A Grip on Sports: A Super weekend awaits but it just doesn’t include the football game

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Everyone, including us, know what we are watching on the television Sunday evening. It’s a given. But what else is there to entertain us this weekend? More importantly, does it really matter?

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• The number-crunchers tell us that almost 100 million Americans did their patriotic duty last year and watched the Super Bowl. Makes you proud, doesn’t it? But that game featured two teams with gigantic followings, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers … wait, that’s not right. The Bengals and the Rams? Really? And 100 million folks watched?

Yep, that’s the draw of the “big game,” as advertising copy writers have to term in to avoid paying the NFL fees. It’s not really who is playing. Nor the outcome. It’s about the spectacle. The commercials. The halftime show. The flags. The talking heads. And, yes, if you are a fan of the game or the two teams on the field, the game itself.

A little.

But the Super Bowl only takes up some five hours of the weekend. What else is there? You mean, besides the Puppy Bowl? Or the hours and hours of Super Bowl-centric SportsCenter? Of course you do. There are other sports, aren’t they?

Sure. It is the middle of college basketball season. And the part of the year when the NBA remakes teams so the playoffs will be more exciting. There is hockey ad soccer and, lest we forget, the most over-the-top event on the PGA Tour, the WM Phoenix Open.

Your garbageman’s favorite golf tournament just happens to take place in Phoenix – well, Scottsdale, a suburb – every year. And this year the Super Bowl is in the Valley of the Sun as well. There has to be more than a few people attending both, right? Hopefully, they will Uber or take a taxi between the two venues because, if you watch the golf on TV, drinking seems to be mandatory.

As is throwing your empties onto the course at the 16th hole.

Super.

• The best events around these parts come Saturday. Batting leadoff is the Courtney Vandersloot jersey-raising ceremony at Gonzaga (1 p.m., SWX, Root). The Zags women will battle Portland for the WCC lead after the school honors its best player ever. But that’s just the beginning.

Eastern Washington’s men will put its undefeated Big Sky record on the line in Moscow, when they face rival Idaho in the afternoon (3:30, SWX).

And the Gonzaga men will host BYU for the final time as conference foes (7 p.m., ESPN2), needing a win to stay within a game of Saint Mary’s for the conference lead.

A half-hour later, the Apple Cup competition resumes, with the Cougar men hosting Washington at Beasley Coliseum (7:30, Pac-12).

It’s a pretty special Saturday of local college hoops, that’s for sure.

• We mentioned the Zag men are within a game of first in the WCC. That’s because Loyola Marymount finished off something Thursday night no one else has done in the WCC’s history. By rallying from a 16-point deficit and winning 78-74 in overtime, the Lions became the conference’s first team to defeat BYU, Gonzaga and the Gaels in the same season.

Even GU can’t do that, though Mark Few might tell you the Zags have beaten themselves a few times over the years – unofficially.

Loyola Marymount won even though, as time ran down in overtime, Cam Shelton pulled a Chris Webber. Yep, the LMU star, who led the way with a career-high 31 points (all after halftime), called a timeout the Lions didn’t have with seconds left. No matter. The host Lions handed 15th-ranked Saint Mary’s an upset loss..

And got the weekend off to a roaring start.

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WSU: Noah Williams was a Cougar. A well-liked Cougar. But now he’s a Husky. Hated? Maybe, maybe not. But he’s returning with Washington to Pullman on Saturday. Colton Clark has more in this preview. … The Pac-12 is moving closer to becoming the Pac-12 again. Jon Wilner in the Mercury News delves into the moves being made toward expansion with San Diego State and SMU. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, the most important game last night in the conference occurred in Eugene. That’s where Oregon, on the NCAA bubble, handled USC easily 78-60, knocking the Trojans onto the bubble as well. If there is such a thing. … Up the road, UCLA just dominated a shorthanded Oregon State team. The Bruins rolled, 62-47. … Arizona was on the road but not really, as the Wildcats rolled over California 85-62. … Arizona State won another close game, this one at Stanford 69-65. … The Stanford women throttled Arizona in Tucson. … Wilner returns with his best of the west assessment in the Mercury News. … In football news, Washington has decided to up the ante with its assistant coaches. … Kyle Whittingham’s son is an assistant coach for the Chiefs.

Gonzaga: The Zag men did their part last night to stay in the regular season race, routing San Francisco 99-81. Theo Lawson was in the Kennel and has the game story. … Jim Meehan was also there and he covered the other aspect of the night, Dan Dickau’s jersey-raising ceremony. … Jim also has the difference makers and a Drew Timme award story. … Tyler Tjomsland caught all the action before, during and after the game in his photo gallery. … The folks in the office put together the recap with highlights. … We linked Jim Allen’s story on Vandersloot above and do so again here. … Elsewhere in the WCC, we mentioned Saint Mary’s loss above. But that wasn’t the only upset. BYU fell 92-80 at last-place Pepperdine, ending a streak for the Cougars. … Santa Clara got past visiting San Diego 80-75.

EWU: What a year the Eagles are having. Headed into Saturday’s showdown at Idaho, Eastern is in first place in the conference and enjoy a three-game lead. Dan Thompson has more in this story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, host Weber State did the Eagles a solid, defeating Montana State 73-63 to widen the gap at the top of the standings. … Montana won at Idaho State 69-61. … Northern Colorado handed visiting Portland State an 88-79 loss. … Host Northern Arizona raced past Sacramento State 77-55.

Preps: It’s a big night at West Valley High. Not only do the Eagles host league-leading Pullman in the regular season’s final game, it is also the last regularly scheduled game for WV coach, and our friend, Jay Humphrey. Dave Nichols has this story as Jay heads into retirement. … There were other basketball games last night and Dave has a roundup. … Madison McCord takes a look at 2A regional wrestling this weekend.

Seahawks: Geno Smith won the comeback player of the year award last night. He deserved it. Of course, Tariq Woolen and Kenneth Walker III probably deserved the rookie awards as well, though they didn’t win, losing out to New York players. … The charity issue could tarnish Russell Wilson’s reputation.

Mariners: There will be 10 Seattle players in the World Baseball Classic.

Kraken: This is a tough road trip. Seattle dropped another game, 3-1 at New Jersey, as its scoring woes continued.

Storm: Sami Whitcomb is back and carrying the same goal.

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• We have found in our 66 years on this planet you always make sacrifices for the ones you love. And Saturday we will be making another. Riding a school bus for some 5 hours and coaching a game. But it’s worth it. And at some point in this column we will delve into why. Until later …