Schedule makers always keep your budget in mind
A GRIP ON SPORTS
Who knew attending a college football game might actually be good for your budget? It just may be that way next year. Read on.
• The Pac-12 used Monday to reveal its upcoming basketball schedules. Ya, I know. It was easy to miss. But yesterday the conference revealed the 2015 football schedules and there were some fireworks. Around here, at least. Why? Once again the Apple Cup, the bitterest rivalry north of Interstate 84, will be held on Friday, Nov. 27. Black Friday. You know, the day when competitive shopping rivals that of competitive football. Wait, weren't we told just last season the Cougars and Huskies had done their time, that the Apple Cup had been played enough on that Friday, it was someone else's turn to sacrifice for TV? Yes, we were. That lasted one season. One freakin' season. At least it should be held during the day. A 7:30 start on a Friday night doesn't seem smart. But whoever thought football programming was smart? Take this week for example. The Cougars host Oregon, a true national-title contender, at 7:30 in Pullman. That's a 10:30 start in Florida and most of the SEC. The best in the Pac-12, playing a team that is arguably the league's weakest – WSU is in the bottom two or three of every power poll I've seen this week – and no one back East will see it? If the football selection committee members wake up Sunday morning and read Oregon won 35-21 they won't be impressed. But what if Washington State had played well, played like they did at Auburn or USC last season? The final score won't tell you that. It will just be assumed Oregon struggled against a cruddy team. Sure, watching the game tape could assuage that notion but first impressions usually last. So why isn't the game starting at noon or something? TV must have wanted it at 7:30 and that's what counts. The only thing that counts. Just like next Nov. 27. But there is a silver lining to that game, and you can interpret that literally if you wish. Instead of getting up a 4 a.m. and heading to Nieman-Marcus for its 3-percent-off sale, you can get up at 4 a.m. and head to Seattle. Instead of charging Christmas gifts at Macy's, you can charge gas in Ellensburg. And instead of buying a discounted sweater at Nordys, you can pick up a cheap WSU sweatshirt from a vendor called Chubby outside the stadium. Just consider it the family's Christmas vacation and call it good.
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• WSU: There was other news yesterday other than the schedule revelation, though that took up a lot of Jacob Thorpe's time. He has a story in today's paper along with a blog post on the schedule. But Jacob also has his Pac-12 power rankings in the S-R and passed along the school's game notes on the blog. Plus he has this morning's post with links. ... Isiah Myers (pictured) is now up for a prestigious receiving award, which seems appropriate considering his statistics thus far. ... Connor Halliday was including in the quarterback rankings on ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog. ... Oregon is making another appearance on the Sports Illustrated cover. Jinx? What jinx? ... The words after last season's game have been forgotten in Eugene. ... Each game this weekend has some interesting numbers attached. ... It's Wednesday, so that means there are notebooks from around the conference. The subjects range from the perceived weakness of the South Division to the play of one Jerry Neuheisel at UCLA last weekend. ... The Pac-12 and the SEC don't matchup on the field but they do in the polls. ... A Hawaii television station has more background on the cancelled game with Washington State.
• EWU: Wouldn't it seem weird if WSU played Oregon State in a non-conference football game? Yes it would. That's why this Saturday's game in Bozeman, in which Eastern faces rival Montana State in a non-conference battle, seems odd to me. Jim Allen has an advance of the game, which matches the second- and 14th-ranked teams in the FCS. ... Jim also has a blog post this morning with links. ... Jim is also our soccer writer and his college soccer notebook leads with Eastern's recent offensive surge.
• Idaho: It's back to the basics time for the Vandals, coming off a second consecutive loss to open the season. John Blanchette has this blog post on Idaho focusing on Ohio, this Saturday's opponent.
• Preps: It's time to start ranking the local area high school football teams. The panel has Coeur d'Alene on top.
• Seahawks: Both teams this Sunday will have R-words to use. Revenge for the Broncos, regroup for the Hawks. After last Sunday's loss in San Diego, the Hawks do need to regroup. They also need to give the ball to Marshawn Lynch more and put more pressure on the passer. But please don't use one R-word: rematch. The Super Bowl was last year. ... We are always happy to find numbers about the matchup. ... A trio of former Hawks are up for Hall of Fame honors.
• Mariners: One thing about this team: Just when it seems like it's time to start shoveling dirt on their postseason hopes, they leap out of the grave. They trailed 2-0 early last night, their starting pitcher was hurt and the Royals were winning. So what happens? The M's score 10 runs in two innings, the bullpen tosses nothing but blanks and the Royals implode late. The results: a 13-2 Seattle win, a Kansas City loss (and Oakland as well) and the M's are a game out of the second wild-card spot – and only two out of the top one. ... It was one night, at least, in which the offense didn't waste its opportunities. ... Felix Hernandez has been nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award.
• Sounders: The stars came out in overtime last night and goals by Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins gave Seattle a 3-1 U.S. Open Cup championship match win. The title, Seattle's fourth in the past six years, was earned after Philadelphia had taken an early 1-0 lead. ... All the Sounders were happy with the win. The Union players were not.
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• It occurred to me I haven't made a hump day joke recently. I won't today either. Until later ...
