A Grip on Sports: With only four schools left, the Pac

Aug 06, 2023

Sat., Aug. 5, 2023

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Memories. If that’s all we have left of the Pac-12, if it really is over, then we better mine them quick. One thing about college athletics. It moves quickly, shifting, covering all trace of the past as the present rolls over all. Why not spend some time this morning polishing gems from the conference’s history? We have many. And we’re sure you have them in abundance as well.

•••••••

• A 10-year-old boy stands in the Coliseum rooting section, crying. His older sister, newly enrolled at UCLA, comforts him. They had just watched as the Bruins, only a week before ranked No. 1 nationally, lost their second consecutive game, ending the season with a 32-14 blowout at the hands of Syracuse.

The building, old even then, begins to fill up with noise. A chant. “Beban, Beban, Beban …” echoes from the UCLA students. The sister joins in. The boy wipes his tears and does as well.

The crowd had come to watch the Bruins final game, sure, but more than that they wanted to fete soon-to-be Heisman winner Gary Beban, the UCLA quarterback. The heart and soul and guts of a team that, a week earlier, was one tipped extra point from going to the Rose Bowl.

But Beban was injured in that 21-20 loss to O.J. Simpson and USC and was unable to play against Larry Csonka and the Orange in what then was an inter-sectional matchup – and today might as well be a league game.

The students didn’t care. They had watched Beban on the sidelines all day, his shoulders slumping as it became clearer his team couldn’t win without him. He had trudged off the field for the final time. But his peers weren’t about to let him go that easily.

They chant his name. And chant it some more. Finally, Beban emerges from the Coliseum tunnel, still in his No. 16 baby-blue uniform. A roar greets him.

Someone gives the senior a microphone. He tells the crowd how much their support means. How proud he is to wear the UCLA uniform. How sad he is he couldn’t deliver them a Rose Bowl.

The place is quiet as he speaks. It explodes when he turns and walks away. The boy tugs at his sister. She is crying. He is certain. Someday, he tells her, he will play quarterback for UCLA. And then the Bruins will win every game. She smiles. And they walk out together, hand-in-hand. He knows someday he will by the UCLA quarterback, walking out of the Coliseum to cheers.

He doesn’t.

• A 15-year-old boy sits in the living room with the L.A. Times open on the floor. The sports section. It is a Thursday in June of 1973.

Prominent on the paper in front of him a headline shouts. Rod Dedeaux and USC had won another NCAA baseball title in Omaha. It is the Trojans’ ninth, and fourth consecutive.

The boy knows something about baseball. Something about himself, too. He knows, if he grows, gets stronger, keeps working, he could play college baseball. And he knows exactly where he wants to play. At Bovard Field. For USC. For Dedeaux, whom his dad had introduced him to a few years before.

The boy makes a vow. To work hard, improve, get good enough. And then play at USC.

He doesn’t.

• January 1, 1982. Pasadena. The Rose Bowl. Purple. Yellow. The place is a mess, overrun with Iowa fans as the Hawkeyes make their first appearance in the game since 1959.

Throughout the 1960s, the 24-year-old young man sitting in the press box thought, his dad had turned the TV to the Rose Bowl each year, noted the perfect weather and grumbled. “A million people from Iowa will move here next month.” He exaggerated. But not by much. Southern California overall, and Long Beach, especially, seemed to be wearing Iowa gear all week. The L.A. basin is overrun by transplanted folks from Ames and Des Moines and Storm Lake.

It didn’t matter to the man in the press box. He is covering his first Rose Bowl as a reporter. Not the lead guy for the Orange County Register, sure, but he is there to do what is called a sidebar. A feature on an important element of the game, be it a play or a person.

The choice is easy. An 18-year-old Washington freshman running back, Jacque Robinson, steals the show. Becomes the first freshman to win player of the game. Leads the Huskies with 142 yards rushing in a 28-0 win. The young man stands in the bowels of the venerable stadium, fights others to interview a clearly overwhelmed player. Then he runs back to the press box to pound out a story on his portable typewriter.

What an event. What a performance. What an experience. But the young man didn’t feel his story met the moment. No matter. He would have more opportunities to cover Rose Bowl games. And he would write better pieces.

He doesn’t.

• Sixteen years later. Another Rose Bowl. This time the young man, no longer that young, had the TV on in his Spokane home. His sons watch, hear their old man say, as the ABC cameras panned the perfect sky, “A million people from Iowa will move to L.A. in the next month.” They groan. He says the same thing every year.

But this year is different. Washington State is playing. The Cougars first Rose Bowl since 1931. On the other side is Michigan, the favorite school of one of the man’s sons. They have a bet going. And, with time running out, the teenager was gloating. Michigan is ahead, 21-16 with just seconds left. Ryan Leaf and the Cougars have to cover 93 yards to win. They almost do.

The man wonders. Not just what happened to the game’s final second, but to his dreams of covering a Rose Bowl game again. The Big Ten. The Pac-10. A nation watching. Would he ever have the chance?

He doesn’t.

• Nine years pass. The man is now in his 50s. He’s starting his career anew, renewing his relationship with college athletics as a sports writer. Living in Pullman. Covering the Cougars. As he stands on the practice field sidelines of during a typical scorching August day, he questions his decisions.

Washington State was on its way to a 5-7 season, the last for Bill Doba as the head coach. The Cougars lack size, speed, resources. They have a quarterback and a few standouts at other spots, but not enough to challenge for a Rose Bowl berth.

The sun beats down. The turf burns through shoes. People look askew at the new – old – guy. He looks back, and ponders what lays ahead. The Pac-12’s future seems limitless. The best football program in the nation is in L.A., the best basketball teams are playing throughout the West Coast and the conference’s dominance of other sports is unmatched.

But does he belong here anymore? He is sure, as his heart begins to ache for a family still in Spokane, he has made a major mistake. He would never come to like this part of his life. He would move on soon.

He doesn’t.

• For years, Washington State’s flag has flown every Saturday on ESPN’s GameDay set. As the network’s talking heads fly around the nation, bringing the gospel of college football to every metropolis or out-of-the-way burg in America, the flag follows. Every week.

But the flag has never flown in Pullman. Never. Until now. It is mid-October, 2018. The Cougars, revitalized under Mike Leach, are hosting Oregon. Two of the best teams in the nation will meet on the Palouse. GameDay is here. Finally.

The old man wasn’t about to brave the crowds. He was beyond that now. He watches on TV, writes about the experience, thinks about what had to happen over the years for the Cougar fans to finally get their day. Revels in their excitement, marvels at their turnout. Sees a school and fanbase that belongs at the pinnacle of college football. For a day at least. And they are. It is the beginning of a WSU renaissance. It has to be. But he wonders. Is it also the school’s peak? That doubt gnaws at the back of his head. It isn’t going to get better, is it? He has to write those thoughts, even if it means raining on a blue-sky-filled celebration.

He doesn’t.

• Today is no celebration. There is only rain in Pullman, and Corvallis and, to a lesser degree, we’re sure, the Bay Area. Four schools are all that remain intertwined from once was the mighty Pac-12. A conference built by athletes from every corner of the nation, by coaches unmatched in history, by fans unrivaled in their faithfulness, is all but dead. Buried under an avalanche of mistakes, money and morons.

Only the memories remain in the mind of this old man. And, like all memories, they are deeply personal. They live in a consciousness that has a limited existence. Today they are clear. Tomorrow, they fade. And not to long from now they will disappear entirely.

Buried and forgotten.

This is a final, futile attempt to add his memories to the pensive that holds the Pac-12’s legacy. That someday they will be resurrected. And that someday the conference will be resurrected and thrive once more. Will it happen? Do you know the answer?

He certainly doesn’t.

•••

WSU: We leave the stage this morning passing along a bunch of stories about the demise of the Pac-12 and the Cougars being left behind in yesterday’s mass exodus. We start with Dave Boling’s thoughts in this column. We run through Greg Woods’ reporting from Pullman, add in thoughts from interested folks in the area via Liam Bradford and Samantha Fuller and finish up with Jon Wilner looking at the future. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, we have read and catalogued so many stories this morning we are overwhelmed. We have a hundred stories open, but that’s too many to pass along. The best? John Canzano has a couple thoughts, one of which focuses on Pullman. There are other great stories from throughout the conference’s footprint and we share what we feel is the best. From Washington to Arizona, from Eugene to Salt Lake City. From Oregon State to UCLA. From the Bay Area to Tempe. From downtown L.A. and nearby. That’s all we have for today.

Gonzaga: Jalen Suggs is discovering about basketball around the world but more importantly, some things about himself.

EWU: Around the Big Sky, another UC Davis players is up for an award.

Indians: Everett routed Spokane 11-1 last night.

Seahawks: The Hawks held a mock game at Lumen Field and it resulted in another running back injury. Good things happened as well. The season seems to be getting closer every day. Hey, it is. … Dee Eskridge will miss the first part of it.

Mariners: We have to pull ourselves out of the Pac-12-demise malaise and begin celebrating what’s going on with the M’s. They won again last night, despite have to score nine runs to get it done. We know, however, as soon as we start focusing our gaze here, bad things will happen. … Bryan Woo is working hard to be better.

Kraken: There will be a new sweater for the outdoor game. It has a throwback feel.

Storm: The two coaches in today’s game have a long history – and friendship.

World Cup: The seemingly reeling U.S. women face old-friend Sweden tonight, starting at 11 p.m. on Fox. We’ll be there. The loser is out, the winner moves on to the final eight.

•••

• Sorry we rambled on this morning. The memories just came flooding out. What was supposed to be a short circuit around the conference turned into an opus. Until later …

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