A Grip on Sports: A local battle and an end of a short-lived era highlights today’s pre-Christmas rush of sporting events

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh yes, talking basketball and football. What else would be doing in late December?

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• Christmas shopping comes to mind. We’ll be doing some of that later this morning. (Yes, I have a bit of a masochistic streak.) But in this space we are looking forward to the showdown in the Kennel this afternoon and Washington’s bowl game this evening.

For two different reasons, of course.

The former pits the most storied basketball program in the Inland Northwest against the lovable underdogs from the hinterlands. Well, that’s the narrative I’m trying to sell you anyway. Funny thing about Gonzaga and Eastern Washington, though. They are both probably going to win their conference and make an NCAA Tournament appearance this season.

For GU, that’s business as usual. For Eastern, it’s a bit more rare. Heck, it’s the difference between having the waiter look at you funny when you say “well done” on your steak order and having the cow wander to your table.

No matter though. This is now. Gonzaga is good – again. The Bulldogs are ranked second in the nation and have yet to really play a perfect game. Or have a complete roster for more than a few minutes. Expect them to roll through the West Coast Conference – unless Saint Mary’s plays like it did against Arizona State the other night or BYU puts together another of its perfect games in the Kennel.

And Eastern? The Eagles are also good. They fly – see what I did there? – around the court, shoot the ball well (they are 33rd nationally in field goal percentage, though GU is ninth) and score (their 90.7 per game average is tops in all Division I – GU is fourth at 86.4).

EWU has what we used to refer to as a “puncher’s chance” before boxing fell all out of the mainstream. And that chance is magnified in that Gonzaga’s defense isn’t up to its recent standards (there are about 72 reasons for that but we don’t have the time this morning to delve into them).

Just enjoy this afternoon’s game – 2 p.m. on KHQ if you couldn’t find a way into McCarthey.

• After that game ends, flip over to ABC. It’s your chance to check out the final game for Chris Petersen after (… checks notes …) oh, only six years as Washington’s coach. It seems longer.

Maybe it’s because, if your name isn’t Tyrone Whittingham, every UW coach is pretty much venerated in this state and made to seem like a candidate for the school’s Mount Rushmore. Until they don’t find a cure for cancer or invent a flying car or something.

Petersen was considered a boy genius at Boise State – hey, that’s the Huskies’ opponent today; weird – but his reputation took a bit of a hit this season at Washington. Just because UW “only” won seven games during the regular season.

OK, we get it. When you are 92-12 after eight seasons in Boise, with four of those losses coming in your final one, people expect miracles from you all the time.

And the Huskies only had one truly miraculous season in his six. That would be 2016, when they made the college football playoff final four, only to lose 24-7 to Alabama. They finished 12-2 overall and fourth in the final polls that season.

Two more 10-win seasons followed but that didn’t stop an undercurrent of grumbling this year. Nope. Whatever Petersen’s reasons for stepping down – defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake takes over after tonight’s Las Vegas Bowl – there hasn’t been a huge outcry from Husky fans wishing he would stay. There’s a reason for that. It wasn’t all that long ago when Petersen was considered the savior in Seattle. After “just” 54 wins in six years, that status has faded.

Lake is now the golden one.

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WSU: We aren’t going to link every story we missed by taking yesterday off, but we did want to pass along Theo Lawson’s visit with Larry Weir on a Thursday edition of the Press Box pod. … The women’s basketball team had a good day yesterday. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Oregon should be just fine at running back next season. Before then, though, there is still the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. … This is a new one. Oregon State is suing its former athletic director for more than a millions dollars. … Utah will have a much-different look at quarterback next season. … So will Arizona’s defense. Hiring a defensive coach from UCLA is a bold move, Cotton. … In basketball news, Oregon hosts Texas Southern today. … Colorado is headed to Chicago to play Dayton. … UCLA plays North Carolina in Las Vegas today. This game would have been better 40 years ago. … USC faces off with LSU. … Arizona meets St. John’s.

Gonzaga: It could be the classic trap game for the Zags. A three-game stretch against some of the most-anticipated opponents in recent memory just ended and Christmas awaits. Sandwiched in-between is today’s visit from Eastern. Jim Meehan has a preview of the contest, a look at the best matchup and some uniform notes. … Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier called last night’s 64-52 win over 20th-ranked Missouri State “a good night for women’s basketball.” After watching on TV (due to some issues, we passed along our usual tickets), I would have to disagree. Maybe a good night for women’s football or wrestling, thanks to Missouri State’s overly physical style of play and an over-the-top case of “let-them-play” officiating. Jim Allen and Colin Mulvany were in attendance, with Jim offering this game story and Colin this photo report. … Larry talked with correspondent Justin Reed for the latest Press Box pod.

EWU: Ryan Collingwood also has a preview of the game at GU today, covering the contest with an Eastern perspective. … Around the Big Sky, Weber State heads to James Madison in one FCS semifinal this evening. Montana State travels to North Dakota State in the other. The winners meet in January.

Preps: We can pass along roundups of basketball action from girls and boys action last night. … We are passing along one story from Friday. Former Gonzaga Prep head coach Don Anderson died this week. In my short time as the S-R’s prep editor I didn’t cover Don in that role. But he was Ferris High’s offensive coordinator when I was covering games and did live a a couple of football field from our house, so there was some interaction. I can’t tell you definitively which high school coach over the more than 100 years football has been played in these parts was the most impactful, but I do know Anderson was in the top five. Dave Nichols has this obituary.

Seahawks: It will be a beat-up group of Hawks facing off with Arizona on Sunday. … Tyler Lockett seems to be fully healthy. That’s a good thing. … Al Woods is healthy. He’s just suspended.

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• We will have a TV Take this afternoon. But before we do that, we are venturing out on a dangerous adventure with Kim. We are going to do some Christmas shopping on the Saturday before the holiday. It’s as close to thrill-seeking as this pair of senior citizens ever get anymore. Until later …