Grip on Sports: Gonzaga’s WCC reign means just about every road game is a sold-out event

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Gonzaga is on the road again, which means there will be a big crowd in someone’s gym. It’s just the way it is in the West Coast Conference. Read on.

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• The No. 1 team in the nation is visiting San Diego for the first time in a while. How do I know? There is a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune today about Gonzaga’s game tonight at USD.

And how big a deal it is.

San Diego is the home of the Padres, the U.S. Navy and some of the best beaches in the Western Hemisphere. And a visit from a college basketball team based in Spokane is a big deal?

Yes it is. Always. There is a note in the U-T story concerning sellouts at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, which opened in 2000. There have been 15 of them. Seven have come while Gonzaga is in town.

There will be another tonight.

Most of the 5,100 in attendance will be hoping to see the top-ranked team in the nation lose. To see an upset they can tell their grandkids about. To rush the court and be on Sports Center.

The last thing isn’t unusual though. It happens after every Gonzaga WCC road loss. Most of them, anyway.

That’s the thing about being the king. When you fall, everyone celebrates. This year, no one has been able to. And, right now, even the most faithful of the 5,100 in attendance tonight are a little skeptical of it happening.

But that will only make it sweeter if it does happen. And if it doesn’t? If Gonzaga leaves town 29-0, headed home for Saturday’s Senior Night trying to finish off a perfect regular season?

No big deal. The No. 1 team came to town, we got to see it and it won. Cool. But if just another 3-pointer had fallen …

• It’s a busy night in the Inland Northwest. Not only is there some great college basketball – Eastern hosts Weber State, Idaho does the same with Idaho State, Whitworth hosts Linfield in the Northwest Conference tournament, the WSU women host Utah and the GU women hold Senior Night against USD – there is also a newcomer to the sports scene.

The Spokane Empire opens its 2017 Indoor Football League season, hosting Green Bay at the Arena. It starts at 7.

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Gonzaga: Tonight’s game starts at 7 on KHQ in Spokane. We’ll be watching. Jim Meehan will be in San Diego. He has an advance of the game and a look at San Diego’s best players, which includes Brett Bailey, a Spokane Valley kid. Jim also has a story on signee Corey Kispert’s foot surgery. … The Zags have owned this series. … Three Bulldogs have been honored for their academics. … The women’s team hosts USD on Senior Night. We’ll be there too. (If you wonder how we can do both, just read our TV Take tonight.) Jim Allen has an advance. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU is questioning its ability right now.

WSU: Despite being in the land-locked Palouse, there is swimming success at Washington State (and Idaho). … A former WSU player with strong family ties has a new job. … Around the Pac-12, there was a chance for a huge upset last night in hoops, but No. 6 Oregon rallied against host California and won on Dillon Brooks’ last-second 3-pointer, 68-65. … Stanford had less of a problem with Oregon State, winning at home, 79-66. … USC just hasn’t had a lot of luck this season. … Arizona State hopes its luck will turn when UCLA visits. … This is a big weekend at home for Arizona and its NCAA seeding. … Utah and Colorado get together tonight. … There is also football news, with spring practices underway at Oregon State and Arizona. … The Huskies made a hire for their staff.

EWU: It’s a big weekend for the Eagles, starting with Weber State in Cheney tonight. Jim Allen has an advance of the game, which explains the ramifications of the weekend. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, as the season winds down, there are always going to be stories about seniors in places like Southern Utah, or coaches, like at Northern Colorado. … There are rivalry games, with Montana State trying to win against UM for the first time in years.

Whitworth: A pair of Pirates earned all NWC women’s basketball honors.

CCS and NIC: The local community colleges were 4-0 in NWAC play last night.

Empire: Spokane made its final roster cuts in advance of tonight’s IFL opener against Green Bay. Josh Horton has all the particulars. … John Blanchette talked with coach Adam Shackleford, something the coach loves to do with fans.

Preps: Last weekend, the Washington wrestling tournaments took place. This weekend, the same occurs in Idaho. Greg Lee has a feature on a Lakeland family deeply involved with the sport as well as a preview of the meets. … Greg also advances the state basketball in Washington this weekend.

Mariners: Spring training is a time of optimism. And that shows in the type of stories that come out of Arizona and Florida. Is Mike Zunino fixed for good? Does Hisashi Iwakuma have another good year in him? Is centerfielder Leonys Martin safe?

Seahawks: The stars can sometimes shine so bright they blind us from others who build roster depth.

Sounders: Seattle played its young guys in a Charleston, S.C., exhibition last night and it wasn’t pretty.

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• A question for you. You spend all winter keeping a parking space free in front of your end-of-the-cul-de-sac house, blowing snow more than a handful of times, chipping ice away when needed and cleaning up after the snowplows fill it in. It’s for your son’s car. He’s at work and doesn’t get home until well after midnight. A car parks in the spot. And stays. How do you handle it? (I know, first-world problems, but I wonder what you think.) Until later …