THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The Zags out-toughed, and other things ...
There are so many items up for serious chat today that my head hurts.
On top of that, I never realized that so many people would bother to send in emails with their own thoughts on a Sunday morning.
Didn’t anyone sit down to a nice, hearty breakfast after church?
Apparently not, because computers and iPhones were humming…
And I can prove it.
Here’s what I’m going to do: I’ll take four issues or events that have crashed on top of us all at once — and give you my thoughts.
Feel free to respond…
ONE: Gonzaga got bullied right out of Utah on Saturday night.
This is my fourth season watching the Zags, and the first time I’ve seen them truly intimidated.
I was tempted to scream: “Fight back!”
But the Zags weren’t in the mood for it.
You know, there will be nights when a true deadly shooter like Corey Kispert goes 1 for 10. It happens, and it makes winning a lot tougher.
I can live with that, though.
On the other hand, a big, strong kid like Filip Petrusev played 22 minutes and records exactly TWO rebounds.
That’s unacceptable — guards Joel Ayayi and Ryan Woolridge combined for 15 rebounds — as was Petrusev’s feeble effort to deal with BYU post scorer Yoeli Childs.
I don’t mean to single out Filip alone, even though he was helpless. The whole group looked wide-eyed, completely out of sync with any sort of game plan — and basically happy to get on the plane ride home.
I hope like hell that this wasn’t any sort of NCAA tournament preview.
TWO: The uproar over the Houston Astros cheating scandal continues to rumble on, with major names like Mike Trout and Aaron Judge weighing in with the opinion that more punishment is necessary.
I’ve already said I think the 2017 American League and World Series titles should be vacated — left blank in every baseball record book.
Now, however, another issue has cropped up, and this one I believe is wrong.
The Astros’ cheating has been compared to the steroid era, in terms of considering players for the Hall of Fame and their overall places in baseball history.
No.
During that period when steroids became popular and available, you had more or less an equal playing field. Pitchers and hitters were both juicing for a few years.
Players like Barry Bonds should be in the Hall, period.
The Astros, though, created a playing field that was NOT equal, and many pitchers suffered for it — some losing their place in the major leagues.
There’s no comparison between PEDs available to everyone and garbage cans that provided huge help to only one team.
THREE: An NCAA working group is hammering out details on a new policy that would allow athletes — any and all — to change schools and enjoy immediate eligibility.
The reasoning is to help student-athletes as much as possible.
Nice thought, but a terrible idea.
Absolute free agency for athletes would be a catastrophe.
Let’s say a football coach — like Mel Tucker at Colorado — bails out to Michigan State for more money (which he did).
Should Tucker be allowed to coax a half-dozen CU players to join him with the Spartans, and be eligible to play next year?
You know: “Hey, let’s all leave together!”
That’s just wrong.
Worse, it would start a rash of tampering among schools if players know they don’t have to sit out a year to transfer.
No, no, no.
This immediate eligibility idea would be disastrous.
Think it through.
Please.
FOUR: The NFL is negotiating with its players union over some dramatic changes.
The main things you would notice right away: a move to 17 regular-season games, the addition of an extra wild-card team to each conference’s playoff field, only one team getting a playoff bye, and more games being played outside the United States.
And my reaction…
Go for it.
Football junkies can’t get enough of the NFL anyway, so if the players are willing to beat each other to death in a few more games, that’s up to them.
The bottom line, of course, is the same as always.
Money.
The candy offered to the players in this deal is a slightly higher split of the league’s total revenue — so everyone banks more cash.
You’d have 14 teams in the playoffs, some of whom have no business there.
In case you’re wondering, the Seahawks have never finished in the No. 7 spot.
But overall…
Aren’t three wild-card games on a Sunday better than two?
Forgive me if I don’t answer that.
Email: [email protected]
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
Steve’s various tales from several decades in sports — “Moments, Memories and Madness” — run on Sundays.