february rabble rousers & lack of facebook participation

one of the first things i try to ask myself in any given situation is if the situation is fair and equal, and if not is there a greater good that could possibly come from that inequality that might outweigh the invasion of personal rights and liberties?   that’s basically why i wake up and go to work everyday.  that is duly reflected in my blog, website, and wherever else i operate.  i realize that other people’s priorities are different.  i share feelings because they are necessary for growth, not to try not to impose any will or care if people agree or disagree.

i suppose i don’t really need to care if people don’t want to share feelings.  deep down i do care because i know humans need input from many different values and viewpoints.  and it becomes a degeneration of society to not have active participation.  but for the sake of my internet presence, i don’t have to care much if people contribute.  ideally, it would make things like the blog or website more of a living, breathing entity, but if it dies it dies.  it’s all gonna die anyway at some point.  such lack of participation is not an internet phenomenon, it is consistent with the culture.  americans have shown continually more inaction and ambivalence than taking the effort to fight causes.  it takes a rare bird to stay behind for the winter.  it should be of no surprise that the facebook nation reflects that.  facebook’s main purpose seems to be validating personal feelings and (positive) moral support and comic relief.  if a person posts anything too deep, facebookers don’t participate in the conversation. (that’s one reason why i prefer twitter to facebook.)  it should be of no consequence then, for the sake of my website, that i become judge, jury and executioner of world events.  it may not be better for my experience and knowledge, but i can only use what i have at hand. 

stereotyping for a moment (people certainly do interact to varying levels), it should be disconcerting that people on facebook don’t like to interact with challenging viewpoints, for whatever the reason.  whether a person has a political posture that they need to maintain in the community, don’t have the energy after a hard day of work, have gotten past the turbulent political activist years of their youth, would rather concern themselves with lighthearted comic relief and the sunny side of life, or whatever it is, i don’t need to judge that.  that’s one’s own prerogative and people are free to live out their lives as they see fit and the conglomeration of these attitudes ultimately reflects our preferences as a society.  in the minimal outcome, it still is worthwhile if the information provided here makes one person able to have a little different appreciation for a way of thinking that they haven’t exercised before.  that would help me consider my job a success.

so whether it’s a vote for a rabble rouser, a snarky :P, a pm, an email, a reply, a comment, a tag on facebook, a tweet, or if participation doesn’t even happen, i am not going to stop thinking about things or stop fighting for equality.  if there is no contribution, i sometimes must employ my benevolent dictatorship.  if someone wants to challenge, or encourage me to more of the same, i welcome the contribution and participation.  barring any of that, here are some rabble rouser of the month considerations, followed by the winner, which is perhaps the most light-hearted facebook-friendly choice of all of the nominees. 

february has always been a good protest month, just as the spring that soon follows is a time of planting seeds and rebirth, regeneration, cleaning, etc.  ironically, or maybe appropriately, this month has been yet another regression in our nation’s civil rights history.  oppressive attitudes by officials toward personal liberties have gone berserk many places in the world, but most shockingly here in the united states.

nearly everyday, somewhere in this country, a cop (of some variety) is reprimanded for beating someone, driving drunk or some other gross negligence of justice and dereliction of duty.  never to suggest that all cops are bad, and one rotten apple does often spoils the public image.  but the harvest of the fruit is a product of the tree’s environment.  are there enough checks and balances?  are there people being held accountable for their actions?   this is the part of the system i most often watch for the real injustice.  the main reason i am not too inclined to support bad cop/good cop stereotypes is because the injustice in the system breeds itself.  the good cops still have to stand up for the actions of all their fellow officers, the whole fraternal order and that whole bit.  good cops are not often inclined to buck the system when another cop acts out.  when they do speak out, they are villainized (see link to the new jersey police chief below).  that’s the real root of problems: the allowance of conditions to fester.

two of the more upsetting recent cases: cecily mcmillan in her apparently felonious action of elbowing a cop who grabbed her breast and that of margie carranza and emma jernandez who were shot at 103 times by police in a case of mistaken identity.

not only do people go too far in assuming that cops are mostly good, many people have a bias against the supposed villains that cops harass.  people especially seem to have a bias against the entire occupy movement.  apparently it is wrong to protest unfair labor conditions, monetary inequality and things of that nature.  everything the founding fathers of the united states fought for would be in vain as well under that guise of thinking.  occupier’s plights have been easily wiped away by a disconcerted public that doesn’t seem to want to deal with fights that are a nuisance.  for sure, rights are not an easy thing to secure.  the fight is supposed to be tough.  it is supposed to be a nuisance because oppression itself is a nuisance. 

cecily mcmillan, who happened to be at an occupy wall street demonstration in 2012, was grabbed from behind by her breast.  she threw up an elbow into the face of the perpetrator, who happened to be an NYPD officer.  she was then beaten into submission before being arrested and charged with felony assault of a police officer.  when i hear comments like, “if she hadn’t been there in the first place, she wouldn’t have been beaten,” i lose faith in human relations and wonder what the point of interacting with other people is.  it’s as if inaction and ambivalence is any way to make any change in society.  i can come right back with the obvious retort that if the cops hadn’t been there, then she wouldn’t have gotten beaten either.  because people like to assume the authorities are right, it is a fruitless endeavor to worry about how the beating could’ve been prevented.  the main issue is that for a really long time, if not forever, cops have continued to get away with murder, literally, and to further the endeavors of the establishments in power.  cecily was one person standing up against that and was beaten. 

earlier this month, cecily’s trial began.  the fact that she was charged with a crime was the more severe insult to injury.  in other words, she was harassed and attacked by police to the point of unconsciousness, yet for fighting back she faces seven years in prison while the cops are still free to continue beating people.  as her lawyer pointed out, once the police grabbed her breast, it was a natural reaction for her to hit back.  ultimately, whatever anyone’s take on the situation, there are more humane ways to detain people, if in fact detention was warranted.  police don’t need to beat someone unconscious for any reason, ever...  

...just like police don’t need to fire 103 shots without any shots being fired back.  margie carranza and emma jernandez were in the wrong place at the wrong time last february, but they are quite lucky that the cops they encountered seem to be in need of target practice.  february 12 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of christopher dorner, the former u.s. navy officer and l.a. policeman who supposedly turned vengeful.  while the jury may be forever out on what his particular case was all about and whether he is a hero or a villain, the innocent bystander shouldn’t be a victim.  the cops stopped the 43-year-old margie and her 71-year-old mother in a case of mistaken identity.  they shot at the unarmed women 103 times and merely injured them.  there was monetary compensation paid, but earlier this month it was learned that the cops violated policy (really?), though the public will never know who did it or whether they will be reprimanded and continue to serve the public.    

when cops are allowed to act out with no consequence, it is not holding them accountable for their actions.  it is only making the streets more dangerous.  and who could make things safer?  if there is no one to stand up and express their anger and frustration at the system, is the system really wrong?  certainly, in such a condition, police will be able to continue to kill rights and everything that has been fought for over the years in this country will continue to erode.  and, at the same time, the corporate news will have an easy job censoring stories when when people are basically censoring themselves by showing no concern.

march 15 is the international day against police brutality.  i doubt that it will get more than a copblock honor.  i do not give up on the need for a good police force, but to accomplish that we need to keep the agencies on their toes.   how can we keep any agency on their toes when every level of society continues to show hatred and discrimination and disrespect the laws they are sworn to uphold and protect?  there are so many stories from this month that are ridiculous in their lack of respect for people and the law that i can’t possibly list even most of them.  here are links to a few:

:: christian tumax suspended from rudder high school in in texas for standing up for the rights of a special needs student. 

:: arizona government passes legislation against being gay.

:: olympics: yvegny vitishko sentenced to three years at russian penal colony for opposing the sochi olympics by “defacing” (aka spray painting) a fence outside the governor’s vacation home which is allegedly illegally built in a national park.

:: hartford connecticut news photographer arrested for using a drone camera.

:: 84-year-old nun sentenced to 35 months in prison for protest at nuclear facility.

:: olympics: ukrainian alpine skier bogdana matsotska quits olympic games in protest over president yanukovych for widespread militant corruption causing violence against ukraine :: yanukovych has thus far refused to step down, but his government has issued an order for his removal and arrest.

:: alain labrecque offered big money for his tar sands home near the keystone pipeline, goes vocal. 

:: new jersey police chief relieved of duty for speaking out against police corruption. 

:: u illinois chicago faculty strike to protest continued increase inadministration, and decrease of faculty

:: cops beat unarmed man to death in front of family (in the video, when the cops first release their holds on the man, look at the "oh shit" look on the first one's face...

:: cops beat wheelchair bound man inside precinct: cop cleared of all charges. one of the most wrong videos i have ever seen

how is someone supposed to pick a rabble rouser of the month from such a group of people?  none of these even considers the case of michael sam.

michael sam’s open media admission that he was gay and all the frenzy that has awakened in social concern.  people are confused over the point of the matter and want to suggest that a person’s personal life is no one else’s business, basically meaning that michael sam and everyone else need to shut up about it.  again the self-censoring public continues to trample their own human rights.  the topic of gay rights is the most pressing concern that society seems to grapple with right now and it fights on as the watershed movement of this generation.  we will come to a solution in time, hopefully sooner than later, because such discrimination really should be impossible at this juncture of human endeavors.  yet, there are still kids being bullied and committing suicide because it is still apparently wrong to be gay, especially in the wild west.  i feel this epidemic absolutely needs to be talked about, loudly.

but battles have to be chosen carefully i suppose.  gay rights are human rights, of course, but i would be more inclined to choose someone like cecily or the victims of police brutality, being that it seems more pressing at this time to view human rights broadly, mostly because issues that more directly kill, than indirectly, should probably be stopped first.  there is probably a good case that another approach is best, but so long as there is a plan of some sort, we are in a position to be successful.  

it was said that michael sam’s NFL draft stock will slide because of the open admission and that there would be some kind of baggage that comes with employing him.  well then, let’s welcome the NFL to the rest of racist america.  a player would, in theory, be drafted based on their ability.  michael sam was the best defensive player in the southeastern conference, who many people think is the best in college football.  the missouri tiger defenders over the past couple of years have gained legendary status in the NFL.  michael sam is another of this breed.  he is likely to be around for many years, anchoring the defensive line of the team that wants to take the chance and draft him.  late round draft picks don’t get paid like first round picks and have to fight harder through the narrow window of opportunity that life in professional sports offers.  so, in effect, sam’s being gay seems to reduce his potential value somehow?  so the team that gets him, will get him for a much cheaper price tag – because he is gay. 

since some places are more racist, and some team's defensive line needs outweigh their moral opposition, and NFC west teams are particularly committed to building stout defenses, there is a great chance that michael sam could end up playing for either the st. louis rams, san francisco 49ers or seattle seahawks.  i would just have more respect for a team, whoever it is, to draft him within the first four rounds, even draft him higher than he may have been – because he is gay.  how is that for reverse discrimination?   the league would love that.  the latest news stories seem to show outward support by clubs owners.  draft day will tell the real story, i suppose.

in any case, if sam were to go in a later round of the draft, it would likely increase the chance that he will be picked up by a stronger more well-established team.  in the end just making it to the NFL is a win-win scenario.  for a while, anyway.  his draft stock is only of interest as a civil rights issue, which is as messed up as the fact that the gay rights issue is even an issue. 

i cannot pick michael sam as rabble rouser though, because picking him among any numerous other gay rights issues is like picking one victim of police brutality over another.  there are millions of people being discriminated against daily in this country.  pretty much everyone is discriminated against.  as shown, lawmakers have continued to be discriminatory, law enforcers have continued to discriminatory, businesses and sports leagues are showing themselves to be discriminatory, all the way down the line, shit runs downhill, or maybe it runs uphill.  nonetheless, society is permeated in shit. 

the rabble rousers of the month will be a local choice featuring another, perhaps more rudimentary, form of discrimination, as if it any level is better or worse than another.

remember when religious zealots didn’t acknowledge the existence of gay people to be able to know to hate them yet?  back then, they picketed things like movies and rock concerts.  death angel played in idaho for the first time in 23 years earlier this month.  that show was one of three different concerts going on in a four block walk of downtown boise on a sunday night.  it made me realize that the rock and roll world has grown too large for protestors who don’t have enough resources or support to fight against it anymore.  so, people are free to play rock and roll.  mostly.  and in the rock and roll world, people are even allowed to be gay.  some form of discrimination must exist at some level in the rock and roll world, but it is much harder to distinguish than the overt discrimination in the political world.

one of the other concerts happening in boise that early february night was sun blood stories.  they are an eccentric troupe with heavy blues soul that will no doubt make major waves in the music industry if they continue to grow the way they have over the past couple of years.  sun blood stories performed on a killer saturday lineup of bands at KEOL fest last summer and wowed the few people that stopped in to see them.  they were due to return to la grande on febraury 23 to play the “decompression party” following #EOFF2014 that weekend at anthony lakes.

…until the venue told festival organizers that sun blood stories were too controversial and had them removed from the bill. 

on february 19, sun blood stories tweeted: We got fired from an upcoming gig because our music is too freaky. LEVEL UP! my reply to that: i wouldn't be interested if they weren't freaky people.  however, it was only a couple days later that i learned the job they were fired from was at anthony lakes!  the film fest continues to get bigger and better and it featured a blast of after parties with the likes of sad horse, boy eats drum machine and au, which one can only presume would also be too freaky for anthony lakes as well.  so, that was a bit of rain on the parade.  luckily, i found out about this cancellation before i went to anthony lakes, because i obviously cannot support someone that does not support one of my favorite boise bands, although the tweet sun blood stories replied with was beautiful in it’s own right:

it kinda sucks. But it's also the best compliment we've ever received.

i am glad sun blood stories take it as lightly as “kinda sucks” because i could not get out of the foul mood for two days.  one would think such a display of discrimination would be bad for business.  apparently it doesn’t matter much.  in the case of anthony lakes staff, they seem to think that it would be bad for business if they didn’t discriminate.  whatever.  at least i know to never go to anthony lakes and i will get to see sun blood stories again soon, so all is not lost.  in fact, to see the simplicity of rock and roll still grinding people’s gears is a pleasant sight, so right it should be a huge compliment to the band.  with each passing generation, and aging parents that never “get” the new stuff, i always have to remind myself that if rock and roll wasn’t controversial, it wouldn’t be doing its job.  so even though sun blood stories is pretty innocuous by today’s shock value standards, i am glad that rock and roll continues to do its job and piss people off, the way that anthony lakes pissed me off.

sun blood stories: controversial rock and roll

EOU & CCC playoffs, first round update

CCC playoffs :: EOU Women’s Basketball

Congratulations to Coach Anji Weisenfluh.   Monday’s playoff win was the 300^th victory of her career at EOU.

EOU finally got things shifted into overdrive in their first round playoff vs Northwest Christian.  If anything, the complaint would be not getting the game put away sooner.  The Mountaineers are a team that has excelled in the final ten minutes this season.  They have not been particularly sharp in the first half of games.  EOU owned the game on the floor for most of the first half, aided in some part to the multitude of NCU mistakes.  However, EOU managed to let NCU back into the game and the score was all knotted up, 37-37, at halftime. It remained a tie game off and on until the midway point of the second half when the Mountaineers began to impose their will.  EOU showed a lot of flash, and got some clutch shots, steals, assists, and rebounds from every player who took the court.  The only thing EOU didn’t do well was shoot free throws, but if there was ever a time to go into that slump, Monday was the best night. Keep those for when they are needed. J

From the beginning, EOU showed the ability to toy with NCU.  Laan had a deft cut across the baseline for a layup as the shot clock expired.  A couple plays later, Redd busted straight up the lane untouched after waiting out the shot clock in a drive reminiscent of Edwards or Eackles for the guys team.  The play that really got the game into second gear was a steal by Osborne who broke quick back down court, feeding Redd for the easy two.  Osborne was hammered hard 10 seconds later going for a defensive rebound.  EOU got into bonus in foul shots fairly early, but didn’t convert any of the 1-1 first half free throw attempts.  That was fine enough because EOU hit seven first half three-pointers.  Osborne hit three threes by herself, which was only one less than her entire season total.  Moss hit a timely three-pointer late in the first half and had some crafty assists and inside drives. 

Early in the second half, Osborne hit a three-pointer to break a 38-38 tie, and the next trip down the court Redd hit a three on a look-back assist from Newcomb’s inside drive.  Newcomb was particularly swift inside throughout the game.  Hill, Laan, Parrish and Larson all looked good.  Newcomb hit a three-pointer that broke a 52-52 tie.  No sooner than NCU crossed half court on their next possession, they traveled and EOU then took the final momentum shift to put the game away. 

Southern Oregon, who beat fifth-seeded Evergreen on Tuesday and will come to Quinn for the round two matchup, is not going to have an easy time trying to stop seven different paths of attack from EOU.  However, EOU may need to bear up.  SOU had a similar night vs Evergreen.  Freshman guard Durland dropped in 30 points, pulled in nine rebounds and blocked two shots for the Raiders.  Durland is only the fourth guard in a deeply talented rotation.  SOU has two of the top six scorers in the conference in Carly Meister and Kristin Schoenherr.  SOU finished two games behind the Mounties in the conference standings, but one game better in the overall season records.  Defensively, SOU held Evergreen to 36% shooting.  However, EOU held Evergreen to the same total on Saturday night, and also held the Geoducks scoreless from outside on fifteen three-point attempts.   SOU managed to beat Evergreen defensively as well, which EOU could not.  It may prove to be a closer matchup than a lot of the recent EOU-SOU matchups.

EOU has a big seven game win streak going against SOU. The last meeting in Quinn was December 20, when the Mounties won 102-78.  Thirty of those points were thanks to senior guard extraordinaire Brittney Newcomb.  At that time, SOU was ranked #14 in NAIA D2, and EOU was #24.  The next night EOU beat #12 ranked OIT and stormed out to a comfortable lead in the conference standings, which they held on to during a few stumbles down the stretch.  Last year, also in the second round of the conference playoffs, EOU hammered SOU 83-55, helped out by six different players combining for eleven three-pointers.

All the home teams won on the opening night of the conference tournament. Oregon Tech Owls handily defeated Corban in Klamath Falls, setting up a matchup with third-seed College of Idaho.  The Yotes defeated Northwest in Caldwell.   The Yotes are only 5-7 on the road, while the Owls are 14-2 at home.  One of the Owls two home losses was to College of Idaho, who swept the season series.

CCC playoffs :: EOU Men’s Basketball

On Wednesday, the EOU men played the opposite game than the ladies did on Tuesday. EOU got off to a 7-0 lead and stayed up on College of Idaho for the first ten minutes of the game.  Beyond that, things were not too pretty for the Mountaineers.  Just after halftime, EOU pulled within 5 points, but then the Yotes went on the prowl, feasting off EOU shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and poor execution in the face of the Yotes press.  One field goal in a eight minute stretch of the second half is not the way to beat the best team in the conference.   The Yotes stretched it to a 21 point lead with just over ten minutes to play.  EOU did not go away quietly.  Eackles, in particular, was hot shooting and Wood pulled in a fair number of the missed Idaho shots of the second half.  In addition to many second half turnovers, EOU couldn’t stay out of foul trouble.  College of Idaho didn’t cut EOU any slack and hit 22 of 24 second half free throws to hold the lead.  After the ten minute mark, Idaho hit a couple big threes and pushed out a lead of 25 points.  Despite Idaho not using much of the clock on their possessions, EOU could only go on short runs and never made any serious attempt to get back in the game.  On the last play of the game, Edwards missed an open dunk. That pretty well told the story of the last game of the season for the Mountaineer men’s team. The Yotes won by a final of 92-65.  It was the Yotes first playoff win since 2006, breaking a streak of nice straight playoff losses.  Their current winning streak is up to 13 games, which is good for second most in team history.  The 1955-56 Yotes won 18 straight.  That team featured Elgin Baylor.  How many people knew that basketball hall of famer played for the Yotes???

The biggest bright spot for EOU may have been for Kevin Attila.  The senior had a game high 21 point performance with a perfect shooting percentage on 6-6 from the field, including five three-pointers, and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.  He also added a steal, an assist and two rebounds for an otherworldly efficiency rating of 24.0.

In the other three CCC playoff games, the road teams were victorious. Oregon Tech defeated the two-seed Concordia Cavaliers in Portland.  Oregon Tech will travel to College of Idaho on Saturday. Southern Oregon lost at home to Northwest Christian.  Warner Pacific lost at home to Northwest. Northwest and Northwest Christian will meet in the semi finals on Saturday.  I presume this will be in Kirkland, buit neither the teams’ websites nor the Cascade Conference website feature an updated schedule, or a list of seeds, at this point.  Both teams finished tied for fifth place in the conference.

EOU Women’s BBall – Cascade Conference Champions!

La GrandeStand Notes for the week of 2/24/2014

Women's Basketball

The Mountaineers came back from a slump in the second half of the season to a rousing conclusion, winning the final three games of the regular season.  They have also won the Adidas Team of the Week for the Cascade Conference. 

On Friday, EOU beat Northwest 77-66.  Nyesha Joseph, who had minimal playing time down the stretch, saw a lot of action Friday night and scored 17 points on 7-8 shooting.  Nicole Redd led all scorers with 20 points, starting with a three-pointer to tie the game early at 11-11.  Then the Eagles took flight.  Several momentum shifts saw Northwest go up by 13 points, 30-17.  EOU chipped away at the lead and trailed by three, 32-29, at halftime.  In the second half, EOU fought back quickly to gain a 40-39 lead, followed by another momentum shift as Northwest went on a 9-0 run to take a 48-40 lead.  From there, EOU took control with a 9-0 run and then later a 15-2 run to take a 70-58 lead to basically seal the game.  Brittney Newcomb scored 15 points and was huge on defense, leading the team with 6 rebounds as well as a block and a steal.  Nikki Osborne saw a return to action this weekend with a big night to score 14 points on 5-5 shooting, with 4 assists and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes.

Saturday was Senior night, with Redd, Newcomb, and Joseph all starting their final regular season home games.  Newcomb led all scorers with 21 points, most coming on 5 three-pointers.  Redd also scored 16 points on only seven shot attempts, hitting all three of the three-pointers she attempted.  Osborne pulled in a game high 9 rebounds.  It was a nerve-wracking nail-biter as EOU has been accustomed to of late.  Each team exchanged big runs, culminating in an 11-2 run for Evergreen that put them up 36-32 at the half.  The Geoducks continued to apply pressure in the second half as well with a 6-0 run to take a 42-32 lead.  They held a nine point lead with 8:00 remaining.  But then EOU mounted a furious charge.  Redd hit a three-pointer from the wing, and then following an EOU defensive rebound, hit another three from the corner.  Newcomb then added two three-pointers of her own to pull EOU into a 56-56 tie with 3:19 left in the game.  Malloree Moss then hit a three pointer that sealed the deal.   EOU defense held strong over the last two minutes and Evergreen’s halfcourt shot at the buzzer clanged off the front of the rim as EOU held on to a 63-60 win.

The victory over Evergreen sealed the regular season conference title for EOU, and with it home court advantage in the conference tournament as well as an automatic berth to the NAIA D2 national tournament in Iowa.  First round of the conference tournament begins at 7:00pm tonight in Quinn. Second round is Friday, February 28. Final is Monday, March 3.

Some final regular season statistics & matchups:

EOU is 14-4 in conference and 22-8 overall.  Oregon Tech is second at 13-5, 25-5 overall.  College of Idaho gets the third seed and Southern Oregon the fourth, both teams with 12-6 conference records.  EOU will face the Northwest Christian Crusaders at Quinn Coliseum tonight night in the first round of the Cascade Conference playoffs.  EOU swept the season series when they beat NCU by twelve, 78-66, in Eugene the weekend before last.  EOU won the January 17 contest in La Grande 71-56.  Also tonight, Corban plays at Oregon Tech, Evergreen at SOU, Northwest at College of Idaho. If all home teams win, then Southern Oregon would come to EOU for the second round.

Nicole Redd started all 30 games for EOU.  Brittney Newcomb led the team, and the conference, with 22.7 points per game.  Redd scored 13.0 per game.  Newcomb hit 92 three-pointers (.325), Redd hit 57 threes (.380) and freshman Payton Parrish hit 34 threes (.400).  Redd led the team with 100 assists and 60 steals.  Kassy Larson led the team with 16 blocked shots.  Taylor Riley, who only played the first half of the season, had 12 blocks.  Nikki Osborne dominated the boards for EOU with 164 rebounds, including 108 on defense.

Men’s Basketball

The men’s team took out Evergreen 79-69 on Saturday, senior night, in what was the final game at Quinn for Tony Eackles Jr, Kyllian Wood, Craig Tucker and Kevin Attila.  Kyllian Wood erupted for an EOU season-high 41 points, on 13-15 from the field, to go with 15 rebounds.  For his dominant weekend performances, Wood was named CCC basketball player of the week.  Eackles also put up 20 points. The game featured several several second half lead exchanges, until EOU went on an 9-0 run to take a 75-65 lead with under a minute to play.

Friday, the men faced a more formidable opponent in Northwest.  Eagle guard Michael Greene came into the game shooting 63%, third best in the NAIA.  He led all scorers with 25 points, but was well contained through stretches, including one memorable exchange in which Johanson blocked two Greene shots on the same possession.  EOU defense had little problem with the rest of Northwest.  EOU held the Eagles to 24 first half points, leading 34-24 at the half.  The Eagles mounted two second half comebacks to keep the game close.  Attila added a big three-pointer with 5:13 to play that put EOU up by four points.  EOU was then held scoreless for over two minutes, until Trever Phillips put EOU back on top 58-57 with under a minute to play.  Northwest scored a bucket while holding EOU on the next two possessions for the win.  Phillips shot at the buzzer was no good.

Saturday’s huge win was a very assertive sendoff for the boys.  However, the loss at Oregon Tech back on January 24 is still haunting EOU in the standings.  The Mountaineers finish the season with the eighth seed in the playoffs, and will travel to one-seed College of Idaho tomorrow night.  That game will be a pretty hefty mismatch, though EOU has held their own in the two previous games versus the Yotes.  EOU lost by thirteen points in a fairly one-sided second half in Caldwell on February 7.  The Yotes won by 12 points here in La Grande on January 10.  College of Idaho is ranked #5 in NAIA D2 and has won twelve straight games, beginning with that January 10 win here at EOU and the final win being Saturday over Evergreen.  In that game, the Yotes were down by 22 points at halftime, but still beat the Geoducks by 13 points to finish with a 14-0 home record. 

College of Idaho is 14-2 in conference play and 25-5 overall.  Concordia finishes second and SOU third, both teams at 11-7 in conference.  Should EOU pull off the upset at Caldwell on Wednesday, they would most likely be looking at a return to Portland to face Concordia where they lost 93-79 on January 3.

Some Mountaineers statistics:
Eackels and Johanson both started all 28 games for EOU.  Attila led EOU with 31.0 minutes per game and with 107 assists.  Wood led the team with a .550 field goal, while dominating the paint with 249 rebounds.  Wood also led the team with 109 of 144 free throws (.757).  Eackles led the team with 70 field goals (.455) and 17.6 points per game.  Tucker led EOU with 55 three-pointers (.325). Johanson had 64 blocked shots.  Eackles and Tucker tied for the team lead with 26 steals.

Track & Field
Washington Sate open

Harley McBride won the CCC indoor athlete of week, for the second time this season, by breaking her own school record in high jump at 1.68 meters to place second in that event.  The 60m race featured Roneika Robinson and Kadie Booth again fighting for the school record.  They both beat the previous record that they both had set last weekend, with Robinson edging Booth out by .03 second last weekend, setting the new school record at 7.91 seconds.  In the finals, Booth beat Robinson by .01 second.  Talitha Fagen came an inch short of the pole vault record she also had set last weekend.

NAIA indoor track and field national meet, March 6-8, is the next event for qualifiers from EOU.

Softball

Season opener was on Friday vs Northwest Nazarene in Nampa.  EOU won the first game 3-2, but lost the second 10-3.  Spokane Falls CC transfer Lindsey Walchi got the first hit and scored the first run of the season. She also gave up two earned runs over eight innings to pick up the win on the mound.  In the second game, she gave up 8 runs, but only 1 run earned to take the loss.

Saturday, EOU beat British Columbia 10-9 and then beat Great Falls 4-3.  Walchli picked up the win vs BC despite giving up nine earned in eight innings.  Walchli also went 1-2 with 2 rbi and 2 walks. She scored the tenth, and decisive run, in the sixth inning.  Lily Smith started the game vs Great Falls, giving up one run in four innings for the win.  Walchli pitched three innings, giving up two runs in picking up the save.  Katie Martell was 2-3 with a two run homer to center field. 

EOU thus stands at 3-1 on the young season under new head coach Betsy Westermann.  They play their first home game on Friday, March 7 vs. Clackamas Community College at 3:00pm.  A scrimmage is scheduled for 1:00pm that day.