A Grip on Sports: The weather around here may be yucky, but there is relief available on your television set

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Is it spring yet? No? Well then, why is there golf and tennis all over my television set?

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• It rained most of the day yesterday. It is supposed to rain most of the day today – and every day for the next week. Not snow. Not like it usually does in January. Not like it is supposed to be in January. Rain. Look, folks, if I wanted to live in Seattle, I would have moved years ago.

Sorry about that rant. The rain has soaked my nerves.

At least I can dry out with thoughts and pictures from warm places.

Like Australia, where it is a little too warm. And dry. Despite the weather problems Down Under, the Australian Open tennis tournament lurches on, though I’m waiting for the first picture of a player on a court wearing a mask over their nose and mouth.

The Australian Open is considered – by probably just me – sports’ first harbinger of spring, though it’s played in mid-summer south of the equator. For those of us stuck in the muck and mud, we can watch the tennis and dream about the day when heat will rise from the cement out front of our home.

And our golf courses will be open.

The next three weeks really drives that home. This week the PGA Tour moves to San Diego, playing its annual tournament at Torrey Pines. It’s a tourney that’s always held a special place in my heart, mainly because it’s played on a course I’ve played before.

Torrey wasn’t that long of a drive down Interstate 5 when I was in college. And it wasn’t that expensive – other than the cost of balls I would lose as my drives sliced out over the cliffs, headed for Melbourne.

None of those things are true anymore, but the memories remain.

Next week is different, though the Phoenix Open is memorable for its tie-in with the Super Bowl every year and its raucous crowd.

Raucous is not a word that would ever be used in describing the crowd at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Who would want to mar the sanctity of Pebble with loud screaming? Oh, right. That one guy who loves to yell “you the man” and “get in the hole” all the time. He’ll be front and center in a few weeks.

Still, Pebble Beach is a special place. The most special place I’ve ever played. Once again, though, it was a different, less-expensive time. And I am sure there is a gray whale out there with a 1978 Top Flite bearing the initials VG rotting in their belly.

Other than getting on the wrong side of Greenpeace, all my memories of the two rounds at Pebble (and Spyglass) are golden ones.

Just like the next few weeks of televised sports will be – in contrast to the gray and gloom we’ll experience around these parts.

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WSU: For some reason – the weather, maybe? – Theo Lawson doesn’t have a story coming out of Pullman for us to link. Slacker. But we wanted to call your attention to this piece from Starkville, mainly because it harkens back to something we wrote here. If you remember, we hoped Nick Rolovich might hire former San Diego State head coach Rocky Long, who stepped down recently, as his defensive coordinator. Mainly because we feel Long is one of the most creative minds in college football, regardless of which side of the ball. Well, Mike Leach may have been reading. No, he didn’t hire Long as his d-coordinator at Mississippi State. He hired Long’s protégé, Zach Arnett. Arnett had been Long’s defensive coordinator at with the Aztecs, but quickly found a new job after Long’s retirement. It was with Syracuse. A couple weeks ago. Now he’s headed to work for Leach. We can’t help but wonder if Arnett would have ended up in Pullman had Leach stayed. … Morgan Weaver is ready to help the Portland Thorns. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, UCLA should be eligible for the NCAA Tournament next season – if the Bruins are good enough. They will have to do it without one of their bigger names. … USC is tied at the top of the conference standings but the Oregon road trip awaits. … Arizona’s numbers are better than they could be. … Utah is in the cellar with the Washington schools coming for a weekend visit. … Staying solid at home is the only way for Colorado, or anyone, to have success. … Oregon State has received help from a multitude of sources. … In women’s hoop, the two games between Oregon and Oregon State are a really big deal. … In football news, Khalil Tate opens up about his last year at Arizona. … Colorado AD Rick George will be on the college football playoff committee. … The Senior Bowl has an Oregon tint to it. The Ducks’ new offensive coordinator is making good money.

Gonzaga: The men are off until Saturday, but that doesn’t mean Jim Meehan is. He has a story on the all-star-like success this season of Domantas Sabonis, who may become GU’s first NBA all-star since John Stockton. … The women play at home tonight, hosting Pepperdine. Jim Allen has a preview, sure, but more importantly he has a story on the Truong twins, the Zags’ newest sister act. It’s worth reading. … Around the WCC, it’s an important week for BYU, Pacific and San Francisco.

Whitworth: We missed this yesterday, but we wanted to pass along Colin Mulvany’s photo report from the Pirates’ game with Whitman on Tuesday night.

CCS and NIC: The host Cardinal had little trouble with the Sasquatch, handing CCS its first conference loss.

Preps: Dave Nichols is pretty excited about the S-R’s upcoming sponsorship of two high school basketball all-star games. He talks about them with Larry Weir on the latest Press Box pod. … Dave also has a story on Mt. Spokane volleyball coach Dave Whitehead deciding to retire. … Ryan Collingwood has a wrestling roundup that leads with Drew Roberts, who will try to win his third state medal this year in his third different state tournament. … Dave picks three athletes who stood out last week.

Chiefs: Spokane had lost six consecutive games to U.S. Division-rival Everett heading into last night’s game the Arena. That streak is over. Kevin Dudley has the coverage of the Chiefs’ 3-2 win over the Silvertips.

Braves: Dan Thompson takes you into the world of Junior B hockey today with this feature on Spokane’s team, the Braves. The story, which delves into more than just what happens on the ice, is accompanied by Libby Kamrowski’s photos.

Seahawks: The Hawks have some holes to fill, we all know that. How they should use their draft choices is up for debate.

Mariners: Those that purport to know think the M’s have a whole bunch of talented youngsters in their minor league system these days. Sounds different, huh? Well, it’s happened before. And those touted prospects didn’t really pan out all that well.

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• Sure, it would be cool if spring sprung tomorrow. But we have a lot of basketball season to experience yet, so there is no need to rush things. Besides, once the snow leaves, we all have to start doing yard work. Until later …