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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Yesterday was great but today is more important

A GRIP ON SPORTS

The Gonzaga Bulldogs got the weekend started right. Now it's up the Cougars and the Seahawks to keep it going. Read on.

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• Wasn't yesterday a great sports-watching day? The type of Saturday that makes Monday-through-Friday worthwhile? Yes it was. At least for me. I spent the afternoon and early evening watching the Gonzaga games, first the women in person and then the men on a small TV in a restaurant as I ate an early dinner. Then it was home to watch the last football game of the evening, which turned out to be another win for the Pac-12. As I said, nearly perfect. (The only flaw was I didn't have a chance to watch the Arizona State bowl win, thanks to a time conflict and a balky DVR. Oh well.) Which brings us to today. Washington State plays its final non-conference basketball game of the season, hosting UC Davis in the afternoon. Problem is, the Seahawks will be playing a much more important game at about the same time. How important? How about this: If the Hawks don't win, all the good vibes of the weekend will melt away like last winter's snow. Nothing will be able to pull Seahawk fans out of the funk. Not even the memory of Christmas. Or last season's Super Bowl. This is it. Defeat the Rams at home today and the Hawks will have a week off, then the potential of two home games en route to another Super Bowl appearance. Lose and all that probably goes away. Between now and 5 p.m. the playoff run will be set. Which makes today the biggest day of the weekend. 

• We are still soliciting advice on the best local stories of 2014, though today is the final day. We've put together a preliminary list and are looking for any events we missed. Here's what we have so far: The Seahawks won the Super Bowl ... Gonzaga Prep won the 4A girls basketball title. ... The Mariners came within a game of the postseason. ... The Sounders won the MLS Supporters' Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. ... The Cougars' Connor Halliday threw for an NCAA-record 734 yards against California. ... Pullman won another state 2A boys basketball title. ... Eastern Washington won its third consecutive Big Sky Conference football title. ... Colton's boys and girls both won 1B basketball titles. ... Gonzaga women's basketball coach Kelly Graves, who had led the Bulldogs to 10 consecutive WCC titles, left to coach the University of Oregon. ... North Central ran to another 3A boys cross country title. ... GU won the WCC men's basketball title again and made the NCAA Tournament for the 16th consecutive year. If you have anything to add, let me know.

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• WSU: UC Davis comes into Beasley with a 9-1 record, its best in a while. Jacob Thorpe has an advance and more in today's morning post.

• Gonzaga: There was a stretch in the middle of the game in Provo yesterday in which BYU looked like one of the nation's best teams. But it didn't last long enough for the Cougars to earn a victory against really one of the nation's best teams. The eighth-ranked Zags took control back in the final 10 minutes and won, 87-80. Jim Meehan was there and has this game story and blog post from last night. He'll be back today with a morning-after post as well. ... He wasn't alone, of course, as the Salt Lake City newspapers cover BYU with a blanket. There are stories about the Cougars inability to get it done down the stretch and stories about how good Gonzaga is. And there are stories about the stars of the game. ... The Gonzaga women had little trouble with BYU at McCarthey, as the Cougars were just too short to deal with GU's size inside. Tom Clouse has the game story and Dan Pelle has photographs. ... The WCC opened Saturday with Portland picking up a big win at San Diego, St. Mary's getting past Santa Clara again and USF winning at Pacific.

• EWU: Some sad news to report as John Rodgers, the father of Eastern lineman Jake Rodgers, died Friday night. The elder Rodgers had been stricken with a heart attack in the stands at the Eagles' playoff loss. ... In Big Sky basketball last night, Sacramento State rolled to an easy win.

• Chiefs: The Christmas break didn't do anything to derail the Chiefs' momentum, as Spokane won its fifth consecutive game. Chris Derrick was in the Arena and has this game story and blog post following the 5-1 win over the Tri-City Americans. ... The Chiefs also made a trade yesterday. ... Everett scored in overtime to defeat Vancouver. ... Seattle handed Portland a defeat.

• Preps: There were basketball games and a wrestling tournament yesterday. We have a roundup.

• Seahawks: It may sound obvious, but there is a lot on the line today for the Hawks as they host St. Louis. There are the playoff possibilities, sure, and then there is their long winning streak. I guess we'll have to just watch. ... The Hawks need to finish, the game and the season. ... It's been a great year for Richard Sherman, that's for sure. ... The Hawks left a roster spot open this week. ... Jim Harbaugh will be in Michigan this time next week.

• Mariners: Is 2015 the year the M's become the breakout team? If it is, it's about time.

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• OK, I have some things to take care of this afternoon so I won't be watching the Seahawk game live. I'll be doing one of those fast-forward-through-the-boring-parts viewing sessions this evening, which is kind of fun. Until later ...



Vince Grippi
Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.

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