A Grip on Sports: Before the weekend arrives, we have some questions that need to be answered
A GRIP ON SPORTS • What is a Friday without a few questions? Thankfully we have a few. What sporting events are we going to watch this weekend? Is Chet Holmgren as good as everyone seems to think? Will Washington State continue its domination of its cross-state rivals? And will we be around when the WSU women finally defeat Stanford?
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• The last one first. The Cougars suffered their 71st consecutive loss to the Cardinal last night, though that stat is technically inaccurate. A few of those losses occurred while Stanford still carried an inappropriate nickname. But that doesn’t change the fact the scoreboard reads Stanford 71, Washington State 0.
Thursday night’s game in Northern California was one of the closer contests, with the Cougars falling 61-54. The seven-point margin against the nation’s second-ranked team, on its home court, is a moral victory of sorts, especially considering WSU’s closest loss in the series is by four points and that came 35 years ago.
We’re sure of one thing though. Some day Washington State will win against the Cardinal.
• It hasn’t been that long since the Huskies have defeated WSU, though it might seem that way to Washington fans. A big Apple Cup loss. Volleyball and women’s basketball defeats. And Wednesday’s loss in Pullman for Mike Hopkins’ team.
Luckily for UW, it gets a chance to cleanse the palate tomorrow. The two teams meet in Seattle on Saturday afternoon (3 on the Pac-12 Network).
It’s one of the few televised college basketball games this weekend that seem worth watching.
Oh sure, Gonzaga is at Saint Mary’s (7, ESPN) Saturday night and that West Coast Conference finale is always worth watching. But not much catches our eye.
OK, the game before GU on ESPN, Kansas at Baylor (5 p.m.), is not to be missed but we’re not all that excited about it. It is sure to run late and push the start of the Gonzaga game to ESPNEWS, or, even worse, the app. CBS’ game Saturday morning, Kentucky at Arkansas (11) should also be worthwhile. But that’s about it.
We will admit, however, we’re probably going to be glued to CBS at 9 a.m. Oklahoma State is at Oklahoma, which most years wouldn’t mean much in these parts. But with both Groves brothers starting for the Sooners in the rivalry contest, it holds more interest than usual.
• We’ve had some discussions in our house about Holmgren and his abilities recently. And whether his body type translates to the next level. One member of our household holds the view it doesn’t. Whether he is right or wrong is immaterial today, however, as we had an epiphany of sorts last night concerning his place in the college hoops firmament this season.
It came some time after Holmgren, a 7-footer, had taken another rebound the length of the court through traffic for a fastbreak dunk. And after former USF star Bill Cartwright had expressed his fascination with Holmgren’s game to ESPN reporter Molly McGrath.
Cartwright was seeing Holmgren play in person for the first time. And, as someone of the same height who played the same game, was amazed by what the freshman can do. It made us realize how blasé we’ve come to feel about the magic Holmgren displays consistently.
That’s wrong. Just because we’ve seen him do such things over and over shouldn’t dull our senses to how remarkable they are. If anything, it should reinforce the wonder. It should make us appreciate how easily he does things few his size have ever been able to do.
We promise to do better in the future.
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Gonzaga: Holmgren displayed those talents against Dons in GU’s 89-73 win last night. His numbers? Twenty-one points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. And a handful of times being knocked to the floor. Theo Lawson covered his contributions in the game story and the difference makers. … Jim Meehan also delved into them some in this notebook. … There is a photo report from Tyler Tjomsland and the recap and highlights from the folks in the office. … For once, there was also a TV Take. If our reading of social media chatter is any indication, we were not alone in thinking the officiating crew lost control of this one. And we didn’t even mention the cameras catching Kevin Brill yelling angrily in the direction of Mark Few. Not to say we don’t understand getting mad at Few’s near-constant chirping but it wasn’t a good look. …The women were at home again and rolled over Pepperdine 85-41. Jim Allen has the game story and Colin Mulvany supplies the photo report. There is a wide divide between conference-leading BYU and Gonzaga and an even wider one between Gonzaga and the rest of the conference. … Around the WCC, Saint Mary’s dismantled San Diego. … BYU earned a much-needed win over visiting Loyola Marymount. … Former Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans is enjoying a special first year in Portland.
WSU: We mentioned it above but the women couldn’t make history last night at Stanford. They can Saturday at California. A win there would give them the most in their NCAA era history. (The NCAA didn’t take control of women’s basketball until the early 1980s.) … Former WSU big man Volodymyr Markovetskyy is dealing with family issues related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, this weekend was pretty big for the conference and its at-large hopes. They got a boost with by Oregon pushing its way past UCLA in Eugene in a game in which the home team dominated at the free throw line. … If USC hadn’t pulled out a double-overtime win over host Oregon State, however, the conference’s overall profile would have suffered. … Second-ranked Arizona methodically pulled away from Utah behind a triple double from point guard Kerr Kriisa. … Kim Aiken is also no longer on the UA roster. … Colorado had been playing well. But the Buffs were no match for hot-shooting Arizona State. … In football news, if you are looking for flaws within Drake London’s game, you have a weird job. … Herm Edwards still having his job at Arizona State is also pretty weird. … Ken Norton Jr. is reportedly headed back to UCLA.
EWU: In a night of Big Sky upsets, Eastern posted one of the more interesting ones, winning 85-76 at Northern Colorado. Dan Thompson has this game story. … Around the Big Sky, Weber State continues its free fall, losing at Portland State. … Montana lost at well, at Southern Utah. … Idaho State edged Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. … Montana State has a strong inside presence.
Idaho: The Vandals are playing well at home. They have a winning record there. But on the road? Not good. They lost 83-51 at last-place Sacramento State last night.
Whitworth: It was a good night for the Pirates. Not only did they defeat visiting Pacific Lutheran 80-72 in the Northwest Conference semifinals, No. 1 seed, Linfield, lost at home to Whitman. That means Whitworth will host the Blues on Saturday with the NWC’s Division III playoff berth on the line. Jason Shoot has more in this story.
Shock: The Spokane Shock are no more. After the team could not meet its financial obligations with the Spokane Arena, the Indoor Football League pulled the franchise despite the league season just around the corner. Thomas Clouse and Justin Reed combined on this story that also details many more financial issues.
Track and field: John Blanchette continues his looks back at previous USATF Indoor Track and Field Championships, with this year’s event at The Podium this weekend. But besides the daily story John also has a preview of the meet.
Seahawks: It’s starting to become mock draft time.
Mariners: Mailbags are always fun. … Lockouts are not. … Stories from spring training without major league players? Fun but not as fun as they could be.
Sounders: Seattle took care of its CONCACAF business last night, routing Honduras squad F.C. Motagua 5-0 at home to move on in the competition. Now it prepares for the start of the MLS season that has to be done before the World Cup begins in late November.
Kraken: Another game, another loss. This one 3-2 in overtime to visiting Boston.
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• Thankfully there isn’t a lot to watch on TV Saturday. We have a day in which, if we want, we could watch 10 hours of basketball in person without a break. Not sure my backside can take it. Nor my nerves. Until later …