A Grip on Sports: The Cougars’ performance Sunday in front of George Raveling was award-worthy

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Woke up this morning with a bad sore throat and a stuffy nose. Wonder if I picked up a Parasite or something watching TV last night. Or if it is just another Monday morning.

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• It’s a tradition in this space to work in an Academy Award joke or two on the Monday morning after the ceremony. A tradition that began less than three minutes ago.

Anyway, the best movie of the year had subtitles? The last time I read a movie like that, it was a Mel Brooks flick made at my alma mater while I was a college student. For some reason there were always huge crowds around Paul Newman’s trailer. Me, I was more interested in catching a glimpse of Marty Feldman. We seemed to share a similar way at looking at the world.

We’re not joking about the cold, however. It hit in the early afternoon yesterday, about the same time Phil Mickelson was falling apart on the eighth hole at Pebble Beach.

Maybe it made me sick to watch such a young, vibrant guy – he will turn 50 this year – blow a chance to win another time at the world’s prettiest course.

Whatever, I got up, went upstairs for a nap and really didn’t get going again for the rest of the day.

Even watching the final minutes of the Cougars’ win over UW didn’t get me moving. I wrapped myself in a blanket and still shivered through it. The homemade pizza for dinner, as good as it was, didn’t move the needle much either.

First thing I did this morning, even before making coffee, was to take two cold pills. Hopefully the sore throat will settle, the ears will seem less full and my grumpy mood will fade away. Hopefully.

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Gonzaga: Killian Tillie wasn’t sick last week. He was injured. Though you couldn’t tell it by the way he played Saturday night in the win at Saint Mary’s. His performance is at the heart of Jim Meehan’s rewind of the game. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU is on a roll, but the Cougars have to carry their hot shooting on the road if they want to continue it.

WSU: Is there a more disappointing college basketball team on the West Coast than Washington? At one point this season, the Huskies looked like an NCAA Tournament team. A second-weekend team even. Heck, they are the only team to defeat Baylor this season. But recently they have fallen on hard times. Those continued yesterday in Pullman, as CJ Elleby’s 34-point performance lifted the Cougars to a 79-67 victory. Theo Lawson has the game story. … The game wasn’t the only important event in Beasley Coliseum yesterday. Raising George Raveling’s banner to the rafters was just as crucial. John Blanchette was there, as he was back in the final years of Raveling coaching tenure, and John has this column on the importance of the honor – and the man. … Theo also has a story on Washington State being extended a CBI invitation. … The women lost to Utah on Sunday. … Around the Pac-12, the rivalry game in Pullman had the stage all to itself on the men’s side, but that doesn’t stop folks from looking back at Saturday’s results. The biggest shocker may have been in Tucson, where UCLA held the Wildcats to their lowest shooting percentage ever in McKale. … It looks as if Arizona State still has a shot at the NCAAs. … Utah rolled to a couple home wins, but now for the Utes and conference-leading Colorado, a trip to Oregon looms. … On the women’s side of things, Oregon State coach Scott Rueck is right about this. The emphasis on freedom of movement has disappeared again in basketball. … In football news, the Pac-12 is going to play the SEC quite a bit in the next few years. … Arizona State picked up more California recruits than it has in the past.

Chiefs: Spokane is on a roll. The Chiefs kept it up Sunday with a 5-3 win over visiting Everett. Kevin Dudley has the game story.

Shock: The reborn indoor football team will have a dance team when it returns in late March. The tryouts were yesterday. Emma Epperly was there and has this story.

Seahawks: Of all the position groups, linebacker seems to be in the best shape. … There may be changes at cornerback.

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• The onset of a cold kept me from trying out as a Shock dancer yesterday. That and my gender, age, body type and lack of rhythm and/or talent. But I’m blaming the virus. Until later …