A Grip on Sports: If you are looking for a silver lining, here’s one – there is no Pro Bowl this year

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Time has marched on, slowly. We have proof. There is no NFL football on our television sets this weekend. We made it. Spring is just around the corner.

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• OK, “around the corner” is a subjective term. We have to wait and see what the groundhog says next week. But Pro Bowl Weekend, as us ancient types call it, has (seemingly) always been there for sports fans, ready to give us a sneak peek at what our next month or two looks like.

Dull and boring, you ask? Ya, that’s about right.

At least until Madness kicks in.

This year, we don’t even have the Pro Bowl to make fun of, do we? The NFL canceled the annual waste of time due to COVID-19 concerns, which is sort of a win/win for everyone. Players don’t have to go through the motions of pretending to care and viewers don’t have to sit in their Laz-e-Boy on Sunday and moan because the players are only pretending to care. Besides, this season the exhibition game was scheduled for Las Vegas, which means hangovers would have favored over effort 10-1.

So what do we have to watch? A lot of college basketball, including, hopefully, quite a few games featuring local schools.

Gonzaga, which eased past the University of San Diego last night, moves up I-5 today and plays at Pepperdine at 5 p.m. Saturday. Washington State tries to break its losing streak Sunday night at Washington. Idaho hosts Weber State on Saturday in a rematch of last night’s blowout in Moscow. Whitworth hosts Pacific Lutheran tonight and tomorrow. And Eastern?

The Eagles are having to be a little more flexible. The virus seems to have invaded their program as well as Sacramento State’s, which is supposed to be in Cheney this weekend for a two-game set. The series has been pushed back twice already and is now scheduled to run Sunday and Monday mornings. Like everything else this convoluted season – ie., upcoming conference tournaments – the series’ schedule is tentative until the teams take the court. And even then, postponements can happen.

Outside of the Inland Northwest, there are some interesting matchups Saturday, including Auburn, which lost to Gonzaga seemingly a lifetime ago, traveling to No. 2 Baylor and fifth-ranked Texas hosting Kentucky. The latter game is at the same time as Gonzaga’s matchup with Pepperdine and is considered a better draw nationally. How can we tell? It’s on ESPN, while GU’s game is on the backup channel, ESPN2. (Insert  some Breaking News music here. The Texas/Kentucky game was canceled this morning – just before 9 – so expect to hear GU’s game has been moved to ESPN before too long.)

If sitting indoors watching indoor sports doesn’t excite you all that much, can we propose one alternative? The Andy Williams … oops, that really dates me, doesn’t it? Sorry. The Farmers Insurance Open – admit it, reading that, you heard the company’s theme music in your head too – from sunny San Diego is available, with early play on the Golf Channel and the in-contention groups on CBS over the weekend.

It’s not a major but the views of the Pacific Ocean certainly are. And it beats the Pro Bowl in every way imaginable.

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Gonzaga: Jenny Craig Arena, like all West Coast Conference home gyms, is usually stuffed to the gills when the Zags show up. Not this season, of course. The scrimmage-type atmosphere was in play again last night as the Bulldogs rolled over the overmatched home team. Jim Meehan delved into that aspect of playing in his game analysis, as well as highlighting Drew Timme’s outstanding play. Timme was one of Jim’s difference makers. … We watched as well and put together our TV Take. … There is also a recap with highlights and another story from Jim, this one on Timme included on the Karl Malone Award midseason list. … The women traveled to Pacific last night and rode a near-perfect second quarter to an easy win. Jim Allen has more in this story. … Elsewhere in the WCC, no, BYU didn’t submarine its NCAA hopes by losing at Pepperdine. But the loss didn’t help and can’t become a trend down the road.

WSU: Clay Markoff has always seemed to be a bit of an anomaly at Washington State, a fullback in a program that really doesn’t use a fullback. That will change. He’s put his name in the transfer portal. Theo Lawson has more. … The WSU faculty is not happy with the university’s plan to funnel more money to the athletic department. And they have made their feelings known. Greg Mason has more on a brewing budget battle in Pullman. … Theo spent some time talking with Larry Weir yesterday for the latest Press Box podcast. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, Oregon State had been doing better, mainly because the Beavers were rebounding better. USC just crushed them on the boards last night en route an easy win. … Stanford is missing three starters. And yet the Cardinal have defeated UCLA and, now, Arizona in back-to-back games. The Wildcats couldn’t handle their size. … Arizona State snapped its six-game losing streak by defeating California at home. But it wasn’t easy. … Utah and Colorado meet in Boulder tomorrow afternoon. … In football news, how comfortable is each school with their quarterback situation? Jon Wilner takes a look. … If you have questions about Washington, we can pass along a few answers. … Oregon made Tim DeRuyter’s hire official. … An Arizona linebacker will be out a while with a knee injury. … The hype is real at Arizona State. … Washington State isn’t the only school with big money issues. Colorado expects to have a $20 million deficit.

EWU: We mentioned the weekend schedule’s disruption above. Ryan Collingwood explains it all here.

Idaho: Weber State pounded the Vandals last night in Moscow, winning 81-56.

Whitworth: The Pirates started their basketball season with a few close losses. But once they moved closer to the truncated Northwest Conference schedule, they started winning. And haven’t stopped. Dan Thompson tells us what’s different and what to expect this weekend.

Preps: Gov. Jay Inslee and his advisors have decided to make it a bit easier for the state’s regions to open up activities. Instead of meeting four criteria, each section has to reach three of the four metrics. How does that impact high school sports? Dave Nichols tries to explain, but, for now, nothing is changing in the far eastern part of Washington.

Seahawks: Will Chris Carson give the Hawks a discount? Not likely. … Chad Wheeler will make a court appearance Monday.

Mariners: Knock on wood. Mitch Haniger will be back this season. And he feels great. … It is sort of sad Kyle Seager may not be in Seattle if and when the M’s ever turn this thing around. … The M’s announced the non-roster players headed to camp whenever it opens.

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• Here’s one the grandkids will never believe. The Pro Bowl used to actually matter to the players. Yep, there was a time the money paid to the winning team was important to guys making about as much as neighborhood butcher. So the game actually featured, you know, real football. There was competition. I know. It’s hard to fathom these days. Until later …