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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Is another long season already in the cards?

A GRIP ON SPORTS

One of my post-retirement, make-the-ends-meet jobs is providing commentary on the Washington State football postgame call-in show. Last night was no exception. But in a sense it was. Read on.

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• When the Cougars lost 60-59 to California a week ago, the postgame show was a chore. Dennis Patchin and I dealt with a lot of ticked off people. Ticked off by the Bears' two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Ticked off by the decisions at the end of the game. Ticked off by the missed field goal. Just ticked off, really, by the loss. That's to be expected. And I expected more of the same last night. But it didn't happen. The operative emotion after the 34-17 loss at Stanford was more of resignation, not anger. Resigned to another lost season. Resigned to getting pushed around by a stronger, more physical Cardinal team. Resigned to more mistakes by the officials. It was almost as if the losses from previous weeks had sapped the fire right out of the fan base. Or there was a perception even before the game WSU had no chance. Which is, in itself, a bit surprising. Fans are, on the hole, an optimistic bunch. All fans. Even Cub fans. Sure, everyone (except this dingbat, of course) had picked Stanford to win. But most had seen it as a close game. And close games are the ones that can be had, right? A play here, a play there and, bingo, an upset. But you never got the impression last night, except for maybe a short stretch in the second half, the Cougars themselves felt they could do it. Maybe that's what Stanford's physical play does to you, sap the hope right from your marrow. When Connor Halliday rolled right on fourth down at the Stanford 3-yard-line and found River Cracraft in the back of the end zone, the Cougars were within 24-17 with 13 minutes left. But no one seemed all that excited. Maybe they had a better idea of what was coming than those of us watching on TV. Stanford got the ball back at its 33 and immediately faced a third-and-six. Defensive coordinator Mike Breske dialed up the pressure, bringing six, and Kevin Hogan, with plenty of time, completed a pass for seven yards. Two plays later, Stanford faced a third-and-nine. Again Breske brought six. And again the Stanford front was solid and Hogan took his time completing a 12-yard gain. If anything told the story of the game, that was it. Halliday rarely had time, rarely had room to survey the field and find an open man. Hogan, when he needed it most, had it. The Cardinal didn't face a third down again on the drive until they were deep in WSU territory. When the Cougars finally got a stop, Stanford just kicked a field goal. The lead was 10 but must have felt like 45 to the Cougars. They seemed almost resigned to their fate.

• Speaking of resignations, it's so nice to see Tony Corrente's resignation as head of Pac-12 football officiating had such an impact. The overall performance of the crew last night was received about as well as Ron Paul in a DNC meeting by the ESPN announcers, and rightfully so. Heck, in WSU's second drive of the night, twice the Cougars picked up first downs on third down only to have the line judge spot the ball at least a yard from the correct mark. This the more basic of all officiating duties, marking the runner down at the correct spot. Replays showed a miss of almost two yards the first time and another yard the second. No wonder a change at the top of the pyramid occurred. By the way, neither mistake slowed the Cougars that drive as they converted the ensuing fourth downs. But they shouldn't have had to.

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• WSU: When a game begins at 6 p.m. these days, it's considered an early one. Which means Jacob Thorpe and the others covering the contest had a bit more time to delve into the game. Jacob has his usually report in the paper, with a game story, keys to the game, a notebook – WSU's receiving corps has really been decimated by injuries – and scoring, as well as statistics. On the blog, there are videos of Mike Leach and Halliday as they met the media as well as Jacob's thoughts. This morning there is a short post with some links, as Jacob had to catch an early flight. We supplement those links in just a bit, to help you prep for your day of football watching. ... Bud Withers has his game coverage, supplemented by a Larry Stone column as both Washington schools are playing in the Bay Area this weekend. ... The local writers saw the game as another Stanford steamrolling of the Cougars, which it basically was. ... Around the conference, the Huskies face a challenge in Berkeley, one that seemed not that intimidating just a few short weeks ago. ... UCLA and Oregon meet in what seems to be an elimination game. ... USC and Arizona will face off in raucous Tucson with a lot on the line. ... Utah has the week off but there are position battles going on in Salt Lake City. ... Colorado is also off so we offer a basketball story. ... It's Saturday, so ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog has its weekly mailbag.

• Gonzaga: This video was banging around the Internet yesterday and so we thought we would pass it along. It's just trick shooting, sure, but it is fun.

• EWU: The Eagles face a lot of challenges in Cedar City today, but none greater than the Thunderbirds themselves. Jim Allen has an advance of today's game.

• Idaho: The Vandals are on the road again this weekend. John Blanchette has an advance.

• Chiefs: The Chiefs frittered away a win last night and then ended up losing in overtime to Seattle, 2-1. Chris Derrick has the story from the Arena as well as a blog post with a bit more. ... Everett continued its mastery over Portland, 6-2.

• Shock: Erik Meyer signed with San Jose yesterday, leaving the Shock after a handful of productive seasons, including 2013, when he was the AFL MVP. Why did he leave? You can read coach Andy Olson's comments in Jim Meehan's story and blog post and easily come to the conclusion the SaberCats are paying Meyer more than he could make in Spokane. That wouldn't be within the AFL salary rules, of course.

• Preps: It was a typically busy night in the prep ranks yesterday, with Albi Stadium busy with two 4A-3A matchups. The first one was an upset, with Ferris running past Shadle Park, 43-34 (pictured). The second was a rivalry, with Mt. Spokane getting past Mead, 17-14. Greg Lee has that story. Jesse Tinsley has photographs from both games. ... Tom Clouse was in Colville, where the Indians took down Freeman, 28-7. ... Jim Meehan covered Lake City's 47-15 win over Post Falls. ... Lakeland outscored Sandpoint, 31-28. ... Central Valley had little trouble with North Central, 49-13, and Gonzaga Prep had hardly any with U-Hi, 54-19. ... We also have a roundup of the other games.

• Seahawks: The injury bug has bitten the Hawks hard this week, with center Max Unger more than likely outSteve Schilling may start in his place – and run-stopping safety Kam Chancellor dealing with a leg injury, just as the run-happy Cowboys come to town. ... Pete Carroll addressed those problems when he met with the media yesterday. ... A television channel purchase may effect Seahawk viewership in the Puget Sound area.

• Sounders: A fluke goal that was keyed when an injured player was allowed to come off the sidelines while the ball was in the area lifted Vancouver past Seattle, 1-0, last night and earned the Whitecaps the Cascadia Cup again (pictured). ... The odd circumstances were the subject of much debate afterward, though coach Sigi Schmid didn't believe his team deserved to win. He also didn't believe they deserved to lose either. ... Seattle honored one of its soccer pioneers.

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• That's it for this morning. If you are a Cougar fan, I'm betting the bye week is coming at a good time for you too. At 2-5 in a season in which WSU has scored exactly the same amount of points as its opponents, this seems like a good time to take a break. Until later ... 



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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