蜜柚直播

Long-time junior聽college national power 蜜柚直播 Western College eliminated its football program last week, leaving Thatcher-based Eastern 蜜柚直播 College as the only JC football team in this state.

A year ago the Western States Football League had seven 蜜柚直播 schools. Now, there鈥檚 one 鈥� maybe.

EAC last week held a community forum to discuss the future of its football program, which has a centurylong tradition in Thatcher. The numbers aren鈥檛 good: EAC spends $978,000 on its football program and realizes about $475,000 in revenue.

Pima College鈥檚 outgoing athletic director,听Edgar Soto聽鈥� promoted to vice president at PCC鈥檚 Desert Vista campus 鈥� was familiar with such numbers long before EAC made them public. Soto was president of the WSFL a year ago and witnessed the entire organization come tumbling down.

鈥淚 told the Maricopa County people that if they cut football at their four schools, the domino effect would get the rest of us,鈥� Soto said last week.

EAC bravely announced a schedule for 2019, which includes games with two Texas JCs and others in Utah and New Mexico, and games against 鈥減rep schools鈥� in Colorado, Phoenix and Nevada. It鈥檚 not good.

It plans to spend about $100,000 on travel, but sometimes that鈥檚 misleading in JC sports.

Soto budgeted about $200,000 for travel at Pima College but because the Aztecs have grown to be one of the nation鈥檚 leading junior college athletic programs, that number multiplied when teams reach the NJCAA finals, as Pima teams have done 11 times dating to 2011.

That $200,000 very quickly became $350,000 when PCC鈥檚 men鈥檚 soccer and men鈥檚 basketball teams reached the NJCAA finals in each of the last two years.

Somehow, Soto and PCC executive assistant AD聽Jerry Stitt聽were able to balance the books and prepare a sound foundation for the school鈥檚 new AD,听Jim Monaco.

鈥淭he perception might be that Jim is walking into a situation that is a mess,鈥� said Soto. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not the case. We don鈥檛 need someone to 鈥榮ave the day.鈥� We鈥檝e built layers of success.鈥�

Over the last two years, Soto and Stitt have worked to create a modern financial model for PCC鈥檚 head coaches. In the school鈥檚 first 40 years, Pima coaches were part-time employees, with none paid more than about $12,000 per year, if that.

But in the last few years, PCC has made women鈥檚 basketball coach聽Todd Holthaus聽and men鈥檚 soccer coach聽Dave Cosgrove聽full-time employees. In the new fiscal year, men鈥檚 basketball coach聽Brian Peabody聽and women鈥檚 soccer coach聽Kendra Veliz聽will be paid full-time salaries, probably in the neighborhood of $55,000 annually. The master plan is to add PCC baseball and softball coaches to the FTE list by 2020 or thereabouts.

Soto also acted to make sure golf and tennis were not eliminated, as had been mentioned as a possibility when PCC鈥檚 football program was dropped in June.

Eliminating Pima football was a negative headline that didn鈥檛 go down easily. But in retrospect, it鈥檚 no wonder junior college football in America has diminished so broadly. Do you realize there are only seven JC football teams in Texas? And now one in 蜜柚直播, one in Utah, one in Colorado and one in New Mexico?

How do you properly house and feed 100 football players? Some PCC football players were sleeping six to an apartment.

That鈥檚 because the support system of football is too expensive for most junior college budgets. There aren鈥檛 enough financial resources for support staff and risk-management issues, or for the behavioral, academic, financial and medical/training components that come with a 100-member football team.

As Soto leaves after a successful 10-year run as AD, Pima will go forward with about 250 student-athletes, 15 sports, a manageable budget and a record for its greatest on-field success in school history.

The first month of Pac-12 basketball was such that its four 鈥渟hining moments鈥� weren鈥檛 exactly successes. Here鈥檚 the league鈥檚 top four outcomes of the month:

• 蜜柚直播 State 72, Mississippi State 67
• Oregon 80, Syracuse 65
• Gonzaga 81, Washington 79
• Kansas 90, Stanford 84

There has yet to be a resounding victory for the entire conference, and part of that is because, except for Washington and Stanford, Pac-12 teams haven鈥檛 dipped their toes into the Big Boys pool yet.

Before conference play begins in January, the Pac-12 will be engaged in just one game of national attention: Kansas at ASU on Dec. 22. You might argue that Utah鈥檚 trip to Kentucky and the Utes鈥� Dec. 29 home game against Nevada are big-game worthy, but Utah has been a major disappointment, losing to Northwestern and Hawaii and getting blown out Saturday by an ordinary BYU team.

Gonzaga and Nevada rule basketball in the western precincts, a rarity that can be counted on one hand. Since the Pac-10 was formed in 1978, multiple Western teams outside the conference have been ranked ahead of Pac-10/12 teams in the final AP poll just six聽times:

• 2012-13: 1, Gonzaga; 10, New Mexico
• 2011-12: 21, New Mexico; 22 San Diego State; 23, UNLV; 24, Saint Mary鈥檚
• 2010-11: 6, San Diego State; 10, BYU.
• 2009-10: 10, New Mexico; 17, BYU; 22, Gonzaga
• 1985-86: 11, UNLV; 20, UTEP
• 1983-84: 9, UTEP; 13, UNLV

This looks to be the seventh聽year the Pac-12 will be outranked in its own backyard.

Long before聽Larry Scott聽became commissioner of the Pac-12, his management tactics were criticized.

In 2007, Scott and prominent American sports attorney聽Donald Dell聽鈥� who represented tennis icons聽Jimmy Connors,听Ivan Lendl听补苍诲听Arthur Ashe聽鈥� clashed over Scott鈥檚 geographical changes on the WTA and ATP tours.

鈥淲ith Larry, it is all about the money,鈥� Dell told Sports Business Journal in 2007. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he cares much about the American circuit. If you look where he put the championships, there is no denying it.鈥�

Dell was upset Scott moved traditional USTA and American-based tournaments to places such as Turkey, Spain and Dubai.

Dell told the Sports Business Journal that Scott took a cut of all WTA deals as part of an incentive compensation plan that saw him earn more than $1 million in 2007, a structure, Dell said, that led some to question Scott鈥檚 motives in business deals.

Scott earned $69,700 as a pro tennis player in the 1980s, often playing doubles with former 蜜柚直播 High standout聽Jim Grabb. How good was Scott? He won a first-round match at Wimbledon in 1987.

罢耻肠蝉辞苍补苍听Krystal Quihuis聽won the 蜜柚直播 Women鈥檚 Open last week in Phoenix, shooting rounds of 70-69-66 (or 11 under par) to earn $5,500. Quihuis, a three-year starter at 蜜柚直播 and two-time state champion at Salpointe Catholic, struggled in her 2018 debut on the LPGA鈥檚 Symetra Tour, earning $12,732 and finishing 72nd聽on the money list. Among those Quihuis beat at the 蜜柚直播 championship was ex-UA teammate聽Gigi Stoll, who finished 11th overall to earn $575. If Stoll elects to take the money, she will forfeit her final semester of eligibility at 蜜柚直播; Stoll was a key piece of the UA鈥檚 2018 NCAA championship, winning playoff matches against favored golfers from Stanford and UCLA to help the Wildcats into a championship showdown against Alabama.

I can鈥檛 imagine anyone busier in the basketball season than Pueblo High School girls coach聽Izzy Galindo. Having established himself as one of the better basketball coaches in the state, Galindo has coached the Warriors to an 89-12 record the last 3陆 seasons. He works full time for the 蜜柚直播 Parks and Recreation department and also squeezes in time to watch his son,听Ismael Galindo, play for Pueblo鈥檚 boys basketball team. Unfortunately, the Pueblo boys and girls team routinely play opposite schedules; when Pueblo鈥檚 boys play at Sabino, for example, the PHS girls team plays at home against Sabino. One of the leading girls basketball players in 蜜柚直播 is Pueblo senior Summer Fox,听who is averaging 19.6 points so far this season, third of all 蜜柚直播 girls players. Fox has scored 941 points in her Pueblo career and almost had a triple-double last week in a 22-point, nine-steal, eight-assist game against Casa Grande Vista聽Grande. Typical of the success of Galindo鈥檚 program, Fox has been widely recruited and on Wednesday afternoon at the Pueblo library will sign a letter of intent to play basketball at Black Hills State, a NCAA Division II team in South Dakota. A four-year scholarship like that can be worth as much as $100,000.

Three things to keep in mind this week in 蜜柚直播 sports:

1. The Baylor-蜜柚直播 basketball game Saturday at McKale Center tips off at 9 p.m. Groan.

2. Former 蜜柚直播 All-Pac-10 infielder聽Chip Hale聽could become the manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Hale, who managed the Diamondbacks in 2015 and 2016, has interviewed for the vacancy.

3. The game of the week in boys high school basketball is likely to be unbeaten Salpointe Catholic with聽Evan Nelson听补苍诲听Majok Deng聽at 6-2 Cholla on Friday, 7 p.m. The emerging impact player in 蜜柚直播 prep basketball is 6-foot-4-inch Cholla freshman聽滨蝉蝉补肠听骋补谤肠颈补, who is averaging 22.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in his first month of high school basketball. Cholla knocked off powerful Catalina Foothills on Friday night.

Former Pima College offensive lineman聽Jordan Agasiva聽was selected to the All-Pac-12 first team last week. Agasiva plays for Utah; he was not recruited by聽Rich Rodriguez鈥檚 staff at 蜜柚直播. The UA last had a first-team All-Pac-12 offensive lineman in 2008, when聽Eben Britton聽earned the honor. Before that, it was 1998, with guard聽Yusuf Scott. Think the UA could鈥檝e used Agasiva this year?

Pima County Sports Hall of Fame track/field official聽Dan Reynolds聽was invited to the epic 50th anniversary celebration of Team USA鈥檚 1968 Olympic track and field team last week in Indianapolis. Reynolds, who has officiated at most of the U.S. Olympic Trials meets over the last 35 years, spent time with former 蜜柚直播 All-American and Olympic silver medalist high jumper聽Ed Caruthers. The two plan to meet again in May when 蜜柚直播 hosts the Pac-12 track and field championships at Drachman Stadium.

On Saturday, Salpointe Catholic junior running back聽Bijan Robinson聽deservedly won the 2018 Ed Doherty Award. The award committee suggests that it is the 蜜柚直播 prep equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, and indeed the history of the Doherty award 鈥� created in 1987 鈥� has gone to many of the top names in 蜜柚直播 prep football history: Santa Rita receiver聽Eric Drage聽in 1988; Sahuaro tackle聽Mike Ciasca聽in 1989; Amphi running back聽Mario Bates聽in 1990; Mountain View running back聽Kevin Schmidtke聽in 1993; and Palo Verde athlete聽Adam Hall聽in 2008. Former 蜜柚直播 standouts聽Scooter Sprotte聽(1994),听Bobby Wade聽(1998) and聽Mike Bell聽(2000) were also Doherty Award winners.

After Pima College鈥檚 men鈥檚 soccer team won the NJCAA national championship a few weeks ago, the Aztecs were stumped in attempt to buy championship rings for every team member.

鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 afford it,鈥� said head coach聽Dave Cosgrove.

But that issue was solved when 蜜柚直播 attorney聽Ted Schmidt, long one of the community鈥檚 leading soccer voices, offered to pay for the rings. They will be presented to the Aztecs in a ceremony at the PCC gymnasium Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

鈥淭his offer by Ted and his law firm (Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian) has gone beyond my expectations,鈥� Cosgrove said. 鈥淚f not for his company stepping up, I鈥檓 not sure we could have gotten the rings.鈥�

And there鈥檚 more: PCC has learned that sophomore standout聽Hugo Kametani聽has been selected as the national player of the year by the United Soccer Coaches Association. Kametani, who won the national championship game with an overtime goal, will be the guest of honor at the annual All-American banquet in Chicago on Jan. 12.

Happy holidays, indeed.