John Blanchette

So it’s not the ghosts ganging up on old Eb. But the past and future of West Coast Conference basketball make an unusual appearance at Gonzaga University tonight, and it’s still a month before the present.

Dan Fitzgerald was a “cause guy,” though the singular modifier was misleading. There was never just one. In this respect, the basketball tournament that bears his name and which begins this afternoon at Lewis and Clark High School has managed to become an impossibly faithful reflection of its inspiration.

Sometimes you don’t know how much you’re a part of things until things come apart. Wagner College sits atop a bump on Staten Island called Grymes Hill, a relatively safe haven when Hurricane Sandy ran its zone blitz on New York City. Homecoming was celebrated on a Saturday, students were evacuated on Sunday and on Tuesday the football team straggled back to a deserted campus left without power, with all manner of devastation and tragedy in the neighborhoods below.

Sometimes you don’t know how much you’re a part of things until things come apart. Wagner College sits atop a bump on Staten Island called Grymes Hill, a relatively safe haven when Hurricane Sandy ran its zone blitz on New York City. Homecoming was celebrated on a Saturday, students were evacuated on Sunday and on Tuesday the football team straggled back to a deserted campus left without power, with all manner of devastation and tragedy in the neighborhoods below. The four days that followed would define the season for Wagner, one of those small, subtle redemptions inevitably assigned to sports when life knocks us down.

Retailers can market the day as they see fit. But anyone who saw the 105th Apple Cup knows how it will be forever remembered. It was Whack Friday.

It’s Apple Cup Satur … uh, Friday. Just what fan demographic do you suppose they were targeting with this “Eureka!” moment? Guys desperate to get out of Black Friday maneuvers with their wives?

The records and the betting line don’t suggest much of a game Friday when Washington State hosts Washington in the 105th Apple Cup. But those numbers may be immaterial. Here’s one that isn’t: 2. Traditionally, any Apple Cup that falls on a year ending in 2 has been a terrific game or a momentous upset or simply weighty in the legend of the state’s best ongoing drama.

James Thompkins accepted a hug from an admirer, and stepped back for inspection. “Look at how clean my jersey is,” he marveled.

Zach Johnson is a lucky guy. He’s played on a national championship football team. He’s started alongside his twin brother for what up until this year seemed like forever. He even caught a break from the NCAA, which puts him in a minority as small as the right wing of the Socialist Workers party.