Once again, the world of sports pushed our schedule on The Study of Sports.
This was going to be a World Series preview. Or not.
Turns out, it was not.
The Mariners came oh-so-close.
Two of our sports enthusiasts, huge Mariner fans, had plenty to say of their incredible journey and heartache.
But before we get into Mariner stories, we discuss the bizarre situation up north where a school district suspended a high school football coach, just hours before a game, investigated him, and then reinstated him just a few days later. And we note why this story is also important in Southwest Washington.
This latest episode was recorded on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
#PaulValencia #TonyLiberatore #CalePiland #HighSchoolSports #SeattleMariners #Game7 #WorldSeries #EvergreenPublicSchools #SouthwestWashington #SportsPodcast #VancouverWA
We usually take a couple of weeks in between episodes of The Study of Sports.
Then again, history is being made around us.
We’ve never seen Heritage football at 6-0, and we’ve never seen the Seattle Mariners up 2-0 in the ALCS.
We had to rally everyone together for an emergency edition of The Study of Sports.
Wait, did I just write that the Mariners are up 2-0 against the Blue Jays? Poor Tony Liberatore. You know he thinks we are jinxing the M’s.
No such thing as a podcast jinx. We have no control over the outcome.
But even to this non-Mariner fan, this state sure is fun when the Mariners are on a special journey.
This latest episode was recorded on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
We ask our sports administrators and Mariners fans about their stress levels from last week’s Game 5 against the Tigers? And we talk about their feelings after two games of the ALCS.
It’s the Study of Sports, with your hosts Paul Valencia, a reporter for Clark County Today, and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-oct-15-2025-the-mariners-are-wait-dont-jinx-this-and-heritage-football-is-6-0-and-well-we-just-had-to-record-an-emergency-episode/
#SeattleMariners #ALCS #HighSchoolSports #HeritageFootball #VancouverWA #Baseball #Podcast #MarinersFans
A little bit of this and a little bit of that on this recording of The Study of Sports.
This latest episode was recorded on Thursday, Oct, 9, and the weather forecast for Oct. 10 was rain throughout the day. That would make for a couple of fun football games because there are still two football fields with natural grass in the 2A GSHL and Trico League.
So we ask our sports administrators what they love about natural grass in sports, but also give us some insight on why most schools around here will never go back to natural grass.
We also talk about the costs of attending high school sports and this trend to no longer accept cash at high school sporting events. Why? Well, the administrators have some good reasons.
Plus we talk about our favorite coaching when we were young.
And we gauge the stress level of our Mariner fans.
It’s the Study of Sports, with your hosts Paul Valencia, a reporter for Clark County Today, and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-oct-10-2025-the-costs-of-attending-high-school-sports-grass-football-fields-our-favorite-coaches-growing-up-and-of-course-mariners-talk/#Podcast #HighSchoolSports #PaulValencia #TonyLiberatore #CalePiland #ClarkCountyToday #WashingtonFootball #Mariners #GrassFields #TicketPrices
While none of us are concerned about football as a whole — the sport continues to be the biggest draw in sports television in this country.
But at the local level, there are concerns. Football has become more expensive and requires a larger commitment than 10, 20, 30 years ago, and there have been a number of high school programs throughout the country that have been forfeiting games due to participation numbers or calling off the season. Then there are those schools with smaller budgets trying to compete with more affluent schools.
It’s the Study of Sports, with your hosts Paul Valencia, a reporter for Clark County Today, and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
This week, we share some concerns for football at the high school level.
We also talk about the process for making an appeal in Washington high school sports.
We defend the integrity of officials, as well.
Then we get into pro sports. The Mariners are going to the playoffs! One Raider fan on the podcast shares an incredible experience in Las Vegas this season.
Oh, and we also bring up a new nickname for the podcast: Shut Up Paul!
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-sept-24-2025-a-passionate-discussion-on-the-future-of-high-school-football-for-some-programs-as-the-game-become-more-specialized-more-expensive/
#HighSchoolFootball #WIAA #Officials #Mariners #Raiders #VancouverWA #PrepSports #Podcast #EvergreenPS
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-sept-4-2025-we-made-it-to-football-season-plus-one-of-our-podcasters-might-seem-like-hes-poking-fun-at-mariners-fans-but-it-only-seems-that-way/
We are back, and just in time for the start of high school football.
It’s THE Study of Sports, with your hosts Paul Valencia, a reporter for Clark County Today, and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland.
As many of you know, we only have a couple of podcasts during the summer. Now, we hope to be back on our regular schedule, about once every two weeks during the fall and winter months.
In this episode, we tackle the return of high school football. I ask the former coaches how it feels to lose in Week 1, after the long offseason and summer prep. We also talk about scheduling games and officials. Plus, maybe a prediction on state championship contenders from the area.
Then we touch on how NIL money is flowing into Clark County athletes. Oh sure, we’ve had athletes from the area make some decent money in college in recent years. But now we are getting our first Division I commits, athletes who are just starting their senior years in high school, and they already have six-figure deals in place. That is different.
We veer from high school sports to the Mariners. Paul shares why he loves the lovable losers of the MLB, and notes that they won’t be as fun to watch if they ever do win a World Series. Tony and Cale refrained from beating up Paul in the studio.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
#HighSchoolFootball #ClarkCountySports #NIL #DivisionI #SeattleMariners #MLB #VancouverWA #EvergreenPS #SportsPodcast
It is the middle-of-summer edition of The Study of Sports.
It is difficult to get everyone on the same schedule during the summer, but reporter Paul Valencia and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland met in the studio on Wednesday to continue their discussion of sports.
In this episode, we touch on two first bases coming to high school baseball by 2027. We agree it’s a good idea.
We also discussed a high school sports story that went national. NFL quarterback who is now a high school coach, Teddy Bridgewater, was recently disciplined in Florida for paying for food and rides for his players. Was that wrong?
We veer from high school sports to the Mariners.
And another shoutout to John Scukanek, who plays catch with someone … every day.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
#SportsPodcast #HighSchoolSports #Baseball #TeddyBridgewater #MLB #Coaching #EvergreenPublicSchools #Mariners #UnionHigh #ColumbiaRiver
Reporter Paul Valencia is joined by Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland to talk Columbia River and Skyview’s state championship wins, WIAA sanctions against a Seattle football program, a controversial California track ruling, and their summer plans—including one inspired by a 1970s sitcom.
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-june-13-2025-salute-spring-sports-champions-and-revealing-our-summer-plans-plus-a-quick-trip-to-the-1970s/
#ClarkCountyWa #HighSchoolSports #SkyviewSoftball #ColumbiaRiverSoccer #SportsPodcast #WIAA #VancouverWA #TrackAndField #1970sSitcom #LocalNews
In this episode of The Study of Sports, reporter Paul Valencia and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland discuss how officials start a new sport.
Girls flag football has been sanctioned by the WIAA, but it is a new sport for high schools in Southwest Washington. There are more questions than answers at the moment, but the administrators break down what they know now.
We also talk about Camas pole vaulter Chase McGee and his incredible record. Then we talk about other records in the world of sports.
We veer from sports to discuss In n Out Burger and a fun little tidbit of information about the possibility of In-n-Out Burger opening a restaurant in east Vancouver. It is already there on at least one online map!
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/
#ClarkCountyWa #localnews #highschoolsports #girlsflagfootball #sportsadministration #Camas #VancouverWa #InNOutBurger #WIAA #studentathletes
In this episode of The Study of Sports, reporter Paul Valencia and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland discuss hosting track and field meets, the decision for school districts to move middle school football to the spring, and some high school baseball.
While this podcast deals primarily with local, high school sports — from the perspective of expert administrators — we have to be honest with you: The best part of this episode is Tony’s story of winning a bizarre gift from the Mariners 14 years ago, and how in order to try to change the trajectory of the franchise, Tony had to sacrifice that gift this season.
Gotta hear from him!
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.#localnews #ClarkCountyWa #StudyOfSports #PaulValencia #highschoolsports #Marinersstory #VancouverWA #schoolathletics #trackandfield #middleSchoolFootball #sportsadministration #baseballseason #EvergreenSchools #coachingstories #sportsleadership #pnwsports
In this episode of The Study of Sports Podcast, sports reporter Paul Valencia and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland discuss Washington’s state basketball tournament structure. They analyze whether teams that lose early should still be in contention for a championship. The episode also highlights the success of Columbia River and Camas basketball teams and explores Spring Training experiences from Arizona. Read the full story at www.ClarkCountyToday.com #highschoolbasketball #WIAAtournaments #basketballplayoffs #SpringTraining #MLBpreseason #sportsdiscussion #TonyLiberatore #CalePiland #PaulValencia #ClarkCountyWa #localnews
Paul Valencia and sports administrators Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland discuss the latest in high school sports, including big changes coming to Mat Classic and the excitement of playoff basketball. Plus, hear about the podcast's new name, The Study of Sports, and how listeners can weigh in on future topics. Read more at https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-feb-21-2025-big-changes-for-mat-classic-and-the-thrill-of-playoff-basketball/ www.ClarkCountyToday.com
#highschoolsports #MatClassic #playoffbasketball #FortVancouver #girlsbasketball #sportsadmins #athleticdirectors #EvergreenPublicSchools #ColumbiaRiver #ClarkCountyWa #localnews
The latest Clark County Today Sports Podcast features Mick Hoffman, the executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, discussing key amendments that WIAA members will vote on this spring. Topics include a new transfer rule for student-athletes, a potential mercy rule, and the possibility of girls flag football becoming a sanctioned sport.
Additionally, Hoffman shares insights on amendments regarding transgender athletes in sports—an issue gaining national attention. The conversation also covers the amendment process and the challenges of shaping new policies.
Wrapping up the episode, our hosts give their Super Bowl predictions. To hear the full discussion, visit ClarkCountyToday.com.
#Sports #VancouverWA #SportsPodcast #MickHoffman #WIAA #HighSchoolSports #SportsAmendments #TransferRules #StudentAthletes #AthleticPolicies #CompetitiveBalance #MercyRule #GirlsFlagFootball #SanctionedSports #TransgenderAthletes #PolicyChanges #AmendmentProcess #WAHighSchoolAthletics #SuperBowlPredictions #ClarkCountyWa #localnews
The sports enthusiasts are here for 2025.
In the first Clark County Today Sports podcast of the new year, we discuss the WIAA’s rules on NIL deals for high school athletes. We have one athlete that we know of, Brooklynn Haywood of Union, who has two endorsement deals.
We also talk about basketball rivalries and great atmospheres in local gyms.
Plus we talk about the college football playoffs and the joy one of us got from the result of one specific game last week.
And it’s time for the NFL playoffs.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/
#Sports #SportsPodcast #Vancouver #Camas #Ridgefield #ClarkCounty #WashingtonState #HighSchoolSports #NILDeals #BasketballRivalries #HighSchoolBasketball #BrooklynnHaywood #UnionHighSchool #CollegeFootballPlayoffs #NFLPlayoffs #LocalNews #ClarkCountyWa
The sports enthusiasts are back with the final podcast of 2024.
We review the high school state championship games with a salute to Camas and Seton Catholic.
Then we get into a serious discussion on the voting process for WIAA amendments, and we tackle some of the biggest amendments that will be voted on in 2025, including a new transfer rule for high school athletics as well as transgender issues in high school athletics.
One of our experts notes that even if one of the amendments passes, he is not sure the WIAA can adopt the amendment because it might not be legal in the state of Washington.
We welcome winter sports, and note that there is a big basketball tournament in the region after Christmas and a huge wrestling extravaganza that week, as well.
And, of course, we touch on college and pro sports a bit.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
#SportsPodcast #HighSchoolSports #WIAAAmendments #CamasFootball #SetonCatholicFootball #WinterSports #BasketballTournament #WrestlingEvent #CollegeSports #ProSports #ClarkCountyWa #LocalNews
The sports enthusiasts predicted back in August that Clark County would have up to two teams playing in Husky Stadium in one of the state championship football games.
Turns out, they were correct.
This week, we discuss the Class 4A title game, featuring Camas, and the 1A title game, featuring Seton Catholic.
Plus we take a look back at the 2004 season when Evergreen became the first big school to win a state football title from Clark County. That team was coached by our own Cale Piland.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
https://ClarkCountyToday.com
#CamasPapermakers #SetonCatholicCougars #ClarkCountyWa #localnews #highschoolfootball #CamasFootball #SetonCatholicFootball #EvergreenFootball #statechampionship #HuskyStadium #WashingtonHighSchoolSports #FootballFinals #ClarkCountySports #CalePiland #PaulValenciaPodcast #SportsPodcast #WashingtonStateFootball
A lot to talk about in this episode of the Clark County Today sports podcast, but we had to start with Columbia River volleyball. That’s four consecutive state championships. Four!
We also get into high school football, as well as the 2A Greater St. Helens League for volleyball and girls soccer.
And we respond to an email we received from a listener who took exception to an earlier podcast when we described football as being under attack. Is it really under attack if football is everywhere on TV, just about every night of the week? Great question.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
#ClarkCountyToday #SportsPodcast #HighSchoolSports #FootballPlayoffs #ColumbiaRiverVolleyball #ClarkCountyWa #localnews #StateChampionships #AthleticAchievements #VolleyballSuccess #CoachingInsights #SportsAnalysis #ListenerEngagement #ClarkCountyWa #WashingtonState #VanouverWa #HighSchoolFootball
The Week 10 football playoff games begin tonight (Friday, Nov. 8) and continue with some matchups Saturday, and next week, we will be starting the state football playoffs.
A perfect set-up for this edition of the Clark County Today sports podcast.
Plus we talk a bit about our own personal career choices. Reporter Paul Valencia is no longer sports only. He hasn’t been for a long time now, but it really hit home the last few weeks. And our sports administrators, Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland, have had interesting turns in their careers in education.
We also give a salute to Veterans Day, and Paul Valencia discusses his feeling on being a veteran.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
#highschoolfootball #footballplayoffs #ClarkCounty #WashingtonState #localnews #ClarkCountyToday #ClarkCountyTodaySportsPodcast #PaulValencia #veteransday #sports #VancouverWA #EvergreenHS #UnionHS #WashingtonSports #TonyLiberatore #CalePiland #sportsplayoffs #football
The regular season seems to go by in a flash every year. Here we are, preparing for Week 8 of the high school football season.
The sports administrators and this high school sports reporter who make up this podcast are excited to talk about the possibilities in this episode.
Plus we take a deep look into the forfeit/appeals process in high school sports because two Clark County teams were involved in a game that needed the process to determine an outcome of a game.
Oh, and we also have fun looking at a great list provided by Greater St. Helens League football historian Brian Levesque. Here is his list of all-time wins-and-losses from high school football coaches in Southwest Washington, dating back to the 1920s: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/159rf0O5Yth7Ul7lep1WHh2kmZtjKBlcOXfp-uCwmLwA/edit?gid=0#gid=0
We talked about high school sports as well as pro sports. We gave our World Series picks, too.
Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com. #sports #football #highschoolfootball #ClarkCountyWa #localnews #GSHL #WorldSeries #footballhistory #coachingrecords #SouthwestWashington #podcast #highschoolathletics #forfeitappeals #playofffootball #EvergreenHighSchool #athleticdirectors
In this episode of the Clark County Today Sports Podcast, Paul Valencia, along with Tony Liberatore and Cale Piland, discuss the possibility of returning to full “Week 9.5” football games to determine final playoff spots in Class 2A District 4. The team expresses concern about the scheduling challenges, where some teams could end up playing three games in just nine days. They prefer a tiebreaker-style format, reducing the physical strain on high school athletes. The episode also covers other sports topics and insights from local, college, and professional sports.
#highschoolfootball #ClarkCountyWa #sportsnews #localnews #WashingtonStateFootball #FridayNightLights #postseasongames #tiebreakergames #SouthwestWashington #highschoolathletics #gridiron #HighSchoolFootball #VancouverWa #PaulValencia #CalePiland #TonyLiberatore
In this episode of the Clark County today sports podcast, we discuss great moments in rivalry games with the former coaches after I watched a great rivalry game last week between Prairie and Battle Ground.
And there are plenty of ranking systems out there, and three weeks into the high school football season, we’ve got a bunch of teams from Southwest Washington that the computers “believe” have a chance to do something special this season.
Big news in college football this week does affect Clark County athletes. It’s NIL-related, promises kept, or promises never delivered, and the ever-changing landscape of college recruiting. All athletes in Clark County who will be playing in college have more options and obstacles than ever before in the recruiting process.
And, of course, we talk about our fandom. The Mariners are on playoff life support but still have a chance, as of this recording. The Raiders looked awful. We bond over our heartbreaks, knowing some day it will all be worth it.
Our podcast is simple. It’s me, reporter Paul Valencia, with Cale Piland, the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools, and Tony Liberatore, an associate principal at Fort Vancouver High School who used to be in athletics. Both of them were also in the coaching ranks during their careers. We talk about local sports first, then go into professional sports, with a side trip to fantasy sports or non-sports from time to time.
We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.
Send us your thoughts at: paul.v@clarkcountytoday.com.
By Paul Valencia with ClarkCountyToday.com