Grip on Sports: From Gonzaga to WSU, from Eastern to the Mariners, it’s one of those packed days

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s Friday morning. Time for a little of this and a little of that. A Mulligan stew if you will, brought to you by an Italian guy. Read on.

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• ESPN loves Gonzaga. And why not? The national championship game run last year just cemented the Zags even more in the nation’s consciousness.

So it comes as no surprise the self-proclaimed world-wide leader will broadcast at least 16 of their games this season. The Zags are either loved or hated by many college basketball fans. And that translates into ratings.

• Do you still remember your high school rivals? I do. Intently. Never liked the folks from Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. Was part of about a half-dozen “discussions” over my high school years with students from that school. The prejudice remains. So when I read Theo Lawson’s story today about the Hilinski brothers and saw the eldest attended Notre Dame, I was immediately conditioned to show my disdain.

It’s why I can’t root for the Braves’ Freddie Freeman. Or basketball coach Jamie Dixon. Or Giancarlo Stanton. All from Notre Dame High. The school may have stolen my school’s nickname, but it can’t steal my affections.

• Speaking of high schools, if you read Theo’s story on the Hilinski brothers, you may notice they attended three different high schools. Actually four, considering the youngest has transferred once. And all of them are spread throughout the L.A. basin.

The family now lives in Irvine, but it must have been tough on the boys to have the family move around that often.

• The smoke returned to the area yesterday, rolling in fast around our house during the mid-morning. And the number of particulates in the air rose accordingly.

That meant prep sports scheduled for the out-of-doors were cancelled or postponed. As of early this morning the numbers were still too high – the air quality index was 152 at 8:20, above the 150 threshold to even think about playing – for games to go on. But, as we learned last week, a stiff breeze from the right direction can clean out those numbers in a hurry.

Stay tuned to Greg Lee’s Twitter account – @SRpreps – today. And every day, actually.

• The Eastern Eagles are on the road this weekend. In New York. Playing Fordham, home of the Seven Blocks of Granite, the once-famous offensive line that included a guard named Vince Lombardi.

It’s make or break time for Eastern. First-year head coach Aaron Best is in danger of seeing the season slip out of his hands.

Coaching changes are never easy, even for a coach who was on staff before. And it is especially tough when the previous head coach, in this case Beau Baldwin, was the most successful head football coach in school history.

The Eagles need to have some success. They need to regain their confidence. They need a win.

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WSU: We mentioned (and linked) the stories above, but we will link them again here. Theo has two on the Hilinski brothers. … The soccer team won a two-overtime battle at Utah State. … There are more than a handful of things to watch Saturday, but here are five to focus upon. … Oregon State is looking for more consistency. … Boise State knocked another quarterback out of the game but this time it was due to an illegal hit.

Around the Pac-12, we don’t know who will win or who is the best, but we have seen guesses. And we have some guesses about who will be in this year’s playoffs. … Washington will be a little thin at the tight end spot tomorrow against Fresno State. … Wyoming may not have Oregon’s athletes, but it does have a highly respected quarterback. … California will face some of the nation’s best quarterbacks over the next few weeks. … Stanford has a wide receiver who has seen a lot of the world. …  Same with Colorado, but in a different way. … The secrecy around injuries in college football, including at Utah, is staggering. … So the last time USC and Texas played, it was legendary, right? Not so fast my friend. … UCLA is going to be piecing together its linebacker corps against Memphis. … Texas Tech will test the Arizona State secondary. … Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins isn’t a fan favorite.

Gonzaga: Besides the ESPN news linked above, we can pass along a piece on former GU player Kyle Bankhead leaving the high school ranks and returning to college coaching.

EWU: Fordham will be without its star running back this week but as Jim Allen’s story shows, he will be helping the Rams in other ways. … Jim also has a transcript of his live chat. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, is Northern Colorado really a viable FCS football school? … Montana State quarterback Chris Murray (pictured) started slinging the ball around last week. … Idaho State is on the road Saturday at Nevada. … Northern Arizona’s receiving corps is all over the place. … One Southern Utah player took a circuitous route to college football.

Preps: The air quality forced some adjustments to the weekend schedule, but volleyball games went on as scheduled last night.

Chiefs: Everett is getting prepped for the regular season.

Mariners: The wild-card race is looking better for the M’s after opening another can of whip, ah, you know, on the Texas Rangers. The 10-4 win in Felix Hernandez’s return didn’t move them closer to the top but did keep them in front of other contenders. It is starting to become a three-team race. … We mentioned Shohei Otani yesterday. Today, the Times’ Larry Stone tells us what it will take for the Mariners to sign the Japanese star. … Andrew Moore will start in Ariel Miranda’s spot.

Seahawks: Another practice, another one without Richard Sherman. Is it bad? … Russell Wilson doesn’t want anyone to suck anymore. … Thomas Rawls is prepared to go hard this Sunday. … Nazair Jones tries to make every snap count.

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• Have an hour to spare this afternoon? Then you can waste it listening it to this guy gabbing away with Rick Lukens. Yep, I’m on the radio, but just for an hour this afternoon, 3 to 4, on 700 ESPN. You can listen here if you want. Until then …