Well, it’s a catchy tune
A GRIP ON SPORTS
I wonder how many men in America are humming "Cats in the Cradle" at work this morning? After last night's "Modern Family," I can't get the tune out of my head. But there is one line from the song that's appropriate today. Read on.
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• The payoff in Harry Chapin's 1970s-era song is a line at the end: "My boy was just like me." And I was thinking of that line yesterday when looking at the list of football signees at the local universities. There on the Washington State list was linebacker Peyton Pelluer, son of Cougar great Scott. And down the road in Moscow, the Vandals were signing Zach Cable, whose father Tom played for UI, coached the Vandals (pictured) and is now the Seahawks' offensive line coach, and Matt Linehan, whose dad Scott was the Vandals quarterback back in the day and once was the head coach of the St. Louis Rams. And Isaiah Saunders' dad, Walter, played for the Vandals when head coach Paul Petrino was a newly minted assistant coach. The only legacy UI didn't sign was Flounder. Not to be outdone (though a bit off the "Cats in the Cradle" theme), Eastern signed Keonte White, whose older brother C.J. Gable was a running back at USC. Those connections were just part of the minutiae available to fans following the Christmas of the football offseason, signing day. Where every class is "spectacular" and "fills our needs." Where every player has "potential to start" and "the cornerstone of future success" has been laid. Of course, not every player can be a star and not every team can be successful, but optimism and hope were on the menu at every signing day event around the nation yesterday. And that's cool. It's a big day for the kids. Even those who fathers and brothers have been through it before.
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• Washington State: Christian Caple may have set an NCAA record yesterday for most blog posts detailing a coach's comments about his signing class, though I'm sure some writer in SEC country did it way more often – and much better, if you ask the school's fans. Anyhow, Christian has three posts related to Mike Leach's comments about the 2013 class. He also has this story, which details the angst yesterday as Arizona State supposedly made a late push to sign touted quarterback Tyler Bruggman (pictured) – during an NCAA-mandated dead period, no less. Christian also has his usual morning blog post today, which includes a link to John Blanchette's take on all the signing-day madness. ... It is basketball season and the Cougars do have a game tonight at USC. It's also Thursday, so Christian has the summary of WSU's weekend.
• Gonzaga: We wrote about the Twitter-verse and college basketball here a week or so ago but today Jim Meehan focused on Gonzaga and its recent encounters with the medium. Jim also has his summary of the week ahead for the Zags. ... BYU and USD meet in a crucial, can-we-catch-the-Zags game tonight in San Diego, though the Cougars kind of know the WCC pecking order and the Toreros may be without a key player. ... St. Mary's and Santa Clara will have a Bay Area brawl tonight.
• EWU: There is basketball news from Cheney, with the Eagles' weekend summarized by Jim Allen on our Four Corners page. Jim also has this item on the Eagles' injuries to lead our notebook. ... But yesterday was signing day, so Jim's main piece is on Eastern's class, which includes a highly touted running back. ... We found stories on the recruiting classes at Montana, Portland State, Weber State, Idaho State, Montana State, Sac State and Southern Utah.
• Idaho: Josh Wright followed Idaho's recruiting all day yesterday on this blog post, and followed up with a story in today's S-R. The Vandals signed Central Valley kicker Austin Rehkow, who talked with Greg Lee yesterday. ... He also has a summary of the weekend ahead on the basketball court, a challenging weekend for the Vandals that's for sure.
• Preps: It's Thursday, which means it's Prep Page day. Greg has a couple of interesting pieces, including a feature on the successful St. George's boys program (pictured) and a column on the role of trainers in athletic injuries. He also looks at a local football player who will walk-on at WSU. ... We can pass along the AP boys and girls basketball rankings for Washington and where the top players in the state signed LOIs.
• Chiefs: It was a historic night for Spokane and Chris Derrick was in the Arena to chronicle the achievement. He also had a blog post last evening. ... Portland suffered a rare defeat while Seattle suffered a not-so-rare one. ... A Tri-City player is earning a reputation.
• Mariners: The PED scandal from South Florida as ensnared a Mariner, catcher Jesus Montero. The former Yankee says he doesn't know why his name is contained in the records from Biogenesis, the clinic as the center of the drug investigation.
• Seahawks: Before the Hawks pursue a free-agent pass rusher, they need to think about a few things.
• Sounders: The U.S. National Team lost 2-1 at Honduras yesterday in a World Cup qualifier. It looks as if the summer rematch will be held in Seattle, allowing the nation's most vocal soccer fans a chance to make the game uncomfortable for the Central American team. ... The Sounders' academy is turning out players.
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• That's it for today. I hope it's enough because my fingers are sore. Really. Too much typing. What a wuss. Ya, I know that's what you were thinking. Well, we'll be back here tomorrow. Will you? Don't wuss out. Until then ...
