We hold these truths to be self-evident

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A few things seemed pretty obvious yesterday. The NFL must have a camera on Marshawn Lynch every second he’s on the field. Hitting a guy illegally in the head – and possibly ending his career – is barely a bigger deal to the league than grabbing your crotch. Someone is lying in New England. And, football aside, we’re still pretty darn lucky around here. Read on.

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• We’ll start with the last one first. If you had a chance to catch the Eastern Washington game on the radio last night, you were able to get two completely different basketball games for the price of one. There was the 30 minutes or so of Eastern domination. Then there were the 10-or-so minutes of hold-on-to-your-hat excitement. Still, Eastern was able to defeat Northern Colorado 95-85, stay within a half-game of the Big Sky Conference lead and do it all without key big man Venky Jois, still nursing an ankle problem. If that were all the basketball last night, you would have been satisfied, no? But there was more. Right after the Eastern game ended, Gonzaga’s WCC showdown with St. Mary’s started. And, for about 30 minutes or so, it was a battle. And then? It was almost as if someone hit the red button for the Zags. You know the one I mean, the one on the stick shift of the car in “Men in Black.” Wow. From 37-34 with 11 minutes, 48 seconds left, to 49-34 less than four minutes later to 59-36 with five minutes left to play. What was a tight game became a blowout in the time it takes to get one of those loaded baked potatoes on the south concourse. The Gaels looked a bit befuddled – the Steve Martin line “what happened?” came to mind – and the Zags looked a bit overpowering. OK, a lot overpowering. My guess is, though, when GU studies film today there will be a bit more time spent on why it was just a three-point lead that late in the game than the next seven minutes.

• Can’t get too far away from the Super Bowl, can we? The NFL handed out fines yesterday for actions that occurred during the NFC title game in Seattle. Clay Matthews , who sized up Russell Wilson and tried to fit him for a hearse, was fined $22,050 for the illegal hit, one that could have cost Wilson the rest of the game – and quite possibly more. Then there was Lynch’s idiotic action of grabbing his crotch. That drew a fine of $20,000, warranted sure, in a vacuum. But when contrasted to what Matthews did – one an action that couldn’t have hurt anything but someone’s sensibilities vs. a hit that seemed aimed to maim – the numbers seem out of whack. And when Lynch came off the field following his touchdown and did something odd with receiver Chris Matthews (on video it seems as if they are shaking hands – or something – again around the crotch area – and no, I never thought I would be writing sentences like this), Matthews earned a $11,025 fine. About the only fine that seemed deserved was the one J.R. Sweezy received for pounding Matthews late after another hit on Wilson. Sweezy’s action, for which the NFL dinged him $8,268, was the first sign of life the Hawk offensive line had all day. And very easily could be seen as a quid pro quo for Matthews’ earlier hit.

• If you had the chance to watch Bill Belichick throw Tom Brady under the bus concerning the deflated footballs, and then watch Brady throw the equipment guys, or somebody, under the same wheels, you had to come away thinking the truth is still out there . Someone cheated. On purpose. It wasn’t accidental. That’s obvious. Just who it was is a little harder to discern.

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• WSU: The Cougars were off yesterday, recouping after their loss to Utah on Wednesday. Jacob Thorpe took time to look back at that game with this blog post and then moved forward this morning with his post featuring links .

• Gonzaga: As usual, we have you covered when it comes to the Zags, starting with Jim Meehan’s game story in the paper and his blog post from last night. He will also have a post today looking back at the 68-47 win. … John Blanchette also was at McCarthey and has a column . … Colin Mulvany has a photo package from the win over St. Mary’s . … Pacific is in town Saturday, fresh off a 72-69 loss at Portland . … BYU and San Diego meet on Saturday in California. … USF is tough at home, rolling Pepperdine 71-59. … Santa Clara also picked up a home win, defeating Loyola Marymount 65-62. … The GU women have won nine consecutive games and, after defeating St. Mary’s on the road, lead the WCC by two games.

• EWU: Jim Allen was in Cheney and not only has the basketball game story , he has a blog post on a new football recruit. … Portland State went to Weber State an upset the Wildcats, 69-63. The loss really ticked off Weber’s coach. … Montana State actually won, defeating Southern Utah, 79-65. … Montana remained tied with Eastern after it rallied past Northern Arizona, 64-57.

• Idaho: The Vandals had North Dakota at home last night, which hasn’t been a good thing for ND this season. But it was no big deal Thursday night, as North Dakota pulled away late for a 71-63 victory. Sean Kramer has the game story .

• Chiefs: Spokane has a big weekend ahead with two game with rival Portland, starting tonight. … Tri-City faces Seattle tonight while the two top WHL teams, Everett and Kamloops, also meet.

• Boxing: Spokane’s Pat Ferguson pulled another upset at the USA Boxing National Championships.

• Preps: Greg Lee was at the big GSL boys game last night, Central Valley’s 48-45 win over University. … There was also wrestling last night and we have a roundup to pass along.

• Seahawks: The most important man on the Hawks’ defense next week? This is the guy I think it will be. Controlling the middle is more important against the Patriots than any other team. … Jeremy Lane , what were you thinking? … Do you remember the Hawks’ first coach ? … Is Doug Baldwin really always that angry? … Dan Quinn talked about his defense yesterday. Another key member is middle linebacker Bobby Wagner . … Remember that bike Michael Bennett was riding around? It will have a new life soon. … Jayson Jenks watched every one of Lynch’s runs this season. … Glad to see Clint Gresham was back at practice . Long snappers are more important than you might think. … Richard Sherman may still be brash and loud, but he’s a more mature brash and loud.

• Mariners: Spring training is getting closer. How do you know? There is the annual this-prospect-has- turned-the-corner story. This year it’s about Jesus Montero . … The 40-man roster is still a bit in flux. … Ryan Divish has a great piece that covers all the bases heading into next month. … He also has some video .

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• Another day on the radio. I’ll be on 700 ESPN from 3 to 6 p.m. with Dennis Patchin and Rick Lukens. We’ll be talking about all the subjects above. You can listen here if you like. Until then …