John Blanchette

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Sports

Blanchette: Uninspired bowl game puts topping on what may be Cougars’ worst best season

Tue., Dec. 27, 2016

So what will be the first point of reference for Washington State’s 2016 football season?

Sports

Blanchette: Cougars’ bowl history has bloomed enough to erase memories of 50-year drought

Sat., Dec. 24, 2016

As the source of the story was the late Carl “Tuffy” Ellingsen, there’s no possible way it could be apocryphal, so we’re taking it on an open-field run.

Sports

Blanchette: Washington State’s bowl games, ranked from best to worst

Sat., Dec. 24, 2016

Sports columnist John Blanchette runs down Washington State’s bowl performances from best to worst.

Sports

Blanchette: WSU’s top 10 bowl performances

Sat., Dec. 24, 2016

Sports columnist John Blanchette selects Washington State’s top 10 individual performances in bowl games.

Sports >  Gonzaga basketball

Blanchette: Men’s college basketball stacked with tough teams this season

Wed., Dec. 21, 2016

The shortest day of the year was long on big doings in college basketball.

Sports

Blanchette: Parallels of the two Deon Watsons are obvious in their Idaho careers

Tue., Dec. 20, 2016

As his father followed the bouncing basketball for a paycheck through Europe and South America, Deon Watson Jr. saw exotic ports of call, met interesting new playmates and acquired some skills which flabbergasted his parents.

Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Blanchette: Number this Gonzaga win among the unusual

Sun., Dec. 18, 2016

So the Gonzaga Bulldogs are 11-0 now, though if you aimed your binoculars on the “0” Sunday afternoon you could scout a regiment of sweat beads marshaling along the brow.

Sports

Blanchette: Holiday Bowl is on, 100 percent

Sat., Dec. 17, 2016

Washington State’s football coach had it pegged all along –in the end, there wasn't going to be any boycott of the Holiday Bowl by the Minnesota players his Cougars will meet on Dec. 27 in San Diego. Or at least there was no point in working up a sweat over it.

Sports

Blanchette: Fans packing heat might lead to problems

Thu., Dec. 15, 2016

The usual hand-wringers are assembling again to bash State Rep. Matt Shea (R-’Murica) and his wingmen for some of the proposed bills they’ve floated in advance of this year’s Legispalooza.

Sports

Blanchette: Samson Ebukam helps change tone of game for Eagles

Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

What a gift is the game-changing player.

Sports >  Gonzaga basketball

John Blanchette: Gonzaga’s sheer strength more newsworthy than series renewal

Wed., Dec. 7, 2016

At about a quarter past 9 on Wednesday night, Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski put his 7-foot-1, 300-pound chassis in fourth gear and accelerated downcourt past every University of Washington player on the floor.

Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Blanchette: Dawgs who became Bulldogs remember how it was, and what might have been

Tue., Dec. 6, 2016

More than 65 years have passed since George Chalich officially turned the spigot and begat the trickle of basketball transfers from the University of Washington to Gonzaga that continues intermittently today.

Opinion >  Syndicated columns

John Blanchette: Nervousness surrounds scintillating win

Sun., Dec. 4, 2016

The tweet from Earl Thomas appeared on his time line a couple minutes before 7 o’clock Sunday night, unusual enough in that there was a football game that hadn’t yet reached halftime.

Sports >  Gonzaga basketball

Blanchette: Clutch play helps Gonzaga finally defeat Arizona

Sat., Dec. 3, 2016

During their tiptoe here Saturday along the high wire where college basketball games are decided, the Gonzaga Bulldogs appeared to be clutching a balance pole with a beach ball attached to one end and a bank vault dangling from the other.

News >  Spokane

53-year-old rodeo rookie took her time getting to Vegas

Wed., Nov. 30, 2016

So, soon-to-be empty nesters, what’s your plan when the kids are out on their own? Remodel the house? Get a masters? Just enjoy the peace? Travel?

Sports

John Blanchette: Familiar territory as Huskies prove too much for ‘soft’ Cougars

Fri., Nov. 25, 2016

In the Thanksgiving hubbub on the eve the Apple Cup, someone in the Washington Huskies traveling party managed to break the apple off the actual cup.And surely the last thing the Huskies wanted to do – beyond simply losing to Washington State – was hand over a damaged trophy, as it would be interpreted as sour ... apples. That left retaining it as the only out-clause.

Sports

John Blanchette: Apple Cup becomes ‘Gag Order Cup’

Wed., Nov. 23, 2016

After a year of the most uncivil discourse by candidates and citizenry in American history – and still every bit as vile post-Tr(i)ump(h) – giving peace a chance in advance of a mere football game seems the least we can do. But dammit, that just isn’t tradition.

Sports >  Seattle Seahawks

Baldwin-to-Wilson highlights Seahawks’ win over Eagles, 26-15

Sun., Nov. 20, 2016

Russell Wilson threw for 272 yards and a touchdown, and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Doug Baldwin as the Seahawks rolled past the Philadelphia Eagles 26-15 on Sunday.

Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Blanchette: Seahawks’ Rawls crashes party just in time

Sun., Nov. 20, 2016

Thomas Rawls touched the football on Sunday for the first time in 10 weeks, and 69,190 customers in CenturyLink Field cocked their ears to hear the collision – because they know Rawls doesn’t just seek contact, but cultivates it.

Sports >  Gonzaga basketball

Blanchette: Bryants of the world serve useful purpose while hoping pigs fly

Fri., Nov. 18, 2016

In the fine old John Huston picture “Fat City,” a journeyman boxer named Arcadio Lucero is brought in from Mexico for the local favorite’s comeback fight – a worry for the manager, who thinks the import might be too tough.

Sports >  Gonzaga basketball

John Blanchette: Future looks bright for Gonzaga with play of young Bulldogs

Mon., Nov. 14, 2016

ESPN’s Tipoff Marathon goes on – and on and on and on. Be careful not to lose yourself in that Niagara vs. Hartford telecast this morning and make yourself late for work.

Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Blanchette: College NightGameDay makes up for bad ratings with simple winning

Sat., Nov. 12, 2016

Behind the scenes with College NightGameDay on its visit here Saturday for the California-Washington State game:

Sports >  Gonzaga basketball

Blanchette: ‘Old shoes’ Przemek Karnowski, Silas Melson fit just right

Fri., Nov. 11, 2016

It’s a new season of Gonzaga basketball. Also a season of the new.

Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Blanchette: Will the real Seahawks show up soon?

Mon., Nov. 7, 2016

So, Russell Wilson’s back. Just in time to launch a search for the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive identity.

Sports

John Blanchette: Cougars respond to dramatic events with calm, assured win

Sat., Nov. 5, 2016

Near the end of Friday’s ambush of the Board of Regents here on the Washington State campus, one of the exasperated revolutionaries demanded immediate action in the Robert Barber affair with the plea, “We don’t need any more drama.”