A GRIP ON SPORTS • Does the term “fed-up” mean anything to you? It just might if you are a Duke football fan – as if a lot of those folks read this column. But if you are just a college football fan overall, you may be “fed-up” with instant replay in general. Read on.

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• Humans make mistakes. So why did we expect not all that long ago that using instant replay as an officiating tool would “get the calls right?” That’s the stated purpose, isn’t it? We added 5 or 10 minutes onto each college football game just “to get it right.” Yet that stated goal isn’t happening. It didn’t happen, certainly, at the end of the Duke/Miami game yesterday when a replay official decided a flag shouldn’t have been thrown – though, according to rules experts I follow, the rules don’t allow for that – and ignored a knee on the ground – I’ve watched the play over and over and swear it was conclusive that one of the Miami players was down before he lateraled – as the Hurricanes’ eight-lateral, game-winning kickoff return is now an internet sensation. But closer to home I’m not sure you could find a Cougar fan who wouldn’t tell you they were robbed last night of an upset of eighth-ranked Stanford. And it was instant replay’s fault. Late in the third quarter WSU led the Cardinal 22-10 and seemed on the verge of something big. And Ivan McClellan had seemingly just made a big play, stripping the ball from Stanford’s Mr. Everything, Christian McCaffrey, after a 9-yard gain. Except the official in front of the Cougar bench had ruled McCaffrey had slid out of bounds before McClellan had wrestled the ball away. Except he hadn’t. And replay showed it. Thanks to ESPN’s split-screen technology, replayed showed it conclusively. What’s the term, indisputable video evidence? Seemed like that burden of proof was met. Now some folks on the Interweb were saying McClellan was out of bounds before he got control, though I didn’t see that nor did two people I talked with who were close enough to the play in real-time to observe McClellan’s position. It certainly seemed, by the videos we were shown over and over, the ball should have been given to the Cougars. It’s why we suffer through those interminable delays, to get it right, isn't it? Heck, when Parker Henry had returned an ill-advised Kevin Hogan pass for an early touchdown, instant replay overturned that call despite the seeming inability to distinguish whether or not Henry got his dark-gloved hands under the dark football or if it bounced off the turf. It didn’t seem beyond all doubt – an NCAA term – the ruling was incorrect but that’s what the replay official determined. Five minutes of waiting for what exactly? More “we-got-hosed” dialogue. Listen, I know we aren’t going back to the way it was in a simpler time, when instant replay was just a tool of us tools. But when the rules are disregarded – see Miami, kickoff return – or calls still seem just plain wrong – see McCaffrey, the non-fumble – then why are we wasting the time?

• The non-call seemed to sap the lifeblood out of the Cougars for a while, which is telling. This football team has matured considerably since letting the elements affect it in the season-opening loss to Portland State – yes, the Cougars let that happen – and it's shown on the field. But last night’s dropping of the chins, even if it was just for a few minutes, was a sign of a still-maturing program. A veteran squad might have shaken it off better and not given up 17 points over the next six minutes – a key element in the 30-28 defeat. But if there is anything we can say about this group, we can say it seems to learn from its mistakes. Files them away. And then doesn’t let the same thing happen again.

• One last thing. I would be remiss in not praising the Cougar faithful, including the students. On a Charlie Brown-inspired evening when they could have been in a nice warm pumpkin patch waiting for the Great One, the students filled the north side of Martin Stadium all game. Rain or rain. Even after halftime. And made the noise rain down on the field. So did the south-side ticket holders. It was college football the way it was supposed to be. Give or take a few hours on the start time.

• This post is about 10 minutes later than it should have been due to a rare occurrence in our neighborhood. Two moose decided to pay a visit to our front yard – I have pictures – and the dogs went nuts. Man, the mom was huge, taller than my truck. Another reminder of why I love living in the Inland Northwest.

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• WSU: Watching Jacob Thorpe pound away at his Mac late last night I was reminded of the old days of Cougar football, when WSU was out of the game by halftime so late-starts didn’t matter. When the game comes down to the final play, a make-or-break 43-yard field goal, getting a story done is stress-inducing. And a danger to your fingernails. From the pounding on the keyboard, not chewing. Anyhow, here is Jacob’s game story and John Blanchette’s column, the latter written while having to deal with my voice in his ear. See, I was pounding on my keyboard as well, chipping in the scoring summary. And I talk as I write. ... Jacob also has the postgame interviews, a couple videos from the players and one with Mike Leach, who wasn’t at his most kind afterward. ... Jacob passes along the official game stats and notes as well. ... Tyler Tjomsland has this photo gallery. ... This morning, there is the usual morning post with links, saving me from having to run down some. We do add this summary from ESPN.com’s Pac-12 blog and game stories from the Chronicle and Mercury-News.

• Gonzaga: The women’s cross country team battled BYU all the way to the final yard and, when the WCC championships were over, won the title by tiebreaker. ... The volleyball team swept USF. ... Portland got past GU in women’s soccer.

• EWU: It might have been the weather. Heck, it was probably the weather. But whether it was or not – sorry, couldn’t resist – the bottom line is Eastern edged Weber State 14-13 in a must-win Big Sky Conference home game that was closer than Eagle fans would like. Jim Allen has the story and a notebook. ... The Wildcats were left shaking their heads. ... Portland State played the role of bully in its 35-16 home win over Montana. Ken Goe was in Providence Park and has this column. ... Southern Utah’s defense was prolific in a 54-37 home win over Cal Poly.

• Idaho: The Vandals played about as well as possible for the first half plus part of the third quarter. Then the wheels fell off against winless New Mexico State in Las Cruces. The result was a 55-48 overtime defeat. Sean Kramer has more in this blog post from last night. ... Sean also adds some interesting information following the basketball exhibition.

• Whitworth: Maybe there was a little Linfield hangover. But the Pirates shook it off and raced past Pacific, 50-33. Tom Clouse has the story. ... Karl Muelheims scored two late goals as the Pirates edged Linfield 3-1.

• Chiefs: Though we have nothing on Spokane to pass along, we will offer this feature on the academic aspect of the WHL.

• Preps: Greg Lee’s weekend football rewind focuses on the most historic aspect of the Friday just past. ... It’s the playoff season in other sports, with Sandpoint’s girls just missing out on a third consecutive Idaho cross country title. Greg Lee has the story. ... Jim Meehan was at the 5A volleyball championships, won by Idaho Falls. ... We can offer a volleyball-oriented roundup and a summary of the cross country action from Saturday.

• Seahawks: Isn’t this about the time the Hawks start playing their best football? With a bye coming up, it seems as if they probably should pick it up a bit this afternoon in Dallas. ...To do that, they need to run north/south or downhill or whatever cliché you want to use about trusting their ground game. ... Paul Richardson was not activated for this week. ... The trade deadline is Tuesday and, unlike last year when Percy Harvin was shown the door, the Hawks probably won’t do anything.

• Mariners: The Royals are up 3-1 in the Series mainly because they know how to rally. And, quite possibly, some Billy Buckner-inspired karma.

• Sounders: FC Dallas is in Seattle for a two-game conference semifinal series. The Sounders have to play aggressive but not too much so, what with the aggregate scoring. Away goals are worth more.

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• Man, the hour of extra time thanks to the time change was sure appreciated. Still, those late-night drives from Pullman are wearing. Here’s some irony: The only deer I had to brake hard to avoid came on 57th in Spokane, right in the middle of an urban area. Seventy miles of rural highway and I’m almost done in within walking distance of my house. By the way, I'm still running on fumes a bit as I write this, so please excuse any typos and/or errors of fact. The opinions, however, are fair game. Until later ...

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