Sometimes we are just a fool in the rain
A GRIP ON SPORTS
From here to there and back again. Sounds like a '60s/'70s music anthology featuring Led Zeppelin or someone. But no, that's not it. It just describes where we are headed today. Read on.
• There doesn't seem like a lot to go into in depth today, but there are a few things we want to touch upon, so that's what we are going to do ...
• Last night's first half might have been the most impressive half of defense Gonzaga's played in the Mark Few era. The Bulldogs' switching man-to-man discombobulated (love that word) the young St. Joseph's Hawks and led to 10.7 percent shooting from the floor. Every guy the Zags put on the floor sold out defensively the first 20 minutes, got into every gap, challenged every shot and St. Joe's never got into any rhythm. It was fun to watch.
• There was a comment after yesterday's column concerning the reader being fed up with whining about the late start times. It is the way of the world, so get used to it. That's a valid way to look at it and I support his right to an opinion. But sorry, that's not good enough for me. I got into journalism because of, really, one main reason: the huge paychecks. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But also because it was a way to help make the world a better place. You know, Watergate and all that. If something is wrong and needs fixing, using the bully pulpit newspapers provide to shed light on it is mandatory. So I'm not going to stop railing about this topic. These idiotic late start times in Pullman, Corvallis and other places are wrong. They need to change. Maybe I'm just some guy yelling in the wilderness, but, about this, I'm going to continue yelling.
• Did you see the record of the teams left on the Hawks' schedule? They are 41-19. The other three current contenders for the NFC wild card spots – Green Bay, Dallas and San Francisco – each play teams with combined 30-30 records. Quite a difference, huh? If the Hawks do make the playoffs, they will have earned it. And be battle tested.
• Eastern Washington played an overmatched Walla Walla team last night and knew it. Starters Drew Brandon, Ognjen Miljkovic and Parker Kelly did not play at all and Tyler Harvey and Venky Jois played limited minutes. Still, the Eagles won by 61 points. And shot a school-record 72.5 percent from the floor. Frederik Jorg hit 8-of-9 shots, Jois all seven, and Harvey all six. This was a mismatch. But things get tougher for the 3-0 Eagles in a hurry. They travel to Dallas to take on 22nd-ranked SMU on Saturday, a team that was blown out by Gonzaga last week and faces a tough test at Indiana tonight.
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• WSU: The Cougars were back in the bubble last night, the heat cranked up to 11 (sorry for the old-man-like "Spinal Tap" reference). So Jacob Thorpe couldn't watch and give you a practice report. But even if they had been outside, Jacob wouldn't have been watching. He was in Beasley along with a thousand other folks watching the women take on 16th-ranked Nebraska. The second half wasn't pretty as the Cornhuskers broke from a halftime tie and rolled to an 82-61 victory. Jacob has the story. ... He also has some football stuff of course, including this feature on former WSU player Jordan Simone (pictured), now an integral part of Arizona State's defense, a live chat from yesterday and a morning post with links. ... Who is going where in the bowls from the Pac-12? ... No one on ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog is picking WSU to win. ... They blog also offers a midweek mailbag. ... This Saturday's USC/UCLA rivalry game is all about the Bruins.
• Gonzaga: The 94-42 win last night set a McCarthey Athletic Center record for margin of victory, which gave Jim Meehan the perfect lead for his game story. I will say this: Every Gonzaga player must be majoring in chemistry, because they've mixed together really quickly. ... Jim will have a day-after post this morning but before that he put up this post last night and Jesse Tinsley posted these photographs. ... Andy Katz mentions Kevin Pangos. ... BYU played a Division III LDS school from Virginia last night and cruised, 101-48. ... Santa Clara led Utah State into the second half but fell, 60-54. ... Pepperdine's defense keyed a 63-44 win at San Jose State. ... San Diego routed Florida A&M, 72-41.
• EWU: The basketball rout was just part of Jim Allen's Eastern coverage Wednesday. Not only did he have the game story but he also had his Big Sky football notebook. ... Speaking of notebooks, here's one from Bozeman.
• Chiefs: Kamloops had little trouble with Portland in a midweek game.
• Preps: It's Thursday, so it's Prep Page day in the S-R. Greg Lee has this nice feature on Rypien, and it shouldn’t be missed. ... There is this summary of the weekend playoff games as well as Greg and Sam Adams' final Pick Six. ... Bill Pierce has another prep history lesson. ... Central Valley made it back to the final four and will defend its 4A soccer title this weekend on the West Side. Jim Allen has an advance. ... Finally, we pass along this obit of longtime Spokane official Jack Shagool. I coached one of his grandsons in basketball a couple years long ago and Jack had one major problem with my coaching: The team was named the Hawks. As a proud Kansas State fan, Jack didn't like anything that resembled the Jayhawks of Kansas.
• Seahawks: Marshawn Lynch is an interesting fellow. He doesn't talk to the media after the Kansas City game and the NFL fines him $50,000 for that and also calls in his $50,000 fine leveled last year that it had held in abeyance. So Lynch took questions yesterday, though his answers range from the odd to the bizarre. The one thing he could have patted himself on the back about, returning a wallet to a fan, he dismisses as immaterial. Interesting. ... The video and quotes from Richard Sherman and Pete Carroll are a little more expansive than the conversation Lynch had. ... Tom Cable has Lynch's back. Lynch, on the other hand, has a sore back. ... Maybe, just maybe, Bobby Wagner will be back in the middle of the Seahawk defense against first-place Arizona. ... The newest pair of Seahawks go way back.
• Mariners: Rule 5 decisions have to be made today.
• Sounders: As the conference finals draw closer, Sigi Schmid, and his players, are excited for the matchup with Los Angeles. ... Seattle passed in the dispersal draft.
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• Another relaxed Thursday, though I'm meeting some friends for lunch at a new place and have some other responsibilities tonight. That qualifies for relaxed these days. Tomorrow, I'm back on the radio prior to Eastern Washington's football game in Portland. And, yes, it's freaking snowing at my house this morning. (Lots of unprintable words.) I'm not a fan of winter. Until later ...
