A Grip on Sports: Just a simple man asking for a simple way to spend a Saturday watching a simple game

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s keep it simple, shall we? After all, Cougar fans have a morning date with their football team. And everyone else probably has a full to-do list to finish off before noon.

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• Keeping things simple just isn’t in my nature, though. Not for a guy who has trouble sleeping pretty much every night because his brain builds “Inception” like scenarios about every little happenstance in his life.

Thankfully I can confess all my deepest, darkest worries to you folks. It keeps me from having to visit a therapist.

Another form of therapy? Watching college football on a cold, damp late-November Saturday. Even if the schedule today mirrors the blah weather. At best.

Sure, I want to watch the Cougs play. I just wish it wasn’t so darn difficult. I am a dinosaur. Give me the cable remote. Let me push one button. Or, heck, even speak into the darn thing’s microphone. And be comforted.

Let me peek at other games during commercials seamlessly. Let me replay each pass or run or flag just because I want to. Let me pause the action if I need to make a quick trip outside. Is that too much to ask?

Seems so. At least to those of us who remember back when the Palouse Posse was winning big games 9-7 or some such silly score. Or when Steve Entman was destroying the UCLA offensive line. Or when Eastern annually had a quarterback setting school passing records. Or when Whitworth rarely played in the Division III playoffs.

We went through the cable revolution. And thought we won. No more being at the mercy of ABC or CBS on a Saturday. We could watch a multitude of games. All we had to do was send a massive check – in the mail, mind you – to the Cable Gods and they rewarded us with a seemingly infinite number of games just one click apart.

No ESPN+. No Paramount+. No Amazon. Ok, sure. Oftentimes “our” team wasn’t on TV, no matter how much we paid. But what was so bad of tuning in and listening to Bob Rob or Bob Ron or Larry W. or whomever describe the action on a radio you could carry with you as your hands froze off raking the last of the autumn leaves? Nothing.

Except it actually wasn’t as idyllic as we remember. The modern expectation, as it should be, is every Saturday college football game is available to watch. In the comfort of your way-too-warm home. Somewhere. Somehow.

Now you can use your iPhone to turn down the thermostat from your Laz-e-Boy if you want. Or turn up the volume on your iPad while seated in a booth at your local IHOP waiting for your flapjacks. Or sit in front of your iMac as you watch the Cougars fly around another football field in Virginia. All the time selling your Apple stock on an app because no one uses the company’s products anymore. 

Yes, there are drawbacks to the Byzantium nature of college media deals. Starting times not locked in until the Sunday before. Way too many Dr. Pepper commercials – though that hot seat might be welcome in the backyard this morning. The inability to seamlessly watch seven games in one time slot – something that Abe Lincoln wrote in the Magna Carta if I remember my high school Civics teacher correctly.

Modern technology is great. Until it isn’t. That’s simple enough, right?

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WSU: As it may just will happen Thursday in your dining room, the Cougars will have a full plate today in Virginia. The headliners? A win makes them bowl eligible. It also spoils 21st-ranked James Madison’s season. And certainly should earn WSU some time on SportsCenter. Greg Woods has a preview of the 10 a.m. contest (on ESPN+), the keys to victory and his thoughts on whether Washington State will actually win. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his usual mailbag in the Mercury News, a column dominated by questions and answers about the Big Ten’s on-the-ropes capital infusion. … He also passes along the weekly football recruiting roundup. … John Canzano has a Saturday morning column and news from Oregon and Oregon State’s programs. … Speaking of the Beavers, they have a bye but Anthony Hankerson is still working toward his goals. … It’s not a great Saturday of football matchups. … There is always the gift of rooting for the SEC’s cupcake of the week this time of year. … This weekend begins another huge holiday week of college hoops tournaments.

• Here are the rest of the (current, old and future) Pac-12 games this week, with the latest Associated Press rankings and listed chronologically. All are on Saturday. The schedule below also includes any game in which finding news turned out to be nearly impossible.

– Baylor at Arizona (10 a.m., TNT): The Widlcats are on a roll. Will it continue?

– No. 16 USC at No. 6 Oregon (12:30 p.m., CBS): This is a make-the-postseason-or-not game for the Trojans. … The Ducks may have some wiggle room but they shouldn’t. Two home losses should be enough to keep them from the CFP. 

– Kansas State at No. 13 Utah (1, ESPN2): It’s possible the Utes’ chances revolve around the health of starting quarterback Devon Dampier. But maybe not.

– UL Monroe at Texas State (2, ESPN+): If you do want to watch the future Pac-12 member play, here is what to look for today.

– Colorado State at Boise State (4, FS1): It’s not often the Broncos’ senior day seems more relevant than their postseason destination. This matchup with the Rams is one of those times.

– California at Stanford (4:30, ACCN): You know what? This is a Big Game. For Cal, a program that may or may not be contemplating a coaching change. And for Stanford, trying to rediscover past glory.

– Arizona State at Colorado (5, ESPN2): Neither team is really healthy. Neither team is truly in the Big 12 race. But both could sure use one more win. Especially the Buff seniors. … Bill McCartney’s statue will stand tall outside the Buffs’ home stadium from now on.

– Washington at UCLA (7:30, NBC): The Bruins will have their star quarterback available for what could be the last time they play the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. … UW should win today, right? And it will be worth watching.

– Utah State at Fresno State (7:30, CBS Sports): Here’s a game to watch even if only to see how two future Pac-12 schools stack up. … The Aggies are still looking for their first road win of the season.

– San Jose State at San Diego State (7:30, FS1): It’s been an awful season for the Spartans and a pretty darn good one for the Aztecs.

• In basketball news, the Oregon State women lost for the first time this season, falling at home to Colorado State. … It wasn’t the first loss for 11th-ranked USC, but a late collapse at No. 24 Notre Dame is going to haunt the Trojans. … Arizona won but the Wildcats’ coach was not pleased. … The UCLA men had something of a reset-win at home. … Colorado has a point guard. And another victory. … Colorado State lost for the first time and it came against an unlikely opponent. … Utah State added another win to its unbeaten ledger. … California routed visiting Sacramento State. … Oregon State also lost again as the Beavers struggled shooting. … Arizona has more depth this season. … San Diego State had a tougher week than expected.

Gonzaga: Drew Timme just keeps plugging away in the wilderness of American pro basketball. But he seems to have been handed another lifeline, this time be the Lakers. As Theo Lawson shares in this story, Timme is about to sign a two-way contract with the parent club of Timme’s current G League franchise.

EWU: Just who will be the Eagles’ quarterback for the season’s final game is a bit unclear. Dan Thompson tries to sort it out as he shares three things to watch today from San Luis Obispo. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, not sure what the weather will be like in Missoula today, but it really doesn’t matter the Griz fans, does it? Not when Montana State is in town for the annual brawl. … No matter the record, the final home game is always a big one for the seniors. … It’s true for Weber State, hosting Northern Arizona, as well. … The Causeway Classic will be contested for the final time between Sacramento State and UC Davis as members of the Big Sky. Fittingly, the winner is probably headed to the FCS playoffs. … In basketball news, it was a good Friday for Idaho State. The men rolled at home and the women topped Portland in Hawaii. … The Weber State men are receiving huge contributions from a new guard. … Montana State picked up a win.

Idaho: The main thing to watch today for the Vandals as they welcome Idaho State to the Kibbie Dome? The seniors, sure. And the Potato State Trophy. More, too, as Peter Harriman explains. … The women’s basketball team had little trouble with visiting UC Riverside.

Preps: Freeman hosted defending 2B champions Okanogan in a State quarterfinal football game Friday night and the matchup came down to the final seconds. As Dave Nichols shares, the Scotties came up short on a game-tying two-point conversion and fell 34-32. … West Valley will play for the State 2A girls’ soccer title today after extending their unbeaten season with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Hockinson in Federal Way. That news leads off Cheryl Nichols’ roundup, which is packed with playoff action.

Seahawks: An early morning game tomorrow? Fine. Here’s what you should watch. One thing: turnovers. If the Hawks hold on to the ball, they should be fine. After all, they are favored by more points than they ever have on the road. … Another thing to watch? How the offensive line does without Grey Zabel.

Mariners: Seattle seems to be clearing bullpen space – and money – as it looks to reload. … The M’s could also be in the running for one of the Japanese sluggers headed to America.

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• No more writing for me today. I bailed on writing a column about WSU, as I am not sure how much of the Cougar game I’ll watch, considering the ESPN+ streaming and the 10 a.m. start time. Which means I’ll sit down at 9:57, start casting the broadcast from my phone to the TV and probably not move until 1:30 or so. When it comes to WSU football, I often feel like Al Pacino in Godfather III. Until later …