Bulldogs, Cougars rivalry something to cherish

Sides have already been taken, and not only on reflex allegiances to what it might say on a uniform or a diploma.

One thinks the other guys have only a nodding acquaintance with the art of defending. One hates it that the other team rides the brakes. Undisciplined, they say. Shoot it already, comes the reply. Gad, we’re sick of the media shoving you down our throats. Make the tournament every year for a decade and then complain.

No, it’s not all rile and bile, this recent basketball business between Gonzaga and Washington State. The fan disdain is mostly nuts and hot fudge over two scoops of mutual respect, however grudging.

But before the sides get loud again tonight in Pullman, let’s take a moment and appreciate … what?

Well, that Gonzaga vs. Washington State simply is.

That there are two national programs where once there were none. That a ticket is something to treasure. That it’s not just another game but a spectacle.

That there’s no end in sight.

“It’s good for basketball in the Northwest,” said Cougars coach Tony Bennett.

Actually, it’s good for basketball nationally, too, at least perhaps as a beacon in those dark corners where stubbornness has crushed the public good.

We’re talking about the Beltway where Maryland and Georgetown can only get together by accident – but only in Florida. We’re talking about Indiana, where basketball was reared if not born – but where Notre Dame and Purdue haven’t met in a regular-season game in more than 40 years.

Nobody wants to see those games. Nah.

Of course, scheduling is a delicate balance for every program. Occasionally, backyard friendlies are casualties of common sense and reasonable self-interest. What was once a home-and-home series locally between the Zags and Eastern Washington, for instance, evolved into a game at the Spokane Arena, then a no-return game at GU and then nothing. The Eagles didn’t cotton to a one-sided arrangement and the Bulldogs insisted on one because, well, you don’t see Texas playing at Sam Houston State, do you?

And yet the series will probably resume next year because Eastern sees a benefit locally to being in Gonzaga’s orbit.

Gonzaga-WSU is something else altogether. At the moment it’s a delicious contrast in style – although maybe not so delicious for the Gonzaga constituents who hate their games in the 60s – or 51-47, as it was a year ago.

“There is no battle of wills,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few the other day. “It takes two to tango and either both teams play fast or you just play slow.

“And that’s fine. That’s the beauty of basketball – that there’s a lot of different ways for teams to be successful. They’ve done a wonderful job of figuring out what works for them and I think we’ve done all right our way, too.”

Yet no matter how they play, the important thing is that they simply play – and the surge in fan interest in the game the past two years only underscores how selfish former WSU coach Kelvin Sampson and his athletic director, Jim Livengood, were when they called a halt to the series back in 1988.

It was, in fact, an insult – to the Eddie Madsens and Ray Steins and James Donaldsons and Doug Spradleys whose heroics invested a little lore into the rivalry. It was an insult to a Jud Heathcote, who now sits in the stands at Gonzaga games but used to coach the devil out of the Coubabe freshmen, grab a drink of water and come out and help Marv Harshman play five-man chess against Hank Anderson.

Enough has been said about Washington bailing out of its series with the Zags two years ago – except that the Huskies have filled the void this year with no fewer than nine Lehighs. Left unsaid is that the Cougars, like UW, once lost seven straight in this rivalry before winning the last two.

“Three, four, five years back, this was just a yawner,” admitted Bennett. “People didn’t pay much attention to it.”

But he knew it was his job to make them pay attention.

“It’s hard for us to get teams to come in here and a team with a national reputation, it’s a natural being so close,” he said. “And to go into that setting every other year, one of the tougher settings you’re going to go into, it’s good for our team and program.

“(Stopping it) is not in the least in my thought process – you know, ‘Boy, if they beat us this year, or we get one more win, whoop, we’re at an end.’

“I like what it’s become.”

And with that, everyone’s on the same side.