Today exceeds expectations
A GRIP ON SPORTS
When I pulled myself out of bed today, I was expecting a light morning. After all, the day after Christmas couldn't be too overwhelming could it? About the only thing I thought I would be linking were boxing stories from England. Read on.
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• OK, an obscure reference to a non-American holiday is probably not the best way to start a post. But I'm hoping it got you over to Wikipedia to figure out what the hell I was talking about. And that I could cleanse my system, ensuring I don't reference such weird things for the next 12 months. We'll see. Anyway, where was I? Oh ya, expecting an easy day. Those expectations were trashed when I realized Christian Caple was off today and I had to pick up the Pac-12 links. It was almost as if the past year hadn't happened. Am I caught in some weird "Twilight Zone" episode? Or am I just being melodramatic? It's the latter, of course – I am always melodramatic and the "Twilight Zone" is not reality, except, of course, the one with the Captain Kirk on the airplane (or the one where he is in a diner with his new wife). Anyway, where was I? Oh ya, expecting an easy day. Well, I went through my old sources around the conference and pulled together a few links. Not as many as Christian would have found, I'm sure, but enough to keep you from storming the castle until he gets back. Hey, wasn't there a "Twilight Zone" about storming a castle? Maybe I'm thinking of the one with a spaceship and a bunch of little people worshiping the astronaut. I guess there wasn't a castle.
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• Washington State: There is actually a Cougar story in today's S-R, though Christian didn't write it. Chris Derrick leads his women's basketball notebook with a conversation with Tia Presley (pictured), WSU's sophomore guard. ... The biggest news around the conference came from Hawaii, where No. 3 Arizona broke the Pac-12's long losing streak to San Diego State, defeating the 17th-ranked Aztecs 68-67. The Wildcats RPI is going to be high enough going into conference play, anyone who can upset them, especially in Tucson, will earn a big boost to their NCAA hopes. ... Bob Clark previews the conference today in the Register-Guard and wonders who will be Arizona's main challengers. ... Will the Fiesta Bowl, played at the same site as one of Chip Kelly's most disappointing games, be Kelly's last at Oregon? ... The Huskies have lost two offensive assistants since the end of the season. ... The father of one of UW's basketball players has a long Seattle history – and is still involved with the city.
• Gonzaga: If there is one guy in the WCC Zag fans love to dislike (hate is such a strong word), it is Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's star guard. But if you want to know more about him, read this. ... USF won its last game in Hawaii. ... Brandon Davies is having a heck of a senior year for BYU.
• Idaho: The WAC basketball season is about ready to begin and Utah State, the favorite, will open on the road in Texas.
• Chiefs: Nothing from Spokane, but we found this Christmas feature on Portland's announcers.
• Seahawks: Anyone who saw Mario Manningham go down in the Hawks' game Sunday night (pictured) knew the 49er receiver was severely injured. ... The talk around the NFL right now is the Seattle offense, quarterback Russell Wilson and what's been going on recently. So what's been going on recently? ... The Rams come to town this weekend. Are they carrying a trap?
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• That's it for today. I hope you received everything you needed on Christmas, whether that be a new iPad or just the smiles of loved ones. I was lucky enough to get both. Until later ...
