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.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Class, What Did We Learn Today?
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
CRAWFACTS, Edition 12
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
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
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Big Guy Needs To Step Up
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
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
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
One Last Time
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
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
Monday, September 19, 2011
Stop, Wait, Think
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
Friday, September 16, 2011
Just Not Football Please
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
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
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