A Grip on Sports: Without spring training to distract us, Spokane’s snowfall only emphasizes winter’s hold on our hearths and hearts

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is a speech Bill Murray gives in “Groundhog Day” that brings the people of Punxsutawney, Penn. to tears. We welled up this morning as well when we looked outside, saw the snow blowing around and realized we can’t even be excited about spring training starting.

•••••••

• Yep, the tears started flowing. Metaphorically. We’re too old to cry over spilling snow. Or labor troubles within one of our favorite sports.

Even if it is Feb. 21. When winter should be waving goodbye while Robbie Ray waves the catcher into a crouch in Peoria.

Neither is happening. There is cold, bitter cold, investing the Inland Northwest this week. And though there is more warmth in Arizona – it’s relatively cool there this week as well – the lack of baseball brings a chill to the hearts of M’s followers.

See, Seattle seems to be finally trending in a positive direction. After twenty years of being lost among baseball’s backcountry trails, the M’s began to emerge last season as a path toward the postseason became visible.

And then a lockout.

It is infuriating. There is plenty of money for everyone to be happy. At least it seems that way. There is plenty of incentive to keep the product in the public eye. At least it seems that way. And there is plenty of blame to go around.

That last one is true. Funny thing, though. The only thing we can really blame on the players is an inability to stand up to the owners in the past.

If they had, maybe the idiocy of service time and delayed free agency wouldn’t be so ingrained in the game’s fabric. Coming up with an equitable way to fix a broken system is going to take longer than it should – or would have years ago.

And it will take even longer unless both sides sit down and start really haggling. Lock the door, order takeout and sharpen a bunch of No. 2 pencils. Take each issue as it comes, find a viable compromise and move on the next problem.

A process that should have began before Christmas. But didn’t.

Now the weather is turning, football is over and folks expect to turn their eyes to Arizona (and Florida) for some relief from the boredom of February.

Instead? Nothing.

“When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope,” Murray waxed poetically in the movie. “Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn’t imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.”

We can. And it has to do with baseball. In the spring.

• Another week of college hoops polls. And another week of Gonzaga at No. 1. It never gets old, does it?

But what is ahead this week should challenge the Zags a little more than the past few have. Not only is it the final one of the West Coast Conference regular season, it features road games at the third- and second-best teams in the conference.

First up Thursday night are the Dons of USF. The 6 p.m. game on ESPN2 in War Memorial Gym should be hard-fought, taut affair. And is actually the undercard. The main event comes Saturday in Moraga. A 7 p.m. matchup with second-place Saint Mary’s. A packed house, a broadcast on ESPN’s flagship, and, maybe, Gonzaga’s undefeated conference season on the line. It should be special.

•••

Gonzaga: Before we get ahead of ourselves, we have to look back at Senior Night. At least Jim Meehan had to. He delves into the family nature of the pregame ceremonies. … The women are actually playing today. A 2 p.m. contest in McCarthey against Santa Clara. With the snow falling as it is, we wonder if many folks will venture out to watch. Jim Allen will and he has this preview. … Around the WCC, BYU has gone from a virtual NCAA lock to an NIT contender. How did that happen?

WSU: We thought about writing about the Cougar men’s loss last night in Los Angeles. We watched most of it and at times it made us gag. Just like Washington State did down the stretch. Nice zone offense. Throw it around the top of the key for 25 seconds and then huck up a 25-footer. No wonder the Cougars didn’t score in the final 135 seconds of their 62-60 loss. Colton Clark watched as well and has this story. … There are stories from Los Angeles as well. … The WSU women didn’t lose. In fact, their 72-67 victory over visiting Arizona, ranked eighth nationally, may have greased their path into the NCAA tourney again. Colton was at the game and has this story. … The Cougar men had five recent chances to earn a statement win. They failed. That’s part of this Jon Wilner rewind in the Mercury News. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, there were some interesting women’s games yesterday, including No. 2 Stanford rallying from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat host Oregon. … Washington won its first conference game. … Oregon State kept its NCAA hopes alive. … Colorado’s men seem better suited now to keep their momentum rolling. … There are some questions for the Huskies to answer still. … A key Utah player may be out again. … UCLA has built depth, which should help in March. And against Arizona State today. … Arizona has earned experience in close games recently. … Finally, what will happen to Michigan’s Juwan Howard? We’re guessing a slap on the wrist for his forceful slap to the head of a Wisconsin assistant. … In football news, WSU’s hire of Jake Dickert isn’t given as high a grade as one might have thought. … Tyler Hilinski’s death, and his legacy, are still impacting others.

Preps: The brackets for Washington’s regional basketball games are out and Spokane is well represented. Dave Nichols has this preview of this week’s contests. The State tournaments are next week in Tacoma, Yakima and Spokane.

Olympics: They are over. The Winter Games from Beijing are done. Hopefully, there will not be a pandemic to fight in 2026 when the Games head to Italy. (Don’t tell Kim, but we’re thinking about making the trip as well.)

NASCAR: Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 in a crash-filled ending.

Kraken: It’s not just the players who change teams in midseason.

•••       

• The worst part about it snowing a lot today? The weather folks are telling us the cold will stick around until Friday. Which means we have to clear the driveway. The walks. The deck. Can’t have the ice cause issues for four days. If it were expected to warm up tomorrow, we could just brush a path and wait for the sun to clear the rest. But nope. Not happening. Pray for my back. Until later …