Sports
A7
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
ON THE SLATE
Tuesday, Jan. 18
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Enterprise,
6:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at La Grande,
7:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
Powder Valley at La Grande,
6 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 19
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
La Grande at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Imbler, 7:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
La Grande at Pendleton,
5:30 p.m.
Joseph at Pine Eagle, 5:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Imbler, 6 p.m.
PREP GIRLS WRESTLING
Ontario at La Grande Dual,
5 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 20
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
WRESTLING
EOU vs. Southwestern Oregon
Community College, Salem, TBA
Eastern Oregon vs. Corban,
Salem, 5 p.m.
PREP BOYS WRESTLING
La Grande at Pendleton Duals,
5 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 21
COLLEGE MEN’S
BASKETBALL
Oregon Tech at EOU, 7:30 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
Oregon Tech at EOU, 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S
WRESTLING
EOU at Missouri Valley
Invitational, TBA
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
La Grande at McLoughlin,
7:30 p.m.
Union at Stanfield, 7:30 p.m.
Cove at Elgin, 7:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at Wallowa,
7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Joseph, 7:30 p.m.
Enterprise at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
La Grande at McLoughlin, 6 p.m.
Union at Stanfield, 6 p.m.
Powder Valley at Wallowa,
6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Joseph, 6 p.m.
Enterprise at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Cove at Elgin, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 22
COLLEGE MEN’S
BASKETBALL
Southern Oregon at EOU, 5 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
BASKETBALL
Southern Oregon at EOU, 3 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S
WRESTLING
EOU at Missouri Valley
Invitational, TBA
COLLEGE TRACK AND
FIELD
EOU at Lauren McClusky
Memorial Open, Moscow, Idaho,
TBA
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Weston-McEwen at Union,
5:30 p.m.
Pine Eagle at Elgin, 5:30 p.m.
Joseph at Powder Valley,
5:30 p.m.
Cove at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
Wallowa at Griswold, 5:30 p.m.
Enterprise at Stanfield, 5:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pine Eagle at Elgin, 2:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Union,
4 p.m.
Joseph at Powder Valley, 4 p.m.
Cove at Imbler, 4 p.m.
Wallowa at Griswold, 4 p.m.
Enterprise at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Paul Pennington (2) makes a layup attempt against defenders Jok Jok (10) and Treyton Paxton (14) during the second half of the match against
Montana Western University at Quinn Coliseum, La Grande, on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Via COVID-19 forfeiture, the Mountaineers men’s team has earned two victories and the
women’s team has garnered three, as the Cascade Collegiate Conference remains intent on pushing through the 2022 winter season.
Moving forward
CCC pushing forward with winter season despite influx of cancellations
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
CORVALLIS — Fans across
the country are crossing their fin-
gers that sports seasons will not
be postponed or canceled amid
the recent increase in COVID-19
cases.
With forfeited games counting
as losses on a team’s record,
health and safety is of the utmost
importance for teams looking to
compete for conference titles. In
the Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence, Eastern Oregon Universi-
ty’s league, officials are intent on
moving forward with the season.
“Our goal is to push through
to the end, have our tournament
and send our representatives on
to nationals,” Cascade Collegiate
Conference Commissioner Robert
Cashell said.
Timing and finance
Through Saturday, Jan. 15, the
Mountaineers’ men’s and wom-
en’s basketball teams have expe-
rienced a combined five cancel-
lations. Evergreen State recently
canceled its men’s basketball
games against the College of
Idaho on Jan. 14 and Eastern
on Jan. 15. The conference has
seen more than 20 cancellations
between men’s and women’s bas-
ketball, all of which took place
from Dec. 18 through this past
weekend.
The Mountaineers women’s
basketball team has three forfeit
victories this season, all of which
occurred in a span of four sched-
uled games from Dec. 31 through
Jan. 8. After wins against North-
west and Evergreen State, Eastern
stands at 9-2 in conference play
and 17-2 overall.
The Cascade Collegiate Con-
ference’s policy for COVID-19
missing. After a single-game
limitations is that a team unable
weekend, the Mountaineers
to field enough players for a con-
dropped to 11-8 on the year and
test will receive a forfeit. Cashell
5-6 in conference play. With the
noted that the Cascade Collegiate Mountaineers men’s team fighting
Conference decided to firmly
for every win this year, forfeits
establish forfeits and canceled
could go a long way in deter-
mining the outcome of Eastern’s
games rather than postponing
season.
contests until further dates due
Cashell stated that the NAIA
to the logistics of completing a
hands
season in
down strict
time for
limitations
postseason
to each
competition.
confer-
“It
ence when
comes
it comes
down to
to its post-
the dis-
season
tance that
policies.
we have to
The
travel in
Cascade
our league,
Collegiate
the fact that
Conference
we don’t
has little
have bye
wiggle
weekends
room for
or anything
canceling
like that
games or
and that we
moving the
have dead-
lines with
schedule
— Robert Cashell, Cascade Collegiate
the NAIA,”
around in
Conference Commissioner
Cashell
order to
said. “So
meet those
really, it’s a
deadlines,
balance between timing, finance
hence the forfeit rule.
and academics. We also want to
“At this point, we have not said
keep people in school as much as
anything about putting a pause
possible.”
on anything,” he said. “We’re
Eastern’s men’s team has seen
beholden to some deadlines to
the impacts of COVID-19 limita-
complete our season and have
tions, with two of its opponents
our representatives make it to the
forfeiting contests so far this
NAIA national tournaments, so
season.
you kind of have to work back-
ward from those deadlines.”
The Mountaineers dealt with
The three forfeit wins received
COVID-19 shortages themselves,
by the Eastern women’s team will
relying on freshman Cooper
count toward head coach Anji
Lumsden to step up with 32
points in a 102-93 win over Mult- Weissenfluh’s career record as
nomah when key players were
she pursues 500 career wins. The
“Ultimately, we don’t
know week in and week
out what the
virus is going
to do. Trying
to reschedule
things is problematic
then, because you have
no idea if we’d even get
to that point.”
Mountaineers moved to second in
the Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence standings after recent forfei-
ture victories.
“Basically the rules in the
NAIA state that forfeits do count
towards overall stats,” Cashell
said. “They do count towards
your win-loss record as a team
and as a coach.”
Attendance policy
The Cascade Collegiate Con-
ference has no conference-wide
policy for a potential limit on fan
attendance, relying on member
schools to make the best decision
based on their location and the
current status of COVID-19 in
each community.
“That is a school-to-school
policy, so it’s all kind of
depending on what’s happening at
that particular location in terms
of caseload and what the school
feels comfortable with,” Cashell
said.
Cashell also noted that there is
not currently a minimal threshold
if multiple teams were dealing
with COVID-19 shortages at the
same time.
“Ultimately, we don’t know
week in and week out what the
virus is going to do,” Cashell
said. “Trying to reschedule things
is problematic then, because you
have no idea if we’d even get to
that point.”
It remains to be seen if
COVID-19 cancellations will con-
tinue to plague the winter sports
season, now midway through.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers,
all five of the school’s involved
cancellations have resulted in
wins for Eastern.
With that being said, the pan-
demic is hardly predictable, and
the script could quickly flip.
Oregon lawmakers going big with new sports bills
JOHN
CANZANO
TALKING SPORTS
T
urns out Oregon lawmakers
are tuned into the sports
scene in our state. I just
hope they follow through and get
a couple of bills they’re currently
writing turned into laws in the
upcoming legislative session.
State Sen. Peter Courtney
called me on Friday, Jan. 14.
It was a highly entertaining
and blustery call. Anyone who
has ever interacted with the
78-year-old Senate President
knows he could read the phone
book and make it entertaining.
But it’s what he shared that got
my attention.
Here are the details:
• Lawmakers are proposing a
bill that would allow student-ath-
letes to collect royalty payments
when a merchandiser (e.g., Nike,
Adidas, etc.) makes a college
jersey with their number on it. It
would include royalties for video
games makers that use their
likeness and extend to trading
card companies. Essentially, it
boosts current name-image-like-
ness legislation and puts Oregon
at the opportunistic front in an
ever-shifting college landscape.
The bill mirrors legisla-
tion in Pennsylvania and would
give athletes in those two states
more flexibility and opportuni-
ties vs. college athletes in other
states. Courtney brought up
former Oregon Ducks standout
Sabrina Ionescu as an example.
The Nike-issued jersey featuring
her number was a huge hit while
she was in college and under this
legislation Ionescu could have
received a pile of royalties while
playing.
• Sen. Courtney confirmed
that his office is also writing a
bill that would clear the path for
bettors in our state to gamble on
college sporting events. Prior
legislation outlawed it, but atti-
tudes nationally have shifted
and the Supreme Court legal-
ized sports wagering nationally a
couple of years ago.
The NCAA used to frown
on states that allowed sports
wagering and avoided holding
championship events in those
locations. But that stance has
moved dramatically in the last
five years. What remains, though,
is outdated legislation in Oregon
that outlaws gambling on college
events.
Who knows if lawmakers will
adopt and pass both bills, but I
like that sports is top of mind
right now. Oregon and Oregon
State, particularly, are in a race
against other universities for com-
petitive advantages in the new
world of Name-Image-Likeness.
The first bill is a home run
move that gives Oregon an
advantage.
The second feels like a
no-brainer.
The upcoming legislative ses-
sion begins Feb. 1 in Salem.
———
John Canzano is a columnist
for The Oregonian.