A GRIP ON SPORTS • Is there such a thing as the dog days of winter? If there is, we are in them. Read on.

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• The Super Bowl is over, if not yet past for most of us. College basketball is winding down, though not in the stretch run yet. High school sports are beginning their playoff runs, but it is still early. We seem to be in a lull between two storms. Heck, it's been raining so much around here it seems as if even winter isn't sure what to do. There are some interesting basketball games on tap today, though the local colleges' men's teams are all on the road. That makes for good TV watching but not a lot to get out and cheer. Which is OK, considering you would probably get soaked on the way there anyhow. So instead of trying to force something, we'll just get to the links this morning.

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• WSU: The Cougar men are in Eugene for Ernie Kent's return home – he played and coached there for more years then anyone probably wants to remember – and Jacob Thorpe is there to chronicle the visit. But before we get there, Jacob took some time to look back at the Oregon State loss with this blog post. ... Kent's visit is the subject of stories in the local papers as well. ... The Cougar women hosted Oregon and former coach Kelly Graves last night. Sean Kramer has the game story. ... The Cougar track team is hosting an indoor meet. ... The Cougar signing-day party continued in the Tri-Cities last night. ... It's Saturday, so we can pass along the mailbag from ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog.

• Gonzaga: The second-ranked Zags are in the Bay Area, headed to USF, a place that has been tough for them recently. Jim Meehan has an advance as well as a look-back at the Santa Clara win on the blog and in the paper. ... BYU hopes to have some players return in time for today's game at Loyola Marymount. ... No one is sure whether Aaron Bright will play for St. Mary's tonight.

• EWU: There may be more suitors for Vernon Adams than just Oregon as we all await his expected decision by Monday.

• Preps: Lakeside won the battle for first place in the NEA (pictured), defeating visiting Medical Lake 74-59. Tom Clouse was there and has this story. ... We also can pass along a boys and girls roundup of other action.

• Golf: Pioneer Charlie Sifford passed through Spokane a few years back and John Blanchette touched base in this column with those he met. Sifford died recently.

• Chiefs: The Chiefs got their Eastern swing off to a fine start with a 3-2 win over Moose Jaw. ... Seattle snapped Portland's eight-game winning streak. ... Everett handed Tri-City a road defeat.

• Seahawks: The offseason has been tough on the Hawks' defensive coaching staff. The loss of Ken Norton Jr. yesterday may be the biggest blow thus far, as Norton has been the emotional leader of the defense for a while. ... With Norton taking the position as defensive coordinator in Oakland, it sure seems as if Kris Richard is the next coordinator here. ... The News Tribune has its all-time Hawk defensive team. ... Could Ndamkong Suh be headed to Seattle? ... Four players were slapped with fines due to the late Super Bowl fight. ... Is it time for Doug Baldwin to retire the "Mad Doug" act?

• Mariners: Ryan Divish has some notes for your weekend reading.

• Sounders: Seattle left Southern California after a split of two friendlies, losing 2-1 yesterday to the L.A. Galaxy. They are fine with it.

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• The weekend is upon us. That's a good thing, right? Until later ...

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