Fast Break
Junior hockey
Bowman top WHL player
Spokane Chiefs forward Drayson Bowman has been named the Boston Pizza WHL player of the week.
Bowman picked up 10 points, scoring five goals and five assists in three games to go with a plus/minus rating of plus-6 this past week, helping the Chiefs win all three of their games in that span.
Bowman is 28th among all WHL scorers with 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists) in 40 games.
With the three victories, the Chiefs stretch their winning streak to 11 games, one short of the franchise record, and sit just six points back of the Tri-City Americans for top spot in the WHL U.S. Division with a 33-14-0-3 record.
Super Bowl
Big finish boosts ratings
An estimated 95.4 million people watched the Pittsburgh-Arizona Super Bowl, making it second only to last year’s game as the most popular ever.
NBC was blessed with a thrilling finish, and viewership peaked late in the fourth quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The 2008 game between the Giants and the Patriots had a similar come-from-behind, last-minute score for the victory. Two big markets and the novelty of a team trying to go 19-0 kicked the 2008 game to an audience of 97.4 million.
The only program other than a Super Bowl to top Sunday night’s game in U.S. television history was the finale of the “M*A*S*H” series in 1983.
College football
O’Dea star selects EWU
Chandler Gayton, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound cornerback, wide receiver and kick returner for Seattle’s O’Dea High School, has made an oral commitment to play for Eastern Washington University this fall.
Gayton, who runs a 4.72-second 40-yard dash, missed all but three games for O’Dea last season because of a nagging hamstring injury, but still received scholarship offers from Montana State and Idaho State.
Gayton, who visited the EWU campus two weekends ago, said he was impressed with Eagles coach Beau Baldwin and “how all of the players seemed to get along so well.”
Wednesday is the first day recruits can officially sign national letters of intent.