A Grip on Sports: It’s the right time of the year to be focusing on college basketball, though other sports constantly intervene

A GRIP ON SPORTS • As winter starts to take hold a bit more, as January begins to make its exit, as we enter the two-week void before the Super Bowl, college basketball holds center court in our thoughts. As it should be.

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• And yet, there are other sports that are trying to break that monopoly on our time and focus. Take soccer for instance. The Sounders finally worked out the long-expected new contract with coach Brian Schmetzer, a Seattle lifer if there ever was one.

The uber-successful coach has roots in the Puget Sound as deep as Mt. Rainier but the past year’s contract negotiations lingered long enough to make one wonder if an eruption was coming.

Nope. He’s been anointed once again. And as soon as the Sounders suffer a four-game losing streak, Twitter, et al will become an ash cloud of criticism. Some things are easy to predict.

• The Big Sky Conference also made some news Monday, announcing its revised – until another school drops out – spring football schedule. Actually, this one should survive. We have to believe the conference made sure the eight schools named in the document are committed to playing.

What’s most interesting about the schedules is the double dip games against the best surviving rival.

For Eastern Washington and the University of Idaho, that was simple. They will face each other to start and finish the six-game regular season. Other examples include Weber State and Idaho State, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, and UC Davis and Cal Poly. There are also two bye weeks built in for makeup games.

It’s the best available alternative considering the tough situation.

• There is something special about spring training. It hits areas like Spokane with a harder blow, in that, while the Mariners are frolicking in the Arizona sun, those of us in the northern climes are usually shoveling out of the biggest storm of the year.

But there is something even worse threatening to snow under the Cactus League in 2021. COVID-19 rates are so high in Arizona and hospitals so overburdened, the mayors around the Cactus League are asking baseball to postpone the start of spring training.

It’s just too much of a strain on the area’s infrastructure.

Baseball has an issue, though. Florida is never going to ask for such a delay, no matter what the numbers are in that state. The show must go on seems to be the motto for everything from Jacksonville to Miami.

The league must now integrate in another variable in competing, and unbalanced, equations.

• Oh, yes. We were focusing on college basketball. Almost forgot.

Gonzaga is No. 1. Again. Baylor is No. 2. Again. Michigan, ranked third, is on a two-week pause, as the coronavirus injects itself into the sport. Again.

What’s new? Certainly not the desire to have GU and Baylor play. Our John Blanchette makes a great argument why that shouldn’t happen before the end of the regular season, an argument that also receives an “amen” from CBS celebrity Seth Davis.

“I know Mark Few and Scott Drew keep saying they want to reschedule their game, but not only do I think that isn’t feasible, I also don’t think it’s a good idea” Davis writes. “If Gonzaga and Baylor had played on Dec. 5 when they were supposed to, it would have been a great jolt for college basketball. Now I think it’s better if they leave everyone wondering what would happen if they had played. The only suitable time and place to settle this question is April 5th in Indianapolis.”

We look at this question from a different perspective. What scenario would help Gonzaga the most in its quest to win its first national title? Would playing give the Bulldogs an advantage if they meet BU in the tournament? Or would it help the Bears more?

Thinking about it, and running the question past a few people whose opinion we value, the scales dip toward not playing now. The Zags are so different, offensively, than anyone else nationally, giving Baylor a sneak preview would seem counter productive.

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Gonzaga: Besides John’s column, we have Jim Meehan’s story on this week’s poll as well as the news Jaylen Suggs is a Cousy Award finalist. … For some reason we forgot to link Jim’s appearance with Larry Weir on the latest Press box podcast. That oversight has been corrected. … The women moved in their Associated Poll as well. Jim Allen has that story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, BYU has figured out its rotation.

WSU: The Cougars will have a new linebacker on their roster for spring football. Theo Lawson has more on former Boise State signee Lolani Langi coming to Pullman. … Another new face in town is former Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano. Theo took a look at 10 of his plays while he was the Vols’ quarterback. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, the conference has five teams with a shot at-large berth, but the margin of error is small. …There was one conference game last night, though it wasn’t much of a contest. Arizona started fast and blew out visiting Arizona State. Just another odd result in an odd season. … There are times available for some of February’s games. … The Oregon women have improved their defense and it shows. … Utah’s men have some time to work on things. … Colorado also has a player on the Cousy list. … In football news, Washington’s defense also has a lot of starters returning. That’s the side of the ball in vogue today. … Oregon’s newest defensive coordinator has a backstory. Which isn’t unusual. … One defensive assistant has already said he’s leaving Eugene. … USC has lost an assistant to Arizona State. … Colorado is going to play Texas A&M this fall in Denver. … UCLA picked up a transfer defensive back. … Arizona is still working on its roster. … The University of Utah spends $95 million on sports.

EWU and Idaho: Want to know more about the Eagles’ and Vandals’ spring football schedules? Ryan Collingwood has you covered.

Seahawks: Cornerback is a position the Hawks must figure out this offseason. It won’t be easy. … Chad Wheeler, a backup deep down the depth chart, is in trouble with the law. … The Super Bowl quarterback matchup is the most intriguing thing about the game.

Mariners: If you have more questions, we can pass along a few answers.

Sounders: Look, there was no way the Sounders were letting Schmetzer get away. But he wasn’t going to make it easy, or cheap, to keep him. He wanted to be rewarded appropriately. He does have a stellar resume.

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• Anyone else see something on TV and put another item on their retirement list? Watching a National Geographic show on the Grand Canyon last night, I started tracing the Colorado River back to its headwaters. Now I want to drive the length of the nation’s fifth-longest river. It just seems like a fun thing to do. Until later …