Quite a character. That's all I have to say about that.

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So living in YakiVegas, I have Pacific Power. I just assumed that most of our electricity comes from Hydro, with some wind and solar mixed in. Uh, well, not so much. Looked at the shit that comes with my bill for the first time, and it included a Power Contents label. Turns out 41% of my power comes from coal! and another 17.5% from natural gas! Only 7.6% from hydro, but at least wind is 15.8%. Now PP has kind oa a checkboard customer base that consists mostly of Oregon. But Coal?

Now Avista, covering most of E. Wash and N. Idaho, is 48% hydro and 9% wind. But still 33% natural gas and 8% coal.

Puget Sound Electric, which encompasses a bunch of the westside, is a little sketchy. Their website say that in 2014 (a decade ago) hydro was over a third. But they also have natural gas and coal from Montana. I do see that Seattle City Light is 86% hydro.

Need to do more research here, but WTH. Coal? Do those all-electric, dam removing granolas know or pay attention to this? Even natural gas does pollute and burn oxygen, right?

I got this info from my pals on the UNLV board. They are more fun than you snoozers.

Guess I need to look up the agreement itself.

Specifically these are the first year costs:
o $2 million to the MWC for administrative fees.
o $9 million to the MWC for the 6 Pac-2 home games. ($1.5 million per home game x 2 schools (OSU and WSU))
o $3 million to the MWC for a General Participation Fee.

If the Pac-2 decides to play a second year the cost will be:
o $9 million to the MWC for the 6 Pac-2 home games.

So my reaction is WTF? As I told my UNLV pals, I am all for the reverse merger, but WhoTF negotiated this for the Pac-2? Quackkoff? $2M in Admin fees? $3M for general participation? Participate in what? No conference championship, for starters. $1.5M in home game payments per game? We could get who into Pullman for $1.5M? Uh, lots of big-name teams. And no away game revenue?

Two years in the NFL, two Super Bowl rings. Good for Jaylen. He also contributed a key fumble recovery last night that was probably the turning point in the game, IMO.

Glad Cougar

I meant to post this a few days ago. But I do get lazy from time to time. Seaside Joe is a Substack site written by Kenneth Arthur about the Seahawks. At one time, he was the editor of Fieldgulls, the Seahawks SBNation site. Arthur is also a Coug.

Anyway, the reason why I am bringing Seaside Joe up is a recent article that he wrote that brings up college coaches.

You would think, “Being an NFL head coach must be harder than being the head coach of a college program” but the opposite appears to be true. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero made a note of that last week on The Rich Eisen Show, explaining that a team like Boston College (who lost their head coach last week when he signed on to be the Packers defensive coordinator) simply can’t keep up with the rapid increase of recruiting cycles:

First you have to recruit high school players to come to your school, then you have you to recruit them (as in you have to recruit YOUR OWN PLAYERS a second time) every January when the transfer portal opens up, then you have to do it again (a third time) when the transfer portal opens for a second time in the spring…this doesn’t include recruiting players outside of your program and it doesn’t include fighting sponsors and boosters who will pay big bucks for prospects through NIL deals.

If schools like Boston College or Washington State or even to some degree Washington lands a big star, there’s no guarantee it won’t be to springboard to a bigger program for more money.

Are Seahawks only team left without offensive coordinator?

Why Ryan Grubb probably wants to leave Alabama for the NFL: Seaside Joe 1800

www.seasidejoe.com

This is part of the reason why I like college sport a little less every year.

So UO and UCLA are tied for 3rd, one game behind WSU. If Colorado happens to win, they will join them in a 3-way tie for 3rd. We still play UCLA. I don't like this very much. Cougs definitely need to keep winning. Winning the Pac-12 would be fantastic - when is the last time we were champs? 1941? But 2nd would pretty much punch our ticket, regardless of the tournament results, right? Stumble a little and we could be looking at 5th place.

I'm watching. Nothing else going on tonight. Despite their lackluster record, they are still in the mix for the tournament if they can get on a winning streak.

just wanna know?

Anybody want a game thread? Tipoff at 7.

On rankings - are you aware that currently the Pac-12 has one team ranked, Arizona, and the Mtn West has 3? granted they are all in the 20's but still. And our "new" BB conference the WCC? -0-.

WSU has 6 votes in the AP poll. No one else has any.

I rank on him all the time, but will give credit where credit is due. And the CBS article does provide some numbers of sorts, although they mention settlement money from the traitors. I thought it was well-established that there were no exit fees, so not sure what that is supposed to consist of.

Look like Shulz is basically ransoming off his vote for a slice of the pie.

Why WSU men’s basketball expectations are rising under Kyle Smith​

Matt CalkinsFeb. 7, 2024 at 5:52 pm
By
Seattle Times columnist
It wasn’t long ago that those hoopers out east would regularly serve as a feast.

For 13 consecutive seasons, the Washington State men’s basketball team failed to produce a winning season in conference play and were consistently devoured by the who’s who — or even the who’s not — of the Pac-12.

The days of Tony Bennett guiding the Cougs to NCAA tournaments had nearly faded into oblivion. The idea of another Klay Thompson pulling up in Pullman seemed impossible.

Then coach Kyle Smith took over the program in 2019. After going 11-9 in conference play the past two seasons, WSU (16-6, 7-4 Pac-12) has a very real chance to go dancing for the first time in 16 years this March. In other words, the former feasts are blossoming into beasts.

“We’ve kind of had to lean on each other to create the expectation that it’s OK to be good here,” Smith said.

It’s OK to be good here. Not quite as concise as Ted Lasso’s “Believe,” but maybe a good place to start. There was a stretch, after all, when it seemed like men’s basketball success was banned on the Palouse. I mentioned that baker’s dozen streak of failing to finish above .500 in conference. I didn’t mention that, during that stretch, the Cougs lost at least twice as many games in the Pac-12 as they won.

It might have been tempting to think the Wazzu men going 22-15 overall and 11-9 two seasons ago was a one-off. It wasn’t. The Cougs weren’t quite as prosperous last season but still made the NIT for the second consecutive time. Now they’re in second place in the Pac-12 — one game behind eighth-ranked Arizona — and, according to NCAA tournament guru Joe Lunardi, would be in the dance if the season ended today.

The common denominator here is Smith, who has built and maintained a successful program amid COVID, NIL, the transfer portal and pending conference realignment. And though he gives credit to his staff (particularly associate head coach Jim Shaw) and the atmosphere around Pullman, he also emphasized what we all know to be true.

“You still gotta be able to recruit.”

And he’s done just that. The Cougs’ leading scorer and rebounder is Isaac Jones (15.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg), a senior who played at Idaho last season. Their fourth-leading scorer is Jaylen Wells (10.3 ppg), who played at Division II Sonoma State last season. Myles Rice, who’s second on the team in scoring (15.7) and first in assists (3.7) was a three-star recruit from Georgia, third-leading scorer (10.5 ppg) Andrej Jakimovski was a four-star recruit from Northern Macedonia, and fifth-leading scorer (8.7 ppg) Oscar Cluff is a first-year Coug from Australia.

That’s a recruiting sampler platter right there — a mix of gets from the portal or high school or overseas to form a squad that could end a 16-year tourney drought.

“I’ve basically made a career off the basketball version of ‘Moneyball’ — before money was involved,” said Smith, who was a head coach at Columbia and San Francisco before coming to Washington State.

Late bloomers. Under-recruited talents. It’s been working … but does the student body notice yet?

Smith noted that his team doesn’t have Beasley Coliseum rocking the way that he’d want to see yet. There is generally a “lag,” he said, between success and raucous crowds. That was the case at Columbia as well as USF, but with five of the final seven games of the season at home — including one against Washington — Kyle expects a lot fewer seats to be backside-free.

These Cougs have a shot at the tourney. They’re not getting too far ahead of themselves, of course — road games against Oregon State (Thursday) and Oregon (Saturday) await this week alone. But being part of the biggest bracket in college hoops isn’t far-fetched.

Do you feel pressure?

“Obviously, there’s pressure — pressure is a privilege,” Smith said. “You want to work hard to get yourself in that position. You can’t stick your head in the sand. You know there’s going to be chatter about it, but it’s like, ‘OK, deal with it.’ That’s part of the expectation.”

Part of the expectation — not something you’re used to hearing when talking WSU men’s basketball and the NCAA tournament. But perhaps it’s here.

It’s OK to be good at Washington State. Who knows? Maybe good is just the beginning.

Great 12-minute chunk where former New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman discuss the 2010s Seattle Seahawks and give them their propers. Good listening.

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Pac-12 men’s basketball power rankings: WSU officially on NCAA tournament bubble​

Jon WilnerFeb. 6, 2024 at 10:17 am
In a Pac-12 season stocked with surprises and mediocrity, Washington State’s ascent makes the shortlist of unexpected developments.

The Cougars meandered through November and December, above .500 but under the radar because of a pillowy soft nonconference schedule. On the opening weekend of league play, they lost twice on the Mountain trip. Then came a home loss to Oregon and a 1-3 start.

Since then, WSU has won six of seven games, morphed into one of the hottest teams in the West and climbed onto the NCAA tournament bubble.

the latest uw and wsu men’s basketball​

Yep, the Cougars are a threat to make the field of 68 for the first time since it was a field of 64 and Klay Thompson was all the rage in Pullman, not nearing retirement with the Golden State Warriors.

There’s plenty to like about WSU’s résumé, including four Quadrant I wins (the best kind), no Quadrant IV losses (the worst type) and a signature victory over Arizona.

Also, the Cougars own five wins on the road or neutral courts — an important piece to the NCAA selection process.

They are 40th in the NET rankings, indicative of a team squarely on the bubble.

The latest NCAA projections by ESPN list the Cougars as one of the first teams left out, suggesting a berth is within easy reach.

But there is one glaring flaw: A nonconference schedule that ranks No. 320 nationally out of 362 teams in the well-respected Pomeroy advanced metrics.

The barrage of early season cream puffs won’t prevent the Cougars from sneaking into the NCAAs, but it limits their margin for error. All other components to their résumé must be above reproach in order for the selection committee to get comfortable with the one part of the schedule they controlled.

Coach Kyle Smith had the chance to challenge his team and declined. Will the committee hold that against WSU? If given the option, it very well might.

And so we ask: Can the Cougars collect enough quality wins down the stretch, while avoiding bad losses, to remove all doubt?

If nothing else, it’s a fascinating topic that, in all candor, we never expected to address.

(NET rankings through Sunday)

1. Arizona (17-5/8-3)​

Last week: 1
Results: beat Cal 91-65 and Stanford 82-71
NET ranking: No. 4
Next up: at Utah (Thursday)
Comment: The Wildcats are more likely to lose twice than win twice on the Mountain trip (although a split is the best bet). But if they sweep, the race for the top seed in Las Vegas is over.

2. Oregon (15-7/7-4)​

Last week: 2
Results: won at USC 78-69, lost at UCLA 71-63
NET ranking: No. 57
Next up: vs. Washington (Thursday)
Comment: We considered swapping the Ducks and Cougars for this spot but gave Oregon a slight advantage because of the head-to-head victory in Pullman. This time next week, WSU could be the easy call for No. 2.

3. Washington State (16-6/7-4)​

Last week: 3
Results: won at Washington 90-87 (OT)
NET ranking: No. 40
Next up: at Oregon State (Thursday)
Comment: Same warning we issued to Arizona two weeks ago applies to the Cougars: Don’t get caught peeking ahead to Eugene, or the chance to sweep becomes a recipe for getting swept.

4. Utah (15-7/6-5)​

Last week: 5
Results: beat Colorado 73-68
NET ranking: No. 34
Next up: vs. Arizona (Thursday)
Comment: The Utes have precious few chances to collect Quadrant I wins at home. They can’t swing and miss against the Wildcats, not with a daunting, road-heavy finishing stretch.

5. Colorado (15-7/6-5)​

Last week: 4
Results: lost at Utah 73-68
NET ranking: No. 29
Next up: vs. Arizona State (Thursday)
Comment: Colorado’s résumé is weaker than Utah’s in several respects, including nonconference strength of schedule and number of Quad I wins: The Buffaloes have one; the Utes have four.

6. Cal (9-13/5-6)​

Last week: 7
Results: lost at Arizona 91-65, won at ASU 81-66
NET ranking: No. 123
Next up: vs. USC (Wednesday)
Comment: We are two or three Bears wins away from declaring a winner in the Pac-12 Coach of the Year race. And at this rate, that point could come at the end of next week.

7. UCLA (11-11/6-5)​

Last week: 10
Results: beat OSU 71-63 and Oregon 71-63
NET ranking: No. 124
Next up: at Stanford (Wednesday)
Comment: Anyone else notice the Bruins are behind Cal in the latest NET rankings? If you guessed that scenario would unfold for even a single day this season, stop reading our column and head straight to the nearest casino.

8. Stanford (11-10/6-5)​

Last week: 8
Results: won at ASU 71-62, lost at Arizona 82-71
NET ranking: No. 100
Next up: vs. UCLA (Wednesday)
Comment: Stanford’s postseason outlook might be markedly different if the Cardinal hadn’t started the regular season in reverse. November matters. It matters a ton.

9. Arizona State (11-11/5-6)​

Last week: 6
Results: lost to Stanford 71-62 and Cal 81-66
NET ranking: No. 135
Next up: at Colorado (Thursday)
Comment: With four consecutive defeats and the Mountain trip ahead, plus a visit to Tucson on Feb. 17, ASU’s situation could get worse before it gets better … if it gets better.

10. Washington (12-10/4-7)​

Last week: 9
Results: lost to WSU 90-87 (OT)
NET ranking: No. 73
Next up: at Oregon (Thursday)
Comment: After 40 fluid minutes against Washington State’s stout defense, the Huskies managed one field goal, two free throws and a barrage of scoreless possessions in overtime. That’s not good enough. Not nearly good enough.

11. USC (9-13/3-8)​

Last week: 12
Results: lost to Oregon 78-69, beat OSU 82-54
NET ranking: No. 97
Next up: at Cal (Wednesday)
Comment: It has been nine years since the Trojans won fewer than eight conference games, which speaks to Andy Enfield’s sustained success … and to the wheels-are-off nature of this season.

12. Oregon State (11-11/3-8)​

Last week: 11
Results: lost at UCLA 71-63 and USC 82-54
NET ranking: No. 169
Next up: vs. WSU (Thursday)
Comment: The Beavers have no chance to reach the NCAAs but plenty of opportunities to play the role of spoiler against a handful of teams on the bubble.

It's still a ways off but Fox partnering with ESPN and Disney is a big deal, watching all your sports on standard cable or over the air TV will have limited offerings in just a few years. Comcast and NBC and CBS are not part of this deal, but I am sure we will be hearing about new partnerships and players. Look for Amazon Prime, and Apple TV, and others to get in on this as well.

Fox, ESPN , Warner Bros, and Disney form partnership

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RIP Toby Keith. Best part of this video, and you have to watch close, is where they guy pees in his buddy'd cup and gives it to him. 1:25 mark....

9200 plus in the arena. No doubt a bunch were WSU fan's...but then again I have seen a lot of UCLA fans in Pullman back in the day.

Huge game tonight in Seattle!

So I am hanging out with my new pals on the UNLV board. Question kind of comes up about what happens to their 6 year rolling BB tourney money if they reverse merged into the Pac-2. I guess the same question would hold if it went the other way. Does it vest with the former conference mates? As opposed to the traitorous 10, who I still assume get nothing because the conference still exists and they left it. But in our potential scenario(s).......hmmmm.....

So, having a little discussion on the BB board about Bledsoe being a mediocre, Chad Davis level QB. It was suggested that we start an overrated player thread. Suppose we could do underrated as well.

FYI, women's BB on at 7 against highly ranked Colorado at Beasley. Pac-12 Mountain channel.

Man, you need a scorecard for all these new teams (Pac traitors plus other recent additions and subtractions).

For the traitors, this doesn't look too bad logistically. West Virginia and UCF are really the only big treks. Colorado has it pretty good with their central location. Their travel might be better. WSU, OSU, OU and the mutts were not a five minute trip.

AZ and ASU a bit of the same, with Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas not far away. Utah gets off the worst.

All the more reason to make the MW our solution. And where the F is information on the Pac-12 assets, etc? This doesn't have to take so long. We need to get Quackkoff out of there. NOW.

Let's hope he does the right thing and can Milqtoast Geno. That whole line of "They wrote me off but I ain't write back tho" made zero sense and everyone in the sports media was "OOOOHHHH BUUUUUUUURRRRNNNN". I was left scratching my head like, WTF is that supposed to even mean? If anything, it just sounded cringe as he failed miserably trying to be witty. After that whole debacle in NY with his teammate break his jaw and his temper tantrum at the NFL Draft because he wasn't drafted high in the first round, I never really liked him. Sure people can change but he is just not that good. He is a serviceable backup but that's it. Bobby Wagner is pretty much at the end of his career, and Brooks is basically a bust at this point. Its nice to know Adams will be gone so there is a spot that definitely needs to be filled. Our WR's seemed to be set and RBs as well. Shore up our O-Line and go get a QB that will make the offense hum.

WSU, Oregon State playing cards right while monitoring potential ACC breakup​

Jon WilnerJan. 24, 2024 at 10:35 am
It has been 21 weeks since they were completely abandoned, 21 weeks since Oregon State and Washington State became the last two, fighting for survival, revenue and relevance.

On September 1, Stanford and Cal agreed to join the ACC, and the Pac-12 was reduced to a two-team conference starting next summer.

Since being cast adrift, the Beavers and Cougars have played their cards exactly right.

They took the conference and the 10 departing schools to court and won control of the governing board, the rights to the financial assets and help with liabilities.

They entered a football scheduling agreement with the Mountain West.

They did the same with the West Coast Conference for basketball and other sports.

They took the worst poker hand in the history of college sports and did not fold.

“They came out of this in as good of a position as anyone could have imagined,” said an industry source unaffiliated with WSU, OSU or the Pac-12.

the latest from jon wilner​

But over these five roiling months, there is one thing the Beavers and Cougars did not do: They did not commit, to anything or anyone, beyond the next two seasons.

They are free to monitor the landscape, explore their options and prepare for multiple outcomes.

The NCAA grants a two-year waiver to conferences that have been whacked by realignment, allowing the OSU and WSU football programs to exist under the Pac-12 banner in the 2024-25 seasons.

Starting in the fall of 2026, the Beavers and Cougars must relocate or rebuild.

In the current environment, two-and-a-half years feels like a decade.

By 2026, the ACC or Big 12 might have determined its current structure is suboptimal.

By 2026, athletes might be deemed employees by the National Labor Relations Board.

By 2026, the power conferences might have lost a multi-billion dollar antitrust lawsuit.

By 2026, the NCAA might have approved president Charlie Baker’s proposal to create a new football subdivision that requires an eight-figure commitment and divides the sport.

By 2026, the structure of major college football could be undergoing a massive transformation — not only a new poker hand but a different poker game.

The moment the Bay Area schools fled to the ACC and locked themselves into a 12-year agreement with a conference in tumult, the Beavers and Cougars took the opposite approach.

They remained as flexible as possible.

The strategy wasn’t merely to prepare themselves for the opportunity to join a new conference (or subdivision) in the second half of the decade.

It was to create a safety net in case The Great Realignment Experiment of 2023 fails and the Pac-12’s outbound schools are forced to reverse course, either in 2026 or soon after.

Specifically, the Beavers and Cougars wanted enough flexibility to offer a landing spot for Stanford and Cal in case the ACC crumbles.

And the ACC just might crumble.

Florida State has taken the conference to court, challenging the grant of rights agreement that is holding everything together.

If the Seminoles leave, they won’t be alone. Clemson, North Carolina and possibly Virginia will flee, as well.

To this point, neither the SEC or Big Ten has shown any willingness to accept new members. But that silence is designed to avoid a lawsuit. They can’t make a move on, or utter a peep about, the ACC’s most valuable schools while a contract binds them together.

Sponsored​

But if Florida State finds the escape hatch and others follow, then the Big Ten and SEC will swoop in. (North Carolina will be the first pick in the next realignment draft.).

And if Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and Virginia leave, the ACC would become a carcass.

What then for Stanford and Cal? Do they remain in a conference based on the Atlantic Seaboard that has little media value and second-tier football competition? Or would they return home, join OSU and WSU and rebuild the Pac-12?

That scenario hinges on Florida State’s legal case and the resulting fallout. But even if the Seminoles fail in court, they seem determined to leave, one way or another. And if one goes, others will follow.

At least, that’s the endgame at the heart of the ‘Pac-2’ strategy.

For now, the Beavers and Cougars have more pressing matters:

— They must sign a media rights agreement to broadcast their home football games in 2024-25. We expect that process to conclude in the next few months with exposure, not cash, as the priority. OSU and WSU need to be seen so they are not forgotten.

— They must decide when to fire commissioner George Kliavkoff, whose contract is believed to expire June 30, 2026. To this point, Kliavkoff’s value to the Beavers and Cougars seemingly comes as a presence on the College Football Playoff management committee as the CFP finalizes access and revenue plans for the 2024-25 seasons.

— They must determine the fate of the Pac-12 Networks. The distribution agreements expire this summer, but the infrastructure and studio could exist for years through sale or lease to an entity in need of production support. That could be a media company like Apple or Amazon. Or it could be the outbound Pac-12 schools, who must produce on-campus events for the networks affiliated with their new conferences.

Put another way: The Pac-12 Networks technology will become a huge liability this summer, unless it becomes a valuable asset that generates revenue and helps keep OSU and WSU afloat.

The networks as an asset?

It would be quite the twist to a plot that, for OSU and WSU, has unfolded as smoothly as they could possibly have hoped.

Jon Wilner: jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com; Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP top-25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree.

Take 43 minutes out of your life. Good stuff.
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A little late I guess since Game 1 has started.

I think the Chiefs will win but don't care if they do or not.

I think SF will win, but I am rooting for Detroit.

I know there are a lot of Gonzaga haters on this list but ignoring that for the moment---Did anyone see the last couple of minutes of the Zags loss to St. Mary's last night. With about a minute to go a St. Mary's player tries to save the ball on the baseline. With the shot clock almost down to zero he throws the ball back in bounds to an open player who hits the 3 that ultimately won the game. The replay pretty clearly shows the St. Mary's player's foot down and out of bounds before the ball leaves his hand to throw it back in. The announcers say the refs can't review that and instead reviewed whether it was a 3 pointer or not. My question is why can't they review the fact that the player was out of bounds before he threw the ball in? It was all part of the same sequence and should be reviewable.
Seems like a pretty arbitrary restriction on the use of reviews.