A Grip on Sports: Nothing is what it used to be, which can be a good thing unless you’re talking about any pro all-star game

A GRIP ON SPORTS • When we were young, kids, there wasn’t a Presidents’ Day. We had Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s birthday to celebrate. But some time, a long, long time ago, in a Washington D.C., far, far away, the two holidays were shrunk into one. Sort of like what’s happened with ice cream.

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• What does that have to do with sports? Or with each other? Not much. Shrink-flation in an early form, maybe. That’s about it. But what were we going to start off with today, the excellent defense displayed in last night’s NBA All-Star Game? Ya, right. It has to exist in some form for us to write about it.

One has to wonder if the NBA players saw what’s happened to the NFL’s Pro Bowl – no more full-contact game, just a bunch of skills competitions and then a flag football fun-fest – and want that to be the future of their mid-season contest. And they are conspiring to make the All-Star game obsolete.

Which takes us back to 1968, the year Washington’s birthday became a victim to Congress’ busy work, codifying holidays in this country.

The NBA’s All-Star game that season, played at Madison Square Garden, didn’t feature a lot of defense, either. Well, at least by the West.
The East team, led by John Havlicek, who would play hard even if he was only matching up against his neighborhood’ preschoolers, shot 59% from the floor and ran away from Jerry West’s and Elgin Baylor’s group, 144-124.

The MVP wasn’t Havlicek, the guy who scored the most points. That trophy went to Philadelphia’s Hal Greer, who hit all eight of his shots from the floor but, more importantly, hounded West into a 7-for-17 shooting performance.

See, back then, winning was important. The winning group received a little more money. And the few extra bucks might mean sending the kids to camp an extra week – even for the stars. That’s not the case anymore. Basically, the NBA’s game has gone the way of all professional all-star get-togethers. It’s not about the game but the individual performances.

Damian Lillard pulling up from half-court and hitting not just once, but twice, epitomizes the death of competition. Well, maybe not. Maybe it was Luka Doncic ¾-court shot with 30 seconds or so left in the first half – the score was already 102-89 – that was followed by the Mavericks’ star tweeting his explanation. During the game. Two-for-one or something like that. He was joking, sure, but the whole sequence – watch the video and observe how quickly the folks on the court are moving – shows how silly this game has become.

If you want to argue “if you don’t like it, don’t watch” we agree with you. And turned away following less than a minute of screen time. Watched an X-Files instead. At least Mulder and Scully tried to play a little D against the monster-of-the-week.

• And at least there will not be such silliness this week. The good news? The weather folks are predicting highs in the 50s before it ends. The even better news? Washington State’s men will be playing a game in toasty Tucson on Thursday night with huge ramifications. For both schools.

The Wildcats’ are ranked fifth nationally. They were one of the top-four seeds in the first NCAA seed reveal, a made-for-TV event that, nonetheless, sets a tone for the final bracket. And they lead the Pac-12’s final regular season race by a game over … yes, Washington State.

The Cougars are a surprise. A revelation. A feel-good story. A throwback to a bye-gone era. No, not 1968. But 2008, the last time WSU competed for a title and the last time it went on to appear in the NCAA tourney.

Kyle Smith’s squad won last year in Tucson. It defeated Arizona earlier this season in Pullman, too. The Cougars have won seven consecutive games and have a chance to move into first. In late February. That hasn’t happened in a while.

No matter what, however, the NCAA tourney is still in the Cougars’ sites. And that has given this season something of a holiday feel.

• By the way, that 1968 Cougar team was really good. Marv Harshman’s Cougars finished third in the Pac-8, behind only national champion UCLA and perennial runner-up USC.

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WSU: The women haven’t had a lot of fun lately. Not since Charlisse Leger-Walker’s injury. But they had a good time yesterday in Tempe, rolling over Arizona State 73-46. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner rewound the basketball week in the Mercury News. … Will the University of Arizona’s multi-million-dollar budget shortfall hit athletics? It certainly seems so. … We saw Bronny James play AAU games as early as his eighth-grade season. He was a talented player, sure, but nowhere near the ability level he was credited with, even back then. And he certainly doesn’t seem like an NBA player just yet, as he’s having trouble standing out on a disappointing USC team. … Oregon is somewhat disappointing too, but not nearly as much. … There was one men’s game Sunday, with Utah scoring at the buzzer to hand host UCLA its first loss in a long time. There is no change, though. The Bruins’ NCAA path still runs through winning the conference tournament. … A double-overtime win Saturday might just give Colorado the boost it needs down the stretch. … On the women’s side, Washington suffered another tough loss Sunday, this one 90-82 in triple overtime to short-handed Arizona. … Oregon lost for the ninth consecutive time, a 74-55 blow-out at home against No. 9 UCLA. And then coach Kelly Graves had to answer a job-security question. He didn’t sound amused. … No. 10 USC overcame 11th-ranked Oregon State in Corvallis 58-50, handing the short-handed Beavers their first loss in weeks – and their first home loss this season.

Gonzaga: The Zags’ biggest games, the Chase Center matchup with USF and the regular-season-ending visit to Saint Mary’s, are still more than a week away. But it is still a good thing the offense got its act together Saturday night against Pacific, something Theo Lawson covers in this story.

Idaho: The Vandals’ season has been a bit better than anticipated. There are multiple reasons for that, including the coaching change, which led to Alex Pribble’s arrival. He brought in a dozen new players, including Juice Mims from North Idaho College. It’s Mims who is in Peter Harriman’s spotlight this morning.  … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, being an athlete in college still requires the student part. At Idaho State, the powers-that-be are trying to help more.

Preps: Washington’s State basketball tournaments were seeded and scheduled Sunday, with 32 local teams earning berths in the first weekend of games. The odd component? A few schools will either play on their home court or in their opponent’s gym. Not a neutral site. That doesn’t seem like a State tournament to us. Anyhow, Dave Nichols shares all the local matchups in this story.

Seahawks: With a new coaching staff in place, is Geno Smith still the uncontested No. 1 quarterback?

Mariners: We passed along this story when it appeared in the Times yesterday. Now it is in the S-R. The M’s face a lot of questions in spring training. Here are four that must be answered. … Levi Stoudt is back with the Mariners.

Sounders: Same with this piece. Seattle scrimmaged yesterday. Coach Brian Schmetzer was not happy.

Kraken: And finally, another one. A six-game homestand is nigh. Seattle has to do well if it wants to make the playoffs. … As players get healthy, others find their playing time diminished.

NASCAR: We thought we might be writing about a thrilling Daytona 500 this morning. Except it didn’t happen. Rain in Florida. No race. It is now scheduled for tonight.

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• According to the free weather app on our phone, the high might just be in the 50s on the weekend. Neither the Weather Channel app nor the S-R’s website concurs, sure, but what do they know? (Only joking boss.) Like Pig, in Pearls Before Swine, we always prefer the happy-faced one. Until later …