A lost weekend for Gonzaga sophomore

Gonzaga’s recent three-game road trip to California proved to be a dramatically mixed bag for GU and Jeremy Pargo, the Bulldogs personable sophomore point guard.

The Zags beat Stanford and Pepperdine, but lost to lowly LMU on Monday night. To add to the frustrations of Pargo, a former prep standout at Chicago’s Robeson High School, his mighty Monsters of the Midway lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Pargo took time prior to Wednesday’s practice to talk with The Spokesman-Review about the last few days and how the LMU loss – one of eight GU has suffered – has affected his on-campus existence.

S-R: So your vaunted Bears go down in the Super Bowl on Sunday and you guys lose at Loyola Marymount the next night. How would you sum up your stay in Los Angeles?

PARGO: It sucked.

S-R: How big of a Bears fan are you, really?

PARGO: Big enough to know it sucked.

S-R: I know the team didn’t get to watch the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl because of practice. Did that bother you, or did you figure it was a lost cause for Chicago by then?

PARGO: It wasn’t over yet when we left. Up until that interception return (by Indianapolis’ Kelvin Hayden), I still had a lot of hope.

S-R: Did you take much grief from your teammates afterward?

PARGO: Not really. They was kind of light on me, I guess you could say. But they can’t say too much, because most of these guys are Seahawk fans.

S-R: Getting back to an even touchier subject – Monday night’s loss to Loyola Marymount: You guys flew back right after the game so you could go to class on Tuesday morning. How much easier is it to get up to go to class after win, rather than a loss?

PARGO: A lot easier. You get to sleep a lot faster after a win. But we still got to do it. It’s part of the deal here. There’s no basketball without class.

S-R: Having already lost eight games, has anything changed about the way you players are treated on campus or around the city from last year, when you only lost four and sailed through West Coast Conference play undefeated?

PARGO: I don’t’ think so. The fans in Spokane and the students at Gonzaga are behind us al the way. I don’t think it’s any different – just a lot less questions about Mo (last year’s leading scorer Adam Morrison).

S-R: Did you get any advice from students, staff or faculty following Monday’s loss?

PARGO: Yeah, I was given a tip yesterday by somebody who has no clue as to what it takes to play basketball.

S-R: Can you share the “tip” with us?

PARGO: He told me I needed to slow down. I say, “Slow down what?” He say, “You move too fast.” I say, “I’m moving too fast? The game ain’t slow, you know.”

S-R: So, can we expect to see you play a lot slower against Saint Mary’s on Saturday?

PARGO: Yeah, sure. But I did thank him for the tip.