LOS ANGELES — Wednesday was special for Keishawn Bierria. July 26 always is.
The Washington Huskies’ senior linebacker spent his day answering questions and posing for pictures at Loews Hollywood Hotel, representing his team at this year’s Pac-12 media days. It’s a particularly fun trip for Bierria, because he grew up in nearby Carson, California, and starred at Narbonne High School. He’ll get to visit his mother and family before he returns to Seattle, where the Huskies begin fall camp on Monday.
But this day was significant for another reason: it was Bierria’s birthday, and he shares his birthday with his late father, Lowell, who died of cancer when Bierria was 8 years old, on Christmas Day in 2003.
“It’s been weighing on me a lot throughout my life, just being able to share that day with him,” Bierria said. “Growing up, I used to always look forward to this day, because we used to have like a dual party. But it’s just kind of one of those things I got used to living with.
“It’s a blessing to me.”
His most cherished memories are of late-night bike rides at the beach with his father and three brothers — now ages 25, 23 and 19.
“Five or 6 years old, that’s pretty fun,” Bierria said. “Everything I did with my father was fun.”
The day capped an eventful summer for UW’s top returning tackler. He graduated in June with a degree in Sociology and American Ethnic Studies, then participated in a month-long, study-abroad program in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, through the school’s Anthropology department.
There, Bierria learned about taro farming on the Ka’ala Farm, helped restore a “600-year-old pond that was used for natural irrigation for fish,” and worked with a group that helped teach water safety.
“When you say you studied abroad in Hawaii,” Bierria said, “people are going to be like, ‘oh, Hawaii.’ But we really learned a lot out there. It was a great trip.”
For now, he will relish this current trip home, a final respite before the grind of the college football season.
And he will do so as a 22-year-old, honoring his father’s 52nd year all the while.
“I always get to share this day with my father, even though he’s not been here,” Bierria said. “But he’s always here. Even if we didn’t share the same birthday, all my brothers feel like we’ve got the same type of relationship with him. I still remember his face. Still remember his voice. It was very powerful.”
Shorter halftimes
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said the league will shorten halftime from 20 minutes to 15, and eliminate some commercial breaks, for nonconference games televised by the Pac-12 Networks this season.
The changes are being made in an effort to address complaints about the length of college football games.
“We’ve worked with our universities on these proposed modifications, and over the next few weeks we’ll be finalizing exactly which games during the non-conference season will be piloted.”
The Huskies play two nonconference games televised by the Pac-12 Networks: Sept. 9 vs. Montana, and Sept. 16 vs. Fresno State.
Scott also said the conference will expand its central replay officiating command center to assist all 12 teams with the in-game replay review process. Oregon and California experimented with the technology last season.
“Our team in the command center will work in concert with our in-stadium replay officials to manage the replay process for all Pac-12 home-hosted games,” Scott said. “We expect this is going to lead to even more consistency in replay reviews.”
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