A Grip on Sports: Is it a cliche to be thankful on this holiday? Of course it is, though it is too important to skip just because it is expected

A GRIP ON SPORTS • The subject matter for this column is always clear the final Thursday of November. Thankfulness. Who am I to break tradition? Bend it, sure. Break it? No way.

•••••••

• Sometime early in the Zags’ 40-point debacle last night, I walked upstairs. And figured I had just expended more effort than some of the players wearing Gonzaga across the front of their jerseys.

So it seemed appropriate to begin walking. Might as well make some lemonade out of that pumpkin patch of awful shooting, defending and rebounding. It was time to make a list of the sports things for which I was thankful over the past year. But as I walked my usual loop around the house, I couldn’t get past one that was happening in real time.

How thankful I was I wasn’t, in those moments, Mark Few. After all, he had to sit there and watch the worst defeat in his coaching tenure – by margin of defeat – play out in front of a nation-wide audience on TNT. And not be able to change it.

I could leave the room.

Call it presentism if you will, but it colored my thinking as I walked and walked and walked. The mental list I wanted to create just wouldn’t come. Not with the occasional “oh my goodness” and “what the heck was that” emanating from the family members who soldiered on in the TV room. As you might expect, those phrases have been heavily edited due to the PG-13 nature of this column.

You know what I won’t edit though? My true thankfulness. For the opportunity every morning to rise from under the covers, pour a cup of joe and spend the next couple hours poring over the sports news.

And then write about it. What a gift.

Even more, though, is the thankfulness that some folks even read it. Look forward to it. Use it to start their day. Enjoy it.

Whether it is about Cal Raleigh and his big blasts. Whether it is about Washington State and its big push to rebuild the Pac-12. Whether it is about the Seahawks and their big improvement.

It’s you folks and your big investment of time for which I am most thankful.

Time is our most precious resource. It is finite. It is worth more than all the NIL funds in the world. It is an amazing gift you choose to spend some of it here.

All I can say is thank you. And mean it.

•••

WSU: The football season is almost done in Pullman. One more game awaits the Cougars and their fans. Saturday at Gesa Field. Win and the season can roll on for a few more weeks, culminating in a bowl game. Lose and it’s over. The grade of Jimmy Rogers first season hinges on the outcome as well. And the group that may have the most say in whether it’s a pass or fail is starting to show the strain of carrying the load the last month or so. Greg Woods looks at the injury-depleted defensive group once more. … Greg also monitored the Cougs’ final men’s basketball game in Hawaii which ended in a 75-61 loss to Seton Hall. WSU’s 1-2 week was enough to earn it fourth place in the Maui Invitational. … This week’s opponent, Oregon State, is still looking for a new coach. We believe the Beavers have made their choice. Why? Because when candidates who interviewed, like Montana State’s Brent Vigen, begin to announce they have decided to stay at their school, it is usually because the job is someone else’s. … John Canzano has his thoughts on the coaching search too. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner spends his Mercury News Holy War column explaining how the CFP committee is treating BYU is not as bad as it treated the Cougars last season. … Brian Kelly vs. LSU is one of the most-entertaining parts of the coaching carousel. 

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

– No. 14 Utah at Kansas (9 a.m. Friday, ESPN): The Utes’ offense is really good this season. One person is getting the accolades for it, though it has been a team effort.

– Air Force at Colorado State (noon Friday, FS1): The CSU administration spent Wednesday celebrating its incoming coach, Jim Mora. Rightfully so. But I still wonder how the players feel about the hire.

– San Diego State at New Mexico (12:30 p.m. Friday, CBS Sports): Jason Eck proved his abilities while at Idaho. Now he has the Lobos in the MWC title game hunt. The Aztecs stand in the way.  

– Boise State at Utah State (1 p.m. Friday, CBS): There is no doubt the Broncos will be bowling. Where, when and more is still up in the air.

– Arizona at Arizona State (6 p.m. Friday, Fox): This is one of the better Territorial Cup matchups in many years. But can the 99th version of the game, which pairs two bitter rivals who are among the 25 best teams in the nation, live up to the hype?

– Colorado at Kansas State (9 a.m., FS1): The Buffs are beat up. Physically, sure. Mentally too. The Wildcats have more scars on the mental side after last week’s come-from-way-ahead loss to Utah.

– South Alabama at Texas State (noon, ESPN+): There are keys to the Bobcats winning this one. And then heading to the Pac-12 after a bowl game.

– No. 5 Oregon at Washington (12:30 p.m., CBS): A Duck hunt in Montlake? Huskies penned up? What will happen Saturday in this rivalry game? Not sure, but it will be fun to find out. … What is for sure is Dan Lanning will not hear the bands.

– UCLA at No. 19 USC (1:30, NBC): The Bruins’ season would be made with a win. The Trojans? A win gives them a better bowl. Seems as if UCLA has more motivation.

– SMU at California (5, ESPN2): If the Mustangs win, they will head to their third consecutive conference title game. In two different conferences. … The Bears are still searching for a head coach.

– No. 9 Notre Dame at Stanford (7:30, ESPN): The ultimate sign of the Fighting Irish’s confidence? Their fans are debating whether their best player should even play.

– Fresno State at San Jose State (7:30, FS1): There is some thought in the valley, the Bulldogs are just a quarterback away from entering the Pac-12 as preseason favorite. There has to be some big booster whose farm is doing well enough he or she can throw in a couple million dollars to help entice one, right?

• In basketball news, San Diego State ended its Players Era Festival experience with a second listless loss. … Arizona will be in Maui next Thanksgiving, not in Vegas. … USC won the Maui title this year, topping former Pac-12 cohort Arizona State in Wednesday’s final. … Utah picked up an important tournament win. … Colorado State suffered a tough loss. … Washington is suffering through a rash of sprained ankles. … The third-ranked UCLA women lost their Players Era Festival semifinal to No. 4 Texas. 

Gonzaga: You know what the Bulldogs did well last night in Las Vegas? Nothing. Don’t take my word for it. Few said it. “Literally every aspect of the game I could talk about was lacking, so maybe write that,” he told Theo Lawson and the gathered reporters after his team’s 101-61 loss. If there is a golden lining, it is gold. Despite the loss, the Zags earned $500,000 in NIL funds with their second-place finish in the Las Vegas-based Players Era Festival. … Theo also helped the folks in the office with the recap with highlights, though the highlights part has to be lacking. … Dave Boling shares his thoughts after in his column. One paragraph stood out. “The Zags had nothing,” he wrote. “Michigan absolutely owned them. Forty minutes, 94 feet. Every position on the floor.” … How did it happen? Jim Meehan tries to explain. … Jim also had three takeaways. No, they weren’t: “Gonzaga bad. Michigan good. Everyone in Spokane turns their TV off.” Maybe they could have been. … Tyler Tjomsland has his photo gallery, dominated by pictures of the Wolverines celebrating. And none of Graham Ike scoring a bucket, mainly because he never did. … Of course there is national coverage of the game. And the tournament. Most of it focuses on the boon for Michigan. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Saint Mary’s men won once more.

EWU and Idaho: The Big Sky announced its all-conference honors for football on Wednesday. The Eagles and Vandals each earned some recognition, sure, as Dan Thompson covers here. There are a bunch of spots to fill – and great players at every school. But a large chunk of the spots were allocated to players from Montana State and Montana. As were the major awards. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, we can pass along a story about the football honors from Idaho State. … In basketball news, the Vandal men pulled away from Cal State Northridge in the second half to win 78-64 at the Holiday Hoops Classic in Boise. … A Northern Colorado player was honored for his outstanding week. … The Weber State women lost at Utah.

Chiefs: Giving up six unanswered goals is no way to win a WHL game, is it? Spokane did that and didn’t win. Dave Nichols covers the Chiefs’ 6-1 defeat Wednesday night against Kelowna at the Arena.

Seahawks: Quandre Diggs is happy to be back wearing a Seahawk uniform. … There was also an addition to the running back room due to an injury. Funny thing, though. The Hawks face Minnesota this week. And just signed a veteran, Cam Akers, who played with the Vikings early this season. … Enjoy your Turkey Day NFL tripleheader. The opener, Green Bay at Detroit, starts a half-hour later than tradition dictates. Kansas City at Dallas will be the best game. And the nightcap features Joe Burrows’ return for the Bengals against host Baltimore.  

Kraken: Seattle’s long string of games earning points ended last night in its 3-2 home loss to Dallas. But are the Kraken good again?

•••       

• The road to breaking the scale is paved with good intentions, isn’t it? Today is living proof of that. I wake up every Thanksgiving vowing to not overeat. I go to bed every Thanksgiving night as bloated as one the Macy’s Parade balloons. Today will be different. Today I will overcome my urge to throw another plop of potatoes on my plate. Today I will pass on one more piece of pie. Oh, who am I kidding. Sorry scale. You’ve been a good and loyal servant this year. Maybe I’ll just give you tomorrow off. Until later …