Baseball: Yaks take two from Chukars

YAKIMA, Wash. — Tyler VonDracek’s first reaction didn’t have time to really register Saturday before the second kicked in.

“When I saw that the ball was going to drop, I was obviously excited,” the Yakima Valley freshman said. “But then I saw the team rushing toward me and I thought, ‘Oh, dogpile.’”

Which is what typically happens when a pinch hitter laces a shot into the right-center field gap for a game-winning hit — the first walkoff of VonDracek’s life — in a 9-8 Yaks victory over Treasure Valley at Parker Field.

Making VonDracek’s moment that much sweeter was that it came after Jake Fife’s three-hitter in the first game of YVCC’s East Region doubleheader, a 4-1 triumph that boosted the Yaks into sole possession of first place thanks to Columbia Basin’s twinbill split with Big Bend.

Four regular-season games remain for Yakima Valley (17-7 region, 27-11 overall) — two Wednesday at Big Bend and two more at home next Saturday against Walla Walla.

After sharing the region championship last year, the Yaks are seeking an outright title that would assure them a second straight NWAACC Tournament berth.

Last year’s appearance was the program’s first since 2000.

“Just another day at the yard,” a smiling coach Ken Wilson said after VonDracek’s heroics. “Obviously, these were two very big wins for us. Jake Fife pitched well in the first game and in the second … well, we just hung in there and battled. There’s a lot to be said for just effort and energy, and the desire to compete. We had that all day.”

Needed it, too, especially to survive a back-and-forth slugfest after Fife dominated the opener. The sophomore right-hander from Selah struck out seven, walked five and helped keep the Chukars (14-10, 21-18) in check with a newly developed pitch.

“It’s sort of a cut fastball or slider,” Fife said, “and I didn’t use it when I pitched against them at their place. Today, as long as I could command it and didn’t leave it over the plate, I figured it would help.”

It did indeed, against a team YVCC had been swept by — 6-5 in 11 innings and 6-4 — on April 14 at Ontario, Ore.

In Saturday’s second game, Treasure Valley scored four times in the first inning off Yaks starter Kyle Garvin, who then steadied for four shutout frames while his team rallied.

Kyle Mall, whose two-run single highlighted the Yaks’ three-run second, put YVCC ahead 6-4 with another two-run base hit in the fourth.

TVCC tied it with a pair of runs in the sixth, Garvin’s final inning, before the Yaks regained the lead when J.R. Weigel crushed a run-scoring triple to dead center field, then plated on Reid Martinez’s safety squeeze bunt.

But the Chukars got two in the ninth to tie it off Seth Darling and Brett Druffel, with Druffel stranding runners at second and third by getting a popup to shallow center and a strikeout to end the inning

In Yakima Valley’s half of the frame, Fife reached on an error and was sacrifice-bunted to second by Shawn Wardian, who had three of the Yaks’ 14 hits. Fife took third on a groundout to second, after which VonDracek, a left-handed hitter, was called on to face TVCC right-hander Trae Johnson.

“Coach told me when I went up there that our lefties had gotten a lot of pitches middle-out,” said the 6-foot-3 outfielder from Longview’s R.A. Long High School. “That’s what I eventually got, and I got around on it enough to pull it.”

VonDracek’s drive was never in danger of being caught, and YVCC helmets and hats flew skyward as it rolled toward the wall.

Game 1

Treasure Valley 000 100 000 — 1 3 0
Yakima Valley 022 000 00x — 4 8 1

Olson, Bunn (8) and Reay; Fife and Chavarria.

YVCC highlights: Jake Fife 7 K, 5 BB; Cameron Padron 2-4, 2b, 2 RBI; Kyle Mall 1-2, RBI.

Game 2

Treasure Valley 400 002 002 — 8 12 4
Yakima Valley 130 202 001 — 9 14 4

Wewers, Bunn (2), T. Johnson (4) and Reay, Nix (8); Garvin, Darling (7), Druffel (9) and Chavarria.

YVCC highlights: Kyle Thompson 3-4, 2b, 3 runs, RBI; Mall 2-3, 4 RBI; J.R. Weigel 2-4, 3b, RBI; Reid Martinez 1-3, 2 RBI; Shawn Wardian 3-3.

Bears hope to become fiscally fit in Yakima

YAKIMA, Wash. — Among the factors that can’t be overemphasized regarding the Bears future here is that their game is a business.

The Northwest League franchise doesn’t want to make money just for the sake of it. Like any other financial endeavor, it has to.

So it seemed more than coincidence that a recent interview with K.L. Wombacher began with the team’s general manager saying, “If I had a dollar for every time someone has come up to me during the last few months and said, ‘Hey, you’re still here? I thought you were moving to Vancouver.’”

So did they, for a good part of last summer.

A deal for a new stadium just across the Columbia River from the sprawling pro baseball vacuum of Portland seemed all but done until the financing plan blew up.

Only months earlier, after initial overtures had been well received by Clark County, the Bears had hoped to open this season in a new $19.5 million stadium.

That was then, this is now and with their home-opener looming on June 20, Wombacher and his staffers are busily preparing for the next season and beyond.

As for where the Bears will be playing, say, five years from now — it could be here or it could be somewhere else. And for minor league baseball fans in the Yakima Valley, that’s good news since only last May the team seemed as good as gone.

A season in limbo

That the Bears seemed destined for a new home made for an unusual atmosphere last summer as team officials tried to make fans feel appreciated even as the team sought to leave. Eventually, as the Clark County process slowed, it became clear that the Bears would spend at least one more season in Yakima.

When the Vancouver option abruptly died last November, Wombacher said all options were on the table — a mentality he reiterated during our interview. In the meantime, he said the Bears are working diligently toward providing Yakima fans with a memorable summer, whether it’s among the club’s last here or not.

“Right now our focus is 100 percent on this season,” Wombacher said at the team’s downtown headquarters. “We’re looking to have a great season here in Yakima. We have some new promotions, we’ve scheduled six fireworks shows that are always very popular with our fans, and we’re hoping this propels us to something long term.”

Remember, before the Bears tried to get a stadium deal done in Vancouver they tried to get one done here. Working primarily with the city in hopes of a new facility at the old Boise Cascade mill site, the idea never gained traction.

Encouraging signs from county

Of late, Wombacher has been encouraged by overtures from the county that began with $10,000 worth of improvements to Yakima County Stadium’s much-maligned infield. The Bears then matched that monetary amount.

“We’ve had brief discussions with the commissioners, and they appear to be very open,” Wombacher said. “They want to keep us at the fairgrounds. And I think a renovation of the stadium is a possibility that could create a solution for the facility requirements.

“Just to be working together on a long-term solution is encouraging, and it appears that the commissioners are willing.”

Beyond a ballpark makeover, which Wombacher said must start with the playing surface, dugouts and clubhouses, there is the conspicuous matter of parking fees that fans have long groused about.

The $5 it costs to park your car, many have complained, is more than it costs some fans to enter the ballpark (general admission seats for child, senior and military members cost $4.50). It’s also written into the Bears’ stadium lease, which runs through 2015, that all parking revenue goes to the county.

Might the existing agreement be modified?

“That horse,” Wombacher said, “has been beaten dead.”

So while Bears officials have long stated that the lease will be honored even if the team leaves, Wombacher said a new agreement enabling the ballclub to control parking fees would go far toward enabling them to stay.

Again, their game is a business.

“There isn’t another team in the Northwest League that doesn’t keep its parking money,” he said.

Should a new lease allow the Bears to keep some or all parking funds, Wombacher said he wasn’t sure whether the fee would be reduced or even possibly eliminated.

Reality: Bears’ game is a business

The coming season will be the 20th for Yakima County Stadium. Because it was built both cheaply and quickly, it has aged dramatically.

And fans wondering why the Bears have maintained a major league affiliation with the Arizona Diamondbacks, a franchise that has provided them with only two winning teams and one playoff berth over 11 years, should know that the ballpark has limited Yakima’s options.

Just as the Bears could pull the plug on the Diamondbacks, the Diamondbacks could do likewise. And Arizona’s officials who come here each summer have grown increasingly unhappy with the playing surface, clubhouse and training facilities — the very factors that could discourage a new affiliate.

Since buying the Bears in 1999, the ownership group Short Season, LLC with Mike McMurray as team president, has periodically spruced up the ballpark.

State funds for Yakima and other minor league baseball venues have funded new lights, a new outfield wall, a new sound system, picnic tables and a picnic deck cover. The owners, meanwhile, have bought a video board and new electric scoreboard for a combined total of about $300,000.

Attendance, which hit a modern-era low of 51,544 in 2004, increased for five straight years to 72,881 in 2009 before dropping back to 70,695 in 2010.

The uncertainty of the team’s future no doubt contributed to a further decline last year to 66,545 — or almost 20,000 fewer than Tri-City, which ranked seventh among the NWL’s eight teams.

Even with the attendance increases, which continued to rank Yakima last in the league, Wombacher said the Bears have still lost money. They have done so in at least 11 of the 13 seasons in which they’ve operated under the current owners, he said.

Where might the Bears go from here?

Meanwhile, the greater Portland area — the nation’s most populated domain that doesn’t have pro baseball — continues to beckon, and the Northwest League is understandably interested.

A relocation committee was formed during the league’s winter meetings, and NWL president Bob Richmond said in a telephone interview that teams other than the Bears are being considered for new venues. Milwaukie and Hillsboro, Ore. have been mentioned as possibilities as well as some Canadian cities.

“We formed the committee for a lot of different reasons,” Richmond said, “and various sites will be looked at from time to time.”

Boise, for example, is having stadium issues similar to those of Yakima. The team’s parent club, the Chicago Cubs, say they’ll end their affiliation if a new facility isn’t built there.

As for the Bears, especially after the Vancouver flameout, they’re realistic. “For us to relocate,” Wombacher said, “we’d have to have somewhere to go.”

But maybe the Bears will have somewhere to stay — at Yakima County Stadium.

Perhaps a combined effort from the county and the Bears will result in both a ballpark renovation and lease makeover.

After all, the Bears’ game is a business.

Has this ownership group been faultless in its operation of the club. No, it hasn’t. But having covered the team since 2003, I’ve seen what in my opinion has been a genuine effort to learn and improve in that regard.

Had management sought to merely buy the team and turn a quick profit, it would have sold or moved it long ago, and without signing a lease through 2015.

As Wombacher said during our talk, “Anytime you talk about using public money, it had better be a good investment.”

Good point. Because from that perspective baseball is a business for the county and its taxpayers, too.

• Roger Underwood’s Under the Radar blog is at sportsyakima.com He can be reached at 509-577-7694 or runderwood@yakimaherald.com

Yaks tied for 7th in newest NWAACC baseball poll

NWAACC BASEBALL COACHES POLL
Released Friday
1, Bellevue (29-8); 2, Pierce (20-12); 3 tie, Everett (21-8) and Tacoma (27-6); 5, Edmonds (22-10); 6, Mt. Hood (23-7); 7 tie, Yakima Valley (25-11) and Lower Columbia (21-11).
Others receiving votes: Treasure Valley 9, Columbia Basin 6.

CWU prof Bergman to carry Olympic torch in England

Ethan Bergman, a professor of food science and nutrition at Central Washington, will carry the Olympic torch when it travels through Basingstoke, England on July 11.
Basingstoke, a city of about 80,000, is located 48 miles southwest of London.
Bergman will soon become president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in America. One of the academy’s sponsors is Coca Cola, which nominated Bergman as a torch carrier as part of its Live Positively community fitness campaign.

NWAACC news: Prosser alum new men’s hoops coach at Clark, Penguins star signs with Western

Alex Kirk, a 2003 Prosser High graduate and a basketball standout for the Mustangs, has been named men’s hoops coach at Clark College.
Kirk had walked on at Washington State and later attended Columbia Basin College. He previously had served as director of basketball operations at the University of Portland, had been an assistant at Mountain View High School and also had been lead trainer and coach at the Dan Dickau Basketball Academy.
Most recently, Kirk had been head boys coach at King’s Way Christian.

Also, a standout from the Penguins’ 25-4 squad of last season has signed with reigning NCAA Division II national champion Western Washington.
Austin Bragg, a 6-foot-8 forward from Longview’s Mark Morris High, will join the Vikings next season after averaging 15 points and 10.2 rebounds for Clark.
At Mark Morris, Bragg was a member the 2009 squad that came highly-touted to the Class 2A state tournament in the SunDome, but lost 48-44 to Toppenish in the first round and ended up going two and out.

On, off field, M’s are own worst enemy

First, I like the Mariners. I greatly admire Ichiro and Felix Hernandez, I think Dustin Ackley is a budding star and I hope the team will one day — hopefully in my lifetime — reach and perhaps win a World Series.
That said, observing this team’s repeated failures both on and off the field continues to be an exercise in extreme frustration.
And watching Felix shut down opponent after opponent only to be saddled with a loss or no-decision because of Seattle’s pathetic offense isn’t the worst of it.
Last month’s letter from Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln and staunchly supported by team president Chuck Armstrong opposing the proposed NBA/NHL arena in the Sodo area of Seattle continues to underscore the arrogance of this high-minded franchise.
Imagine a team playing in a facility funded by public money complaining about another facility in which Seattle native and San Francisco hedge fund manager Chris Hansen will foot much of the bill and has already bought the property.
Sure, there are concerns regarding traffic in that area when two or more of Seattle’s professional teams are playing. Hansen has acknowledged those concerns and has offered to pay for a study of such issues.
As The Seattle Times’ Larry Stone wrote in an April 7 column, “That’s how you win friends and influence people.”
In the meantime, the M’s continue to struggle afield and fans, many of them justifiably outraged by Lincoln and Armstrong, are staying away in droves.
To manager Eric Wedge, his staff and players, my message would be, “Keep working, fellas. Try to get better and build the foundation for a winner.”
To Lincoln and Armstrong, I would advise a crash course in perspective and humility, characteristics each is woefully short on. And should the team be sold, as has been rumored, the new stewards would be well advised to completely disassociate themselves from two men who not only represent, but are largely responsible for, all that is wrong with the Mariners.
Old news? Maybe. But fans should not, and hopefully will not, forget this remarkably short-sighted and heavy-handed gesture.
As Stone continued in his typically spot-on column, he recounted a blog post he’d written regarding Hansen’s arena proposal prior to the now-infamous Lincoln letter:
“I would be surprised and disappointed, however, if the Mariners, whose own beautiful stadium was the beneficiary of public financing, became in any way an impediment to this new arena project. I have no reason to believe they will be. They are not tone deaf to the fact that people are watching keenly to see how they will come down on this, in action as well as words. I would fully expect their stance to ultimately be a supportive one.”
Then he concluded his column with, “Color me surprised, and disappointed.”

FROM THE QUOTE FILE
“(But) Hansen is widely viewed as the savior riding in to (retroactively) save the Sonics — the last, best hope for bring NBA basketball back to our area. Opposing the Sodo site is tantamount, in most observers’ minds, to opposing the NBA’s return. Not understanding that, and not anticipating the vitriol that this letter would elicit (or ignoring both), is where the Mariners went astray.”
— Larry Stone, in his Seattle Times column published April 7.

Junior College, D-II regional baseball polls

American Baseball Coaches Association
Junior College Pacific Region poll
School (region)
1, Orange Coast (SoCal); 2, Feather River (NorCal); 3, Bellevue (NW); 4, Rio Hondo (SoCal); 5, San Mateo (NorCal); 6, Everett (NW); 7, Santa Ana (SoCal); 8, Ohlone (NorCal); 9, Mt. SAC (SoCal); 10, Cuesta (SoCal); 11 (tie), Edmonds (NW) and Pierce (NW); 13, Fresno City (NorCal); 14, Glendale (SoCal); 15, Diablo Valley (NorCal); 16, El Camino (SoCal); 17, Merced (NorCal); 18, Riverside (SoCal); 19, Tacoma (NW); 20, Laney (NorCal); 21, Southwestern (SoCal); 22, Santa Rosa (NorCal); 23, Mt. Hood (NW); 24, Golden West (SoCal); 25, Sacramento (NorCal).
Also receiving votes: Treasure Valley (NW); Yakima Valley (NW); Bakersfield (SoCal); San Diego Mesa (SoCal); Cypress (SoCal); Consumnes River (NorCal); Reedley (NorCal); Sierra (NorCal).

NCAA Division II West Region poll: 1, Western Oregon (27-8); 2, UC San Diego (26-18); 3, Cal State San Bernardino (22-15); 4, Chico State (29-13); 5, Dixie State (27-15); 6, Cal State L.A. (22-16); 7, Cal Poly Pomona (27-18); 8, Cal State Stanislaus (25-17).

Those in the know often overlook qualities both immeasurable, invaluable

YAKIMA, Wash. — For the record, Kellen Moore did not finish last in the 40-yard dash for quarterbacks at February’s NFL combine.

Arizona’s Nick Foles clocked 5.14 seconds, making him the only QB among the 14 timed to have run slower than Moore, whose 4.94 time no doubt left many among the legions of observers nodding reassuredly to themselves.

Already, they were certain, he was too short at 6-foot. Already, they were certain, Moore and the Broncos had played competition inferior to that of schools in the SEC, Big 12, Pac-12 or other top-shelf conferences, thereby diluting his NCAA Division I all-time best 50-3 record as a starter.

His becoming a finalist for the 2010 Heisman Trophy? Nice chapter to this feel-good story of a coach’s kid from little Prosser, Wash., who had proven stat-istically, at least, that he could play with the big boys.

From that pers-pective Moore had become the too-little, too-slow quarterback who could.

But according to those allegedly in the know, he still is the too-little, too-slow quarterback who won’t.

He won’t make it big in the NFL, that is.

Career backup is the tag most often applied to Moore in the myriad of pre-draft player analyses. Too short, too slow and not enough arm strength, most say, to be a consistent starter and winner.

Said one report, “Moore is a gritty football player that is a winner, but he is not going to pass the eyeball test from NFL coaches.”

Ah, the eyeball test — the latest in a series of catch phrases that have become as convenient as combines and pro days to validate the opinions of those who discount or ignore intangibles. The numbers and/or eyeballs provide erstwhile experts something real upon which to base their evaluations.

Suppose Y.A. Tittle or Johnny Unitas, even back in the day, would’ve passed an eyeball test?

As for Moore, 10 or more quarterbacks figure to be drafted ahead of him this week, and the proceedings might carry into the sixth or seventh rounds before his name is called.

That said, from what I’ve heard and read and learned first-hand — I watched Moore play and spoke with him multiple times during his days at Prosser — he probably has responded to those projections just as he did when high-profile college scouts dismissed him.

He probably has gotten used to shrugging, smiling and saying, “Whatever.”

Then he’s simply gone about his business, concerning himself only with things he can control like being an ideal teammate, hitting receivers when they’re open and beating roughly 95 percent of the opponents on his team’s schedule.

Moore can’t draft himself, so he is probably not agonizing over which team will pick him, or when.

Once selected, Moore will then do what he’s always done. He will endeavor to make the best of his situation, and his accomplishments will quite possibly surprise many among those who place too much emphasis on size, speed and vertical leap not enough on leadership, poise and savvy.

Those qualities, while immeasurable, are also invaluable. And they best define Moore as a quarterback.

Am I certain that Moore will become the next Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers or even Kyle Orton? Absolutely not.

But unlike most so-called experts, I’m absolutely not convinced that he won’t.

• Roger Underwood’s Under the Radar blog is at sportsyakima.com He can be reached at 509-577-7694 or runderwood@yakimaherald.com

YVCC cuts wrestling teams

YAKIMA, Wash. — What Yakima Valley Community College wrestling officials avoided four years ago with creative planning will apparently not be sustained by creative budgeting.

The college has run out of options, athletic director Ray Funk said, and the men’s and women’s programs have thus run out of time.

Wrestling, a varsity sport at YVCC since 1990, has been discontinued, the college announced Wednesday.

“With the economy the way it’s been for some time now, and with all the cuts that have been made to higher education throughout the state and at YVCC, it’s no longer feasible to avoid having this situation impact our department,” Funk said.

“Intercollegiate athletics here had largely been left alone through this process. But we’ve reached the point where that can’t continue.”

The decision, Funk said, was made by a group of college administrators in which he was included.

Wrestling was nearly eliminated in 2008, when administrators sought its ouster as at least a partial solution to a complaint against YVCC regarding Title IX, a now-40-year-old federal law banning sex discrimination in schools. At the time, women comprised approximately 64 percent of the college’s students — a higher percentage than competed in YVCC’s varsity sports.

A suggestion was made to the board of trustees that wrestling be eliminated and women’s cross country added, but then co-coach Mike Schmitt countered with a proposal to start women’s wrestling.

At a March 2008 board of trustees meeting in the Hopf Student Union Building, a motion was made to discontinue wrestling but did not receive a second.

A women’s squad was formed in June of that year and won three consecutive National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships.

Competition was not considered especially strong at that level, however, and last season the Yaks switched from collegiate to freestyle without matching their prior success.

Part of the reason, Schmitt said, was that postseason travel money (the women’s national tournament was in Tennessee) had been eliminated, a move the coach called “totally inappropriate.”

While five women qualified for nationals, he said, only three participated because of the financial problem. Their travel was funded through donations, Schmitt said, including some out of his own pocket.

Reached by telephone Wednesday night, Schmitt said he saw the program’s closure coming.

“Yeah, they’ve just been making little cutbacks every year and this last year we had a big mess,” he said. “The year before (2011), they actually paid for our postseason travel and I thought, ‘Maybe they’re buying into it, with us having a bunch of success.’

“But after we saved the program in 2008, they cut a little piece off each year. They were doing it internally, and I think it was a long term plan. The board (of trustees) voted to keep the program, but we didn’t have the administration’s support.”

The Herald-Republic was not able to reach Bob Spain, who introduced wrestling as a YVCC club sport in 1989, saw it become a varsity activity in 1990 and coached through 1998.

“You think about the faculty and staff we’ve lost on our campus and the programs that have either been cut or reduced over the last few years, and it’s just been a very difficult time for the college,” Funk said. “So considering budget matters, I guess it’s our (the athletic department’s) turn.”

Funk became the college’s athletic director in June of 2005, at which point he also was named men’s basketball coach — a position he still holds.

Of the 34 schools in the NWAACC — the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges — only Highline, Clackamas and Southwestern Oregon continue to offer wrestling as varsity sports

“Ultimately,” Funk said, “the college has chosen to maintain the programs that are already sanctioned through the NWAACC.”

Remaining YVCC varsity sports are women’s soccer and volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, fastpitch and baseball.

“The thing is,” Schmitt said, “I understand the budgetary issues. My thing is we bring a lot of students to YVCC through wrestling, and my other issue is that once the money starts coming back — and it will eventually because everything’s cyclical — you can bring back an English class at the drop of a hat or an art class, but you can’t necessarily bring back a wrestling program that’s been cut. That’s very, very hard to do.”

Schmitt said he’d received “dozens” of phone calls and texts thanking him.

“I just got a call from Gustavo Lopez, a kid from Wapato who wrestled here and now is at Menlo College (in Atherton, Calif.),” he said. “He’s going to graduate, and he said if it hadn’t been for us and wrestling he probably wouldn’t even have gone to college.

“Now it’s sad that those opportunities are going away for others.”

Bennett appraises CWU’s first practice in pads; Arkansas’ hiring of former mentor Smith

Central Washington held its first practice of the spring in full pads Monday, and head coach Blaine Bennett pronounced the Wildcats’ defense to be ahead of the offense.
“The defense looks really good — very athletic and fast,” he said Tuesday. “Malik Roberson (CWU’s new defensive coordinator) is doing a great job of coaching and the players becoming comfortable with his terminology and the defenses he’s put in. It’s been fun to see the defense flying around.”
Bennett also said senior quarterback Ryan Robertson has been impressive as he continues to recover from a dislocated right hip.
“You wouldn’t really know he’d been injured,” Bennett said. “He’s throwing the ball well and he’s very confident.”
Bennett, preparing for his fifth season as the Wildcats coach, also commented on Tuesday’s hiring of John L. Smith at Arkansas. Bennett had served one season as Smith’s assistant head coach and wide receivers coach, leaving Joe Tiller’s staff at Purdue.
Smith and his staff were fired after that season, in 2006, and Bennett coached in the high school ranks for one year before coming to Central.
“We go farther back than people might think,” said Bennett, explaining that during his playing days at Idaho, 1983-85, that Smith was the defensive coordinator and special teams coach.
“The coaching profession is a little crazy right now,” Bennett said, “and with social media people can put in their two cents worth and a lot of them have certainly been doing that. I think John L. Smith is a very good head coach, a very good person and a strong family man. He’s in the profession for the right reason, and that’s for his players.
“It sounds hard to say that with him leaving his players at Weber State to go back to another group of players at Arkansas, but he has strong ties to the Arkansas since he was there for three years. This opportunity gives him the chance to get back to the Division I level and an elite program, and he’ll make from $850,000 to a million-two or a million-three in 10 months at Arkansas. And if they have a great year, it will be hard for that administrator (athletic director Jeff Long) to tell him he’s not the right person for that job. I think it’s a win-win for everybody, and I personally think he’ll have a lot of success.”

FROM THE QUOTE FILE
“I also know that all the people who are patting me on the back right now will all be in line to get my fanny fired if we have a bad year or two.”
— Don James, after coaching Washington to the Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth in 1980.

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