This weekend's signature games would have to be UCLA and Washington visiting the Arizona schools. U-of-A leads the Pac 10 standings at 8-2, but has benefited from getting to play the vast majority of its conference games at home, thus far. At the conclusion of this weekend's action, the Wildcats will have played 10 of their first 13 Pac 10 games in the friendly confines of Hillenbrand Stadium. Arizona will then play its final eight conference games on the road.
NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.