Politics, defense and lack of respect

We’ve hit overload.

This is the time of year when every major sport — and quite a few niche events — are all going on at the same time.

On top of all that, you’re always going to find some important, overriding issue — like California’s “Fair Play to Pay” law — that draws opinions from almost everyone.

We can’t possibly touch on everything in a single column here, but hey, there’s a chance to toss you a thought on as many as practical.

And we’re off…

ONE: It’s not often that Mark Few says anything even mildly controversial, let alone wading into the area of politics.

But the Zags coach is obviously burning about the California law to allow college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (it’s now called “NIL” in almost every reference).

Few is actually in favor of NIL, but he believes the NCAA has been working on a solid, regulated system for getting it done.

Further, he blasted California Gov. Gavin Newsom as a “grandstanding politician” and suggested the state ought to be dealing with things like homelessness and immigration instead of meddling in college athletics.

Fair enough, and I agree that the NCAA will work something out before the law (or those proposed in 13 other states) ever take effect in 2023.

I’m a huge Mark Few fan, but he went too far when he said of the NIL situation: “It’s a complex issue. It’s like health care in America.”

No, Coach.

One of those is about life and death.

The other concerns whether some star athletes get jock strap endorsements.

TWO: Back to sports, and Wazzu needs a stop.

Or several.

It’s hard to imagine, though, that there could have been more hubbub in two weeks trying to fix a defense — albeit a porous unit that leaked 105 points and about 20 miles of yardage in last two games.

Anyhow, first we had defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys abruptly resigning, saying only that there were differences in finding solutions to making the “Speed D” effective.

Boss Mike Leach ultimately made it clear that the defense needed to be simplified — the implication being that Claeys had made things too complex.

Linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni and Darcel McBath, who handles cornerbacks and is a Leach protege, have been named co-coordinators.

There have also been personnel changes in the defense, especially across a secondary that looked lost at Utah, and a players-only meeting.

Leach’s take on how the defense has responded to all the fuss: “More confident, more optimistic and bouncing around.”

We’ll find out if they’re bouncing around in the right places in less than 24 hours, when they visit No. 18 Arizona State (4-1, 1-1) on Saturday afternoon.

THREE: It just makes me grind my teeth.

There’s no secret that the entire Northwest is just basically ignored by the national media.

The theory that many writers and talking heads in the East go to sleep before games out here are completed has more merit than you imagine.

But even when they stay awake, it’s a struggle.

I made a point to watch “Pardon the Interruption” the day after the Rams beat the Seahawks.

It’s a generally good and often-irreverent TV show featuring two intelligent media vets, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon.

The game was their lead item and…

They talked almost entirely about what it meant to the Rams.

Tony and Mike eventually agreed it was not a “bad loss,” because Seattle is a tough place to win a prime-time game.

They made it sound like the Rams were forced to mush dog sleds to arrive for kickoff.

Seattle might as well be in the Yukon, if you go by numbers of words and column inches.

I probably don’t have to tell you that the national narrative for this Sunday’s Seahawks game is all about that bozo Baker Mayfield and the Browns.

Sigh!

FOUR: Just to lighten the mood for all of us, I neet to close with a pretty cool quote.

U-Dub basketball coach Mike Hopkins was discussing this year’s team when he pointed out how many tall, mega-athletic, long-limbed players the Huskies have available.

“We have a lot of superheroes,” Hopkins said. “We’d be a good Marvel comic.”

But can they climb up the side of buildings?

I suspect there won’t be anything humorous, though, about that cast employing Hopkins’ 2-3 zone defense.

Gonzaga will find out first-hand on Dec. 8 in what should be a matchup of ranked teams in Seattle.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Steve also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball once monthly during the offseason. The weekly edition will begin Nov. 5, the morning of Gonzaga’s first regular-season game, and continue each Tuesday after that.