A Grip on Sports: No matter what happens between now and Tuesday, it will be a long weekend to celebrate

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Another walk-off … walk? A season of perfection? What else could happen this weekend that has already happened, albeit rarely?

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• So we are stretching the bounds of the “weekend” to include Thursday night’s Mariners’ game and Monday night’s NCAA championship game. Sue me. It’s Friday and I want to get done quickly. After all the weekend does beckon, as it always does.

Not that Saturdays or Sundays are all that different from Tuesdays or Thursdays for some of us. This one is.

The difference was evident last night. The Mariners were playing a baseball game. A real game with real fans in the stands. Not cardboard cutouts. Alas, like many night games anymore, I couldn’t stay awake to watch the final out. Actually, there wasn’t one. The M’s, who trailed 5-0 when I checked out, rallied in the eighth to take a lead, blew it in the ninth, then rallied again in the bottom of the 10th with three consecutive walks. Add in the runner on second, which starts extra-inning games these days and, viola, Seattle is 1-0.

It’s better, I guess, than the alternative. Two poor teams showing why they will be poor teams all season. The M’s have a lineup full of holes and San Francisco has a questionable bullpen.

Hopefully, that’s the last we will have to think about poor teams on this Easter weekend. Tonight, the women play their national semifinals in San Antonio. Tomorrow, the men take over from Indianapolis. The local connections abound.

We all know the Gonzaga story and stories. There is very little that surprises us anymore, except, maybe, the coach of an undefeated team that has been ranked No. 1 all season and is two games away from a perfect year, wasn’t the recipient of the Associated Press’ coach of the year award.

But there is also a Pac-12 school in the Final Four – OK, so that surprised us as well – and UCLA is the Zags’ opponent Saturday.

The women tip tonight, with top-seed Stanford, and its Spokane duo, facing South Carolina, followed by another Pac-12 rep, Arizona, matching up with Connecticut.

College hoop has a distinct western flavor in 2021. We will find out sometime in the next 72 hours if the men will also have another undefeated champion. There have been seven of them in the past, since the NCAA tourney began, and it probably bodes well for GU that, of those seven, five were teams that reside on the west coast: San Francisco and UCLA, the latter four times in the 1960s and ‘70s.

• Looking at the Spokane TV schedule for the weekend, as we like to do on Fridays, there are other things on. Most notably, of course, is the first weekend of the MLB season. But there is golf from Texas. The NBA. Some Big Sky football (a big game between Eastern Washington and UC Davis, actually). NHL and WHL action too. Heck, soccer, horse racing and bowling if you are interested.

But this is a basketball weekend, through and through. The last one of what has proved to be the most demanding of seasons.

When you finally drag yourself out of bed Tuesday morning, you’ll know what Marty McFly didn’t even know, despite his future sports almanac. You’ll know if there is a new undefeated NCAA champion. Or not.

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Gonzaga: How has Mark Few been able to thrive when many of his peers have begun to fade away? John Blanchette knows. It is Few’s ability to adapt. … The 2017 national runners-up vs. this year’s undefeated squad. Who wins? Jim Meehan poses that question but there isn’t a definitive answer. … Roy Williams’ retirement allows us to link a Jacob Thorpe story from a few years back. … Thanks to the bubble, in part, Gonzaga has stayed focus. Ryan Collingwood explains. … Theo Lawson left Indianapolis for a while. Breaking away all the way to Bloomington. He has a story on the Zags, perfection and Indiana University. Tyler Tjomsland has a photo gallery. … UCLA didn’t play defense with much enthusiasm early in the season. That’s changed. The Bruins are locked in now. … Marcy Few wrote something about this year for The Athletic. … Jill Townsend is all class. And now she has a plaque to prove it. Jim Allen has the story of her All-American status in character and the classroom. … The baseball team began a home series with Pacific with a 9-0 victory.

WSU: Washington State began spring practice Thursday with a high-spirited workout. With Theo in Indianapolis, Peter Harriman has the coverage of Nick Rolovich’s second spring in Pullman but his first spring practices. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, there doesn’t seem to have been much progress in the commissioner search. … Another day, another men’s basketball player from Washington in the transfer portal. … Oregon’s top assistant has left to become DePaul’s head coach. … With UCLA in the Final Four, new athletic director Martin Jarmond is taking center stage. The run has a 1980 feel to it. … USC expects to build on this season. …. In the women’s tournament, Stanford has stayed loose in this tough season and it has made all the difference for Anna Wilson and friends. … Arizona’s first Final Four trip may end tonight against Connecticut. But the Wildcats have shown it is possible in Tucson. Even if the NCAA doesn’t think so. … In football news, Oregon’s spring practice has brought some surprises already. … Fans are expected back in the stands in Colorado soon. … USC’s focus this week is on the defensive side of the ball. … Gunner Cruz is shining thus far at Arizona. … We bring you this Oregon State baseball story for one reason only: Jake Mulholland is the grandson of one of my sister’s oldest friends. It’s a small world.

EWU: The winner of Saturday’s football game in California will more than likely earn a berth in the NCAA playoffs. The loser won’t. It’s that simple. Dan Thompson has an advance of the game that means so much to Eastern and UC Davis. … The Aggies’ regular season ends this week. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State is striving for offensive consistency.

Idaho: The Vandals are in Pocatello this weekend with a 2-1 record. Peter has a preview of their game with Idaho State.

Preps: It was a busy Thursday night for Dave Nichols, as he covered the GSL action, focusing on Lewis and Clark’s football win over Ferris. … But he also put together a roundup of other action from around the area. … And Dave has a feature on Mead volleyball, which was hard hit down the stretch with coronavirus issues.  

Chiefs: Spokane has scuffled to start the season but Eli Zummack thinks the Chiefs can turn it around, starting this weekend. Dan Thompson has that story.

Mariners: The 8-7 win last night is about as improbable as they come, until you start looking at San Francisco’s bullpen. … The Times’ Ryan Divish joined Larry Weir yesterday for the latest Press Box podcast. … It’s been a long time since fans watched games at T-Mobile Park. … The M’s will line up soon for their vaccinations.

Seahawks: Another target in the middle should help Russell Wilson.

Sounders: Seattle made a front-office hire official.

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• I have no idea what will happen this weekend – on any front. But the big question, of course is whether Gonzaga will finish off its season with confetti. No clue. Doesn’t matter, though. All I want to do is enjoy it. Such basketball journeys don’t come along all that often, especially not in our neck of the forest. It may not happen again in my lifetime. Whatever the outcome, it’s been interesting to observe. That will continue between now and whenever it is over. Until later …