This Super Bowl Sunday just doesn’t seem the same

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Super Bowl Sunday. Though it just doesn’t feel the same as the past couple years, does it? Read on.

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• I don’t know about you, but today seems a bit different to me. And my grocery bill. The past two years we stocked up on wings, little weenies, adult beverages, everything you need for a Super Bowl Extravaganza. And we did it days in advance. This year, I may run to the store before the game. Or maybe not. Who knows? I’m sure we have some frozen taquitos in the freezer and a big old bag of chips in the pantry. And I know there is two-thirds of a six pack in the garage fridge. That should be enough. I’m not sure, actually, if I will be home alone or if there will be visitors. It’s that type of day. For the past couple Super Bowl Sundays we had a dog in the hunt, didn’t we? Even if you are not a Seahawk fan – and there are a surprising number of non-fans in the Spokane area – you still wanted to be involved, if only to tweak your friends come Monday. But this year? Not the same. It is, actually, a return to normal – after all, the Hawks had only been to the big game (as some folks have to refer to it so as not to get a cease-and-desist letter from god, aka the NFL) once in the first 47. And that didn’t end too well. But in 48 and 49, the spotlight was on the team from the left corner of the country. For good and bad. Two years ago it ended happily for the Northwest guys. And it ended early, quite possibly after the Broncos’ first snap. Last year it ended poorly, though it did go down to the wire. Only this time the Hawks’ last snap was the fateful one. So what happens today? Do I get drummed out of the corps if I say I don’t really care? Oh, I’m rooting for the Broncos, though not for the reasons you might think. I’ve never really like Peyton Manning much and I do believe Cam Newton is a breath of fresh air for the stalest pro league in the world. But I’m rooting for the Broncos for one reason: my friend Kent. He’s been a Denver fan as long as I’ve known him, and I’ve known him since gas was less than a dollar a gallon. He had to be nice to me two years ago, even though I know it killed him. (Every since that game, I’ve hidden the numbers 43 and 8 somewhere in every correspondence I’ve had with him, though I don’t think he’s ever figured it out. … No, not really, but I wish I had. I just thought of it now and it would have been such a typical fan thing to do.) Today I would love to see him experience the joy of his team winning the Lombardi Trophy, something he’s been able to have over the years, just not recently. But it doesn’t look good for him or Manning. Though I’ve never been one to underestimate the NFL’s desire to promote the feel-good story. Peyton Manning, in his final game, goes out on top in one of the largest upsets in recent history. Storybook, right? And just the type of Disney-lite narrative the league loves. Well, I guess we will all see if the frog turns into a prince this evening. If we decide to watch.

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• WSU: There have been no happy basketball endings in Pullman for a while. The Cougars lost their 137th consecutive game – no, no, it was just their ninth. Anyhow, Jacob Thorpe was in Beasley and he has this game story on 67-55 loss to Arizona State, as well as the box score , video of interviews with Ernie Kent and a couple players and a morning post with links.

• Gonzaga: Any win in Malibu is a good win. Just ask BYU. The Bulldogs got off the beach with a 69-66 victory last night. Jim Meehan was there for the late-night contest (it tipped off after 9) and has this game story . He’ll also be back today with more on the win. … Elsewhere in the WCC , BYU handled Saint Mary’s on Thursday but couldn’t get past lowly Pacific on Saturday. … Portland swept its trip to Los Angeles and then went to In-N-Out – and bragged about it on Twitter. Eric Reveno, I salute you. … The Gonzaga women’s team turned to its freshmen yesterday to earn a 56-39 win over Pepperdine. Jim Allen has the story .

• EWU: The Eagles hadn’t won a Big Sky road game all year heading into the weekend. Now they have two wins, thanks to their 81-67 win over Southern Utah on Saturday. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky , Montana had a big second half and edged Portland while Montana State won in Sacramento . … Weber State fell for the first time at North Dakota and Idaho State won at Northern Colorado .

• Idaho: The Vandals split their road trip, losing at Northern Arizona last night, 72-70. Sean Kramer has more on the game in this blog post . … Former Vandal Shiloh Keo will play in the Super Bowl today. … The Vandal women won again yesterday.

• Whitworth: The Pirates bounced back from their first loss of the year with a win over Pacific. Tom Clouse has the story and Tyler Tjomsland has a photo report .

• Chiefs: The road was not kind to Spokane yesterday as the Chiefs lost 4-1 to Tri-City . … Everett picked up a win at Seattle , 4-1.

• Preps: There was a lot of prep sports action last night and we can pass along the girls’ basketball roundup and the wrestling roundup .

• Seahawks: The Panthers are the prohibitive favorites tonight and well they should be. If their running game clicks , they should send Manning into the sunset with a loss.

• Mariners: The new-look bullpen will have a veteran closer .

• Sounders: Any match with the Timbers – and their coach Caleb Porter – is hard to call a friendly , but that’s the term used for the match yesterday, won by Portland 2-1.

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• Enjoy the evening. I’m guessing the Monday after the Super Bowl the past two years will have been a lot harder to take than tomorrow will be. Until later …