Another busy Friday night – and day
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Friday was the night the lights were turned on in college basketball arenas all over America. It was also, as usual for the fall, a high school football night. Read on.
• Some random thoughts for your Saturday morning. ... Gonzaga looked as dominant against Sacramento State as it was supposed to, so there's that. This season begins with such high expectations – considering the team lost its leading scorer, rebounder and assist man from last season – meeting them might be darn near impossible. But against the Hornets, at least, the Zags did. Sixty points in the first half, a turnover-forcing defense, the newcomers playing like veterans. The night was near-perfect for GU. ... Listening to Bud Nameck, it sounded as if the Cougars are trying to figure out Ernie Kent's system. Some of the many turnovers seemed to be built upon miscommunication. That's fixable. WSU's season began with a road loss, but if there are lessons learned, then the defeat may pay dividends down the road. ... Back to Gonzaga quickly. The Zags have a much sterner test Monday with SMU coming to town. It's too bad the Mustangs will be missing their best big man. ... Eastern's early morning gambit seems to have paid off. The Eagles won – the most-important result – and they drew well, not only in fans but in people like me. You know, ones with a pulpit around here. We have links below. ... Idaho got off to a good start in a year that will see the basketball program, at least, return to where it belongs, the Big Sky. A strong hoops team in Moscow will only help the conference. ... From basketball to football, the cold air we've been experiencing around here saved us from the snow that hit south of the Snake River. The Interstate 84 corridor in Oregon struggled yesterday as did the Boise area, which was hit with a dump of the white stuff. All day long pictures appeared on the Internet of the Mountain View High field under a covering of snow. The field was cleared and that turned out to be a bad thing for Lake City, which fell in the Idaho playoffs. Snow and the football playoffs in Washington have gone together as long as I can remember, so we'll count our lucky stars there is none around the Spokane area today, when most the of local games are scheduled.
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• WSU: Jacob Thorpe didn't make the season-opening basketball trip – missing El Paso and Fort Worth, that's too bad, at least in a culinary sense – so he was in Pullman for the Cougars' fourth consecutive first-round exit in the NCAA soccer tournament. Here's his story. ... Jacob also passed along the box score from the men's hoop team's 65-52 loss to UTEP. ... The women's team had a nice start to the season, upsetting No. 22 Dayton 76-60 at home. ... Jacob also has a morning post with links. ... We can pass along the Pac-12 football games to watch today though WSU isn't one of them, and the weekly mailbag from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog. ... Want more picks? We have them.
• Gonzaga: Sacramento State was just a speed bump for GU last night, as Jim Meehan's story shows. (Jim used a car metaphor in his lead, so I thought I better join him.) Jim also has a blog post on the game as well as a story on next season's opener, a game on Okinawa. It's a story Jim reported first earlier in the week. ... Jesse Tinsley has a photo gallery of Friday's game. ... St. Mary's opened the season with a win, but it was a tough one.
• EWU: If you wanted to see the Eagles open their season, you had to get up old-man early yesterday. I did. So did John Blanchette, who wrote this column. So did Jim Allen, who wrote this game story. And so did Colin Mulvany, who has these pictures. We all have one thing in common: we're all old men. ... Of the two favorites for the Big Sky title, only Eastern won their season opener. Weber State lost to Utah State, blowing an 18-point halftime lead in the process.
• Idaho: The Vandals opened the basketball season with a 77-65 home win over Eastern Oregon. ... John has some more thoughts on the UI football game today, the Vandals final home game of the season.
• Whitworth: The Pirates moved on into the second round of the NCAA Division III men's soccer playoffs with a 1-0 win over Covenant in Atlanta. ... The men and women basketball teams begin play today. Tom Clouse has more in this advance.
• Chiefs: A quick start helped the Chiefs to a 4-2 win on the road at Kamloops on Friday night. ... Everett came from behind and won a 4-3 shootout against Portland. ... Tri-City had no trouble with Victoria, winning 4-1.
• Preps: The Washington state volleyball tournaments are going on this weekend with Colfax doing its usual thing in the B ranks. Chris Derrick was at the 4A tournament where Central Valley and University were dropped from title contention. We also can pass along a 1A story. ... Lake City was eliminated from the Idaho 5A football playoffs with a turnover-filled 28-14 loss to Mountain View. ... Greg Lee was at L-R/S' 27-18 win over Brewster. He has this story. ... There is also a roundup of other football action.
• Seahawks: Though Marshawn Lynch is listed as questionable with a rib injury, he did practice yesterday and everyone in the Seattle media seems to think he will play Sunday against the Chiefs. So does Pete Carroll, who said as much yesterday. ... The Chiefs are tough, especially at home. ... Richard Sherman is awkward – in a good sort of way. ... If the Hawks are going to make the playoffs, they will have earned it.
• Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma was tagged around a bit in the major league players' tour of Japan. ... Bill James tried to figure out who the best pitchers are, using numbers. Felix Hernandez earned the nod in the American League.
• Sounders: DeAndre Yedlin played almost the entirety of the U.S. 2-1 loss to Colombia. ... There will be an MLS dispersal draft, with the Sounders picking near the bottom of the list.
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• That's it for today. What are your plans? I'm going to be covering the Gonzaga Prep playoff game this afternoon but I will set the DVR for some college football action. Until later ...
