Are you ready for some college football?
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Remember that really cool book, movie and television show, "Friday Night Lights?" It was all about Pac-12 football, wasn't it? Read on.
• Of course it wasn't. It was about high school football. Friday night should be reserved for the training ground of the sport. It isn't tonight. If you are a Washington State football fan and want to watch the Cougars live as they strive to upset the Cardinal, you can't attend a high school football game. Just can't. Think about this. The NFL wants to take over the television world. But even it understands Friday nights should be left for the preps. So no games. College football isn't so smart. How simple would it be for the NFL to be left alone on Sunday, colleges on Saturday and high schools on Friday? Pretty darn simple. Instead, we have college football on most every night – except Sunday, no one would be idiotic enough to challenge the monolith – including a night that should be reserved for 15- and 16-year-olds getting their moments in the (artificial) sun.
• With the Cougars playing tonight, some of you might have noticed a little note I had in yesterday's column. Yes, I believe the Cougars will win tonight. Stanford had a physical battle with Notre Dame last week. The Cardinal travel to defending South champion Arizona State next week. Seems like a nice trap is being set for them. Plus, Washington State's offensive line has improved so much as the season has played out, the Stanford pass rush shouldn't be as much a factor as it was last year in Seattle. Yes, the Cardinal are yielding just 107.4 yards per game passing, but they haven't played a passing offense like WSU's. Given time, Connor Halliday and the Cougar receivers will be able to move the ball and score. And that's something Stanford has struggled with this season, averaging 24.8 points per game, in the bottom half of the NCAA. It all adds up to an upset win, though my math, as usual, may be off.
• How do you feel about this? According to a couple of reports, if the NFL moves two teams to Los Angeles in the coming years, it may, through a series of events, mean the Seahawks would move back to the AFC West. The rivalry with the 49ers – white hot these days – would be kaput. So would the one with the Raiders, which was such a big deal back in the day. The reason? One of the series of events would have the Raiders take the Hawks' spot in the NFC West. Yes, this is still early in the process. But if it does happen, wouldn't that tick you off a bit?
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• WSU: I certainly hope Jacob Thorpe has already had, or will soon have, an In-N-Out burger. It is his responsibility, so all of us can live vicariously through him. Jacob's in the Bay Area for tonight's game and preps us with an advance, his keys to the game, the WSU starting lineup and a blog post this morning with more links. ... I do believe I am the only one who thinks WSU will win tonight. ... Jacob linked in his post today Bud Withers' column concerning Mike Leach's tenure in Pullman but it was interesting enough I felt I should link it as well. ... There are some questions about the Pac-12 this weekend. ... In alumni news, Klay Thompson scored 25 points in 25 minutes against the Lakers last night and got Kobe Bryant raving.
• Gonzaga: The Zag volleyball team continues to win.
• EWU: The Eagles will be in Cedar City tomorrow to face Southern Utah. Jim Allen has a feature today on a WSU transfer who has helped Eastern shore up the defensive line a bit. ... Jim also held a live chat yesterday and posted the transcript.
• Chiefs: The WHL schedule is a little hard to figure sometimes, including right now. As Chris Derrick's story shows, the Chiefs will face Seattle three times over the next six days. ... At least it's not just a Spokane thing. The same sort of thing has happened for Everett and Portland.
• Preps: Tonight's the big night of high school football, but there was a GSL game last night at Albi. Greg Lee has the story of Lewis and Clark's win over Rogers. ... It's also a volleyball night and Chris was at a GSL showdown in the Valley. ... We also can offer a roundup of other prep action.
• Seahawks: It's never good when your starting center spends the week in a walking boot. Then your top receiver sits out a practice day with a thigh problem. And your big hitting safety has to take a day off as well to rest an ankle. But the Hawks have other weapons, including, on defense, a middle linebacker who is a tackling machine and an outside backer with athleticism. ... Still, a quarter of the way through the season, Russell Wilson feels the Hawks can play better. ... So does Earl Thomas.
• Mariners: Michael Saunders and the Seattle front office are not getting along right now.
• Sounders: Isn't it nice Seattle has one of its most important matches of the season tonight and DeAndre Yedlin is prepping for an international friendly? Ah well, the Sounders need to defeat Vancouver without their defensive star if they want the Cascadia Cup – though a draw is enough for that – and the crucial three points in the MLS standings.
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• Like a lot of you, I will be watching the Cougar game on ESPN tonight. Unlike most of you, though, I will stay up for a couple more hours after it is over to join Dennis Patchin on the post-game call-in show. Then it will be off to bed sometime tomorrow morning. Until later ...
