Grip on Sports: The lack of football left us a little out of tune on Sunday

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was not a drop of the NFL available yesterday. No football of any kind on television all weekend. Did you suffer from withdrawal symptoms? Here’s the surest sign you were. You bet the under on the Grammys’ telecast – and lost. Read on.

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• It seems as if the Grammys are the awards show of choice for sports-related personalities, if my Twitter feed is any indication. I can tell you this, I learned a lot of new names yesterday, names my 19-year-old self would have thought were really cool.

Twenty One Pilots. Fantastic Negrito. Pentatonix. David Bowie.

Wait, what? Ziggy Stardust won a Grammy in 2017? (As did Ziggy Marley, but that’s another subject entirely.)

If David Bowie can win a Grammy, posthumously, then there is hope yet of winning a Pulitzer for this feature.

But not if there are too many sporting days like Sunday.

What is there to delve deeply into? The Cougars with more turnovers than Pepperidge Farm in Boulder? More upsets in college basketball? Jordan Spieth winning again?

OK, that last one was pretty interesting.

Of course, any golf tournament at Pebble Beach is interesting, but Spieth had sort of a lost 2016. So bouncing back in the first really special 2017 tournament is a good sign.

The weekend on the Monterey Peninsula is populated by some of golf’s best – and Bill Belichick stabbing at a chip in the rough – so a win on a U.S. Open-level course says something about the health of Spieth’s game.

Augusta National, home of the year’s first major – less than two months away – is different, sure, not only in how hard it is but what it means to Spieth’s psyche. How will he fare if he’s in contention on Sunday and the wind is blowing a little at the 12th? Can he overcome the memories of disaster?

Winning in February isn’t going to ensure he can, but it can’t hurt. Neither can the almost $1.3 million he won.

It’s not Adele money, sure, but it’s up there.

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Gonzaga: Jay Bilas made a point about Gonzaga on Saturday that went a bit overlooked. When asked about the criticism the program receives, from its conference to not having even being to a Final Four, Bilas answered, “that’s fair until they do it. People can say that. But who did they say that about last year? … That was Villanova. Now they’ve won it, you don’t hear that anymore.” So what are people saying about Gonzaga? Jim Meehan covers the most recent conversations about the No. 1 team in the nation. …  We searched around today and found a couple other conversations about the Zags. … This past weekend showed the worst and the best of conference rival BYU.

WSU: Two dozen turnovers are never good, not for your waistline and not in a college basketball game. But that’s what the Cougars had yesterday in their 81-49 blowout loss to Colorado. … The Arizona women came into Pullman and took a 70-62 win over WSU home with them. … Golf season is underway. … Around the Pac-12, UCLA got it going and ran Oregon State out of Pauley Pavilion, 78-60. … As the regular season winds down, some teams are tired and/or worn down, others have a bit of a chip on their shoulders and others may be without their best player for the remainder of the season.

Whitworth: The softball team split a doubleheader, the baseball team won and swimming wrapped up the conference tournament. It was a busy Sunday for the Pirates.

Seahawks: Jermaine Kearse is staying busy this offseason. I wonder if his message says something like “don’t drop the ball, get to school?”

Mariners: Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow, so baseball is almost here. Ryan Divish has some questions the M’s must answer. Drew Smyly isn’t one of them, but he could be.

Sounders: With everyone back in camp, the Sounders prepare for a week of exhibition matches. … Portland played a preseason match with Minnesota that finished in a 2-2 draw.

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• There’s really no need for the NFL this time of year except in one way. I had to go to Costco yesterday and, without the Seahawks siphoning off half the folks, the place was like I-5 in Tacoma during rush hour. Without the rain, of course. Until later …