Sports

From staff reports

Maybe voters in the Associated Press Top 25 poll just needed to see what the Gonzaga women's basketball team could do shorthanded.

With Selection Sunday a mere five weeks away, the Hotline is prepared to offer an early forecast. March 2024 is beginning to look a lot like March 2010 for the Pac-12.

This might read as a J.P. Crawford appreciation piece. And it is, to a degree. Really, it’s about Seattle Mariners first baseman Ty France.

A month from now, Gonzaga's 89-85 victory at Rupp Arena on Saturday could be viewed as a huge catalyst for the Bulldogs' 25th straight NCAA Tournament bid.

LAS VEGAS – The coin landed on tails, and suddenly Kyle Shanahan faced a decision novel to football history. The San Francisco 49ers would dictate the order of possessions in overtime of Super Bowl 58 and set a precedent for managing the NFL’s new overtime rules. What had been an automatic choice was now a topic for fresh debate – with the Super Bowl in the balance.

LAS VEGAS – In the corner of the Kansas City Chiefs’ locker room late Sunday night – through the haze of cigar smoke and past a group of players dancing in a circle, the Lombardi Trophy held aloft – Travis Kelce was trying to take his pads off.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Shush. Say it quietly. We don’t want you to lose your official NFL fan card. But it is OK to admit you thought Kansas City’s second consecutive Super Bowl win, overtime and all, was kind of boring. Because it was.

George Foreman vs. Ron Lyle. Larry Holmes vs. Ken Norton. Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson.

LAS VEGAS - Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs used the glitzy occasion of the first Super Bowl played in this gambling haven to reemphasize that they have become the NFL's surest bets while adding to their ever-growing collection of glittery championship hardware.

LAS VEGAS – The party would not end, no matter how ugly it seemed. That made Super Bowl 58 the most Vegas thing ever, a kind of evening that persisted more than it shined, a spectacle that turned into a defensive bender.

What a show. Las Vegas. One of the NFL’s Blue Bloods vs. the New Kids on the Block, aka the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs. Jim Nantz. Tony Romo. CBS. And, lest we forget, Taylor Swift. Super Bowl 58.

From staff reports

SEATTLE – Well, the fans seem happy. Not that any polls have been conducted to confirm, but the Seahawks reportedly hiring Ryan Grubb as their new offensive coordinator appears to have the locals bubbling with joy.

SEATTLE – They’re going to miss Eugenio Suarez. They’ll miss his positive energy, his playful leadership, his ever-present smile.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sure, it’s Super Bowl Sunday. And all that entails, including the extra-added attraction of one Taylor Swift. We get it. But we are in Brad Nessler’s corner. The veteran CBS announcer – is there any other kind? – was all in on Super Saturday, as he called it, yesterday after the Gonzaga win at Kentucky. Zag fans, Cougar fans, Eastern fans, heck Whitworth fans, is there a better name for it? Nope. OK, then.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Saturday’s game between Gonzaga and Kentucky featured eight players who’ve been listed as potential first- and second-round selections by various NBA draft analysts and pundits since the 2023-24 college basketball season started.

From staff reports