Grip on Sports: March is finally here and with it the heat gets turned up a bit in many ways
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Anything different? Let’s see. (Checks weather forecast.) Hey, every Spokane high temp this week is predicted to top 50 degrees. That’s different. (Checks calendar.) Wait, what? It’s March 1? The longest month of the year is finally over? Thank goodness.
•••••••
• Being it is the first week of March and the temperature might reach 60 degrees, I have to add one thing to my “to-do” list: Head downtown and wander around Riverfront Park. It’s a tradition that has to be respected, even if there is no B basketball tournament going on at the Arena.
The river is in all its glory. The park’s flora is beginning to wake. The eternal promise of renewal fills the air. The calendar doesn’t say its spring just yet – just like it lies and says February is the year’s shortest month – but the best season peeks out every year around this date and teases us. Might as well fall for it for the 37th consecutive time.
Besides, this is the month of college basketball’s glorious summer.
March Madness may be trademarked but the euphoria it brings can’t be owned by anyone. It’s everyone’s birthright. And Gonzaga’s Holy Grail.
Is this the year the Bulldogs make like Indiana Jones and get past all the obstacles? It may take a leap of faith to say yes, but not as great a one as usual. They have the best offense in the nation. They have experience on the court and on the bench. They have as good an opportunity as they may ever have – not sure that’s true but no one knows what the future will hold – and the main competition now seems to be a school with an inexperienced head coach.
It just may be the year the stars are aligned.
• In our lives, it is always nice when someone apologizes for a mistake. It does heal some wounds. In college football? Most times it just makes everyone feel worse.
We’re thinking of you this morning Eastern Washington University football players.
The Big Sky Conference examined the video evidence yesterday and came to the same conclusion we did. The Eagles’ field goal attempt with 11 minutes remaining in a tie game was good. The call made at the time was incorrect. Our bad.
Yesterday morning we covered why the call was so important. We didn’t delve into all the reasons we thought the kick was good but a couple people we really trust, including our friend Dennis Patchin, were there and said it was blatantly obvious. Heck, even though a local television reporter posted a video on Twitter yesterday purporting to show the kick missed and stated such definitively, we held to our guns – especially after examining the video with the care of the Zapruder film and realizing the ball disappears from frame long enough to render it useless in making a determination.
We were vindicated late in the afternoon when the Big Sky issued its mea culpa, a picture of which accompanies this post. Ryan Collingwood posted a story on the apology, which, of course, doesn’t change the final result.
Look, the botched call wasn’t the reason Idaho won. But it was a contributing factor for all the reasons we pointed out yesterday. And we didn’t even delve into how Eastern might have handled its next possession if it led, running more to milk the clock. Or how Idaho’s offensive mindset may have changed.
All we can hope for today is the mistake won’t haunt the Eagles or the conference. This season is short. Six games. One loss, or one win, might make the difference between making the condensed FCS playoff field and staying home.
If it does, than all the apologies in the world won’t help.
• One last note. High school football season (as well as other “fall” sports) started last week in Washington.
It wasn’t typical. Normal. Ordinary. But it was all those things in one sense. A bunch of young people came together to reach a goal. At its essence that is what high school sports is about.
Pandemic or not, bad weather or not, truncated season or not, that’s a worthy endeavor. Has been for decades. And will be for many more.
Which is why we are reaching out of the S-R sports section this morning to link a column from another part of the paper. Give Julie Ditto’s column a read. It’s worth your time.
•••
Gonzaga: Will the Bulldogs’ doughnut-like defensive presence limit their NCAA title quest? Jim Meehan doesn’t make a determination, but he does takes a look back at the weekend’s results against the biggest front lines the West Coast Conference has to offer. … The WCC announced the seeding for the upcoming tournament, a circumstance made necessary due to the varying games played by conference members. Jim has a story that covers the men and women. … Soccer player Sophia Braun spent the past couple weeks playing against the world’s best. Dan Thompson details her experience with the Argentina national team at the SheBelieves Cup in Florida. … The Zags belong in the nation’s top tier of teams. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the tournament will be winnowed down before Gonzaga’s teams take the floor. … Only one thing really worries BYU right now: having the virus derail its postseason.
WSU: The women’s basketball team finished off a season sweep of Washington with a 61-52 win over the Huskies in Pullman. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, the hottest team entering the women’s tournament may just be Oregon State. The Beavers won again, defeating Oregon by 11 on the Ducks’ home court. … Arizona State upset Arizona. … Among the men, Colorado enters the month with momentum. … So does Utah. … UCLA needs to do more studying this week. … Arizona will finish its season at Oregon tonight. … In football news, Arizona State starts spring practice this week.
EWU: As we linked above, Ryan has a story on the Big Sky apology.
Idaho: The Vandal men couldn’t make it two consecutive wins as Montana State kept them at arms length yesterday.
Mariners: Youth was served in the M’s spring training opener yesterday. … Mitch Haniger was back in the lineup. It seems as if he’s been out for years. … Ty France thinks the Mariners can be a contender.
Seahawks: The New Orleans mayor made a light-hearted attempt to lure Russell Wilson to the city. Seattle’s mayor is having none of that. … If you have Wilson questions, they may just be answered here. … Keeping Wilson happy may just be Job One in the offseason. … Seattle made more changes to its coaching staff, though the faces are familiar ones.
•••
• Kim has a weakness for anything related to the Harry Potter universe. Nothing wrong with that. But it also explains why last night I looked up, it was after 10 and we were still stuck in our chairs watching Newt Scamander shuffle his way around Paris. She was locked in. I went to bed. I already knew how this one turned out. Until later …