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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Grip on Sports: There is no good excuse for missing this Sunday’s Seahawk game – or the next one

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Clear the calendar for Sunday afternoon. You may need about a seven-hour block. Or three. No way to tell for sure.

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• All we know is at about 1:30 p.m., you better be in front of your television with it tuned in to Fox. Put the cooler next to the chair. Have snacks ready. Throw the remote into the drawer.

The Rams are in Seattle, which in itself is pretty big news – even if Los Angeles is missing about 80 percent of its stars. But the opponent doesn’t matter in this one. Only the result.

Win and the Seahawks are in … well, thanks to too many stumbles the preceding 17 weeks, all a week 18 win assures them is a chance. A chance to root for the Detroit Lions to do the unthinkable: win in Green Bay (5:20, NBC).

And a mandate for all of us to sit in front of the TV a few hours more. The kids can get themselves to bed. Dinner will have to be served on trays. The Packers have to lose for the Hawks to make the postseason.

Oh, you didn’t know? The playoffs are on the line this week for Seattle.

If you tuned out over the summer when the Seahawks traded Russell Wilson away and cut Bobby Wagner (who is fixing to spoil the party this week), then it’s about time you tuned back in.

Here’s what you missed, in an overly condensed form:

– Geno Smith was much better than Wilson this season;

– Seattle had a month when they were as good as any team in the league;

– The Hawks had a month when they couldn’t have beaten your grandson’s PeeWee team;

­– They lost all four games to the NFC South, a division without a winning team;

– And they played a handful of rookies, all of which have contributed to their 8-8 record.

In the NFL, breaking even puts you in the playoff hunt the final week. So buckle up, sit down and watch as their improbable playoff chase finishes off Sunday.

• There is much more to watch this weekend, of course. Pretty much always is.

After Thursday night’s results, most notably Gonzaga’s 77-75 survival test at USF, Saturday’s local contests are especially interesting.

The ninth-ranked Zags are at mercurial Santa Clara that night (7, KHQ/Root), hoping to play a little more focused than they seemed against the Dons. They may have to if they don’t want to see their winning streak washed away in a soggy Bay Area.

Earlier in the day, the Cougars will be the ones trying to post a poll-rattling upset, facing fifth-ranked Arizona in Tucson (2 p.m., Pac-12). There is not a lot of evidence Washington State can get it done but, then again, there wasn’t much thought the Cougs could post a double-digit win over USC last weekend either.

It’s too bad Eastern Washington’s Saturday afternoon game in Cheney isn’t on TV. The Eagles are blazing hot, lead the Big Sky and host a Sacramento State team fresh off an overtime win in Moscow. You’ll either have to listen to Larry Weir call the game on 700-ESPN or make your way out to Reese Court. Those are the best alternatives – unless you are good at finding streaming options.

But we’re more about what’s on that big rectangle in your living room.

There is more NFL on Saturday – it is some sort of super weekend, right? The league has had to revamp its playoff procedure in light of the Buffalo-Cincinnati cancelation – in good news, Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin woke yesterday and seems to be doing well – which means we are somewhat obligated to watch the AFC games this weekend if only to see how messed up the playoff schedule can get.

As usual in January, there are also even more college basketball games to watch, some NHL if you’re interested and the NBA – if you aren’t still boycotting the league for what it did to the Sonics.

In other words, business as usual.

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WSU: The Cougars wouldn’t go away in Tempe last night. But neither did they ever seem as if they were about to get over the hump against the Sun Devils. Spoiler alert: they never did, falling 77-71. Colton Clark has the story. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college basketball, Jon Wilner’s best of the west rankings are dominated by a state that is just barely in the West. … Washington gave No. 5 Arizona all it could handle – were the Wildcats looking ahead to WSU? – but fell 70-67. … Colorado embarrassed Oregon 68-41 and did it without its best player. The Ducks are reeling despite reinforcements arriving. … League-leader Utah had little trouble with visiting Oregon State, winning 79-60. … UCLA led big, USC rallied but fell just a bit short at Pauley Pavilion, losing to the 10th-ranked Bruins 60-58. … In football news, Washington had plenty of big stars last season, most of which are returning for the next one. But the Huskies’ success was fueled by a depth of talent. … Utah is losing a key offensive lineman. … Oregon State is losing a tight end.

Gonzaga: The best part of the Zags’ 77-75 comeback win at USF? The anger of a Dons’ fan after Rasir Bolton’s putback gave GU the victory. Theo Lawson has the game story. … Jim Meehan was also in War Memorial and he has the difference makers and a story on former Gonzaga player Kyle Bankhead putting together USF’s game plan. It came this close to working. … Tyler Tjomsland was also in the building and has this photo report. … The folks in the office put together a recap with highlights. … Freedom of movement seemed an antiquated concept in the women’s 63-52 win over visiting USF earlier Thursday night. No matter. Thanks to a hot finish from point guard Kaylynne Truong, the Zags prevailed. Jim Allen has the coverage, which includes a story about a date set to hang Courtney Vandersloot’s jersey in the rafters. … Elsewhere in the WCC, for those of us of a certain age, Hamlin’s collapse brought back memories of when a similar happenstance occurred to Hank Gathers at a Loyola Marymount game. Bo Kimble remembers and is doing something about it. … Saint Mary’s women’s coach, Paul Thomas, was put on leave by the school amid an investigation. … The BYU men saw their winning streak ended at Loyola Marymount in a 64-59 decision. … San Diego suffered an unforgiveable 84-82 home loss to Pacific. … Santa Clara tuned up for GU with a 10-point win over host Pepperdine.

EWU: The Eagles turned a long, late run into a big win over visiting Portland State, pulling away for a 92-80 victory. Dan Thompson was in Cheney to witness the game-deciding 25-4 burst. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona held off Montana in overtime, winning 75-74. Looking at the box score, the Lumberjack who played the most? Gonzaga Prep grad Liam Lloyd. … Montana State routed Northern Colorado 77-56, leading to some discussion among the Bears.

Idaho: Despite Issac Jones’ career-high 42 points, the Vandals fell 85-83 in overtime to the visiting Hornets of Sacramento State. Peter Harriman has this story.

Preps: Thursday night high school hoops? Yes, there was, with Gonzaga Prep’s boys handing U-Hi its first defeat of the season. Dave Nichols was there and has this story. … Dave also has a roundup of Thursday’s other action.

Chiefs: The “wait until next year” rallying cry seems to be back in play for Spokane, as this year seems to not be one with a lot of success. The franchise made a trade yesterday.

Seahawks: With Jordyn Brooks sidelined, Tanner Muse will have to step up. … Quandre Diggs is phoning his former teammates, trying to call in favors. … If the Hawks make the playoffs, can they actually win a game? … Such an outcome would be the culmination of Smith’s comeback story. … DK Metcalf will have to better this week than he was against the Jets. … Darrell Taylor’s sack numbers have soared.

Mariners: If the M’s don’t make any more moves, what will the roster look like? There will be some folks that will have to pan out.

Kraken: Make it three consecutive wins for Seattle. The third came on a day the Kraken learned their young star was headed to the all-star game.

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• We love college basketball. But we don’t love it when everyone is allowed to grab, hold, bump and grind on every cut or dribble. Such was the case last night in McCarthey during the GU women’s win over visiting USF. Though both teams would prefer to play physical defense, and did, there wasn’t a foul called in the game’s first 7-plus minutes. That set the tone. Free-flowing never became part of the equation. Which is too bad. Until later …