Dan Wodrich couldn’t attend Bobo Brayton’s banquet. He wanted to be there when Washington State University honored its winningest coach May 24 by retiring baseball jersey no. 14. He played second base for Brayton in 1977-80, fulfilling a dream he had growing up in Kennewick. But on the day of the banquet, Wodrich, his wife, and three daughters were attending the funeral of a 13-year-old girl, a friend of the family.
Sometimes life throws you a curve.
Not one to let Brayton’s milestone pass without comment, Wodrich (’81 Mech. Engr., ’83 M.S. Mech. Engr.) sent a letter. Brayton shared parts of it with the 225 … » More …
“Someone like her only comes along once a career.”—Rick Sloan
Ellannee Richardson had just run the race of her life: a blistering 800-meter time of 2 minutes, 12.04 seconds, a personal record, in the final event of the heptathlon at June’s NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento.
It should have been enough for Richardson, a redshirt senior at Washington State University, to win her first NCAA title.
But in the world of track and field, you can never fully control what anyone else does. And as Richardson caught her breath, just 13 seconds after she crossed the line, her dream ended.
In more than three decades of coaching, Dick Bennett has developed a simple philosophy about basketball. It’s a team game.
“Once players understand and embrace that concept, basketball becomes simple-at both ends of the floor,” he says.” Viewed strictly as an individual showcase, it becomes more difficult. There is room for individual play to shine within the team framework, but in Bennett’s scheme of things, “we” takes precedence over “me.”
Listening to Washington State University’s new basketball boss talk about the game, one learns about the sport and the man. He’s as much a student of the game as he is a teacher/coach. He … » More …
An Associated Press story published July 30, 2006, reproduced here by permission of the author.
SAN FRANCISCO—Shawn Green brings his own soap on every road trip. Mike Cameron never forgets his lavender linen spray and orange-scented spray for the room. Ichiro Suzuki depends on an electric massager that takes up nearly half his suitcase.
And then there’s Detroit closer Todd Jones, who wears only one pair of underwear when the Tigers leave town.
“I don’t pack any underwear,” he said. “I wear it into the park, it gets washed every day and I wear it out of the park. I guess that’s weird. I’m … » More …
If Janie McCauley were telling this story, she wouldn’t bury the lead. She’d say right away that she is the Associated Press’s 2006 Sports Writer of the Year.
Add a little color, some solid quotes like, “I was surprised to get the award. There are so many good writers doing good stories all around the country,” and a few action words like “dwell,” “delve,” and “dive,” and that’s where many writers would stop.
But Janie looks for the story beneath the story. She dwells on details, delves into players’ personal interests, dives into their lives outside of the stadiums and ball parks.
In the first three months of 2006, two images of female athletes and their subsequent media interpretations played on television and front pages across the country. The first one showed Lindsey Jacobellis during the 2006 Winter Olympic Snowboard Cross competition falling after a jump near the end of her run. Headlines such as “Showboating Costs Snowboarder Gold” suggested that she tried for a “hotdog” finish which led to her subsequent second place. Apparently, with no one close behind her lead, Lindsey grabbed her snowboard in a showy move and lost control. In interviews, Lindsey claimed “I was having fun. Snowboarding is fun. I was ahead. … » More …
In softball, success or failure happens when the ball meets the bat. The faster a batted ball travels, the greater the likelihood of a batter’s success. Softball bat manufacturers are using technology to create bats that hit the ball harder than ever-but not everyone is pleased with the results.
Recent advances in softball bat performance raised concerns with the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) that softball bats generating high batted ball speeds were giving individuals an unfair advantage in competition and creating safety problems, says Lloyd Smith, an associate professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University.
As athletes they brought recognition to Washington State University. Now, as assistant coaches, Mike Levenseller, Michael Walker, Timm Rosenbach, Ken Greene, and George Yarno are being counted on to help shape the football future at their alma mater.
Who said you can’t go home again?
Not Bill Doba.
He’s been on the WSU football staff for 15 years, but this is his first as head coach. Cougar pedigrees are obviously important to him. For starters, he convinced assistants Levenseller (offensive coordinator/wide receivers) and Walker (defensive line) to stay, rather than follow former Cougar coach Mike Price to Alabama. He got the same commitment from two … » More …
Whitney Evans leaves little to chance. Whether competing in sports or analyzing a stock portfolio for a finance class, her attention to detail pays dividends. The fifth-year scholar-athlete from Calgary is a straight-A student, a six-time track and field All-America. By the time she completes her athletic career at Washington State University in June, she will be the most decorated female athlete in the school’s history.
It’s late January now, the first track meet in WSU’s new air-supported “bubble.” Evans arrives early, stretches, and jogs easily. When her name’s called, she toes a piece of white tape 14 feet left of the high jump standard … » More …
