Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

SportsLink

The week rolls on to Saturday

A GRIP ON SPORTS

Are we to Wednesday already? That means it is time to go back to work. Read on.

••••••••••

• The typical college football week always works toward the Saturday crescendo. (The same is true in the NFL, only the final day is different.) Though more and more the typical week in college football is atypical. This week, for example, Oregon plays at California on Friday night. Good planning that. The Giants should be hosting Kansas City in game three of the World Series that night. Yes, it is across the bay. But it will be the number one sporting event in the area that day. No matter. Friday night (or Thursday night) games aren't about the live crowd. They matter, but not as much as the TV crowd. Fine. Money drives the bus – and builds the facilities. I get that. It's just I miss the mid-day football games on Saturday. The crisp autumn air, the changing colors, the atmosphere that screams college football. It's still common in Cheney, as television rarely forces a FCS school to a different night or a late time. The same can be said at the Pine Bowl or in Moscow, for different reasons. But across the border in Pullman, the mid-day game has become a thing of the past. Seven games into the 2014 season, the Cougars will finally have one. This week's game with Arizona starts at 3 p.m. Yep, while it's still light outside. And, surprise, it's a sellout. I guess the day game appeals to people. Next week's home contest with USC also will be held in daylight, and it might even end before the sun goes down. It will start at 1:30 in the afternoon, give or take a few minutes for the pregame show and a couple Cialis commercials. If the Cougars can find a way to upset 15th-ranked Arizona this week, maybe the Southern California game will sell-out as well. Whether it does or not, I can guarantee the ambience will be better than a 7:30 game on a Thursday night. Yes, the Cougars have had those before and will again. It's great when they are on the road – if you don't have a night job – as it's better entertainment than another episode of The Bachelor. But, for fall in Pullman, it's hard to beat those Saturday afternoons.

•••

• WSU: I always hoped for late October football games on the road, as that gave me a better chance of catching the then-Pac-10 basketball media day en route to a game. That's not the case this year, as Jacob Thorpe has to fly to San Francisco for Thursday's event then make it back to Pullman quickly for Saturday's game. While he's gone, the football reports have to take a hiatus. Let's hope no one important leaves. Another running back made that decision this week and Jacob had the news in this blog post. ... Jacob also has his Pac-12 notebook in today's paper as well as the power rankings in the conference. ... What else? Well, his last practice report of the week and a morning post with links. ... With it being Wednesday, and the conference's interviews with the coaches held yesterday, there are a bunch of notebooks from up and down the coast. The prevalent thought: The Pac-12 is darn tough, and getting tougher. ... There is one basketball blog post worth passing along as well.

• EWU: As the season has worn on, the young defensive front has matured. And the defense, as a whole, has played better. Jim Allen covers that change in this story.

• Whitworth: The Pirates' volleyball season began a bit slowly. But they are on a roll now. Jim Meehan has more in his college volleyball notebook.

• Chiefs: Speaking of notebooks, Chris Derrick has his WHL one today, covering a large, possibly league-changing lawsuit filed recently, as well as other items. ... Portland won in Regina last night. ... The Silvertips suffered a key injury this week. ... First-place Tri-City is ready to hit the road.

• Preps: The last two years it was Lewiston that won the state 5A volleyball title in Idaho. This year, Coeur d'Alene is looking to take that crown. The Viks took a big step last night when they defeated Lewiston and won the regional title. Greg Lee was there and has this story. ... There were other events yesterday and we have this roundup.

• Seahawks: The Hawks are dealing with lots of adversity right now and, as Russell Wilson sees it, that's just more opportunity. ... A new addition might get some opportunities down the road. ... Last week, it was Michael Bennett who had major opportunities against the Rams. ... Doug Baldwin is getting more opportunities now that he's back in the slot. ... Marshawn Lynch didn't take the opportunity to exit the bus the other day, contrary to rumors, according to his agent. ... The Hawks fumbled their opportunity to stay atop the NFL's power polls. ... And don't expect Pete Carroll to stop looking for opportunities to turn talented players around.

• Sounders: As the Sounders prepare for the match that will decide the Supporters' Shield, they are generally pleased with the way their defense is playing. But they also understand the two goals they yielded in Los Angeles last weekend is too many. ... With 54,000 tickets already sold, a record crowd is possible Saturday night. Sigi Schmid, however, would like to see a sellout.

• Mariners: The Mariners would like to just sell some more tickets next year. Of course, they are going to cost more. And the 20-game plan is making a return. ... The Giants have the one pitcher who can win a game basically all by himself. And he doesn't have a nickname like "Big Game" or "The Big Train" or "The Bambino" or the like.

•••

• We are on the radio for an hour today prior to the World Series' second game. You can listen between 3 and 4 p.m. right here. Until later ... 



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

Follow Vince online:






Looking for a Grip on Sports?

Vince Grippi's daily take on all things regional sports has been moved to our main sports section online. You can find a collection of these columns here.