenging now with BYU joining the WCC, it will force pressure on Gonzaga as they have to keep winning the leagues, as history dictates, the WCC hardly ever being in contention for an at large berth.

Ok let's just say it, Mark Few is not as good a coach as he is made out to be.

One last thing, Gonzaga, if you always claim your as good for basketball as you are, then show us and play your northwest brothers, Oregon State, Oregon and Washington on a regular basis. You need to act like your the kings of the northwest and do the right thing, instead of at times acting like spoiled brats.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the great emails and wondering where I went. I am here, hopefully better than ever, I am just going to cut back during these summer months on my writing a little bit. Not to worry, you will still receive Craw's Corner on a fairly regular basis and I still appreciate your readership very much. I might also have a big announcement coming up soon regarding this column, keep reading.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com and comments always welcome below the column

The SKY Is Falling

2011-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

I fully admit I am a basketball junkie.

I also fully admit that I enjoy the business side of basketball, equally to the games.

Attendance figures and basketball schedules, I look at each and every day during the season. If I am the only person in America, it is also an exciting time for myself right now as basketball schedules for the teams I follow closely start to trickle out.

One league I have followed closely for years, too many years to even count, is the Big Sky. The Big Sky teams play in states I have always been fascinated with, Washington, Idaho, California, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Colorado. Gorgeous states, that are populated by wonderful people.

If you watch and follow the Big Sky, it is easy to recognize that outside of Idaho State, it is a league for its size that has outstanding basketball coaches, a really quality group of assistant coaches who I am sure are woefully underpaid and the basketball is usually really exciting. Games are fun to watch, great to take the family too and you usually can get a pretty good seat.

It is the watch and follow part these days that is troublesome. Yes you could say the in the Big Sky the Sky is falling. Last year the average home attendance for all Big Sky men's games was 2,288. That figure stands out even more, when you consider out the 355 D-1 teams, Big Sky member Weber State ranked 93rd in attendance with average attendance of just under 6,000. Not bad.

Obviously if you throw out Weber State, attendance in the rest of the league borders on being pathetic. Granted, at least two places in the league have very small arenas, Sacramento State and Portland State, but even those schools fail each night to come even close to selling out.

Even a sadder fact is that six teams in the Big Sky averaged less than the D-3 leader in home attendance last year, Hope University, which had an average home attendance of just under 3,000 fans.

Is there "hope' for the Big Sky. I would like to think so, but it is not going to happen overnight, it will take some long hours and hard work and it will take some creativity, something the Big Sky office is noted for.

And speaking of scheduling, one thing that really damages the Big Sky attendance is the ability to attract quality teams to play in pre-season games. Of the three teams that have their schedules out for 2011-12, here is a sample of the schools that Big Sky teams will play in pre-season at home.

South Dakota, Cal State Davis, Pacific Lutheran, Colorado Christian, Cal State Bakersfield, Mayville State, Northern New Mexico, Willamette and Linfield (twice). As you can see all big time basketball powerhouses. (I have to add, in the heyday of Linfield basketball with the likes of Dan Beeson, Mike Smithey and John Melonas, Linfield might have beaten most of the Big Sky teams they played, but those days are long over.)

As more Big Sky basketball schedules trickle out, I am sure the you will see additional powerhouses on the home schedules like Wales and Johnson, Concordia and Minot State. The Big Sky teams actually play some great teams on the road in pre-season, home games, well there is nothing you can say about most of the teams they play, because half the time, nobody has ever heard of them as noted above.

Ok, ok, I might be the only person that cares, but I am going to offer some advice to the Big Sky office, a league I love and care about, as to how to get more people watching your basketball games and hopefully being able to attract great teams for home pre-season games. Here goes:

1. Re-brand the entire league. Even go as far to change the name. The Big Sky no longer fits, with expansion happening in both basketball and football, Big Sky is too Montana(ish) and it no longer fits.

2. Stop treating basketball as a second hand sport compared to football. Memo to Big Sky office, football in the Big Sky is FCS, basketball is D-1. Basketball should be your dominant sport.

3. The greatest sports marketer of all time, Jon Spoelstra lives in one of the Big Sky cities, Portland. Have him do a seminar to all Big Sky staff and marketing people in the respective schools. He would make a difference and get people thinking in the right direction. In basketball terms, Spoelstra is a made three point shot and getting fouled and making the free throw.

4. Have Mike Lund, from Portland State, do the same as Spoelstra, when it comes to media relations. Lund is great, he knows what he is doing and his advice should and needs to be made available to all schools.

5. A drastic measure, but maybe for a few years Big Sky teams quit playing home pre-season games. Sure it would affect everyone's record, but maybe not the RPI. No one wants to come and watch the above mentioned teams play, that is obvious.

Hey, no can ever question my love and loyalty to Big Sky basketball. It is a good product, watched and followed by far less people these days than should happen and rather than complain, I offered some great solutions. I just hope the right people are listening.

By the way, I do have some name changes for the league, but why should I do their work for them. As many readers as this blog has, writing about them should be enough, at least I hope it helps.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

CRAWFACTS/Edition 6

2011-07-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS IS NEWS, NOTES, ITEMS AND AT TIME LAUGHS

Kerry Keating----Congratulations to coach Keating on his recent extension of his contract at Santa Clara, not the easiest place to win ball games and recruit. Of course it was Craw's Corner that selected Keating as its first ever west coast coach of the year last season. And you can repeat for that honor, so we will watch what the Broncos can do in the tough West Coast Conference and getting tougher with the addition of BYU.

MLB All-Star Game----We want to wish a great reader of this blog, a great umpire and an even greater person, Dale Scott, the best of luck as he was chosen to be the home plate umpire of this coming Tuesday's major league all-star game. Quite an honor and well deserved for a person who has been at the top of his game for 26 years. By the way, kind of puzzling why Dale Scott is not a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. He along with Terry Gierke and Terry Durham are people that have been overlooked as sports officials, giants at their craft and just flat deserve to be in the Oregon Sports HOF.

Johnny Dawkins----I along with many other people were kind of surprised that Dawkins got a contract extension recently. With an under .500 career record for the Cardinal, the Stanford administration must see something that other people do not. It is going to be even tougher for Stanford to move up in the Pac-12, with almost ever team this year being improved and new members Utah and Colorado coming onboard. Utah on paper appears to have at least an equal team to Stanford and Colorado appears to be much better. As noted in Craw's Corner last week that Rodney Tention is no longer an assistant at Stanford, moving to San Diego, it now is apparent that Dawkins was asked to shake up his staff, before the extension would be granted. It happens often in basketball coaching, change your staff or else no extension.

Sean Kemp Jr.----Nice signing by the Washington Huskies. The oldest of Sean Kemp's many children, by many different women, has the potential to be a nice player for the Huskies. Of course the big question in Seattle is if Romar will be coaching the Huskies this coming season. I have learned that he still is one of the top three choices of David Kahn to replace Kurt Rambis as the coach of the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves. Romar has denied any interest, says he wants to finish his career in Seattle. That may happen, but we have heard that from many basketball coaches and boom, the next thing we know is they are gone.

Five Years Past----I wrote this past week that often people and coaches in sports stay too long at the same place or do not know when to retire. I thought it would be fun to look at some west coast schools and see who was coaching the basketball team in the 2006-07 season and who is coaching at the school as we enter 2011

California-----2006- Ben Braun, 2011-Mike Montgomery

San Francisco----2006-Jessie Evans, 2011-Rex Walters

Washington St.----2006-Tony Bennett, 2011-Ken Bone

Oregon----2006-Ernie Kent, 2011-Dana Altman

UNLV----2006-Lon Kruger, 2011-David Rice

San Diego----2006-Brad Holland, 2011-Billy Grier

USC-----2006-Tim Floyd, 2011-Kevin O'Neill

Boise St.----2006-Greg Graham, 2011-Leon Rice

Arizona----2006-Lute Olson, 2011-Sean Miller

San Jose St.----2006-George Nessman, 2011-George Nessman

Congrats San Jose St. for sticking with a good coach. Seems like Lute Olson has been away from Arizona longer that five years and boy does time fly.

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The Pilots Are No Longer Bluffing

2011-07-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

About the only thing that is bad for Portland Pilots basketball coach Eric Reveno lately, is that some people still can't pronounce his last name and often he is confused in looks with Colorado head coach Tad Boyle.

Otherwise things are pretty darn good for Reveno as he enters his sixth season for the Pilot, a school which sits on "The BLUFF in north Portland with a beautiful campus and beautiful views of the Willamette river.

Reveno had a shaky start at University of Portland. His first team went 9-23 in the 2006-07 season and the next year was not much better. In fairness, Reveno inherited a mess from previous coach Michael Holton. In maybe the most gutsy move in the history of Pilot athletics, athletic director Larry Williams bought out Holton's contract at the end of the 2006 season.

As of right now the move looks brilliant. Although attendance is still not where it needs to be, it has risen in each year under Reveno, people are starting to talk about the Pilots for the first time in ages and more importantly, in the last three years the team has gone 60-36 and advanced to play in the CIT post season tournament each year.

Even with all the regular season success, the Pilots have struggled in the West Coast Conference tournament, I am sure something that weighs on the mind of Reveno. In the last 20 years prior to the the arrival of Reveno, the Pilots were most noted in athletics for having a great women's soccer team and every year winning their league championship in men's cross country. Under Reveno, Pilot basketball is changing that.

Lately I have often said that Reveno is the best head basketball coach in D-1 that no one knows about. The city of Portland is not a good college basketball town, the Pilots history in basketball for the most part is, there is little history and with its high academic standards and lack of a basketbal history, it makes recruiting athletes hard.

But somehow, each of the last three years Reveno has gotten the job done. He will be challenged once again this year with a young team that will have only two seniors, but one of those seniors Nemanga Mitrovic has the potential to be the best three point shooter in the country. The rest of his teammates will have to develop quickly if the team hopes to win 20 games again this season, but it is obvious now you never bet against Eric Reveno accomplishing anything.

If you ever make it to Portland during basketball season, it is worth the trip to watch the Pilots play. Their arena, The Chiles Center, does not have a bad seat in the house, it even offers some items in the concession stands that differ from the normal crap and most important, parking is always free.

I did think of a couple more bad things. You can't email Coach Reveno, he is the only staff member that does not list an email. This is a disturbing trend in college athletics, not being able to email the head coach. Bad customer service. Also, it is not good that the Pilots play their cross town buddies, Portland State only once during pre-season. In days of tight budgets and shortfalls it just seems so natural these teams should play twice, not once.

In college basketball often programs can sustain for years after their head coach moves on, many examples. But in the case of the Pilots, when Eric Reveno moves on, the program could easily suffer. It is obvious he is a coach that knows how to put a program together under not the best of circumstances and he knows how to win.

If the Pilots can keep him, great. If he leaves for a better job, not great.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Over Staying Your Welcome

2011-07-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

When I recently watched the ESPN special featuring Joe Paterno and Mike Krzyzewski like everyone else I had some thoughts and opinions.

Of course per usual when he is involved in any ESPN production, the best part of the show was host Rece Davis. Is there anything that guy can't do? He is simply the best studio host in broadcasting right now and in my opinion the best of all time. If a young person wants to go into broadcasting just watch and copy Rece Davis and you will be a success.

Back to my thoughts. It is hard for myself to watch Coach K on anything. I have heard way too many negative things about him and have never been a big fan. It is hard to watch Joe Paterno period. I use to be a big fan, always rooted for Penn State, I do not anymore as Paterno has stayed too long. It is painful to watch him be interviewed, it is also painful to watch him on the sidelines. Of course we all know he has a great staff and they are running the program, Coach Paterno just stands there, literally.

When it comes to college basketball, I am a firm believer that coaches should move often, especially when they are riding the crest of success. Of course there are a few exceptions. Coach K when it comes to wins and losses is an example, but we often forget, he even took a year off to get healthy and recharge his batteries back in the early 90s.

Maybe it is because I am old, but I have seen too many coaches stay at the same place too long, only to not only wear out their welcome, but go from successful years, to poor years and lose their job. Staying is your profession for a long time is great, staying at the same place your asking for trouble.

Fans, boosters and administrations are fickle. In sports if your not successful, everyone will turn on you in a heartbeat.

Perfect example, ex-Oregon coach Ernie Kent. In the early 2000s Kent was the hottest coaching name in the country, he could have had lots of jobs that were waiting for him to accept. He chose to stay with the Ducks, in 2011, after being ousted by Oregon in 2010, he couldn't even get a decent interview for a basketball head coaching job. Sticking on the west coast, Mike Montgomery stayed too long at Stanford, now being at Cal, some people do not even know he is still in coaching. I even worry about Wayne Tinkle at Montana, a really good coach, is he going to stay too long with the Griz and not move when he should.

As mentioned above there are some exceptions to staying too long in the same place. I have written about two of them, Danny Miles and Brad Jackson. Both of these coaches have sustained the test of time and continue to be at the top of their games and their role in shaping young people's lives goes way beyond coaching basketball and obviously quality of life means just as much as making big bucks. I do have a feeling both of them will know when it is a good time to retire and I also have a strong feeling both of them will be real active doing lots of volunteer work and helping lots of people upon their retirement.

Speaking of retirement, in basketball it should also apply to referees. Because the money is so great, more and more we are seeing referees stay too long. Jim Burr and Tim Higgins, who were both involved in the debacle at the Big East tournament last year and literally were fired from working any more games in the tournament, have stayed too long. They can't cover the court and actually often embarrass themselves in games. It is time for them to be off the court and evaluating officials, not working games.

Retirement is always a touchy subject for everyone. What I don't want to see is someone else making the decision for you to retire or even worse be fired.

Sports even has its own set of unwritten rules. Move when your a success, do not wear out your welcome and retire before you become an embarrassment. And don't forget, even when you do retire, plenty of people are looking for your great skills in the volunteer field.

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With Tad It Will Not Be Sad

2011-07-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

There are just some college basketball coaches that are made to rebuild programs and are made to WIN.

In my mind, Colorado Buffalo coach Tad Boyle fits that mold.

While Boyle is still young in his coaching career and even has a below .500 record overall as a head coach when you look at is his overall body of work, it is impressive.

Rob Closs was an outstanding player for Dick Harter with the Oregon Ducks and has carried on his relationship with the Ducks by being their TV analyst for Duck basketball games. Back in 1994 standing next to Closs in Mac Court during warm-ups it was Closs who told me to look at the Oregon bench. I did and he went on to tell me there are two guys sitting over there as Duck assistants that will be big time college head coaches in the future.

Closs per usual was so right on one of the people and is headed to be right on the other. Those two people he pointed out were Mark Turgeon and Tad Boyle, who were in their first year as being assistants for head coach Jerry Green. Turgeon who will coach Maryland this year after a great run at Texas A&M has turned into being one of the top young coaches in college basketball and Boyle is headed in that direction.

I would warn all Pac-12 fans, coaches and anyone else that will listen, do not ever take the Colorado Buffalos for granted as long as Tad Boyle is their head coach. It is a school with very little basketball tradition, but Boyle just might change that.

In Boyle's first year as head college basketball coach he went 4-24 at the Northern Colorado Bears. In his last year with the Bears he guided them to a 25-8 record and a trip to the College Insider Tournament. What a turnaround in four years, he changed the entire culture of Bears' basketball.

In his home state, that obviously caught the attention of many people, landing Boyle the head coaching job at Colorado last year. He didn't even take the normal three years to put the program on the map. In his first year he won 24 games and he team played great in a very tough basketball conference, the Big 12.

If you had one beef with a team that should have gotten into the NCAA tournament it was Boyle's Buffalos. All of basketball was shocked when the Buffs did not make the big dance, but in a tribute to Boyle's coaching he kept the team focused, taking them to the semifinals of the NIT.

Boyle did not rest after the season. He did something that has not happened for 21 years at Colorado, he was able to recruit not just one player out of the Los Angeles area, but three quality players. Point guards Askia Baker and Spencer Dinwiddie, along with power forward Damiene Cain will join the Buffs this coming season and the three have a chance to be impact players.

Of course the Buffs lost two high quality players in Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, not easy players to replace, but Boyle always finds a way to win.

As for Pac-12 play, the Buffs have not played Arizona State and Washington State since 1969. It has been almost as long since they have played USC and UCLA, the last time being 1975 and 1977 respectively. Those match-ups will also help the Buffs in recruiting, especially playing the LA schools in the rich California basketball talent area and giving his three recruits a chance to play in front of family and friends.

If Tad Boyle has one flaw, he keeps calling Colorado his "dream job". (Boyle is a native of Greeley, Colorado). In these days of high powered college basketball, big money and an ever abundance of players to recruit, there are no dream jobs. Boyle is the lowest paid basketball coach in the Pac-12 at around $590,000 per year, he was mentioned for a couple of openings this year and another year like he had last year with the Buffs, he will become even a hotter commodity.

The Buffs for sure are a program to watch as they join the Pac-12 and Tad Boyle is a coach to watch as well, being a graduate of Kansas where he captained the team in 1985, playing for Larry Brown, coaching under Jerry Green, being around Mark Turgeon, his total basketball culture has been about winning and he continues that as head coach.

At least I warned you early enough Pac-12.

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How Much Is Too Much

2011-07-05T08:10:00.000-07:00

For a long period of time, I have always wondered why NCAA college basketball teams need so many darn assistant coaches.

I watch some teams and it almost seems at times there is more men in suits on the bench than there are substitutes.

By NCAA rules teams are allowed, one head coach, three assistants and a director of basketball operations, whose scope in limited as to the duties.

Without question the hardest job in college basketball is an assistant coaching position. There just in my mind is too many assistant coaches on each team.

Assistant coaches are woefully UNDERPAID, they work long hours, they are constantly studying videotape, running practices in many cases, making sure all the redshirts are doing what they need to do to get better, recruiting and making sure that 18-22 year old young men are staying out of trouble, going to class and conducting their lives in a manner that their parents, the school and community can be proud. Not even close to being a cake walk job in these times.

Some assistant coaches might read this column and be irritated with myself about saying there are too many assistant coaches. I can understand that as they need to stick up for their profession and they should do just that.

I actually am writing this out of respect for every assistant coach and I actually want to get you the money your more than deserve. One way to do that, without raising the budget, is to eliminate one assistant coaching position and take that money and give it to the two remaining assistants. I will never be convinced that a team needs three assistants and a director of basketball operations. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Two of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA won championships with only one assistant coach. The 1977 champion Portland team won the title with Jack Ramsay and Jack McKinney as its only two coaches. Going a little further north, in 1979 Lenny Wilkens won the championship with only one man at his side, Les Habegger.

I am not saying we have to go back to 1979, but basketball is basketball, good coaches win and bad coaches get fired.

I want assistant coaches to make more money, I have so much respect for the job they do and seldom get any credit for their work, I just want to see less, so you all can make more.

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Rotation Is A Good Thing

2011-07-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

In a very short time, Larry Scott, Pac-12 commissioner and his astute executive team, will start taking bids on where to host the Pac-12 men's basketball tournament.

The contract is up after this coming basketball season at the Staples Center, so 2013 is wide open and it is anybody's guess as to where the event will take place.

One thing is certain, it should not return to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They just flat do not deserve the game any longer, the tournament for most part has been poorly attended and despite the storied program at UCLA, Los Angeles is not a good college basketball town, it is all about the Lakers.

Begs the question, who does deserve the tournament? It actually is a hard question to answer, so let's examine some of the choices.

Seattle---Even though it is the NBA, they lost the Seattle Sonics, so just how good of a town for basketball is Seattle? The Seattle U. Redhawks, have drawn well so far in Key Arena since returning to D-1, despite having below average teams. The Huskies do well, but if they did not have such a winning team their crowds by most estimates would be sparse. Seattle will place a bid for the tournament, so that does show some interest. That bid will be for Key Arena to host.

Las Vegas--Rumors always abound about Vegas being a site for post season. The Big Sky even toyed with it this year, but a crowded field which already sees the Mt. West, WAC and West Coast Conference playing there, it seems like a long shot. Once thing is for certain, Las Vegas knows how to promote and put on events, so don't automatically count them out.

Sacramento---The closest Pac-12 team is the Cal Bears, but Sacramento is a great basketball city. They might lose the Kings, but the way the great fans have supported the team through some terrible losing seasons and the passion for basketball makes this a choice to at least look at in the future. It would probably be even a better choice if the Kings left, as the community would be starved for basketball.

Salt Lake City---Would be a great advantage for Pac-12 newcomer Utah, but Salt Lake City is a great basketball town and Utah is a great basketball state. It does not get any bigger than the Olympics so there are many people in town who know how to put on quality events. For sure, this city needs to be on the list and highly considered.

Portland--A funny college basketball town. The city's two D-1 teams, Portland State and U. of Portland do not draw well. Kentucky came to town last year and so did Duke, playing Portland and Oregon, respectively and neither game came even close to selling out the 20,000 seat Rose Garden. But on the positive side, in 2009 the first round NCAA regionals sold out quickly and the 2012 NCAA regionals in Portland are expected to do the same. Portland needs a look.

Tucson---Without question, this would be a good choice. Actually it would be my first choice. The fans of the Wildcats deserve it with their support they have shown over the years, even in the short down time and above all, Arizona has held up Pac-12 basketball at a high level for so many years, it would be nice to reward them for it.

Spokane---Thought I would throw it in, for one reason. They have an active sports commission who has attracted some very nice, high profile events to the area, so it would get the community support and the backing of people who know what they are doing when it comes to hosting not only basketball, but other sporting events.

Of course all these above cities, do need to make bids and I am certain all of the above are at least thinking about making plans to bid and some have already said they will, such as Seattle.

Here is just a thought for the Pac-12, cause even though they might not listen to Craw's Corner, they do read this blog in the offices.

Pac-12, don't get locked into one city. Rotate this tournament around to all of the above and even more additions. After one year, it gets old and stale in the same venue, it creates a lot more buzz, if a new venue is the site of Pac-12 men's tournament each year. It also would help the league promote and market their game, fans in these cities would really have something to look forward too and there is nothing better than spreading the excitement, after all the Pac-12 is a big area.

Pac-12 basketball needs a big shot in the arm, rotating the conference tournament would be a great start.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Your Bucket Should Contain

2011-07-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

The term "bucket list" will go down in history as one of the great sayings of the first half of this century, all the hip people use the term, I am not hip or even cool, but I do know what west coast basketball fans should see in the next few years if possible.

With the season actually less than four months away, it is time to start planning. Not everyone can afford to travel, they might not have the health to do so, so all of the things I am going to talk about can be seen on TV, but if you can go live, GO FOR IT. Nothing like being there in person.

1. UTAH STATE----- The best college basketball atmosphere of any arena in the country. Logan, Utah is a beautiful city and the Aggie fans are just great to watch. They are into the game, have some great songs they sing during the time-outs and do it for the most part in a respectful manner. I am sure it helps they win all the time at home, so get there soon, before Stew Morrill decides to leave as head coach and that would set the program back. Stew, just win an NCCA tournament game sometime please.

2. Power Pep Band--- The Portland State Vikings have the best pep band out west. Small gym, but usually you can get into the Stott Center. While the teams have had some nice success in the past five years, this band is worth it. They not only can play music, they are entertaining, constantly on the opponents and referees. They even have a trombone player who I am not sure if he ever puts his lips to the mouthpiece, but he is worth watching the whole evening with his antics. The great part is none of these band members will ever graduate, not being PSU students, I am not sure where they come from, but one thing is certain they fit Portland, Oregon's unofficial motto, "keep Portland weird".

3. Maui Classic-- I have never been, but everyone who has, always wants to go back soon. Once again small gym, usually hotter than heck inside, but without question the best field of any of the pre-season tournaments. Usually held the week of Thanksgiving, you also will see plenty of famous basketball people hanging around, after all it is Hawaii, in the start of winter. If the talented teams are not enough, there is always the suspense if the home team Chaminade will pull a huge upset, as they have done on occasion.

4. Haas Pavilion---The California Bears are an up and down team, you never know each year what you are going to get on the floor, but for sure it is worth going and watching the season ticket holders that sit behind the scorer's table. They ooze San Francisco, not Berkeley, old time quality people. You can just tell Bear season tickets have been in the family since the first game in the school's history. These men are the true example of rail-birds, they love the Bears and they love sitting on the rail. There is nothing else like it in the Pac-12.

5. Gonzaga--If you can get in. Good atmosphere, if your in the arena and you do not have either white, blue or red as part of your attire, you can guarantee that someone will go out and buy you a shirt and then ask you to pay for it. Of course the Zags, along with Arizona and UCLA have been the kings of west coast basketball in the last 20 years. And kings fits the way the fans act. Not all, but many Gonzaga fans are the kings of arrogance. I just like to go and watch the arrogance, but I have more class than to go into the arena and hold a sign up "just get to the elite 8", which is missing on the resume. Zag fans, act like you have never been there before.

6. The Pit---The greatest name of any basketball arena in the world. Frank Mercogliano of the New Mexico staff (one of the really good guys in sports) recently told me how it got the name. I was looking for more of an exotic answer, but the floor basically is just like any pit you would see, deep into the ground and that is all to the story. But beyond, the Lobos are usually very good and the place is loud, fun and the second best west coast atmosphere in basketball, next to Utah State. In addition, the people in New Mexico are as friendly as it gets. This is a must see.

7. Of course there are other places, Pauley Pavilion, Warner Pacific College in the middle of Portland, Oregon, both Alaska schools that play in the GNAC conference and Mac Court.

Uh oh, I forgot, Mac Court is no longer, progress is great but there was just something about the old place that is hard to forget.

So there is plenty of choices and I kind of wrote this as a tribute to my good friend Jim Jorgensen, who loves to travel around to unique sports venues, I hope I gave him something to think about.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Sorry, But The Stats Make The Case

2011-07-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is not an indictment of women, it is not even an indictment of women playing basketball, but something has to give.

In the fiscal year ending 2010, of the public NCAA D-1 schools playing basketball, 93 percent of men's programs made money, not one women's basketball program made money.

You would have to think that with all the publicity, all the record breaking winning streaks and a coach that is on TV almost every night during the season, the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team would have made tons of money. Not so. For the fiscal year 2010, the giants of women's basketball lost $740,000 dollars. OUCH.

Last year the average ticket price of NCAA men's games was $19.00, the average price for women's games was $7.00. Average attendance for all D-1 men's games was right around 5,100 and the women were at 1,100.

Is there a picture forming here, I think so. Women are not carrying their share of the load in basketball, the games in most cases are not exciting to watch and schools have to take hard look at the value of women's basketball.

What it boils down to is that the women basketball coaches are paid way to much money and ruins any chance of the a school making a profit. In this day of cutbacks, budget shortfalls and rising tuitions, there is no way that women's coach, who is the CEO of the program, should be paid 75 percent of revenues, which is the case at numerous schools. (For the record, it would be unheard for a business to pay the CEO 75 percent of revenues).

More stats......Sorry. In the six largest conferences, of the 53 public schools in those conferences, once again for the fiscal year ending in 2010, the men's basketball programs showed a profit of $240 million and women showed a loss of $109 million. In the Big Ten, the lowest profit for men was Purdue with $3 million, of course no women's teams even came close to a profit. Texas A&M, which won the NCAA championship women's basketball championship last year, in 2010 lost $2.4 million on their program.

Women, like men deserve a chance to play college basketball. There is nothing like the college experience of athletics and bonding with teammates, many of which you will have as friends for life.

What not is deserved is what women basketball coaches make in salary. Perhaps many of the men coaches are making too much, but if they are showing a profit, it is hard to argue. True it is the fault of the schools for giving these coaches too much money, but as we move down the road, something is going to have to give.

In the year 2013, Geno Auriemma at Connecticut will be making $1.8 million and his team will still be losing money. This is a business model that no one can justify as being good, as are all the other documented statistics about the staggering financial losses for women's college basketball. True there are other lesser sports that lose money, but with women's basketball on TV every night of the week, basketball being a high profile sports and men showing a profit at 93 percent of the schools, change should not even be considered, it should be necessary.

If schools cut total academic programs out as many have done, cut back on all employees, then they sure as heck better start thinking about cutting the salaries of women's basketball coaches, which is dragging the programs down and heading for an economic meltdown.

Act now before there is nothing left to act on.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

It COUNTS

2011-07-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

In my ongoing efforts to bring you great readers some historical stories about west coast college basketball, here we go:

Despite its dismal record and horrible basketball it has produced since 1990, as documented in this blog, Oregon State has a rich history when it comes to west coast basketball and influence nationally as well.

When you talk about the history of Oregon State, you have to talk about Mel Counts, who came to Oregon State from Coos Bay, Oregon, a small, but beautiful city on the Oregon coast.

He played great at Oregon State under famous coach Armory "Slats" Gill, in both 1963 and 1964. Counts' 63 team made it all the way to the NCAA national championship semifinal game only to lose to the Cincinnati Bearcats, in a very lopsided game. In 1964 Counts had an even greater individual basketball year, although the Beavers lost to Seattle U., in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

After the season things got even more monumental for Mel Counts as he was seventh player taken in the first round of the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics and during the summer of 64 (isn't there some song by that name), Counts played on the gold medal winning United States basketball team.

If that wasn't enough for any young man out of Coos Bay, it kept getting better. Not only did Counts get to hone his game even more by being the back-up center to the great Bill Russell for the Boston Celtics, it also gave Counts two NBA championship rings, as the Celtics won NBA the title in in 1965 and 1966,

(For all the stat and trivia guys who read this blog, Mel Counts has the distinction of being one of only 45 basketball players in the world to win an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal.)

It got even more exciting for Counts, but maybe not as much fun as he continued his career in the NBA, with the Baltimore Bullets for short stint before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. While with the Lakers Counts played in three straight NBA finals, 1967-69 and the Lakers lost in all three.

Of those finals, the most memorable was in 1969, when in game seven of the championship finals and the Lakers down nine points, with six minutes to go Counts was inserted into the game for Wilt Chamberlain, who picked up his fifth foul and also appeared to be injured on the same play as he fouled.

Chamberlain never returned to the game, even though he appeared healthy enough too. Counts played the rest of the game and played great, scoring six points, getting five rebounds and three assists all in the six minute period, but it still was not enough, as the Lakers lost the game 108-106 and lost the NBA championship in the process.

To this day, Laker fans around the world are still bummed at then Laker coach Butch van Breda Kolff for not putting Chamberlain back into the game. Would it have made the difference, who knows as we never will find out, but for sure, Counts played great in the final six minutes, better than most back-ups could ever do. Because of Chamberlain not getting back into the game, by all accounts a coaches' decision, many of the top basketball historians have proclaimed this game as the most controversial post season game seven ever in the history of the NBA. (Also for the record, up to this game, Chamberlain had never fouled out of game in his career and many thought if he would have stayed in this game, he was doomed to pick up his sixth foul).

Mel Counts closed out his career in the NBA in 1976, with the New Orleans Jazz, but when we all look back there are very few basketball players who can say they played in an NCAA basketball championship semifinal, were drafted by the Boston Celtics, won an Olympic gold medal, won two NBA championships and were the back-up for two of the five greatest players in the history of the game, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and played 12 years in the NBA.

Nice going Mr. Counts and in the history of west coast basketball, you do COUNT(s).

CRAWFACTS/Edition 5

2011-07-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS is news, notes, fun facts, serious facts, so enjoy please.

1. Seattle U----Sad news last week in the passing of Carl Ervin. Ervin has some great years for the then Redhawks in their previous go around of D-1 basketball. He played point guard from 1976-80, was one of the best passers of the basketball ever on the west coast and is part of what is a great history of Seattle U. basketball.

2. Portland State---Bob Mariani was a fixture sitting behind the scorer's table at both men's and women's games at Portland State. Mr. Mariani recently passed away and will be missed by all. His daughter Teri is of course one of the great names in Portland State athletic history, being the long time highly successful softball coach and after retirement serving as interim athletic director in 2006 after Tom Burman left for Wyoming.

3. Schedules----Two really good pre-league match-ups for west coast teams will be Washington playing Duke at Madison Square Garden in December and a New Year's Eve contest with Gonzaga traveling to Xavier. Significant, because of all the great early season games on TV, that is about it for west coast schools, either a real bias, or the fact west coast basketball needs to schedule better early season games to get back on the map.

4. Stanford----Johnny Dawkins has done a below average job at Stanford in his three years, no one can dispute it. One possible sign a coach might be on the hot seat in basketball is when there is an assistant coaching change that seems odd. Rodney Tention after three years on the bench at Stanford has left for San Diego. We all know, that you do not leave as an assistant at Stanford to become an assistant at San Diego unless there is really good reason and most of the time those "reasons" are not good. You heard it here first, unless Dawkins has a stellar year and gets the Cardinals into the NCAA tournament, he will be replaced by Eric Reveno, who has done wonders at the University of Portland and is a former Stanford assistant and a Stanford grad.

5. Lorenzo Romar----I got a kick out of all the pundits and fans who were commenting that Romar would not be a good coach in the pros, with one of the reasons he has never coached there. Of course there was quite a stir last week in Seattle when Romar was mentioned as a possible successor to Kurt Rambis, which probably leaked out from Minnesota's totally inept GM David Kahn and might even be a fact, as Rambis is still there as coach in Minnesota as of today. Hey, if Mark Jackson, who has never coached a game anywhere in basketball can be hired by the Golden State Warriors as its new coach, then Lorenzo Romar can sure as heck coach in the pros. Romar has done a great job with the Huskies and he has a trait that professional players love. Everyone who knows Romar, plays for him or has dealt with him, likes him very much. In the NBA, it is all about communication when it comes to success.

6. Pac-12---Up and running and we wish it much success in basketball. It appears to have some good leadership and has a nice TV deal in place starting in the 2012-13 season. Speaking of the TV deal, I would like to take to task all the media who think the networks got fleeced in the deal. First of all the last time I checked, they are not turning out the lights at the both FOX and ESPN, almost universally those two networks do not make bad deals. Secondly, this deal is for 12 years and when you factor all the numbers out, it is a great deal right now for both parties and I have hunch, at the end of the deal, the Pac-12 people will be saying, gosh we should have gotten more.

7. Larry Scott---He has accomplished a lot as Pac-12 commissioner. Look for him to leave the position in the next two years and return to working in the tennis world, where his real love is and where he was before coming to the Pac-12. You move when your a hot commodity and in the sports world, never stay too long when your an executive. Before Scott leaves, sources tell me he has on his agenda to improve the basketball officiating program, much the same as he recently did with the football officiating. Pac-12 basketball officiating while getting better, is still not where it should be compared to other leagues.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

75 Days Of A Great Experience

2011-07-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

We all are saying it today, "boy, I can't believe the year is half over already".

I also can't believe it has been 2 1/2 months since I produced my first column in this blog. It has been a great experience and even more so, I have learned a lot about what readers enjoy, do not enjoy and how passionate people are about college basketball.

As we start the second half of the year, I think it might be fun to share with you great readers some things I have learned and hopefully what you have learned as well.

1. Readers love my CRAWFACTS and when you have success with something keep it going. I plan to write the CRAWFACTS column at least once a week from here on out.

2. The most sensitive people in basketball are referees. If you even write one thing about them that they construe as negative, they let you know about it. You would think that people who are under constant criticism, would be a little more cautious about giving out unfound criticism, but in the long run, I appreciate all my critics and just thrilled people would take the time to read this blog.

3. Some people just read this blog to correct my grammar or look for a mistake. I would be the first to admit that often I miss something in proofreading and do have some typos, which is great when people pick that up, but as far as my grammar, I could care less about it. I write this for fun, to hopefully inform and to entertain, so for all you people who want to correct my grammar, write your own blog and good luck to you. A wordsmith I am not.

4. History still means something. Writing about "old time" players always brings a huge response and it is always something when researching that I learn as much as hopefully the readers do. I will continue to do more of bringing you the history of college basketball.

5. Readers like to hear about people who are huge part of college basketball, but are not in the headlines everyday. The responses I get from writing about Danny Miles, from OIT and Brad Jackson, from Western Washington are nothing short of heartwarming. Two people and there are many, many more who could have moved on to make huge money, but have chosen to stay at schools they love and have helped shaped the lives of many students.

6. Some Sports Information Directors at schools are just awesome and others are as arrogant as it gets. I would like to train the arrogant one on just a few things, such as returning calls or emails, saying thank you and quit acting like your the most important person in an athletic department, you are NOT. For the great ones, hats off, long hours, horrible pay and you just keep churning out quality work. It is not forgotten on my part.

7. Oregon Duck fans, well..............I might not call them passionate, instead, what I do know is that if you say even one thing critical of the Ducks, they come out of the woodwork, many times totally ignoring the facts and never thinking their school can do anything wrong no matter what the subject.

8. I really appreciate the people in the media who read this blog daily and often write emails to myself. Many of them are big time broadcasters and many are big time writers, so they could easily pooh-pooh a person like myself. They choose not to and it shows why they are successful. Being an important person does not make you resistant to be being nice. After all, as my great father always said, "there is no price for being nice".

So, I have learned a lot in 75 days and I am sure that the learning curve will never stop. As long as my fingers work, I will continue to do this and my main goals are that it never gets stale, it always informs and even more important it always entertains. I love reading the emails from all of you and thank you.

Lastly I would be totally remiss, not to thank my friend TIM MARSH. Tim set this blog up for myself and it would not be here today, without his great help. He never complained with my stupid questions, instead he just rolled up his sleeves as he does for many people and got the job done. Tim, thank you.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Stern Lost The Combination In This (LOCK)out

2011-06-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Even though I like college basketball better, I do like the NBA, so I can't resist taking my turn among a million other people commenting on the lockout.

Even a little name dropping here, I have friends who were referees in NBA, a friend, who has a son coaching a prominent team and a friend who has a son that is one of the rising stars in the league. (I guess in reality, that makes me old).

Bottom line, I do care and I also care about all the economics and consequences this lockout brings. People forget how much sports does for the economy.

I fully realize that neither owners, general managers, coaches and players are not in need of someone throwing a benefit dinner for them. I do worry about other people who are affected by this lockout, all the way from people who cover the league in the media, to someone who works at games as second job after a long day at their first job and in doing so, they have to in order to make ends meet. They will suffer.

While any third grader fully realizes that the owners have the upper hand and eventually the players will have to give in, I really do not care who is right and who is wrong, I just want NBA basketball.

However, I do have an opinion about one of the main characters in this tragic event.

DAVID STERN

David Stern has been the commissioner of the NBA for a long time. I don't know David Stern and I am sure he could care less about myself. But what I do know, being a student of sports business, he is overrated as a sports commissioner, unless of course people ask him and you would think he is the greatest commissioner of all time.

It is actually time for David Stern to step aside as the head of the NBA. He has run his course, his act has become tired and it is time for fresh ideas and thoughts.

Not to blame him, there is plenty of blame to go around, but how in the world could he let this lockout happen if he is such a great commissioner. Leaders lead and others just act like they are the greatest and many just soak it all in and say, David, your correct.

In the heyday years of the early and mid 90s, the NBA could have been governed by a computer. It was great times for every single business in the world and if you were not succeeding, there was something wrong. Then came the first decade of the 2000s, times have become as tough as they have almost ever been outside of the Great Depression and the NBA has struggled. Was the GREAT DAVID, so great then?

Then in 2010-11, along comes the Miami Heat, the most polarizing team in sports history and things get good again. Ratings for TV go sky high, attendance increases and sponsorships start to come back. Once again DAVID you were not responsible, a guy named LeBron was, rightly or wrongly.

DAVID, you are also not responsible for saving the NBA back in your early days as commissioner as many have suggested.

After all, this is your second work stoppage/lockout/strike in the last 12 years by the NBA, when you were the leader. Most leaders with that record would get banished to the mail room. Wait a second, I have friends who work in the mail room, it might be too good to be banished too.

When you really go back and look at the history of the NBA Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar saved the NBA, directly and indirectly.

When Russell, felt dissed by Harlem Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein and spurned his huge offer to join the Trotters and instead went into the NBA draft in 1955, he made the NBA legitimate and changed the direction of the league forever, with his exciting and dominant play for the Boston Celtics.

Same thing in 1975, when Jabbar was set to leave the Milwaukie Bucks and join the Trotters for more money than he could ever make in the NBA, at the last minute he helped force a trade to the Lakers, at a time when the league was taking another big downward trend and the Lakers alone helped the NBA out of some very rough times and economic disaster. Can you say, SHOWTIME.

Too many people, stay too long, in too many jobs, especially when they are overrated and have completely lost their touch, if they ever had one.

David Stern as an NBA commissioner is a perfect example, if for nothing else this lockout is a complete joke and never should have happened and if you want to take credit for successes as Stern always seems to do, you sure as heck better take credit for failures.

To succeed in life, you have to be able to adapt to change, change in the NBA is long overdue when it comes to a commissioner. David Stern is a wealthy and rich man, he will always land on his feet, but it is time for the feet to land somewhere else besides the NBA office.

emails always welcome at crawscorner@gmail.com

Small Should Not Eliminate The Hall

2011-06-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

In the interest of west coast college basketball please allow myself to get a little provincial for a short time today. For informational purposes, I do live in Oregon.

Over the past several months in the state of Oregon, several prominent people and one really prominent Oregon business, the Portland Trailblazers have made a strong push and I might add rightfully so, to get legendary Blazer broadcaster Bill Schonley into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Mr. Schonley is in the running this year for the Curt Gowdy Award, which annually selects a sportscaster for induction into the most prestigious honor anyone involved in the game of basketball can receive, hall of fame induction.

While Schonley would be a great choice, what many Oregonians and basketball people alike have missed, is that there is an Oregonian who deserves to be in the basketball hall of fame, ahead of Bill Schonley.

His name is DANNY MILES. Back in May, I documented Coach Miles history as basketball coach at Oregon Institute of Technology, in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Just a little recap, Mr. Miles will begin his 41st season this year coaching the Owls. He is second all time in career wins for all college basketball coaches at 937. His OIT team won the NAIA national championship in both 2004 and 2008. His teams at OIT have 10 times won 30 games and 21 times have won 25 games. Miles is a member of both the NAIA and Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr. Miles will more than likely never be pushed by the national media to become a hall of fame member, he might not even get the support of the Oregon media or prominent people in the state, but he does have my support and many others who KNOW the game of basketball.

Being a coach in a small town, at small school and being NAIA, as compared to NCAA, should not hinder a person from being in the basketball hall of fame. It is the person's record that should count and Coach Miles' record passes all the smell tests to become a hall of fame inductee, which quite frankly, I should not even have to be writing about, it should have happened by now. I challenge anyone to take a look at the list of basketball hall of fame inductees and dispute my claim.

As I have mentioned before, if Miles were on the east coast he would be revered, out here on the west coast he just keeps on winning basketball games and flies under the radar.

So for all the Oregonians and all basketball people, it is great you are thinking of Bill Schonley, but the push should have been Danny Miles first, Bill Schonley second, when it comes to being a deserving member of the basketball hall of fame.

And while this might seem like an Oregon issue, it is not. It is an issue for all people who love basketball, the hall of fame is such an honor and deserving people like Danny Miles should never be FORGOTTEN.

Coach Miles for people who know your history and know about you, everyday you are a hall of famer, let's just make this official nationally.

Will These Dogs Ever Bark Again

2011-06-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

West Coast college basketball really needs the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Washington Huskies to start playing basketball games again.

For now it is not going to happen and maybe more telling, he might not happen for a long, long time.

The last meeting between the Bulldogs and Huskies was 2007. At that time, the Zags had won 8 of the last 10 meetings, but dominance did not end the series.

What did end the series is the still simmering feud between head coaches Lorenzo Romar and Mark Few. It all started with the recruiting of Josh Heytvelt, as everyone knows who wound up at Gonzaga. The Huskies got in trouble over the recruiting and all fingers were pointed at Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, for turning the Huskies in to the NCAA.

Feuds happen all the time in college basketball, especially with the ever intense recruiting battles that go on each and every day.

But continuing feuds are bad for everyone and in this case it is all of college basketball that loses out. Without question Gonzaga and Washington are two of the top five basketball programs on the west coast. They both have national prominence almost every year and they live in a state that has a city, Seattle, that produces and will continue to produce some of the best high school basketball talent in the United States.

A recent proposal by the Huskies was to play a three game series and each year play the games at Key Arena. Not even close to a fair proposal, but to get this feud ended, it has to start somewhere. I have an even better proposal, which would bring in plenty of money, get this rivalry going again and is fair to both schools.

How about one game in Spokane, one game in Seattle and one game in Vancouver B.C. Don't kid yourself, there are plenty of great basketball fans in Canada, they might not even riot after the game and Canada continues to produce some very good players, as both Washington and Gonzaga rosters in the past can attest too.

At some point this bitter feud has to end and someone has to budge. Some say both schools don't need each other as opponents to be a success. What I say to that is that no two schools are bigger than the game, the game of basketball needs Gonzaga and Washington to play again and it is time for differences to be set aside and make it happen.

Both sides can continue to be selfish, deprive lots of people of enjoyment and great basketball, but in the long run all that brings is for both sides to look totally foolish to anyone and everyone who cares and there are plenty that do care this rivalry starts again, heated or not.

I am always amazed how people in sports do not look at the big picture, in this case they don't even look out the window and across the great state of Washington. It is time to settle the differences and take the high road. Don't hold your breath.

WWE, Not In My Arena

2011-06-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

The game of basketball as we all know was invented by Dr. James Naismith. He for years thought it would enhance physical education in all schools. (With all the school cutbacks, wonder what he is thinking today about physical education)?

I have a pretty strong feeling he never intended to take the EDUCATION part out of basketball. Let's call it like it is, the college game is becoming way too rough and it is at times ruining the ability of talented players to do their thing and move freely both with the ball and without it.

We all agree that no basketball game should a parade to the foul line. Heaven forbid, if you follow my blog on a daily basis the last thing we want during regulation play is a bunch of inept free throw shooters as in the case in today's game, going to the line, with the exception of the second overtime, as I have proposed. Heck we have enough goofy fans yelling at every game, "hey ref, let em play".

What we do need is some enforcement from game referees on calling the game the way it is suppose to be called and was intended to be called. Rough play has no part in the game of basketball. I do not buy the argument that the game has had a natural gravitation towards rougher play because the players are bigger and stronger. That to me is the ultimate cop-out.

I also will always defend referees for the most part as they do a pretty good job night in and night out, in what is the toughest game in my opinion to officiate. What I can't defend is the fact that there is a lack of consistency in the way games are called and more importantly in talking to many basketball referees there is a lack of referees being trained properly, in the college game today. Many college referees today are begging for more training and it is often ignored by respective conferences , for what reason, it is really hard to figure out.

Once again if you read this blog daily or for the first time readers, I like to offer solutions.

1. All teams not only play a large amount of pre-season games, but they also have before play even begins, many scrimmages. Simple message from officials working these games, we are going to clean up rough play and this time, WE MEAN IT.

2. Referees throughout the year should have plays sent to them that shows the difference between rough play and what is great defense or good rebounding position. Repeating, constant training of officials is lacking in the college game today and if an official is resistant to change, he needs his schedule cut back until he can conform to what he is being told to do.

3. I love basketball coaches, they have such a positive influence on shaping the lives of young people today, it is a story that is never told enough. Basketball coaches do have too much influence on officiating, they get too involved in how the game is called and they are too involved in who calls their games. Let the process of who is a good official and who is not, be left up to experts, i.e. evaluators, trainers, supervisors. Coaches should coach and referees should referee, plain and simple.

This year, for all its many faults, the NBA did a great job on cracking down early on players complaining about calls. Although at times the policy became a little too inconsistent and as the season wore on a little more lax in how referees handled complaining, it for the most part worked and it among many fans made the games much more enjoyable not seeing the constant bickering.

College basketball, it is ok to copy what works. Start enforcing rough play from the get-go of the season's opening tip-off and do not back down, until players and coaches learn that your serious about cleaning up rough play. Making it a point of emphasis, does not cut it anymore in basketball. Points of emphasis only work if they are carried out, not as they are at present, listened too and then disregarded and laughed at by many.

Every year I hear about how we are going to clean up the rough play in college basketball and every year once the season begins it becomes an after thought. NCAA and its conferences, put some teeth in curbing rough play. It is time that everyone comes to the party and the college game will be much better for it. Rough play will soon ruin college basketball, but it is never too late do something about it. It takes training and guts to enforce rules.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

From Orange Express To Mere Lemons

2011-06-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

It hard to believe it has been 30 years since the great Oregon State Beaver basketball team of the 1980-81 season.

Known as the "Orange Express", the Beavers not only captivated the west coast, but the nation that year, going 26-2, being the number one ranked team in every poll you can think of for 25 straight weeks and then stunning everyone, by losing to Kansas State in first round of the NCAA tournament. A horrible ending to a great regular season.

And speaking of horrible, that is exactly what the Beavers have been almost year in and year out, since the retirement of Ralph Miller in 1989. Miller was not only a great winning coach in his 18 years at Oregon State, but he also thrilled all Oregonians in his tenure, by seeming to get almost every year, the top high school players in the Beaver State, to join his Beavers.

Since the Ralph Miller days at Oregon State, starting in 1990, the Beavers have had six coaches, including present coach Craig Robinson, not one of those coaches having a winning record. Hard times to say the least in Corvallis, of which nothing was harder than the short stint of Kevin Mouton, who replaced Jay John in the middle of season and painfully the Beavers closed out the year going 0-13 under the direction of Mouton.

Hard times might not even come close to describing the Beavers in basketball since 1990. Telling is the fact despite the awful times in the last 20 years, Oregon State still has the 16th winningest all- time program in NCAA history, despite the fact the last appearance for the Beavers the 'big dance' was 1990.

Fast forward, to 2008, the first year of present coach Craig Robinson and expectations became high again as a new coach brings a fresh start and hopefully changes for the better.

I fully realize you have never heard this before, but Robinson is the brother-in-law of the President of the United States. To be fair we should not judge his coaching on that, but also to be fair, it should be a HUGE advantage to him when it comes to recruiting. We would be foolish to realize a person should not capitalize on the fact he is very close to the President of the United States, anyone of us would take full advantage of that, but with that you would also think it might transcend onto some success in that person's profession, in this case a head coach at a Pac-12 school.

Robinson begins his fourth year on the gorgeous Oregon State campus in the 2011-12 season and it is time for the Beavers to step up. Hopes and dreams should no longer be acceptable. Robinson also needs to take a hard look at his offense. He loves the Princeton system, but with the players he has and their athleticism, the Beavers need to speed up, it is that simple. Kids today are not into running the 35 second clock down to 32 seconds on almost every offensive play.

Robinson by almost all accounts is a nice person. He has three players on his team, that I think have the potential to be Pac-12 stars in Jared Cunningham, Chris Brown and Devon Collier, but paper only looks good when you write on it. I actually do think that Coach Robinson can bring the Beavers back to some success in basketball, the big "IF" is that in his fourth year, it is time to PROVE it.

In Corvallis, even though the EXPRESS is gone, there still is plenty of ORANGE in Gill Coliseum, sadly that orange is all the seats that are painted that color and have no one sitting in them the during basketball games. Will the glory days of Oregon State basketball ever return? I guess it is possible, but for it to happen no longer can continual coaching changes be the answer and renewed hope, the answer comes from producing right now and getting the mojo back. One can only HOPE.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

The Door Is Open

2011-06-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

I write this column today, fully knowing that the rule changes for NCAA basketball for 2011-12 season are fully in place, but it is always interesting and fun to look back what could have happened.

This examination is even more important to look at since the it appears the lockout/strike of NBA players will last much longer than anticipated and like the last labor event in the NBA, college basketball will pick up many new fans.

While college basketball still is very popular, I do agree with some critics that the game has become stagnant. The Butler-Connecticut championship game was almost unwatchable this past season, but one game should not make people jump and change things, it is the overall pattern of college basketball in the past three years, that should bring about change.

Some basics could easily make the college game better, more fun to watch and bring in new fans, NBA or no NBA.

1. Reduce the shot clock down from 35 seconds to 29 seconds. Jazz the change up a little bit, don't go to the standard oh we will reduce it down by five seconds, 29 seconds has ring to it and is plenty of time for any team to get a quality shot off. The game needs to speed up and this is a simple fix.

2. Plain and simple, four full time outs per half(no more each team gets x-amount of time outs per half), plus one 30 second time out of which either team could use, no exceptions. These time outs would come the first dead ball under the 16:00,12:00,8:00,4:00 minute marks. It would more than satisfy the need for a coach to develop strategy and it meets the needs of the media. College basketball has too many time outs at present, time outs in many cases ruin the flow of a good game and it for sure would make the last two minutes of the game more exciting. As much respect as I have for coaches, they have over-coached the time out rules, it is literally "time" for a drastic change. For an injured player, that is an officials' time out, does not count in the basic time out rules and the player must leave the game and can only come back in on the first dead ball.

3. Bring back pre-game dunking. Dunking is and always will be a great part of basketball. Make the pre-game rules the same as during the game, if a player hangs on the rim, technical foul. Schools would sell more merchandise, more concessions, just by people getting there early to see the warmups, plus more kids, the future fans of the game, would love to come to games, just to watch the pre-game. We can't lose a generation of young fans, as baseball seems to have done.

If you are the decision makers, you just can't sit back and think things will always be the same. Sports that succeed in the long run adapt to change and more importantly they see the need for change when it becomes obvious. The above changes might not seem that important to some, but to keep the college game as great as it needs to be, these changes are no-brainers.

emails, crawscorner@gmail.com

CRAWFACTS/Edition 4

2011-06-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS is news, notes, info and whatever you want to call it. Enjoy.

UCLA---In the last CRAWFACTS, I wrote about Ben Howland adding famous AAU coach Korey McCray to his staff and how McCray could have an immediate impact on the Bruins' recruiting. My prediction did not take long to be true, as on Monday the Bruins received a commitment from Jordan Adams, by almost all accounts one of the top 100 players in the country out of the class of 2012. Adams plays for Oak Hill Academy and also had been part of McCray's highly successful AAU team, the Atlanta Celtics, out of Adams' home town of Atlanta. Of course the big question will be is if Shaq Goodwin, a teammate of Adams' on Celtics and one of the top five players in the class of 2012, will follow Adams to Westwood, as many think he will indeed do.

USGA---Of course the reaction to my thoughts on the USGA and where they should play future U.S. Opens, as well why Pumpkin Ridge would have been a much better site for the 2015 Open, than Chambers Bay drew an overwhelming reaction. (Perhaps, with the responses I got, I should stick to golf and not write about basketball, but that is not going to happen). Of course any mention that Chambers Bay is not a good a good U.S. Open site, hit a major nerve with Washingtonians, as expected and any mention of Pumpkin Ridge as a great site hit a home run with Oregonians. The rest of the great 48 also weighed in, most people loving the idea of spreading the Open out to all 50 states in the next 50 years, so I thank everyone for their support of my GREAT idea. One thing is for sure, all the flimsy excuses that USGA staffers use as to why Pumpkin Ridge is not a good site for to host the U.S. Open are totally unfounded and better yet, just not TRUE. (The week of the British Open in July, I plan to write about this even more, so please come back at that time.)

Nicknames---With the official opening for business of the Pac-12 on July 1st, 10 out of the 12 Pac-12 teams will have animal nicknames, the two exceptions being Utah Utes and Arizona State Sun Devils. Utes is named after a Native American tribe with its roots being Utah. Very nice. Sun Devils gets a little more complicated on how it came about and some of the reasons behind it. Sun Devil is some kind of weather event, similar to a dust bowl or whirlwind, which I actually do not see too much and thankfully avoid. Sparky the Arizona State Sun Devil, was created by famous Disney artist, Birk Anthony back in the 1940s and some even have gone as far as to say he wanted Sparky to look somewhat like the great Walt Disney in facial features. I think from here on out, I will avoid talking about nicknames and mascots, although if you look it up, there is a mascot hall of fame.

Referees---I have learned that several Big Sky men's coaches are becoming increasingly frustrated with the officiating they get during league play, as opposed to the referees they receive during pre-season play. In fairness, during pre-season, games are played on various different days of the week, so the pool to choose officials expands. During the season for the most part, games are played on Thursday-Saturday, the same nights that both the Pac-12 and West Coast Conference choose to play, along with many times the Western Athletic Conference. Unfortunately the Big Sky is last on the pecking order for where officials choose to work games and is also the lowest in pay of the conferences mentioned above, so they are not going to get the best choice of referees available. I have long thought the Big Sky, should play a league schedule with games on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon games are popular in most of the country and if you want to consider academics, cost and anything else, a Friday-Sunday schedule makes lots of sense. Considering the it is the Big Sky, I am not holding my breath on changes.

Odds and Ends---Speaking of the Utah Utes, they quite frankly will not be very good next year in basketball under new coach Larry Krystowiak, but there is some hope on the horizon for 2012-13, when two pretty good transfers the Utes have picked up will be eligible to play. Glen Dean out of the Seattle area and a transfer from Eastern Washington is a nice player and another player who starred at Rainier Beach high in the Seattle area and then went on to LSU, Aaron Dotson, has decided to transfer to Utah and both will be eligible to play in 2012. While these two players will not alone propel the Utes to upper division in the Pac-12, they will help in the rebuilding process.

Speaking of the Seattle area, if Lorenzo Romar does leave the Huskies for the Minnesota Timberwolves head coaching position as he is being considered for, look for the usual suspects to be candidates to replace him. I have not alway jumped on the Mark Few bandwagon, but I would think at some point he might leave Gonzaga and this would be a natural move. Cameron Dollar, head coach at Seattle U. would also be a candidate, being an assistant for Romar, before taking the Redhawks job. It might not be unrealistic as well to think of Ken Bone, now at Washington State to be in the mix, with his Seattle area ties and being another former assistant for Romar, it happened before when Marv Harshman went from WSU to the Huskies. The real surprise candidate and a good fit would be Kevin Stallings out of Vanderbilt, who has ties to the present Husky AD and by most standards has done a great job at Vanderbilt.

My take is that if Romar were offered the Timberwolves job he would jump at the chance and also the Washington job is a position that would be highly coveted by many top coaches as the Puget Sound area is ripe with high school basketball talent and will only get better.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Will Hornets Still Be Stuck In Mud

2011-06-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

Unlike other sports fans, I am not really a strong fan of any specific sports teams.

I love sports and actually love the business of sports even more.

For new readers and old readers, it is rather evident I do love basketball and have grown more and more each year of my life, to love college basketball.

Without being a fan, there are some teams I just root for, for reasons sometimes that are complex and sometimes easy to explain.

The Sacramento Hornets men's basketball team is one team as of late that I root for.

It is not even the fact that I love Sacramento as a city, it has friendly people, the way they have supported the losing ways of the Kings as of late is tremendous and the whole area does a great job of supplying our nation with great food.

It is the fact that I just like their head coach Brian Katz. I have never met him, never conversed with him and might never get the chance too.

What I like about Katz is his demeanor on the sidelines during a game and the way he coaches. He carries himself as well as any college coach in the game today with the way he treats his players, the way he treats referees and the way he treats fans and the media.

I don't buy this crap that it is always about wins-losses or the fact you have to act like a jerk to be a good coach. In his three years at Sacramento State, Katz does not have a stellar record, but things do seem to be improving, as each year he has won more conference games than the previous season and last year lost eight games by a total of six points or less.

This year the Hornets have a nice recruiting class coming in and I do feel they are ready to take a major leap in the Big Sky standings, the league at least on paper appears to be as wide open as it has been in many years.

It will be a pivotal year for Katz, being the fourth of what is thought to be a five year contract. In this day and age of quick changes and it is all about the bottom line, patience sometimes does not prevail like it should.

Brian Katz to myself appears to be a person who conducts himself the way we expect people to conduct themselves in life. That is why I am rooting for a successful Hornet basketball season and I will be watching the progress for sure.

Sometimes my greatest joy in writing this blog is writing about people, players and teams in the Big Sky. The Big Sky has some really good coaches and the league plays a good band of basketball, but puzzling always is that the Big Sky office seems to treat basketball as an after thought and does a horrible job marketing the sport. Example, the post season play-offs in the Big Sky are as archaic as any play-offs in all NCAA sports. I am not sure the Big Sky office even knows that we landed on the moon or that Lyndon Johnson is not the President.

So Brian Katz, wishing you a great basketball season and Big Sky office wishing you to come out of your sleepy ways.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Will This ROAD Have Curves

2011-06-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Although it is basically ceremonial, it still will be exciting for the Pac-10 to become the Pac-12 officially on July 1st.

It will be the first expansion of the Pac-10, since 1978, when it was then the Pac-8 and brought into the conference, two great universities, Arizona State and Arizona.

Of course the newcomers for 2011, will be Utah and Colorado, I would have preferred Texas and BYU, which will not happen for awhile, but at least with Colorado it brings in a nice new TV market in the Denver area.

While football will get the immediate attention, I thought it would be interesting to look at what the Pac-12 basketball teams will face on the road, when visiting the new schools and while it is the players that will make the difference, it might be fun now to take a look at the basketball arenas of the two schools.

For some reason, current Pac-10 teams have had very little experience playing on the road against Utah and Colorado as they never seem to have scheduled these two schools for pre-season games for whatever reason.

On paper, Colorado appears to have the best basketball team of the two new additions, but it does not have the best arena.

The Buffalos, play in the Coors Event Center, which first opened in 1979 and took on its name in 1990 when the Coors Brewing Company gave the school, $5,000,000 in what we call today a naming rights deal. The arena seats 11,000, has very little history to speak about and in my mind kind of fits in with the dull arenas we see in the Pac-10 today, outside of the new Matthew Knight Arena at Oregon. Of course we all know dull can change to sharp with a ongoing successful basketball program, something Colorado has lacked, but has a chance to change with the coaching of Tad Boyle, one of the rising stars of the coaching ranks in NCAA basketball.

On the other hand, history abounds in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, home arena of the Utah Utes. (By the way, Mr. Huntsman's son, Jon M. Huntsman Jr. just announced today he is running for President on the Republican Side, but please do not apply the Fairness Doctrine to Craw's Corner).

While the Utes who use to be pretty good in basketball, but have fallen on hard times as of late, they still will have the largest arena in the Pac-12, seating just over 15,000 people and it will always show good on TV, despite being built in 1969, it has retained a charming atmosphere for basketball.

The Jon M. Huntsman Center will forever be remember as the site of the 1979 NCAA championship game(yes they did not alway play the Final Four in these lousy dome stadiums) between Indiana State and Michigan State, featuring the great battle between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

A game which is still talked about today and still has the great distinction of having the largest TV audience ever to WATCH a college basketball game. (That is a record, which boggles the mind when you thing about it).

In addition, history also will tell you that the first performer ever to perform in the Huntsman Center was none other the great Bill Cosby, still great and still going strong today.

Both of these new/old arenas to the Pac-12 will neither be scary to play in, nor will they be bad places to visit for opposing teams, I still wish I would be writing about Texas and BYU, but you know what? I not sure that any of the powers that be care, which is always fine with me.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

The Honeycomb Could Sting As Well

2011-06-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

The state of Idaho and more specifically the Idaho Vandals have not seen anything like him since and might never see anything like him in the future.

Gus Johnson is the greatest player ever in Idaho Vandal history. He only played for one year at Idaho, 1962-63, but what a year it was. Johnson averaged 19 points and 20 rebounds per game during the season and lead the Vandals to a 20-6 record. His team, also that season went 4-0 against Oregon and 4-1 against, Washington State, two of their bitter rivals at that time. (Yes they did play four and five times against each other, to save travel costs).

Despite the fact it lasted only one year, it was truly an amazing time in Idaho Vandal basketball history. The team played in 3,500 seat Memorial Gym , but when I contacted a local, who I have known for some time last week, he assured me that the stories are true, for every home game during the season, there were easily 4,500 people in the arena by game time and often people would line up three days in advance just to get in. (My friend also wanted me to know the Fire Marshall, loved the Vandals).

Johnson was so good that his coach Joe Cipriano named him "The Honeycomb", because of his sweet play on the court. Johnson was also beloved in Moscow, Idaho, there still to this day many photos of him hanging on the walls of local businesses. There is still something very romantic about small towns and their basketball heros, no matter what the level of play.

If you ask NBA people today, as I have and even retired referees, although "Dr. J" is considered to be the greatest dunker of all time, they will tell you that Gus Johnson was on a par or even greater than Erving when it came to dunking the basketball. Heck, he even broke three backboards in his NBA playing career during games.

In that career, Johnson played 11 professional seasons, most notably with the Baltimore Bullets, where ha had a stellar career and even went on to win an ABA championship with the Indiana Pacers in 1973. The Bullets retired Johnson's jersey in 1986 and Idaho retired his jersey in 1987 and inducted him into their first ever Hall of Fame class in 2007. Not to mention, you have to be awfully good to be elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., of which Johnson attained in 2010, 23 years after his death in 1987.

With the NBA draft coming up this Thursday, it is also interesting to think about how Johnson was drafted in the 1963 NBA draft. He was taken as the 10th overall pick in the SECOND ROUND, yes the 10th pick in those days was in the second round, oh how times as have changed.

It is also worth noting that five years after that 1963 draft, Lakers general manager at the time of the draft, Lou Mohs, admitted he blew it by taking Roger Strickland as the 7th overall pick rather than Johnson. He told several people, if he would have taken Johnson, the Lakers would have had several more championship banners hanging from their rafters. Mohs was an interesting character and was brought in to run the Lakers when owner Bob Short moved the team from Minneapolis in 1960. Despite being close to Idaho, he never made an attempt to see Johnson play in college, but to Mohs' credit he did a great job of running the Lakers in his tenure as their GM.

It is easy for many people who don't understand the game of basketball to sit back and say that Gus Johnson would just be an average player in today's game. WRONG. Gus Johnson would be a super-star on any team in the league on any day, any year and anytime in the future, he was more than good.

Too bad the Idaho Vandals only got him for one season, but in Moscow, Idaho, it for sure was a season of JOY.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

This COURT Should Not Be In Session

2011-06-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

On December 5th, 2011 St John's will travel to Detroit Mercy to play the Titans. (A college basketball match-up I have been lobbying to see for years).

December 5th will also mark the 32nd anniversary of Dick Vitale being with ESPN and he will be on the national broadcast that night from Detroit.

Dick Vitale is without question a basketball icon, a Hall of Famer. As for TV, he still is the most recognizable college basketball figure in the game today. His enthusiasm for the game is unmatched and he is loved by many, especially the students, wherever he travels to do games on ESPN.

Is he the best national college basketball analyst? No he is not, Jimmy Dykes of ESPN has moved into that slot, he brings it every game and he knows the game and players, like none other.(Dan Belluomini is the best of all time, he just never chose a national path). Vitale is still good, he has slipped a little in recent years, it happens. He continues to be a person who greets everyone the same and always has time for the little people, when he goes to game as a spectator he neither seeks attention or wants the attention, he is for real and thus his popularity continues to high with fans, players and coaches. He has earned his respect not only professionally, but as fine human being.

What Dick Vitale has not earned is the fact that on December 5th, Detroit Mercy will honor Vitale by naming its basketball court, Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall. Being a prominent national figure in the game does not merit having a basketball court named after you, especially in this case. Detroit Mercy did not think this one out.

Dick Vitale coached at Detroit Mercy from 1973-77. He did a respectable job, winning 78 games and losing 37, not Hall of Fame coaching numbers, but a record most coaches would die for. But since when does winning 78 games at one school, let alone the fact that Vitale's time at Detroit Mercy ended his college coaching career and after short stint with the Detroit Pistons, his ESPN career began. 78 college coaching career wins ...... no way does that merit naming a court after you.

There is no arguing that Dick Vitale is great for college basketball, is a great person and deserves every bit of attention he gets. But naming basketball courts should be reserved for someone who has done something really SPECIAL for that school, not just something special nationally. Longevity at the school should count as well, think about it, it has been 34 years since Vitale coached at Detroit Mercy.

Dick Vitale deserves almost every award he has either gotten or what will happen in the future. But for sure one honor that he does NOT deserve is having a basketball court named after him at a school he had 78 career wins, he only coached at for only four years and has never had much of an association with the school since he left.

Honors, awards, naming of places should be SPECIAL, have lots of meaning and be reserved specifically for someone who has contributed not only through success, but also YEARS of service to the school, organization or business. In this case Dick Vitale does not fit the criteria and thus on this verdict about Detroit Mercy's COURT, they should plead guilty as charged.

emails to crawscorner@gmail. com

VERY SPECIAL HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO EVERYONE. I WISH MY DAD WERE ALIVE TODAY. HE WAS SO SPECIAL IN EVERY WAY.

Craw's Corner Bonus Edition/On This One They Goofed Big Time

2011-06-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

I love the military and everything they do for us in this great country. As a matter of fact, when it is feasible, I walk up to men and women and thank them for their service to our country. The smile I get back is worth it.

I also love ESPN, to me no one else does college basketball like they do, while all networks do a superb job of covering college basketball, ESPN to myself is just a little bit better, both with their production and studio shows.

I also have great respect for November 11th, when we honor our military with Veteran's Day. How cool is it this year, 11-11-11.

In honor of Veteran's Day this year, ESPN will broadcast a game live from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, from San Diego harbor. It will be quite a spectacle, the seating will be for 7,000 people, it will be outdoors and who knows even Phil Mickelson in his hometown, might be the guest announcer, to be an expert on wind conditions. This has all the makings of a very special broadcast, on a very important day. (For the record as of this writing it is 99 percent chance this game will be on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson, of course if you have been following the news, the USS Carl Vinson was the carrier that dumped Osama Bin Laden's body into the ocean for burial. Kind of eerie, but by military scheduling, it makes this the ship, the available ship that can handle this type of game.)

Oh, can't forget the participants, Michigan St. versus North Carolina, a rematch of the 2009 national championship game. Fine teams always, probably a competitive game.

But if for just a second can I take the patriotism out and key match-up element out?

WHY IS THERE NOT A WEST COAST TEAM IN THIS MATCH-UP OR EVEN BETTER WHY NOT A DOUBLEHEADER FEATURING WEST COAST TEAMS, WHICH IS BEING PLAYED IN A KEY WEST COAST CITY THAT TAKES PRIDE IN ITS MILITARY CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS.

It is not a complaint, it just a fact, west coast basketball once again gets left in the dust at time when there is no good reason to do so.

1. San Diego State, won 34 games last year and could have even a better team this year. Why were they not invited. Let alone this game is being played in the town of San Diego, with its awesome military history where our men and women are honored and revered every day.

2. Why was Arizona not invited. As documented in previous blogs, perhaps the best recruiting class in the country coming in and a potential super star coach, the Wildcats can compete with most anybody and could even win the national title this year or next.

3. Why not the second half of the doubleheader, Air Force versus Navy? Better yet, why with such a great venue, not a doubleheader?

4. How about the Washington Huskies? Always exciting, great brand of ball and he is not only an outstanding coach, but Lorenzo Romar just happens to be African-American coach. So many great African-Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in our military, it would be even more of a special tribute.

5. Or one more, how about another west coast team like the Oregon Ducks playing in this event? Can you imagine the uniforms for this special day that Uncle Phil and his Nike staff could have come up with for this special day and special game.

North Carolina and Michigan State are TV ratings teams, but considering the importance of this day and the setting on a military ship outdoors, this game will draw a huge rating even if the Washington Generals were playing Cal Tech (the two biggest losing teams in all of basketball), plus you can be assured we will see plenty of the Spartans and Tar Heels during the year and finally, unless I am missing something these two chosen schools have no greater of a significant military history, than other college and universities in this great country. (I do realize this has been reported the idea for this came from Michigan State, great idea, but it does take two teams to play a game and in this case it should have been four teams.)

As I always try to bring fairness, scheduling always is an issue, but I do know college basketball and I think I have given the promoters of this event, Morale Entertainment Company, some pretty good choices above, which easily could have been made.

The day and meaning of the day, far outweigh the teams playing, but it would be remiss on my part not to at least bring to the attention, that once again west coast college basketball gets a slap in the face and left in the dust. Morale Entertainment Company and Michigan State, hats off for bringing this idea forward, but hats stepped on for your choice of teams, you BLEW THIS ONE.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

The BEAT Goes On

2011-06-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Greg Hansen is the sports columnist for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson.

He is one of my favorite newspaper columnists in the entire country. You can just tell he loves his job, he brings it everyday and he is really, really good at his job.

It has always intrigued me how a columnist in an area that has over 1,000,000 people, has no major league team, but has one team that is in the spotlight year around, the Arizona Wildcats basketball team, works their craft.

So instead of continuing to wonder, I reached out to Greg Hansen recently and he was kind enough to communicate back.

Arizona basketball in the last 20 years for the most part has not only had major national prominence, but has been the dominate program in the west when it comes college basketball, no one even close.

An obvious question to Hansen, with all the star power of Arizona basketball over the years, who is the best all time Arizona Wildcat player. Without question he answers Sean Elliott. Hansen backs that up with the fact he is a local guy, two time all-american, national player of the year in 1989 and goes on to say if he had not come along in Lute Olson's third year at Arizona in 1985, there might not have been no final fours, no long run of Pac-10 titles, no ability to recruit NBA type players year in and out. In addtion to the fact, Hansen calls Elliott the best clutch player the Wildcats have ever had, no contest. High praise, from someone who has watched Arizona basketball since 1981.

Hansen also has high praise for Sean Miller, the present coach of the Wildcats. He likes the job is doing, but like a lot of other people wonders how long he might be at Arizona, noting Miller is an east coast guy and almost every year there is going to be great jobs come open that will for sure tempt Miller. But the best compliment Greg Hansen gives Sean Miller is that as it stands now, he could be on the Lute Olson level in a hurry, with his ability not only to game coach, but to recruit top players to Tucson.

Is another national championship in the future for Arizona with Miller at the helm and great recruits flocking to the school? Hansen thinks that with the incoming recruiting class, 2012-13 might be the year for the Wildcats to make another run for a national title and at the very least to be at the top of the mix.

So does interest in Arizona Wildcat basketball every wane in the greater Tucson area? According to Hansen, fans can never get enough facts and information, it never stops, even in the days following the retirement of Lute Olson and some down years and now with Miller leading the Cats back to the top, the interest never ceases and readers can never get enough information on Arizona hoops.

It is only fair when you communicate an outstanding columnist to ask how to they stay on top of things each day. Hansen says most writers have a thirst each day for new and fresh information which drives their work and allows you not to be lapped by everyone else and today that applied more than ever, with the abundance of web writers and bloggers.

For some reason, reading Greg Hansen all these years, I have a good feeling not too many people as good a columnist as he is, are ever going to lap Greg Hansen.

By the way if you want to read Greg Hansen's columns, you can go to www.azstarnet.com and even better yet, with summer coming and people looking for good books to read, Greg Hansen's book, "Hustling to beat deadline" is an outstanding book and if you like sports, a must read.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

Craw's Corner Bonus Edition/USGA Please

2011-06-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who read this blog on a daily basis, 99 percent of the time I am going to write about college basketball, but when there is a big sporting event on the horizon, please allow to share some thoughts. College basketball will always be my focal point, rest assured. But.........

Tomorrow starts the great four days of the U.S. Open Golf Championship. It will be played this year at Congressional Country Club, outside of Washington, D.C. It is always a pressured packed tournament, par or just below or above is usually the winning score and it is fun to watch both in person and on TV.

The U.S. Open is put on by the United State Golf Association. When I have covered their events as a member of the media, I have always been impressed. Nice people and well organized. They treat people with class.

But what I don't get about the USGA, is their selection of golf courses to host the U.S. Open. Like lots of things in sports, the West gets cheated when it comes to courses hosting these events. Yes I do know that it has been played at Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines and the Olympic Club in California. One great course, one average course and one above average course, I might even be a little too polite here, but I have friends in California.

In 2015, the U.S. Open will come to the great Northwest, when Chambers Bay, outside of Tacoma, Washington hosts the event. Here is where I get a little steamed. Chambers Bay is about five years old, it did host the U.S Amateur in 2010, but for someone like myself who knows the game, it is an average golf course at best, which just happens to have great views. And get this, it has yet to have a permanent clubhouse, some say the clubhouse it is in the works, others say it will NEVER happen. Actually it will be kind of neat to see Tiger Woods changing his shoes in the parking lot. Better yet, will they even be Nikes at that time? Just kidding Phil.

Even sadder, Chambers Bay is not even in one of the top ten golf courses in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area and maybe more telling if the USGA would have really been thinking about quality golf courses in the Northwest, then why on earth did they bypass Oregon and more specifically Pumpkin Ridge (Ghost Creek), Crosswater and Eugene Country Club. It is not even arguable what these three great golf courses bring to the table, especially Pumpkin Ridge and especially compared to Chambers Bay. Politics within the UGSA shamefully played a big part in this poor decision.

Ok, ok, enough complaining, but fair is fair and some decisions although already made, still deserve to be debated.

Now for the good part, if the USGA really cares about the game and more importantly, the future of a game like golf, that at present, needs a big shot in the arm, why not do this.

I think the U.S. Open is scheduled out through 2020 or close to that year. How about as of right NOW make this grand announcement, beginning in 2021, we have decided each of our great 50 states for the next 50 years will get the U.S. Open. I can assure you there is at least one golf course in every state that is worthy of hosting the U.S. Open. Besides it being the right thing to do, can you imagine the excitement it would bring to a state, with the USGA announcing their selection on national TV five years in advance, or stories people could tell for years about their own state having hosted the U.S. Open.

Besides the talked about practical part, the business side of this is enormous. If it ever happened, I would like to have 1/10 of one percent of that economy. While the USGA is made up of fine and classy people, it has never been known for outside the box thinking, this could change its whole culture. There are probably 35 states out of the 50, which have never hosted a U.S. Open. How about collecting the 50 state U.S. Open coins, or a hat from every course or better yet a ball marker. (I hope that would not ruin my amateur status.)

By the way, marking the calendar right now for 2030 and Johnny Miller saying it is great to be here in Fairbanks, Alaska, where darkness will never interfere with any play-off or even better, today Roger Maltbie took a tour of Mt. Rushmore before play began. Not to worry, these two guys are ageless, so they will still be working for NBC 29 years from now.

Darn it, the alarm clock just woke me up, but sometimes dreams do come true. This one should.

CRAWFACTS/Edition 3

2011-06-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

CRAWFACTS is news, notes, items, just lots of tidbits that may or may not interest you. Enjoy.

Seattle U.---I have written lots about the Redhawks getting into the West Coast Conference. At least for awhile, that will not happen as the Redhawks have accepted admission into the Western Athletic Conference beginning in 2012-13. While it helps to belong to a conference, this is NOT the ideal move for Seattle. The ideal move would have been to join the WCC, a league which does not play football and has schools which fit in mode of what Seattle U. does both academically and athletically.

You can't blame the Redhawks however, as in 2012-13 after sitting out the NCAA mandatory probation period for teams moving up from D-2 to D-1, they will be eligible in all sports for post season play, they had to land somewhere. For the life of me, I can never figure out why Gonzaga and the University of Portland lead the stonewalling of the Seattle joining the WCC. After all, it would be HORRIBLE to have a school in your league which is located in one of the most beautiful cities in all the world, is in the 13 largest TV market in the United States, has an average home attendance for men's basketball that exceeds every school in the WCC, except Gonzaga and has to take a backseat to no one academically in the WCC. Good luck in the WAC and shame on you WCC.

Jim Les---Time will tell, but as I have written about, the most successful coaching hire in D-1 basketball this past season was the hiring of Jim Les at UC Davis, of the Big West. In a weak league, Les will succeed and get the Aggies to the top. He is off to a great start in recruiting, by landing Utah's Mr. Basketball, Tyrell Corbin. If the name rings a bell, Tyrell is the son of Utah Jazz head coach, Tyrone Corbin.

I have said for years that UC Davis is a sleeping giant in west coast basketball and now it is up to Jim Les to prove me right.

Mick Durham---Marvin Menzies, head coach at New Mexico State lost a key member of his staff this past week when, Mick Durham accepted the head coaching job at D-2 Alaska Fairbanks, a member of the GNAC conference. Durham has been at Menzies' side for the last three years and the program has had a nice run in the Western Athletic Conference. Durham is one of the really good guys in coaching and he will do a nice job, in a really strong basketball conference.

Chaminade--- The Silverswords usually only get on the map in college basketball, when they play the host role in what is the best college basketball tournament on TV, the Maui Invitational. Chaminade is a member of the D-2, Pac-West Conference, but at times over the years have played really competitive in the Maui Invitational against what is also always the best field of any of the preseason tourneys, last year they beat Oklahoma in the tourney.

But for now, the news coming out of Chaminade is related in the past month they now have had three head basketball coaches. Last year's coach Matt Mahar, in May took the head coaching position at Assumption College, he was replaced by Jerry Carrillo, who lasted on the job a whopping six days, before changing his mind and deciding to stay at Cochise College.

This made the Silverswords go back to the drawing board hiring Joe Bovaird, who for the last seven years have been an assistant coach at West Liberty University. Last year West Liberty went 35-1, with their only loss coming in the D-2 championship semifinal game against BYU-Hawaii, the big rival of Chaminade.

What makes this interesting is that in the last two years, West Liberty has lead the NCAA in scoring and thrived on the 3-point shot. Prediction here, when Chaminade plays BYU-Hawaii this year, the teams will combine for over 300 points, what fun would that be to watch. Dan Hooper, the very capable assigner of referees for the Pac-West had better be thinking right now of putting three officials on that game who can run the floor and worry about making the calls later.

(In case your wondering, the most points ever scored by ONE team in a college basketball game was in 1992 by Troy State, now Troy University, when they put 258 points on the scoreboard. Yes 258. In the game they made 47 of 109, 3- point attempts.)

Schedules---I am always puzzled why it takes many teams so long to post their upcoming basketball schedules on their websites. In fairness, some of the "smaller" D-1 schools have trouble scheduling home games for many reasons, but what takes the larger schools so long to post a schedule. Granted, football has a lot fewer games, but many football schedules are set 5-7 years out.

To me there is no excuse for some schools, especially in the WCC, who don't get around to posting their schedules until the middle of September. It may seem like a small point, but for the many fans who are interested in the upcoming season like myself, it sometimes is hard to wait.

For the record, per my latest research the only schools who play in the west who have posted their 2011-12 basketball schedules are UCLA, Washington and Colorado. Interesting game right off the bat, UCLA hosts Loyola Marymount in their home opener, which will be played at their home away from home, the Honda Center, while the Bruins Pauley Pavilion is being remodeled. Look for the Lions to make a strong showing in this game as Ben Howland teams always start slow.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

This Is Gaining Traction

2011-06-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

I first wrote about this a month past. While it is important to keep all you great readers and add more each day, I strive to keep things fresh, but on occasion it is always good to revisit some thoughts that I threw out and actually caused quite a stir.

In a nustshell, I am proposing that any college basketball game that goes into a second overtime not be played in a typical fashion, but instead go to a free throw shootout. The rules are simple, prior to the game the coach submits his list of FIVE players for the shootout, in order of their one shot. If at the end of the shootout, if the score is still tied, then the shootout continues but in reverse order of the first shootout, until someone misses and the other team gains the advantage.

Not to bring too many rules to this, but if someone on the free throw list submitted by the coach fouls out of the game, he must be replaced by the listed alternate. Also, the visiting team gets to choose which end the arena the shootout takes place.

My motives in this were two fold. 1) The excitement, pressure, interest and skill would all be present in the second overtime 2) It would cause teams and players to practice their free throws at a much higher level than they do today. Free shooting in college basketball is not nearly good as it could be or should be. (Did anyone watch how much free throws mean to Dirk Nowitzki).

In a bit of an irony, a person that I so respect for his knowledge of basketball ripped into myself when I first broached this idea, but yet yesterday he was going on and on about how boring college basketball is and how he refuses to watch it. NOTE to my friend, adding excitement to the game, was the key to my proposal.

I might also add, I have had two distinguished college basketball coaches tell me they love the idea. At first they thought I might have proposed it as a bit of humor, but when it became evident I was serious, the idea grew on them and they loved it.

For the record, in NCAA games for the last three years, only seven percent went to the second overtime and in 92 percent of those games the scoring was lower than the first overtime. For the purists, basically we would hardly ever reach the point of a second overtime shootout, so you can relax a little bit, but of course for the people who want to really think outside the box, maybe we just start overtime with a shootout.

Is my proposal going to fly? Chances are not, but it is fun to talk about and propose. I also would like for everyone who watches a game next year that goes into a second overtime, take note that almost universally, the second overtime is not only poorly played, but also poorly officiated. It is called the fatigue factor.

This is not a case of "if it is not broke, don't fix it". This is a case of making a great game even more exciting and brining back the free throw as an integral part of the basketball. Just keep in mind the most popular sport at least in the United States is the National Football League. They change their rules every year to keep the game as exciting as possible, so college basketball you could learn a good lesson here.

I want traction on this and I hope you do as well.

Since there are many more readers of this blog now than when I first wrote about this, I am really looking forward to your emails and comments. crawscorner@gmail.com

College Basketball's Necessary Evil

2011-06-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

Let's call it like it is.

It is a dirty business, it must be done, it takes long hours and sleepless nights and many times it is done by people who are underpaid and not noticed.

It is called RECRUITING and it gets coaches hired and it gets coaches fired. Without question it is the most important thing for any college basketball program to succeed. Sure, once coaches recruit players, they have to coach them and they have to win, but to get to the point of giving yourself a chance to succeed recruiting stands above all else to making any program a winner.

I wish I had the time to follow the high school game better than I do, but I concentrate so much on the college game, I have to rely on my guru.

My guru does not coach any basketball team, he is not associated with any basketball team, but boy does he know every high school player on the west coast that ever got recruited and every player that is a potential recruit. He studies video, he watches game live and when it comes to knowing the recruiting game, he simply is the best.

Oh, for a name, I just call him the K-Man. K-Man, in life years is north of 60, but his enthusiasm for the game to this day comes off like a teenager. And for sure, do not get in free throw shooting contest or three point contest with him, you will get buried as many have tried and few have succeeded.

And just how does the K-Man view recruiting as it pertains to west coast basketball? He says it is like everything else in life and business, it is cyclical. He does see an upturn coming for the next few years, mainly because of a place we don't usually think about too much for high school basketball players, Seattle.

K-Man on the proverbial A-F scale, gives the Seattle area an A, mainly cause of its great depth of high school players. Moving down the coast, he rates Portland as a B, because of lack of depth, but does point out in the past year the Rose City has produced, Terrence Jones, Terrance Ross and soon to be Kentucky Wildcat, Kyle Wiltjer.

As for the Golden State, K-Man is all over the board in his grades. Leading the charge is the Oakland/San Francisco area which just keeps pumping out great high school players like Jabari Brown, Nick Johnson, Brandon Ashley and Kiwi Gardner, to just name a few. Grade A-plus.

Sacramento, L.A and San Diego do not fair as well in the grading system of the K-Man. He gives Sacramento a C, saying they always have too many academic casualties, San Diego also gets a C because of lack of depth and L.A. an A-minus, but cautions that with its size, it should be producing more depth and talented players than it does.

Lastly, the K-Man says there needs to be mention of Las Vegas, he rates an A, because of the prep schools, which have made Vegas a hotbed for basketball as of late.

But, how about the people who recruit many of these talented players. I asked the K-Man to rank the top five recruiters in the college game today on the west coast. Always up for a debate, but here is his list in no order, just the top five.

Leon Rice---Head Coach, Boise State

Sean Miller--Head Coach, Arizona Wildcats

Tony Stubblefield---Assistant Coach, Oregon Ducks

Jim Shaw----Assistant Coach, Washington Huskies

Dedrique Taylor----Assistant Coach, Arizona State Sun Devils

There is one thing I do not know about college recruiting. For the most part the ground work is laid by assistant basketball coaches, who are underpaid, underrated and work day and night to get the right players for their teams. So my hats off to these people who pretty much receive zero recognition, but have one of the toughest jobs in all of basketball.

emails or comments to crawscorner@gmail.com

He For Sure Is A Puzzle

2011-06-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

Please forgive me in advance, on a rare occasion, I really feel the need to talk about something other than west coast college basketball. Not to worry, it will not happen that often.

But today, I wish to talk about everyone's favorite subject LeBron James.

For the record, I have never wavered, though I seldom root for individual players or teams I am rooting for the Miami Heat to win the NBA championship as game six approaches tonight.

Portland, Oregon is my home town and Erik Spoelstra is from Portland, so loyalty is important in my life and I am cheering for the hometown guy. I would root for Erik Spoelstra if he were coaching the Sacramento State Hornets or if he were coaching the Golden State Warriors, a job I am sure he might have been offered at one point in the past couple of years and as great a basketball fans as the Warriors have, I personally wish he would have taken. Portland has few hometown national sports figures, so when the hometown guys get in the spotlight, they have my support.

Everyone loves to hate the Heat, the players for sure have brought a lot of it on themselves, most of that stuff I tend to look past, as it makes for great media stories but in the big scheme of things it really means nothing, but with all that said, it was hard to overlook the latest antic of LeBron James.

I have now watched the video seven times of himself and Dwyane Wade coming out for practice in game five of this series and obviously mocking Dallas super state Dirk Nowitzki, pretending to cough and hack, in reference to Nowitzki's sinus infection prior to game four.

After being ripped apart by everyone for the incident, Wade now says he actually was coughing, I tend to take people at their word. James wishes to move on, but it really is hard to move on.

The talk about you don't do that to opponents, cause it fires them up, is actually nonsense. If professional basketball players are not fired up on their own, they will have short careers. But what you don't do LeBron James is make fun of people that are sick, have a disease or long term health issues, PERIOD.

Hubie Brown is the best professional basketball analyst on the planet, he should be working the finals instead of Van Gundy and Jackson, who besides an occasional laugh, really offer zero to the telecast. Brown says it is not right for anyone to try to get into the head of LeBron James.

What Brown does not realize is, it is hard not to think about , what the heck is this guy thinking? Just when you think LeBron might be taking a step forward in the maturity factor, he takes two steps backwards.

I would have to think that after the Nowitzki incident, not only Erik Spoelstra was in his face, but also Pat Riley had a few things to say. Repeating here, it has nothing to do with firing up your opponent, it has to do with human dignity, it is that simple.

For anyone who knows anything about the game, LeBron James is without question one of the top seven professional basketball players of all time, but at present he fits also into the top seven of all time immaturity.

LeBron, I speak for many. We are sick of your showboating on the court, we are sick of incidents like mocking Dirk Nowitzki and it is time to grow up.

Image and legacy count in life, maybe in sports more than anything else, professionally. I am not giving up on LeBron James, I just want him to become the same type of person he is as a basketball player both on and off the court. He still has time and only time will tell. LeBron, at present, you are not funny, you are almost at times sad.

LeBron, whether you win or lose the NBA championship, take it with class and dignity. You will not regret it.

emails crawscorner@gmail.com

Can They Give Us More Than Spuds

2011-06-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Idaho is a beautiful state.

Coeur d'Alene, if you have not visited, you should put it on the bucket list. Sun Valley, not for me, but lots of people like it and the Magic Valley of Southern Idaho is one of the most gorgeous settings and best climates in all the 50 states. Last, but not least, where else are you going to get awesome potatoes, actually no where, as Idaho spuds are the best.

The big question is, are the Idaho Vandals on the cusp of giving us some consistent good basketball for the first time ever? It would appear the answer might be yes.

Under the direction of head coach Don Verlin, the Vandals are improving and starting to show signs they can become a force in the Western Athletic Conference. Some more good news, they no longer have to battle downstate rival Boise State in league competition, as the Broncos have moved to the Mt. West after having some pretty good basketball years under Greg Graham and last year with first year coach Leon Rice.

While the Vandals are not ready to give the people of Idaho an NCAA championship, they might be ready to make it to the NCAA tournament. Under Verlin's three year reign, he has guided the team to a 50-46 record, not something to throw a parade about, but considering that before Verlin arrived the Vandals had nine straight losing seasons.

Verlin has a nice recruiting class coming in for 2011-12 in local product Connor Hill, Xavier Brazilo and standout JC player Mansa Kaleeb, who very easily could become newcomer of the year in the WAC.

Last year the Vandals pulled off one of the biggest upsets in basketball school history, when they defeated perennial WAC powerhouse Utah State at home on national TV, 64-56, to break the Aggies 25 game league winning streak. While one game does not make a basketball program, confidence in beating the best can go a long ways. The Vandals also reached the post season of one of alphabet tournaments, losing to Santa Clara in the CIT (College Insider Tournament).

When you think about Idaho Vandal basketball, you have to think really, really hard about notable players. Sadly, there is only one, the great Gus Johnson, one of the most tenacious defenders and rebounders the NBA has ever seen and a 2010 inductee into the basketball Hall of Fame.

Greatness with Idaho Vandal basketball stopped with Johnson, but perhaps winning consistently can come back under the direction of Don Verlin. Of course the one big problem, is keeping Verlin at the Moscow campus. His name is often mentioned when jobs become open on the west coast and obviously some people are paying attention to the work he is doing with the Vandals.

It will be fun to watch the Vandals in 2011-12. Can they keep it going? I sure hope so, cause the state of Idaho needs more to cheer about than Boise State football.

emails to crawscorner@gmail.com

CRAWFACTS/Edition 2

2011-06-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

In case you missed the debut of CRAWFACTS last week, it is an attempt to bring you great readers of this blog, some information you might have missed about west coast college basketball, sports and even a little more.

1. Congrats to an avid reader of this blog. Dale Scott, is one of the great umpires in major league baseball. He has been in the league for 26 years and has served as a crew chief since 1999. Scott has been selected as the crew chief/home plate umpire for the MLB All Star game in Phoenix on July 12th. Way to go Dale and it could not have happened to a nicer person, who always has time for everyone, no matter what your status is in life.

2. The West Coast Conference has reached an agreement with the ESPN family of networks to extend their coverage of doing men's basketball games through 2018-19. Unlike the Pac-12, which flashed the numbers around of their new TV deal, the money part of the WCC deal with ESPN remains silent. Two details of the extended agreement do standout. Each team will get at least one national telecast during the season (I can hardly wait for Pepperdine at San Diego, I apologize, but I had to get that in) and ESPNU will televise the quarterfinals of the WCC tournament, for the first time.

3. Gonzaga is looking for a replacement for Craig Ehlo on their television broadcasts to work with capable play by play announcer Greg Heister. Ehlo earlier this year accepted an offer to become an assistant coach on the staff of newly hired Jim Hayford at Eastern Washington. I have a suggestion.
Francis Williams does a really nice job on Root Sports as a basketball analyst. He is prepared, knows the game and has a style that comes off well to viewers. Of course, almost anyone would be an improvement for Ehlo, who was lost on many broadcasts and there were times you almost felt sorry for him with his lack of preparation.

4. Ben Howland has filled out his coaching staff at UCLA by hiring Korey McCray, a move that kind of flew under the radar, but a move everyone who follows Pac-12 basketball should be watching. McCray last coached in college in 2004, but he has run a successful AAU program in Atlanta and has many NBA players he has been a personal coach too, including Dwight Howard. The big thing to watch is the fact that McCray was the AAU coach for Shaq Goodwin, who many consider to be at the top or near the top of recruits for the class of 2012. This was a shrewd hiring by Howland, his national recruting presence will take a big jump and look out.

5. Speaking of the WCC, their post season tournament will be extended by one day next year, starting on Wednesday and ending on the usual Monday time. Out of respect for new member BYU, which does not play sporting events on Sunday, it will be an off day now, as compared to in the past the day of the WCC semifinals. BYU is taking its entrance into the WCC for basketball seriously. The much watched BYU-TV network, which shows all aspects of the school, not just athletics, sent a TV crew to Moraga, California at the end of last season basketball season to document the WCC rivalry between Gonzaga and St. Mary's in men's basketball. I am sure it made for good TV, but as I stated before, there is no real rivalry when one teams dominates as Gonzaga has done over the Gaels.

6. I have learned that a few Pac-12 coaches at the very least are going to advise their players not to tweet during the basketball season. (I am sure the ACLU will weigh in). Of course it was tweeting that has gotten more than one athlete into trouble as of late. It is a great communication tool, not as good as Google, but still great and I would have to think that the different conferences will eventually have some sort of policy about Twitter. After all it would be no different than the policies most leagues have in place about commenting on officiating, which despite all the moaning that comes from people, is a good policy and helps keep some sanity to athletics.