Your Wazzu Crimson Sunrise 5/7: Aron Baynes Watch, Pac-12 Meetings, the Upland Pipeline

Are you missing Klay Thompson and the Warriors?  Is there a void of  WSU Alumni in your NBA viewing?  Aron Baynes, Thompson’s teammate in Pullman came on HUGE last night for the San Antonio Spurs against the Trail Blazers. 10 points and 7 boards in 15 minutes is just efficient, exactly what is needed from a big man off the bench, and projected out . . . those numbers start looking serious.

Cheers, from the Evergreen State, Aron.  Know that all but the confused, borderline treasonous, NBA fans up here are rooting for the Spurs.

Links:

Phoenix, nothing intrigues me less than the wasteland of Arizona, culturally speaking, of course, they have overpopulated the desert beyond reason, eschewing anything that used to be there for irrigated rock gardens and A/C.  That being said, the Pac-12 Spring Meetings began down there  yesterday, and some compelling topics emerged.

First on the compelling issues list: Pac-12 Championship Game Venue.  The size of the dog for WSU in this fight is debatable, but when considering the SEC last year, who knows?

Continuing the WSU defensive back tradition, let us welcome Kameron Powell to Pullman.  The second player in the past few weeks from Upland HS to join the Cougs (QB Tyler Hilinski), so bookmark the Baseline Conference in California next season to keep track of these guys this fall.

Tweets:

The man in Renton knows his stuff.  When John Clayton speaks, we tend to listen.

You have to love erroneous information from ESPN, but some nice love for someone that most of the audience hadn’t heard of.

Thoughts:

Santa Clara in early December would likely have a high of 60 and a low of 44, not exactly ideal.  The other argument is home field proximity, as Stanford would be less than 15 miles from their home field and Cal’s fans would need to travel all of 45 miles. This would be akin to Coug fans traveling almost all the way to Colfax, or Rosalia respectively.  Think of that next time you’re heading up to Spokane.  
 
Arizona and ASU are pushing for University of Phoenix Stadium.  This idea is horrible, as the State of Arizona tends to (either via legislation or vote) attempt institutionalizing bigotry.  If the permanent site was located in Arizona, every time these yahoos decide to marginalize their minorities, a collective headache will echo throughout Pac-12 AD offices.   This is not hyperbolic, Arizona had Super Bowl XXVII ripped from them after they refused to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Only a few months ago SB 1062 was nearly passed, which would have legalized discrimination, causing the NFL to rethink the State’s inclusion in the Super Bowl rotation. 

Personally, I feel the unique nature of on campus championships is terrific.  Unfortunately it appears there is a buck to be made and a “neutral site” is going to  bring more money to the coffers.  Santa Clara is about right for the dividing line of North and South , and the Cougs will never feel the full brunt of a Stanford or Cal geographic advantage (obviously they will never meet in this game), so we need to get used to the idea.