Grip on Sports: Sports delivers presents every day, not just on the holidays

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Before we get into the day’s news, let’s get this out of the way: I’m sorry. I didn’t get you anything special for Valentine’s Day. No cake. No candy. No flowers. It’s not as if I forgot – how can you these days? – but it’s just I couldn’t find anything that truly was good enough for someone as special as you. Read on.

••••••••••

• Did that excuse work? Good. I decided to try it out on you folks before I used it tonight on my Valentine of 40 years.

Actually I don’t need an excuse. One of the things that attracted me to Kim some 40 years ago was her total disdain of this “made-by-Hallmark” holiday (I do believe those were her exact words).

A card? Not necessary. Flowers? Put those in the living room just about every week. Candy? Look at my body type. Think I go more than a week or two without candy? She made it perfectly clear back in the 1970s my job was to make her feel as if it’s Valentine’s Day every day.

A tough task but it is also why nothing special is required today.

It’s the same philosophy I use in this column. Every morning – well, most every morning; I miss occasionally, as I will this upcoming Saturday – I read story after story, making sure it’s the right one for you folks.

Does it have a connection to our area? Is it written in such a way as to make you smile, cry or laugh? Is there a piece of information within you might want to share with your friend? Or friends (that was an unintentional typo that looked funny enough I left it).

The first pieces I read every day are the ones written by the S-R staff. I pass all of those along. As long as they are on the website. Occasionally, a story appears either before or after it shows up in print, as is the case today with an Eastern Washington-related story from Jim Allen, which we link below.

It ran Sunday in the home-delivered newspaper and showed up here yesterday morning after my column was finished. So it’s your Valentine’s Day gift. And well worth the wait.

Then I search the web for stories with connections back to the Inland Northwest. Sometimes those are college stories. Pro. Prep. Anything interesting that touches our area.

And every once in a while I find a piece that has little connection to here but is so interesting I pass it along anyway. I would call it an Easter Egg, but that would be mixing holiday metaphors.

Instead I will invoke the memory of one of my favorite Tom Hanks movies, one that is apropos for today.

This column is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you might get.

Actually, though, that’s not completely true. You do know what you’ll get. A lot of truffles, an occasional nougat and, every once in a while, one of the awful-tasting cherry things.

•••

Gonzaga: Today’s nougat, or nugget, comes courtesy of Jim Meehan, who takes a bite out of the polls from yesterday. The Zags are No. 1 for a third consecutive week. … The Zags are also still a No. 1 seed in this CBS bracket projection. … No BYU, of course, as the Cougars are probably headed to the NIT again.

WSU: No Washington in the NCAA tournament either and that’s part of Christian Caple’s nuanced look at Lorenzo’s Romar’s future. When the season ends, new UW athletic director Jennifer Cohen will have to make a tough decision. … Will the Pac-12 have a team make the Final Four? … It could be Arizona or Oregon, but it won’t be Utah. … In football, there is certain comfort with the quarterback position that comes from depth, with UW and WSU right atop the rankings. … Oregon State is getting a decent defensive transfer. … Mike McIntyre agreed to a new contract but Colorado’s regents are holding it up.

EWU: As we mentioned, we have this shouldn’t-miss story from Jim on former Eastern football player Alden Gibbs Jr., who was recently shot in Seattle. … Jim also has a piece on new coach Aaron Best’s contract and his staff.

Chiefs: Spokane has a young line that is helping. Josh Horton has the story. … The veterans led a rally last night that overcame host Prince George 4-3.

Shock: A former Spokane star was killed in an accident in Las Vegas. Jim Meehan has the story of Jeremy Geathers’ death.

Preps: The basketball playoffs roll on. We have this roundup of last night’s games.

Seahawks: The Hawks have made some changes on their coaching staff. … There is also a change at kicker coming and it better work. … The NFL trip to Israel is going to happen even though Michael Bennett isn’t going.

Mariners: Scott Servais enters his second season as manager today. … Dan Altavilla hopes to build on last season.

Sounders: Seattle picked up a physical player in the offseason to bolster the midfield.

•••       

• You know what my real Valentine’s Day gift is going to be? I’m going to run the vacuum. I won’t clean anything, just run it. “Look, I ran the vacuum. Where are my chocolates?” Good plan or bad plan? Until later …